Question: I notice changing my name means posts go into moderation. I’d like the mods to enjoy their Sunday. Is this a prob for them or is there some guidance on the best way to do this without dropping into moderation?
[lprent: It is the best defense against trolls. They have to write a coherent comment and have it accepted by a moderator before they can write comments freely. It also makes it difficult fo astroturfers to construct a range of identities. The alternative route is the kiwiblog one where a login is required. ]
Head of Jewish Defence League UK supports Anders Breivik, says victims “not innocent”
Written by Brit Dee Thursday, 19 April 2012 14:16
Roberta Moore, who was intimately connected to the anti-Muslim English Defence League (EDL) and continues to run their Jewish Division’s Facebook page, has expressed her support for Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik – and described his teenage victims as being “not innocent”.
In a post made on April 17th to the Jewish Defence League UK Blogger site, believed to be run by Moore and supported by comments posted in her name on Facebook, she describes the Norwegian court as a “kangaroo court”, asks whether a “man like Breivik in a case such as this surely deserves a better trial than that?”, refers to the “Leftist slander constantly being thrown to undermine him and his views”, and defends him against charges of child murder by parroting Breivik’s defence that his victims were young adults, attending an “indoctrination camp”, who were “not innocent”. A comment attributed to Moore states
I hold the same amount of sympathy for the [sic] those on Utoya as I would if somebody committed this act on a Hitler Youth camp in the 1940’s, or were they just “children” as well?
Such offensive comments will no doubt prove awkward for the EDL, who have recently been attempting to change their image as a group of thuggish racists, by repeatedly stating that they stand firmly against violence and extremism.
Whilst Moore claimed to have left the EDL in June last year, she was until then closely connected to the group’s leadership and inner circle, with whom she apparently maintained contact after her departure. She even reportedly helped EDL leader Stephen Lennon (a.k.a. “Tommy Robinson”) attend an EDL demonstration in September last year – from which he had been banned, resulting in his arrest for breach of bail conditions – by smuggling him in dressed as a rabbi.
Moore is also said to be friends with shadowy EDL financier and strategist Alan Ayling (a.k.a. “Alan Lake”), a wealthy businessman who was recently suspended from his management post at a major international development bank, after the discovery of his real identity. A disaffected founding member of the EDL named Paul Ray has confirmed that Ayling was present at the first 2009 meeting of the group, which actually took place in Ayling’s expensive London flat.
Ayling has admitted funding the EDL, and whilst he publically condemned Breivik’s attack he also described it as “chickens come home to roost”. Other disturbing comments made by Ayling on his “4Freedoms” website include his suggestion in July last year that David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, be executed.
If Moore is no longer connected to the EDL, then it is surprising that the Facebook page she operates still carries their….
Why is it anti-semitic to note the irony of far right Zionists and neofascists making common cause against Muslims? I’ve seen many examples of it, especially on Facebook groups about Palestine/Israel, where it is possible to see who someone’s friends are and which causes someone has liked. When fascism reappears wrapped in the Star of David, as it is with much of the Israeli fascist right, I for one will not ignore it because of the danger of being called anti-semitic.
Long article on just how much tracking the private sector does. It truly does make what the government knows about people seem inconsequential in comparison.
And some bright sparks in Birmingham, as part of a doctoral thesis I think, have created an algorithm that takes all such data and predicts where you’ll be next.
With the growth in mobile apps and GPS tagged events it’s a stalkers best friend.
WSJ quote:
“In the past, tracking companies and retailers had a tougher time identifying online users. Today, a single Web page can contain computer code from dozens of different ad companies or tracking firms. These separate chunks of code often share information with each other.”
You are onto it! And that is only “some” of what goes on!
Those that love Facebook and use that social media are largely blind and ignorant of what happens with their information.
And Google (incl. “google ads”) is virtually EVERYWHERE!
I have been checking some browsing history again and again, and also observing what scripts are instantly activated in the background on websites is truly very, very worrying.
But how do you know, what the government’s or rather state’s agencies are already doing? They may be up to more than so many think.
1984 was once “fiction”, but give it a few more years, and we will be right in the midst of such scenarios.
Tetraplegic Semisi Ma’afu Samiu, injured here in 2006, has been declined New Zealand residency and is being deported to Tonga. It’s expected that his life span will be diminished because the care available in New Zealand is not available in Tonga. But that’s no enough for our officialdom:
[ACC] provided a motorised wheelchair, the bed and a hoist to move between the two. If he left New Zealand, that equipment would remain here.
—-
Last month, Samiu agreed to obey a directive from Immigration NZ and return to Tonga, but when he discovered ACC’s equipment would have to stay he called it off.
So not just his life expectancy, but the things that make his life, and the tasks of his carers, bearable in his remaining years. Surely this is a case for a bit of consideration.
Rosey, this is outrageous, and IMO, far from petty, instead vicious and callous, if not racist as well.
And this under a National Government that without any hesitation generously paid out $100,000,000 dollars to the rich and white Roger Kerr to cover his losses after he blew his $70 million investment in South Canturbury Finance.
Is this justice? Is this fair? Does this sort of ammoral iniquitous double standard make any sort of economic or moral sense?
War against the poor, more like.
A campaign of appeals and protest on behalf of this man and his family needs to be directed to the Minister.
A complaint against the miserable and heartless bureaucrat that has effectively sentenced Semisi Samiu to a degrading and cruel death should also be actioned.
Failing all that, I for one would be happy to put my body between any police contigent sent by Terri Bentley to drag this wounded man from his bed and dump him into on airplane.
Hi Jenny; You mean the Business Round Table, Rodger Kerr? and his $70 million of Hubbard’s South Canterbury Finance? and of course Rodger helped to set up Local Government New Zealand. And of course their buddies in the Nat Govt. are selling off our sovereignty in the TPPA negotiations. I’m joining the dots here.
And I don’t think a mere dysmocratic election will solve this!!!!!
How the hell is it that somebody can be in NZ for at least six years and not have residency? And if his daughter has residency, then why doesn’t he qualify on the basis of his daughters’ status? And what is his wifes status? Meanwhile, isn’t deliberately putting somebody in harms way contrary to some aspect of human rights legislation? Lost for words really…
In the meantime it seems like the slaves are slacking off and the beatings will continue until productivity rises:
If so, you’re one of New Zealand’s “lost souls”, the people identified in a workplace productivity survey as our biggest time-wasters – losing 21 per cent of the day.
It never occurs to the nit-wit who wrote this bit of puffery that 100% ‘on-task’ productivity is impossible and dangerous, nor does the research quoted seem to track how much these people actually get done; that personal productivity and patterns of work are highly variable.
After all if one person gets twice as much done in a week as another, who cares if they spend more ‘downtime’ in anyone day?
Oh the irony!
“Embrace of a killer: Former IRA terrorist Martin McGuinness greets Hillary Clinton”
Just who deserves the title of “Butcher” and “Terrorist” more? McGuinness or Clinton?
There’s nothing “Former” about Clinton’s terrorism or butchery.
Embrace of a killer: Former IRA terrorist Martin McGuinness greets Hillary Clinton…
If Hillary Clinton had any misgivings about exchanging a kiss and a handshake with a man who used to be known as the Butcher of Bogside, she did a very good job of hiding them.
The US Secretary of State was all smiles as she met former IRA terrorist and Ulster’s deputy first minister Martin McGuinness when she arrived in Belfast for her eighth visit to the province.
Her visit comes as rioting broke out across Belfast tonight after hundreds of loyalists took to the streets to protest over flags…
…Mrs Clinton said: ‘There will always be disagreement in democratic societies, but violence is never an acceptable response. All need to confront the remaining challenge of sectarian divisions, peacefully together.’…
Look at who wrote it. Paul Little is one of the lickspittle regulars who used to appear on Paul Holmes’s pisspoor radio show on Saturday mornings. He delivered anodyne reviews of books, which Holmes had usually read himself anyway, and far more perceptively.
On one infamous occasion, Little attempted to ingratiate himself by calling Holmes “Sir Paul”.
Holmes, contemptuous of the display of self-debasement by his underling, sneered: “Oh yes, ha ha ha, you know what to say, don’t you.”
So Paul Little’s byline on any article is a virtual guarantee that it’s going to be shoddy and third-rate.
Why don’t you put your opinion onto the comments section below the article?
Eagle-eyed readers will have spotted the grievous error committed by this writer (i.e., moi) in comment number 8.1, in which I wrote….
Holmes, contemptuous of the display of self-debasement by his underling, sneered: “Oh yes, ha ha ha, you know what to say, don’t you.”
Of course, the compound word “self-debasement” is not what I meant to write. The word I should have used was “self-abasement”.
So that sentence now reads…
Holmes, contemptuous of the display of self-abasement by his underling, sneered: “Oh yes, ha ha ha, you know what to say, don’t you.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Self-abasement: voluntary self-punishment or humiliation in order to atone for some real or imagined wrongdoing, or to curry favour with someone who holds you in contempt.
Using a technology known as augmented reality, which overlays real world images with digital ones, these windshields could display driving directions, text messages or impending hazards, all without requiring drivers to take their eyes off the road.
Although it would a neat technology one does wonder why they’d even bother considering that we already have self-drive cars that will be much safer.
A year on from a stonking election result (which gave them an extra four MPs) the latest Fairfax Media/Ipsos poll shows the Greens have dropped from 11.9 per cent to 10.5 per cent.
Disappointing, for sure. But what should worry them more are shifting attitudes to the environment. Just 5 per cent rated the environment or climate change as the number one issue facing the country. Even among Green supporters, the economy and rising jobless rates are more important above saving the planet.
Just 16 per cent of those who vote Green talked to our pollsters about the environment. Mining figured even less – just 2 per cent brought it up – and only one person raised fracking. Even more telling is that more than half (55.8 per cent) of our respondents agreed with the statement: “For the sake of the economy, we should focus less on climate change – we’re too small to make much difference anyway.”
But why would Green supporters and voters talk about climate change when the Green Party itself is playing it down?
Alongside Labour, the Greens’ strategy for 2013 is to turn up the heat on job creation. They’ll start it with a cross-party manufacturing inquiry in the new year and a focus on monetary policy which will play to concern about the high dollar.
