What are we as a country doing to mitigate catastrophic climate change?
The only solution must be the abandonment of capitalism.
are we prepared to abandon the pursuit of greed and individualism ?
We’re doing the program that James Shaw has devised in collaboration with the relevant government departments. Too little too late. But let’s hope.
I agree it would be a good move to abandon capitalism at this point. The tricky bit is how to do so. Eliminating usury would be a good start. Businesses would become cooperative, meaning risk is shared as well as profit. Employees would go hungry until they learn to stop arguing & start collaborating. This would prove especially difficult for leftists.
“Are we prepared to abandon the pursuit of greed and individualism?” Not until consensus on the alternative system has been developed. So overcoming reluctance to work together on that task is the first step.
We’re doing nothing that will deal with the issue quickly or significantly enough.
This is a war and we need to mobilise.
What you’re seeing in the northern hemisphere this year will seem tame in 3 years time.
It takes a definite statement that is a bit OTT to raise people out of the torpor of wondering whether it will be sunny next weekend for sport or to get a certain amount of sleep in a quiet safe spot out of the rain.
Not until consensus on the alternative system has been developed. So overcoming reluctance to work together on that task is the first step.
So, who does ‘develop’ this consensus and how? Many people misunderstand the concept of consensus and in political context it is often frowned upon as something unworkable and unpractical, i.e. as something negative that should be avoided. There’s no good role model! A show of hands, a (majority) vote, is all that’s needed, right? In addition to this reluctance there are, of course, those who actively resist it …
There is a role model, just not in the public domain. It’s in the Green Party Standing Orders & Constitution. Or at least it was when I sent our recently-adopted Constitution to Sir Geoffrey Palmer so he could register the Greens with the Electoral Commission in ’95.
The method I used when I led the process to constellate consensus and produce both documents was as described in those documents. Starting from intense rivalry & disagreement amongst the leading activists in ’91, lots of word-smithing on my computer, lots of branch, regional & provincial meetings to approve the documents until final approval was achieved at national conference AGM.
Consensus was defined as all agreeing (in the initial ideal) then in practice modified to all agreeing bar one dissident determined to object. If there was more than one oddball with his/her knickers in a twist, we were required to continue discussion. Resolution to an impasse was usually attained via two or more dissenters agreeing to defer to the majority as long as their objection was formally recorded. That allowed the minority group a basis for continuing to lobby via other meetings, letters (no email back then) or party magazine.
.
“Starting from intense rivalry & disagreement amongst the leading activists in ’91…..”
“leading”..not all. and therein lies the issue. A consensus within a self determined range of opinions may well be (eventually) possible….this does not reflect society, hence democracy and the’ tyranny of the majority’
Especially as any time we may have had has likely been squandered.
Yes, consensus works well in the Green Party with all members agreeing to the Charter principles before they join. It is quite different in wider society where many individuals have very little concern for the environment and other people.
I’ve expressed similar doubts about the competence of our parliamentarians in this forum. Especially in regard to the Exec decision to expel the two who disagreed with Metiria.
The two who dumped on the Green party, joining in the hypocritical holier than thou, racist and misogynist bene bashing, then expected to remain our representatives, you mean. At meetings I attended, there was overwhelming support for Shaw and Turei
With due respect to Clendon, he was doing a lot of work in law, n that no walk in the park. Imagine him as a great local green, but really the greens need more folk in the house, if they are going to be seriously tackling issues like, the need for Royal Commissions on key issues; ubi and social credit.
ya know the charter is real good, but its impossible to totally satisfy it. Easy for plants to derail progress, but also a natural safe guard to provide conservative policy on what are otherwise awesome and potentially radical folk.
My point was about whether the Exec followed the rules in making their decision. When they informed us of that decision, they failed to specify precisely how the rules had been broken. Three possible explanations for their failure:
1. contempt for members (“we’re above being accountable for our decision, we don’t need to prove we’re right”)
2. “uh, we forgot. sorry.”
3. they didn’t actually know the Constitution & Standing Orders define consensus and how to apply it to GP decisions (“hey, we’re the younger generation, why would we bother to read rules written by the older generation?”)
Our future,” scientist James Lovelock has written, “is like that of the passengers on a small pleasure boat sailing quietly above the Niagara Falls, not knowing that the engines are about to fail.”
In my opinion Auckland University acted rashly in inviting Brash to their Campus, at such short notice.
In my opinion A.U. management have acted as opportunists motivated by gaining some cheap notoriety at Massey’s expense.
I have two issues with how Auckland University have behaved in this matter.
Opportunism
First of all, It was an insult to the leadership of Massey.
In my opinion A.U.’s behaviour was appalling and opportunist, taking advantage of M.U.’s difficulties in this matter.
Instead of standing in solidarity with their sister University, Auckland University have delivered them a deliberate public slap in the face.
If A.U. were really convinced that Brash’s views needed an airing, then probably what they should have done, is consulted with their sister faculty first, and come up with a combined strategy on how to deal with the thorny issues raised by Brash.
That they didn’t do this is obvious from the indecent haste with which A.U. acted in giving Brash a platform to speak.
Hypocrisy
As has been widely reported, Auckland University did exactly the same as Massey when it suited them. Canceling a talk from Hone Harawira, allegedly on the grounds of threatened protests against him.
But Auckland University have no issue with protests when it is a white supremacist speaking on campus.
Just as Te Reo Putake has pointed out in his post on this matter, “There is no such thing as free speech”
To which I might add; Not if you are Maori, or poor, or from a minority group.
If you are from one of these above groups and your speaking venue is canned by an institution like Auckland University, the media will not even think it newsworthy, Rich white people will not dig into their pockets to the tune of $50 thousand to sue the institution which has shut you out. And we wouldn’t even be talking about it.
I agree. Free speech denial will be much less successful than climate change denial! MU will struggle to regain credibility. I suspect they will have to eventually admit their error due to weight of public opinion.
Hone Harawira says “redneck” racism is to blame for the last-minute cancellation of a lecture he was to give in Auckland today.
The Mana Party leader was due to speak about the foreshore and seabed at Auckland University Law School.
Law student Charlotte Summers said the Faculty of Law cancelled the lecture on the basis of “there may be a breach of the peace”.
She said the Young Nationals organisation was behind the protest.
“How is it fair that the Young Nats decide to be disruptive, threaten to be disruptive, and then an entire event is cancelled because of their choices and what they threaten to do?”
Massey’s VC made the decision after being approached by the student group (who invited Brash for their event) who raised safety concerns. Appears to parallel that of the incident with Harawira’s speech so I’m not sure what all this angst is about.
AS an aside, I find it amusing that it took an Australian woman to finally listen to us, when we say that Te Tiriti principles matter.
An Earthquake strong enough to topple your building will knock you off your feet and will drop you to the ground before you make it to the door, leaving you completely vulnerable to being crushed by falling debris.
….if a quake strikes when one is inside a building, many experts’ core mantra remains surprisingly simple and unchanging: Drop, cover and hold on.
This method is promoted by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, American Red Cross (pdf), Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management (pdf) and the Japanese government, to name but a few. None of these recommend going outside if one is already in a building.
If you try to make a run for it. The earthquake will knock you off your feet before you can cross the room.
The idea of staying inside a swaying building can seem counterintuitive, to say the least. The horrific images of collapsed buildings that emerge after major quakes understandably imprint themselves onto the public consciousness. This may make it seem like running for the exit is a good idea—but such photographs can sometimes give a false impression of the primary hazards associated with earthquakes.
Ballmann says rescue teams retrieving people from collapsed structures around the world can attest to the effectiveness of the drop, cover and hold on strategy.
Yeah, this article also, makes a clear case: August 9, 2018 – The Crisis in Corbyn’s Labour Party is Over Israel, Not Anti-Semitism, by Jonathan Cook, Nazareth.
Sure, so Israel is the problem; but what’s the solution?
China have hinted they would occupy Syria, if invited. Expecting this will suit Turkey, along with Iran. These are probably the three countries Israel will work hardest to smear in the media over the next few years, to avoid new regional dynamics.
Note that if Israel are seriously challenged, they will probably have the money power to bring down the SWIFT inter-bank payment system. But BRICS have an alternative inter-bank payment system, tested globally, including NZ. Or Israel could also potentially false flag an atomic launch at Hawaii from North Korean waters, but the US should be able to shot that down…
It’s like a giant squid, cornered in a pool of LSD. But some how we must dive into those waters, tame it and demonstrate peace.
Tesla is an enigma wrapped in a dream chasing an electric rainbow currently under musk.
He is all over the shop with estimates of capital requirements, loss/profit projections, technology and supply issues especially with the battery manufacture.
I can only see it continuing with a more level head in charge or the funds may dry up as Elons been very tetchy with the analysts who he desperately needs onside.
The boy wonder needs to step back and let in some rationality IMO.
Ok so this is basically a way over-simplification of what Dr Jordan Peterson, purely designed to court controversy, has actually said but if he comes to Christchurch I’ll be there
It used to be said that a skin-head, meathead, right wing nationalist front type element flourished in Christchurch. Maybe a big meeting there could be the catalyst to further the plans “to create a European culture “protected community” in North Canterbury … to “build a unified mini state that we could build up in future to be a base for other like minded Europeans to come to from other dying countries.”
I vote that it be relocated to Auckland Island. The climate will toughen the roosters up. They could make a reality tv show out of the survival process.
Dennis Frank
Best idea you have had so far. I’ll put small donation into a funding pool to take that forward. Along with Give a Little to buy that station down south and keep in NZ hands.
Thanks grey 😎 it’s actually an old idea of mine. Early nineties I was running the Greens justice policy development as convenor of the working group & put a suggestion into the policy draft that recidivist violent offenders be parked down there & left to fight it out. Had a few greenies looking askance at me after that!
Yes not surprised you’ll be going after reading that – I don’t really like his views on women and roles and stuff.
“He believes in “traditional” gender roles because he thinks men might simply be more competent than women, and he’s suggested women shouldn’t be allowed to wear makeup to work because it’s “sexually provocative”.”
“When a member of the ‘incel’ community drove a van into a crowd in Toronto and killed 10 people, Dr Peterson proposed a system of ‘enforced monogamy’ in which women are given to men as sexual partners in order to prevent such acts of violence.”
Garn marty mars. You don’t say. Or did you? Did he? Can you find where. I would print it out and frame it if he managed to advance the idea in less than an A4 page. He being so wordy as well as seriously thoughtful, which gives the impression that deep wisdom is going to come out of that player piano.
Ah the rightees are leading public discussion off on a merry ‘free speech’ red herring jaunt.
This is not about ‘free speech’ as originally intended: it was intended to ensure democratic debate so that all views get heard.
Today the issue is about which voices get heard most in the mainstream, and the kinds of views that get heard most frequently, and most positively in the mainstream – it’s about access to dominant platforms, and the attention economy – everyone is free to express their views online, but it’s hard for everyone to get people to pay attention to their views.
It was intended to be about freedom from government/state censorship.
The old Jeffersonian free market of ideas ideal, was that, if all views get heard and debated in public, the best of thinking will rise to the top, and dodgy thinking will be found out and drop out of the consideration. But, as we can see with Trump, Brash, Canadian alt-righters, etc, in the digital age, a lot of dodgy populist speakings gets mainstream attention and acceptance by some.
The guests on the UoA panel was skewed to Pakeha, older people, and the Right (see the still image fronting the video you posted). They did have an unknown person of Maori Pacific descent speak in the debate. But, the attention was all on ye olde Pakeha Name people.
The protesters were adding the voices of those excluded from the debate. They were protesting the voices that have been excluded, and against the (one-sided bigoted mis-informed views on ‘race’, etc) issues that have been slid into the mainstream under the guise of ‘freedom of speech’.
In the short term, many with power will be tut-tutting about the protest. However, when the students are protesting strongly about inequities, democratic fails, misinformation, damaging propaganda, etc., then there is still hope for our world.
I’m not convinced that giving so much attention to those who are adept are provocation and flawed reasoning, is producing the outcome that most would wish for – a dismissal of their rantings.
Perhaps a different approach is required to deal with this kind of invasion of rhetoric, other than vocal protestors at venues. I’m thinking about the effect on those who attend, exiting the venue only to be exposed to approbation, censure and loud shouting. Leading, as is expected from human nature, to further entrenching views – that as yet might have been not fully formed.
The only proposal I can come up with at present, that aligns with a progressive form of counteracting such views taking root is not fully formed, but here goes:
Instead of a continuation of rhetoric and speaking, an invitation for those attending to have their say, and talk about their personal situations and why they felt that the speaker had something to say worth paying for.
A cohesive and comprehensive plan for a Listening Post form of protest would involve people getting together, and learning how to address the fears and concerns of those who might be persuaded by such rhetoric, by genuine conversation and discussion of alternative views and options. Invite people as they exit to talk and then genuinely listen. Without judgment, then offer a counter view – to that one individual that you have engaged with.
If the end result is to innoculate our people from the harm that comes from following such ill-considered public opinions, then the media focus and vocal protests seem to be doing the opposite.
I would be interested in hearing if there are other proposals for effective actions out there.
that is a far more sensible and productive approach.
The purpose is not to silence the extremist but to ensure their views remain exactly that..extreme. What is needed is to seek empathy from as wide an audience as possible and that is most effectively achieved by recounting personal experience and eliciting understanding….the opposite is achieved by shouting slogans and presumptive judgements
Sounds like you’re sort of saying if you attack me I’ll dig my heels in and won’t listen and if I attack you you’ll do the same and no ones point of view gets changed?
