Open mike 10/07/2023

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, July 10th, 2023 - 59 comments
Categories: open mike - Tags:


Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

59 comments on “Open mike 10/07/2023 ”

  • Comments are now closed

  1. bwaghorn 1
    10 July 2023 at 6:13 am

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132512457/5-policies-you-might-not-have-expected-from-the-greens-election-manifesto

    Greens policies.

    An extra weeks holiday, na 4s plenty , businesses are gonna hate it.

    Free lunches, yip if the school wants it.

    Nin resident Maori getting automatic residency, more decisive policy, that in reality won’t affect many people

    • bwaghorn 1.1
      10 July 2023 at 6:20 am

      Council ability to set tax, na government needs a hand on the tiller.

      Funding arts stuff and alcohol free gigs , ok

      • Roy Cartland 1.1.1
        10 July 2023 at 8:05 am

        So they've released policies. At least someone has aye?

        • bwaghorn 1.1.1.1
          10 July 2023 at 5:25 pm

          Sometimes I'm sure politicians make up policy just to be seen to be doing something, I'm sure, if it ain't broke don't fix it.

    • Tiger Mountain 1.2
      10 July 2023 at 7:45 am

      For those with an attention span, this is brilliant reading, the Greens will likely be the quiet achievers this Gen. Election and help along with Te Pāti Māori and a reduced NZ Labour quotient to keep Baldrick and Act well away from office.

      https://www.greens.org.nz/manifesto_2023

    • weka 1.3
      10 July 2023 at 8:10 am

      na 4s plenty

      what does that mean?

      • arkie 1.3.1
        10 July 2023 at 8:20 am

        No, Four is plenty

        The best thing the Key Government did was allow the cashing out of one week of holidays. If this Greens policy becomes law bwaghorn could cash it rather than taking the fifth week of holidays if they so choose.

      • bwaghorn 1.3.2
        10 July 2023 at 1:01 pm

        4 weeks holiday

    • Ad 1.4
      10 July 2023 at 8:13 am

      Actually the Greens have put forward a progressive and coherent and consistent set of policies, and they are a great challenge.

      Good on the Greens.

      I don't always like them but they are coherent and consistent.

    • PsyclingLeft.Always 1.5
      10 July 2023 at 8:40 am

      5 weeks ?….nah. A needless distraction. And James Shaw

      did say to his credit…

      Asked if he liked the sound of an extra week off, Green co-leader James Shaw listed some other “priorities” like “action on climate change” and “ending poverty” instead.

      I did like….

      In the arts and culture section, the Green Party manifesto said the Government should create a special funding pool for alcohol-free venues.

      The party also called for the Government to introduce funding for community and arts groups, so they did not have to rely on the Pub Charities grants which come from gambling revenue.

      https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132512457/5-policies-you-might-not-have-expected-from-the-greens-election-manifesto

      Both the alcohol and gambling industries have massive reach and IMO proven adverse consequences for Communities.

      Pub "charities" , charitably gifting funds from harmful pokies ?…a blight on aforesaid Communities.

      On another..did you see my reply re your Passenger Rail comment? Had some links. I , (and many others) think Passenger Rail…is well needed in NZ.

      https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-08-07-2023/#comment-1958603

    • Incognito 1.6
      10 July 2023 at 11:26 am

      […] that in reality won’t affect many people

      It might not be an election-changing vote-winner but surely we’ve moved on from binary majority-based policy-making to a situation in which politicians, governments, and by extension, our society look after the interests of minorities, especially when these have been ignored or neglected and lag behind in terms of equity. Surely? If you’re a dogmatic devotee of majoritarianism then you should vote NACT.

      • bwaghorn 1.6.1
        10 July 2023 at 1:06 pm

        I assuming this is to give residency to the children and grandchildren of Maori who left nz long ago, that'd mean those children are from another country, I can't see a need for special privilege because of that.

        I also think Noone should have dual citizenship Amy where ever, why should some get privileges because of birth or gaming citizenship rules?

  2. Tiger Mountain 2
    10 July 2023 at 7:37 am

    Biden green lights Cluster Munitions in Ukraine.
    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/7/7/us-to-give-ukraine-widely-banned-cluster-munitions-despite-fears

    Billions of dollars ($1.3 or so bill in latest US weapons splurge) for technology that demonstrably kills civilians, while the US continues not to prioritise some of its own citizens basic needs.

    More proof as if any were needed, that this is a proxy war. Even 5 Eyes partners bar the US of course, have signed up to the international Convention on Cluster Munitions this includes New Zealand, UK, Canada and US Imperialism’s Pacific deputy dog–Australia.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_Cluster_Munitions

    This war has to end and quickly via the intervention of as many international efforts as possible for a ceasefire, and then negotiations.

  3. PsyclingLeft.Always 3
    10 July 2023 at 8:18 am

    Manuherikia River minimum flow recommendations will be put to Otago regional councillors next month, ending a two-year wait, the council has confirmed.

    It follows years of wrangling between irrigators concerned about retaining allocations to extract water and people concerned about the river’s health.

    https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/orc-decide-river-use

    Surely…A Rivers health….affects everyone ? And 2 years to get…where ?

    IMO I am certain..that some are desperate for ACT to assume absolute control. As in : River health ? Climate change? fuck off….

    • Hunter Thompson II 3.1
      10 July 2023 at 10:31 am

      Even if minimum flow levels are set:

      * will they be sufficient to protect the river environment?

      * will they be enforced or will ORC turn a blind eye to lawbreakers?

  4. Sabine 4
    10 July 2023 at 9:23 am

    Well it seems like Self ID in Germany has hit a roadblock.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/07/09/germany-trans-self-id-blocked-criminals-escape-prosecution/

    A transgender self-identification law has been blocked at the last minute in Germany over fears it will be abused by criminals trying to escape punishment.

    …

    Important information like criminal records, outstanding arrest warrants and weapons licences need to be recognizable to prosecutors in databases after changing name and gender,” Dirk Peglow, chair of the Alliance of German Legal Civil Servants, told the German news magazine Der Spiegel.

    ……..

    ‌The draft law would ban police and other agencies from using the name a person went by before transitioning. But Nancy Faeser, the interior minister of Scholz’s Social Democrats, reportedly insisted that both names must be automatically given to enforcement authorities to prevent criminals misusing the fast-track gender-swap procedure.

    A few other concerns are all noted, but rest assured that the well being of women – human females of all ages was not a concern at all. But at least the Police has had some success with their concerns.

    • Visubversa 4.1
      10 July 2023 at 10:24 am

      Bit like the NZ Green Party policy on the "Rainbow Community" which hardly mentions same sex attracted people at all.

      • Sabine 4.1.1
        10 July 2023 at 10:37 am

        This is a block based on law and the ability to execute law by police and court. In essence it would make police work impossible as you could not describe victims or perpetrators, you could not arrest the person with their deadname on the arrest warrant etc. It would undermine all of law.