Green Party members I have spoken to, argue that it is the party’s job to follow public opinion, others including myself argue that it is a political party’s job to lead it.
National and Labour have no trouble leading on matters they feel strongly about, even when the vast majority of the public are not just disinterested but even hostile.
To lead the Green Party needs to turn up the heat on the government over Climate Change. After all isn’t this where the government’s performance is weakest and where the Green Party could land some very heavy blows.
I have asked Green supporters, why when the Green Party can host, with Labour, a cross-party manufacturing inquiry focusing on monetary policy and the concern over the high dollar why can’t they call a cross-party inquiry into climate change?
This would put Climate Change, (which, is an existential issue) back in the public spotlight.
If the Green Party cannot raise climate change as an issue in opposition, then they are even less likely to do so as a minority partner in government.
I think it’s more likely that the greens you were talking to were trying to explain political reality to you. the fact that you just dismiss what they had to say is by the by really.
But the fact remains that the Green party is getting around 10 % and is in opposition. They can and do lead policy on a number of issues; it’s a slow and laborious process. You seem to want them to become a single issue party and doom themselves to irrelevance, and won’t be happy until they do so, but that isn’t the party they are, and that is a good thing.
I am very aware of “political reality”. The world is heating up dangerously. That is a reality.
A reality that every political party including the Green Party has to prioritise if millions are not to die and whole eco-systems are not to be wiped out.
If the Greens are not prepared to prioritise this ‘existential’ threat then they are not really a Green Party, they are just another mainstream social democratic party. (Maybe a little further left than Labour).
Of course I know that is not what you meant, by use of the term “political reality”. What you meant, is the so called “Pragmatic” decision every third party is called to make. Whether or not to compromise principle to get a place at the table.
Look, usually this doesn’t end up well. Lib Dems and Conservatives in the UK, Maori Party and National, the Alliance and Labour. And so it will be for the Green Party.
All the evidence is that a Shearer led administration is committed to carry on with opening up the Denniston Plateau to strip mine it of coal for export to China, to deep sea oil drilling to fracking, and more motorway expansion. All of which will exponentially increase this country’s CO2 emissions. The Green Party will never recover if they a part of a government committed to these “realities”.
Political reality may allow Green Party compromise, but reality, reality won’t.
You sneer at pragmatism, as if sticking to a purist line is a political possibility. It isn’t. At the moment the greens are getting about 10 % support.
There is a window within which political parties can operate in a democracy. The boundaries of that window are determined by the electorate. If a political party steps out of that window, they cease to have any influence.
You seem to think that not having any influence is better than having some.
That is not a serious position. It’s childish.
The task of a political party is to effect policy change. That must be done within the window of what people will accept. Because democracy. It is the task of NGOs and activists and academics and others to move the window. Political parties can’t do it.
That’s not ‘pragmatism’ it’s reality.
If the people shift, the politicians will be forced to follow.
“Why do you want to know, do you want to conduct a purge of your own?”
That was nasty. I asked because I suspected that you were referring to GP members who comment here and I thought you might be misrepresenting their views. Your repeated equivocation furthers my suspicion that you are skewing the GP policies and actions because of your obsession about CC.
You may call it obsession but it may be what is required.
Better to be obsessed than deliberately decide to ignore it.
With the climate disintegrating. Our political leaders arguing about the arrangement of the deck chairs. IMO pathalogical. Bordering on obsessive compulsive disorder.
Neither I nor the GP have decided to deliberately ignore CC. That’s been proven to you in recent days. You insist on repeatedly distorting the truth. I think that is a highly flawed strategy. You could still lobby for action on CC without doing that.
Politicians may be rearranging the deck chairs, but you are arguing for changing course once we’ve already hit the iceberg. Just as crazy.
“That is a question they have avoided since they were formed,”
More likely is that many Greens are aware of the inherent incompatibility between capitalism and ecological sustainability, but choose to not focus on it because they want the Greens to be a successful political party.
The other option is open honesty about the state of the world and zero MPs. How would that help? Serious question. I’d like to know how you see it working for a political party to tell the truth about the world and be effective as a party.
If you have followed my comments you will be aware that I have tried to popularise the example of Winston Churchill. Churchill once convinced of the danger never compromised one bit in his opposition to fascism, despite being a back bench MP, despite getting into parlliament as an independent, with no caucus at all to support him.
He just never shut up. And kept telling the truth to everyone he met in any forum he was given.
From a minority position he won over the whole of parliament.
That is true leadership. This is the historic mission of the Green Party if they chose to accept it.
Jenny one would suggest all green voter and member are climate change acceptors way way ahead of the curve and as thing become obvious then gradually the rest adopt this belief or position. My gentleman farmer granddad knew before you probably that something climatic was up and in his later years took to the Internet read read and went from Tory blue to labour red. He even praised HC.
He fought for freedom and would have be agasped at any attempt to silent well though out opinion or argument. Freedom is our last bastion.
The other example I like to give of winning over the whole of parliament from a minority position is that of the New Zealand Labour Party in 1984. Though in opposition the Labour Party became the centre of organising against nuclear ship visits. LECs mobilised their members and to protests and printed leaflets and distributed bumper stickers. In parliament Labour MPs debated with and condemned the National Party for supporting nuclear ship visits.
Eventually they moved two National MPs to vote for an opposition bill to ban nuclear ship visits, (put up, by of all people, Richard Prebble). To prevent the vote being put Muldoon called a snap election.
Strangely when in government things changed, The Labour government achieved what Muldoon couldn’t putting off the vote for another three years, even agreeing a year after getting into office to let a (possibly), nuclear armed warship the USS Buchanan visit New Zealand. A visit that had to be canceled after Nicky Hager met with David Lange in the Beehive and threatened mass protests.
The lesson here is that sometimes a political party is more powerful in opposition, particularly if they stay close to their grass roots membership and don’t betray their principles.
Nuclear weapons free is a completely different issue. CC is big and scarey and requires radical changes to society, including alot of personal sacrifice. Nuclear weapons free legislation was relatively easy to support as it didn’t affect people in their day to day lives.
You left the role of the peace movement out of your story.
The other place your example falls down on is that Labour had to form govt to pass the legislation. They didn’t remain a glorified lobby group.
re the Churchill example, I don’t believe you can manufacture such people or circumstances. Do you see any one person in NZ politics who is the equivalent of Churchill?
Cunliffe comes closest, he has got the talent, he has got the knowledge, he has got the experience.
But has he got the bulldog spirit?
I must admit. He has been a bit quiet of late. Has he been intimidated? Or is he just biding his time? Or is it that no opportunity has presented itself to him to speak out. (I think it would be great if he made a statement of the gagging of Colonial Viper. But that is just my opinion.)
Maybe the Green Party could invite David Cunliffe to one of their meetings to deliver one of his famous addresses on climate change and the economy.
He’s “a bit quiet of late” because he is operating under a full gag order from David Shearer.
There was a press conference from Shearer a little while ago explaining it.
Why won’t the Greens call an all party inquiry into climate change?
Goodness knows they have got cause to.
“Katrina, All Over Again”
Hurricane Sandy, if you are poor, is the Katrina of the North. It has exposed the nation’s fragile, dilapidated and shoddy infrastructure, one that crumbles under minimal stress. It has highlighted the inability of utility companies, as well as state and federal agencies, to cope with the looming environmental disasters that because of the climate crisis will soon come in wave after wave. But, most important, it illustrates the depraved mentality of an oligarchic and corporate elite that, as conditions worsen, retreats into self-contained gated communities, guts basic services and abandons the wider population.
Maximising environmental and social sustainability is the overriding principle in all Green party policy. I do not think Green members are going to let the parliamentary team give it up, even if they wanted to, which I doubt.
.
And. Unlike the other parties, Greens use membership consensus to set policy.
“Reports Warn Europe Is Nearing Irreversible Threat From Catastrophic Climate Change”
“Time is running out, but the technical means and the policy tools to allow the world to stay below [3.6F of warming] are still available to governments and societies,” said Christiana Figueres, the UN’s top climate official, who will head next week’s climate talks…..
According to the UNEP report, which has drawn on the research from more than 50 scientists, the widening gap between climate plans and scientific estimates means that governments must step up their commitments to avoid even worse effects from global warming.
“The transition to a low-carbon, inclusive green economy is happening far too slowly and the opportunity for meeting [scientific advice on emissions targets] is narrowing annually,” said Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP. Lawrence LeBlondredOrbit.com
Jenny 12
That Common Dreams link you put up was very descriptive of the plight of the low income people in USA. I was taken by that piece you quoted about the elite retreating into self-contained gated communities. Devil take the hindmost.
I have this feeling that the wealthy in NZ are getting all the money possible salted away before everything goes pear-shaped. And our pollies cannot find in their DNA the early Labour commitment to doing something to help the country and people rather than fill their time with personalities which are just ways of passing time.
Meanwhile Doha winds down to another last minute agreement which takes us apparently nowhere further on tackling Climate Change – the US runs interference on pretty much everything, China and Eastern Europe grimly hold on to their “developing nation” status and “hot gas” exemptions, “damage aid” is agreed for poorer countries but no liability is accepted by rich countries, no mechanism to collect and pay out is put in place and no agreement on where the money will come from.
“Our” Government’s meaningless response looks to the long term – presumably when they’ve all retired and taken all the profits and left the mess to someone else.
I have a love hate relationship with The Standard. I am pretty middle of the road when it comes to political opinion, I am a pragmatist as opposed to avowed leftist/righty which generally puts me at odds with the status quo (both here and at Kiwiblog).
That said, I respect the idea that opinion should be broadcast no matter how much it disagrees with your own politics.
If you have to muzzle your opponent you have already lost. I look forward to the return of CV so we can argue each other again.
To fight the war against Climate Change leadership is necessary.
Where will this leadership come from?
“So they [the Government] go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent…. Owing to past neglect, in the face of the plainest warnings, we have entered upon a period of danger…. The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience of delays, is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences…. We cannot avoid this period, we are in it now….”
Winston Churchill, November 12, 1936, House of Commons
When it comes to Climate Change. Doesn’t this strange paradox of dithering, procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and expedience and delays, describe our present parliament, both government and opposition. Especially when we have entered a period of dangerous consequences.
