Judge seems to have tried to apply the "wisdom of Solomon" to the situation but I wonder if this is the end of the matter? I can see both parties' viewpoints as being culturally valid in their own way.
Seems he can up with a reasonable solution in what was a very difficult situation.
The behavior of Oranga Tamariki seems to have been pretty abhorrent and the fact that CEO and 2 high ranking judges attempted to interfere on an ongoing case well outside our guidelines for judicial conduct was staggering. The presiding judge did the right thing.
Having govt heads attempting to influence ongoing court cases is a really slippery slope.
Cricklewood, I agree with all you are saying. The Judge has come up with a worthy solution to the issue, by including. the caregivers in Wellington and the biological mother into the picture while keeping the little girl with the Pakeha family who care about this child enough to go to court and fight for her (there are perhaps better indications that the couple have cared well for the little girl).
The interference in the trial is highly dubious.
Although it appears that the social workers in this case were domonstrably inadequate, I would give a shout out to the social workers at OT. I know some personally and I know them to be dedicated, committed to the children and compassionate to the families of those children. They get a lot of flack eg the social workers who uplifted the baby in Hawkes Bay. Apparently they were identifiable from the video and received death threats.
While of course it is advisable that Maori families preferrable whanau are found for Maori babies, that may not always be possible as was the case for this little girl. The idea of distrupting the bond that had been established betwenn her and her current caregivers troubles me greatly.
Yeah Social work is a very difficult career to take on, amazing people who always do their best. I dont doubt for a second that many of the 'inadequacies' in this case are the result of upper management scrambling to cover arse and putting pressure on Social workers on the ground.
Then more poor descisions from upper management that ended up with the whole thing in court. Then made entirely worse for the individual Social workers in question when an attempt was made to interfere in the trial suddenly making it newsworthy.
As usual those at the coal face bare the brunt of the actions of people with comfy chairs and massive salaries.
The govt really needs to get a handle on the leadership and direction in our big social agencies its pretty poor atm.
As a former (34.5 years) public servant whose 2nd department was subjected to constant restructurings, "realignments", "refocuses", & completely new "corporate" management teams, many of whose executives were completely new to the "business" every 3 – 5 years, I can identify with those remarks completely.
It's reasonably normal for staff to whinge I know but in Head Office we frequently ended up top-heavy with make-workers & with the occasional truly hopeless managers, some of whom knew even less about their job when they left at the next restructuring than when they started.
Front line staff were chronically under-resourced & stressed. I can recall there being a 3 year period when we had a particularly good "customer-service business model" introduced that was applied across the board, externally & internally, & where a continuous improvement committee process was adopted & met regularly to consider staff suggestions, evaluate & either reject or implement them.
The General Manager & the Policy Manager worked hand in glove & visited & talked to the staff at all levels, & the department eventually hummed like well-oiled machine.
The GM & then the CEO retired. The new CEO came in & decided there was to be a moratorium on all changes, introduced a top down review by an outside consultant, got rid of the old management to stamp his authority on the org. And completely broke it.
They're still being regularly reorganised & still haven't recovered.
I realise this is a Labour-friendly blog & this may not go down well, but from my perspective many of the current crop of Labour Ministers just don't have the experience or in some cases the intellectual equipment to control & direct their departments, as many actually did in the Clark & Key administrations.
It seems that you have a skewed idea of Ministers ‘controlling & directing’ their ‘departments’. If your premise is off, not much useful will come out at the other end. Do you know how government works in NZ or do you think you know?
No, I know how government works. I was intimately involved in policy development, appeals (working with Appeal Authorities), & operational systems implementation work for most of my career. I even have some personal Ministerial commendations for some of my work.
I was also a PSA rep for a short time, after we had a national walkout & my manager returned from overseas & walked in to find everybody leaving the premises. There was no Head Office rep. He had no idea what was happening. Fuck him the staff said. I felt guilty & went back in & told him where things were at with the pay & conditions review. And took the role on on to represent our staff on the negotiating team. There wasn’t much negotiation. It was a take it or leave it situation. They wanted to move as many staff off the Collective Agreement & onto personal contracts with a bit more pay but inferior redundancy conditions as they could
They eventually used to contract out recruitment for senior management positions to professional recruitment companies. They didn't know the business. This resulted in a couple of senior management appointments of folk from the private sector who were utterly useless. I remember one who'd previously worked in management for the biggest Korean airline.
He was flown down from Auckland to Wellington every week to run his unit. He'd go into his office & shut the door & the staff couldn't get a decision out of him all week. He was completely out-of-his depth. It was a vital role. The staff had to pick up his job. They were flat out & alternated between despair & being ropable.
It eventually became apparent why he was on the market. He'd been useless in his previous job too, they'd got rid of him via the classic scheme of giving him a glowing reference during the recruitment company's referee checks.
In the olden days of the strictly in house public service promotions when sackings were unheard of the equivalent was promoting someone sideways into a new role where they couldn't do any harm.
I tend to think that some ministers who maybe don't have adequate sector knowledge is an obstacle that can be overcome (especially if they're not morons and senior advisors/management can act as translators into the minister's conceptual framework), but even one management level full of "professional managers" with no sector experience is lethal.
Agreed. And when new Ministers are appointed they get a BIM (briefing for incoming Minister) which aims to give them a reasonably comprehensive overview of their department, & summaries of its policies, operations, legislation, reporting lines etc.
They are then completely reliant on the quality, knowledge, communication abilities & personal relationship management skills of their GM & the senior managers they meet with & who prepare their Cabinet Papers.
Most of them managed fine, even with the occasional misfit manager as there was a good Chief Legal Adviser & sufficient experienced management talent in the Senior Executive Group or the next layer down who prepped their Execs, had mutual trust & good working relationships & could accompany them to the Minister's Office.
I had probably over a dozen Ministers & Associate Ministers in my time there. There were one or two plodders who never really got up to speed & just shuffled papers & kept their heads down as far as possible till they were moved to another porfolio or didn't get re-elected.
Most Ministers were good friendly folk, not fools, learned quickly on the job in about 3-6 months, & did solid, dependable, if not stellar work.
And there were a few who were standout: sharp as a knife, read their briefing papers thoroughly, & would call their execs over, ask questions, query things they didn't understand, send papers back for further work if they weren't satisfied.
Most Ministers & Associates had several portfolios. I guess some people think they have a pretty cruisy time, but the hours they all worked were punishing, they'd be taking work home over the weekends, during long holidays, often in the House working late, & the constant travelling would have been too much for me. I turned down a couple of invitations to be seconded to the Minister's office as departmental private secretary. I just had too many responsibilities at home.
The 'link within your link' (to the earlier article) lays out the failures of OT, and the condition the child came to the caregivers in. "When she arrived with them, Moana's teeth were rotten, she had an untreated club foot, and she showed all the symptoms of a traumatised child."
Any judge considering this case is going to need the wisdom of Solomon.
Tuns out the BBC is just as dodgy as we suspected….imagine that, the same news source that gets on board for every western war and intervention, dishonestly skewing their Syria story in the service of more intervention…I wonder when was the last time the BBC, or any other western MSM outlet dishonestly skewed a story for the benefit of less western war and intervention?
BBC admits Syria gas attack report had serious flaws
'Adjudicators agreed it had failed to meet ECU's editorial standards for accuracy'
Most commenters had little faith in the current BBC
Some of them think the BBC is leftist!!