If so yeah absolutely thats what’ll likely happen so yep I agree with your conclusions
Reasoned, polite conversation is always a good way to go
“Reasoned, polite conversation is always a good way to go”
This sounds good, but in reality some of the most polite amongst us can be very destructive and use that skill to “win” arguments.
I’m thinking along the lines of better listening, and genuine engagement – which may or may not be considered genteel, but is conducted with respect. Reinforcing the ‘listening’ rather than the talking.
Saying that you need people who are skilled at this type of interaction, I know only a few myself. 🙂
There certainly is a major difference between hearing and listening, in NZ though I do like to believe that there are more things that we all have in common then what we have as differences
I don’t believe that differences should be a problem. Trying to homogenise experiences and perspectives, causes more alienation than it heals.
Accepting differences seems to be a hurdle for many. Differences in choice, perspectives and actions.
However, I do agree with you, if what you are saying is that many do share either unexpressed or badly expressed values.
It is insistence on those values being followed in specific ways, without allowance for difference perspectives, approaches or resources that causes ongoing problems.
I use the coin as model for the way the brain operates. Left hemisphere differentiates between parts, right hemisphere integrates parts into wholes. The big picture combines both (holism).
So when we focus on the differences between us, we differentiate ourselves as unique humans & get idiosyncrasy (see the original meaning of that). When we focus on commonalities we share, we form an integral view. When we apply the latter in political praxis, we develop consensus. If I were a political psychology lecturer, that’s how I’d teach it to my students.
Toss a coin, see how it lands. Tails, say the leftists. Heads, say the rightists. People see what they’re looking for. Doesn’t matter, say the centrists. The coin has both sides concurrently regardless of how it lands. Both/and logic, not zero-sum logic. Applied holism.
“So when we focus on the differences between us, we differentiate ourselves as unique humans & get idiosyncrasy (see the original meaning of that). When we focus on commonalities we share, we form an integral view. When we apply the latter in political praxis, we develop consensus. If I were a political psychology lecturer, that’s how I’d teach it to my students.”
Except this approach predisposes a common view, when life experiences and perspectives differ even when values do not.
In your example, I would focus on the shared values – and work from that. That would be true engagement, else along with presupposed commonalities – that may or may not exist – you usually come up with presupposed solutions to presupposed problems.
I would think a long-term sustainable solution would acknowledge that multi-pronged and adaptable solutions from a diverse range of people with the same values is a good result.
Not in my experience. The common view emerges organically from the discourse. That’s why it is authentic: it is based on genuine commonalities that people discover connect them in a sense of belonging to a cultural context or group or society. The discovery process requires identification and acknowledgement of those in order to objectify them into what eventually constellates as a belief system. So it’s a natural process humans do.
Yes, crowd-sourcing wisdom is indeed an optimal technique when used in a diverse social context. Best seen in brain-storming sessions. Discussion groups can produce it but it depends whether members have what it takes to operate as catalysts. Teams work even better than brainstorming because of their task focus.
“The common view emerges organically from the discourse. That’s why it is authentic: it is based on genuine commonalities that people discover connect them in a sense of belonging to a cultural context or group or society. The discovery process requires identification and acknowledgement of those in order to objectify them into what eventually constellates as a belief system. So it’s a natural process humans do.”
I agree with you insofar as it applies to values.
I disagree in terms of how adept we are as a society into looking past differences in order to achieve good outcomes for shared values.
From that perspective, there are two options:
1. Take time and energy to identify – or construct – commonalities before working together,
2. Acknowledge the differences – and work together.
I have a suspicion that we are talking along the same lines, but I do think there is an important consideration to make for allowances of differences in genuine engagement.
Thanks, Molly. i do agree there needs to be conerted and co-ordinated approach. The question is how to have that conversation with a mainstream media that is too superficial, rightward leaning, and focused on beating up drama and conflict?
I am not so critical of the protesters. It is, as I said about getting the attention of the mainstream media. Protesting politely somehow tends not to get that much cut-through in the dominant media and forums.
And, I am very pleased to see highly motivated protesters try ways that they decide to counter the way most kiwis are being led by the nose by some well resourced right wing propagandists. Some will learn fromt heir protesting experiences in ways that will inform their activism in the future.
I despair at how MOR the majority of Kiwis seem to be and how fearful of young activists with a fresh view on things.
The protesters rightly made the issue about racism – right wingers are using the free speech mantra as a foreground in order to slide in their dodgy bigotry.
To be clear, I’m not criticising the protestors for being passionate about something that is destructive to our shared society. I’m just wondering how we ensure the long-term effectiveness of actions against these views. And if there are other – perhaps additional – or replacement – methods that would produce the results that would benefit us all.
The point you make about racism is valid. What I’m struggling with is how much time we are giving to addressing the rhetoric of overseas self-promoters when many New Zealanders experience varying degrees of racism every day. If we can find a way to address that systemically, then society as a whole, including the media, would not allowed themselves to be played for publicity.
If we don’t ask why those – brought up or choosing NZ as a home – are finding these speakers attractive, then we are missing a trick in working out how to make sure that pull is reduced.
“The old Jeffersonian free market of ideas ideal, was that, if all views get heard and debated in public, the best of thinking will rise to the top, and dodgy thinking will be found out and drop out of the consideration. But, as we can see with Trump, Brash, Canadian alt-righters, etc, in the digital age, a lot of dodgy populist speakings gets mainstream attention and acceptance by some.”
I’m not actually seeing what the ‘but’ is here. So what if there’s a bit of back and forth along the way? Unless you’re a Marxist, there’s no reason to believe the process will be logical and linear, it’s a game of snakes and ladders.
I thought the protesters (I was in the room) were 90% on the right tone, they respectfully but firmly interjected and disrupted, but overplayed their hand eventually and became disrespectful and childish. At that point they allowed the MAGA hat types that if it is going to descend into a contest of loud noises, they won’t be the ones who win. And of course at that point they let Brash speak, then marched out of the still unfinished debate.
What’s also amusing is that these people who came to protest – supposedly about people of colour not being listened to – marched out without waiting to listen to Sir Anand Satyanand’s very thoughtful closing speech. I thought they wanted to hear from non-Pakeha? And yet they walked out on a person of colour who exemplifies the successful side of NZ’s multiculturalism.
Meme of the night came from Elliot Ikilei: Hey Marxists: where’s Dad?
Maybe the protesters have some things to learn about effective activism. The only way to learn effective methods, is to give various methods a try.
Brash is such an long-time mainstream speaker, I doubt one loud protest against him will make racist views any worse than they are now in the mainstream.
And from some reports, the loud protests only happened for a few minutes, and Brash was not prevented from delivering his whole speech.
Hmmmm… actually the Stuff report, gives a whole different view from just selected video clips of the shouting moments. They focus on Brash speaking, not being silenced.
Former National Party Leader Don Brash was given a fiery response from protesters as he took part in a free speech debate at Auckland University on Thursday evening.
For a time it appeared Brash would not be able to speak as protesters sang and shouted over him inside the auditorium but after a few minutes calm was largely restored and Brash was invited to finish his speech.
Brash said to the boisterous crowd that they were themselves demonstrating free speech, which was in favour of what he was about to debate.
…
Community group A New University, made up of Auckland University students, said it had organised the protest of Brash’s inclusion in the debate, which was hosted by the university’s debate society.
…
A New University spokeswoman Beth Stanley said the group did what it intended, which was to show that there was strong opposition to Brash participating because of his views towards Te Tiriti o Waitangi, te reo Māori and the rights of Māori people in New Zealand..
“Don Brash spoke. We didn’t in anyway disrupt his speech. He got his whole speech out,” Stanley said.
“We wanted to show that people are not happy about what he has to say and that he is not welcome on our university. We got our point across.
…
We are not opposing the event or anything like that, we’re opposing specifically Don Brash being invited onto campus.”
Brash said the protesters were off-putting, but he wasn’t intimidated.
…
We are not opposing the event or anything like that, we’re opposing specifically Don Brash being invited onto campus.”
Brash said the protesters were off-putting, but he wasn’t intimidated.
So, really it’s looking like people getting sanctimonious about loud, short-lived protests are really off on a wrong track.
And all the reports I’ve seen focus mostly on what Brash had to say. I have no idea what this has to do with the issue:
Meme of the night came from Elliot Ikilei: Hey Marxists: where’s Dad?
Or what it means. Just sounds like a superficial, and unexplained anti-Marxist jibe.
“Maybe the protesters have some things to learn about effective activism. The only way to learn effective methods, is to give various methods a try”
Agreed – a pity that instead of being honest about it, their leaders come out with this statement, which bends the truth
“Don Brash spoke. We didn’t in anyway disrupt his speech. He got his whole speech out,” Stanley said.
Yeah, they did disrupt it. Which in itself is cool, they made him sit it out for 4 or 5 minutes while they spoke. But it did not progress as she claims. They made their speeches (cool), ensured their viewpoint registered with speakers and the crowd (vitally important), and then basically played up for the news cameras and made a spectacle of themselves until the crowd had no choice but to show them that if it’s just a contest of noise, they won’t be the ones who win. A lesson they ought to digest for future actions.
Brash got to speak in the end, and hell I’m not a fan of the guy. I’m actually kinda mad at these pesky kids that they’ve forced me to accept Brash as a proxy for the debate about these rights. But only when the audience called time on their performance (not their protest, but the performance which ensued once the actual protest was over) did that happen. Beth Stanley attempts to give the impression that they voluntarily made their point and stepped back. She says ‘we didn’t in any way disrupt his speech’. That’s not true, but also not the part she needed to be dishonest about.
“So, really it’s looking like people getting sanctimonious about loud, short-lived protests are really off on a wrong track.”
Perhaps it’s people taking a protest leader’s less-than-candid statements at face value who are the wrong track ; )
As for the Marxists, “Where’s dad?” is the response their screechings about capitalism and colonialism will garner for a long time to come.
Do the protesters not have a right to free speech? Can’t they say what ever they like whenever they like? Or is that only OK if you are white, rich and insulting other cultures?
I watched the debate last night and the protesters on this occasion walked straight into a trap of their own making. Honestly, they didn’t exhibit a whole brain between them. It was inevitable Brash would play the… “oh look, I’m being denied my right to speak” card. He claimed it as an example why pc language is so dangerous which of course is a false equivalence (nothing to do with being pc) but that detail would go over the top of most people’s heads.
I hope the students in question get a bollocking for being so stupid from their peers today.
‘The common example is the termination of a speech or demonstration in the interest of maintaining the public peace based on the anticipated negative reaction of someone opposed to that speech or demonstration.’
‘In common parlance, the term is used to describe situations where hecklers or demonstrators silence a speaker without intervention of the law.’
To be fair it only involved a handful of protesters. The rest stood silently at the back of the chamber holding up their signs which could be clearly seen. That was fine, but the idiots who yelled through megaphones when Brash started speaking well… Brash made the most of it when he was finally able to speak and who can blame him.
@ You Fool.
The protesters were exercising their right to speak outside the entrance for a long time prior to the start of the meeting. They no doubt exercised the same right when the crowd left. But they had no right to disrupt speaker, Don Brash (whose views I despise) inside the hall.
I think you are. I like to see expressions of passion, such as interjections.
Pucky; you exhibit passion toward your pin-up dowager girl, Judith; do you think we should call for your expulsion from TS because your “shout-outs” offend us?
Well in all fairness I’ve never been a Young Nat nor a student at Auckland University however the difference is while I accept that Jude is potentially the daughter of god (those initials can’t be a coincidence) I don’t try to stop anyone disagreeing with me
Whereas those protesters were trying to drown out Dr Don Brash
Freedom of speech doesn’t silence other people, surely? If enough people in the audience had told the dickheads to shut up and let Brash speak without interjection, they would have. Hell, the protestors would have been ejected by security to the applause of the audience.
And then you’d have been boldly defending their right to free speech, surely?
‘In common parlance, the term is used to describe situations where hecklers or demonstrators silence a speaker without intervention of the law.’
“If enough people in the audience had told the dickheads to shut up and let Brash speak without interjection, they would have.”
You’re not that naive, you know as well as I do that all that would have happened is that both sides would have ended up shouting at each other and Don Brash wouldn’t have been able to speak
Germany are talking about conscription again. Definitely an option for these kids. Embarrassing to be out-smarted by DB. Send them on some social and ecological projects as well as military. Can we do it, unemployment rate could be lower? Yes.
Why a slap on the wrist? How is this company allowed to continue? Why do we take this shit sandwich and ask for another? When are people going to say ,’sorry, but sorry isn’t good enough. No more!!!’.
“The council estimated that 450 cubic metres of dairy effluent was discharged when the incident occurred in November 2016.
This is the equivalent of 17 truck and trailer units full of effluent. The volume was such that it was able to be detected eight kilometres downstream at Lake Ohakuri.”
These “accidents” need to stop. They don’t just happen, they’re borne of negligence. That pipe pumped sewage into the waterway for 14 straight hours. I bet they have systems in place to detect an equivalent milk loss pretty bloody quickly.
You understand what siphoning is as opposed to pumping . ?
Using your rational we need to quadruple speeding and parking fines there levels are not cutting it .
Meh. The point stands – shit went through the pipe into the waterway.
And yes, I reckon that all fines should be a proportion of wealth and traffic fines could be higher. Especially parking tickets – on the odds of getting caught, it’s cheaper to wear the occasional ticket than it is to pay for parking all the time.
Yep there’s too many of these “accidents” and dairy farmers/companies will push council to hold off on fines etc with promises of getting things sorted. Here’s a classic example from my neck of the woods.
“Two farms that belonged to Northland farmers David and Frances Webster were responsible for allowing dairy effluent to flow into waterways in what an Environment Court judge Craig Thompson called the worst case of “prolonged non-compliance” he had ever seen.