Currently now that the apologists and Ignorers of climate change are dominant, one each, in two of the major parties in parliament. And the Greens are busy tailoring their party to fit with this paradigm.
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Tertiary fees in New Zealand versus Australia: Fees Are Important, but not as Important as Financing In Australia, the Education Minister Dan Tehan has proposed an overhaul of the existing higher education funding system to offer 39,000 additional study places by 2023 and 100,000 by 2030. The proposal has been ...
The latest opinion poll forecasts a landslide win by Jacinda Ardern’s Labour Party, but when taken alongside other polling, it illustrates New Zealand politics remains volatile and the contest is still very open. According to the Colmar Brunton poll published by TVNZ last night, Labour would easily romp back ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 21 through Sat, June 27, 2020Editor's ChoiceFacebook creates fact-checking exemption for climate deniers Facebook is "aiding and abetting the spread of climate misinformation,” said Robert Brulle, an ...
The images and reports delivered to us by the world’s media leave us in no doubt that the rest of the world is still in the grip of a coronavirus pandemic that shows no signs of slackening, but is actually uncontrolled and picking up pace in many countries; and even ...
Minister of Health - David ClarkIf you follow politics at all in New Zealand, David Clark is likely a name you’re a bit familiar with. The current Minister of Health is perhaps the most disliked Member of Parliament at the moment, which amongst very stiff competition is really saying something. ...
SUNDAY JUNE 28Beat the Chasers (TVNZ 1, 8.30pm). Judging by the tweets, which is probably a bad idea, over lockdown, all of New Zealand found itself in front of The Chase every night at 5pm. It is a brilliant fomat: hardly anyone wins any money ...
SATURDAY JUNE 27Banksy and the Rise of Outlaw Art (Sky Arts, Sky 017, 8.00pm). There was graffiti before Banksy, but perhaps his pungent political messages hit home a bit harder. Anyways, a doco about his influence on street art featuring a bunch of cool people.SUNDAY JUNE 28Beat the Chasers (TVNZ 1, ...
We have been assailed by Fox News-style headlines, lurid stories of “a breach!”. An almost nuclear level disaster on the horizon scream, “Fiasco!” here, “Hero to Zero!” there… Oh quick, panic everyone!This has fueled an unbelievably stupid environment of panic among some, and spurred useless, counterproductive political ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters A massive dust storm formed over the Sahara Desert last week and invaded the Caribbean over the June 20-21 weekend, bringing dangerous levels of air pollution and low visibility to the islands. The dust is accompanied by a large amount ...
Will the Covid Crisis lead to a dramatic redirection for New Zealand and the World? A hinge in history occurs where the past and present are connected but they point in different directions. Big hinges are rare but crucial in the development of humankind. Not in Narrow Seas identifies six. ...
RNZ reports that Refining NZ is considering shutting down Marsden Point and effectively turning itself into a fuel distribution service. The problem they're immediately trying to address is that running a refinery is expensive, and it is cheaper just to import processed fuel. But there's a longer-term problem too: climate ...
We all know that the COVID-19 virus is a terrible infectious disease that has already caused untold misery and numerous deaths around the world. Nearly half a million people have already died, and those are just the cases we know about.But how bad could things actually get exactly?Today, the NZ ...
This essay by Alex Hochuli examines the global phenomena of BLM protests . He is a freelance writer and research consultant based in São Paulo, Brazil. He is the co-host of the global politics podcast, Aufhebunga Bunga, and co-author of the forthcoming Politics at the End of the End of History (Zero ...
Are You Still Here? Just like his colleague, Phil Twyford – of KiwiBuild fame – David Clark juts out his chin and shamelessly apportions blame to everybody but himself. Even worse, he has turned viciously on Ashley Bloomfield, the nearest approximation to a competent, decent, humble and accountable public servant ...
. . 20 June The bad news: Aotearoa New Zealand has two new cases of covid-19. The good news: the two cases were picked up at an Auckland quarantine facility. The terrifying news: had the story of the two women leaving quarantine without testing not broken four days ...
Willing Victims: What would all those Americans in MAGA hats be left with if they abandoned Trump? Just the sick feeling of having been cheated. Just the knowledge that the man in the White House is nothing more than a shape-shifting New York grifter; and that they have always been ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Like an earthquake rumbling down the San Andreas Fault, Jeff Gibbs’ and Michael Moore’s controversial film “Planet of the Humans” tore a rift through the environmental movement, a rift its leaders would not yearn for in an election year. After activists have spent ...
There have been a number of articles written about the voting in the final statges of the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill, during which National MPs voted alongside the Green Party to force a change that would prevent the removal of sentenced prisoners from the Electoral Roll. You can ...
Last night should have been a cause for muted celebration in Parliament. The Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Bill’s final passage through the House partially erases a stain on New Zealand’s democratic system. It’s a drum I’ve been beatingfor thepast decade, but denying all sentenced prisoners the right to vote is a ...
Jordan WilliamsIt’s pretty obvious to all and sundry that the Taxpayers Union, run by Jordan Williams, isn’t really a union at all. Instead it’s a small lobby group for privileged white folk, namely the old fools behind the scenes of the corrupt and largely defunct Act Party.With an incorrectly attributed ...
Last year, I highlighted a secrecy problem with the government's Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The Bill would establish a new class of public entity, "special purpose vehicles", to hide debt from local government balance sheets fund infrastructure such as roads and sewers in "high-growth" councils. The SPVs would collect ...
Both the leader of the opposition Todd Muller and University of Auckland Professor Des Gorman have gone on the record as saying they suspect Covid-19 is spreading in the community in New Zealand once again. Let me explain why I don’t agree with them. As best I can tell there ...
By Geoffrey Miller A former MP and Associate Minister of Defence says that New Zealand’s Covid-19 border and quarantine issues illustrate why a new dedicated national security agency is needed. Heather Roy, a former deputy leader of the Act Party who held the associate defence portfolio from 2008-10, told the ...
Annual fishing report It's been about a year since we swapped out the Research News deckhand. It seems longer— particularly the past 4 months— and not because of this particular work. Over the course of the year somewhere in the neighborhood of 17,500 articles have been caught in our net, ...
This article on Feminist Current by Meghan Murphy looks at the Karen/Becky meme and argues it has officially gone too far The male centered progressive left has successfully made woman-hating trendy. Today, yet another “Karen” video went viral online. This time, it seems a woman flipped off a male driver, ...
Over the past few weeks, there's been a lot of attention on the question of why American police are so violent, and so often murder people. There are a pile of reasons for this, including the racist roots of their entire policing system, but part of the answer seems to ...
Last year, the government promised that it would strengthen whistleblower protections. Today, they finally released the bill. There's one major change: "[a] discloser is entitled to protection for a protected disclosure made to an appropriate authority at any time" - an "appropriate authority" being public sector heads, officers of Parliament, ...
Andrew Lorrey, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research; Ben Noll, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, and Lauren Vargo, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Brewster Glacier in New Zealand’s Southern Alps lost 13 million cubic metres of ice between March 2016 and March 2019 – ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzThis week, Climate Explained answers two similar questions.If humans ...
. . 17 June Labour’s “dream run” of being a competent manager during the Covid19 Crisis may just have come to a crashing end. Recent revelations that some of the quarantine facilities (hotels converted to the task) have been shambolically mis-managed has raised alarm bells and widespread criticism; . . ...
Michael WoodhouseWe all know that the National Party has a major credibility issue at the moment, and his name is Michael Woodhouse.Not only has the former Health Minister recently been in the news promoting a number of unverified claims designed to try and discredit the Government's response to COVID-19, the ...
Even though Skeptical Science's "lingua franca" is English we do have a lot of content translated into more than 20 languages and anybody can get involved with translations as I explained in a blog post in 2014. A lot of the translation work tends to fly under the radar and in ...
Last year we learned that relatively low levels of nitrates in drinking water were linked to increased incidence of colorectal cancer. New Zealand has a lot of nitrates, thanks to all those cows pissing everywhere. So how bad is the problem here? Bad: 2020 data obtained by Forest & Bird ...
It looks like the fishing industry is still getting what they pay for: The Government has again bowed to fishing industry pressure and refused to extend a marine reserve around Campbell Island, a subantarctic sanctuary recognised for its value in conserving and maintaining unique creatures. Campbell Island/Motu Ihupuku is ...
At a time when a wave of iconoclasm has meant no statue or monument appears safe from destruction — whether it is Gandhi, Churchill or Captain Cook — Judith Collins has taken the opportunity to attack a living icon who has been feted in some quarters, both here and abroad, ...
After weeks of no new cases of Covid-19, in the last week we’ve recorded nine. That’s sounds pretty scary, but here’s why there’s no reason to panic. For weeks now, almost every day there have been over 100,000 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 around the world. On two days last ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
New Zealand First MP Fletcher Tabuteau is pleased to be confirmed today as the party’s candidate for the Rotorua electorate. Speaking at the Rotorua AGM for New Zealand First, Mr Tabuteau said this is an election that is incredibly important for the people of Rotorua. “The founding principles of New ...
The Human Rights Commission’s PRISM report on the issues impacting people based on their sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sex characteristics (SOGIESC) provides an excellent programme of work for future governments to follow, say the Greens. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters said the trans-Tasman bubble had not been jeopardised after aborder botch-upresulted in New Zealand having two active cases of COVID-19. On Friday, Mr Peters told RNZ's Morning Report he had heard from Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that borders for trans-Tasman travel would open by ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said today he was pleased the army was now running the quarantine and isolation process - up until now it has been the Ministry of Health. Peters told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking that the army knew how to introduce and follow protocols and instil discipline. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First MP and Minister for Defence and Veteran’s Affairs Ron Mark has confirmed his bid for the Wairarapa seat.“The Coalition Government has done a lot of good work throughout the Wairarapa, but many constituents have told ...
New Zealand First is pleased to release the names of its next tranche of candidates for the 2020 election. We’re proud to announce these hardworking New Zealanders that have put their hand up to fight for a commonsense and resilient future.Jamie Arbuckle – Kaikoura Mark Arneil – Christchurch Central Jackie ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence A massive joint effort between New Zealand Government agencies, employers, and the Vanuatu Government is underway to repatriate over 1000 Vanuatu nationals stranded in New Zealand, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development Reprioritised funding of $40 million from the Provincial Growth Fund will support up to 1000 regional apprenticeships, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said today. The Regional Apprenticeship Initiative is part of the wider Apprenticeship Boost announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins ...