It's campaign against Corbyn (along with the Guardian) says otherwise
Corbyn lost that 2019 election, not because of his left wing policies which had wide popularity, but because of his non committal stand re Brexit, and the unrelenting and ill founded charges of anti semitism.(Thanks BBC and Guardian , you did a sterling job in helping to put the idiot Boris at the steering wheel)
And now we have the quisling Starmer swinging the wrecking ball .
Corbyn was the target of unrelenting ridicule and lies by the Blairite rump of his own party, as well as by its media accomplices, the Grauniad, the Murdoch and Desmond filth outlets, and the state broadcaster…..
Well Judge Peter Callinicos appears to have what could be described politely as some deeply unfashionable views on custody issues. Still, he is the presiding judge I would suspect it isn't a bad thing to apply the occasional bromide to prevailing orthodoxy.
I read those bits, but since it was clearly spin, I took it to show Callinicos attitude to people missrepresenting to the court. He seems to take that as a trigger to ask the hardest questions of those witnesses, which seems fair enough to me. Bending the truth to courts frequently results in false convictions and rulings.
What do we make of the Oranga Tamariki lawyers claim that, failing to raise a Maori child as Maori, is physically harmful. Does this go on to explain David Seymour?
I think "failing to raise a Maori child as Maori, is physically harmful" is contestable.
For one thing it broadens the definition of what physical harm is and I think that in itself is problematic. We would need some very good research to unpick the issue.
Dunedin study is always my go to.
Speaking as someone whose spouse is Maori and who was raised by adoptive parents as Pakeha, I wouldn't support what the OT lawyer is saying. I think we have very good ideas of what a baby infant child, teen needs. Secure attachment figures, who offer unconditional love, but are able to set good boundaries. I would add parents who are mature enough to tune into the individual their child is and allow that to flourish. Someone who isn't afraid to be the big person and safeguard the child.
My brother-in-law (married to my kid sister [60] ) has a Maori dad & a Pakeha mum. Sis has all his whakapapa (Taranaki nga iwi) & keeps the genealogies for our side too. He & his late dad are "Kiwi 1st, Maori 2nd" types. They don't identify as Maori per se although they're justifiably proud of their whakapapa & look Maori & one of my 2 nephews (theirs) opted for the Maori roll. They're both ambitious & hard working, started out at the bottom & ended up having successful careers in management in their fields of work.
I get my roof moss-proofed every two years. Four years back the two sprayers who turned up were Maori. As is my habit, I was home, & I called out to them that I was making coffee, would they like one when they finished? It was a nice day & we had a chat in my covered patio & I asked what the taller, chattier one's iwi was. He said his folks hailed from Kaitaia, (Nga Puhi, I think), but they'd moved to Porirua for work & he was born there.
He had a couple of kids to his partner & I asked if they were married. He just grinned & said "No, that's a Pākehā thing where I come from! We've been together for years & don't see any need to spend money on a wedding."
I asked the quiet one where his turangawaewae was. He said he'd been adopted as a child by a Pākehā couple & he hadn't been brought up as a Maori. I asked if he knew his birth parents' nga iwi & he said no, & he wasn't that interested in finding out. He'd had a happy childhood & he loved his adopted parents & that was all he needed & cared about. He'd have been around 18 – 20 at a guess. I was surprised he hadn't bothered to find out; I think I would've wanted to in his situation.
They both got on well together & did something classically Maori. When they finished their coffee & bikkies they said they still had a lot of spray left over & before they left for their next job they sprayed all the lichen on my visitors' car park & driveway for free.
My point is … I know Maori who are staunchly Maori & embrace their culture & local marae, Te Reo, & kapa haka, taiaha martial arts etc. They see themselves as Maori 1st, Kiwi 2nd. And I know others who are happy enuf on the General Roll & just regard themselves as Kiwis of Maori & Pākehā descent in equal measure.
Either works for me. I'm happy for people to choose for themselves. I wish I did have some Maori lineage. And that I'd learned Te Reo Maori & French instead of Latin & French at school.
I see there are pictures and even a video going around on various platforms of Siouxse Wiles breaking her own advice under level 4. I bet this wont make the main news channels if they want more government funding.
[link added with video and showing Wiles didn’t break any level four rules]
[next time, post a link, or something else to back up your assertions. This is especially important for public figures, because 1) it avoids defamation and putting the site owners at risk, and 2) it stops you looking like a troll. We’re here for the robust, informed debate, not rumour mongering – weka]
Crikey! No one I know has ever broken their own advice and I know I certainly never have, especially the advice I give myself about writing inane things on blogs!!
This ia an article I wondered if you had seen Robert. This NZ Geographic story on wilding pines;sounds a bit wonky. First they drop them en masse and then are dedicated to removing the same.
Thanks, grey. Yes, I had seen it and recklessly engaged in a prolonged debate with the author (nice bloke) and others about alternate ways of looking at the issue 🙂 with a pinch of "don't use gmo's" thrown in 🙂
But given its Covid and people are getting pretty over level 4 having such a public advocate of restrictions meet a spinoff journalist apparently in breach level 4 isnt exactly helpful.
Gives the anti lockdown folk more fuel to stoke the fire…
What are you referring to, Jester? You provide no links or details, so it is impossible to ascertain the validity of your words. Cricklewood seems to think it has something to do with a Spinoff interview, but I couldn't see anything like that there. This is the most recent for her (as contributing author):
The video is all over social media and on YouTube.
It shows Wiles sitting on a beach (Judges Bay – 5km away from her home), alongside what is claimed to be a reporter. Neither are wearing masks. Neither are social distancing.
The video then goes on to show Wiles paddling in the water with a swimmer a short distance away.
The video was 'released' by the BFD – Cameron Slater's blog. In case you don't want to go there, they quote Wiles as saying:
“I was with someone from my bubble, who lives in the area… Judges Bay is about 5km from my home which is pretty local when on a bicycle.”
That was very much a Slater occupation. Stalking people. He stalked David Shearer and caught him having a coffee with a well known union official. He got photos n' all to prove it was true. 😡
The very first time Cameron Slater addressed this writer, i.e. moi, he told me to “fuck off.” Despite that tense initial contact, this writer kept posting at Whaleoil Beef Hooked, that dog of a site, for a good few years before flaming out with this post…..
Morrissey to Molon Labe:
Don’t want to pay your taxes and don’t believe in government? Go to Somalia, halfwit.
[MOD this person is now blocked for trolling and personal insults. CAUTION: Do not reply. REMINDER: Anyone who responds to trolls is likely to be blocked as well as the response generally inflames the situation. Be glad all I did was delete your comment. Now, move on. ]
pretty much. Not even going to watch the video. When they take hours to post a link to what they're tying their undies in knots over, it's a good sign it's fuckall anyway.
The angle's not great, but I guess 'close' is relative. I wasn't passing judgement, quite the contrary. I'm not exactly the model citizen with the walks I'm taking!
As nothing was made in the MSM of the National Party breaking rules dining together in Wellington that Reti admitted to, you may well be right that they won't report on Siouxse Wiles, and if it's not in the Media, maybe you could link to your source. Please tell me its not Coltheman? To blame it on Government funding is bollocks, or is the constant griping from TV3 only because Joyce gave them money. Can't have it both ways bud.
The political problem facing the right wing right now is the massively popular and competent government response to covid has forced the right further and further down the rabbit hole, until people like Jester here can't understand why the media won't run character assassinations and smear campaigns by nasty pricks as "news" and can't understand why they make reasonable people want to vomit.
Do you know what social media Jester is referring to Sanctuary, Twitter maybe? I avoid that almost as much as Reddit. Google hasn't helped much except this piece from April (from NZH, but ODT not paywalled).