The offending, which saw a huge amount of untreated dairy effluent put into the Manganui River, which feeds into the Northern Wairoa River and the Kaipara Harbour was described as “blatant, ongoing and serious”, with one of the farms being “awash with dairy effluent”, resulting in “gross contamination”.”
“Outside the court the council’s farm monitoring manager Dennis Wright said the companies “grossly polluted waterways for at least eight years and the environment wore the cost”.”
And an even better ending to the story, when finally taken to court (at a cost of $50K to rate payers) the shifty fuckers managed to side-step paying any fines by selling the farm and shifting funds into trust accounts (obviously Nat voters).
I have no problem with fining offenders . I just had to call mm for his bullshit wet bus ticket claim ,so the rabid farm haters here that probably won’t read his link but nod their heads and growl fuck yes get some balance in their diet.
Back in 2011 ish, the Waikato Regional Council was struggling to gain(never mind maintain) a reputation as a hardarse enforcer in relation to the Clean Streams Accord. Long story short….WRC with the aid of helicopter observers found, investigated and successfully prosecuted a King Country farmer. Big write up in local rag and a fine of $50 thousand. I spoke with this farmer and pretended sympathy for the hit to his bank balance from the fine. “No worries, my insurance covers the fine and the costs.”
Bus ticket? Pantomime.
WRC at best useless.
(That particular cocky had not contaminated any waterway, btw, there was simply a risk of that happening.)
You are so kind and fair bwaghorn. Probably an accident! It actually matters that it happened, that it was destructive and will have ongoing results, and that the systems set up to cope with the production of effluent were inadequate. Like our previous government. We have been drowning in their muck and have only just survived. Perhaps they should pay half of that fine?
Are there any chemist or scientist types on here that could explain if its possible to maybe develop and add something to a plastic bag that would make it break down quickly or give it a shelf life or something?
There are already plenty of biodegradable (and/or compostible) plastic products including bags available in NZ – but there is also some dispute as to whether they actually breakdown as claimed, especially in landfills.
Sorry, cannot help on the science etc and must rush out, but here is a link to a Google search which provides lots of info on what is available in NZ.
Precisely. I saw a science report on the tv news about that several weeks ago, think it was BBC originated. Microscopic bits of plastic in ocean water. Imagine how much they are likely to disrupt organic process within when ingested by any organism. Scary stuff.
Are you advocating for an inquiry @ PR? Or given the submissions and comments and lobbying already done, should we not just get on and do the bleeding obvious.
However, if you’re really committed, you could consider looking at some of the evidence various places in the 3rd World have sought that has led them to single-use plastic bans
“……… led them to single-use plastic bans”
should of course read “led them to BAN single use plastic bags”.
(perhaps there should be an inquiry into the ‘mis-spoken’ ‘mis-typed’ as gNatz would advocate, rather than into things of importance and substance.
(Pauline Kingi and the Wally springs to mind), but then I defer to your superior intellect, perceived class, and troll status.
DId I ever tell you how gorgeous I think you are?
Whoar! I dream about you nights
I’ve been using some of those ones made of corn starch. So not plastic at all according to the fine print. Not too bad and they can go into a compost bin but i believe they can take a while to disintegrate as they are designed for much hotter industrial composting. Having said that it looks like a couple of things do burn holes in them (i’m suspecting dobs of chicken fat but could be wrong. ) Also some internet hints that some are made from GE corn bt I guess if we grow the corn here and make them here that would not be an issue.
For Mike, outrage over something is necessary for survival, the withdrawal symptoms would be unbearable. Preferably something proposed by people with a different idealogical leaning to his own.
As for the bags- great start, but as many are saying, the bigger problem is all the completely unnecessary wrapping of things that don’t need to be wrapped, supermarkets being the main culprits. Countdown want to tell us how committed they are to the environment but STILL won’t provide paper bags in their bakery section (plastic only) etc etc. But at least their Bobby bananas don’t have a plastic wrapping, unlike the Pak’nSave version, which unfortunately are much cheaper…
The Nation Business I agree with Grant Roberson that the money from Kiwi saver funds and the Cullen fund should be invested in Aotearoa infrastructure build it now and it will cost less than build in the future not hard to figure that out .
The thing about business leader’s is that are mostly supportive of national that’s a fact so if they can help the neo capitalist they will help distorts the business conferdince state with a few white lies and walar it crashes .
A low New Zealand Dollar is good for Aotearoa and the environment we get more for our exports and because imports are more expensive we import less and manufacturer the products our selves .
What did I say the quoter management system is a system set up for mone men to rip off the system . And the justice system is set up for the 00.1 % to be able to use there mone for impunity that’s a fact look at the fine they got 25 years ago$1 million dollars is a drop in the bucket compared to 500 tons x $6000 a ton = $3 million and what about all the fish that has been stolen over 30 years they should have been banned from fishing 25 years ago banned from any business.
Ka kite ano
Here is something for you to ponder, eco, thus perhaps reconsider your approval.
As both Kiwisaver and the Cullen Fund seek a return on their investment, they are not the most cost effective way to fund our infrastructure. Utilising the tax take is.
Moreover, when we take into account the opportunity cost of doing so (using Kiwisaver and the Cullen Fund) it’s just not worth it. The nation won’t grow its wealth charging ourselves more (due to the return required from the investment) to use our infrastructure. It’s inflationary, thus adds to the cost of production.
Even borrowing funding would be cheaper than using Kiwisaver and the Cullen Fund.
Here you go Eco did say that good Kiwi’s can see trough the historical hysterical emotional things the neo capitalist project on Us good Kiwis to raise there profile in public eyes and gone brash wonder’s why Maori mokopuna’s have high suicide rate’s the link is below ka kite ano
This is a good win for the common tangata against multi national company’s who never admit liability round up is a poisiosn full stop link is below ka kite ano
Sugar has a direct link to the cause of diabetes contrary to what the 2 to 3 company’s lobbying mone let’s the media say about there bad product sugar .They only let researcher say that sugar doe’s not cause diabetes with there big lawyer’s ready to sue the truth teller’s . Eco say it does have a direct link it stuff up your liver and walar one has diabetes . If your whano has this disease get rid of the sugar you don’t need it we did not have sugar in OUR diet for thousands of years it’s not hard to give up Eco has .
Ka kite ano link below.
Good evening Newshub There you go trump is adding to idiots ego’s that’s not hard to see . That mess in Tolaga Bay with all the waste from forestry washing down river’s on to the beaches there is the same mess back home at the Waiapu river mouth beaches .
I have been following that round up story for a while New’s hub I say that that story on the video game that checks peoples navigational skill’s is full of ——- another way of glorifying the Europeen culture and men is what I see there . how about I take some one in the bush and then we will see who has the best navigation skill’s I see the deceit has be happening for centuries .How do I know this why Analyse the difference in skill’s of different cultures and sex’s to prove that one sex or culture is better than the other and publicize it {fake till you make} it is the capitalist way look at trump .
.The game of 3 halves is a good way for the couch to check if he has picked the correct players .
It would be awsome if the Wahine Rugby World Cup was played in Aotearoa
Ka kite ano
Feedback on Auckland Council’s draft 2023/24 budget closes on March 28th. You can read the consultation document here, and provide feedback here. Auckland Council is currently consulting on what is one of its most important ever Annual Plans – the ‘budget’ of what it will spend money on between July ...
by Molten Moira from Motueka If you want to be a woman let me tell you what to do Get a piece of paper and a biro tooWrite down your new identification And boom! You’re now a woman of this nationSpelled W O M A Na real trans woman that isAs opposed ...
Buzz from the Beehive New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti is hosting the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers for three days from today, welcoming Education Ministers and senior officials from 18 Pacific Island countries and territories, and from Australia. Here’s hoping they have brought translators with them – or ...
Let’s say you’ve come all the way from His Majesty’s United Kingdom to share with the folk of Australia and New Zealand your antipathy towards certain other human beings. And let’s say you call yourself a women’s rights activist.And let’s say 99 out of 100 people who listen to you ...
James Shaw gave the Green party's annual "state of the planet" address over the weekend, in which he expressed frustration with Labour for not doing enough on climate change. His solution is to elect more Green MPs, so they have more power within any government arrangement, and can hold Labour ...
RNZ this morning has the first story another investigative series by Guyon Espiner, this time into political lobbying. The first story focuses on lobbying by government agencies, specifically transpower, Pharmac, and assorted universities, and how they use lobbyists to manipulate public opinion and gather intelligence on the Ministers who oversee ...
Nick Matzke writes – Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
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The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
Buzz from the Beehive The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
Thomas Cranmer writesLike it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Here’s an analogy for the Stuart Nash saga. If people are to be forgiven for their sins,Catholic dogma requires two factors to be present. There has to be a sincere act of confession about what has been done, but also a sincere act of contrition, which signals a painful ...
Human Destabilisers: Russia now has a new strategic weapon – migratory waves of unwelcome human-beings. Desperate people with different coloured skins and different religious beliefs arriving at, or actually breaching, the national borders of Russia’s enemies can wreak as much havoc, culturally and politically, as a hypersonic missile exploding in the ...
Hi,After Webworm contributor Hayden Donnell wrote his latest piece, ‘RIP to Millennials Killing Everything’, he delivered this exciting and important bonus content.It will make more sense if you’ve read his piece.David. Read more ...
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We add some of the CMIP6 models to the updateable MSU comparisons. After my annual update, I was pointed to some MSU-related diagnostics for many of the CMIP6 models (24 of them at least) from Po-Chedley et al. (2022) courtesy of Ben Santer. These are slightly different to what ...
In a memorable Pulp Fiction scene, Vincent inadvertently shoots their backseat passenger in the head. This leads our heroes Jules and Vincent to express alarm about their predicament.We're on a city street in broad daylight here!says Vincent. We gotta get this car off the roads. You know cops tend to ...
Primary, secondary and kindergarten teachers are all on strike today, demanding higher pay and an end to systematic understaffing. While the former is important - wages should at least keep up with inflation - its the latter which is the real issue. As with the health system, teachers have been ...
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After the Cold War the consensus among Western military strategists was that the era of Big Wars, defined as peer conflict between large states with full spectrum military technologies, was at an end, at least for the foreseeable future. The … Continue reading → ...
Dairy giant Fonterra has posted a 50% lift in net profit to $546m, doubled its interim dividend, and is proposing a return of capital of 50c a share, injecting a note of optimism into the nation’s dairy industry. Fonterra’s strong performance is against a backdrop of market volatility. It ...
Buzz from the Beehive The bothersome economic news today is that New Zealand’s GDP fell by 0.6% in the December quarter, weaker than market forecasts of a fall of around 0.2% and much weaker than the Reserve Bank’s assumption of a 0.7% rise. This followed the even-more-bothersome news yesterday that ...
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* Dr Bryce Edwards writes – I teach a first-year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we ...
I teach a first year course at Victoria University of Wellington about government and the political process in New Zealand. In “Introduction to Government and Law”, students learn there are rules preventing senior public servants from getting involved in big political debates – as we have recently witnessed with Rob ...
An issue of integrity has claimed the first ministerial scalp in Prime Minister Chris Hipkins’ premiership. Police Minister Stuart Nash lasted mere weeks in the role after admitting in a radio interview this morning that he had called Police Commissioner Andrew Coster to ask him if police were going to ...
For some time now we’ve known that the cost and completion timeframe for the City Rail Link would increase. Yesterday we finally learned by just how much. Costs City Rail Link Ltd (CRL Ltd) today confirms it has submitted a formal funding request to its Sponsors – the Crown and ...
The Government’s decision to back peddle on lowering speed limits is hitting potholes. At this stage, although it is part of the Government’s reprioritisation efforts to free up money to alleviate cost of living increases, the speed limit change looks unlikely to do that. And it appears that it ...
The University of Otago – the oldest university in New Zealand – towers over my home city of Dunedin. When classes are on, something like a fifth of Dunedin’s population are university students. It is also the largest employer in the South Island. To say that this is a ...
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Australia’s move to strengthen its defence capability with five nuclear-powered attack submarines underlines how relatively defenceless New Zealand is in the Pacific. Kiwis may gasp that the Labor government in Australia recognises it must outlay $400bn on the nuclear subs, but this ensures that Australia is not exposed ...
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The quarterly ETS auction was held today. In the past, these have seen collusion by big players to game the price and force a dump of extra credits from the cost-containment reserve (essentially, trying to pick stuff up cheap now in the belief that it will be more valuable later). ...
Buzz from the Beehive Exempting bikes, electric bikes and scooters from fringe benefit tax looked like something of a sop for a Green Party that had good grounds to grumble after a bunch of climate change measures was tossed on to the PM’s policy bonfire. The combustibles included the clean car ...
Today is a Member's Day, the first of the year. Unfortunately it also looks to be a boring one. First, there's a two hour debate on the budget policy statement (somehow inexplicably "member's business", despite it being fundamentally a government thing). Then there's a couple of "private bills" - people ...
Most days, Chris Hipkins and James Shaw seem a bit like the Seals and Crofts of the centre-left: Earnest, inoffensive, and capable of quite nice harmonies at times. They blow gently through the jasmine in your mind, but you know they’re never going to rock your world. Back in 2020, ...
The reflection gazed back at him. Pale and a little paunchy, he wasn’t a well man.He had a toga made from a fitted sheet and it kept bunching up under his armpits.His Laurel wreath was made from some Christmas tree branches he’d found in the shed, not a real pine ...
Yesterday we covered the government’s latest policy/delivery changes with a focus on light rail. But there was another important transport part of the announcement: The government will also intends to scale back its road safety plans. The programmes that are being reprioritised include: Significantly narrowing the speed reduction programme to ...