The Green Party welcomes the ACC’s announcement to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 but emphasises the need to go further, and faster to truly meet the climate change challenge. ...
Farmers are rejoicing after Labour agreed to an amendment pushed by New Zealand First in the firearms bill that will allow the use of restricted guns for pest control. Concessions on gun control mean farmers will be able to apply for a licence to use restricted firearms for pest control. ...
New Zealand has formally launched free trade negotiations with the United Kingdom, with hopes a swift deal could assist with the country's post-Covid recovery. The two countries announced the start of FTA talks on Wednesday afternoon, offering a new avenue for trade progress. In a statement announcing the start of ...
The law to boost the economic recovery from the impact of COVID-19 by speeding up resource consenting on selected projects has passed its second and third readings in the House today. “Accelerating nationwide projects and activities by government, iwi and the private sector will help deliver faster economic recovery and ...
Five port-related projects in Whanganui will receive a $26.75 million Provincial Growth Fund investment to support local economic recovery and create new opportunities for growth, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This is a significant investment that will support the redevelopment of the Whanganui Port, a project governed ...
Whanganui’s Sarjeant Gallery will receive an investment of up to $12 million administered by the Provincial Growth Fund to support its redevelopment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. The project is included in a $3 billion infrastructure pipeline announced by Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Shane Jones yesterday. ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing nearly $2.5 million into three Te Ara Mahi programmes to support Manawatū-Whanganui jobseekers and employees to quickly train and upskill, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Up to 154 local people will be supported into employment within the first year by these ...
This morning I have formally tendered my resignation as Minister of Health, which was accepted by the Prime Minister. Serving as Minister of Health has been an absolute privilege – particularly through these extraordinary last few months. It’s no secret that Health is a challenging portfolio. I have given ...
Scholarships for 57 early-career agricultural emissions scientists from 20 developing countries is another example of New Zealand’s international leadership in primary sector sustainability, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. Mr O’Connor, announcing the scholarships today, says hundreds of applications were received for this fourth round of the CLIFF-GRADS programme (Climate, Food ...
A project to help rejuvenate the Horowhenua town of Foxton will receive a Provincial Growth Fund investment of $3.86 million, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This funding for the Foxton Regeneration project will be used to make the well-known holiday town even more attractive for visitors and ...
Moa bones and other sub-fossil remains of extinct species are set to have improved protection with proposals to prevent the trade in extinct species announced the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “We have lost too many of our native species, but these lost species, such as moa, remain an ...
The Government’s free and healthy school lunches programme moves south for the first time creating jobs for around 30 people in Otago and Southland. “Eighteen schools with 3000 students are joining the programme – 11 have already begun serving lunches, and seven are preparing to start during Term 3. This is ...
Thousands of Kiwi jobs and investment in New Zealand productions will be protected through a screen sector support package announced today by Associate Minister for Arts Culture and Heritage Carmel Sepuloni, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford and Minister for Broadcasting Kris Faafoi. The package also includes investment in broadcasting ...
The Government has established a new $10 million fund for the domestic events sector to help save jobs and protect incomes as it recovers from the impacts of COVID-19, Minister of Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. This funding from Budget 2020 follows talks with the event sector designed to ...
The Government has taken another step in its commitment to making sure New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump with the introduction of legislation to improve competition in the retail fuel market, says Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods. “The fuel market study that this Government ordered ...
New Zealand has joined a global initiative that aims to enable all countries to access a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters announced today. The COVAX Facility was recently launched by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The Alliance includes the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank ...
From today new legislation takes effect to both restore the right to legal representation at the start of a Care of Children (CoCA) dispute in the Family Court, and allow parties to those proceedings to access legal aid where eligible. During a visit to the Family Court in Auckland today, ...
Home-based early childhood education (ECE) subsidised by the government will transition to a fully qualified workforce by 2025 to ensure better and more consistent quality, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. “Quality early learning helps provide children with a strong foundation for their future,” Chris Hipkins said. From 1 January ...
The new Criminal Cases Review Commission | Te Kāhui Tātari Ture (CCRC) has started work and can now independently investigate claimed miscarriages of justice. “Even though we have appeal rights and safeguards against unsafe convictions, from time to time our justice system does get things wrong. The design of the ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā karangatanga maha, tēnā koutou Ki a koutou Te Āti Awa, Taranaki Whānui, Ngāti Toa Rangatira, ngā mana whenua o te rohe nei, tēnā koutou Ko Te Whare Wānanga o Aotearoa ki ngā take o te Ao (NZIIA), Ko te Rōpū Tohu Tono ...
The Government’s increase to paid parental leave kicks in today with another 4 weeks taking New Zealand up to a full 6 months (26 weeks, up from 22 weeks) leave for new parents, and the maximum weekly payment will increase by $20pw, Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. ...
A new package of infrastructure investments will help kick-start the post-COVID rebuild by creating more than 20,000 jobs and unlocking more than $5 billion of projects up and down New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones today outlined how the $3 billion infrastructure fund in the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today expressed the New Zealand Government’s deep disappointment at the passage by China’s National People’s Congress Standing Committee of a national security law for Hong Kong. “New Zealand has consistently emphasised its serious concern about the imposition of this legislation on Hong Kong without inclusive ...
More jobs and more family time with newborns are the centrepiece of a suite of Government initiatives coming into effect today. July 1 is a milestone day for the Government as a host of key policies take effect, demonstrating the critical areas where progress has been made. “The Coalition Government ...
Environment Minister David Parker has today “called in” Auckland’s application to the Waikato Regional Council to take an extra 200 million litres of water a day from the lower reaches of the Waikato River for Auckland drinking water and other municipal uses. The call-in means the application has been referred ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker announced today that New Zealand’s hosting of APEC in 2021 will go ahead using virtual digital platforms. Mr Peters said the global disruption caused by COVID-19, including resultant border restrictions, had been the major factor in the ...
The start of construction on a new link road between Matakana Road and State Highway 1 will create jobs and support the significant population growth expected in the Warkworth area, Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Mayor Phil Goff announced today. Transport Minister Phil Twyford said construction of the Matakana Link ...
The Government is prioritising its latest investment in PPE for frontline health workers, including staff at managed isolation and quarantine facilities, Health Minister David Clark says. “With no community transmission of COVID-19 our response now has a firm focus on keeping our border safe and secure. “We must ensure that ...
The Parihaka Papakāinga Trust in Taranaki will receive up to $14 million for a new visitor centre and other improvements at the historic settlement that will boost the local economy and provide much-needed jobs, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little have ...
Protections for workers who are employees of one employer but working under the direction of another business or organisation have come into force, closing a gap in legislation that made the personal grievance process inaccessible for some workers, says Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “This Government is working hard to ...
A range of improvements are already underway to address issues identified in the rapid review of the Managed Isolation and Quarantine system released today, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. The review was commissioned just over a week ago to identify and understand current and emerging risks to ensure the end-to-end ...
The important brown kiwi habitat around Whakatāne will receive added protection through an Iwi-led predator free project announced by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. “The Government is investing nearly $5 million into Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa’s environmental projects with $2.5 ...
An extra 4,000 tonnes of offcuts and scraps of untreated wood per year will soon be able to be recycled into useful products such as horticultural and garden mulch, playground safety surfacing and animal bedding as a result of a $660,000 investment from the Waste Minimisation Fund, Associate Environment Minister ...
The Governor-General has referred Scott Watson’s convictions for murder back to the Court of Appeal, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Mr Watson was convicted in 1999 of the murders of Ben Smart and Olivia Hope. His appeal to the Court of Appeal in 2000 was unsuccessful, as was his ...
A new five-year funding agreement for the Reserve Bank will mean it can boost its work to protect New Zealanders’ finances, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “New Zealand has a strong and stable financial system. Financial stability is an area that we are not prepared to cut corners for, particularly ...
A law change has been introduced to make it easier for forgotten funds in institutional accounts to be returned more easily to their rightful owners. Revenue Minister Stuart Nash has introduced an amendment to the Unclaimed Money Act 1971. It will update the rules controlling forgotten sums of money held ...
The Government is delivering on election commitments and a key recommendation of He Ara Oranga: Report of the Government Inquiry into Mental Health and Addiction with the establishment of a permanent independent Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission, Health Minister Dr David Clark says. Legislation enabling the establishment of the fully ...
A Bill to replace New Zealand’s Privacy Act passed its third reading in Parliament today, Justice Minister Andrew Little has announced. “The protections in the Privacy Bill are vitally important. The key purpose of the reforms is to promote and protect people’s privacy and give them confidence that their personal ...
Extra support is being provided to tourism businesses operating on public conservation land announced Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage today. The Government is providing $25m worth of support to tourism operators impacted by COVID-19, with a decision to waive most Department of Conservation tourism related concession ...
A central Government partnership with Queenstown will help unlock around $300 million of projects in the township and create about 320 direct jobs, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced today. The Government will contribute $85 million to the Queenstown Town Centre ($35m) project and Stage One of the Queenstown Arterials ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark welcomes the appointment of Auckland coroner Morag McDowell to the role of Health and Disability Commissioner. He is also pleased his appointments to the inaugural Paramedic Council were confirmed by gazette this week. The new Health and Disability Commissioner Ms McDowell will commence the role ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $2.1 million in a blueberry orchard initiative, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “The Meihana Koata Trust will receive a loan from the PGF’s Whenua Māori allocation to develop an 18.8 hectare blueberry orchard on ...
A well-known Māori tourism in Northland will receive $1.25 million from the Provincial Growth Fund for much-needed redevelopment, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rēhia Charitable Trust will use the funding to upgrade Te Pā Kāinga o Rewa, or Rewa’s Village, in Kerikeri. The long-established ...
The minister in charge of quarantine and isolation facilities Megan Woods has labelled a National MP's comments about New Zealanders returning from Asia as disgraceful and racist. ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Rob Teina from Supreme Plumbing.Social media has become an important tool for all ...
