Let’s not miss either the straw man in this ‘Duffer’ – “Many cultures across the world have suffered horrible cruelties but haven’t all become killers and thieves.”
So ALL Maori are that bad are they Alan ? Really ?
What I see is a point of difference wank to rival Henry and Hosking. Not deserving of much respect in my book.
What a rambling and incoherent article.
The conclusions Duff reaches from a group of girls stealing from a dairy are quite ridiculous.
The Herald and the establishment needs useful idiots.
Its funny Duff man wouldn’t be having this dilemma if we got a giant vacuum cleaner and sucked up everyones money in the country. Why would you go and steal tobacco then? Just shows lack of money has massive ramifications through society, and we seem perfectly ok with that.
You and paul up at sparrows fart hammering away at your keyboards in your undies lol and obviously before your brains were in gear !!!
alan duffs credentials are secure and he really neednt worry too much about youre silly comparisons with hoskings and henry sayes more about youre own lack of perspective than his .
I f you wanna believe the same old tired claptrap that the substantive reason for the amount of violence within maori cullture is a direct result of colonization its up to you but shows a slavish dependence on pc pap rather than logical deduction i.m.h.o.
Perhaps you should consider READING a book north.
Funny how colonised peoples end up on the bottom of the head eh brainy. Duff is one dimensional. You appear to be getting up to that level perhaps with more critical thinking application.
Damn right they are – as a pre-bankruptcy fugitive who stiffed his creditors, the piece of shit diddled one woman of an age out of $424,000, while living and working in the style he deemed appropriate for himself and his family.
Well he wouldnt be the first person to come a cropper from delving into property developement an i doubt he’ll be the last either and so what if he was made bankrupt lots of people have made good after becoming bankrupt and he may do also .
Alan duff gave us Once were warriors and books in homes thats good enough for me . His personal relationships are none of my business.
Thanks for the beautiful pics of france from the “working ” link what wonderfull creative souls must have built such special places !!makes nz seem like a hick town .
Weston you’re a dick. You have absolutely no knowledge of my educational level……I can tell you however that it did occasion intimate familiarity with ‘books’, over some years. And with far, far better grammar, diction and results I daresay, than you seem capable of.
Duff is one of those stinking kupapa Maori. Not much better than the white trash I suspect you to be…….if we’re going to address “undies” at dawn.
Citation for what ropata ? You got “citation ” for your claim of “academic literature “? Im sure the list is long … very long…but thats part of the problem i.m.h.o.
holy fuck keys lost it he was just on henry saying we don’t need Labours very popular kiwi build because the private sector is going to build 100,000 houses in the next 3 years instead of labours 10. please remind him of this Mr Littlewhen he says labour can’t get it done
Ooooh, the politics of envy, Gossie! The funny thing is that the writer accurately describes what most TS readers imagine your working day to be. ie coffee, pissing about on the internet, not achieving anything worthwhile … I note this is not written by a union official, so doesn’t actually say anything about the work unions do. Just a disgruntled grunt venting.
The Guardian is the paper of liberal urbanistas who like to think they are progressive whilst quietly being quite happy with winning from neoliberalism.
The veneer of the Guardian being genuinely left wing has been brutally ripped away by it’s repsonse to two events of actual popular democracy that ran against the comfortable received wisdom of it’s journalists and commentators.
First, the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader saw the Guardian do a complete melt down. It’s defence of the established Blairite order is hysterical. In fact, it is so OTT that the paper has almost certainly suffered mortal damage to it’s reputation.
The Guardians extreme position in defence of the 1990s Blairist PLP consensus is actually quite sinister when you couple it with how closely aligned with the anti-Corbyn plotters the Labour Friends of Israel group is, and how the Guardian carefully controls it’s coverage of the middle east. Future historians will surely unravel exactly how active an agent Israel has been in managing to plant such favourable fifth columns of supporters at the very top of democratic parties in the West.
Secondly, the reaction to the Brexit vote was astonishingly elitist and anti democratic. The line from the Guardian was some kind of mistake had occurred, the chavs and prols were too ignorant to count, that the result should be somehow overturned, and that never again should the popular vote be used to decide anything. If you are a student of history who puzzles over how dictatorships come to pass then it would repay studying just how thin the veneer of respect for democracy actually is in the urban liberal elites when their will is contradicted by their social inferiors, even in a country as supposedly democratic as the UK.
At least its veneer has been removed and it’s now been revealed for what it is. Just another pillar of the establishment.
As a matter of interest, what sources do you use to keep abreast of news from Britain?
I am staying with my family just now, and they listen to the Edge in the morning. Christ almighty, how do people listen to such puerile, infantile drivel every fucking day of their life?
They had some no name on just now having a blokey chat about who he’d shag amongst our female olympians, it is all humour you understand. So much for feminism.
Sexism is a bit more subtle on Morning Report. I heard Guyon discussing Trump’s campaign this morning. Apparently Trump is going for the women’s vote with tax deductible child care. Oh right, that must be because child care is just a woman’s responsibility.
Not in the same league as the misogynist offensive shit on commercial stations, but still showing how ingrained attitudes to women’s roles are, even in some educated men
And can you believe it, despite all this 40% to 45% of College educated American women still refuse to support Hillary in this coming election. Gender traitors and failed feminists all.
Shame on these 40% to 45% of College educated women who still refuse to support Hillary Clinton knowing the stakes if Trump gets in because of their misjudgement.
Madeline Albright, a woman who helped lead the way into the top levels of US Government said it best earlier this year when she was campaigning for Clinton:
“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other,” she said.
Gloria Steinem, veteran feminist leader, went further and accused young women who did not back Hillary Clinton of being too immature and too interested in chasing men to vote the right (Clinton) way.
These are the very sentiments of the Washington glass breaking feminists and Clinton supporters, Albright and Steinem. I’m only repeating them. And I don’t need you to define my rights for me thanks.
Nobody defined your rights.
Marty just described the odour that you emit when you appropriate comments you don’t believe about issues you don’t understand in order to support a presidential candidate you cannot defend without concern-trolling.
Everyone can read the New York Times link for themselves and see what Clinton supporters Albright and Steinem think about those women who refuse to vote Hillary.
But CV doesn’t despise Trump. He loves Trump. Trump’s an ‘opportunity’ for CV. To flaunt his bitter weirdness about the NZLP. Which is making TS (where CV figures) quite unreadable frankly. Do you have the slightest idea of how risibly playschool and infantile you make look your vaunted, pure, impeccable, omnipresent leftness CV ? Obviously not. You continue to lather, self righteously. Pain in the arse who adds nothing I’m sorry. In contrast to the person who always added heaps when he wasn’t obssessed and bitter.
“Shame on these 40% to 45% of College educated women who still refuse to support Hillary Clinton knowing the stakes if Trump gets in because of their misjudgement.”
WTF have your anti-Clinton feelings got to do with my comment about a New Zealand male journalist/presenter expressing the view that child care is a women’s issue?
Excuse me, but child care is an issue for PARENTS, you know mothers AND fathers.
But no, you can’t let a chance go by to make yourself heard.
Thanks CV (sarc)
Just another example of shouting women down when we speak up against sexism.
I’m clearly in an irritating and contrarian mood, as has been pointed out to me. Going to take a tiny break off The Standard. Enjoy the afternoon. Bright and sunny down here in Dunedin.
Everytime they go to court they lose. Of course, the PLP and the NEC refuse to allow reality to intrude, and they plan to appeal, despite being more or less told it will be pointless.
Given the attitude of utter delusional denial and complete arrogance from the Blairites, I fully expect they’ll actually go for the nuclear option and split the party, and probably try and seize the party assets and name in yet another long and damaging legal process they will lose. The Blairites really are a Tory fifth column.
the blairites are just following orders from their financial backers. seems like the current plan is to blow themselves up and take the whole Labour Party with them
Sanctuary: No Right Turn reports that:
“Labour has decided to appeal a High Court ruling, passed down on Monday which suggested the party’s governing body had illegally barred 130,000 people from voting in the leadership election.”
Incredible. I suppose like our Government shopping around until they get the answer that they want, so are the UK Labour Party shopping for a sympathetic Court.
Thanks Scott. This fits with cv’s view. I am not in agreement because I just don’t think trump will do much of what he has promised once the realities of the seat hit home.
Like most “Trump good” analyses, it relies on omitting Trump policies that the author disagrees with.
In this case, the author talks about Trump wanting to lower US expenditure on NATO and pivot/withdraw away from Asian deployments. The author does not mention that Trump was the NATO expenditure to be made up by the 28 or so NATO states that are currently not spending 4% of their GDP on defense, as mandated during the Cold War. He still sees increasing numbers of US-made tanks on Russia’s borders, just with different flags painted on them.
More concerning is his solution to withdrawing from Korea and Japan while ensuring that they are still under a nuclear umbrella: ditching the non-proliferation treaty and pressuring Japan and South Korea to develop their own nuclear weapons. This will simply result in a quid-pro-quo by the Russians and Chinese, who will export nuclear weapon technology as a means of gaining especially favoured allies in Africa, Asia and maybe South America. Only Russia and China will do it to expand their influence, while little-fingers-on-little-hands would be doing it to try to reduce its influence.
As for NZ having an independent foreign policy, international politics are schoolyard rules: the weak kid with no big friends gets bullied. With a Trump presidency, we’re fucked in trade and regional influence.
Well, none other than the numerous expressions of interest and that one time he was considered as a running mate and that other time when he actually had a tilt at the Presidency.
But chin up, chump, I’m sure you’ll do better next time.