Unbridled Consumption: This civilisation we have built (we being the whole human species) is the most astonishingly wonderful thing homo sapiens has ever seen. We love it. We cannot imagine how awful life would be without it. And, we most certainly are not going to co-operate with anyone who advises ...
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 ...
Let’s start with the absolute truisms.Politics is the art of the possibleHalf of something is better than all of nothingLet us now consider these with reference to the Under New Management government.What is a supporter of progressive politics to make of the abandonment of various policies, as announced in recent post-cabinet ...
Chris Hipkins has surprised even some of his closest friends and backers with the bounce he has secured for Labour in public polls since he became Prime Minister. He has been put to the test since he took over from Jacinda Ardern in the top job, and has shown a ...
Buzz from the Beehive It was a big day for the stopping or slowing of a second tranche of government programmes, an exercise which Beehive publicists are pitching as measures to allow the Government to focus more time, energy and resources on “the bread and butter issues” facing New Zealanders. ...
Last night there was a One News political poll which was welcomed by the left and will cause some concern in the opposition camp. A poll that showed no path to victory for ACT and National and which would likely result in another Labour/Greens government, possibly with the inclusion, or ...
Our young renters can vote Labour or Green as often as they like, but will end up paying the price of more and bigger climate emergencies, while also paying most of their after-tax income on rent with little hope of owning their own homes. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR:PM ...
Dr Bryce Edwards writes – Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at ...
Labour’s shift in focus is working. Under Jacinda Ardern they were a party and government focused on the voters and ideologies of liberal Grey Lynn and Wellington Central. Now under Prime Minister Chris Hipkins Labour has a laser-like focus directed at the working class politics of places like West Auckland ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Chris Baraniuk It was an engineering problem that had bugged Zhibin Yu for years — but now he had the perfect chance to fix it. Stuck at home during the first UK lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, the thermal engineer suddenly had all ...
Hi,I just wanted to say hello as this week really gets going, and check in about a few things. They’re a series of fractured random thoughts, so bear with me! First up — I haven’t watched the Oscars in ages and I’m really glad I watched yesterday. It felt like ...
Yesterday the Prime Minister laid out the next tranche of plans to scale back the ambition of Labour’s policy/delivery programme – and this time the Auckland light rail project gets a mention. “I can also confirm today that we will roll out transport projects in Auckland in stages. “Reducing transport ...
The Hipkins Government revealed its true colours yesterday as it chopped a whole series of “nice to have” policies — many of them promoted by the Greens — and instead diverted the savings to relieve the impact of inflation. His approach is all about taking action; no more excuses, ...
You will never truly understand, from the pictures you’ve seen in the newspapers or on the six o-clock news, the sheer scale of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Gabrielle. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised in their State of the Planet speech today. ...
Political parties that want to negotiate with the Green Party after the election must come to the table with much faster, bolder climate action, co-leaders James Shaw and Marama Davidson emphasised today. ...
We’re boosting incomes and helping ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis through a range of bread and butter support measures that will see pensioners, students, families, and those on main benefits better off from the start of next month. ...
The error Labour Ministers made by stopping work on a beverage container return scheme will be reversed by the Greens at the earliest opportunity as part of the next Government. ...
“Cabinet needs to do better - and today has shown exactly why we need Green Ministers in cabinet, so we can prioritise action to cut climate pollution and support people to make ends meet,” says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson. ...
Biggest increase in food prices for over three decades shows the need for an excess profit tax on corporations to help people put food on the table. ...
The Green Party has today launched a submission guide to help Aucklanders give crucial input and prevent potentially disastrous Auckland Council budget proposals. ...
With calls growing for inquiries and action on bank profits, the Greens say the Government has all the information it needs to act now and put a levy on banks. ...
As large parts of Aotearoa recover from two of the worst climate disasters we have ever experienced, it would be a huge mistake for the Government to deprioritise climate action from future transport investments, the Green Party says. ...
The Green Party is celebrating the signing of a historic United Nations Ocean Treaty, and calls on the new Oceans and Fisheries Minister to urgently step up protection for Aotearoa’s oceans. ...
This year has seen a series of extreme weather events, unparalleled in New Zealand’s recent history. From Cape Reinga in the far north down to the Tararua Ranges, families and businesses across the country have suffered enormous loss and hardship. While the severe weather hasn’t directly affected every part of ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has today appointed Ginny Andersen as Minister of Police. “Ginny Andersen has a strong and relevant background in this important portfolio,” Chris Hipkins said. “Ginny Andersen worked for the Police as a non-sworn staff member for around 10 years and has more recently been chair of ...
Six further bailey bridge sites confirmed Four additional bridge sites under consideration 91 per cent of damaged state highways reopened Recovery Dashboards for impacted regions released The Government has responded quickly to restore lifeline routes after Cyclone Gabrielle and can today confirm that an additional six bailey bridges will ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta departs for China tomorrow, where she will meet with her counterpart, State Councillor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang, in Beijing. This will be the first visit by a New Zealand Minister to China since 2019, and follows the easing of COVID-19 travel restrictions between New Zealand and China. ...
Education Ministers from across the Pacific will gather in Tāmaki Makaurau this week to share their collective knowledge and strategic vision, for the benefit of ākonga across the region. New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti will host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers (CPEM) for three days from today, ...
A vital transport link for communities and local businesses has been restored following Cyclone Gabrielle with the reopening of State Highway 5 (SH5) between Napier and Taupō, Associate Minister of Transport Kiri Allan says. SH5 reopened to all traffic between 7am and 7pm from today, with closure points at SH2 (Kaimata ...
Internal Affairs Minister Barbara Edmonds has thanked generous New Zealanders who took part in the special Lotto draw for communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle. Held on Saturday night, the draw raised $11.7 million with half of all ticket sales going towards recovery efforts. “In a time of need, New Zealanders ...
The Government has announced funding of $3 million for providers to help people, and whānau access community-based Building Financial Capability services. “Demand for Financial Capability Services is growing as people face cost of living pressures. Those pressures are increasing further in areas affected by flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle,” Minister for ...
Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, has announced appointments to the Board of Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao. Tracey Bridges is joining the Board as the new Chair and Dr Therese Arseneau will be a new member. Current members Dr Linda Sissons CNZM and Daniel Wilson have ...
Fifteen ākonga Māori from across Aotearoa have been awarded the prestigious Ngarimu VC and 28th (Māori) Battalion Memorial Scholarships and Awards for 2023, Associate Education Minister and Ngarimu Board Chair, Kelvin Davis announced today. The recipients include doctoral, masters’ and undergraduate students. Three vocational training students and five wharekura students, ...
High Court Judge Jillian Maree Mallon has been appointed a Judge of the Court of Appeal, and District Court Judge Andrew John Becroft QSO has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Mallon graduated from Otago University in 1988 with an LLB (Hons), and with ...
The economy has continued to show its resilience despite today’s GDP figures showing a modest decline in the December quarter, leaving the Government well positioned to help New Zealanders face cost of living pressures in a challenging global environment. “The economy had grown strongly in the two quarters before this ...
Aucklanders now have more ways to get around as Transport Minister Michael Wood opened the direct State Highway 1 (SH1) to State Highway 18 (SH18) underpass today, marking the completion of the 48-kilometre Western Ring Route (WRR). “The Government is upgrading New Zealand’s transport system to make it safer, more ...
This section contains briefings received by incoming ministers following changes to Cabinet in January. Some information may have been withheld in accordance with the Official Information Act 1982. Where information has been withheld that is indicated within the document. ...
Aotearoa New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta reaffirmed her commitment to working together with the new Government of Fiji on issues of shared importance, including on the prioritisation of climate change and sustainability, at a meeting today, in Nadi. Fiji and Aotearoa New Zealand’s close relationship is underpinned by the Duavata ...
The Government is delivering a coastal shipping lifeline for businesses, residents and the primary sector in the cyclone-stricken regions of Hawkes Bay and Tairāwhiti, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan announced today. The Rangitata vessel has been chartered for an emergency coastal shipping route between Gisborne and Napier, with potential for ...
The Government will progress to the next stage of the NZ Battery Project, looking at the viability of pumped hydro as well as an alternative, multi-technology approach as part of the Government’s long term-plan to build a resilient, affordable, secure and decarbonised energy system in New Zealand, Energy and Resources ...
This morning I was made aware of a media interview in which Minister Stuart Nash criticised a decision of the Court and said he had contacted the Police Commissioner to suggest the Police appeal the decision. The phone call took place in 2021 when he was not the Police Minister. ...
The Government’s sharp focus on trade continues with Aotearoa New Zealand set to host Trade Ministers and delegations from 10 Asia Pacific economies at a meeting of Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) Commission members in July, Minister for Trade and Export Growth Damien O’Connor announced today. “New Zealand ...
$25 million boost to support more businesses with clean-up in cyclone affected regions, taking total business support to more than $50 million Demand for grants has been strong, with estimates showing applications will exceed the initial $25 million business support package Grants of up to a maximum of $40,000 per ...
80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visas applications have been processed – three months ahead of schedule Residence granted to 160,000 people 84,000 of 85,000 applications have been approved Over 160,000 people have become New Zealand residents now that 80 per cent of 2021 Resident Visa (2021RV) applications have been ...
The Lead Coordination Minister for the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission’s Report into the Terrorist Attack on the Christchurch Mosques travels to Melbourne, Australia today to represent New Zealand at the fourth Sub-Regional Meeting on Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Security. “The Government is committed to reducing the threat of terrorism ...
The health and safety practices at our nation’s ports will be improved as part of a new industry-wide action plan, Workplace Relations and Safety, and Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced. “Following the tragic death of two port workers in Auckland and Lyttelton last year, I asked the Port Health ...
Bikes, electric bikes and scooters will be added to the types of transport exempted from fringe benefit tax under changes proposed today. Revenue Minister David Parker said the change would allow bicycles, electric bicycles, scooters, electric scooters, and micro-mobility share services to be exempt from fringe benefit tax where they ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta will hold bilateral meetings with Fiji this week. The visit will be her first to the country since the election of the new coalition Government led by Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sitiveni Rabuka. The visit will be an opportunity to meet kanohi ki ...
The Government is introducing the Severe Weather Emergency Legislation Bill to ensure the recovery and rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle is streamlined and efficient with unnecessary red tape removed. The legislation is similar to legislation passed following the Christchurch and Kaikōura earthquakes that modifies existing legislation in order to remove constraints ...
Approximately 1.4 million people will benefit from increases to rates and thresholds for social assistance to help with the cost of living Superannuation to increase by over $100 a pay for a couple Main benefits to increase by the rate of inflation, meaning a family on a benefit with children ...
$1 billion in savings which will be reallocated to support New Zealanders with the cost of living A range of transport programmes deferred so Waka Kotahi can focus on post Cyclone road recovery Speed limit reduction programme significantly narrowed to focus on the most dangerous one per cent of state ...
The remaining state of national emergency over the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions will end on Tuesday 14 March, Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. Minister McAnulty gave notice of a national transition period over these regions, which will come into effect immediately following the end of the ...
The Government is today delivering on one of its commitments as part of the New Zealand Government’s Dawn Raids apology, welcoming a cohort of emerging Pacific leaders to Aotearoa New Zealand participating in the He Manawa Tītī Scholarship Programme. This cohort will participate in a bespoke leadership training programme that ...
Industry Transformation Plan to transform advanced manufacturing through increased productivity and higher-skilled, higher-wage jobs into a globally-competitive low-emissions sector. Co-created and co-owned by business, unions and workers, government, Māori, Pacific peoples and wider stakeholders. A plan to accelerate the growth and transformation of New Zealand’s advanced manufacturing sector was launched ...
New Zealand will provide support for Pacific countries to prevent the spread of harmful animal diseases, Associate Minister of Agriculture Meka Whaitiri said. The Associate Minister is attending a meeting of Pacific Ministers during the Pacific Week of Agriculture and Forestry in Nadi, Fiji. “Highly contagious diseases such as African ...
The Public Transport Futures project will deliver approximately: 100 more buses providing a greater number of seats to a greater number of locations at a higher frequency Over 470 more bus shelters to support a more enjoyable travel experience Almost 200 real time display units providing accurate information on bus ...
All but six schools and kura have reopened for onsite learning All students in the six closed schools or kura are being educated in other schools, online, or in alternative locations Over 4,300 education hardpacks distributed to support students Almost 38,000 community meals provided by suppliers of the Ka Ora ...
A new health centre has opened with financial support from the Government and further investment has been committed to projects that will accelerate Māori economic opportunities, Regional Development Minister Kiri Allan says. Community health provider QE Health will continue its long history in Rotorua with the official opening of the ...
The new three year NZ UK Working Holiday Visas (WHV) will now be delivered earlier than expected, coming into force by July this year in time to support businesses through the global labour shortages Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says. The improved WHV, successfully negotiated alongside the NZ UK Free trade ...
It seems like only yesterday that we launched the discussion document Enabling Investment in Offshore Renewable Energy, which is the key theme for this Forum. Everyone in this room understands the enormous potential of offshore wind in Aotearoa New Zealand – and particularly this region. Establishing a regime to pave ...
Police has reached a major milestone filing over 28,000 charges related to Operation Cobalt. “I’m extremely proud of the fantastic work that our Police has been doing to crack down on gangs, and keep our communities safe. The numbers speak for themselves – with over 28,000 charges, Police are getting ...
The Government will provide $15 million in the short term to local councils to remove rubbish, as a longer-term approach is developed, the Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced today. “Several regions are facing significant costs associated with residential waste removal, which has the potential to become a public ...