Checkpoint - Todd Muller, having just reshuffled his caucus after Paula Bennett's resignation, says he has plenty of policies "in the can" but is not revealing them yet. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Victoria Carruthers, Senior lecturer, Australian Catholic University I have been thinking a lot lately of how many worlds there are contained in very small spaces and how every person is really one world to himself unconnected by anyone or any thing. ...
I write this as a Papua New Guinean and a daughter of this nation. I believe in the rights of women. I believe that the Constitution of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, the Mama Lo, safeguards the place of women in our nation. I understand the strengths ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin, 2 July 2020 Socialism versus Progressive CapitalismKeith Rankin. I was disappointed that the Green Party continues to reject a distributive Universal Basic Income (UBI) in favour of a redistributive and polarising Guaranteed Minimum Income (GMI) model. GMI is the antithesis of UBI. The essence of ...
The Electoral Commission is destroying millions of copies of brochures on the End of Life Choice referendum after one item was accidentally printed in a bold font. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judith Ireland, Deputy Editor, Politics + Society, The Conversation, Australia Sydney newspaper the Daily Telegraph has lost its appeal against a defamation decision that awarded actor Geoffrey Rush almost A$3 million. Last year, Rush was awarded a record $2.9 million after he ...
Power Play - Both he and Ardern have come to the conclusion he's become too much of "distraction", and there's nowhere for a minister to go after that, Jane Patterson writes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Moloney, Associate Professor, Paediatrics, Griffith University Tensions over border closures are in the news again, now states are gradually lifting travel restrictions to allexcept Victorians. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says singling out Victorians is an overreaction to Melbourne’s coronavirus spike, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine Hosking, Conservation Planner/Researcher, The University of Queensland On Tuesday, a year-long New South Wales parliamentary inquiry revealed the state’s koalas are on track for extinction in the wild by 2050, without urgent government intervention. Habitat destruction and fragmentation for agriculture, urban ...
Wāhine Māori are calling for the immediate sacking of Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Ms Grainne Moss and the Minister Tracey Martin following more damning media reports about Oranga Tamariki. Dame Naida Glavich, Chair of the Governance Group for the ...
The New Zealand Bar Association welcomes the re-establishment of access to lawyers at the start of disputes about the care of children. From 1 July 2020, parties will be able to get legal advice at the beginning of the process. The Bar Association ...
Green Party co-leader James Shaw is accusing New Zealand First leader Winston Peters of throwing a tantrum via a comment piece he wrote on light rail. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra With three months before JobSeeker is due to end and calls for billions of dollars in extra spending, there is a growing debate about how Australia’s post-coronavirus economy will actually look. While Scott Morrison has ...
They’re here, they’re queer, and they’re at a precipice of a new frontier in both entertainment and performance. We’re Here is the new Neon show that takes drag out of the city and into small town America, writes Dejan Jotanovic. Drag, as an artform, isn’t by any means new. It ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stan Winford, Associate Director, Centre for Innovative Justice, RMIT University As of this morning, ten “hot spot” postcodes in Melbourne’s suburbs have gone back into Stage 3 coronavirus lockdown. In these suburbs, stay-at-home restrictions will be enforced by police patrols, “booze bus”-style ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is inviting the New Zealand Maori Council to have an open-book discussion on the financial positions of five councils, to set right the misguided impression that they are potentially insolvent. This is in response ...
The New Zealand Conservation Authority (NZCA) strongly supports the Department of Conservation’s Tahr Control Operational Plan 2020-2021, and gives full support to the implementation National Parks Act’s policy of extermination of tahr, as ...
Covid-19 forced us to reconsider our relationship with the places we occupy, writes architect Mat Brown – and these new priorities will influence the design of our spaces in future.I think it’s safe to say, on behalf of my profession, that architecture is a conservative art. We design places that ...
Māori Party Co-leader and Te Tai Hauāuru candidate Debbie Ngarewa-Packer has today announced her party’s policy on freshwater that will uphold Māori rights and interests and protect and restore waterways from pollution and overallocation. “The Māori ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Simon Copland, PhD Student — Sociology, Australian National University On Monday, online discussion platform Reddit permanently took down its largest community of Donald Trump supporters, r/The_Donald. The community had more than 7,000 active users per day (although this has previously been much ...
A hastily arranged crisis meeting has just been held between Steve and Steve Reputation Enhancement Company and two unnamed wellness influencers. The transcript was leaked to Emily Writes in a brown paper bag full of MMR vaccines.I found the package at my front door. It’s a shocking transcript of a ...
Jacinda Ardern says she agrees with Clark's decision to resign as Health Minister and that she cannot afford any diversions from Covid-19 objectives. ...
There’s no such thing as a free lunch? Tell that to Chris Hipkins, who is braying about Free lunches served up to thousands of school children in the South Island. Mind you, he now will be enthusing about free health after landing the Health portfolio after David Clark’s resignation. While ...
Under Cover is a new series that brings musicians together via video link to bond, chat, and play each other’s songs. The third episode features Sharon Van Etten and Hollie Fullbrook (Tiny Ruins).American singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten and New Zealander Hollie Fullbrook of Tiny Ruins found each other back in ...
Many New Zealanders have reported being paid less for doing the same job as another person, according to new research released today by the Human Rights Commission. The report “Opinions and Experiences of Unequal Pay and Pay Transparency” reveals ...
The service and sacrifice of New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel in the Korean War was remembered at a commemoration in Wellington yesterday to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the war. Ten Korean War veterans were joined by Prime Minister ...
Beleaguered Labour MP David Clark resigned as health minister during a press conference at parliament this morning. Alex Braae reports.With just 78 days to go before the 2020 election, health minister David Clark has resigned from the position of health minister. He will also be resigning from all of his ...
Todd Muller has retained Māori representation in his shadow cabinet through a minor reshuffle involving the National party's former leader A National party caucus reshuffle has seen former leader Simon Bridges brought back into shadow cabinet just over a month after he was deposed as leader. Whangarei MP Shane Reti has ...
Health Minister David Clark has announced his resignation, following months of negative headlines over personal slip-ups and his handling of the Covid-19 crisis Speaking at Parliament on Thursday morning, David Clark said while he had given his all in the challenging Health portfolio, it had become clear that his continued ...
The passing of the first reading of MP Louise Upston’s Rights of Victims of Insane Offenders Bill is welcome news for victims, says Victim Support. The Bill aims to ensure victims of legally insane offenders are treated the same as other victims ...
RNZ understands Health Minister David Clark is set to resign shortly at Parliament after recent controversies in his handling of the Covid-19 response. ...
New Zealand Deerstalkers Association Inc (NZDA) are disappointed to receive a final Himalayan tahr control operational plan from the Department of Conservation (DOC) for the coming 2020/21 operational period that ignores any advice and input from ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Bhosip Kaiwi, the man accused of murder in the Papua New Guinean torture case, will be held at the Correctional Services Training College at Bomana to undergo 14 days of quarantine under the government’s covid-19 requirement, reports the PNG Post-Courier. He will remain there until he ...
Tomorrow, Auckland writer Lil O’Brien releases one hell of a memoir: Not That I’d Kiss A Girl, the story of her coming out. People tell me that I can make anything gay.Sometimes they’re talking about physical things, like when I put on a plain white T-shirt then roll the sleeves over ...
Tens of thousands of New Zealanders are signing a petition to stop DOC’s plans for a mass killing of tahr in the Southern Alps. The Change.org petition was started on Monday evening, shortly after revelations the Department of Conservation was planning ...
For the first time, a 501 returned offender has successfully challenged a Special Conditions Order in the Waitakere district court. Richard Major, self-represented, opposed the special supervision order request imposed by the Chief Executive of the ...
Local Government New Zealand’s National Council has announced the creation of an LGNZ Covid Recovery Fund, which will be used to deliver free digital training to support mayors, chairs and elected members in their post-Covid decision-making. ...
Tourism industry operators are pleading for the government to halt DoC’s plan for a mass killing of Himalayan Tahr, saying the animals provide hundreds of jobs and a multi-million dollar benefit to the country. ...
By Mackenzie Smith of RNZ News Hong Kong protesters in New Zealand are worried they could be arrested if they return home because they have attended political demonstrations here. Beijing’s new national security law, passed on Tuesday, criminalises secession, subversion and collusion with foreign forces, but will also effectively shut ...
With the Covid-19 lockdown casting a light on the value of essential workers, the movement to pay them the living wage is gathering momentum.Every night at corporate and government buildings across the country, long after most of the day workers have gone home, a largely unseen labour force of cleaners ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Benjamin, Associate Professor in Maritime Archaeology, Flinders University and ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University For most of the human history of Australia, sea levels were much lower than they are today, and there was extra ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew S. Flies, Senior Research Fellow in Immunology, University of Tasmania Emerging infectious diseases, including COVID-19, usually come from non-human animals. However our understanding of most animals’ immune systems is sadly lacking as there’s a shortfall in research tools for species other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia I recently wrote about Victoria’s surge in COVID-19 cases. On that day, Victoria recorded 11 new infections, after a few days of new cases in the high teens and low twenties. I wondered ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Christine Hosking, Conservation Planner/Researcher, The University of Queensland On Tuesday, a year-long New South Wales parliamentary inquiry revealed the state’s koalas are on track for extinction in the wild by 2050, without urgent government intervention. Habitat destruction and fragmentation for agriculture, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Barsky, Associate professor of Management, University of Melbourne HESTA, the industry super fund for health and community workers, plans to dump its shares in thermal coal mining companies. Beyond that, its Net Zero by 2050 program announced on Friday commits it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Higham, Professor of Tourism, University of Otago Unprecedented border closures and the domestic lockdown have paralysed New Zealand’s $40.9 billion a year tourism industry. In the process, the vulnerability of the sector to external shocks and the tenuous nature of tourism ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland There are now less than three months to go before the expanded JobSeeker payment is due to end. As a result, there is a growing political debate about what should happen to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lilly Brown, PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains references to deceased people. In 2019, Dujuan Hoosan travelled from Garrwa country in the Northern Territory, to Geneva where he addressed the United ...
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 one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Auckland Airport warns of more job cuts and extraordinary losses after passenger numbers drop 95 percent and as Air NZ suspends flights to partially-locked down Melbourne ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Agreement reached in principle for Auckland to take Waikato water, beneficiary debt to MSD balloons, and Opportunities Party lose candidate in key seat.An agreement has been reached in principle for Auckland to take water from the Waikato River. As Radio NZ’s Jordan Bond ...