//
Involvement in politics, 1988–2015
Trump first expressed interest in running for office in 1987, when he spent $100,000 to place full page ads critiquing U.S. defense policy in several newspapers.[230][231]
Trump floated the idea of running for president in 1988, 2004, and 2012, and for Governor of New York in 2006 and 2014, but did not enter those races.[232][233] He was considered as a potential running mate for George H. W. Bush on the Republican Party’s 1988 presidential ticket but lost out to future Vice President Dan Quayle. There is dispute over whether Trump or the Bush camp made the initial pitch.[234]
In 1999, Trump filed an exploratory committee to seek the presidential nomination of the Reform Party in 2000.[235][236] A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.[237] Trump eventually dropped out of the race due to party infighting, but still won the party’s California and Michigan primaries after doing so.[238][239][240][241]
Not sure if details already given last night but:
The full poll results are: Labour 32.7% + Greens 11.5% = 44.2%. National 45.1%. New Zealand First 8.1%
Oh good, we can look forward to high renewable power generation in the years that there is a lot of rain on the divide in the autumn. How often does that happen? 😉
Israel’s dirty, shameful little secret. Abducting, selling and giving away Arab babies to Israeli Jews in the 1950s! Sickening!
Yet to criticize Israel for anything, invites accusations of antisemitism! The rest of the world needs to wake up to exactly what Israel is … a rogue nation, rotten to its core!
mary_a one way to fight zionism, and not get sucked into a debate about anti semitism is to use good language.
For example: You could have said “Abducting, selling and giving away Arab babies to Israeli citizens in the 1950s! Sickening!”
Thereby making it squarely about the state of Israel and the nature of zionism as a failed project on so many levels. Instead you opened yourself up to a anti-semitic criticism by saying “Israeli Jews”.
Zionism is not Judaism, and to criticize an ideology is not criticising a people. No matter how much these zealots want that to be the case.
Especially as this appears to be good old fashioned colonial racism – the babies were taken from Jewish families who were Arab and given to Jewish couples who were European, by a state led by Europeans. Another Stolen Generation.
Especially as this appears to be good old fashioned colonial racism
They were pretty damn good at good old fashioned xenophobia, too.
“Soaps”
A nickname coined by the Sabras during the 1948 War of Independence, a relic of the soap industry that developed in the death camps (a tale that probably has no grounding in reality). The nickname portrayed the “Holocaust Remnants” as pale, cowardly and weak, as compared to the tanned, brawny and heroic Sabras. They called the survivors cakes of soap.
But during WWII, the tanned Sabras evaded service and even digging ditches. Being citizens of the British Mandate, they were not obligated to enlist. There were indeed some who volunteered and enlisted for combat duty in the British army, but the vast majority found ways to evade combat. Some did so in a “Zionist” manner, others just shirked the responsibility and acted for their own benefit.
The fallen soldiers of the 1948 War of Independence were: 3000 of the original settlement, which consisted of 600,000 individuals, and 3000 “soap” soldiers, derived from a population of 60,000 men and women who immigrated to Israel in 1941-1948. These “cakes of soap” comprised 5% of the population, while the figure of those in service from the old settlement was 0.5%.
A few months ago, I reported here on the case of Baby Adele, the Palestinian infant who was essentially stolen by the Israeli welfare ministry from her biological mother and father. To recap the sad tale, Daniela Vaknin, who was raised in a troubled Jewish home, married a Palestinian man. Together they had a baby they named Adele.
But they had a problem. Or I should say they were a problem. Israel officially disapproves of miscegenation. The idea of a Jewish woman marrying an Arab is a social phenomenon that Israeli racialists like Bentzi Gopstein and his terror group, Lehava, rail against.
[…]
The welfare ministry awarded Adele to an ultra-Orthodox couple as foster parents, with the intent of moving to adoption as soon as possible. But there was a minor fly in the ointment. The foster couple divorced. Then officials had a quandary: you cannot award a child to a single parent. But they fixed that quick by finding a new woman for him to marry. Now the new couple has resumed the adoption process and it is close to finalized.
But Daniela still believes she has a chance to redeem Adele from the social welfare system. Before she gave birth, she went before a Sharia court (an officially-recognized Israeli State body) and attested to judges that she had converted to Islam. As far as Israeli law is concerned, after their approval she was officially recognized as Muslim.
Who doesn’t think Netanyahu and the upper echelon Zionists are but Nazis ? And who doesn’t think that callow Israeli teenagers who viciously define Palestinians as “not even human”, saying they deserve death, are but followers of Zionist Nazis ?
“Two top electronic security firms have discovered a new powerful malware suite being used to target just dozens of high-value targets around the world. The research shows that it was likely developed on the orders of a government engaging in cyber espionage.
The California-based Symantec has labeled the group behind the attack Strider, while Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs dubbed it ProjectSauron. Both are references to J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a nod to the fact that the original malware code contained the word “Sauron.”…
Commented the other day on Trump’s mental instability.
Now he’s saying Clinton is mentally unstable, complete with his idiotic artificial TV induced hand gestures and insincere body language.
Pots and kettles abound. He really is a raving loony. God save America! …God.. are you bloody listening?
lol…looking like the GOP are increasingly agreeing with you….
“On Thursday a long list of GOP national security hands wrote a letter saying Trump would be “the most reckless president in American history” and that electing him in November would but the nation’s security at risk. Some of the 50 signatories said they’d vote for Clinton while others deemed it better to abstain from voting entirely. But all were in fundamental agreement on one main point: “Trump is not qualified and would be dangerous.”
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Whenever people demand real change from their politicians, we're told that "politics is the art of the possible". The implication is that change isn't possible, so we'd better just get used to the sucky status quo. But now that there's a pandemic, a lot of things we were previously told ...
Together: In leading New Zealand through the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Prime Minister could do a lot worse than allow herself to be guided by the spirit of collective sacrifice and co-operation that animated the New Zealanders of 80 years ago. Most Kiwis alive today have had no opportunity to prove their ...
It is said that generals fight the last war. In the case of the early stages of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) they had learned from the Great Depression of the 1930s and they fought intelligently and successfully. Later their advice would be ignored in favour of the Austerians who ...
Solidarity Forever: All over the world, the arrival of the Covid-19 virus has exposed the fragility of the walls we erect around ourselves and our loved ones. It has shattered our illusions of autonomy and revealed to us how utterly dependent we all are on other human-beings. Finally, we see ...
Looking across the various arguments for/against the leading candidates to take the Democratic Nomination, you might honestly be very hard pressed to tell. There are a number of things that have now started happening since Amy Klobuchar and “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg both threw the towel in and immediately (and ...
by Daphna Whitmore Abortion is no longer in the Crimes Act in New Zealand. The law reform passed yesterday and now abortion is a medical matter between a woman and her doctor. Many women’s groups and progressive people have campaigned for reform for decades. The women’s liberation movement and some ...
Doug Specht, University of Westminster and Julio Gimenez, University of Westminster When fake news, misreporting and alternative facts are everywhere, reading the news can be a challenge. Not only is there plenty of misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other scientific topics floating around social media, you also ...
Michael Baker, University of Otago and Nick Wilson, University of OtagoWith some of the toughest border restrictions and a newly-announced NZ$500 million boost to health services, New Zealand is among a small number of countries with a strategy to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. New Zealand is also fortunate in ...
As expected, the government has introduced a sessional order to allow Parliament to operate during the pandemic. You can read it on the Order Paper here, but the short version is that questions and motions can be filed electronicly, select committees can work remotely, and the the Business Committee can ...
Axel Bruns, Queensland University of Technology; Daniel Angus, Queensland University of Technology; Timothy Graham, Queensland University of Technology, and Tobias R. Keller, Queensland University of Technology News and views about coronavirus has spread via social media in a way that no health emergency has done before. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, ...
So you’ve recently returned from overseas, come into contact with someone who tested positive, got a bit of a dry cough yourself or perhaps just want to self isolate for 14 days to avoid other people who might have COVID-19. Here are a few tips and tricks to help get ...
Our Good Fortune: Precisely because she has never been an ideologue (she calls herself a “pragmatic idealist”) Jacinda Ardern has a political nimbleness and spontaneity which, when infused with her exceptional emotional intelligence, produces spectacular demonstrations of leadership. Jacinda's empathic political personality contrasts sharply with the less-than-sunny ways of her ...
The Abortion Legislation Bill has just passed its third reading, 68-51. NZ First MPs bailed because their referendum amendment didn't pass, but there were plenty of MPs to provide a majority without them. The bill is a long way from perfect - most significantly, it subjects pregnant people who need ...
As most of the world tries to suppress the coronavirus spread, some countries are going it alone – trying to manage the pandemic through so-called “herd immunity”. Herd immunity means letting a large number of people catch a disease, and hence develop immunity to it, to stop the virus spreading. ...
So, as I sit at home with a very, very slight headache (i.e. not at work when I would otherwise be so), the now familiar figure of Ashley Bloomfield reports eight new confirmed cases of COVID-19 including two in Waikato. A surprise, given that we had just twelve yesterday? No. ...
Many who advocated for, and voted for, the current Coalition – particularly those who voted Labour and the Green Party – expected to see a sea change in the reality of social services. A real, deep change of attitude, approach of process through which the system negotiates the difficult and ...
All 45 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel are either on their way back to New Zealand, or already in the country, according to Defence Minister Ron Mark."Twenty-eight personnel arrived back in New Zealand last week and are in isolation at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in ...
The COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is moving fast - and to avoid what we've seen overseas - the Government's response must be to move fast too. We're committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and well-informed every step of the way. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging New Zealanders overseas to stay where they are amid the COVID-19 pandemic. "We are reaching a point where the best option for most New Zealanders offshore is to shelter in place, by preparing to safely stay where they are.” "This includes following the instructions ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Minister Winston Peters is encouraging the tens of thousands of New Zealanders travelling overseas to consider sheltering in place, in light of COVID-19. “Since 18 March, we have been warning New Zealanders offshore that the window for flying ...
Ground-breaking law has passed that will decriminalise abortion and ensure women and pregnant people seeking abortions have compassionate healthcare. ...
The Green Party says that the measures announced by the Government today will help families and businesses to prioritise our collective health and wellbeing in the response to COVID-19. ...
As New Zealanders brace for a global downturn due to Covid-19, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says his Coalition Government’s rescue package "more significant" than any other he's seen around the world. The Coalition is to reveal a multi-billion-dollar stimulus plan on Tuesday afternoon designed to cushion the economic blow ...