$15 million of immediate reimbursement for marae, iwi, recognised rural and community groups $2 million for community food providers $0.5 million for additional translation services Increasing the caps of the Community and Provider funds The Government has announced $17.5 million to further support communities and community providers impacted by Cyclone ...
The Government’s approach of using frontline service providers to address inequities for Māori with mental health and addiction needs is making good progress in many communities, a new report says. An independent evaluation into the Māori Access and Choice programme, commissioned by Te Whatu Ora has highlighted the programme’s success ...
A new investigation on the role of lobbyists raises fresh questions about whether we need better disclosure of who they are and who they work for, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Flip Grater decided to give up her career in music to pursue her other passion of vegan delicatessens. Now, her meat-free versions of chorizo, pastrami, and turkey have launched her business and landed her products in foodstuffs supermarkets. She talks to Simon Pound about Grater Goods’ rapid success, and expanding ...
“This is it; 2023 will be the last opportunity New Zealand has to get a government that will confront the climate emergency with the urgency it demands,” says the Green Party’s co-leader and climate change spokesperson, James Shaw. Speaking after ...
Today the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, released its ‘synthesis report’, summarising six previous reports. Greenpeace says that the latest report confirms the industrial drivers of climate change, its dire planetary impacts, and ...
Phase One Ventures chief executive Mahesh Muralidhar has been selected by local party members as National’s candidate in Auckland Central for the 2023 General Election. “I want to thank our local party members for backing me to campaign for ...
On the holy terror and absolute love of parenting Picked up by Octavia outside the book shop, the kid and I clambered into the back, to the soundtrack of classic hits from what seemed to be a tape she was playing. We were thankful to get in. The sun ...
A new investigative series from RNZ reveals just how broken the government communications machine is, writes Duncan Greive.Investigative journalist Guyon Espiner is peeling back the lid on the world of external lobbyists and corporate affairs strategists employed by the public sector. His new series, being published on RNZ this ...
Fresh from a Melbourne rally that attracted neo-Nazi supporters, British anti-transgender rights speaker Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is scheduled to appear at two events in Aotearoa. So what’s the lowdown? Another controversial international speaker wants to visit New Zealand, and, as expected, reaction has covered the full spectrum from outrage to support. ...
Companies have tended to be louder in lobbying politicians against climate change mitigation rather than in favour of it. This election, that needs to change ...
H5N1 only sporadically infects humans - but it kills half of those who catch it. As the largest ever outbreak of the virus continues to rage, is New Zealand prepared?Special report: Kiwi scientist Robert Webster knew two things about the avian flu virus he dripped into his nose one day ...
The hat-trick hero of the Black Ferns’ 2017 World Cup win, Toka Natua is back in rugby – discovering the pros and cons of playing as a mum. And the double international is ready for her next chapter in France. There are the odd moments at training where Toka Natua’s mind goes blank ...
With a number of events planned down the length of the country, the scene at this weekend’s ‘Stop Co-Governance’ rally in Orewa could be just the first of many Social media erupted with pictures of distorted faces, pulled into expressions of anger or yelling gleefully into the camera. The mugshots ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme was always a neoliberal, market-based, get-out-of-jail-free plan. Time to lead the way with Tradable Energy Quotas insteadOpinion: The old saying about news – that it’s always bad or it wouldn’t be news – is distressingly true for the climate, both in terms of this summer’s weather ...
The Detail finds out why a law change in 2017 has led to a proliferation of independent taxi drivers – and why they're leaving some passengers feeling ripped off Not all taxis are created equal. RNZ newsreader Evie Ashton found this out the hard way, after Dave Chapelle's recent show at Auckland's ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Frank Jotzo, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy and Head of Energy, Institute for Climate Energy and Disaster Solutions, Australian National University IISD/ENB The world is in deep trouble on climate change, but if we really put our shoulder to ...
RNZ Pacific New Caledonia’s only daily newspaper, Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes, has folded after the commercial court accepted the publishing company’s request for its liquidation. The court had deferred its decision by a day after an injunction by the public prosecutor who wanted to see if there was still a possibility ...
By Arieta Vakasukawaqa in Suva The installation of the Turaga Bale na Vunivalu Na Tui Kaba, Ratu Epenisa Cakobau, clearly indicates that Fiji’s traditional chiefly system still has a strong footing and chiefs still command respect among the country’s citizens. This is the view of Dr Paul Geraghty, the University ...
ANALYSIS:By Shailendra Bahadur Singh in Suva The long-running row between the former Fiji government and the Suva-based regional University of the South Pacific (USP) has come back to haunt former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama, who spent a night in a police cell on March 9 before appearing in ...
By Antoine Samoyeau in Pape’ete About 3000 activists of French Polynesia’s pro-independence Tavini Huiraatira party met for six hours at the weekend with the executives insisting that they were “united’ after a recent upheaval over leadership. The party also presented a “renewed” slate of 73 candidates for next month’s territorial ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The first arrest has been made following the Brereton inquiry into allegations that Australians committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Former SAS soldier, Oliver Schulz, 41, has been remanded in custody after his arrest by ...
We have our 2023 finalists after a big Sunday double-header at North Shore Stadium. Alice Soper reviews.Matatū vs BluesMatatū have scored the first try in every match they have played this season. It looked like this streak was going to be broken as the Blues finally found ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Park, Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney Shutterstock Some 70% of the World Heritage-listed Lord Howe Island has been closed to non-essential visitors in response to a recurrence of the plant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suranga Seneviratne, Senior Lecturer – Security, University of Sydney Shutterstock Are you tired of receiving SMS scams pretending to be from Australia Post, the tax office, MyGov and banks? You’re not alone. Each year, thousands of Australians fall victim to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Misha Ketchell, Editor, The Conversation Thanks in no small part to the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), today few people would be foolish enough to dispute the scientific consensus on the climate crisis. But as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Windholz, Senior Lecturer and Associate, Monash Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies, Monash University Inadequate, inequitable, and in some cases possibly in breach of workers’ compensation laws. That’s how bad the current insurance arrangements are for Australia’s professional sports people, ...
The newly-minted Police Minister, Ginny Andersen, has been called on by the Council of Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO) to investigate how the previous Minister allowed Police to propose extraordinary fee increases for licensed firearm owners without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Kingsford, Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney Bill Ormonde, Author provided Millions of dead fish float on the surface of the river. Native bony herring and introduced young carp, as well as a few mature ...
Things make more sense when people are speaking your language! This CAB Awareness Week (20-26 March), we are celebrating diversity and multiculturalism within our service. At the Citizens Advice Bureau, we are committed to making sure our service ...
The second week of the Auckland Arts Festivals showed the versatility of the city’s spaces, even when not matched entirely correctly with shows. Sam Brooks reviews (with assistance from Shanti Mathias).I often dismay at the lack of performance spaces we have in Auckland, and it takes something like the ...
The free and easy SMS two factor authentication (2FA) to log into your Twitter account ends today. That concerns Privacy Commissioner Michael Webster because it takes away one of the most common ways to verify who users are on their free accounts, which ...
New Zealand’s new minister of police will be one of the freshest faces around the cabinet table. Ginny Andersen, the MP for Hutt South, has been named as the new minister taking over from Stuart Nash. Andersen first became an MP in 2017 and only became a minister for the ...
The government has announced further roading reconnections, several weeks on from Cyclone Gabrielle. Earlier this morning it was confirmed the link between Napier and Taupō had been reestablished. And now, transport minister Michael Wood said another six bailey bridges would be constructed. “Our immediate priority has been to reopen lifeline ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has slammed the revelation that government agencies and State Owned Enterprises are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on lobbying firms as revealed by Radio NZ this morning. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter McNeil, Distinguished Professor of Design History, UTS, University of Technology Sydney Sydney World Pride and Mardi Gras 2023 were a huge success. Sydney was activated in a way rarely seen – block and street parties, cultural festivals and dance parties for ...
For the first time since 2019, a New Zealand minister will head to China this week. Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta will meet with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing. “I intend to discuss areas where we cooperate, such as on trade, people-to-people and climate and environmental issues. I will ...
The Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has completed his investigation into complaints about Auckland Council’s role in the National Erebus Memorial project. The complaints relate to the council’s approval and consents process for the memorial site in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hal Pawson, Professor of Housing Research and Policy, and Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Pandemic-generated pressures have left our rental housing market reeling. Australia-wide, vacancy rates are at rock-bottom levels. Rents are soaring at record rates. Queensland has ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the formula has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt Shihad frontman ...
The first edition felt like a breath of fresh, local music-filled air. This year, with many of the same headliners as 2008 (and every year since), the long-running Wellington festival has grown stale. It’s finally time to admit that on a cold night in Palmy 20 years ago, I felt ...
The anti-transgender activist that provoked aggressive protests in Australia over the weekend may not be able to enter New Zealand. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner, is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. But according to a new statement from Immigration NZ, her ability to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is pleased to hear that the Minister of Local Government, Kieran McAnulty, has invited concerned mayors to the Beehive to discuss the Three Waters reforms but believe he should meet with the country’s largest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Dan Himbrechts/Paul Braven/AAP The New South Wales state election will be held on Saturday. I had a preview of both ...
Whether the anti-trans campaigner can enter the country without a visa is now up in the air. Controversy surrounds the upcoming visit by Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, the British anti-transgender campaigner on a global tour who is scheduled to visit New Zealand next weekend for two public events. During an appearance in Melbourne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynne Chepulis, Associate Professor Health Sciences, University of Waikato Getty Images The controversial 2021 decision by the government drug-buying agency Pharmac to prioritise Māori and Pacific patients in its funding of two game-changing new diabetes drugs appears to have paid ...
The idea of the Greens flirting with National gets an airing before almost every election. It remains as much of a nonstarter as ever, writes Henry Cooke.This article was first published in Henry Cooke’s politics newsletter, Museum Street. It’s far more reliable than clockwork. Every election cycle – often several ...
With half the value of all Lotto, Powerball and Strike tickets going to cyclone relief, the "Must-be-won" draw for $15.5 million on Saturday went to a Canterbury player. ...
Auckland’s mayor has taken aim at road closures and traffic disruption around the super city, revealing a plan to reduce road cones. Wayne Brown had previously pledged to clean up the city of road cones and set it out as an “immediate priority” for the council’s transport agency. Now, he’s ...
The name's Bond – unhedged Treasury bond. Jonathan Milne argues that bond traders have again become sexy, for all the wrong reasons.Analysis: Giant Swiss bank UBS has agreed to buy its rival Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs (US$3.23 billion) and to assume up to $5.4 billion in losses, in a shotgun ...
‘Don’t fucking come and talk to me, write a submission,’ reckons Mayor Wayne Brown. So how do you do that?Let’s be honest, most people don’t understand local politics. We know that we vote for a mayor and councillors every couple of years, and that’s about it. But local politics ...
The link between Napier and Taupō has reopened this week for the first time since it was damaged in Cyclone Gabrielle. State highway five will be open to all traffic between 7am and 7pm, with overnight closure points at Kaimata Road, Glengarry Road and Matea Road. Kiri Allan, the associate ...
Analysis by By Geoffrey Miller. Political Roundup: NZ’s Middle East strategy, 20 years after the Iraq War This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq ...
If you find yourself stressing about the cost of living crisis and how it will impact your home loan, talking to your bank as soon as possible is important. If you are experiencing financial challenges or think you might in the future, it’s important to reach out to your bank ...
Despite being entrenched practice in New Zealand schools, the practice of academic streaming in schools might not be around much longer. A plan launched today sets out a pathway to achieve this.If you went to school in Aotearoa, odds are that streaming was part of your experience. The numerically-inclined ...
The Paediatric Society of New Zealand/Te Kāhui Mātai Arotamariki o Aotearoa are very concerned about the high number of tamariki injured by dogs in Aotearoa. Auckland emergency doctor Natasha Duncan-Sutherland says, “Over 2800 dog-related injuries ...
MP Ibrahim Omer will replace Grant Robertson as Labour’s candidate in the Wellington Central electorate after beating former party president Claire Szabo in the candidate selection race. Omer arrived in New Zealand as a refugee and worked as a cleaner before enrolling at Victoria University in 2014. “As someone who has ...
A new report from Australia highlights the significant community exposure to alcohol advertising through social media platforms. Over a one-year period researchers observed nearly 40,000 advertisements from a subset of alcohol-related accounts on Meta platforms ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, The University of Melbourne pexels/tara winstead, CC BY-SA You’ve probably heard about the “great resignation” which saw large numbers of people resigning from their jobs in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Beckett, Senior Lecturer (Food Science and Human Nutrition), School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle Shutterstock You’ve probably heard about the medication Ozempic, used to manage type 2 diabetes and as a weight loss drug. Ozempic (and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Menna Elizabeth Jones, Associate Professor in Zoology, University of Tasmania Human life on Earth is utterly dependent on biodiversity but our activities are driving an increase in extinctions. Yet some extinct species continue to hold our fascination. New methods in genetics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Kidson, Senior Lecturer in Educational Leadership, Australian Catholic University Shutterstock Australian schools have been under huge pressures in recent years. On top of concerns about academic progress and staff shortages, schools have faced significant, ongoing disruptions due to ...
The Green Party has made it clear it’s frustrated after being shafted by Labour during last week’s so-called policy bonfire. The prime minister recently ditched a number of policies announced during Jacinda Ardern’s tenure, many of which were backed strongly by the Greens. In a state of the nation address ...
The US banking crisis may help force a rethink by the Reserve Bank here, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.Did last week’s turmoil stop interest rate hikes in their tracks? ...
The Greens have laid down a challenge to potential coalition partners: come to the table with faster and stronger climate action if you want our support. ...