        In some discussion about what to do when the hubby/wife comes out as trans what do you do? Honestly, i would declare my husband dead. Not even go for a divorce, as with the change of their 'sex marker' and 'name' they killed whom ever was there before. Why would i divorce a 'woman' i never was married too in the first place.

        Now the conspiracy theorist in me stipulates that if you want to change many laws – how would you go about? Open debate, and little tweaks here an there to go with the times, or you undermine them altogether and then create new laws to better fit the time.

        that is the question that Germany needs to answer now. And some other countries if ever they have political appointees that still have some sort of respect for their country, the laws they are sworn to upheld, and some integrity and courage. I am not holding my breath though that it would be found here and in many other places.

        Case in point: A young boy recently got attacked by two women, beaten unconsious and then raped. The discription for the women, One is 1.9 meter the 1.75.

        https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-66107716

        Go try find these women. 🙂

        Here you have three kids that go buy he/him pronouns that got lost, luckily they got found.

        https://reduxx.info/missing-childrens-notice-describes-three-boys-by-pronouns/

        The description did not talk about boys he /him, but kids/children he/him so could be both male or female.

        It can't be good for police work.

        And here in NZ we have the case of the big burly person who tortured a young girl to death, referred to as a she/her. The dead girl never stood a fighting chance, but at least we not gonna upset the murderer/torturer with the wrong pronouns.

        • tWiggle 4.1.1.1
          10 July 2023 at 11:03 am

          Arguing from the specific to the general there, Sabine.

          Under that approach to law-making, no women should teach teenagers, based on the number of women who have been successfully prosecuted for having sex with their students.

          • Sabine 4.1.1.1.1
            10 July 2023 at 11:33 am

            why don't you write a letter to the editor?

          • Visubversa 4.1.1.1.2
            10 July 2023 at 11:43 am

            The British tabloid Press has a flush of excitement a couple of years ago when they noted a rise in the numbers of "women" being prosecuted for sex crimes against children. However the most basic of research showed that these were just the usual perverts, but now with an extra co-morbidity.

            This is just one of many

            examples.https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/22739331.sussex-police-row-trans-woman-paedophile/

            • Sabine 4.1.1.1.2.1
              10 July 2023 at 12:04 pm

              And it is precisely the reason Germany blocked Self ID for now.

              In Germany the reason Self ID was blocked was because Justice, Corrections pointed out that they could no longer in any meaningful way uphold the law if they can not refer to aliases of people, refer tot he state of their biology, and so on and so forth.

              This poster is just someone who is after a cheap gotcha, chances are they could no more define the word woman in any meaningful term then our PM couldn't just some time ago. The reality is, this poster could not point out if the 'woman' rapists are male or female as identifying as a woman is something anyone can do, male or female alike.

              Hence the reason why Germany currently has a block on Self ID.

              Btw, Rape in the UK is always the act of a male as it involves always the penis. Any other sexual assault is classified differently. Rape involves the penis, thus is always the crime of a male no matter how that male identifies.

              What is rape and sexual assault?

              Metropolitan Police

              https://www.met.police.uk › advice › rsa › what-is-rap…

              The legal definition of rape is when a person intentionally penetrates another's vagina, anus or mouth with a penis, without the other person's consent."

              But then, they – the poster – might be one of them that believe that women have penises. Who knows, it's all so confusing now. 🙂

              • Sabine …
                10 July 2023 at 12:07 pm

                edit:

                Maybe in 20 – 50 years humanity will have the knowledge to graft arm / leg rolls onto the pupic bone of females that will simulate 'penis' quite well (or no one will know what a real penis is anymore cause they all got cut off and inverted) and at that stage Transmen(human females identifying as men) will also be part of that 'male' group that rapes.

                edit:

                I only believe that about 5 – 10 % of all humanity are sexual predators. They are however quite prolific, and sadly it seems supported by many for cheap gotchas and to scare females into kindness and acquiescence.

              • Visubversa …
                10 July 2023 at 1:16 pm

                Confusion all the way.

                "Even Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP’s reliably progressive leader, claimed that she couldn’t be sure whether Isla Bryson was actually a woman. This is an outrage. Just because Isla has a penis, testicles and a track record of sexual assault doesn’t make her any less of a lady".

                https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/march-2023/double-rapists-can-be-ladies-too/?fbclid=IwAR3XX5OpButB56G0sWIPgvsjNVuJkVf12QYnB4P4R-JhRkeS3wIUzxk7GPY

              • tWiggle …
                10 July 2023 at 3:29 pm

                Sabine, your oversize women in Essex are reported only to have sexually assaulted their victim, not raped them.

            • tWiggle 4.1.1.1.2.2
              10 July 2023 at 4:22 pm

              Of course, some women teachers can and do sexually abuse students. And some trans people commit sexual assault. Therefore we must ban women from teaching and trans women from existing.

              from the US

              'According to the Center for Sex Offender Management, which is part of the U.S. Department of Justice, females account for around 10 percent of all sex crimes reported to authorities,” Fox News reported. “However, a much higher percentage – over 30 percent – of all teacher-student sexual offenses are estimated to have been perpetrated by females.'

              2019 in NZ

              'The Blenheim teacher who admitted sexually abusing two schoolboys has been jailed – but still cannot be named as she continues the fight to keep her identity a secret. She is understood to be the first female teacher in New Zealand convicted and sentenced for sexual offending against students. And it was confirmed in court that the woman did not dispute having sexual relationships with other older boys.'

              • Belladonna …
                10 July 2023 at 4:38 pm

                Based on those figures 70-90% of teacher student sex-crimes are committed by males – so therefore, males are even more unqualified to teach.

                What does that leave us with? Robots?

              • Belladonna …
                10 July 2023 at 4:41 pm

                Based on those figures 70-90% of teacher student sex-crimes are committed by males. Ignoring, for the moment, the huge differential between the numbers of women and men teachers in the profession – that would mean (following your argument) that males are even more unsafe as teachers than women are.

                What does that leave us with? Robots?

          • Molly 4.1.1.1.3
            10 July 2023 at 12:35 pm

            "Under that approach to law-making, no women should teach teenagers, based on the number of women who have been successfully prosecuted for having sex with their students."

            Can you explain this leap of logic in more detail, tWiggle?

    • Molly 4.2
      10 July 2023 at 12:39 pm

      Archived link available.

      Moderators, does TS mind these archived links being posted to allow access to articles. There were a couple of commentators who seemed concerned, is there a TS policy?

    • Molly 4.3
      10 July 2023 at 12:47 pm

      Interesting comment by the anti-discrimination commissioner:

      "Ferda Ataman, the ‌anti-discrimination commissioner, has accused the government of bowing down to Right-wing populism with the delay after it put the brakes on the reform.

      ‌“It’s being said that we have to be worried about men and women no longer being clearly defined, and men changing their gender just to get into a sauna and gawp at women.” But, she pointed out “in Germany we have mostly mixed-sex saunas anyway. No man has to legally change their gender to see a naked woman.”"