We know some people are feeling anxious about COVID-19. While the situation is serious, New Zealand has a world-class health system and we’re well-prepared to keep New Zealanders safe. ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill drawn from the ballot today seeks to overhaul the youth justice system by instigating a system of demerit points for offences committed by young offenders. “The ‘Youth Justice Demerit Point System’ will put an end to ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Foreign AffairsHonourable Ministers, Members of Parliament, members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished guests and official delegates, ladies and gentlemen – Welcome to you all.We are also privileged to have with us here today Ms Izumi Nakamitsu, the United Nations ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Disarmament and Arms ControlThe Public Advisory Committee for Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC) is holding a Parliamentary Symposium on Tuesday to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) hosted by PACDAC Chair and Under-Secretary for Disarmament and ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic DevelopmentThe Provincial Growth Fund is investing $6 million in a land-based aquaculture pilot to see whether yellowtail kingfish can be commercially farmed in Northland, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today.A recirculating land-based aquaculture system will be built and operated ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for ForestryForestry Minister Shane Jones has announced two One Billion Trees programme grants of more than $1.18 million to help hapu and iwi in Northland restore whenua and moana.“Many communities around Aotearoa have benefited from One Billion Trees funding since the programme was launched ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign AffairsAhead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to establish truth, accountability and justice for the downing of Flight MH17 ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Deputy Prime MinisterThe Government is investing $19.9 million through the Provincial Growth Fund in a game-changing hydrogen energy facility in South Taranaki, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters announced today.“The development of alternative energy initiatives like this one is vital for the Taranaki region’s economy. ...
Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Minister for Foreign AffairsForeign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says New Zealand is partnering with countries in the Pacific to ensure they are prepared for, and able to respond to the global threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19).“There are currently no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says 36 new intensive care beds at Christchurch Hospital’s new Hagley building are being fast tracked so they are available for treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Ministry of Health is working with contractor CPB and Canterbury DHB to enable access to the hospital’s ICU, ...
The Government has fast-tracked up to $1 million to help Air New Zealand move urgent freight to and from New Zealand, with the first flight to Shanghai leaving tonight, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says it’s crucial that trade in vital goods such as medical supplies and ...
New Zealand will temporarily remove tariffs on all medical and hygiene imports needed for the COVID-19 response. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker and Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said today that the New Zealand Customs Service will apply tariff concessions to all diagnostic reagents and testing ...
Minister of Finance Grant Robertson has clarified that the changes to the wage subsidy scheme announced yesterday mean that employers should be passing on the full subsidy to workers, except in the case where the person’s normal income is less than the level of the subsidy. “We still want employers ...
Medical face masks from the national reserve supply are now being distributed to District Health Boards, while at the same time local production is being ramped up. Yesterday more than 640,000 masks were sent to DHBS – that is an immediate two week supply, with more to follow in coming ...
The Government has made modifications to the wage subsidy scheme to ensure people don’t lose their jobs during the national lockdown. These changes will soften the impact of COVID-19 on workers, families and businesses, and position them to exit the lockdown and look to recovery, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. ...
Farmers whose herds were culled in response to the outbreak of Mycoplasma bovis will be able to minimise the tax treatment of their income in some circumstances. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash says Cabinet has agreed to change the law. It means farmers may be eligible to spread their income over ...
A $27 million dollar package, effective immediately, is being provided to social sector services and community groups to ensure they can continue to provide essential support to communities as we stay at home as a nation to stop the spread of COVID-19, Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni announced. “At ...
“The guilty plea today will provide some relief to the many people whose lives were shattered by what happened on March 15,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. “These guilty pleas and conviction bring accountability for what happened and also save the families who lost loved ones, those who were injured, ...
The Prime Minister is holding daily press conferences to update New Zealanders on the Government's response to COVID-19. Links to videos and transcripts of these updates below. These transcripts also include All of Government press conferences led by Director Ministry of Health's Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield. 25 March: Live update from the Prime ...
Frontline Police numbers have broken through the 10,000 mark for the first time in history as officers step forward to keep the community safe during the COVID19 lockdown. “Two Police graduations in Auckland and Wellington in the past week have been conducted in unprecedented circumstances,” Police Minister Stuart Nash said. ...
Urgent legislation has been passed to support the package of economic and social measures needed to recover from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak. “The COVID-19 Response (Taxation and Social Assistance Urgent Measures) Bill will cushion New Zealanders from the worst economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak,” said Revenue Minister ...
From tomorrow, Government support for farmers and growers affected by drought will be expanded and extended across the country, with access to Rural Assistance Payments (RAPS) available throughout the North Island, parts of the South Island and the Chatham Islands, Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced. “These challenging conditions have ...
Parliament has passed amendments to legislation that give the Secretary of Education stronger powers to act in the fight to limit the spread of COVID-19, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “They are part of a suite of changes passed under the COVID-19 Response (Urgent Management Measures) Legislation Bill,” Chris ...
Canada, Australia, Chile, Brunei and Myanmar have joined forces with New Zealand and Singapore by committing to keep supply chains open and remove any existing trade restrictive measures on essential goods, especially medical supplies, in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker today welcomed ...
Immediate freeze on rent increases Tenancies will not be terminated during the lock-down period, unless the parties agree, or in limited circumstances Tenants who had previously given notice can stay in their if they need to stay in the tenancy during the lock-down period Tenants will still be able to ...
As New Zealand unites to lock-down in the fight against COVID-19, the Finance Minister is urging all businesses and workers to stay connected over the next four weeks. “We understand the extreme pressure many businesses are under right now. I know most business owners think of their workers as family ...
A State of National Emergency has been declared across the country as the Government pulls out all the stops to curtail the spread of COVID-19. “Today we put in place our country’s second ever State of National Emergency as we fight a global pandemic, save New Zealanders’ lives and prevent ...
Mr Speaker I wish to make a Ministerial Statement under Standing Order 347 in relation to the recent declaration of a State of National Emergency. Having considered the advice of the Director Civil Defence Emergency Management, the Minister of Civil Defence declared a State of National Emergency for the whole of ...
People needing to travel on domestic flights, trains and Cook Strait ferries to get home before the country moves into level 4 lock-down tomorrow night will be able to continue using the passenger services until midnight on Friday, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. Domestic passenger services, particularly ferries, have ...
The Government, retail banks and the Reserve Bank are today announcing a major financial support package for home owners and businesses affected by the economic impacts of COVID-19. The package will include a six month principal and interest payment holiday for mortgage holders and SME customers whose incomes have been ...
Minister of Transport Phil Twyford has today announced details of the Government’s support package to keep key air freight moving and ensure New Zealanders retain access to essential goods during the four-week level 4 lockdown. “The Government is working with airlines and air freight operators to ensure New Zealand’s key ...
New Zealand moved up to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 – Restrict New Zealand to move up to COVID-19 Alert Level 4 – Eliminate, in 48 hours Two-staged approach to give people and businesses time to prepare Level 3, from tomorrow Non-essential businesses must close All events and gatherings must be ...
Good afternoon The Cabinet met this morning to discuss our next actions in the fight against COVID-19. Like the rest of the world, we are facing the potential for devastating impacts from this virus. But, through decisive action, and through working together, do we have a small window to get ...
The Government is announcing significant further support for the economy, workers and businesses as the country unites to prepare for Alert Level 4 in the fight against COVID-19. Cabinet today agreed to remove the cap on the Government’s wage subsidy scheme, which will inject a further $4 billion into the ...
The Government is backing the Reserve Bank’s latest action to support the economy by reducing longer-term interest rates, meaning lower costs for businesses and mortgage holders, and a lower currency to help our exporters. The Minister of Finance has signed a memorandum of understanding and a letter of indemnity with ...
The Government has asked the Commerce Commission to take account of the exceptional circumstances created by COVID-19 when monitoring business behaviour in coming weeks. “The purpose of my request to the Commerce Commission is to make sure businesses can work together in ways that will allow them to provide ...
The New Zealand Government has temporarily closed its High Commission in Bridgetown, Barbados and its Embassy in Yangon, Myanmar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Due to the increasing scarcity of air links in and out of Bridgetown and Yangon, and the pressure COVID-19 is placing ...
Associate Health and Whānau Ora Minister Peeni Henare has today announced the Government’s plan to support Māori communities and businesses in the face of COVID-19. “Our Government’s $12.1 billion economic package will help many Māori whānau, workers and businesses, whether it’s through wage subsidies, income support and worker redeployment, or ...
The Government and the hospitality industry have worked together to produce guidelines to assist with managing and reducing transmission of COVID-19, Health Minister David Clark announced today. The guidelines developed between the Government, Hospitality New Zealand and SkyCity Entertainment Group, set out how the new restrictions on physical distancing and ...
Four stage Alert System for COVID-19 announced New Zealand moved up to COVID-19 Alert Level 2 – Reduce Contact New Zealanders over 70 and those with certain medical conditions told to stay at home as much as they can to reduce risk of contact with the virus Workplaces to implement ...
Kia ora koutou katoa I’m speaking directly to all New Zealanders today to give you as much certainty and clarity as we can as we fight Covid-19. Over the past few weeks, the world has changed. And it has changed very quickly. In February it would have seemed unimaginable to ...
New Zealand and Singapore have jointly committed to keep supply chains open and to remove any existing trade restrictive measures on essential goods, especially medical supplies, in the face of the Covid-19 crisis. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker welcomed the commitment. “This is an important collective response, and ...
JOINT MINISTERIAL STATEMENT BY SINGAPORE AND NEW ZEALAND AFFIRMING COMMITMENT TO ENSURING SUPPLY CHAIN CONNECTIVITY AMIDST THE COVID-19 SITUATION The COVID-19 pandemic is a serious global crisis. As part of our collective response to combat COVID-19, Singapore and New Zealand are committed to maintaining open and connected supply chains. We ...
Travel restrictions, closing our border to almost all travelers came into force from 23:59 on Thursday 19 March 2020 (NZDT). All airlines were informed of these restrictions before they came into force. Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says “The transit of passengers between Australia and New Zealand has been agreed upon and ...
The Government has allocated $100 million to help redeploy workers affected by the economic impact of COVID-19, with the hard-hit region of Gisborne-Tairāwhiti to be the first helped, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford, Forestry and Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. Phil Twyford ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is ramping up support for Tairāwhiti’s wood processing sector to bolster the region’s economy at a time of heightened uncertainty, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. Following earlier announcements today of a regional support package for Tairāwhiti, Minister Jones has also announced a ...