The early days of Māori Television were chaotic. After the founding CE was fired and imprisoned for fraud, Dr. Jim Mather was tapped to lead the fledging broadcaster. An account with no previous media experience, he was an unlikely choice for the role, but ended up leading the channel through ...
Regional public transport is where money can do the most good in the shortest time. So why is the government giving the regions’ funding to the main centres? I used to think of public transport mainly as a way to reduce our environmental impact. It was only when I started ...
The most recent piece of research on actual menstrual blood volume was conducted in 1964, which has left many people without key health information, writes researcher Claire Badenhorst. Last month, after being in the office for only half a day, I headed home early for the sole reason that I ...
What are we as a country doing to mitigate catastrophic climate change?
The only solution must be the abandonment of capitalism.
are we prepared to abandon the pursuit of greed and individualism ?
We’re doing the program that James Shaw has devised in collaboration with the relevant government departments. Too little too late. But let’s hope.
I agree it would be a good move to abandon capitalism at this point. The tricky bit is how to do so. Eliminating usury would be a good start. Businesses would become cooperative, meaning risk is shared as well as profit. Employees would go hungry until they learn to stop arguing & start collaborating. This would prove especially difficult for leftists.
“Are we prepared to abandon the pursuit of greed and individualism?” Not until consensus on the alternative system has been developed. So overcoming reluctance to work together on that task is the first step.
We’re doing nothing that will deal with the issue quickly or significantly enough.
This is a war and we need to mobilise.
What you’re seeing in the northern hemisphere this year will seem tame in 3 years time.
But it ISN’T a war. Repeatedly saying so will not change that.
It takes a definite statement that is a bit OTT to raise people out of the torpor of wondering whether it will be sunny next weekend for sport or to get a certain amount of sleep in a quiet safe spot out of the rain.
” This would prove especially difficult for leftists.”
on recent form (indeed historical) impossible
So, who does ‘develop’ this consensus and how? Many people misunderstand the concept of consensus and in political context it is often frowned upon as something unworkable and unpractical, i.e. as something negative that should be avoided. There’s no good role model! A show of hands, a (majority) vote, is all that’s needed, right? In addition to this reluctance there are, of course, those who actively resist it …
There is a role model, just not in the public domain. It’s in the Green Party Standing Orders & Constitution. Or at least it was when I sent our recently-adopted Constitution to Sir Geoffrey Palmer so he could register the Greens with the Electoral Commission in ’95.
The method I used when I led the process to constellate consensus and produce both documents was as described in those documents. Starting from intense rivalry & disagreement amongst the leading activists in ’91, lots of word-smithing on my computer, lots of branch, regional & provincial meetings to approve the documents until final approval was achieved at national conference AGM.
Consensus was defined as all agreeing (in the initial ideal) then in practice modified to all agreeing bar one dissident determined to object. If there was more than one oddball with his/her knickers in a twist, we were required to continue discussion. Resolution to an impasse was usually attained via two or more dissenters agreeing to defer to the majority as long as their objection was formally recorded. That allowed the minority group a basis for continuing to lobby via other meetings, letters (no email back then) or party magazine.
.
“Starting from intense rivalry & disagreement amongst the leading activists in ’91…..”
“leading”..not all. and therein lies the issue. A consensus within a self determined range of opinions may well be (eventually) possible….this does not reflect society, hence democracy and the’ tyranny of the majority’
Especially as any time we may have had has likely been squandered.
Yes, consensus works well in the Green Party with all members agreeing to the Charter principles before they join. It is quite different in wider society where many individuals have very little concern for the environment and other people.
would add that even within that self selected group (the Greens) one could not seriously suggest consensus given recent events
Consensus as a decision making process yes. Consensus does not mean everybody agreeing.
consensus as a process is only as effective as its adherence,presentation and acceptance….none are evident
I’ve expressed similar doubts about the competence of our parliamentarians in this forum. Especially in regard to the Exec decision to expel the two who disagreed with Metiria.
The two who dumped on the Green party, joining in the hypocritical holier than thou, racist and misogynist bene bashing, then expected to remain our representatives, you mean. At meetings I attended, there was overwhelming support for Shaw and Turei
The expulsion of Clendon and Graham is just but one manifestation, there are many others
With due respect to Clendon, he was doing a lot of work in law, n that no walk in the park. Imagine him as a great local green, but really the greens need more folk in the house, if they are going to be seriously tackling issues like, the need for Royal Commissions on key issues; ubi and social credit.
@KTJ
Yes, those two were very lucky to be aloud to stay in the Party.
ya know the charter is real good, but its impossible to totally satisfy it. Easy for plants to derail progress, but also a natural safe guard to provide conservative policy on what are otherwise awesome and potentially radical folk.
and any of that supports the notion of the effectiveness of consensus how?
Easy for plants to derail progress
Is that a reference to cannabis?
My point was about whether the Exec followed the rules in making their decision. When they informed us of that decision, they failed to specify precisely how the rules had been broken. Three possible explanations for their failure:
1. contempt for members (“we’re above being accountable for our decision, we don’t need to prove we’re right”)
2. “uh, we forgot. sorry.”
3. they didn’t actually know the Constitution & Standing Orders define consensus and how to apply it to GP decisions (“hey, we’re the younger generation, why would we bother to read rules written by the older generation?”)
nationalize all debts and then gradually retire them
And abandon capitalism.
Our future,” scientist James Lovelock has written, “is like that of the passengers on a small pleasure boat sailing quietly above the Niagara Falls, not knowing that the engines are about to fail.”
No
Never thought I’d hear a massive crowd chanting for “Don Brash Don Brash Don Brash” again.
Depressing frankly that there are so many racist climate deniers in this banana republic.
Give the man a baseball cap and a fake tan and God knows how much damage he might do.
In my opinion Auckland University acted rashly in inviting Brash to their Campus, at such short notice.
In my opinion A.U. management have acted as opportunists motivated by gaining some cheap notoriety at Massey’s expense.
I have two issues with how Auckland University have behaved in this matter.
Opportunism
First of all, It was an insult to the leadership of Massey.
In my opinion A.U.’s behaviour was appalling and opportunist, taking advantage of M.U.’s difficulties in this matter.
Instead of standing in solidarity with their sister University, Auckland University have delivered them a deliberate public slap in the face.
If A.U. were really convinced that Brash’s views needed an airing, then probably what they should have done, is consulted with their sister faculty first, and come up with a combined strategy on how to deal with the thorny issues raised by Brash.
That they didn’t do this is obvious from the indecent haste with which A.U. acted in giving Brash a platform to speak.
Hypocrisy
As has been widely reported, Auckland University did exactly the same as Massey when it suited them. Canceling a talk from Hone Harawira, allegedly on the grounds of threatened protests against him.
But Auckland University have no issue with protests when it is a white supremacist speaking on campus.
Just as Te Reo Putake has pointed out in his post on this matter, “There is no such thing as free speech”
To which I might add; Not if you are Maori, or poor, or from a minority group.
If you are from one of these above groups and your speaking venue is canned by an institution like Auckland University, the media will not even think it newsworthy, Rich white people will not dig into their pockets to the tune of $50 thousand to sue the institution which has shut you out. And we wouldn’t even be talking about it.
There’s No Such Thing as Free Speech
TE REO PUTAKE – July 11, 2018
I would hope that universities would stand on principle as they see it rather than just follow whatever line another university has taken.
I agree. Free speech denial will be much less successful than climate change denial! MU will struggle to regain credibility. I suspect they will have to eventually admit their error due to weight of public opinion.
The Education Act 1989 requires that Universities show that they are acting as a “critic and conscience of society”.
Here’s a few of the stories that show how some of them are, on a dedicated website.
http://www.criticandconscience.org.nz/
remember this ?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4996046/Harawira-lecture-axed-because-of-redneck-racism
No, well it was 2011
Hone Harawira says “redneck” racism is to blame for the last-minute cancellation of a lecture he was to give in Auckland today.
The Mana Party leader was due to speak about the foreshore and seabed at Auckland University Law School.
Law student Charlotte Summers said the Faculty of Law cancelled the lecture on the basis of “there may be a breach of the peace”.
She said the Young Nationals organisation was behind the protest.
“How is it fair that the Young Nats decide to be disruptive, threaten to be disruptive, and then an entire event is cancelled because of their choices and what they threaten to do?”
Massey’s VC made the decision after being approached by the student group (who invited Brash for their event) who raised safety concerns. Appears to parallel that of the incident with Harawira’s speech so I’m not sure what all this angst is about.
AS an aside, I find it amusing that it took an Australian woman to finally listen to us, when we say that Te Tiriti principles matter.
Make a run for it
Don’t
An Earthquake strong enough to topple your building will knock you off your feet and will drop you to the ground before you make it to the door, leaving you completely vulnerable to being crushed by falling debris.
Indonesia’s Lombok quake revives the question of taking cover versus running outside
Robin George Andrews – Scientific American, August 9, 2018
If you try to make a run for it. The earthquake will knock you off your feet before you can cross the room.
P.S. Forget door frames. A strong table or desk is best.
Thanks Jenny. Intuitive thinking, or commonsense to use another term, has to be reviewed these days. Every day it seems.
Hijacking Victimhood and Demonizing Dissent:
The Post 2014 Gaza Bombing Anti-Semitism Moral Panic – a Short History
By Gavin Lewis….
https://zcomm.org/znetarticle/hijacking-victimhood-and-demonizing-dissent/
Israel Is The Real Problem…
http://medialens.org/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=archive&task=view&mailid=500&key=521d744d358c2252091b6dea00b40a3b&subid=33571-17a82b7ee5289bb302b211d107541de8&tmpl=component
Yeah, this article also, makes a clear case: August 9, 2018 – The Crisis in Corbyn’s Labour Party is Over Israel, Not Anti-Semitism, by Jonathan Cook, Nazareth.
Sure, so Israel is the problem; but what’s the solution?
China have hinted they would occupy Syria, if invited. Expecting this will suit Turkey, along with Iran. These are probably the three countries Israel will work hardest to smear in the media over the next few years, to avoid new regional dynamics.
Note that if Israel are seriously challenged, they will probably have the money power to bring down the SWIFT inter-bank payment system. But BRICS have an alternative inter-bank payment system, tested globally, including NZ. Or Israel could also potentially false flag an atomic launch at Hawaii from North Korean waters, but the US should be able to shot that down…
It’s like a giant squid, cornered in a pool of LSD. But some how we must dive into those waters, tame it and demonstrate peace.
Shalom shalom shalom.
Today might be the day Tesla failed.
It has been failing for a long long time now
Tesla is an enigma wrapped in a dream chasing an electric rainbow currently under musk.
He is all over the shop with estimates of capital requirements, loss/profit projections, technology and supply issues especially with the battery manufacture.
I can only see it continuing with a more level head in charge or the funds may dry up as Elons been very tetchy with the analysts who he desperately needs onside.
The boy wonder needs to step back and let in some rationality IMO.
He tweeted the other day about maybe taking it private. Reckons he has the finance in place. Put the wind up the SEC.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2018/08/who-is-jordan-peterson-a-guide-to-the-next-controversial-canadian-to-grace-our-shores.html
Ok so this is basically a way over-simplification of what Dr Jordan Peterson, purely designed to court controversy, has actually said but if he comes to Christchurch I’ll be there
Maybe I’ll see some of you there as well 😉
It used to be said that a skin-head, meathead, right wing nationalist front type element flourished in Christchurch. Maybe a big meeting there could be the catalyst to further the plans “to create a European culture “protected community” in North Canterbury … to “build a unified mini state that we could build up in future to be a base for other like minded Europeans to come to from other dying countries.”
I vote that it be relocated to Auckland Island. The climate will toughen the roosters up. They could make a reality tv show out of the survival process.
Dennis Frank
Best idea you have had so far. I’ll put small donation into a funding pool to take that forward. Along with Give a Little to buy that station down south and keep in NZ hands.
Thanks grey 😎 it’s actually an old idea of mine. Early nineties I was running the Greens justice policy development as convenor of the working group & put a suggestion into the policy draft that recidivist violent offenders be parked down there & left to fight it out. Had a few greenies looking askance at me after that!
I’m originally from Dunedin, i’m just here for the work 🙂
Yes not surprised you’ll be going after reading that – I don’t really like his views on women and roles and stuff.
“He believes in “traditional” gender roles because he thinks men might simply be more competent than women, and he’s suggested women shouldn’t be allowed to wear makeup to work because it’s “sexually provocative”.”
“When a member of the ‘incel’ community drove a van into a crowd in Toronto and killed 10 people, Dr Peterson proposed a system of ‘enforced monogamy’ in which women are given to men as sexual partners in order to prevent such acts of violence.”
No marty you need to stop listening to what other people think he says and listen to what he actually says, theres quite a big difference
https://static.mijnwebwinkel.nl/winkel/beezonder/image/cache/full/e29ef25f88b3c06816fc82b7919bb588ab703b7b.jpg
So you’re saying the reporter is lying in that story and the videos are black ops created to discredit him?
Nope not at all, I’m saying theres certainly a lot of “so what you’re saying is” and then being completely wrong about what was said
Kind of like what you’re doing right now 🙂
https://medium.com/@stianchrister/24-memes-that-sum-up-jordan-peterson-vs-cathy-newman-7c7b9229f2f
I’ve seen his videos.
He is scum.
Garn marty mars. You don’t say. Or did you? Did he? Can you find where. I would print it out and frame it if he managed to advance the idea in less than an A4 page. He being so wordy as well as seriously thoughtful, which gives the impression that deep wisdom is going to come out of that player piano.