      Such an illogical argument.

      People using mixed-sex spaces CONSENT to inclusion of the other sex.

      The impact will be on single-sex spaces, where consent is not transferable.

      The anti-discrimination commissioner seems to be anti-critical thinking.

      • Sabine 4.3.1
        10 July 2023 at 2:35 pm

        The anti-discrimination commissioner is discriminative against women – human females as women – human females are entitled to single sex spaces under the law and can not be discriminated against on the grounds of their sex. Oops.

        And as the Police and the Justice Department and Ministers in Germany have helpfully pointed out these provisions in law exists and currently they are being blatantly broken and transgressions can not be appropriately policed and prosecuted.

        'Woriads', worthy of respect in a democratic society, until the laws are changed.

        • tWiggle 4.3.1.1
          10 July 2023 at 4:50 pm

          Why do you fuss so much about NZ self-id? It allows people to change their sex on birth certificates by affirmation, without having to go through the Family Court, as previously.

          From the Dept of Internal Affairs website 'Birth certificates are not intended to be considered proof of a person's identity' and 'are not usually used to determine a person's right to access single sex services or spaces'.

          In fuller detail:

          'Questions about the implications of self-identification for service providers

          What does the new law say about how service providers should consider birth certificates as evidence of sex or gender?

          The new legislation clarifies how birth certificates can be used as evidence of sex or gender. Where service providers need to determine someone’s sex or gender, other factors can be considered over and above the registered sex listed on a birth certificate. This reflects the fact that birth certificates are not intended to be considered evidence of a person’s identity (usually birth certificates are provided with other documents such as a driver licence or passports to prove identity).

          What does self-identification mean for single sex spaces and activities such as changing rooms and sports teams?

          The self-identification process should not affect how access to single sex spaces or sports is determined. Birth certificates are not usually used to determine a person’s right to access single sex services or spaces.

          Organisations and individuals can continue to rely on their own policies rather than birth certificates. For example, it is still up to individual governing bodies to determine how sex and gender are determined in sport. It is also still up to individual schools to discuss with learners, parents, caregivers and whānau what name and gender learners use, regardless of the details on their birth certificates.

          How will self-identification affect the placement of people in prison?

          The self-identification process should not affect the placement of people in prison. Corrections is exploring a policy change to ensure birth certificates are not an overriding consideration in placement decisions. Any changes will come into force alongside the self-identification process.’

          • Molly 4.3.1.1.1
            10 July 2023 at 8:04 pm

            Can you give a coherent definition of gender so all can follow your reasoning?

            Then I will be able to respond to your musings and points without any misunderstanding.

  5. tWiggle 5
    10 July 2023 at 11:00 am

    Nine to noon interview about skew in ADHD youth numbers in prison

    They discuss results of a very interesting study mining NZ health and justice data used to evaluate mental health diagnosis with justice system outcomes.

    • ianmac 5.1
      10 July 2023 at 2:32 pm

      Thanks tWiggle. Family has ADHD but luckily avoided the justice system. One was in his 20s by the time he got diagnosed and then treatment. An earlier visit to a Psychologist he was told no such thing as ADHD. Big help.

  6. Dennis Frank 6
    10 July 2023 at 11:14 am

    It's the central base of our democracy so no wonder it comes in at #4 on Stuff's daily popularity rating. Democrats throughout the nation glued to the screen!

    Even his mother, the epitome of duty, was reluctant to move in when she became sovereign in 1952. According to legend, it was only when her prime minister, Winston Churchill, put his foot down that she gave up hope of staying in Clarence House. “You are basically living above the office,” said one former servant, “so it doesn’t lend itself to privacy and it’s not an easy place to relax.”

    Edward VIII complained about “the gloom of Buckingham Palace” and how the family would “freeze up” as soon as they went inside. When the then princess Elizabeth moved in with her family in 1937, the palace had a full-time pest controller to dispose of mice, and her governess likened staying at the palace to “camping in a museum”.

    The mice were still in residence when the Obamas stayed at the palace in 2011 (Barack Obama was terrified his wife, Michelle, who is frightened of mice, would find out), and the couple found themselves accommodated for the first and only time in a presidential guest suite that did not have an en-suite bathroom. The Obamas had to cross a corridor to clean their teeth and wash… The majority of the 775 rooms are accounted for by the 188 staff bedrooms, 52 guest rooms, 92 offices, 78 bathrooms, 19 state rooms and various other service rooms, including kitchens, storage rooms and staff canteens… Throughout her life, the late queen used a two-bar electric fire to heat rooms at Buckingham Palace in which enormous fireplaces were never lit. The king is so appalled at the energy bills for Buckingham Palace that he has ordered staff to set the thermostats at no higher than 19C in the winter, and when rooms are not being used they are turned down to 16C, with radiators turned off completely at weekends. He has also stopped heating the swimming pool.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/royals/300924313/why-nobody-wants-to-live-in-buckingham-palace

    It's tough at the top. Our head of state will struggle within the shackles of democracy regardless of how well they do the multi-year renovations. Still, look on the bright side. The multitude of ghosts abiding in those massive empty room will keep him in good company, whispering in his ear during sleep, connecting him to tradition. Democracy's inertial effect will proceed on this experiential basis…

  7. tWiggle 7
    10 July 2023 at 12:56 pm

    Gerald Otto's facebook post timelines National's hypocricy in moaning about RAT test costs

    In 2021 National hassled the government about lack of RATs, even though orders were in place, and tests arrived in time for the winter wave of covid. Otto's timeline also lays out National's attack of the government covid response to make political capital.

    • Bearded Git 7.1
      10 July 2023 at 1:22 pm

      Thanks for that tWig.

      Captain Hindsight and Corporal Knew-it-all-Along (Luxon and Bishop) are at it again. Many of the so-called wasted RAT tests may get used anyway. I used a couple this week because I've got a heavy cold and I know people who have recently caught Covid.

      Just because the RAT tests have expired according to the date on the packet does not make them unusable so long as they have been stored carefully. They were never that accurate in the first place, something the Captain and Corporal refused to acknowledge. I think many people would be happy to take a few packets for future use.

      • Bearded Git 7.1.1
        10 July 2023 at 1:37 pm

        Google, which is never wrongsmileytells me:

        "you can use an expired test until you can get new ones, as long as the control line is working."

    • Patricia Bremner 7.2
      10 July 2023 at 7:01 pm

      Ta tWiggle, that was vg.smiley Worth folowing.

  8. Stephen D 8
    10 July 2023 at 2:27 pm

    This really pisses me off.

    https://www.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/300922764/the-not-fast-and-the-very-furious-30kph-limit-plans-for-nz-towns

    I’m a baby boomer, live next door to a school, have children, and grandchildren.

    The sheer entitlement and fucking arrogance of those who time is so precious they’d rather risk the lives of kids to save themselves a few seconds tells you everything you need to know about them and their ilk.

    The sooner the boomer generation is confined to history the better.