Calling out bullies on social media was not a bid for sympathy, Wiles said. Rather it was an attempt to stop it happening again – to her or anyone else.
Wiles said she now realised that bullies may have something going on in their own lives that was making them behave that way and often they needed help rather than punishment.
However, if Wiles is breaking the rules, then she should be as liable for condemnation as David Clark was when he was Minister of Health. But if it is footage out of context for purposes of smearing health communicators in the midst of a pandemic then that's fairy despicable.
Cameron Slater! Didn't realize that when I clicked on your link, a heads up would have been nice; Gypsy. Hard to tell how far away the filmer was, but certainly more than a few metres.
Bloomfield didn't seem too worried in today's press conference, and if it's a choice between his opinion and Slater's, then I am on the side of reason. Slater's best point was that TVNZ refused to run the story, but I don't think that amounts to; "this story was suppressed by an editor at 1News". It's almost as if there was a more pressing news story on September the 3rd that gobbled up all the air time.
OMG. I've just read what Collins said. She's not just hypocrtical: she's utterly crass & completely artless. She's clearly got a blind spot in the mirror. That's just nasty schoolgirl stuff. Absolutely bizarre that she can't see the damage she's just done to herself & her party. I don't think she engages the brain before she opens her mouth, & I don't think she actually hears what she's saying.
only sense I can make of it is that National are still running a trumpian politics agenda. They want a more divisive society, because in the medium term that's the only way they can get some traction against Ardern.
She probably thinks she's scored a Trumpian-style king hit. Her EQ & IQ are both highly suspect.
I suspect Collins has offended probably the vast majority of voters in this country with that totally unnecessary personal denigration of Wiles. Ardern’s fan club journos will flay her.
She's as dumb as a sack of hammers. Wonder when the next polls are due out? Hope they aren't busy collating & analysing them already. I’d like to see a couple more working days roll around before someone starts doing the polling.
I don't think she is dumb. I think she's got a certain personality that doesn't really give a shit about people, and she's in a role where her choices are very limited.
There's a sizeable portion of people that either don't know who Wiles is, or actively dislike her. That's who Collins is talking to.
It's a mistake imo to right Collins off as stupid. She's on track with trumpian pol. It's not about king hits, it's about undermining democracy over the long term.
I'm not particularly fond of Siouxsie, but those remarks of Collins' are so far below the belt I'm gobsmacked.
I'd never say I'd never vote National (although I never have to date). But I don't think Collins is attracting any more voters than the current crop.
I think she's an unimpressive, awkward communicator & doesn't strike me as having anything like a coherent policy programme. With such lean pickings for spokespeople & her still at helm the Nats are in no current danger of picking up a candidate or party vote from me.
Ardern’s got time to counter or pirate & tailor policy anywhere they might be getting some traction. And Labour’s in its 2nd term now. Their newby Ministers have now got experience.
I really am wondering how she'll score next poll. She's done some serious media foot-shooting lately.
again, trumpian pol isn't about short term poll gains. It's about creating a social and political milieu where division advantages the right.
National have nothing atm that can touch Ardern, this is a long term strategy. They could of course rebuild their party around values again, but it doesn't look like the people in power want that. Proto-fascism is a drug, and Key was the one that really brought National into this position. Irrespective of what Collins does or doesn't do in terms of voters this year, she is on point for the bigger agenda.
"Irrespective of what Collins does or doesn't do in terms of voters this year, she is on point for the bigger agenda."
My view is she did a deal with her party and caucus last year. She is a 'place holder', and is throwing stones until a younger, most likely female with a softer and more reasoned approach takes over later in 2022. My pick is Nicola Willis.
A short (10 min) video about Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, the nine-year old whose 2013 death was attributed to air pollution in London.
For me, it also speaks of the wider and more complex issues of social justice and inequity not being considered, let alone adequately addressed, by planning, transport, health or environmental monitoring institutions.
Although when you listen to the full audio track it looks like a relatively minor blip that isn't really the "gazumper" the Opposition might try to make it out to be if they're aware of it. Will try & see if it comes up at Question Time.
Maybe. On the other hand, if you go to sections 163 & 164 of the Immigration Act (just as a start) and then click on EVERY linked provision & all their cross links, & then go looking for the relevant provisions & links to every likely section & subsection covering every other element of this guy's immigration history & relevant provisons around permanent residence & deportation, & appeal rights & Ministerial powers that have been mentioned to date – it doesn't take too long to realise it's an excruciatingly complex legal situation & those who think there's been a simple solution at various key points or milestones imo hasn't really understood ALL the relevant requirements & processes that must be covered off before any ONE of them could have suceeded.
I'm not surprised that nobody wanted to do a knee jerk rush to a quick solution that conceivably might have failed on Judicial Review. As he in the end refused to engage to pursue the revocation he said he wanted, the point is moot.
The Review hopefully will unentangle all the many strands in some intelligible way.
It is not good news to hear of someone with the seeming inclination. It is good news to hear of the arrest.
It will be interesting to see if recent events have a 'worst case scenario' applied to the individual to look after the community or the paramount perspective is to look after the individual and his rights.
All those from whatever agencies dealing with him, up to the judge, should paint their children or spouses into a scenario where he has his way.
I am hopeful that the Muslim Association & Muslim Women's Council might be approached early to see if they think they can help & what assistance they might need in supporting this individual & deterring him from this possible path – & perhaps support & help his family as well. Lonely or isolated Teenagers are so easy to radicalise.
This surely can't just have come out of nowhere. And the LynnMall attacker has probably raised the temperature of anti-Muslim sentiment. If any of that's been directed at him or he's seen it on social media, or he feels the attacker was simply executed, it could have set him off.
I also can't help wondering if Allah granting the Taliban such a stunning victory, while the West is railing against them, threatening to deny them money, & calling them liars, is a factor. Fundamentalists everywhere have been celebrating, from the reports I've seen.
Well, our totally dumb USA policy-makers asked for this years ago, didn't they?
Just deserts, and we backed them all the way. No point in moaning now.
I remember just after the 911 disaster, a History teacher was standing next work day morning with other staff at the school, and someone said something like, “Isn’t it terrible?”
“Yes,” he said, “and a lot of people are going to die now.” Looks of surprise. He added, “And they will probably be the wrong ones.”
Prescient, unlike the US policymakers, who just pretty well repeated their Vietnam blunder.
They really learned how to kill over there by remote control. And in their last days during the evacuation mission they killed a suspected IS suicide attacker, again by remote control. They announced on tv that they'd got the terrorist(s), & that the explosion was huge, so they were clearly suicide bombers, and that there were no civilian casualties.
I was watching AlJazeera tv newshour, looking at a civilian man on top of a single story house building, running to the edge, looking over at where the black smoke was rising, then running back while others also appeared, bringing a bucket of water which he threw down into the smoke. It made no difference.
They’d rocketed the car in a very narrow street, right outside that house, killing 11 people, 10 in one family, including several children and their father, who'd just arrived home from work. They were running out to meet him.
A Pentagon spokesman doing a live standup on tv as I watched not long afterwards was asked by a reporter had he heard that there were civilian casualties and he replied that they were aware of this claim but it hadn't been verified.
They've now killed thousands of innocent civilians as "collateral damage" in this way, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia and numerous other countries, taking out Taliban, Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Al Shabab and other "terrorists" in rocket assassinations via Predator drones flown by young operators who're trained and skilled in computer gaming.
It's bizarre how this simply doesn't register in the US consciousness or the Military Commands. Non-American lives just don't matter. It's why they're so hated in many of these places.