The Coalition Government has stepped in to protect Air New Zealand with a significant financial deal that protects essential routes and allows the company to keep operating. The Government and Air New Zealand have agreed a debt funding agreement through commercial 24-month loan facilities of up to $900 million*. The ...
The Government has taken further measures to protect New Zealanders from the COVID-19 virus, effectively stopping all people from boarding a plane to New Zealand from 11:59pm today, except for returning New Zealanders, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. New Zealanders’ partners, legal guardians or any dependent children travelling with ...
The Government has reinforced its commitment to protecting the health of New Zealanders from COVID-19 through the cancellation of indoor events with more than 100 people. “Protecting the health of New Zealanders is our number one priority, and that means we need to reduce the risks associated with large gatherings,” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Hamilton, Visiting Scholar, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The A$130 billion payment will be benefit six million of Australia’s 13 million employees through their employers. It will ensure each employee kept on in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The secret sauce in the government’s A$130 billion JobKeeper payment is that it will be retrospective, in the best possible way. It’ll not only go to employers who have suffered ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michaela Pascoe, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Exercise and Mental Health, Victoria University Medicare-subsidised psychology and psychiatry sessions, as well as GP visits, can now take place via phone and video calls – if clinicians agree not to charge patients out-of-pocket costs for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Sedger, Senior Lecturer, Head of the Viruses and Cytokine Biology group in the School of Life Science, University of Technology Sydney While many scientists are working on developing a coronavirus vaccine, others are busy testing antiviral drugs. Vaccines are generally only ...
Alex Casey delivers her last power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where Lily and Lesina make their final decisions. Click here for previous instalments. Well me homies, we have reached the end of our journey together. At times it was slow, like a food tech teacher dragging his brogues through the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Morrison government will provide a flat $1,500 a fortnight JobKeeper payment per employee for businesses to retain or rehire nearly six million workers, in a massive $130 billion six-month wage subsidy scheme to limit ...
David Downs - who doesn't even drink coffee - explains his plan to ensure some favorite cafés are still around when we emerge from lockdown Are you already sick of instant coffee, and missing your morning brew? Well, while you may have to suffer barrista-withdrawal symptoms for few more weeks, moves ...
By RNZ News The Auckland girl’s secondary school Marist College has New Zealand’s biggest Covid-19 cluster with 47 confirmed and probable cases. It is the biggest cluster of infection being tracked by NZ health authorities. The board chairperson Stephen Dallow said the confirmed cases included teachers, students and adults ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Irving, Adjunct Professor, University of Technology Sydney Blood is like milk, not toilet paper. You can’t just buy a lot of it and save it for later – you need to have a regular, fresh supply for patients who need it. ...
Newsroom Pro’s Bernard Hickey and Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr zoom out to lunch to talk about the Reserve Bank’s latest move to help banks lend to corporates. The Reserve Bank announced on Monday it would lend to banks dealing with distressed corporate borrowers, opening a new weekly Open ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jacinta Carroll, Senior Research Fellow, Counter Terrorism and Social Cohesion, National Security College, Australian National University There are now nearly 300 cases of COVID-19 linked to passengers who disembarked from the Ruby Princess cruise ship without any health checks from authorities. Amid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emily Brayshaw, Lecturer, Fashion and Design History, Theory, and Thinking, University of Technology Sydney Once again, global crafting communities are stepping up to help in a crisis, sewing face masks desperately needed in American hospitals to help stop the spread of COVID-19. ...
Retailer Smiths City has reached an agreement with ASB Bank to delay a $1.5 million dollar repayment of a loan due tomorrow. It also said it is starting talks with potential investors to support the business. The company said Covid-19 has caused an unforeseen and unprecedented shock to the business, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Quentin Grafton, Director of the Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University In 1997, a bestselling book by Jared Diamond purported to explain how the West “won” world dominance based on the good luck ...
Figures from around the world show that Covid-19, while vicious and contagious, does behave like other infections, rampaging quickly through a community, hospitalising a small percentage and causing death in an even smaller percentage. The World Health ...
Video of PM Ardern’s Post Cabinet Press Conference is available here: New Zealand Labour Party - #LIVE: Post-Cabinet Press Conference 2 March 2020 Today Cabinet was focused on the response to protect NZers from COVID-19. Ardern outlined ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin To get a correct picture, we need regional data – indeed sub-regional statistics – because the virus does not respect political boundaries. Unfortunately, it is very hard to get regional data from European countries. The Johns Hopkins data – most widely used by the media (and ...
An extract from Jacinda Ardern: A New Kind of Leader, the brand new biography of the prime minister by Madeleine Chapman, formerly of this parish.Out today, Madeleine’s biography of the prime minister is magnificent. We cracked up. We had a wee cry. We’ve never read a political biography like it. Tomorrow ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Misha Ketchell, Editor & Executive Director, The Conversation You might have seen recent mediareports in various outlets of a paper, commissioned by the federal government, reporting the coronavirus advice of a group of experts from Group Of Eight universities. Dated March ...
Analysis: On the face of it, New Zealand's epidemic curve is going exponential. But are case numbers really rising for the same reasons as overseas? If you've been following any news about Covid-19 over the past three months, you've heard of The Curve. It looks, variously, like a sky-high pillar ...
MediaRoom column: A decision to block publication of community newspapers under the State of Emergency could be changed tomorrow. Tim Murphy reports. A decision to stop community newspapers from circulating in the country's suburbs, towns and settlements appears to have been an example of officials scratching their regulatory itch. On Friday, ...
A Waikato berry grower has been ordered to pay over $76,000 for employment law breaches. Olde Berry Farm has been fined $50,000 and forced to pay over $16,000 in unpaid wages and holiday pay. Its managing director, Andrew Molly, has been made personally responsible fo an additional $10,000 in penalties. ...
The Government has set up a dedicated service for reporting fears of price gouging, as Jacinda Ardern flags the expansion of "essential services" Kiwis concerned about potential price gouging at supermarkets during the coronavirus lockdown can now report the issue directly to government officials, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. Ardern ...
A new report by the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment into the ban on new petroleum exploration permits outside onshore Taranaki has been welcomed by the Petroleum Exploration and Production Association of New Zealand (PEPANZ). "This ...
The takeover offer for Abano Healthcare is off the table - a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company said the $150-million takeover scheme agreement with Adams NZ Bidco Ltd. was terminated, with no fees payable by either party, as a result as the material adverse change to the company's ...
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) contribution to the successful mission to train members of the Iraqi Security Forces to combat ISIS is at an end and the first troops from the final contingent have arrived home. Since December the NZDF has had 45 personnel ...
On Sunday it was reported there is a high demand for New Zealand Police's online form to report lockdown breaches. This news should act as a red flag, signalling the potentially corrosive effects on public trust within Aotearoa that may occur in these troubled times. Concerns have already been expressed ...
The Prime Minister is giving the latest updates on the government's fight against the impact of Covid-19 at her weekly post-Cabinet media conference. Watch live here. ...
Watch the replay of our fourth live Q&A session with Dr Ayesha Verrall, a senior lecturer at Otago University who specialises in infectious diseases. Ayesha Verrall is an infectious diseases physician and senior lecturer at Otago University's Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine (Wellington). Dr Verrall has been monitoring the spread and impact ...
Recognising how much of the burden women are carrying in this crisis - and how much they always carry - may take us closer to a society in which caring work is seen and valued for the essential work it is, writes Jess Berentson-Shaw COVID-19 has thrown a window wide ...
You’ve lost your job and your income has reduced due to the Covid-19 crisis, so how do you hold onto your home? Mortgage adviser Cameron Marcroft talks to Bonnie Sumner.Tell us about the changes you’ve seen since the lockdown began. We’ve had many enquiries coming through from both existing ...
When officials – including police themselves – don’t seem clear on the rules around movement, it makes it harder for everyone to do the right thing, writes Andrew Geddis.Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to trying to eradicate the virus that causes Covid-19 from its shores. To do that, as a ...
The EMA is urging the Government to postpone the planned significant increase to the minimum wage on Wednesday, as employers grapple with keeping their doors open amid COVID-19. Chief Executive Brett O’Riley says that while it may be politically ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Wark, Conjoint Professor, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle As the number of COVID-19 cases around the world continues to climb, hospitals are under increased pressure to provide emergency care for the most severely ill patients. What does ...
Philanthropy New Zealand will release a weekly update to share philanthropic and grantmaking activity and insight as the sector seeks to support communities in the wake of COVID-19. This update is a general public document, provided to Ministers, ...
By Elias Nanau in Port Moresby Indonesia has issued a stern warning over illegal border crossers from Papua New Guinea. This follows Indonesia stepping up its security measures at the border in response to the global Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. The First Secretary to the governor for West Sepik, Adam ...
As two staff members test positive for Covid-19, police are grappling with ways to keep their workforce safe while still enforcing the rules of the lockdown, Marc Daalder reports Two police staff have tested positive for Covid-19, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Monday, while nearly 400 others are now in self-isolation ...
The Covid-19 crisis in media has claimed New Zealand’s last surviving radio station solely dedicated to sport. Amid a wider crisis in media funding right now, the first outlet has been forced to close the doors – and it isn’t likely to return.Staff at Radio Sport have been told that the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Coates, Program Director, Household Finances, Grattan Institute New Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates paint a grim picture of the direct economic costs of public health measures to contain the spread of COVID-19, and the need for more government support ...
Tips on how television can help educate your kids, for parents who have to keep working.It feels as if a great many parents are simply flourishing during this lockdown with fairy gardens, bird song and mason jars, daily bongo drum dancing and essays written by three-year-old prodigies about how satisfying ...
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening. There were 76 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, up from the previous day's 63 new cases. Details of how many tests have been completed are now being ...
Supermarkets and some publishers are favoured by the government’s imposition of severe restrictions on what we can do and from whom we can buy during the Covid-19 lock-down. But one consumer watchdog is challenging the legality of an edict by Commerce Minister Kris Faafoi which favours supermarkets while Act leader ...