Well, at least you’ll be well versed in the art of non-sequiturs 😉
Nice 🙂
Had to laugh at that Brash thing yesterday
Good luck to the protesters, but way to prove Brash’s point
Talk about a backfire
Ah the rightees are leading public discussion off on a merry ‘free speech’ red herring jaunt.
This is not about ‘free speech’ as originally intended: it was intended to ensure democratic debate so that all views get heard.
Today the issue is about which voices get heard most in the mainstream, and the kinds of views that get heard most frequently, and most positively in the mainstream – it’s about access to dominant platforms, and the attention economy – everyone is free to express their views online, but it’s hard for everyone to get people to pay attention to their views.
It was intended to be about freedom from government/state censorship.
The old Jeffersonian free market of ideas ideal, was that, if all views get heard and debated in public, the best of thinking will rise to the top, and dodgy thinking will be found out and drop out of the consideration. But, as we can see with Trump, Brash, Canadian alt-righters, etc, in the digital age, a lot of dodgy populist speakings gets mainstream attention and acceptance by some.
The guests on the UoA panel was skewed to Pakeha, older people, and the Right (see the still image fronting the video you posted). They did have an unknown person of Maori Pacific descent speak in the debate. But, the attention was all on ye olde Pakeha Name people.
The protesters were adding the voices of those excluded from the debate. They were protesting the voices that have been excluded, and against the (one-sided bigoted mis-informed views on ‘race’, etc) issues that have been slid into the mainstream under the guise of ‘freedom of speech’.
In the short term, many with power will be tut-tutting about the protest. However, when the students are protesting strongly about inequities, democratic fails, misinformation, damaging propaganda, etc., then there is still hope for our world.
“Adding voices”
If by that you mean yelling incoherently, yes they were.
As is their right.
And we can judge for ourselves which looked the least idiotic
I’m not convinced that giving so much attention to those who are adept are provocation and flawed reasoning, is producing the outcome that most would wish for – a dismissal of their rantings.
Perhaps a different approach is required to deal with this kind of invasion of rhetoric, other than vocal protestors at venues. I’m thinking about the effect on those who attend, exiting the venue only to be exposed to approbation, censure and loud shouting. Leading, as is expected from human nature, to further entrenching views – that as yet might have been not fully formed.
The only proposal I can come up with at present, that aligns with a progressive form of counteracting such views taking root is not fully formed, but here goes:
Instead of a continuation of rhetoric and speaking, an invitation for those attending to have their say, and talk about their personal situations and why they felt that the speaker had something to say worth paying for.
A cohesive and comprehensive plan for a Listening Post form of protest would involve people getting together, and learning how to address the fears and concerns of those who might be persuaded by such rhetoric, by genuine conversation and discussion of alternative views and options. Invite people as they exit to talk and then genuinely listen. Without judgment, then offer a counter view – to that one individual that you have engaged with.
If the end result is to innoculate our people from the harm that comes from following such ill-considered public opinions, then the media focus and vocal protests seem to be doing the opposite.
I would be interested in hearing if there are other proposals for effective actions out there.
that is a far more sensible and productive approach.
The purpose is not to silence the extremist but to ensure their views remain exactly that..extreme. What is needed is to seek empathy from as wide an audience as possible and that is most effectively achieved by recounting personal experience and eliciting understanding….the opposite is achieved by shouting slogans and presumptive judgements
Sounds like you’re sort of saying if you attack me I’ll dig my heels in and won’t listen and if I attack you you’ll do the same and no ones point of view gets changed?
If so yeah absolutely thats what’ll likely happen so yep I agree with your conclusions
Reasoned, polite conversation is always a good way to go
“Reasoned, polite conversation is always a good way to go”
This sounds good, but in reality some of the most polite amongst us can be very destructive and use that skill to “win” arguments.
I’m thinking along the lines of better listening, and genuine engagement – which may or may not be considered genteel, but is conducted with respect. Reinforcing the ‘listening’ rather than the talking.
Saying that you need people who are skilled at this type of interaction, I know only a few myself. 🙂
There certainly is a major difference between hearing and listening, in NZ though I do like to believe that there are more things that we all have in common then what we have as differences
I don’t believe that differences should be a problem. Trying to homogenise experiences and perspectives, causes more alienation than it heals.
Accepting differences seems to be a hurdle for many. Differences in choice, perspectives and actions.
However, I do agree with you, if what you are saying is that many do share either unexpressed or badly expressed values.
It is insistence on those values being followed in specific ways, without allowance for difference perspectives, approaches or resources that causes ongoing problems.
I use the coin as model for the way the brain operates. Left hemisphere differentiates between parts, right hemisphere integrates parts into wholes. The big picture combines both (holism).
So when we focus on the differences between us, we differentiate ourselves as unique humans & get idiosyncrasy (see the original meaning of that). When we focus on commonalities we share, we form an integral view. When we apply the latter in political praxis, we develop consensus. If I were a political psychology lecturer, that’s how I’d teach it to my students.
Toss a coin, see how it lands. Tails, say the leftists. Heads, say the rightists. People see what they’re looking for. Doesn’t matter, say the centrists. The coin has both sides concurrently regardless of how it lands. Both/and logic, not zero-sum logic. Applied holism.
“So when we focus on the differences between us, we differentiate ourselves as unique humans & get idiosyncrasy (see the original meaning of that). When we focus on commonalities we share, we form an integral view. When we apply the latter in political praxis, we develop consensus. If I were a political psychology lecturer, that’s how I’d teach it to my students.”
Except this approach predisposes a common view, when life experiences and perspectives differ even when values do not.
In your example, I would focus on the shared values – and work from that. That would be true engagement, else along with presupposed commonalities – that may or may not exist – you usually come up with presupposed solutions to presupposed problems.
I would think a long-term sustainable solution would acknowledge that multi-pronged and adaptable solutions from a diverse range of people with the same values is a good result.
Not in my experience. The common view emerges organically from the discourse. That’s why it is authentic: it is based on genuine commonalities that people discover connect them in a sense of belonging to a cultural context or group or society. The discovery process requires identification and acknowledgement of those in order to objectify them into what eventually constellates as a belief system. So it’s a natural process humans do.
Yes, crowd-sourcing wisdom is indeed an optimal technique when used in a diverse social context. Best seen in brain-storming sessions. Discussion groups can produce it but it depends whether members have what it takes to operate as catalysts. Teams work even better than brainstorming because of their task focus.
“The common view emerges organically from the discourse. That’s why it is authentic: it is based on genuine commonalities that people discover connect them in a sense of belonging to a cultural context or group or society. The discovery process requires identification and acknowledgement of those in order to objectify them into what eventually constellates as a belief system. So it’s a natural process humans do.”
I agree with you insofar as it applies to values.
I disagree in terms of how adept we are as a society into looking past differences in order to achieve good outcomes for shared values.
From that perspective, there are two options:
1. Take time and energy to identify – or construct – commonalities before working together,
2. Acknowledge the differences – and work together.
I have a suspicion that we are talking along the same lines, but I do think there is an important consideration to make for allowances of differences in genuine engagement.
Apologies for the “genteel”, been discussing Austen with my daughter, and some of that vocab slipped in…
Thanks, Molly. i do agree there needs to be conerted and co-ordinated approach. The question is how to have that conversation with a mainstream media that is too superficial, rightward leaning, and focused on beating up drama and conflict?
I am not so critical of the protesters. It is, as I said about getting the attention of the mainstream media. Protesting politely somehow tends not to get that much cut-through in the dominant media and forums.
And, I am very pleased to see highly motivated protesters try ways that they decide to counter the way most kiwis are being led by the nose by some well resourced right wing propagandists. Some will learn fromt heir protesting experiences in ways that will inform their activism in the future.
I despair at how MOR the majority of Kiwis seem to be and how fearful of young activists with a fresh view on things.
The protesters rightly made the issue about racism – right wingers are using the free speech mantra as a foreground in order to slide in their dodgy bigotry.
To be clear, I’m not criticising the protestors for being passionate about something that is destructive to our shared society. I’m just wondering how we ensure the long-term effectiveness of actions against these views. And if there are other – perhaps additional – or replacement – methods that would produce the results that would benefit us all.
The point you make about racism is valid. What I’m struggling with is how much time we are giving to addressing the rhetoric of overseas self-promoters when many New Zealanders experience varying degrees of racism every day. If we can find a way to address that systemically, then society as a whole, including the media, would not allowed themselves to be played for publicity.
If we don’t ask why those – brought up or choosing NZ as a home – are finding these speakers attractive, then we are missing a trick in working out how to make sure that pull is reduced.
“The old Jeffersonian free market of ideas ideal, was that, if all views get heard and debated in public, the best of thinking will rise to the top, and dodgy thinking will be found out and drop out of the consideration. But, as we can see with Trump, Brash, Canadian alt-righters, etc, in the digital age, a lot of dodgy populist speakings gets mainstream attention and acceptance by some.”
I’m not actually seeing what the ‘but’ is here. So what if there’s a bit of back and forth along the way? Unless you’re a Marxist, there’s no reason to believe the process will be logical and linear, it’s a game of snakes and ladders.
I thought the protesters (I was in the room) were 90% on the right tone, they respectfully but firmly interjected and disrupted, but overplayed their hand eventually and became disrespectful and childish. At that point they allowed the MAGA hat types that if it is going to descend into a contest of loud noises, they won’t be the ones who win. And of course at that point they let Brash speak, then marched out of the still unfinished debate.
What’s also amusing is that these people who came to protest – supposedly about people of colour not being listened to – marched out without waiting to listen to Sir Anand Satyanand’s very thoughtful closing speech. I thought they wanted to hear from non-Pakeha? And yet they walked out on a person of colour who exemplifies the successful side of NZ’s multiculturalism.
Meme of the night came from Elliot Ikilei: Hey Marxists: where’s Dad?
Thanks for the firsthand report, CJ.
Maybe the protesters have some things to learn about effective activism. The only way to learn effective methods, is to give various methods a try.
Brash is such an long-time mainstream speaker, I doubt one loud protest against him will make racist views any worse than they are now in the mainstream.
And from some reports, the loud protests only happened for a few minutes, and Brash was not prevented from delivering his whole speech.
Hmmmm… actually the Stuff report, gives a whole different view from just selected video clips of the shouting moments. They focus on Brash speaking, not being silenced.
“Don Brash speaks at boisterous Auckland University debate, punctuated by protests”
So, really it’s looking like people getting sanctimonious about loud, short-lived protests are really off on a wrong track.
And all the reports I’ve seen focus mostly on what Brash had to say. I have no idea what this has to do with the issue:
Meme of the night came from Elliot Ikilei: Hey Marxists: where’s Dad?
Or what it means. Just sounds like a superficial, and unexplained anti-Marxist jibe.
So what?
“Maybe the protesters have some things to learn about effective activism. The only way to learn effective methods, is to give various methods a try”
Agreed – a pity that instead of being honest about it, their leaders come out with this statement, which bends the truth
“Don Brash spoke. We didn’t in anyway disrupt his speech. He got his whole speech out,” Stanley said.
Yeah, they did disrupt it. Which in itself is cool, they made him sit it out for 4 or 5 minutes while they spoke. But it did not progress as she claims. They made their speeches (cool), ensured their viewpoint registered with speakers and the crowd (vitally important), and then basically played up for the news cameras and made a spectacle of themselves until the crowd had no choice but to show them that if it’s just a contest of noise, they won’t be the ones who win. A lesson they ought to digest for future actions.
Brash got to speak in the end, and hell I’m not a fan of the guy. I’m actually kinda mad at these pesky kids that they’ve forced me to accept Brash as a proxy for the debate about these rights. But only when the audience called time on their performance (not their protest, but the performance which ensued once the actual protest was over) did that happen. Beth Stanley attempts to give the impression that they voluntarily made their point and stepped back. She says ‘we didn’t in any way disrupt his speech’. That’s not true, but also not the part she needed to be dishonest about.
“So, really it’s looking like people getting sanctimonious about loud, short-lived protests are really off on a wrong track.”
Perhaps it’s people taking a protest leader’s less-than-candid statements at face value who are the wrong track ; )
As for the Marxists, “Where’s dad?” is the response their screechings about capitalism and colonialism will garner for a long time to come.
Do the protesters not have a right to free speech? Can’t they say what ever they like whenever they like? Or is that only OK if you are white, rich and insulting other cultures?
I watched the debate last night and the protesters on this occasion walked straight into a trap of their own making. Honestly, they didn’t exhibit a whole brain between them. It was inevitable Brash would play the… “oh look, I’m being denied my right to speak” card. He claimed it as an example why pc language is so dangerous which of course is a false equivalence (nothing to do with being pc) but that detail would go over the top of most people’s heads.
I hope the students in question get a bollocking for being so stupid from their peers today.
Of course they do however what they’re doing is anti-free speech
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler%27s_veto
‘The common example is the termination of a speech or demonstration in the interest of maintaining the public peace based on the anticipated negative reaction of someone opposed to that speech or demonstration.’
‘In common parlance, the term is used to describe situations where hecklers or demonstrators silence a speaker without intervention of the law.’
To be fair it only involved a handful of protesters. The rest stood silently at the back of the chamber holding up their signs which could be clearly seen. That was fine, but the idiots who yelled through megaphones when Brash started speaking well… Brash made the most of it when he was finally able to speak and who can blame him.
@ You Fool.
The protesters were exercising their right to speak outside the entrance for a long time prior to the start of the meeting. They no doubt exercised the same right when the crowd left. But they had no right to disrupt speaker, Don Brash (whose views I despise) inside the hall.
Couldn’t agree more with this
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4996046/Harawira-lecture-axed-because-of-redneck-racism
Pot. kettle.