A quarantine leak has put 300,000 people in Victoria back into lockdown. A former NZ epidemiologist at the University of Melbourne tells Farah Hancock how this country can avoid the same fate. Residents of 10 postcodes in Victoria will wake to a month of ‘stay home’ localised lockdown rules today as ...
The Māori Party is calling on the Prime Minister to sack Minister of Children, Tracey Martin, and instruct a new minister to replace CEO of Oranga Tamariki, Grainne Moss, in light of the most recent reports about their incompetence in leading the ...
Following Newsroom’s investigation into concerning practices within the country’s child protection agency, Māorileaders are again calling for the dismissal of its chief executive, Grainne Moss, and the children’s minister Tracey Martin. Will they be listened to this time? A group of prominent wāhine Māori last night called for the ...
People's views of their wealth have been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, but more households are saving and stress levels reduced during lockdown. Tim Murphy reports A third of Kiwis feel less wealthy now than just three months ago, according to a special Kiwi Wealth State of the Investor Nation survey. ...
The education minister has warned early childhood education centres to toe the line, following allegations businesses are siphoning off funding intended for teacher pay rises. But that's only the start of the troubles plaguing the ECE sector, Laura Walters reports The Education Minister has issued a stern warning to early childhood ...
Shamubeel Eaqub reviews a thumping big opus by Brian Easton, "a walking encyclopaedia of New Zealand’s economic history". I used to lunch fairly regularly with Brian Easton and Jas Mackenzie, the former secretary of the Department of Labour, at Nikau by the Wellington Art Gallery. Standing order was usually their ...
Per capita, New Zealand has one of the greatest diasporas in the world. Nick Teulon asks what we can do to protect expat Kiwis under the crush of Covid uncertainty. The tale of the Great Kiwi Diaspora has been told many times. It first gained mainstream awareness during the 2001 Knowledge Wave ...
Open mike 09/12/2012 
After a sham select committee process which waste submitters' time, the government is planning to use urgency today to steamroll its Muldoonist RMA fast track bill through Parliament. I've talked before about what's wrong with the Bill. As mentioned above, its pure Muldoonism, bypassing the participatory RMA process with ...10 hours ago
Not Ready: Todd Muller’s lack-lustre and self-contradictory performances offer conclusive proof that a political leader cannot be managed into competence. National’s new boss has Janet Wilson handling his media and Matthew Hooton writing his speeches. Both are highly professional political and public relations specialists, and Muller is lucky to have ...13 hours ago
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...14 hours ago
It started as a family story, about a step-father who went out one night to break into an embassy in Wadestown, Wellington. John Daniell wanted to understand what his family had been part of when his mother and then step-father work for New Zealand’s Security Intelligence. He wanted to know ...1 day ago
75 Articles Physical science of global warming & effects The response of stratospheric water vapor to climate change driven by different forcing agents (open access) Observations & observational methods of global warming & effects Record warming at the South Pole during the past three decades Variability of soil freeze depth ...1 day ago
The Greens have shaken up the election campaign with the announcement of their radical poverty and action plan to reform welfare provision and introduce a new wealth tax for millionaires. It’s a big-thinking, controversial policy and has generated a lot of disagreement over how radical it is, whether it could ...1 day ago
Last night, One News ran a follow-up story to its Colmar Brunton poll results on the cannabis referendum, headed here as Government accuses big American anti-cannabis group of interfering in NZ politics.In truth it wasn't just the government: Justice minister Andrew Little, National's Shane Reti and the Greens' Chloe Swarbrick ...2 days ago
Prof John Potter* Elimination has been an effective strategy for New Zealand in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic virus (SARS-CoV-2). Most other countries have not pursued this goal and are ignoring the opportunity even now. SARS-CoV-2 is not manageable by the influenza playbook; its longer incubation period makes tracing ...2 days ago
When the Christchurch murderer pleaded guilty to 51 counts of murder and a number of other violent assault charges a few months ago, he effectively closed the door on what the public will know about the lead up to and commission of the event. His plea means that no evidence ...2 days ago
Daphna Whitmore The Philippines is enduring one of the longest lockdowns in the world. For President Duterte the lockdown provides an opportunity to garner more powers and to push through a brazen assault on human rights. A new law called the Anti-Terror Bill has been passed under urgency and it ...2 days ago
There really is not much about Paula Bennett concerning her career trajectory, the policies she promoted, and most importantly, the socio-economic effect this had upon New Zealand (and particularly the most vulnerable in this, our oft-cited “egalitarian” society of this country) that can be said now that hasn’t already been ...3 days ago
Helloy… My name is Todd Muller and I am the leader of the National Party of New Zealand. Many people come up to me on the street and ask me who I am. I’m often walking through Tauranga, or in a mall in suburban Auckland, or maybe even a farmers’ ...3 days ago
Paul GoldsmithYou can often tell just how effective a progressive policy proposal will be by how much the right wing criticise it. The more socially beneficial, the more vitriolic and unhinged they seem to become.That was the case when the Green Party announced their Poverty Action Plan yesterday. The response ...4 days ago
. . Plague town? There are two things right now in Aotearoa New Zealand that are guaranteed to piss people off. Firstly, it’s National playing silly-bugger politics with the covid-19 pandemic. This cost Simon Bridges his job as National’s Leader. Lately, Michael Woodhouse has been playing fast and loose with ...4 days ago
Tertiary fees in New Zealand versus Australia: Fees Are Important, but not as Important as Financing In Australia, the Education Minister Dan Tehan has proposed an overhaul of the existing higher education funding system to offer 39,000 additional study places by 2023 and 100,000 by 2030. The proposal has been ...4 days ago
The images and reports delivered to us by the world’s media leave us in no doubt that the rest of the world is still in the grip of a coronavirus pandemic that shows no signs of slackening, but is actually uncontrolled and picking up pace in many countries; and even ...5 days ago
We have been assailed by Fox News-style headlines, lurid stories of “a breach!”. An almost nuclear level disaster on the horizon scream, “Fiasco!” here, “Hero to Zero!” there… Oh quick, panic everyone! This has fueled an unbelievably stupid environment of panic among some, and spurred useless, counterproductive political ...6 days ago
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...2 hours ago
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...13 hours ago
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...2 days ago
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The minister in charge of quarantine and isolation facilities Megan Woods has labelled a National MP's comments about New Zealanders returning from Asia as disgraceful and racist. ...1 hour ago
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Wāhine Māori are calling for the immediate sacking of Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Ms Grainne Moss and the Minister Tracey Martin following more damning media reports about Oranga Tamariki. Dame Naida Glavich, Chair of the Governance Group for the ...8 hours ago
They’re here, they’re queer, and they’re at a precipice of a new frontier in both entertainment and performance. We’re Here is the new Neon show that takes drag out of the city and into small town America, writes Dejan Jotanovic. Drag, as an artform, isn’t by any means new. It ...9 hours ago
There’s no such thing as a free lunch? Tell that to Chris Hipkins, who is braying about Free lunches served up to thousands of school children in the South Island. Mind you, he now will be enthusing about free health after landing the Health portfolio after David Clark’s resignation. While ...12 hours ago
Todd Muller has retained Māori representation in his shadow cabinet through a minor reshuffle involving the National party's former leader A National party caucus reshuffle has seen former leader Simon Bridges brought back into shadow cabinet just over a month after he was deposed as leader. Whangarei MP Shane Reti has ...13 hours ago
Health Minister David Clark has announced his resignation, following months of negative headlines over personal slip-ups and his handling of the Covid-19 crisis Speaking at Parliament on Thursday morning, David Clark said while he had given his all in the challenging Health portfolio, it had become clear that his continued ...13 hours ago
Auckland Airport warns of more job cuts and extraordinary losses after passenger numbers drop 95 percent and as Air NZ suspends flights to partially-locked down Melbourne ...17 hours ago
A quarantine leak has put 300,000 people in Victoria back into lockdown. A former NZ epidemiologist at the University of Melbourne tells Farah Hancock how this country can avoid the same fate. Residents of 10 postcodes in Victoria will wake to a month of ‘stay home’ localised lockdown rules today as ...18 hours ago
Following Newsroom’s investigation into concerning practices within the country’s child protection agency, Māori leaders are again calling for the dismissal of its chief executive, Grainne Moss, and the children’s minister Tracey Martin. Will they be listened to this time? A group of prominent wāhine Māori last night called for the ...18 hours ago
People's views of their wealth have been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, but more households are saving and stress levels reduced during lockdown. Tim Murphy reports A third of Kiwis feel less wealthy now than just three months ago, according to a special Kiwi Wealth State of the Investor Nation survey. ...18 hours ago
The education minister has warned early childhood education centres to toe the line, following allegations businesses are siphoning off funding intended for teacher pay rises. But that's only the start of the troubles plaguing the ECE sector, Laura Walters reports The Education Minister has issued a stern warning to early childhood ...19 hours ago
Shamubeel Eaqub reviews a thumping big opus by Brian Easton, "a walking encyclopaedia of New Zealand’s economic history". I used to lunch fairly regularly with Brian Easton and Jas Mackenzie, the former secretary of the Department of Labour, at Nikau by the Wellington Art Gallery. Standing order was usually their ...19 hours ago
Per capita, New Zealand has one of the greatest diasporas in the world. Nick Teulon asks what we can do to protect expat Kiwis under the crush of Covid uncertainty. The tale of the Great Kiwi Diaspora has been told many times. It first gained mainstream awareness during the 2001 Knowledge Wave ...19 hours ago
Question: I notice changing my name means posts go into moderation. I’d like the mods to enjoy their Sunday. Is this a prob for them or is there some guidance on the best way to do this without dropping into moderation?
[lprent: It is the best defense against trolls. They have to write a coherent comment and have it accepted by a moderator before they can write comments freely. It also makes it difficult fo astroturfers to construct a range of identities. The alternative route is the kiwiblog one where a login is required. ]
Head of Jewish Defence League UK supports Anders Breivik, says victims “not innocent”
Written by Brit Dee Thursday, 19 April 2012 14:16
Roberta Moore, who was intimately connected to the anti-Muslim English Defence League (EDL) and continues to run their Jewish Division’s Facebook page, has expressed her support for Norwegian mass murderer Anders Behring Breivik – and described his teenage victims as being “not innocent”.