Robyn Hunt writes on the challenges facing disabled people and what needs to be done to support them as we go into lockdown, and beyond.Disabled people at higher risk need more help. Many of the almost one quarter of New Zealanders who are disabled are doing it hard as the ...
An online focus is coming back to bite newspaper companies, the Otago Daily Times’ editor says. David Williams reports. Despite advertising falling off a cliff, and its community papers dormant, the group editor of the country’s third-biggest publisher says there haven’t been layoffs and it’s unlikely any of its newspapers ...
Cabinet ministers will patch into a video conference this afternoon to discuss the Covid-19 lockdown, including complaints about high prices at supermarkets. ...
Talks will be ongoing between local leaders and Government in an effort to have them deploy both personnel and other resources to Tairāwhiti to support regional measures to contain COVID-19. Mayor Rehette Stoltz, Gisborne District Council ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union is joining calls for the Government to extend submission deadlines for Select Committees during the immediate fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. New Zealand Taxpayers' Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, "Old political ...
FIRST Union welcomes the announcements made by supermarket chains Foodstuffs and Progressive Enterprises that workers will receive lockdown pay increases but is cautioning that the details of these promises matter and all essential workers should be earning ...
By Imelda V. Abano in Manila The novel coronavirus now sweeping the globe has left many countries struggling to cope with rising numbers of infections and journalists grappling with how to best cover this evolving public health crisis. In addition to questions about how governments, health care systems and ...
The government has fast-tracked up to $1 million to help Air New Zealand move urgent freight in and out of the country - with the first flight to Shanghai leaving tonight. ...
Join Leonie Hayden as she works through the first four weeks of Scotty Morrison’s Māori Made Easy.Kia ora e te whānau, welcome to MME with me! I know a lot of us have this little green book on our shelves. Maybe you bought it and never got round to opening ...
The Free Speech Coalition is preparing to launch an urgent judicial review of the Ministry of Culture and Heritage’s decision to deem non-daily newspapers and publications not an essential service for the purposes of the COVID-19 Level-4 nationwide shutdown. ...
Increasingly concerned home support workers are worried that without adequate personal protective equipment and mandatory protocols for risk assessments, they may end up spreading COVID-19 around the homes and communities they work in. The news that 21 ...
The kiwifruit industry is fighting for survival as it tries to pick and pack the season's crop while enforcing Covid-19 restrictions. The apple industry is also predicting problems with at least 10 percent of the crop not likely to be picked. The nationwide lockdown has come right in the middle ...
The Reserve Bank is ramping up support for businesses and banks by accepting corporate debt and other assets as security for loans to banks. The latest measure is designed to pump more money into the economy through the banking system. Assistant governor Christian Hawkesby said the aim is to encourage ...
The first days of national lockdown have truly brought out the best in our social media stars. Alex Casey counts down the classics. Yesterday I got served with the Instagram notification that normally only pops up around Christmas-time. “You’re all caught up!” it chirps, “you’ve seen every post from the last ...
In our new series The Lockdown Letters, some of New Zealand’s best writers tell us what they’ve been up to in the days of Covid-19 alert level four. Today, writer and doctor Glenn Colquhoun goes full epistolary, with a letter to Hone Tūwhare – and his Travelling Band of Constant Companions.Kia ...
By John Gerritsen of RNZ News The $5 billion foreign student industry is facing a massive downturn with as many as half of this year’s enrolments now in doubt. Immigration New Zealand figures show that of 76,203 valid study visas at 15 March, 60,348 were in New Zealand, and ...
As New Zealand looks toward an uncertain future in all areas of life, Auckland school principal Claire Amos sees an opportunity to change high school education for the better. The last week has been an interesting one for school leaders. Monday arrived, it was all on – schools were closing the ...
The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report, she’s expecting the country to be restricted to visitors for some time after the lockdown period ends. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University 2019 was the year Australians confronted the fact that a healthy environment is more than just a pretty waterfall in a national park; a nice ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yale Z Wong, Research Associate, Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies, University of Sydney ZMinimising health risks has rightly been the focus of discussion during the coronavirus outbreak. This includes efforts to protect both frontline public transport employees and the travelling public. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tyler Riordan, PhD Candidate, The University of Queensland Along with home delivery of groceries, pharmaceuticals and alcohol, demand for food delivery is booming. Services such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo have become essential to cafes and restaurants that can now only sell ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nishanathe Dahanayake, PhD Candidate, Ethics/Philosophy, University of New England The coronavirus pandemic is challenging our health, work, family, food and fun. It’s also disturbing our peace of mind and forcing us to question our own existence. We are each asking our own ...
ASB sees 6 percent GDP fall in 2020; Chorus, King Salmon and Stride reassure their profits are still on track; Augusta withdraws fund on rent relief fears; US stocks slide again; US jobs data looms ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Conditions for leaving lockdown explored, nation’s first death from Covid-19 reported, and Australian govt continues to discriminate against NZers.When will the Covid-19 lockdown across New Zealand end? Short answer – when it’s actually safe to do so. Officially, the current state ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level four. The country is shut down, apart from essential services. For updated official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is funded by The Spinoff Members. To support this work, join The ...
People over 70 and those with underlying health conditions faced the lockdown four days before the rest of the country - but some of the elderly still aren't taking any notice. ...
Steve Braunias presents a photo essay of the one thing that New Zealanders are holding close to their hearts during the Lockdown: their bookshelves. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's bookcase at Premier House in Wellington. The photograph which she posted this weekend on her Instagram page reveals two novels by Elizabeth ...
Police start “initial” investigation into abuse at a notorious psychiatric hospital. David Williams reports The Government has missed a 90-day deadline for responding to a United Nations committee over torture at Lake Alice’s child and adolescent unit in the 1970s. However, in a move that might represent a glimmer of ...
Open mike 09/08/2016 
Open mike is your post.
by Phil Duncan For Marxists, a key concern about social trends is their context – not just their causes, but why they happen when they do. Events and phenomena have causes, but they also are time or period-specific. While much of the left have capitulated recently to postmodernism, most notably ...5 hours ago
Since the lockdown began, we've all suddenly been reminded who the actually essential workers in our society are: not the people at the top who pay themselves the big bucks and rort the perks, but the people at the bottom they screw over and squeeze: cleaners, warehouse staff, truck drivers ...7 hours ago
Kia ora! As I've watched nearly all my remaining work vanish over the past couple of days, it has occured to me that one good way to keep me away from arguing with fools on Twitter all the time (in the knowledge that all we're really doing is processing our ...8 hours ago
Aotearoa New Zealand has committed to trying to extirpate the virus that causes COVID-19 from its shores. To do that, as a society we’ve moved to “Level 4”. That means adapting to unprecedented restrictions on our personal freedoms, particularly to our rights to move freely and associate with friends and ...9 hours ago
. . Lock Down: Day 4 – A photo essay with observations . March 29: Usual wake up routine as RNZ snaps on my radio-clock. Jim Mora’s voice slowly enters my conciousness; there’s talk of a second wave of covid19 taking hold in South Korea; the week in Parliament – ...10 hours ago
Yesterday, New Zealand recorded its first Covid-19 related death on the West Coast. Unfortunately this is unlikely to be the only fatality, with the virus now being found in every region of the country.However despite the significant danger, people are still unfortunately breaching lockdown rules.There’s really only one main very ...10 hours ago
The kids did surprisingly well today – meltdown count was about 3, and mostly fairly short ones. (And a fourth while I was writing.) Game-wise I had a go at Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark. It’s a fairly standard RPG with turn-based combat and what they call a “mature storyline” (it ...1 day ago
by Don Franks Hi David, Nice hearing from you, I’m glad to hear you’re getting by okay in these grim times. You asked how’s it going for us back here in New Zealand. You would have heard that the whole country is locked down and with breaks for exercise and ...1 day ago
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Mar 22, 2020 through Sat, Mar 28, 2020 Articles Linked to on Facebook Sun, Mar 22, 2020 In Just 10 Years, Warming Has Increased the Odds of Disasters by Chelsea Harvey, ...2 days ago
The CV-19 (COVID) pandemic has seen the imposition of a government ordered national quarantine and the promulgation of a series of measures designed to spread the burden of pain and soften the economic blow on the most strategically important and most vulnerable sectors of society. The national narrative is framed ...2 days ago
Fortune's Children: Under extraordinary pressure, the leader of the Government and the leader of the Opposition will each show us what they are made of. Have they been blessed with intelligence, grace, wit, poise, toughness, empathy and humour – and in what measure? More importantly, to what extent have they ...3 days ago
Society-wise, aside from the specific morbidity shall we say of the medically-oriented aspects of this COVID-19 crisis, what is unfolding before the world is in more than one way an instructive study of humanity and reactions to a high intensity, high stress environment in real time. Friends, we are at ...3 days ago
Right now low waged and insecure workers are feeling the economic brunt of the looming #Covid19 Recession. In response legal advocate Toby Cooper* and hospitality and worker’s rights advocate Chloe Ann-King, are putting together a series of legal blogs about your employment rights: In this legal blog we outline some ...3 days ago
Just before midnight on Wednesday March 25, Aotearoa New Zealand entered a countrywide alert level four lockdown. For at least the next four weeks, everyone who isn’t an essential worker is confined to their bubble. We are doing this to stop the explosive growth in people contracting and dying from ...3 days ago
Kia ora my name is Chloe Ann-King* and I am the founder of Raise the Bar, a campaign and non-profit that gives free legal aid, advocacy and tautoko to hospitality workers in Aotearoa. Right now all over our country hospo workers are being fired at will, having shifts cut or being ...5 days ago
According to Newshub, Simon Bridges is open to joining a “grand coalition” with Labour as we hunker down to go into a month long lockdown. The idea is sound. Before now, the role of the opposition was to scrutinise and oppose. In the context of what almost amounts to a ...1 week ago
Kia ora my name is Chloe Ann-King* and I am the founder of Raise the Bar, a campaign and non-profit that gives free legal aid, advocacy and tautoko to hospitality workers in Aotearoa. Right now all over our country hospo workers are being fired at will, having shifts cut or ...1 week ago