    • Roy Cartland 8.1
      10 July 2023 at 3:31 pm

      Can you elaborate please?

    • Bearded Git 8.2
      10 July 2023 at 3:45 pm

      In 1990 road deaths were running at about 700 a year. In 2023 they are running at about 350 per year.

      Over this time the population has gone from 3.4m to 5.2m.

      Deaths per million have gone from 206 per million to 67 per million.

      So this is pretty good, but we are way behind Europe-the EU has 46 deaths per million.

      It's hard to tell how the "Road to Zero" is going because traffic was so light in the Covid years 2021 and 2022 but I love the policies of more median barriers, improved junctions and lower speed limits. My understanding is the government has had some resistance to this because contractors like to bild roads not fix roads up.

      Where the article says “Road safety campaigner, Clive Matthew-Wilson, said the Road to Zero project was “a dismal failure”” Where is his evidence?

      • Descendant Of Smith 8.2.1
        10 July 2023 at 4:21 pm

        Median barriers are causing some issues for police who have to drive a-ways before turning around to get to offenders / emergencies in the opposite direction.

        Not a reason for not doing them but long stretches with no gaps could be better redesigned.

      • Belladonna 8.2.2
        10 July 2023 at 4:52 pm

        It would be more useful in analysisng the Road to Zero policy – in looking at road deaths in 2018 (before it was implemented) and in 2022 (the most recent full year, after the policy was implemented – and one in which there were no lockdowns).

        The totals are virtually the same.

        The final road toll five years ago (2018) was finalised at 378 deaths in that year, meaning at this point the 2022 provisional tally eerily mirrored the same figure.

        https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/481764/tragic-tally-60-more-people-killed-on-the-roads-in-2022-than-2021

        I suspect that this is the "dismal failure" of the Road to Zero campaign referenced – all of the median barriers, improved junctions and lowered speed limits implemented since 2018 – have made no difference to the numbers killed.

      • tWiggle 8.2.3
        10 July 2023 at 5:14 pm

        Alas, I think a large part of that decrease is due to airbags. The number to look at is the rate of vehicle accidents with reported casualties, not deaths.

        • Bearded Git 8.2.3.1
          10 July 2023 at 6:17 pm

          Good point tWig, But there are many factors.

          Car body construction has improved hugely so that cars do not crumple on impact and the car frame is designed to absorb the impact as well as the airbags.

          The state of the roads is also important. Cars crossing to the wrong side of the road can't happen with median barriers. Better designed junctions are important. There are two terrible junctions in Wanaka that are scheduled to be replaced by a roundabout and traffic lights for instance. And so on….

          What we don’t need is motorways being built using the excuse that they are safer. They are massively expensive-much better to spend this on public transport.

    • Belladonna 8.3
      10 July 2023 at 5:06 pm

      Nothing in the article saying that it is only (or even primarily) boomers complaining.

      When we look at deaths from speeding (people, who by definition already don't care about any speed limits) the under 30 age group are much more significantly represented than the over 60s (the boomers)

      https://www.transport.govt.nz/statistics-and-insights/safety-annual-statistics/sheet/speed

      • satty 8.3.1
        10 July 2023 at 7:15 pm

        With over 90% of drivers speeding outside the school near my home, I can guarantee you it's not limited to a certain age range (younger people maybe on their mobile phone while speeding though). Speeding is widespread and excessive in this country (there are more drivers over 60 km/h than within the limit of 30 km/h – I measured it).

        But then the police doesn't care (and probably doesn't have enough resources), the council doesn't care (they even widened the road), the 90% of the drivers don't care either… and the funny thing is, following one of those "speedsters" you will very likely see them at the next traffic light over 1 km away… so they didn't even safe any travel time (they are just morons complaining about their high petrol bill mainly caused by their stupid driving habits).

        And then the fines for traffic offences in the country can only be considered a joke. $30 for speeding, same as late 90s… when a glass of beer in a pub was $2, the house prices $150,000… compared to $15 and $900,000 or so here in Wellington.

        Speeding tickets should start at $200+ – similar to drinking alcohol in a liquor ban zone, like Country Place (I guess whoever set $250 dollar fine figured out that nobody cares about $30, $40 to $60 anymore), and, if you ask me, we should introduce a license suspension for anything 20km/h plus over the speed limit in towns, like they do in many Europe countries.

        • Roy Cartland 8.3.1.1
          10 July 2023 at 7:24 pm

          It's illegal to be on phones while driving, but all these new cars have a bloody ipad as their central control. You literally can't watch the road and it. And some even have more screens displaying all manner of distracting info – I drove one that had three(!).

          Please, give me my knobs and switches back, tactility, so I can watch the damn road (and possibly the speedo).

  9. Dennis Frank 9
    10 July 2023 at 4:37 pm

    Ship aground, captain went missing:

    The Heron review was commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) after it was revealed dawn raids continued after then Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s 2021 apology to Pacific People for historic Dawn Raids.

    The review found that despite the immense publicity of the apology in 2021, nothing was done by ministers or officials to change the way the Government sought people for deportation. The review found the apology “created a reasonable expectation within the Pasifika community that ‘dawn’ intrusions into houses would cease (or at least would be a very last resort”.

    It found there “does not appear to have been an attempt to implement the principles of the government’s apology or alter out of hours visits in light of it”. Only now, after the review was initiated, was MBIE updating its internal guidance for dawn raids to align them with the apology.

    Look, everyone knows the pandemic afflicted Labour mental processes so extensively that they became unable to make decisions. People point that out onsite here constantly, so it must be true. Faafoi may have put it on the cabinet agenda & it got displaced later.

    Jacinda knew someone had told her she had to apologise for what Muldoon had done. It's vitally important that Labour accept responsibility for National mistakes. Apparently. Dunno why. You can't blame her for forgetting to ensure that the same mistakes weren't being produced by her govt: that's rocket science thinking, which Labour doesn't do. Still racist though, according to islanders…

    Since 2015, there have been 95 dawn raids, which found 117 people for deportation, of whom 101 were eventually deported. Of those 101 people, eight were Pacific Island nationals, while 47 were Chinese nationals. This was largely the result of a pivot from focusing on horticulture visas to focusing on construction, where more Chinese nationals work.

    “When presented with evidence that Chinese and Indian persons made up the majority of deportees, the Pasifika community told us that this was still racist – the racism had turned to other parties, " the review said.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/review-slams-jacinda-arderns-hollow-dawn-raid-apology-after-nothing-done-to-stop-dawn-raids/LDGTZSYFRNAWNA4EZAOIODJ3GU/

    • tWiggle 9.1
      10 July 2023 at 5:21 pm

      Or the current stats realistically reflect the racial proportions of overstayers. Looks like NZ Herald didn't bother to investigate that possibility in their reportage – in a hurry for an anti-government soundbite.

  10. tWiggle 10
    10 July 2023 at 6:00 pm

    A 2020 Herald article estimated 10,000 overstayers in NZ, mostly Pasifika. The article is about an Indian overstayer who came as a student on borrowed money.