What did they 'ask for'? Oh the US have made huge foreign policy mistakes, but Islamic terrorism is centuries old, so let's not fall for the old 'great satan' narrative for everything that is happening.
Since Islamic terrorism is centuries old, one would have expected that by now US 'Intelligence' would have thought of much more effective policies for dealing with it..
Repeating most of the blunders they made in Vietnam then leaving in utter humiliation is probably worse than appeasement, which was your silly suggestion, not mine.
Vietnam? Not sure when that was run by islamic extremists, but if you're off on a tangent, how about the soviet occupations of Korea, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan just to name a few. Or the Chinese involvement in Korea, Tibet, Vietnam and of course their present day treatment of the Uyghurs.
Soviets were gone from Korea by 1948: more like liberation from Japanese and setting up of Govt with little suppression – hardly a long-term supressive occupation like Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
You don't get to decide what a thread is about: American behaviour applies to more than just Islam – the anti-Communist campaigns invite valid comparisons.
Typical rightie evasion – oh, everybody else made a mistake too. Not on the scale of roughly 20 years in Vietnam then Afghanistan as well.
If you mean the mujahedeen, it was the US, Saudi Arabia and China. Of course the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to prop up a communist government there. And it would appear China will now bankroll the Taliban. So they've all got their fingers dirty.
The Mujahideen were tribal warlords funded and armed by the US to oppose the Soviet invaders. The Taliban are religious fundamentalists, formed during the post-soviet civil war to oppose the Mujahideen, funded indirectly by the US via US military aid to Pakistan.
The marxist regime in Afghanistan in the '70's led to Afghanistan being called a Soviet 'client regime'. The soviets were up to their eyeballs in Afghanistan, which is why they invaded Afghanistan when the marxist government was on the verge of collapse.
No I didn't. I'm not making judgements or excuses. The superpowers have all behaved badly. They see it as part of protecting their geo-political interests. So singling out the US for criticism is intellectual dishonest. As is blaming them for islamic radicals murdering their way to their religio/political interests. It's been happening for centuries.
You're now being dishonest. I said 'singling out', not criticising.
"By the way you should have said religious radicals. Not Islamic. That is also intellectually dishonest."
No, it's historically accurate in the context of this conversation, of this thread. When a white supremisist goes around killing people in a mosque we call it out. When Christian radicals bomb abortion clinics, we call it out. There should be no fear or favour.
Decades of bombing, murder of civilians, removal of elected Governments and replacing them with tyrants, saunctions that starve whole countries of food and medicines, not to mention drone strikes on weddings and people going about their everyday lives.
Is "Foriegn policy stuffups"? When the USA does it.
When "Islamists" or China "does it, you have rather a different description.
All 'fingers' are dirty, but some are dirtier than others.
Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean the government isn’t playing dirty.[Sept 2014] After the revelations of Dirty Politics, it might have been assumed these practices were halted. It seems that they haven’t been. Cameron Slater said to me last week on Twitter ‘wait until you see Dirtier Politics’. The worst, it would seem, is yet to come.
Wonder no longer about why repugs (and our very own big biz shills) are working to spanner public health.
Leaders all over the South were scrambling to find a cure for the dreaded pellagra until they discovered what that cure might cost them. That’s when the campaign of denial began. A century-old fight over public health feels fresh as a morning headline as we wrestle with a new threat, with equally simple remedies that upset Southern values. Disease is personal. Pandemic is politics.
Joseph Goldberger was sent to the South in 1914 on a mission from the US Department of Public Health to investigate an outbreak of pellagra. Pellagra is a terrible illness, starting with skin lesions, then advancing to diarrhea, dementia and in about 40% of cases, death. The disease, already well known among poorer populations in Southern Europe, had been documented in the South in 1908. By 1912, more than 30,000 cases had been identified in South Carolina alone.
[…]
Goldberger was initially welcomed. Southern leaders expected him to blame the disease on an infection, or even better, on a contaminant in corn imported from the Yankee Midwest. Instead, his experiments backed up his initial suspicion that pellagra was a nutritional deficiency. Goldberg published his findings in 1915, demonstrating that pellagra was a consequence of a poorly diversified corn diet, and could be remedied by adding a few fresh foods. His conclusion wasn’t novel, matching the recommendations of earlier researchers in Europe, but his report sparked angry denials.
An earlier commission of Southern researchers in 1909 had reached an erroneous conclusion more welcome to Southern planters and mill owners – pellagra was an infectious disease, spread either by flies or adulterated corn. It could, therefore, be remedied by educating the poor toward better sanitary habits and/or regulating imports from the hated North. Goldberg’s discoveries instead tied the disease to Southern economic practices that were producing wealth for a few powerful people. Wealthy Southerners worked to promote their preferred diagnosis.
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Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
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 ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
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Judge dismisses Oranga Tamariki's attempt to remove Māori girl from Pakeha couple.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/126334548/judge-dismisses-oranga-tamarikis-bid-to-remove-mori-girl-from-pkeh-couple
Judge seems to have tried to apply the "wisdom of Solomon" to the situation but I wonder if this is the end of the matter? I can see both parties' viewpoints as being culturally valid in their own way.
Seems he can up with a reasonable solution in what was a very difficult situation.
The behavior of Oranga Tamariki seems to have been pretty abhorrent and the fact that CEO and 2 high ranking judges attempted to interfere on an ongoing case well outside our guidelines for judicial conduct was staggering. The presiding judge did the right thing.
Having govt heads attempting to influence ongoing court cases is a really slippery slope.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/126152961/judge-lauded-for-rebuking-his-seniors-in-oranga-tamariki-case
Cricklewood, I agree with all you are saying. The Judge has come up with a worthy solution to the issue, by including. the caregivers in Wellington and the biological mother into the picture while keeping the little girl with the Pakeha family who care about this child enough to go to court and fight for her (there are perhaps better indications that the couple have cared well for the little girl).
The interference in the trial is highly dubious.
Although it appears that the social workers in this case were domonstrably inadequate, I would give a shout out to the social workers at OT. I know some personally and I know them to be dedicated, committed to the children and compassionate to the families of those children. They get a lot of flack eg the social workers who uplifted the baby in Hawkes Bay. Apparently they were identifiable from the video and received death threats.
While of course it is advisable that Maori families preferrable whanau are found for Maori babies, that may not always be possible as was the case for this little girl. The idea of distrupting the bond that had been established betwenn her and her current caregivers troubles me greatly.
Yeah Social work is a very difficult career to take on, amazing people who always do their best. I dont doubt for a second that many of the 'inadequacies' in this case are the result of upper management scrambling to cover arse and putting pressure on Social workers on the ground.
Then more poor descisions from upper management that ended up with the whole thing in court. Then made entirely worse for the individual Social workers in question when an attempt was made to interfere in the trial suddenly making it newsworthy.
As usual those at the coal face bare the brunt of the actions of people with comfy chairs and massive salaries.
The govt really needs to get a handle on the leadership and direction in our big social agencies its pretty poor atm.
As a former (34.5 years) public servant whose 2nd department was subjected to constant restructurings, "realignments", "refocuses", & completely new "corporate" management teams, many of whose executives were completely new to the "business" every 3 – 5 years, I can identify with those remarks completely.
It's reasonably normal for staff to whinge I know but in Head Office we frequently ended up top-heavy with make-workers & with the occasional truly hopeless managers, some of whom knew even less about their job when they left at the next restructuring than when they started.