A few days ago I was starting to write something about the pandemic, which now seems unconscionable. It took the form of a letter to an agony aunt:“Dear Deidre, I have an ugly confession. I am quite excited by Covid-19.”This is how the piece went:“I’m not a psychopath, honest. Although the ...1 week ago
I am a pundit, somebody who opines and comments on the news. There are no real qualifications to punditry though having a rudimentary way with words and good general knowledge helps. That is one reason there is a constant oversupply of would-be pundits and why it is quite hard to ...1 week ago
The coronavirus pandemic has of course had a major impact on individual lives and on societies as a whole. But, long after the crisis has passed (assuming it does), we will begin to realise that its real and lasting significance lies in the lessons it has taught us, if only ...1 week ago
COVID-19 has plunged Aotearoa New Zealand (indeed, the world) into territory that, while maybe not totally unprecedented, certainly hasn’t been seen during the lifetimes of most of us here today. Our borders are closed to non-citizens, we’re being told not to gather in groups of more than 500 outside/100 inside, ...1 week ago
Looking across the various arguments for/against the leading candidates to take the Democratic Nomination, you might honestly be very hard pressed to tell. There are a number of things that have now started happening since Amy Klobuchar and “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg both threw the towel in and immediately (and ...2 weeks ago
Some fave speeches: ...2 weeks ago
Many who advocated for, and voted for, the current Coalition – particularly those who voted Labour and the Green Party – expected to see a sea change in the reality of social services. A real, deep change of attitude, approach of process through which the system negotiates the difficult and ...2 weeks ago
All 45 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel are either on their way back to New Zealand, or already in the country, according to Defence Minister Ron Mark. "Twenty-eight personnel arrived back in New Zealand last week and are in isolation at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base in ...5 hours ago
The COVID-19 situation in New Zealand is moving fast - and to avoid what we've seen overseas - the Government's response must be to move fast too. We're committed to keeping New Zealanders safe and well-informed every step of the way. ...2 days ago
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The scale of what we face right now is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Overcoming it is our common purpose. ...5 days ago
Health Minister Dr David Clark says 36 new intensive care beds at Christchurch Hospital’s new Hagley building are being fast tracked so they are available for treatment of COVID-19 patients. The Ministry of Health is working with contractor CPB and Canterbury DHB to enable access to the hospital’s ICU, ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Hamilton, Visiting Scholar, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The A$130 billion payment will be benefit six million of Australia’s 13 million employees through their employers. It will ensure each employee kept on in ...26 mins ago
Alex Casey delivers her last power rankings for The Bachelorette NZ, where Lily and Lesina make their final decisions. Click here for previous instalments. Well me homies, we have reached the end of our journey together. At times it was slow, like a food tech teacher dragging his brogues through the ...2 hours ago
David Downs - who doesn't even drink coffee - explains his plan to ensure some favorite cafés are still around when we emerge from lockdown Are you already sick of instant coffee, and missing your morning brew? Well, while you may have to suffer barrista-withdrawal symptoms for few more weeks, moves ...2 hours ago
Newsroom Pro’s Bernard Hickey and Kiwibank Chief Economist Jarrod Kerr zoom out to lunch to talk about the Reserve Bank’s latest move to help banks lend to corporates. The Reserve Bank announced on Monday it would lend to banks dealing with distressed corporate borrowers, opening a new weekly Open ...4 hours ago
Retailer Smiths City has reached an agreement with ASB Bank to delay a $1.5 million dollar repayment of a loan due tomorrow. It also said it is starting talks with potential investors to support the business. The company said Covid-19 has caused an unforeseen and unprecedented shock to the business, ...5 hours ago
Figures from around the world show that Covid-19, while vicious and contagious, does behave like other infections, rampaging quickly through a community, hospitalising a small percentage and causing death in an even smaller percentage. The World Health ...5 hours ago
Analysis: On the face of it, New Zealand's epidemic curve is going exponential. But are case numbers really rising for the same reasons as overseas? If you've been following any news about Covid-19 over the past three months, you've heard of The Curve. It looks, variously, like a sky-high pillar ...5 hours ago
MediaRoom column: A decision to block publication of community newspapers under the State of Emergency could be changed tomorrow. Tim Murphy reports. A decision to stop community newspapers from circulating in the country's suburbs, towns and settlements appears to have been an example of officials scratching their regulatory itch. On Friday, ...5 hours ago
A Waikato berry grower has been ordered to pay over $76,000 for employment law breaches. Olde Berry Farm has been fined $50,000 and forced to pay over $16,000 in unpaid wages and holiday pay. Its managing director, Andrew Molly, has been made personally responsible fo an additional $10,000 in penalties. ...5 hours ago
The Government has set up a dedicated service for reporting fears of price gouging, as Jacinda Ardern flags the expansion of "essential services" Kiwis concerned about potential price gouging at supermarkets during the coronavirus lockdown can now report the issue directly to government officials, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced. Ardern ...6 hours ago
The takeover offer for Abano Healthcare is off the table - a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company said the $150-million takeover scheme agreement with Adams NZ Bidco Ltd. was terminated, with no fees payable by either party, as a result as the material adverse change to the company's ...6 hours ago
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says while she has found no evidence of price gouging, the public will be able to to report any they see. ...6 hours ago
On Sunday it was reported there is a high demand for New Zealand Police's online form to report lockdown breaches. This news should act as a red flag, signalling the potentially corrosive effects on public trust within Aotearoa that may occur in these troubled times. Concerns have already been expressed ...6 hours ago
Watch the replay of our fourth live Q&A session with Dr Ayesha Verrall, a senior lecturer at Otago University who specialises in infectious diseases. Ayesha Verrall is an infectious diseases physician and senior lecturer at Otago University's Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine (Wellington). Dr Verrall has been monitoring the spread and impact ...6 hours ago
Recognising how much of the burden women are carrying in this crisis - and how much they always carry - may take us closer to a society in which caring work is seen and valued for the essential work it is, writes Jess Berentson-Shaw COVID-19 has thrown a window wide ...7 hours ago
You’ve lost your job and your income has reduced due to the Covid-19 crisis, so how do you hold onto your home? Mortgage adviser Cameron Marcroft talks to Bonnie Sumner. Tell us about the changes you’ve seen since the lockdown began. We’ve had many enquiries coming through from both existing ...7 hours ago
As two staff members test positive for Covid-19, police are grappling with ways to keep their workforce safe while still enforcing the rules of the lockdown, Marc Daalder reports Two police staff have tested positive for Covid-19, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said Monday, while nearly 400 others are now in self-isolation ...8 hours ago
How is Covid-19 spreading within the country? Newsroom is collating information as it's available to paint a picture of what's happening. There were 76 new cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand, up from the previous day's 63 new cases. Details of how many tests have been completed are now being ...9 hours ago
Supermarkets and some publishers are favoured by the government’s imposition of severe restrictions on what we can do and from whom we can buy during the Covid-19 lock-down. But one consumer watchdog is challenging the legality of an edict by Commerce Minister Kris Faafoi which favours supermarkets while Act leader ...9 hours ago
An online focus is coming back to bite newspaper companies, the Otago Daily Times’ editor says. David Williams reports. Despite advertising falling off a cliff, and its community papers dormant, the group editor of the country’s third-biggest publisher says there haven’t been layoffs and it’s unlikely any of its newspapers ...9 hours ago
Cabinet ministers will patch into a video conference this afternoon to discuss the Covid-19 lockdown, including complaints about high prices at supermarkets. ...9 hours ago
The kiwifruit industry is fighting for survival as it tries to pick and pack the season's crop while enforcing Covid-19 restrictions. The apple industry is also predicting problems with at least 10 percent of the crop not likely to be picked. The nationwide lockdown has come right in the middle ...11 hours ago
The Reserve Bank is ramping up support for businesses and banks by accepting corporate debt and other assets as security for loans to banks. The latest measure is designed to pump more money into the economy through the banking system. Assistant governor Christian Hawkesby said the aim is to encourage ...11 hours ago
Supermarkets are set to open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday as the Government places extra scrutiny on their behaviour and pricing. ...13 hours ago
The Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told Morning Report, she’s expecting the country to be restricted to visitors for some time after the lockdown period ends. ...13 hours ago
ASB sees 6 percent GDP fall in 2020; Chorus, King Salmon and Stride reassure their profits are still on track; Augusta withdraws fund on rent relief fears; US stocks slide again; US jobs data looms ...15 hours ago
Steve Braunias presents a photo essay of the one thing that New Zealanders are holding close to their hearts during the Lockdown: their bookshelves. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's bookcase at Premier House in Wellington. The photograph which she posted this weekend on her Instagram page reveals two novels by Elizabeth ...16 hours ago
Police start “initial” investigation into abuse at a notorious psychiatric hospital. David Williams reports The Government has missed a 90-day deadline for responding to a United Nations committee over torture at Lake Alice’s child and adolescent unit in the 1970s. However, in a move that might represent a glimmer of ...16 hours ago
This article shows the dire state of journalism in New Zealand in 2016.
Claire Trevett, hang your head in shame.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11689574
an amusing/sarcastic summary of FJK’s screwups and peculiarities. not the usual pro FJK drivel, but not too critical either.
That’s the way I read it to, even the worms are turning on key (in a gentle please don’t get me fired way)
Trevett loves Key.
Interesting to see how keen Key is on Clark’s bid for the top UN job. The government is even funding her bid for the job. Clearly there are no significant political difference between Key and Clark.
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2016/08/03/helen-clarks-un-bid-maori-party-leaders-note-the-empress-has-no-clothes/
Alan Duff – “aspiration” – Huh !
Let’s not miss either the straw man in this ‘Duffer’ – “Many cultures across the world have suffered horrible cruelties but haven’t all become killers and thieves.”
So ALL Maori are that bad are they Alan ? Really ?
What I see is a point of difference wank to rival Henry and Hosking. Not deserving of much respect in my book.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11689621
What a rambling and incoherent article.
The conclusions Duff reaches from a group of girls stealing from a dairy are quite ridiculous.
The Herald and the establishment needs useful idiots.
Alan Duff has always been full of right wing drivel.
oh wow, i can see why the herald would not allow comments.