    Oops, seems like a switch from PI overstayers to Chinese construction workers could, in fact, be racist.

Recent Comments

Recent Posts

  • Coalition Circus of Chaos – Verbal gymnasts; an inept Ringmaster, and a helluva lot of clowns
    ..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.The Curtain Closes…You have to hand it to Aotearoa - voters don’t do things by halves. People wanted change, and by golly, change they got. Baby, bathwater; rubber ducky - all out.There is something ...
    Frankly SpeakingBy Frank Macskasy
    3 hours ago

  • “Brown-town”: the Wayne & Simeon show
    Last week Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown kicked off what is always the most important thing a Council does every three years – update its ‘Long term plan’. This is the budgeting process for the Council and – unlike central government – the budget has to balance in terms of income ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 hours ago

  • Not To Cast Stones…
    Yeah I changed my wine into waterHad a miracle or four since I saw youSome came on time, some took a whileLocal Water Done Well.One of our new government’s first actions, number 20 on their list of 49 priorities, is the repeal of the previous government’s Water Services Entities Act 2022. Three Waters, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 hours ago

  • So much noise and so little signal
    Parliament opened with pomp and ceremony, then it was back to politicians shouting at and past each other into the void. Photo: Office of the Clerk, NZ ParliamentTL;DR: It started with pomp, pageantry and a speech from the throne laying out the new National-ACT-NZ First Government’s plan to turn back ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 hours ago

  • Lost in the Desert: Accepted
    As noted, November was an exceptionally good writing month for me. Well, in an additional bit of good news for December, one of those November stories, Lost in the Desert, has been accepted by Eternal Haunted Summer (https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/) for their Winter Solstice 2023 issue. At 3,500 words, ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    13 hours ago

  • This Government and their Rightwing culture-war flanks picked a fight with the country… not the ot...
    ACT and the culture-war warriors of the Right have picked this fight with Te Ao Māori. Ideologically-speaking, as a Party they’ve actually done this since inception, let’s be clear about that. So there is no real need to delve at length into their duplicitous, malignant, hypocritical manipulations. Yes, yes, ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    15 hours ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #49
    A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science  Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Dec 3, 2023 thru Sat, Dec 9, 2023. Story of the Week Interactive: The pathways to meeting the Paris Agreement’s 1.5C limit The Paris Agreement’s long-term goal of keeping warming “well below” ...
    Skeptical Science
    22 hours ago

  • LOGAN SAVORY: The planned blessing that has irked councillors
    “I’m struggling to understand why we are having a blessing to bless this site considering it is a scrap metal yard… It just doesn’t make sense to me.” Logan Savory writes- When’s a blessing appropriate and when isn’t it? Some Invercargill City Councillors have questioned whether blessings might ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    22 hours ago

  • Surely it won't happen
    I have prepared a bad news sandwich. That is to say, I'm going to try and make this more agreeable by placing on the top and underneath some cheering things.So let's start with a daughter update, the one who is now half a world away but also never farther out ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 day ago

  • Let Them Eat Sausage Rolls: Hipkins Tries to Kill Labour Again
    Sometimes you despair. You really do. Fresh off leading Labour to its ugliest election result since 1990,* Chris Hipkins has decided to misdiagnose matters, because the Government he led cannot possibly have been wrong about anything. *In 2011 and 2014, people were willing to save Labour’s electorate ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • Clued Up: Ageing Boomers, Laurie & Les, Talk Politics.
    “But, that’s the thing, mate, isn’t it? We showed ourselves to be nothing more useful than a bunch of angry old men, shaking our fists at the sky. Were we really that angry at Labour and the Greens? Or was it just the inescapable fact of our own growing irrelevancy ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • JERRY COYNE: A powerful University dean in New Zealand touts merging higher education with indigeno...
    Jerry Coyne writes –  This article from New Zealand’s Newsroom site was written by Julie Rowland,  the deputy dean of the Faculty of Science at the University of Auckland as well as a geologist and the Director of the Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity & Society. In other ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.
    Ain't nobody gonna steal this heart away.For the last couple of weeks its felt as though all the good things in our beautiful land are under attack.These isles in the southern Pacific. The home of the Māori people. A land of easy going friendliness, openness, and she’ll be right. A ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Speaking for the future
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.MondayYou cannot be seriousOne might think, god, people who are seeing all this must be regretting their vote.But one might be mistaken.There are people whose chief priority is not wanting to be ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • How Should We Organise a Modern Economy?
    Alan Bollard, formerly Treasury Secretary, Reserve Bank Governor and Chairman of APEC, has written an insightful book exploring command vs demand approaches to the economy. The Cold War included a conflict about ideas; many were economic. Alan Bollard’s latest book Economists in the Cold War focuses on the contribution of ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    3 days ago

  • Willis fails a taxing app-titude test but govt supporters will cheer moves on Te Pukenga and the Hum...
    Buzz from the Beehive The Minister of Defence has returned from Noumea to announce New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting and (wearing another ministerial hat) to condemn malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government. A bigger cheer from people who voted for the Luxon ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • ELIZABETH RATA: In defence of the liberal university and against indigenisation
    The suppression of individual thought in our universities spills over into society, threatening free speech everywhere. Elizabeth Rata writes –  Indigenising New Zealand’s universities is well underway, presumably with the agreement of University Councils and despite the absence of public discussion. Indigenising, under the broader umbrella of decolonisation, ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the skewed media coverage of Gaza
    Now that he’s back as Foreign Minister, maybe Winston Peters should start reading the MFAT website. If he did, Peters would find MFAT celebrating the 25th anniversary of how New Zealand alerted the rest of the world to the genocide developing in Rwanda. Quote: New Zealand played an important role ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • “Your Circus, Your Clowns.”
    It must have been a hard first couple of weeks for National voters, since the coalition was announced. Seeing their party make so many concessions to New Zealand First and ACT that there seems little remains of their own policies, other than the dwindling dream of tax cuts and the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Weekly Roundup 8-December-2023
    It’s Friday again and Christmas is fast approaching. Here’s some of the stories that caught our attention. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt covered some of the recent talk around the costs, benefits and challenges with the City Rail Link. On Thursday Matt looked at how ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    3 days ago