Front line staff were chronically under-resourced & stressed. I can recall there being a 3 year period when we had a particularly good "customer-service business model" introduced that was applied across the board, externally & internally, & where a continuous improvement committee process was adopted & met regularly to consider staff suggestions, evaluate & either reject or implement them.
The General Manager & the Policy Manager worked hand in glove & visited & talked to the staff at all levels, & the department eventually hummed like well-oiled machine.
The GM & then the CEO retired. The new CEO came in & decided there was to be a moratorium on all changes, introduced a top down review by an outside consultant, got rid of the old management to stamp his authority on the org. And completely broke it.
They're still being regularly reorganised & still haven't recovered.
I realise this is a Labour-friendly blog & this may not go down well, but from my perspective many of the current crop of Labour Ministers just don't have the experience or in some cases the intellectual equipment to control & direct their departments, as many actually did in the Clark & Key administrations.
It seems that you have a skewed idea of Ministers ‘controlling & directing’ their ‘departments’. If your premise is off, not much useful will come out at the other end. Do you know how government works in NZ or do you think you know?
No, I know how government works. I was intimately involved in policy development, appeals (working with Appeal Authorities), & operational systems implementation work for most of my career. I even have some personal Ministerial commendations for some of my work.
I was also a PSA rep for a short time, after we had a national walkout & my manager returned from overseas & walked in to find everybody leaving the premises. There was no Head Office rep. He had no idea what was happening. Fuck him the staff said. I felt guilty & went back in & told him where things were at with the pay & conditions review. And took the role on on to represent our staff on the negotiating team. There wasn’t much negotiation. It was a take it or leave it situation. They wanted to move as many staff off the Collective Agreement & onto personal contracts with a bit more pay but inferior redundancy conditions as they could
Good personal history there Gazza thanks.
They eventually used to contract out recruitment for senior management positions to professional recruitment companies. They didn't know the business. This resulted in a couple of senior management appointments of folk from the private sector who were utterly useless. I remember one who'd previously worked in management for the biggest Korean airline.
He was flown down from Auckland to Wellington every week to run his unit. He'd go into his office & shut the door & the staff couldn't get a decision out of him all week. He was completely out-of-his depth. It was a vital role. The staff had to pick up his job. They were flat out & alternated between despair & being ropable.
It eventually became apparent why he was on the market. He'd been useless in his previous job too, they'd got rid of him via the classic scheme of giving him a glowing reference during the recruitment company's referee checks.
In the olden days of the strictly in house public service promotions when sackings were unheard of the equivalent was promoting someone sideways into a new role where they couldn't do any harm.
I tend to think that some ministers who maybe don't have adequate sector knowledge is an obstacle that can be overcome (especially if they're not morons and senior advisors/management can act as translators into the minister's conceptual framework), but even one management level full of "professional managers" with no sector experience is lethal.
Agreed. And when new Ministers are appointed they get a BIM (briefing for incoming Minister) which aims to give them a reasonably comprehensive overview of their department, & summaries of its policies, operations, legislation, reporting lines etc.
They are then completely reliant on the quality, knowledge, communication abilities & personal relationship management skills of their GM & the senior managers they meet with & who prepare their Cabinet Papers.
Most of them managed fine, even with the occasional misfit manager as there was a good Chief Legal Adviser & sufficient experienced management talent in the Senior Executive Group or the next layer down who prepped their Execs, had mutual trust & good working relationships & could accompany them to the Minister's Office.
I had probably over a dozen Ministers & Associate Ministers in my time there. There were one or two plodders who never really got up to speed & just shuffled papers & kept their heads down as far as possible till they were moved to another porfolio or didn't get re-elected.
Most Ministers were good friendly folk, not fools, learned quickly on the job in about 3-6 months, & did solid, dependable, if not stellar work.
And there were a few who were standout: sharp as a knife, read their briefing papers thoroughly, & would call their execs over, ask questions, query things they didn't understand, send papers back for further work if they weren't satisfied.
Most Ministers & Associates had several portfolios. I guess some people think they have a pretty cruisy time, but the hours they all worked were punishing, they'd be taking work home over the weekends, during long holidays, often in the House working late, & the constant travelling would have been too much for me. I turned down a couple of invitations to be seconded to the Minister's office as departmental private secretary. I just had too many responsibilities at home.
Wants the decision appealed:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/126341067/iwi-leader-disagrees-with-judges-call-to-leave-mori-girl-with-pkeh-caregivers
Not entirely unexpected.
The 'link within your link' (to the earlier article) lays out the failures of OT, and the condition the child came to the caregivers in. "When she arrived with them, Moana's teeth were rotten, she had an untreated club foot, and she showed all the symptoms of a traumatised child."
Any judge considering this case is going to need the wisdom of Solomon.
Tuns out the BBC is just as dodgy as we suspected….imagine that, the same news source that gets on board for every western war and intervention, dishonestly skewing their Syria story in the service of more intervention…I wonder when was the last time the BBC, or any other western MSM outlet dishonestly skewed a story for the benefit of less western war and intervention?
BBC admits Syria gas attack report had serious flaws
'Adjudicators agreed it had failed to meet ECU's editorial standards for accuracy'
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9958679/BBC-admits-Syria-gas-attack-report-flaws-complaint-Peter-Hitchens.html
The comments are hilarious!
Most commenters had little faith in the current BBC
Some of them think the BBC is leftist!!
It's campaign against Corbyn (along with the Guardian) says otherwise
Corbyn lost that 2019 election, not because of his left wing policies which had wide popularity, but because of his non committal stand re Brexit, and the unrelenting and ill founded charges of anti semitism.(Thanks BBC and Guardian , you did a sterling job in helping to put the idiot Boris at the steering wheel)
And now we have the quisling Starmer swinging the wrecking ball .
Agreed francesca. If they had MMP in the UK Corbyn would have started his own party by now.
ooooohhh Jeremy Corrrrrrbyn!ooooohhh Jeremy Corrrrrrbyn!
Corbyn was the target of unrelenting ridicule and lies by the Blairite rump of his own party, as well as by its media accomplices, the Grauniad, the Murdoch and Desmond filth outlets, and the state broadcaster…..
https://twitter.com/jeremycorbyn/status/1204168230346067968
Well Judge Peter Callinicos appears to have what could be described politely as some deeply unfashionable views on custody issues. Still, he is the presiding judge I would suspect it isn't a bad thing to apply the occasional bromide to prevailing orthodoxy.
PS this is in reply to Gezza…
I read those bits, but since it was clearly spin, I took it to show Callinicos attitude to people missrepresenting to the court. He seems to take that as a trigger to ask the hardest questions of those witnesses, which seems fair enough to me. Bending the truth to courts frequently results in false convictions and rulings.
What do we make of the Oranga Tamariki lawyers claim that, failing to raise a Maori child as Maori, is physically harmful. Does this go on to explain David Seymour?
Ha ha re your comment about David Seymour.
I think "failing to raise a Maori child as Maori, is physically harmful" is contestable.
For one thing it broadens the definition of what physical harm is and I think that in itself is problematic. We would need some very good research to unpick the issue.
Dunedin study is always my go to.
Speaking as someone whose spouse is Maori and who was raised by adoptive parents as Pakeha, I wouldn't support what the OT lawyer is saying. I think we have very good ideas of what a baby infant child, teen needs. Secure attachment figures, who offer unconditional love, but are able to set good boundaries. I would add parents who are mature enough to tune into the individual their child is and allow that to flourish. Someone who isn't afraid to be the big person and safeguard the child.