Its funny Duff man wouldn’t be having this dilemma if we got a giant vacuum cleaner and sucked up everyones money in the country. Why would you go and steal tobacco then? Just shows lack of money has massive ramifications through society, and we seem perfectly ok with that.
You and paul up at sparrows fart hammering away at your keyboards in your undies lol and obviously before your brains were in gear !!!
alan duffs credentials are secure and he really neednt worry too much about youre silly comparisons with hoskings and henry sayes more about youre own lack of perspective than his .
I f you wanna believe the same old tired claptrap that the substantive reason for the amount of violence within maori cullture is a direct result of colonization its up to you but shows a slavish dependence on pc pap rather than logical deduction i.m.h.o.
Perhaps you should consider READING a book north.
Funny how colonised peoples end up on the bottom of the head eh brainy. Duff is one dimensional. You appear to be getting up to that level perhaps with more critical thinking application.
Damn right they are – as a pre-bankruptcy fugitive who stiffed his creditors, the piece of shit diddled one woman of an age out of $424,000, while living and working in the style he deemed appropriate for himself and his family.
Well he wouldnt be the first person to come a cropper from delving into property developement an i doubt he’ll be the last either and so what if he was made bankrupt lots of people have made good after becoming bankrupt and he may do also .
Alan duff gave us Once were warriors and books in homes thats good enough for me . His personal relationships are none of my business.
Thanks for the beautiful pics of france from the “working ” link what wonderfull creative souls must have built such special places !!makes nz seem like a hick town .
Weston you’re a dick. You have absolutely no knowledge of my educational level……I can tell you however that it did occasion intimate familiarity with ‘books’, over some years. And with far, far better grammar, diction and results I daresay, than you seem capable of.
Duff is one of those stinking kupapa Maori. Not much better than the white trash I suspect you to be…….if we’re going to address “undies” at dawn.
[citation needed]
the academic literature doesn’t support your claim at all.
Citation for what ropata ? You got “citation ” for your claim of “academic literature “? Im sure the list is long … very long…but thats part of the problem i.m.h.o.
holy fuck keys lost it he was just on henry saying we don’t need Labours very popular kiwi build because the private sector is going to build 100,000 houses in the next 3 years instead of labours 10. please remind him of this Mr Littlewhen he says labour can’t get it done
FJK is going to solve the housing crisis with bullshit? Hasn’t worked yet…
I believe some african villages build houses out of that very thing so maybe keys onto something.
Softening us up for awarding a large contract to China – complete with imported overseas workers to produce the next leaky building crisis?
Probably.
I hear that if you build them with the new flexible steel china makes they’ll stand up to a 8 earth quake.
One of the reasons the Union movement is in serious decline around the Western World.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/08/secret-life-trade-union-employee-work-benefits-workers-rights
Ooooh, the politics of envy, Gossie! The funny thing is that the writer accurately describes what most TS readers imagine your working day to be. ie coffee, pissing about on the internet, not achieving anything worthwhile … I note this is not written by a union official, so doesn’t actually say anything about the work unions do. Just a disgruntled grunt venting.
Anonymous, eh? Seems legit.
Yes because the Guardian is a rabid anti-worker rag.
The Guardian is the paper of liberal urbanistas who like to think they are progressive whilst quietly being quite happy with winning from neoliberalism.
The veneer of the Guardian being genuinely left wing has been brutally ripped away by it’s repsonse to two events of actual popular democracy that ran against the comfortable received wisdom of it’s journalists and commentators.
First, the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader saw the Guardian do a complete melt down. It’s defence of the established Blairite order is hysterical. In fact, it is so OTT that the paper has almost certainly suffered mortal damage to it’s reputation.
The Guardians extreme position in defence of the 1990s Blairist PLP consensus is actually quite sinister when you couple it with how closely aligned with the anti-Corbyn plotters the Labour Friends of Israel group is, and how the Guardian carefully controls it’s coverage of the middle east. Future historians will surely unravel exactly how active an agent Israel has been in managing to plant such favourable fifth columns of supporters at the very top of democratic parties in the West.
Secondly, the reaction to the Brexit vote was astonishingly elitist and anti democratic. The line from the Guardian was some kind of mistake had occurred, the chavs and prols were too ignorant to count, that the result should be somehow overturned, and that never again should the popular vote be used to decide anything. If you are a student of history who puzzles over how dictatorships come to pass then it would repay studying just how thin the veneer of respect for democracy actually is in the urban liberal elites when their will is contradicted by their social inferiors, even in a country as supposedly democratic as the UK.
The Guardian has also showed its colours over Israel, Scotland and the Ukraine.
And in their treatment of Assange, Greenwald, Appelbaum and Poitras.
At least its veneer has been removed and it’s now been revealed for what it is. Just another pillar of the establishment.
As a matter of interest, what sources do you use to keep abreast of news from Britain?
but but
we don’t have the resources
all our builders are stretched thin
and the councils are not helping
and and and and
oh the poor dear, someone quickly help him to a ponytail, he needs some stress relive
.
Emmerson nails it with “John Key Pied Piper” Kiwis want to be rid of rats, stoats and pests
I am staying with my family just now, and they listen to the Edge in the morning. Christ almighty, how do people listen to such puerile, infantile drivel every fucking day of their life?
It’ll do you good.
They had some no name on just now having a blokey chat about who he’d shag amongst our female olympians, it is all humour you understand. So much for feminism.
Sexism is a bit more subtle on Morning Report. I heard Guyon discussing Trump’s campaign this morning. Apparently Trump is going for the women’s vote with tax deductible child care. Oh right, that must be because child care is just a woman’s responsibility.
Not in the same league as the misogynist offensive shit on commercial stations, but still showing how ingrained attitudes to women’s roles are, even in some educated men
And can you believe it, despite all this 40% to 45% of College educated American women still refuse to support Hillary in this coming election. Gender traitors and failed feminists all.
THAT is a pretty horrible comment – shame on you.
Shame on these 40% to 45% of College educated women who still refuse to support Hillary Clinton knowing the stakes if Trump gets in because of their misjudgement.
Madeline Albright, a woman who helped lead the way into the top levels of US Government said it best earlier this year when she was campaigning for Clinton:
“There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help each other,” she said.
Gloria Steinem, veteran feminist leader, went further and accused young women who did not back Hillary Clinton of being too immature and too interested in chasing men to vote the right (Clinton) way.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/08/us/politics/gloria-steinem-madeleine-albright-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders.html?_r=0
You have no right on any level to direct that nasty slur upon women you deem failed feminists and gender traitors. Trumpitis is making you stink.
These are the very sentiments of the Washington glass breaking feminists and Clinton supporters, Albright and Steinem. I’m only repeating them. And I don’t need you to define my rights for me thanks.
Nobody defined your rights.
Marty just described the odour that you emit when you appropriate comments you don’t believe about issues you don’t understand in order to support a presidential candidate you cannot defend without concern-trolling.
As usual you know best eh – repeating them to bait and offer snideness – such meager fair.
Everyone can read the New York Times link for themselves and see what Clinton supporters Albright and Steinem think about those women who refuse to vote Hillary.
McFlock nailed it – you’ve got nothing.
That’s a strange statement laeced with helpings of agenda bias of its own
The comments posted by Colonial Viper are perfectly relevant in context
Choosing to not see the relevance doesn’t make it disappear
So many ostriches
On ya CV. I don’t give any credence to anyone who says you have to vote for Hillary because she is a woman. To all you others I despise Trump too.
But CV doesn’t despise Trump. He loves Trump. Trump’s an ‘opportunity’ for CV. To flaunt his bitter weirdness about the NZLP. Which is making TS (where CV figures) quite unreadable frankly. Do you have the slightest idea of how risibly playschool and infantile you make look your vaunted, pure, impeccable, omnipresent leftness CV ? Obviously not. You continue to lather, self righteously. Pain in the arse who adds nothing I’m sorry. In contrast to the person who always added heaps when he wasn’t obssessed and bitter.
“Shame on these 40% to 45% of College educated women who still refuse to support Hillary Clinton knowing the stakes if Trump gets in because of their misjudgement.”
Citation for all of that please.
WTF have your anti-Clinton feelings got to do with my comment about a New Zealand male journalist/presenter expressing the view that child care is a women’s issue?
Excuse me, but child care is an issue for PARENTS, you know mothers AND fathers.
But no, you can’t let a chance go by to make yourself heard.
Thanks CV (sarc)
Just another example of shouting women down when we speak up against sexism.
If you think you can be shouted down on an internet forum, you can always fight back by typing faster or using the caps lock.
Any comment on child care, or are you just here to make snide remarks?
I’m clearly in an irritating and contrarian mood, as has been pointed out to me. Going to take a tiny break off The Standard. Enjoy the afternoon. Bright and sunny down here in Dunedin.
This’ll cheer you up, CV
http://dark-mountain.net/blog/finding-strength-in-stones/
A gift that was much appreciated, thanks Robert.
Which actually means taking a tiny break off yourself CV. Excellent !
CV You ask,,” Can you believe it?”
Answer- No! Why would we?
Come up with raw data..not manicured percentages.
So the UK PLP and the NEC have lost again in the courts, and Corbyn supporters have swept the ticket on elections for the NEC
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/08/labour-must-allow-all-members-leadership-vote-court-rules
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/high-court-rules-new-labour-members-can-vote-in-leadership-contest-a7178791.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-to-appeal-high-court-ruling-that-new-members-should-have-right-to-vote-in-leadership-election-a7179066.html
Everytime they go to court they lose. Of course, the PLP and the NEC refuse to allow reality to intrude, and they plan to appeal, despite being more or less told it will be pointless.
Given the attitude of utter delusional denial and complete arrogance from the Blairites, I fully expect they’ll actually go for the nuclear option and split the party, and probably try and seize the party assets and name in yet another long and damaging legal process they will lose. The Blairites really are a Tory fifth column.
Who would trust the Blairites to lead the UK after these fiascos?