  • End-of-week escapism
    Amsterdam to Hong Kong William McCartney16,000 kilometres41 days18 trains13 countries11 currencies6 long-distance taxis4 taxi apps4 buses3 sim cards2 ferries1 tram0 medical events (surprisingly)Episode 4Whether the Sofia-Istanbul Express really qualifies to be called an express is debatable, but it’s another one of those likeably old and slow trains tha… ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • The Hoon around the week to Dec 8
    Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro arrives for the State Opening of Parliament (Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)TL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:New Finance Minister Nicola Willis set herself a ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand’s Witchcraft Laws: 1840/1858-1961/1962
    Sometimes one gets morbidly curious about the oddities of one’s own legal system. Sometimes one writes entire essays on New Zealand’s experience with Blasphemous Libel: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/blasphemous-libel-new-zealand-politics/ And sometimes one follows up the exact historical status of witchcraft law in New Zealand. As one does, of course. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • No surprises
    Don’t expect any fiscal shocks or surprises when the books are opened on December 20 with the unveiling of the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU). That was the message yesterday from Westpac in an economic commentary. But the bank’s analysis did not include any changes to capital ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #49 2023
    113 articles in 48 journals by 674 contributing authors Physical science of climate change, effects Diversity of Lagged Relationships in Global Means of Surface Temperatures and Radiative Budgets for CMIP6 piControl Simulations, Tsuchida et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-23-0045.1 Do abrupt cryosphere events in High Mountain Asia indicate earlier tipping ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Phone calls at Kia Kaha primary
    It is quiet reading time in Room 13! It is so quiet you can hear the Tui outside. It is so quiet you can hear the Fulton Hogan crew.It is so quiet you can hear old Mr Grant and old Mr Bradbury standing by the roadworks and counting the conesand going on ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • A question of confidence is raised by the Minister of Police, but he had to be questioned by RNZ to ...
    It looks like the new ministerial press secretaries have quickly learned the art of camouflaging exactly what their ministers are saying – or, at least, of keeping the hard news  out of the headlines and/or the opening sentences of the statements they post on the home page of the governments ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Xmas  good  cheer  for the dairy industry  as Fonterra lifts its forecast
    The big dairy co-op Fonterra  had  some Christmas  cheer to offer  its farmers this week, increasing its forecast farmgate milk price and earnings guidance for  the year after what it calls a strong start to the year. The forecast  midpoint for the 2023/24 season is up 25cs to $7.50 per ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • MICHAEL BASSETT: Modern Maori myths
    Michael Bassett writes – Many of the comments about the Coalition’s determination to wind back the dramatic Maorification of New Zealand of the last three years would have you believe the new government is engaged in a full-scale attack on Maori. In reality, all that is happening ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago

  • Dreams of eternal sunshine at a spotless COP28
    Mary Robinson asked Al Jaber a series of very simple, direct and highly pertinent questions and he responded with a high-octane public meltdown. Photos: Getty Images / montage: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR The hygiene effects of direct sunshine are making some inroads, perhaps for the very first time, on the normalised ‘deficit ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • LINDSAY MITCHELL: Oh, the irony
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – Appointed by new Labour PM Jacinda Ardern in 2018, Cindy Kiro headed the Welfare Expert Advisory Group (WEAG) tasked with reviewing and recommending reforms to the welfare system. Kiro had been Children’s Commissioner during Helen Clark’s Labour government but returned to academia subsequently. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Transport Agencies don’t want Harbour Tunnels
    It seems even our transport agencies don’t want Labour’s harbour crossing plans. In August the previous government and Waka Kotahi announced their absurd preferred option the new harbour crossing that at the time was estimated to cost $35-45 billion. It included both road tunnels and a wiggly light rail tunnel ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Webworm Presents: Jurassic Park on 35mm
    Hi,Paying Webworm members such as yourself keep this thing running, so as 2023 draws to close, I wanted to do two things to say a giant, loud “THANKS”. Firstly — I’m giving away 10 Mister Organ blu-rays in New Zealand, and another 10 in America. More details down below.Secondly — ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • The Prime Minister's Dream.
    Yesterday saw the State Opening of Parliament, the Speech from the Throne, and then Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dream for Aotearoa in his first address. But first the pomp and ceremony, the arrival of the Governor General.Dame Cindy Kiro arrived on the forecourt outside of parliament to a Māori welcome. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • National’s new MP; the proud part-Maori boy raised in a state house
    Probably not since 1975 have we seen a government take office up against such a wall of protest and complaint. That was highlighted yesterday, the day that the new Parliament was sworn in, with news that King Tuheitia has called a national hui for late January to develop a ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago

  • Climate Adam: Battlefield Earth – How War Fuels Climate Catastrophe
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). War, conflict and climate change are tearing apart lives across the world. But these aren't separate harms - they're intricately connected. ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • They do not speak for us, and they do not speak for the future
    These dire woeful and intolerant people have been so determinedly going about their small and petulant business, it’s hard to keep up. At the end of the new government’s first woeful week, Audrey Young took the time to count off its various acts of denigration of Te Ao Māori:Review the ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Another attack on te reo
    The new white supremacist government made attacking te reo a key part of its platform, promising to rename government agencies and force them to "communicate primarily in English" (which they already do). But today they've gone further, by trying to cut the pay of public servants who speak te reo: ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • For the record, the Beehive buzz can now be regarded as “official”
    Buzz from the Beehive The biggest buzz we bring you from the Beehive today is that the government’s official website is up and going after being out of action for more than a week. The latest press statement came  from  Education Minister  Eric Stanford, who seized on the 2022 PISA ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Climate Change: Failed again
    There was another ETS auction this morning. and like all the other ones this year, it failed to clear - meaning that 23 million tons of carbon (15 million ordinary units plus 8 million in the cost containment reserve) went up in smoke. Or rather, they didn't. Being unsold at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell On The Government’s Assault On Maori
    This isn’t news, but the National-led coalition is mounting a sustained assault on Treaty rights and obligations. Even so, Christopher Luxon has described yesterday’s nationwide protests by Maori as “pretty unfair.” Poor thing. In the NZ Herald, Audrey Young has compiled a useful list of the many, many ways that ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    5 days ago

  • Rising costs hit farmers hard, but  there’s more  positive news  for  them this  week 
    New Zealand’s dairy industry, the mainstay of the country’s export trade, has  been under  pressure  from rising  costs. Down on the  farm, this  has  been  hitting  hard. But there  was more positive news this week,  first   from the latest Fonterra GDT auction where  prices  rose,  and  then from  a  report ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    5 days ago

  • ROB MacCULLOCH:  Newshub and NZ Herald report misleading garbage about ACT’s van Veldon not follo...
    Rob MacCulloch writes –  In their rush to discredit the new government (which our MainStream Media regard as illegitimate and having no right to enact the democratic will of voters) the NZ Herald and Newshub are arguing ACT’s Deputy Leader Brooke van Veldon is not following Treasury advice ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Top 10 for Wednesday, December 6
    Even many young people who smoke support smokefree policies, fitting in with previous research showing the large majority of people who smoke regret starting and most want to quit. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Wednesday, December ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Eleven years of work.
    Well it didn’t take six months, but the leaks have begun. Yes the good ship Coalition has inadvertently released a confidential cabinet paper into the public domain, discussing their axing of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs).Oops.Just when you were admiring how smoothly things were going for the new government, they’ve had ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Why we're missing out on sharply lower inflation
    A wave of new and higher fees, rates and charges will ripple out over the economy in the next 18 months as mayors, councillors, heads of department and price-setters for utilities such as gas, electricity, water and parking ramp up charges. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Just when most ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • How Did We Get Here?
    Hi,Kiwis — keep the evening of December 22nd free. I have a meetup planned, and will send out an invite over the next day or so. This sounds sort of crazy to write, but today will be Tony Stamp’s final Totally Normal column of 2023. Somehow we’ve made it to ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago

  • At a glance – Has the greenhouse effect been falsified?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • New Zealaders  have  high expectations of  new  government:  now let’s see if it can deliver?
    The electorate has high expectations of the  new  government.  The question is: can  it  deliver?    Some  might  say  the  signs are not  promising. Protestors   are  already marching in the streets. The  new  Prime Minister has had  little experience of managing  very diverse politicians  in coalition. The economy he  ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    6 days ago

  • You won't believe some of the numbers you have to pull when you're a Finance Minister
    Nicola of Marsden:Yo, normies! We will fix your cost of living worries by giving you a tax cut of 150 dollars. 150! Cash money! Vote National.Various people who can read and count:Actually that's 150 over a fortnight. Not a week, which is how you usually express these things.And actually, it looks ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • Pushback
    When this government came to power, it did so on an explicitly white supremacist platform. Undermining the Waitangi Tribunal, removing Māori representation in local government, over-riding the courts which had tried to make their foreshore and seabed legislation work, eradicating te reo from public life, and ultimately trying to repudiate ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Defence ministerial meeting meant Collins missed the Maori Party’s mischief-making capers in Parli...
    Buzz from the Beehive Maybe this is not the best time for our Minister of Defence to have gone overseas. Not when the Maori Party is inviting (or should that be inciting?) its followers to join a revolution in a post which promoted its protest plans with a picture of ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Threats of war have been followed by an invitation to join the revolution – now let’s see how th...
     A Maori Party post on Instagram invited party followers to ….  Tangata Whenua, Tangata Tiriti, Join the REVOLUTION! & make a stand!  Nationwide Action Day, All details in tiles swipe to see locations.  • This is our 1st hit out and tomorrow Tuesday the 5th is the opening ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Top 10 for Tuesday, December 4
    The RBNZ governor is citing high net migration and profit-led inflation as factors in the bank’s hawkish stance. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere on the morning of Tuesday, December 5, including:Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr says high net migration and ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Nicola Willis' 'show me the money' moment
    Willis has accused labour of “economic vandalism’, while Robertson described her comments as a “desperate diversion from somebody who can't make their tax package add up”. There will now be an intense focus on December 20 to see whether her hyperbole is backed up by true surprises. Photo montage: Lynn ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • CRL costs money but also provides huge benefits
    The City Rail Link has been in the headlines a bit recently so I thought I’d look at some of them. First up, yesterday the NZ Herald ran this piece about the ongoing costs of the CRL. Auckland ratepayers will be saddled with an estimated bill of $220 million each ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    6 days ago

  • And I don't want the world to see us.
    Is this the most shambolic government in the history of New Zealand? Given that parliament hasn’t even opened they’ve managed quite a list of achievements to date.The Smokefree debacle trading lives for tax cuts, the Trumpian claims of bribery in the Media, an International award for indifference, and today the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • Cooking the books
    Finance Minister Nicola Willis late yesterday stopped only slightly short of accusing her predecessor Grant Robertson of cooking the books. She complained that the Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU), due to be made public on December 20, would show “fiscal cliffs” that would amount to “billions of ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Most people don’t realize how much progress we’ve made on climate change
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The year was 2015. ‘Uptown Funk’ with Bruno Mars was at the top of the music charts. Jurassic World was the most popular new movie in theaters. And decades of futility in international climate negotiations was about to come to an end in ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Of Parliamentary Oaths and Clive Boonham
    As a heads-up, I am not one of those people who stay awake at night thinking about weird Culture War nonsense. At least so far as the current Maori/Constitutional arrangements go. In fact, I actually consider it the least important issue facing the day to day lives of New ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    7 days ago

  • Bearing True Allegiance?
    Strong Words: “We do not consent, we do not surrender, we do not cede, we do not submit; we, the indigenous, are rising. We do not buy into the colonial fictions this House is built upon. Te Pāti Māori pledges allegiance to our mokopuna, our whenua, and Te Tiriti o ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • You cannot be serious
    Some days it feels like the only thing to say is: Seriously? No, really. Seriously?OneSomeone has used their health department access to share data about vaccinations and patients, and inform the world that New Zealanders have been dying in their hundreds of thousands from the evil vaccine. This of course is pure ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    7 days ago

  • A promise kept: govt pulls the plug on Lake Onslow scheme – but this saving of $16bn is denounced...
    Buzz from the Beehive After $21.8 million was spent on investigations, the plug has been pulled on the Lake Onslow pumped-hydro electricity scheme, The scheme –  that technically could have solved New Zealand’s looming energy shortage, according to its champions – was a key part of the defeated Labour government’s ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER: The Maori Party and Oath of Allegiance
    If those elected to the Māori Seats refuse to take them, then what possible reason could the country have for retaining them?   Chris Trotter writes – Christmas is fast approaching, which, as it does every year, means gearing up for an abstruse general knowledge question. “Who was ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON:  Forward to 2017
    The coalition party agreements are mainly about returning to 2017 when National lost power. They show commonalities but also some serious divergencies. Brian Easton writes – The two coalition agreements – one National and ACT, the other National and New Zealand First – are more than policy documents. ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    7 days ago

  • Climate Change: Fossils
    When the new government promised to allow new offshore oil and gas exploration, they were warned that there would be international criticism and reputational damage. Naturally, they arrogantly denied any possibility that that would happen. And then they finally turned up at COP, to criticism from Palau, and a "fossil ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    7 days ago

  • GEOFFREY MILLER:  NZ’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    Geoffrey Miller writes – New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    1 week ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the government’s smokefree laws debacle
    The most charitable explanation for National’s behaviour over the smokefree legislation is that they have dutifully fulfilled the wishes of the Big Tobacco lobby and then cast around – incompetently, as it turns out – for excuses that might sell this health policy U-turn to the public. The less charitable ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 week ago

  • Top 10 links at 10 am for Monday, December 4
    As Deb Te Kawa writes in an op-ed, the new Government seems to have immediately bought itself fights with just about everyone. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Here’s my pick of the top 10 news and analysis links elsewhere as of 10 am on Monday December 4, including:Palau’s President ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Be Honest.
    Let’s begin today by thinking about job interviews.During my career in Software Development I must have interviewed hundreds of people, hired at least a hundred, but few stick in the memory.I remember one guy who was so laid back he was practically horizontal, leaning back in his chair until his ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s foreign policy resets on AUKUS, Gaza and Ukraine
    New Zealand’s international relations are under new management. And Winston Peters, the new foreign minister, is already setting a change agenda. As expected, this includes a more pro-US positioning when it comes to the Pacific – where Peters will be picking up where he left off. Peters sought to align ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    1 week ago