In a post made on April 17th to the Jewish Defence League UK Blogger site, believed to be run by Moore and supported by comments posted in her name on Facebook, she describes the Norwegian court as a “kangaroo court”, asks whether a “man like Breivik in a case such as this surely deserves a better trial than that?”, refers to the “Leftist slander constantly being thrown to undermine him and his views”, and defends him against charges of child murder by parroting Breivik’s defence that his victims were young adults, attending an “indoctrination camp”, who were “not innocent”. A comment attributed to Moore states
I hold the same amount of sympathy for the [sic] those on Utoya as I would if somebody committed this act on a Hitler Youth camp in the 1940’s, or were they just “children” as well?
Such offensive comments will no doubt prove awkward for the EDL, who have recently been attempting to change their image as a group of thuggish racists, by repeatedly stating that they stand firmly against violence and extremism.
Whilst Moore claimed to have left the EDL in June last year, she was until then closely connected to the group’s leadership and inner circle, with whom she apparently maintained contact after her departure. She even reportedly helped EDL leader Stephen Lennon (a.k.a. “Tommy Robinson”) attend an EDL demonstration in September last year – from which he had been banned, resulting in his arrest for breach of bail conditions – by smuggling him in dressed as a rabbi.
Moore is also said to be friends with shadowy EDL financier and strategist Alan Ayling (a.k.a. “Alan Lake”), a wealthy businessman who was recently suspended from his management post at a major international development bank, after the discovery of his real identity. A disaffected founding member of the EDL named Paul Ray has confirmed that Ayling was present at the first 2009 meeting of the group, which actually took place in Ayling’s expensive London flat.
Ayling has admitted funding the EDL, and whilst he publically condemned Breivik’s attack he also described it as “chickens come home to roost”. Other disturbing comments made by Ayling on his “4Freedoms” website include his suggestion in July last year that David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, be executed.
If Moore is no longer connected to the EDL, then it is surprising that the Facebook page she operates still carries their….
To find out more about these loons, click here….
http://www.resistradio.com/updates/head-of-jewish-defence-league-supports-anders-breivik-says-victims-not-innocent
Is there a point to this other than your rabid Antisemitism?
Why is it anti-semitic to note the irony of far right Zionists and neofascists making common cause against Muslims? I’ve seen many examples of it, especially on Facebook groups about Palestine/Israel, where it is possible to see who someone’s friends are and which causes someone has liked. When fascism reappears wrapped in the Star of David, as it is with much of the Israeli fascist right, I for one will not ignore it because of the danger of being called anti-semitic.
To be fair P the JDL is regarded as a hate group by both the Anti Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center
If censorship is this heavy handed against their own MP, what will happen when they are actually in government? Seeming more like National every day.
Long article on just how much tracking the private sector does. It truly does make what the government knows about people seem inconsequential in comparison.
And some bright sparks in Birmingham, as part of a doctoral thesis I think, have created an algorithm that takes all such data and predicts where you’ll be next.
With the growth in mobile apps and GPS tagged events it’s a stalkers best friend.
WSJ quote:
“In the past, tracking companies and retailers had a tougher time identifying online users. Today, a single Web page can contain computer code from dozens of different ad companies or tracking firms. These separate chunks of code often share information with each other.”
You are onto it! And that is only “some” of what goes on!
Those that love Facebook and use that social media are largely blind and ignorant of what happens with their information.
And Google (incl. “google ads”) is virtually EVERYWHERE!
I have been checking some browsing history again and again, and also observing what scripts are instantly activated in the background on websites is truly very, very worrying.
But how do you know, what the government’s or rather state’s agencies are already doing? They may be up to more than so many think.
1984 was once “fiction”, but give it a few more years, and we will be right in the midst of such scenarios.
How petty
Tetraplegic Semisi Ma’afu Samiu, injured here in 2006, has been declined New Zealand residency and is being deported to Tonga. It’s expected that his life span will be diminished because the care available in New Zealand is not available in Tonga. But that’s no enough for our officialdom:
So not just his life expectancy, but the things that make his life, and the tasks of his carers, bearable in his remaining years. Surely this is a case for a bit of consideration.
Rosey, this is outrageous, and IMO, far from petty, instead vicious and callous, if not racist as well.
And this under a National Government that without any hesitation generously paid out $100,000,000 dollars to the rich and white Roger Kerr to cover his losses after he blew his $70 million investment in South Canturbury Finance.
Is this justice? Is this fair? Does this sort of ammoral iniquitous double standard make any sort of economic or moral sense?
War against the poor, more like.
A campaign of appeals and protest on behalf of this man and his family needs to be directed to the Minister.
A complaint against the miserable and heartless bureaucrat that has effectively sentenced Semisi Samiu to a degrading and cruel death should also be actioned.
Failing all that, I for one would be happy to put my body between any police contigent sent by Terri Bentley to drag this wounded man from his bed and dump him into on airplane.
What has happened to this country?
Hi Jenny; You mean the Business Round Table, Rodger Kerr? and his $70 million of Hubbard’s South Canterbury Finance? and of course Rodger helped to set up Local Government New Zealand. And of course their buddies in the Nat Govt. are selling off our sovereignty in the TPPA negotiations. I’m joining the dots here.
And I don’t think a mere dysmocratic election will solve this!!!!!
Questions, questions, questions!
How the hell is it that somebody can be in NZ for at least six years and not have residency? And if his daughter has residency, then why doesn’t he qualify on the basis of his daughters’ status? And what is his wifes status? Meanwhile, isn’t deliberately putting somebody in harms way contrary to some aspect of human rights legislation? Lost for words really…
Yes your right Bill it’s in contravention to the NZ Bill of Human Rights, our constitution.
In the meantime it seems like the slaves are slacking off and the beatings will continue until productivity rises:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10852830
It never occurs to the nit-wit who wrote this bit of puffery that 100% ‘on-task’ productivity is impossible and dangerous, nor does the research quoted seem to track how much these people actually get done; that personal productivity and patterns of work are highly variable.
After all if one person gets twice as much done in a week as another, who cares if they spend more ‘downtime’ in anyone day?
That was a well balanced article wasn;t it! /sarc
These types of articles are all to frequently posted without a second thought put into giving the worker any credit at all…
NZH – The more you know, the better!
Oh the irony!
“Embrace of a killer: Former IRA terrorist Martin McGuinness greets Hillary Clinton”
Just who deserves the title of “Butcher” and “Terrorist” more? McGuinness or Clinton?
There’s nothing “Former” about Clinton’s terrorism or butchery.
Embrace of a killer: Former IRA terrorist Martin McGuinness greets Hillary Clinton…
If Hillary Clinton had any misgivings about exchanging a kiss and a handshake with a man who used to be known as the Butcher of Bogside, she did a very good job of hiding them.
The US Secretary of State was all smiles as she met former IRA terrorist and Ulster’s deputy first minister Martin McGuinness when she arrived in Belfast for her eighth visit to the province.
Her visit comes as rioting broke out across Belfast tonight after hundreds of loyalists took to the streets to protest over flags…
…Mrs Clinton said: ‘There will always be disagreement in democratic societies, but violence is never an acceptable response. All need to confront the remaining challenge of sectarian divisions, peacefully together.’…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2244514/Former-IRA-terrorist-Martin-McGuinness-greets-Hillary-Clinton-arrives-Ulster.html
(Orig. posted by Ed on Media Lens)
http://www.medialens.org/
NZ Herald Online edition – “gutter journalism” at its best, I suppose:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10852783
This passes as “journalism” by a Mr Little writing for NZ’s largest print media!?
More beneficiary bashing, based on anything else but facts. Look and read for yourselves!
Look at who wrote it. Paul Little is one of the lickspittle regulars who used to appear on Paul Holmes’s pisspoor radio show on Saturday mornings. He delivered anodyne reviews of books, which Holmes had usually read himself anyway, and far more perceptively.
On one infamous occasion, Little attempted to ingratiate himself by calling Holmes “Sir Paul”.
Holmes, contemptuous of the display of self-debasement by his underling, sneered: “Oh yes, ha ha ha, you know what to say, don’t you.”
So Paul Little’s byline on any article is a virtual guarantee that it’s going to be shoddy and third-rate.
Why don’t you put your opinion onto the comments section below the article?
ERRATUM
Eagle-eyed readers will have spotted the grievous error committed by this writer (i.e., moi) in comment number 8.1, in which I wrote….
Holmes, contemptuous of the display of self-debasement by his underling, sneered: “Oh yes, ha ha ha, you know what to say, don’t you.”
Of course, the compound word “self-debasement” is not what I meant to write. The word I should have used was “self-abasement”.
So that sentence now reads…
Holmes, contemptuous of the display of self-abasement by his underling, sneered: “Oh yes, ha ha ha, you know what to say, don’t you.”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Self-abasement: voluntary self-punishment or humiliation in order to atone for some real or imagined wrongdoing, or to curry favour with someone who holds you in contempt.
Go back to RSRU Morrissey, Casper is waiting.
Thanks for the heads up, my friend. Always have time for Monsieur Milquetoast.
Meanwhile, you might like to say something critical in the comment’s section to Grovellor Little’s fourth-rate article?
A Computer for Your Car’s Windshield
Although it would a neat technology one does wonder why they’d even bother considering that we already have self-drive cars that will be much safer.
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What is behind Green Party CCI?
But why would Green supporters and voters talk about climate change when the Green Party itself is playing it down?
Green Party members I have spoken to, argue that it is the party’s job to follow public opinion, others including myself argue that it is a political party’s job to lead it.
National and Labour have no trouble leading on matters they feel strongly about, even when the vast majority of the public are not just disinterested but even hostile.
To lead the Green Party needs to turn up the heat on the government over Climate Change. After all isn’t this where the government’s performance is weakest and where the Green Party could land some very heavy blows.
I have asked Green supporters, why when the Green Party can host, with Labour, a cross-party manufacturing inquiry focusing on monetary policy and the concern over the high dollar why can’t they call a cross-party inquiry into climate change?
This would put Climate Change, (which, is an existential issue) back in the public spotlight.
If the Green Party cannot raise climate change as an issue in opposition, then they are even less likely to do so as a minority partner in government.