My brother-in-law (married to my kid sister [60] ) has a Maori dad & a Pakeha mum. Sis has all his whakapapa (Taranaki nga iwi) & keeps the genealogies for our side too. He & his late dad are "Kiwi 1st, Maori 2nd" types. They don't identify as Maori per se although they're justifiably proud of their whakapapa & look Maori & one of my 2 nephews (theirs) opted for the Maori roll. They're both ambitious & hard working, started out at the bottom & ended up having successful careers in management in their fields of work.
I get my roof moss-proofed every two years. Four years back the two sprayers who turned up were Maori. As is my habit, I was home, & I called out to them that I was making coffee, would they like one when they finished? It was a nice day & we had a chat in my covered patio & I asked what the taller, chattier one's iwi was. He said his folks hailed from Kaitaia, (Nga Puhi, I think), but they'd moved to Porirua for work & he was born there.
He had a couple of kids to his partner & I asked if they were married. He just grinned & said "No, that's a Pākehā thing where I come from! We've been together for years & don't see any need to spend money on a wedding."
I asked the quiet one where his turangawaewae was. He said he'd been adopted as a child by a Pākehā couple & he hadn't been brought up as a Maori. I asked if he knew his birth parents' nga iwi & he said no, & he wasn't that interested in finding out. He'd had a happy childhood & he loved his adopted parents & that was all he needed & cared about. He'd have been around 18 – 20 at a guess. I was surprised he hadn't bothered to find out; I think I would've wanted to in his situation.
They both got on well together & did something classically Maori. When they finished their coffee & bikkies they said they still had a lot of spray left over & before they left for their next job they sprayed all the lichen on my visitors' car park & driveway for free.
My point is … I know Maori who are staunchly Maori & embrace their culture & local marae, Te Reo, & kapa haka, taiaha martial arts etc. They see themselves as Maori 1st, Kiwi 2nd. And I know others who are happy enuf on the General Roll & just regard themselves as Kiwis of Maori & Pākehā descent in equal measure.
Either works for me. I'm happy for people to choose for themselves. I wish I did have some Maori lineage. And that I'd learned Te Reo Maori & French instead of Latin & French at school.
I see there are pictures and even a video going around on various platforms of Siouxse Wiles breaking her own advice under level 4. I bet this wont make the main news channels if they want more government funding.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/09/ashley-bloomfield-defends-siouxsie-wiles-maskless-beach-visit-as-judith-collins-labels-her-hypocrite.html
[link added with video and showing Wiles didn’t break any level four rules]
[next time, post a link, or something else to back up your assertions. This is especially important for public figures, because 1) it avoids defamation and putting the site owners at risk, and 2) it stops you looking like a troll. We’re here for the robust, informed debate, not rumour mongering – weka]
Crikey! No one I know has ever broken their own advice and I know I certainly never have, especially the advice I give myself about writing inane things on blogs!!
Hi Robert. I wondered if you'd seen this?:
.https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-09-09-2021/#comment-1814584
Thank you, Gezza, I hadn't but I'm glad I have now. Good, useful comment.
This ia an article I wondered if you had seen Robert. This NZ Geographic story on wilding pines;sounds a bit wonky. First they drop them en masse and then are dedicated to removing the same.
https://www.nzgeo.com/stories/the-march-of-the-pines/
Thanks, grey. Yes, I had seen it and recklessly engaged in a prolonged debate with the author (nice bloke) and others about alternate ways of looking at the issue 🙂 with a pinch of "don't use gmo's" thrown in 🙂
Its like my dad used to say…
'Do as I say not as I do'
But given its Covid and people are getting pretty over level 4 having such a public advocate of restrictions meet a spinoff journalist apparently in breach level 4 isnt exactly helpful.
Gives the anti lockdown folk more fuel to stoke the fire…
Rules for thee, but not for me
What are you referring to, Jester? You provide no links or details, so it is impossible to ascertain the validity of your words. Cricklewood seems to think it has something to do with a Spinoff interview, but I couldn't see anything like that there. This is the most recent for her (as contributing author):
https://thespinoff.co.nz/science/03-09-2021/siouxsie-wiles-toby-morris-how-the-world-sped-to-the-covid-vaccine-summit/
But wouldn't a science communicator talking to a journalist during a pandemic be essential work even under delta-PAL4 anyway?
The video is all over social media and on YouTube.
It shows Wiles sitting on a beach (Judges Bay – 5km away from her home), alongside what is claimed to be a reporter. Neither are wearing masks. Neither are social distancing.
The video then goes on to show Wiles paddling in the water with a swimmer a short distance away.
The video was 'released' by the BFD – Cameron Slater's blog. In case you don't want to go there, they quote Wiles as saying:
“I was with someone from my bubble, who lives in the area… Judges Bay is about 5km from my home which is pretty local when on a bicycle.”
Stalking prominent women. Charming.
That was very much a Slater occupation. Stalking people. He stalked David Shearer and caught him having a coffee with a well known union official. He got photos n' all to prove it was true. 😡
The very first time Cameron Slater addressed this writer, i.e. moi, he told me to “fuck off.” Despite that tense initial contact, this writer kept posting at Whaleoil Beef Hooked, that dog of a site, for a good few years before flaming out with this post…..
https://www.whaleoil.co.nz/2012/12/saturday-general-debate-21/
What did he think was wrong with David Shearer having coffee with a union official? Honestly is that a crime now?
That was the point. There's nothing wrong with being seen with an union official. Just DP – trying to suggest he was a Commie I suppose.
pretty much. Not even going to watch the video. When they take hours to post a link to what they're tying their undies in knots over, it's a good sign it's fuckall anyway.
Would've been a random member of the public sent in the video who happened to be there (probably with their mask on?).
Siousxe fronted up on One ZB to try and explain so good on her for that at least she fronted.
Jude and Cam put the band back together and boom, National's dealing in creepshots. So fucking on-brand.
//
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/what-are-creepshots-and-what-can-we-do-about-them/A5OE7JYZX43BQYDSI3YSQ2EXOE/
The swimmer a short distance away? 😕
The angle's not great, but I guess 'close' is relative. I wasn't passing judgement, quite the contrary. I'm not exactly the model citizen with the walks I'm taking!
As nothing was made in the MSM of the National Party breaking rules dining together in Wellington that Reti admitted to, you may well be right that they won't report on Siouxse Wiles, and if it's not in the Media, maybe you could link to your source. Please tell me its not Coltheman? To blame it on Government funding is bollocks, or is the constant griping from TV3 only because Joyce gave them money. Can't have it both ways bud.
The political problem facing the right wing right now is the massively popular and competent government response to covid has forced the right further and further down the rabbit hole, until people like Jester here can't understand why the media won't run character assassinations and smear campaigns by nasty pricks as "news" and can't understand why they make reasonable people want to vomit.
Imagine if it had been a backbench National MP, do you think the media would have run the story then?
Do you know what social media Jester is referring to Sanctuary, Twitter maybe? I avoid that almost as much as Reddit. Google hasn't helped much except this piece from April (from NZH, but ODT not paywalled).
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/new-zealander-year-calls-out-social-media-bullies
However, if Wiles is breaking the rules, then she should be as liable for condemnation as David Clark was when he was Minister of Health. But if it is footage out of context for purposes of smearing health communicators in the midst of a pandemic then that's fairy despicable.
This was Wiles response:
“I was with someone from my bubble, who lives in the area… Judges Bay is about 5km from my home which is pretty local when on a bicycle.”