  • Auckland rail tunnel the world’s most expensive
    Auckland’s city rail link is the most expensive rail project in the world per km, and the CRL boss has described the cost of infrastructure construction in Aotearoa as a crisis. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The 3.5 km City Rail Link (CRL) tunnel under Auckland’s CBD has cost ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • First big test coming
    The first big test of the new Government’s approach to Treaty matters is likely to be seen in the return of the Resource Management Act. RMA Minister Chris Bishop has confirmed that he intends to introduce legislation to repeal Labour’s recently passed Natural and Built Environments Act and its ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    1 week ago

  • The Song of Saqua: Volume III
    Time to revisit something I haven’t covered in a while: the D&D campaign, with Saqua the aquatic half-vampire. Last seen in July: https://phuulishfellow.wordpress.com/2023/07/27/the-song-of-saqua-volume-ii/ The delay is understandable, once one realises that the interim saw our DM come down with a life-threatening medical situation. They have since survived to make ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago

  • Chris Bishop: Smokin’
    Yes. Correct. It was an election result. And now we are the elected government. ...
    My ThinksBy boonman
    1 week ago

  • Ministers visit Hawke’s Bay to grasp recovery needs
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon joined Cyclone Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown, to meet leaders of cyclone and flood-affected regions in the Hawke’s Bay. The visit reinforced the coalition Government’s commitment to support the region and better understand its ongoing requirements, Mr Mitchell says.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand condemns malicious cyber activity
    New Zealand has joined the UK and other partners in condemning malicious cyber activity conducted by the Russian Government, Minister Responsible for the Government Communications Security Bureau Judith Collins says. The statement follows the UK’s attribution today of malicious cyber activity impacting its domestic democratic institutions and processes, as well ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Disestablishment of Te Pūkenga begins
    The Government has begun the process of disestablishing Te Pūkenga as part of its 100-day plan, Minister for Tertiary Education and Skills Penny Simmonds says.  “I have started putting that plan into action and have met with the chair and chief Executive of Te Pūkenga to advise them of my ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Climate Change Minister to attend COP28 in Dubai
    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will be leaving for Dubai today to attend COP28, the 28th annual UN climate summit, this week. Simon Watts says he will push for accelerated action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, deliver New Zealand’s national statement and connect with partner countries, private sector leaders ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand to host 2024 Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins yesterday announced New Zealand will host next year’s South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting (SPDMM). “Having just returned from this year’s meeting in Nouméa, I witnessed first-hand the value of meeting with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security and defence matters. I welcome the opportunity to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Study shows need to remove distractions in class
    The Government is committed to lifting school achievement in the basics and that starts with removing distractions so young people can focus on their learning, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.   The 2022 PISA results released this week found that Kiwi kids ranked 5th in the world for being distracted ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Minister sets expectations of Commissioner
    Today I met with Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to set out my expectations, which he has agreed to, says Police Minister Mark Mitchell. Under section 16(1) of the Policing Act 2008, the Minister can expect the Police Commissioner to deliver on the Government’s direction and priorities, as now outlined in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • New Zealand needs a strong and stable ETS
    New Zealand needs a strong and stable Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that is well placed for the future, after emission units failed to sell for the fourth and final auction of the year, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says.  At today’s auction, 15 million New Zealand units (NZUs) – each ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • PISA results show urgent need to teach the basics
    With 2022 PISA results showing a decline in achievement, Education Minister Erica Stanford is confident that the Coalition Government’s 100-day plan for education will improve outcomes for Kiwi kids.  The 2022 PISA results show a significant decline in the performance of 15-year-old students in maths compared to 2018 and confirms ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Collins leaves for Pacific defence meeting
    Defence Minister Judith Collins today departed for New Caledonia to attend the 8th annual South Pacific Defence Ministers’ meeting (SPDMM). “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to meet face-to-face with my Pacific counterparts to discuss regional security matters and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to the Pacific,” Judith Collins says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Working for Families gets cost of living boost
    Putting more money in the pockets of hard-working families is a priority of this Coalition Government, starting with an increase to Working for Families, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “We are starting our 100-day plan with a laser focus on bringing down the cost of living, because that is what ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Post-Cabinet press conference
    Most weeks, following Cabinet, the Prime Minister holds a press conference for members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery. This page contains the transcripts from those press conferences, which are supplied by Hansard to the Office of the Prime Minister. It is important to note that the transcripts have not been edited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme scrapped
    The Government has axed the $16 billion Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme championed by the previous government, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says. “This hugely wasteful project was pouring money down the drain at a time when we need to be reining in spending and focussing on rebuilding the economy and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • NZ welcomes further pause in fighting in Gaza
    New Zealand welcomes the further one-day extension of the pause in fighting, which will allow the delivery of more urgently-needed humanitarian aid into Gaza and the release of more hostages, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said. “The human cost of the conflict is horrific, and New Zealand wants to see the violence ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Condolences on passing of Henry Kissinger
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today expressed on behalf of the New Zealand Government his condolences to the family of former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who has passed away at the age of 100 at his home in Connecticut. “While opinions on his legacy are varied, Secretary Kissinger was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Backing our kids to learn the basics
    Every child deserves a world-leading education, and the Coalition Government is making that a priority as part of its 100-day plan. Education Minister Erica Stanford says that will start with banning cellphone use at school and ensuring all primary students spend one hour on reading, writing, and maths each day. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • US Business Summit Speech – Regional stability through trade
    I would like to begin by echoing the Prime Minister’s thanks to the organisers of this Summit, Fran O’Sullivan and the Auckland Business Chamber.  I want to also acknowledge the many leading exporters, sector representatives, diplomats, and other leaders we have joining us in the room. In particular, I would like ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Keynote Address to the United States Business Summit, Auckland
    Good morning. Thank you, Rosemary, for your warm introduction, and to Fran and Simon for this opportunity to make some brief comments about New Zealand’s relationship with the United States.  This is also a chance to acknowledge my colleague, Minister for Trade Todd McClay, Ambassador Tom Udall, Secretary of Foreign ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • India New Zealand Business Council Speech, India as a Strategic Priority
    Good morning, tēnā koutou and namaskar. Many thanks, Michael, for your warm welcome. I would like to acknowledge the work of the India New Zealand Business Council in facilitating today’s event and for the Council’s broader work in supporting a coordinated approach for lifting New Zealand-India relations. I want to also ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Coalition Government unveils 100-day plan
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has laid out the Coalition Government’s plan for its first 100 days from today. “The last few years have been incredibly tough for so many New Zealanders. People have put their trust in National, ACT and NZ First to steer them towards a better, more prosperous ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • New Zealand welcomes European Parliament vote on the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement
    A significant milestone in ratifying the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was reached last night, with 524 of the 705 member European Parliament voting in favour to approve the agreement. “I’m delighted to hear of the successful vote to approve the NZ-EU FTA in the European Parliament overnight. This is ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 weeks ago

Page generated in The Standard by Wordpress at 2023-12-10T23:08:44+00:00