They were always going to lose this case and the previous one brought by the Blairite donor. Incompetent, and no conception of fairness or democracy.
the blairites are just following orders from their financial backers. seems like the current plan is to blow themselves up and take the whole Labour Party with them
Sanctuary: No Right Turn reports that:
“Labour has decided to appeal a High Court ruling, passed down on Monday which suggested the party’s governing body had illegally barred 130,000 people from voting in the leadership election.”
Incredible. I suppose like our Government shopping around until they get the answer that they want, so are the UK Labour Party shopping for a sympathetic Court.
How would a Trump presidency affect NZ foreign policy?
http://readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2016/08/trump-pacific-and-unintended.html
Thanks Scott. This fits with cv’s view. I am not in agreement because I just don’t think trump will do much of what he has promised once the realities of the seat hit home.
Like most “Trump good” analyses, it relies on omitting Trump policies that the author disagrees with.
In this case, the author talks about Trump wanting to lower US expenditure on NATO and pivot/withdraw away from Asian deployments. The author does not mention that Trump was the NATO expenditure to be made up by the 28 or so NATO states that are currently not spending 4% of their GDP on defense, as mandated during the Cold War. He still sees increasing numbers of US-made tanks on Russia’s borders, just with different flags painted on them.
More concerning is his solution to withdrawing from Korea and Japan while ensuring that they are still under a nuclear umbrella: ditching the non-proliferation treaty and pressuring Japan and South Korea to develop their own nuclear weapons. This will simply result in a quid-pro-quo by the Russians and Chinese, who will export nuclear weapon technology as a means of gaining especially favoured allies in Africa, Asia and maybe South America. Only Russia and China will do it to expand their influence, while little-fingers-on-little-hands would be doing it to try to reduce its influence.
As for NZ having an independent foreign policy, international politics are schoolyard rules: the weak kid with no big friends gets bullied. With a Trump presidency, we’re fucked in trade and regional influence.
With a Trump presidency, we’re fucked in trade and regional influence
As Trump has no history in politics at any level, your statement is completely baseless
Which is why I assume posters such as CV might be prepared to take the chance of the ‘unknown’
Without a track record of action, all we have are his words.
My point was that this means one has to examine all his words, even the stupid ones. Especially the stupid ones.
The man is a foreign policy minnow, as you admit, and sharks swim in those global waters.
Well, none other than the numerous expressions of interest and that one time he was considered as a running mate and that other time when he actually had a tilt at the Presidency.
But chin up, chump, I’m sure you’ll do better next time.
//
Involvement in politics, 1988–2015
Trump first expressed interest in running for office in 1987, when he spent $100,000 to place full page ads critiquing U.S. defense policy in several newspapers.[230][231]
Trump floated the idea of running for president in 1988, 2004, and 2012, and for Governor of New York in 2006 and 2014, but did not enter those races.[232][233] He was considered as a potential running mate for George H. W. Bush on the Republican Party’s 1988 presidential ticket but lost out to future Vice President Dan Quayle. There is dispute over whether Trump or the Bush camp made the initial pitch.[234]
In 1999, Trump filed an exploratory committee to seek the presidential nomination of the Reform Party in 2000.[235][236] A July 1999 poll matching him against likely Republican nominee George W. Bush and likely Democratic nominee Al Gore showed Trump with seven percent support.[237] Trump eventually dropped out of the race due to party infighting, but still won the party’s California and Michigan primaries after doing so.[238][239][240][241]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump#Involvement_in_politics.2C_1988.E2.80.932015
Not sure if details already given last night but:
The full poll results are: Labour 32.7% + Greens 11.5% = 44.2%. National 45.1%. New Zealand First 8.1%
Women’s Rugby 7 win Silver loosing to Australia in Final. Pretty good! Congratulations.
NZ hits > then 90 % of renewable electricity generation feb to july.
Mostly due to hydro levels being 140% of capacity.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1608/S00257/new-zealand-heads-towards-90-renewable-generation.htm
Oh good, we can look forward to high renewable power generation in the years that there is a lot of rain on the divide in the autumn. How often does that happen? 😉
h =0.7
what?
Now this looks interesting for the Auckland mayoralty
Tweets by _chloeswarbrick
Or maby no so
http://www.chloeforauckland.co.nz/#/housing-rates-policy/
“I propose a rates calculation based on one thing alone:
Land Value”
The Herald uses the Olympics to foster hostility.
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11689854
Ajamu Baraka – I like this guy. Glad he is VP for the Greens. Talks about people’s agency and alternative power.
Uber.
So dodgy even Simon Bridges criticises them.
This tax evading multinational needs to be shown the door.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/310512/uber-'mocking'-nz-laws-transport-minister
I have the utmost respect for Cornel West
http://www.cornelwest.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornel_West
Great interview, looks like the Greens convention is going well. Lots of ideas being discussed and lots of really good people involved.
From Aljazeera …
Israel’s dirty, shameful little secret. Abducting, selling and giving away Arab babies to Israeli Jews in the 1950s! Sickening!
Yet to criticize Israel for anything, invites accusations of antisemitism! The rest of the world needs to wake up to exactly what Israel is … a rogue nation, rotten to its core!
This one is about as disgraceful as it gets.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/08/shocking-story-israel-disappeared-babies-160803081117881.html
mary_a one way to fight zionism, and not get sucked into a debate about anti semitism is to use good language.
For example: You could have said “Abducting, selling and giving away Arab babies to Israeli citizens in the 1950s! Sickening!”
Thereby making it squarely about the state of Israel and the nature of zionism as a failed project on so many levels. Instead you opened yourself up to a anti-semitic criticism by saying “Israeli Jews”.
Zionism is not Judaism, and to criticize an ideology is not criticising a people. No matter how much these zealots want that to be the case.
Well said.
Especially as this appears to be good old fashioned colonial racism – the babies were taken from Jewish families who were Arab and given to Jewish couples who were European, by a state led by Europeans. Another Stolen Generation.
They were pretty damn good at good old fashioned xenophobia, too.
“Soaps”
A nickname coined by the Sabras during the 1948 War of Independence, a relic of the soap industry that developed in the death camps (a tale that probably has no grounding in reality). The nickname portrayed the “Holocaust Remnants” as pale, cowardly and weak, as compared to the tanned, brawny and heroic Sabras. They called the survivors cakes of soap.
But during WWII, the tanned Sabras evaded service and even digging ditches. Being citizens of the British Mandate, they were not obligated to enlist. There were indeed some who volunteered and enlisted for combat duty in the British army, but the vast majority found ways to evade combat. Some did so in a “Zionist” manner, others just shirked the responsibility and acted for their own benefit.
The fallen soldiers of the 1948 War of Independence were: 3000 of the original settlement, which consisted of 600,000 individuals, and 3000 “soap” soldiers, derived from a population of 60,000 men and women who immigrated to Israel in 1941-1948. These “cakes of soap” comprised 5% of the population, while the figure of those in service from the old settlement was 0.5%.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2016/06/15/the-holocaust-and-zionisms-broken-oath/
Nah, they’re doing way worse shit.
A few months ago, I reported here on the case of Baby Adele, the Palestinian infant who was essentially stolen by the Israeli welfare ministry from her biological mother and father. To recap the sad tale, Daniela Vaknin, who was raised in a troubled Jewish home, married a Palestinian man. Together they had a baby they named Adele.
But they had a problem. Or I should say they were a problem. Israel officially disapproves of miscegenation. The idea of a Jewish woman marrying an Arab is a social phenomenon that Israeli racialists like Bentzi Gopstein and his terror group, Lehava, rail against.
[…]
The welfare ministry awarded Adele to an ultra-Orthodox couple as foster parents, with the intent of moving to adoption as soon as possible. But there was a minor fly in the ointment. The foster couple divorced. Then officials had a quandary: you cannot award a child to a single parent. But they fixed that quick by finding a new woman for him to marry. Now the new couple has resumed the adoption process and it is close to finalized.
But Daniela still believes she has a chance to redeem Adele from the social welfare system. Before she gave birth, she went before a Sharia court (an officially-recognized Israeli State body) and attested to judges that she had converted to Islam. As far as Israeli law is concerned, after their approval she was officially recognized as Muslim.
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2016/05/26/baby-adele-stolen-by-israeli-welfare-ministry-from-israeli-palestinian-couple-placed-for-orthodox-adoption/
Who doesn’t think Netanyahu and the upper echelon Zionists are but Nazis ? And who doesn’t think that callow Israeli teenagers who viciously define Palestinians as “not even human”, saying they deserve death, are but followers of Zionist Nazis ?
Households went through $4 million of extra power over the weekend.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/82945808/wintry-blast-could-prove-expensive-for-businesses-households
Who is spying on who?…and why?
‘One bug to rule them all: ‘State-supported’ Project Sauron malware attacks world’s top PCs’
https://www.rt.com/news/355165-sauron-malware-cyber-espionage/
“Two top electronic security firms have discovered a new powerful malware suite being used to target just dozens of high-value targets around the world. The research shows that it was likely developed on the orders of a government engaging in cyber espionage.
The California-based Symantec has labeled the group behind the attack Strider, while Moscow-based Kaspersky Labs dubbed it ProjectSauron. Both are references to J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a nod to the fact that the original malware code contained the word “Sauron.”…
https://www.rt.com/news/353990-russia-cyber-attack-hackers/
https://www.rt.com/usa/353840-us-intelligence-hyperventilation-dnc-hack/
A patient story regarding Medical Cannabis, this time from one of your own readership here at the standard.
http://mcawarenessnz.org/2016/08/09/chronic-pain-edge-society/
can you say why they stopped using cannabis?
Commented the other day on Trump’s mental instability.
Now he’s saying Clinton is mentally unstable, complete with his idiotic artificial TV induced hand gestures and insincere body language.
Pots and kettles abound. He really is a raving loony. God save America! …God.. are you bloody listening?
lol…looking like the GOP are increasingly agreeing with you….
“On Thursday a long list of GOP national security hands wrote a letter saying Trump would be “the most reckless president in American history” and that electing him in November would but the nation’s security at risk. Some of the 50 signatories said they’d vote for Clinton while others deemed it better to abstain from voting entirely. But all were in fundamental agreement on one main point: “Trump is not qualified and would be dangerous.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/08/trump-national-security-neocons-freaking-out-republicans