“Green Party members I have spoken to, argue that it is the party’s job to follow public opinion”
Oh yeah, who was that then?
Why do you want to know, do you want to conduct a purge of your own?
“Whatever you guys do, don’t talk to Jenny.”
I think it’s more likely that the greens you were talking to were trying to explain political reality to you. the fact that you just dismiss what they had to say is by the by really.
But the fact remains that the Green party is getting around 10 % and is in opposition. They can and do lead policy on a number of issues; it’s a slow and laborious process. You seem to want them to become a single issue party and doom themselves to irrelevance, and won’t be happy until they do so, but that isn’t the party they are, and that is a good thing.
I am very aware of “political reality”. The world is heating up dangerously. That is a reality.
A reality that every political party including the Green Party has to prioritise if millions are not to die and whole eco-systems are not to be wiped out.
If the Greens are not prepared to prioritise this ‘existential’ threat then they are not really a Green Party, they are just another mainstream social democratic party. (Maybe a little further left than Labour).
Of course I know that is not what you meant, by use of the term “political reality”. What you meant, is the so called “Pragmatic” decision every third party is called to make. Whether or not to compromise principle to get a place at the table.
Look, usually this doesn’t end up well. Lib Dems and Conservatives in the UK, Maori Party and National, the Alliance and Labour. And so it will be for the Green Party.
All the evidence is that a Shearer led administration is committed to carry on with opening up the Denniston Plateau to strip mine it of coal for export to China, to deep sea oil drilling to fracking, and more motorway expansion. All of which will exponentially increase this country’s CO2 emissions. The Green Party will never recover if they a part of a government committed to these “realities”.
Political reality may allow Green Party compromise, but reality, reality won’t.
No, you don’t understand what I meant.
You sneer at pragmatism, as if sticking to a purist line is a political possibility. It isn’t. At the moment the greens are getting about 10 % support.
There is a window within which political parties can operate in a democracy. The boundaries of that window are determined by the electorate. If a political party steps out of that window, they cease to have any influence.
You seem to think that not having any influence is better than having some.
That is not a serious position. It’s childish.
The task of a political party is to effect policy change. That must be done within the window of what people will accept. Because democracy. It is the task of NGOs and activists and academics and others to move the window. Political parties can’t do it.
That’s not ‘pragmatism’ it’s reality.
If the people shift, the politicians will be forced to follow.
“Why do you want to know, do you want to conduct a purge of your own?”
That was nasty. I asked because I suspected that you were referring to GP members who comment here and I thought you might be misrepresenting their views. Your repeated equivocation furthers my suspicion that you are skewing the GP policies and actions because of your obsession about CC.
You may call it obsession but it may be what is required.
Better to be obsessed than deliberately decide to ignore it.
With the climate disintegrating. Our political leaders arguing about the arrangement of the deck chairs. IMO pathalogical. Bordering on obsessive compulsive disorder.
Neither I nor the GP have decided to deliberately ignore CC. That’s been proven to you in recent days. You insist on repeatedly distorting the truth. I think that is a highly flawed strategy. You could still lobby for action on CC without doing that.
Politicians may be rearranging the deck chairs, but you are arguing for changing course once we’ve already hit the iceberg. Just as crazy.
The Green Party can’t look at climate change too closely because that would involve asking whether capitalism is ecologically sustainable.
That is a question they have avoided since they were formed, in fact it could be argued they exist to muddy the waters and make sure it is not asked.
Thats almost dead center!
“That is a question they have avoided since they were formed,”
More likely is that many Greens are aware of the inherent incompatibility between capitalism and ecological sustainability, but choose to not focus on it because they want the Greens to be a successful political party.
The other option is open honesty about the state of the world and zero MPs. How would that help? Serious question. I’d like to know how you see it working for a political party to tell the truth about the world and be effective as a party.
If you have followed my comments you will be aware that I have tried to popularise the example of Winston Churchill. Churchill once convinced of the danger never compromised one bit in his opposition to fascism, despite being a back bench MP, despite getting into parlliament as an independent, with no caucus at all to support him.
He just never shut up. And kept telling the truth to everyone he met in any forum he was given.
From a minority position he won over the whole of parliament.
That is true leadership. This is the historic mission of the Green Party if they chose to accept it.
Jenny one would suggest all green voter and member are climate change acceptors way way ahead of the curve and as thing become obvious then gradually the rest adopt this belief or position. My gentleman farmer granddad knew before you probably that something climatic was up and in his later years took to the Internet read read and went from Tory blue to labour red. He even praised HC.
He fought for freedom and would have be agasped at any attempt to silent well though out opinion or argument. Freedom is our last bastion.
The other example I like to give of winning over the whole of parliament from a minority position is that of the New Zealand Labour Party in 1984. Though in opposition the Labour Party became the centre of organising against nuclear ship visits. LECs mobilised their members and to protests and printed leaflets and distributed bumper stickers. In parliament Labour MPs debated with and condemned the National Party for supporting nuclear ship visits.
Eventually they moved two National MPs to vote for an opposition bill to ban nuclear ship visits, (put up, by of all people, Richard Prebble). To prevent the vote being put Muldoon called a snap election.
Strangely when in government things changed, The Labour government achieved what Muldoon couldn’t putting off the vote for another three years, even agreeing a year after getting into office to let a (possibly), nuclear armed warship the USS Buchanan visit New Zealand. A visit that had to be canceled after Nicky Hager met with David Lange in the Beehive and threatened mass protests.
The lesson here is that sometimes a political party is more powerful in opposition, particularly if they stay close to their grass roots membership and don’t betray their principles.
Nuclear weapons free is a completely different issue. CC is big and scarey and requires radical changes to society, including alot of personal sacrifice. Nuclear weapons free legislation was relatively easy to support as it didn’t affect people in their day to day lives.
You left the role of the peace movement out of your story.
The other place your example falls down on is that Labour had to form govt to pass the legislation. They didn’t remain a glorified lobby group.
re the Churchill example, I don’t believe you can manufacture such people or circumstances. Do you see any one person in NZ politics who is the equivalent of Churchill?
Cunliffe comes closest, he has got the talent, he has got the knowledge, he has got the experience.
But has he got the bulldog spirit?
I must admit. He has been a bit quiet of late. Has he been intimidated? Or is he just biding his time? Or is it that no opportunity has presented itself to him to speak out. (I think it would be great if he made a statement of the gagging of Colonial Viper. But that is just my opinion.)
Maybe the Green Party could invite David Cunliffe to one of their meetings to deliver one of his famous addresses on climate change and the economy.
He’s “a bit quiet of late” because he is operating under a full gag order from David Shearer.
There was a press conference from Shearer a little while ago explaining it.
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Why won’t the Greens call an all party inquiry into climate change?
Goodness knows they have got cause to.
What are the Greens waiting for, till this happens to us?
Jenny, have you asked the GP to call for an all-party inquiry into CC?
What if I have?
Jenny I’m assuming you haven’t, but was giving you the benefit of the doubt. But if you have, what did they say?
Currently in a few Green party policy groups.
Maximising environmental and social sustainability is the overriding principle in all Green party policy. I do not think Green members are going to let the parliamentary team give it up, even if they wanted to, which I doubt.
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And. Unlike the other parties, Greens use membership consensus to set policy.
Well change is coming to the mighty LP too so we can bind the caucus to solid policy remits from our policy groups…well hopefully.
“Reports Warn Europe Is Nearing Irreversible Threat From Catastrophic Climate Change”
Jenny 12
That Common Dreams link you put up was very descriptive of the plight of the low income people in USA. I was taken by that piece you quoted about the elite retreating into self-contained gated communities. Devil take the hindmost.
I have this feeling that the wealthy in NZ are getting all the money possible salted away before everything goes pear-shaped. And our pollies cannot find in their DNA the early Labour commitment to doing something to help the country and people rather than fill their time with personalities which are just ways of passing time.
Exactly that’s why we need to win in 2014 but also win with the correct plan.
Here’s the trailer for Chasing Ice and a news piece on the movie.
Meanwhile Doha winds down to another last minute agreement which takes us apparently nowhere further on tackling Climate Change – the US runs interference on pretty much everything, China and Eastern Europe grimly hold on to their “developing nation” status and “hot gas” exemptions, “damage aid” is agreed for poorer countries but no liability is accepted by rich countries, no mechanism to collect and pay out is put in place and no agreement on where the money will come from.
“Our” Government’s meaningless response looks to the long term – presumably when they’ve all retired and taken all the profits and left the mess to someone else.
I’d have to agree with Greenpeace that Doha “failed to live up to even the historically low expectations”.
And here is the take from The Guardian.
I have a love hate relationship with The Standard. I am pretty middle of the road when it comes to political opinion, I am a pragmatist as opposed to avowed leftist/righty which generally puts me at odds with the status quo (both here and at Kiwiblog).
That said, I respect the idea that opinion should be broadcast no matter how much it disagrees with your own politics.
If you have to muzzle your opponent you have already lost. I look forward to the return of CV so we can argue each other again.
Oh ColonialContrarian shelve that anger and feel the love. Put your Sgt. Peppers album on and chill when the hate overflows onto your keyboard.
I’m sure CV is missing you too even though it must get boring for him always winning the debate with you 😉
You make a good point about the muzzle business.
To fight the war against Climate Change leadership is necessary.
Where will this leadership come from?
When it comes to Climate Change. Doesn’t this strange paradox of dithering, procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and expedience and delays, describe our present parliament, both government and opposition. Especially when we have entered a period of dangerous consequences.
Currently now that the apologists and Ignorers of climate change are dominant, one each, in two of the major parties in parliament. And the Greens are busy tailoring their party to fit with this paradigm.
The big political question is:
Who will be New Zealand’s Climate Churchill?
“The Climate Pearl Harbors and Polands are here. The Climate Churchills and FDRs aren’t.”
Could Russel Norman be this Climate Change Churchill?
Could anyone else hiding in the Green Party caucus be keeping their light under a bushel?
In my opinon the closest we have to a Climate Churchill in our parliament is David Cunliffe.
In my opinion Cunliffe’s treatment at the hands of the Shearer gang could also be seen as a warning shot across the bows of the Green Party…..
‘Raise the issue of climate change at your cost.’