[the unmasked link:
https://thebfd.co.nz/2021/09/09/new-zealander-of-the-year-siouxsie-wiles-unmasked/
For the sake of transparency and reader
convenienceawareness]I'm more than happy to give her the benefit of the doubt until and unless someone can prove she is not being truthful.
Cameron Slater! Didn't realize that when I clicked on your link, a heads up would have been nice; Gypsy. Hard to tell how far away the filmer was, but certainly more than a few metres.
Bloomfield didn't seem too worried in today's press conference, and if it's a choice between his opinion and Slater's, then I am on the side of reason. Slater's best point was that TVNZ refused to run the story, but I don't think that amounts to; "this story was suppressed by an editor at 1News". It's almost as if there was a more pressing news story on September the 3rd that gobbled up all the air time.
Slater!? Suppose he believes he's doing us, or at least someone, a favour
Yeah, sorry I should have put a warning with that link!
Some Stuff headline writer will be going to the grab bag, frothing at the mouth as I write. Oh the choices!
"Fiasco, failure, catastrophe, disaster, debacle, screw-up, botch-up, fail, cock-up, fuck-up, balls-up, shambles, mess, muddle, bungle, muck-up, foul-up, screw-up …"
The world is going to end …
mod note for you Jester. Please acknowledge.
Another Collins shambles, fat shaming now, she just gets worse.
really scraping the bottom of the barrel.
OMG. I've just read what Collins said. She's not just hypocrtical: she's utterly crass & completely artless. She's clearly got a blind spot in the mirror. That's just nasty schoolgirl stuff. Absolutely bizarre that she can't see the damage she's just done to herself & her party. I don't think she engages the brain before she opens her mouth, & I don't think she actually hears what she's saying.
Man, that is SO dense it beggars belief !
She's gone. Just a matter of time now, imo.
only sense I can make of it is that National are still running a trumpian politics agenda. They want a more divisive society, because in the medium term that's the only way they can get some traction against Ardern.
She probably thinks she's scored a Trumpian-style king hit. Her EQ & IQ are both highly suspect.
I suspect Collins has offended probably the vast majority of voters in this country with that totally unnecessary personal denigration of Wiles. Ardern’s fan club journos will flay her.
She's as dumb as a sack of hammers. Wonder when the next polls are due out? Hope they aren't busy collating & analysing them already. I’d like to see a couple more working days roll around before someone starts doing the polling.
I don't think she is dumb. I think she's got a certain personality that doesn't really give a shit about people, and she's in a role where her choices are very limited.
There's a sizeable portion of people that either don't know who Wiles is, or actively dislike her. That's who Collins is talking to.
It's a mistake imo to right Collins off as stupid. She's on track with trumpian pol. It's not about king hits, it's about undermining democracy over the long term.
I hear you.
I'm not particularly fond of Siouxsie, but those remarks of Collins' are so far below the belt I'm gobsmacked.
I'd never say I'd never vote National (although I never have to date). But I don't think Collins is attracting any more voters than the current crop.
I think she's an unimpressive, awkward communicator & doesn't strike me as having anything like a coherent policy programme. With such lean pickings for spokespeople & her still at helm the Nats are in no current danger of picking up a candidate or party vote from me.
Ardern’s got time to counter or pirate & tailor policy anywhere they might be getting some traction. And Labour’s in its 2nd term now. Their newby Ministers have now got experience.
I really am wondering how she'll score next poll. She's done some serious media foot-shooting lately.
again, trumpian pol isn't about short term poll gains. It's about creating a social and political milieu where division advantages the right.
National have nothing atm that can touch Ardern, this is a long term strategy. They could of course rebuild their party around values again, but it doesn't look like the people in power want that. Proto-fascism is a drug, and Key was the one that really brought National into this position. Irrespective of what Collins does or doesn't do in terms of voters this year, she is on point for the bigger agenda.
Ah, yes. thanks. I see your point now.
Seymour & she might end up a double act if it works.
Indeed. Act are doing their own version of trumpian politics.
"Irrespective of what Collins does or doesn't do in terms of voters this year, she is on point for the bigger agenda."
My view is she did a deal with her party and caucus last year. She is a 'place holder', and is throwing stones until a younger, most likely female with a softer and more reasoned approach takes over later in 2022. My pick is Nicola Willis.
This makes sense to me (no idea if it's true, but a useful theory to consider)
She knows her people and feeds them what they want.
yep.
Yes I would have put up the Newshub Link if I could, but the story wasn't there when I posted original comment at 8:50am this morning.
Well done NZ ! Vaccination rates and adherence to the levels.
Hang in akl almost there, awesome effort everyone especially the frontline workers.
The govt should throw a big load of cash out to Auckland especially when their lockdown reduces to boost mental well being and help the economy.
"The endgame is to suppress the virus,” – Dr Fauci.
A short (10 min) video about Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, the nine-year old whose 2013 death was attributed to air pollution in London.
For me, it also speaks of the wider and more complex issues of social justice and inequity not being considered, let alone adequately addressed, by planning, transport, health or environmental monitoring institutions.
https://youtu.be/kZ9xO7MeTfs
Still another puzzle piece of a thoroughly confusing history:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/451190/terrorist-tried-to-revoke-nz-residence-but-his-request-was-not-progressed
Although when you listen to the full audio track it looks like a relatively minor blip that isn't really the "gazumper" the Opposition might try to make it out to be if they're aware of it. Will try & see if it comes up at Question Time.
Oh. 😰
Friday. No QT.
ImmigrationNZ appear to be culturally welded to the principle of inertia. Do nothing even when it requires great effort.
Maybe. On the other hand, if you go to sections 163 & 164 of the Immigration Act (just as a start) and then click on EVERY linked provision & all their cross links, & then go looking for the relevant provisions & links to every likely section & subsection covering every other element of this guy's immigration history & relevant provisons around permanent residence & deportation, & appeal rights & Ministerial powers that have been mentioned to date – it doesn't take too long to realise it's an excruciatingly complex legal situation & those who think there's been a simple solution at various key points or milestones imo hasn't really understood ALL the relevant requirements & processes that must be covered off before any ONE of them could have suceeded.
I'm not surprised that nobody wanted to do a knee jerk rush to a quick solution that conceivably might have failed on Judicial Review. As he in the end refused to engage to pursue the revocation he said he wanted, the point is moot.
The Review hopefully will unentangle all the many strands in some intelligible way.
I'm not surprised either. I'm sure much time was saved by not bothering, and now they needn't.
Bugger. This is NOT good news:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-teenager-in-court-charged-with-threatening-to-kill-non-muslims/BJX2XDBTIVNE34DTWTS5BMMKOU/
It is not good news to hear of someone with the seeming inclination. It is good news to hear of the arrest.
It will be interesting to see if recent events have a 'worst case scenario' applied to the individual to look after the community or the paramount perspective is to look after the individual and his rights.
All those from whatever agencies dealing with him, up to the judge, should paint their children or spouses into a scenario where he has his way.
I am hopeful that the Muslim Association & Muslim Women's Council might be approached early to see if they think they can help & what assistance they might need in supporting this individual & deterring him from this possible path – & perhaps support & help his family as well. Lonely or isolated Teenagers are so easy to radicalise.
This surely can't just have come out of nowhere. And the LynnMall attacker has probably raised the temperature of anti-Muslim sentiment. If any of that's been directed at him or he's seen it on social media, or he feels the attacker was simply executed, it could have set him off.
I also can't help wondering if Allah granting the Taliban such a stunning victory, while the West is railing against them, threatening to deny them money, & calling them liars, is a factor. Fundamentalists everywhere have been celebrating, from the reports I've seen.