Was wrong then and would be wrong now
I think you are. I like to see expressions of passion, such as interjections.
Pucky; you exhibit passion toward your pin-up
dowagergirl, Judith; do you think we should call for your expulsion from TS because your “shout-outs” offend us?Well in all fairness I’ve never been a Young Nat nor a student at Auckland University however the difference is while I accept that Jude is potentially the daughter of god (those initials can’t be a coincidence) I don’t try to stop anyone disagreeing with me
Whereas those protesters were trying to drown out Dr Don Brash
So?
Freedom of speech doesn’t silence other people, surely? If enough people in the audience had told the dickheads to shut up and let Brash speak without interjection, they would have. Hell, the protestors would have been ejected by security to the applause of the audience.
And then you’d have been boldly defending their right to free speech, surely?
“Freedom of speech doesn’t silence other people, surely?”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heckler%27s_veto
‘In common parlance, the term is used to describe situations where hecklers or demonstrators silence a speaker without intervention of the law.’
“If enough people in the audience had told the dickheads to shut up and let Brash speak without interjection, they would have.”
You’re not that naive, you know as well as I do that all that would have happened is that both sides would have ended up shouting at each other and Don Brash wouldn’t have been able to speak
Funny thing about meetings like that: people can’t yell forever. And being yelled over doesn’t mean you have to shut up.
Dealing with a hostile crowd is a basic skill for politicians and comedians.
Frankly, raising the “heckler’s veto” is a bullshit way of trying to guilt protestors into silence. Note: that’s not the same as “silencing” someone.
One would think you’d never been to a disorderly gathering of a lively crowd and seen someone win it over to a previously unpopular position.
Well the Harawiras are a bit racist.
What do you mean?
No one said they couldn’t
Do the protesters not have a right to free speech?
Perhaps the question is how you execute your freedom of speech.
A backfire. Is that a polite word for a fart?
Germany are talking about conscription again. Definitely an option for these kids. Embarrassing to be out-smarted by DB. Send them on some social and ecological projects as well as military. Can we do it, unemployment rate could be lower? Yes.
Bloody insurance company!
Hamilton woman Abby Heartly fell in in Bali and is in an induced coma. Article links to GiveALittle.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12104556
Would be helpful if they said why the insurance company isn’t covering it.
“Our mum is fighting for her life in ICU in a hospital in Bali and unfortunately insurance company is refusing to cover any medical costs,”
Sounds like they didn’t have any cover for medical insurance
Which if true doesn’t really make the insurance company the bad guy (if someone has to have one)
Why a slap on the wrist? How is this company allowed to continue? Why do we take this shit sandwich and ask for another? When are people going to say ,’sorry, but sorry isn’t good enough. No more!!!’.
“The council estimated that 450 cubic metres of dairy effluent was discharged when the incident occurred in November 2016.
This is the equivalent of 17 truck and trailer units full of effluent. The volume was such that it was able to be detected eight kilometres downstream at Lake Ohakuri.”
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/106161773/farmer-fined-for-contaminating-stream-that-was-flowing-green-with-effluent
I still see unfenced waterways with livestock standing in rivers and streams…..why ?
Because they can !
They fined them $46000 for what was probably an accident and you call it a slap on the wrist. !!
These “accidents” need to stop. They don’t just happen, they’re borne of negligence. That pipe pumped sewage into the waterway for 14 straight hours. I bet they have systems in place to detect an equivalent milk loss pretty bloody quickly.
Obviously the level of fine isn’t cutting it.
You understand what siphoning is as opposed to pumping . ?
Using your rational we need to quadruple speeding and parking fines there levels are not cutting it .
Meh. The point stands – shit went through the pipe into the waterway.
And yes, I reckon that all fines should be a proportion of wealth and traffic fines could be higher. Especially parking tickets – on the odds of getting caught, it’s cheaper to wear the occasional ticket than it is to pay for parking all the time.
Yep there’s too many of these “accidents” and dairy farmers/companies will push council to hold off on fines etc with promises of getting things sorted. Here’s a classic example from my neck of the woods.
“Two farms that belonged to Northland farmers David and Frances Webster were responsible for allowing dairy effluent to flow into waterways in what an Environment Court judge Craig Thompson called the worst case of “prolonged non-compliance” he had ever seen.
The offending, which saw a huge amount of untreated dairy effluent put into the Manganui River, which feeds into the Northern Wairoa River and the Kaipara Harbour was described as “blatant, ongoing and serious”, with one of the farms being “awash with dairy effluent”, resulting in “gross contamination”.”
“Outside the court the council’s farm monitoring manager Dennis Wright said the companies “grossly polluted waterways for at least eight years and the environment wore the cost”.”
And an even better ending to the story, when finally taken to court (at a cost of $50K to rate payers) the shifty fuckers managed to side-step paying any fines by selling the farm and shifting funds into trust accounts (obviously Nat voters).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/103892720/fine-of-225000-for-dirty-dairying-will-go-unpaid-because-companies-are-broke
These are the sort of people we have out on the land screwing our waterways and I wonder how many times they professed it was due an “accident”
I have no problem with fining offenders . I just had to call mm for his bullshit wet bus ticket claim ,so the rabid farm haters here that probably won’t read his link but nod their heads and growl fuck yes get some balance in their diet.
I do think it was minimal – what’s the cap value of the farm what income produced- that amount is the second car or third tractor.
Back in 2011 ish, the Waikato Regional Council was struggling to gain(never mind maintain) a reputation as a hardarse enforcer in relation to the Clean Streams Accord. Long story short….WRC with the aid of helicopter observers found, investigated and successfully prosecuted a King Country farmer. Big write up in local rag and a fine of $50 thousand. I spoke with this farmer and pretended sympathy for the hit to his bank balance from the fine. “No worries, my insurance covers the fine and the costs.”
Bus ticket? Pantomime.
WRC at best useless.
(That particular cocky had not contaminated any waterway, btw, there was simply a risk of that happening.)
You are so kind and fair bwaghorn. Probably an accident! It actually matters that it happened, that it was destructive and will have ongoing results, and that the systems set up to cope with the production of effluent were inadequate. Like our previous government. We have been drowning in their muck and have only just survived. Perhaps they should pay half of that fine?
When you start calling for city rate payers to be fined for their shit in the harbours I’ll consider your input .till then zip it sweety.
You are getting a bit silly bwaghorn. I think you are spending too much time with your sheep.
Support growing for an unqualified accountants pre-election economic analysis?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12104552
No no its ok, hey look The First Bloke built a deck
Mike Hosking announces Breaking News: Steven Joyce agrees with Steven Joyce’s pre-election economic analysis.
Funny that, so does Grant Robertson.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/106160806/new-zealand-to-ban-singleuse-plastic-bags
Mike Hoskings is writing about how outraged he is as the news breaks
Are there any chemist or scientist types on here that could explain if its possible to maybe develop and add something to a plastic bag that would make it break down quickly or give it a shelf life or something?
There are already plenty of biodegradable (and/or compostible) plastic products including bags available in NZ – but there is also some dispute as to whether they actually breakdown as claimed, especially in landfills.
Sorry, cannot help on the science etc and must rush out, but here is a link to a Google search which provides lots of info on what is available in NZ.
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=biodegradable+plastic+bags+nz&rlz=1C1LDJZ_enNZ499&oq=biodegadable+&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l5.10513j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Cheers for that
the main problem is what they break into….even broken down they contaminate
Precisely. I saw a science report on the tv news about that several weeks ago, think it was BBC originated. Microscopic bits of plastic in ocean water. Imagine how much they are likely to disrupt organic process within when ingested by any organism. Scary stuff.
So the problem that first became evident via reporting on those mid-ocean gyres long ago has a deep dimension. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch
Yes, that plastic includes the green scourers in kitchens, fibres from thermals (modern long John’s), polar fleeces and the like.
Are you advocating for an inquiry @ PR? Or given the submissions and comments and lobbying already done, should we not just get on and do the bleeding obvious.
However, if you’re really committed, you could consider looking at some of the evidence various places in the 3rd World have sought that has led them to single-use plastic bans
“……… led them to single-use plastic bans”
should of course read “led them to BAN single use plastic bags”.
(perhaps there should be an inquiry into the ‘mis-spoken’ ‘mis-typed’ as gNatz would advocate, rather than into things of importance and substance.
(Pauline Kingi and the Wally springs to mind), but then I defer to your superior intellect, perceived class, and troll status.
DId I ever tell you how gorgeous I think you are?
Whoar! I dream about you nights
I’ve been using some of those ones made of corn starch. So not plastic at all according to the fine print. Not too bad and they can go into a compost bin but i believe they can take a while to disintegrate as they are designed for much hotter industrial composting. Having said that it looks like a couple of things do burn holes in them (i’m suspecting dobs of chicken fat but could be wrong. ) Also some internet hints that some are made from GE corn bt I guess if we grow the corn here and make them here that would not be an issue.
For Mike, outrage over something is necessary for survival, the withdrawal symptoms would be unbearable. Preferably something proposed by people with a different idealogical leaning to his own.
As for the bags- great start, but as many are saying, the bigger problem is all the completely unnecessary wrapping of things that don’t need to be wrapped, supermarkets being the main culprits. Countdown want to tell us how committed they are to the environment but STILL won’t provide paper bags in their bakery section (plastic only) etc etc. But at least their Bobby bananas don’t have a plastic wrapping, unlike the Pak’nSave version, which unfortunately are much cheaper…
“Retailers rush to support government plastic bag ban”
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12104719
Who was saying business doesn’t have confidence in this goverment?
Dang it! My keep-cup is made out of plastic!
My girls and I are thrilled about this announcement.
May retailers step up and also cut down on plastic packaging as well.
A big thanks to our government for doing something rather than nothing, it’s a great start and long overdue.
Great achievement Coalition. So progressive and courageous….. Oh wait. The Supermarkets were doing it anyway. Lol. And the soft drinks bottles?
Were doing it anyway ?
Yes not like they need to stop them from fast food, liquor stores and the myriad small stores
The Nation Business I agree with Grant Roberson that the money from Kiwi saver funds and the Cullen fund should be invested in Aotearoa infrastructure build it now and it will cost less than build in the future not hard to figure that out .
The thing about business leader’s is that are mostly supportive of national that’s a fact so if they can help the neo capitalist they will help distorts the business conferdince state with a few white lies and walar it crashes .
A low New Zealand Dollar is good for Aotearoa and the environment we get more for our exports and because imports are more expensive we import less and manufacturer the products our selves .
What did I say the quoter management system is a system set up for mone men to rip off the system . And the justice system is set up for the 00.1 % to be able to use there mone for impunity that’s a fact look at the fine they got 25 years ago$1 million dollars is a drop in the bucket compared to 500 tons x $6000 a ton = $3 million and what about all the fish that has been stolen over 30 years they should have been banned from fishing 25 years ago banned from any business.
Ka kite ano
Here is something for you to ponder, eco, thus perhaps reconsider your approval.
As both Kiwisaver and the Cullen Fund seek a return on their investment, they are not the most cost effective way to fund our infrastructure. Utilising the tax take is.
Moreover, when we take into account the opportunity cost of doing so (using Kiwisaver and the Cullen Fund) it’s just not worth it. The nation won’t grow its wealth charging ourselves more (due to the return required from the investment) to use our infrastructure. It’s inflationary, thus adds to the cost of production.
Even borrowing funding would be cheaper than using Kiwisaver and the Cullen Fund.
Here you go Eco did say that good Kiwi’s can see trough the historical hysterical emotional things the neo capitalist project on Us good Kiwis to raise there profile in public eyes and gone brash wonder’s why Maori mokopuna’s have high suicide rate’s the link is below ka kite ano
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/08/10/186757/yesterdaze-plastic-correctness-gone-mad
This is a good win for the common tangata against multi national company’s who never admit liability round up is a poisiosn full stop link is below ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/aug/10/monsanto-trial-cancer-dewayne-johnson-ruling P.S we could make machines that use steam heat to kill weed’s or pay people to weed or machines to weeders better than poisoning the tangata
Thanks to the Europeen Union for its stance on this poison
This is to all the mone people Human Caused Climate Change link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/06/domino-effect-of-climate-events-could-push-earth-into-a-hothouse-state Ka kite ano
Sugar has a direct link to the cause of diabetes contrary to what the 2 to 3 company’s lobbying mone let’s the media say about there bad product sugar .They only let researcher say that sugar doe’s not cause diabetes with there big lawyer’s ready to sue the truth teller’s . Eco say it does have a direct link it stuff up your liver and walar one has diabetes . If your whano has this disease get rid of the sugar you don’t need it we did not have sugar in OUR diet for thousands of years it’s not hard to give up Eco has .
Ka kite ano link below.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/sugar-liver-diabetes
Good evening Newshub There you go trump is adding to idiots ego’s that’s not hard to see . That mess in Tolaga Bay with all the waste from forestry washing down river’s on to the beaches there is the same mess back home at the Waiapu river mouth beaches .
I have been following that round up story for a while New’s hub I say that that story on the video game that checks peoples navigational skill’s is full of ——- another way of glorifying the Europeen culture and men is what I see there . how about I take some one in the bush and then we will see who has the best navigation skill’s I see the deceit has be happening for centuries .How do I know this why Analyse the difference in skill’s of different cultures and sex’s to prove that one sex or culture is better than the other and publicize it {fake till you make} it is the capitalist way look at trump .
.The game of 3 halves is a good way for the couch to check if he has picked the correct players .
It would be awsome if the Wahine Rugby World Cup was played in Aotearoa
Ka kite ano
English version of Aotearoa Stan Rita Maisey Troy