Well, our totally dumb USA policy-makers asked for this years ago, didn't they?
Just deserts, and we backed them all the way. No point in moaning now.
I remember just after the 911 disaster, a History teacher was standing next work day morning with other staff at the school, and someone said something like, “Isn’t it terrible?”
“Yes,” he said, “and a lot of people are going to die now.” Looks of surprise. He added, “And they will probably be the wrong ones.”
Prescient, unlike the US policymakers, who just pretty well repeated their Vietnam blunder.
They really learned how to kill over there by remote control. And in their last days during the evacuation mission they killed a suspected IS suicide attacker, again by remote control. They announced on tv that they'd got the terrorist(s), & that the explosion was huge, so they were clearly suicide bombers, and that there were no civilian casualties.
I was watching AlJazeera tv newshour, looking at a civilian man on top of a single story house building, running to the edge, looking over at where the black smoke was rising, then running back while others also appeared, bringing a bucket of water which he threw down into the smoke. It made no difference.
They’d rocketed the car in a very narrow street, right outside that house, killing 11 people, 10 in one family, including several children and their father, who'd just arrived home from work. They were running out to meet him.
A Pentagon spokesman doing a live standup on tv as I watched not long afterwards was asked by a reporter had he heard that there were civilian casualties and he replied that they were aware of this claim but it hadn't been verified.
They've now killed thousands of innocent civilians as "collateral damage" in this way, in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Somalia and numerous other countries, taking out Taliban, Islamic State, Al Qaeda, Al Shabab and other "terrorists" in rocket assassinations via Predator drones flown by young operators who're trained and skilled in computer gaming.
It's bizarre how this simply doesn't register in the US consciousness or the Military Commands. Non-American lives just don't matter. It's why they're so hated in many of these places.
What did they 'ask for'? Oh the US have made huge foreign policy mistakes, but Islamic terrorism is centuries old, so let's not fall for the old 'great satan' narrative for everything that is happening.
Since Islamic terrorism is centuries old, one would have expected that by now US 'Intelligence' would have thought of much more effective policies for dealing with it..
Such as? I mean appeasement is such a successful strategy, right?
Repeating most of the blunders they made in Vietnam then leaving in utter humiliation is probably worse than appeasement, which was your silly suggestion, not mine.
Vietnam? Not sure when that was run by islamic extremists, but if you're off on a tangent, how about the soviet occupations of Korea, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Afghanistan just to name a few. Or the Chinese involvement in Korea, Tibet, Vietnam and of course their present day treatment of the Uyghurs.
The Soviet occupation of Korea?? History is not your strong point, is it?
I never said Islam had anything to do with Vietnam – I said the Americans made much the same blunders there. Read up about it all.
"They did it too" is not an excuse.
I expect murderous arseholery from totalitarian regimes.
I expect better from our "Friends" who purport to be principled democracies. And from our own Governments.
"The Soviet occupation of Korea?? History is not your strong point, is it?"
It is, actually.
"I never said Islam had anything to do with Vietnam…"
This entire conversation has been about the history of Islamic terrorist activity.
"I said the Americans made much the same blunders there. "
Yep, they did. And China and Russia/USSR have made mistakes too. Plenty of them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Division_of_Korea#Soviet_occupation_of_northern_Korea
Soviets were gone from Korea by 1948: more like liberation from Japanese and setting up of Govt with little suppression – hardly a long-term supressive occupation like Hungary and Czechoslovakia.
You don't get to decide what a thread is about: American behaviour applies to more than just Islam – the anti-Communist campaigns invite valid comparisons.
Typical rightie evasion – oh, everybody else made a mistake too. Not on the scale of roughly 20 years in Vietnam then Afghanistan as well.
"Soviets were gone from Korea by 1948: "
Indeed. Good on you for looking it up.
Murdering millions with forced changes of Government, saunctions, bombs, drones, et al. are "Foriegn policy mistakes"?
That is objectionably mealy mouthed as the term "collateral damage".
Don't forget who supported and armed, the Talibans precursers.
If you mean the mujahedeen, it was the US, Saudi Arabia and China. Of course the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979 to prop up a communist government there. And it would appear China will now bankroll the Taliban. So they've all got their fingers dirty.
The Mujahideen were tribal warlords funded and armed by the US to oppose the Soviet invaders. The Taliban are religious fundamentalists, formed during the post-soviet civil war to oppose the Mujahideen, funded indirectly by the US via US military aid to Pakistan.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/apr/28/afghanistan-mujahideen-taliban
The Mujahideen were also supported by the Chinese and the saudi's. Now the Chinese are going to back the Taliban. And the wheels turn.
The U.S. regime was arming and supporting and praising extreme Muslim groups in Afghanistan BEFORE the Soviets intervened in late 1979.
The marxist regime in Afghanistan in the '70's led to Afghanistan being called a Soviet 'client regime'. The soviets were up to their eyeballs in Afghanistan, which is why they invaded Afghanistan when the marxist government was on the verge of collapse.
In other words. Mujahideen!
Yet the Afghani author of the linked piece notes that their similarities are skin-deep.
""They did it too" is not an excuse."
I never argued it was. I'm just balancing your anti-us rhetoric.
You "never argued that". But you just did.
No I didn't. I'm not making judgements or excuses. The superpowers have all behaved badly. They see it as part of protecting their geo-political interests. So singling out the US for criticism is intellectual dishonest. As is blaming them for islamic radicals murdering their way to their religio/political interests. It's been happening for centuries.
Who is singling out the USA.
If the idea that criticising the USA is intellectually dishonest. Then the total USA good, China/Russia bad, that occurs constantly is even more so.
By the way you should have said religious radicals. Not Islamic. That is also intellectually dishonest.
"If the idea that criticising the USA…"
You're now being dishonest. I said 'singling out', not criticising.
"By the way you should have said religious radicals. Not Islamic. That is also intellectually dishonest."
No, it's historically accurate in the context of this conversation, of this thread. When a white supremisist goes around killing people in a mosque we call it out. When Christian radicals bomb abortion clinics, we call it out. There should be no fear or favour.
But yet, you object to me "calling out" US state terrorism. FIFY.
"But yet, you object to me "calling out" US state terrorism. FIFY."
No, to you 'singling out' US foreign policy stuff ups.
Sure.
Your choice of words is rather a giveaway.
Decades of bombing, murder of civilians, removal of elected Governments and replacing them with tyrants, saunctions that starve whole countries of food and medicines, not to mention drone strikes on weddings and people going about their everyday lives.
Is "Foriegn policy stuffups"? When the USA does it.
When "Islamists" or China "does it, you have rather a different description.
"When "Islamists" or China "does it, you have rather a different description."
Where have I labelled China 'terrorists'?
Not "for everything" (of course), but for many things.
"Great Satan", "evil empire", "axis of evil" – birds of a feather, or two in the Bush?
All 'fingers' are dirty, but some are dirtier than others.
I'm not quite sure what that has to do with this conversation, but ok.
Dirtier Politics; just my hobby – carry on
Wonder no longer about why repugs (and our very own big biz shills) are working to spanner public health.
Leaders all over the South were scrambling to find a cure for the dreaded pellagra until they discovered what that cure might cost them. That’s when the campaign of denial began. A century-old fight over public health feels fresh as a morning headline as we wrestle with a new threat, with equally simple remedies that upset Southern values. Disease is personal. Pandemic is politics.
Joseph Goldberger was sent to the South in 1914 on a mission from the US Department of Public Health to investigate an outbreak of pellagra. Pellagra is a terrible illness, starting with skin lesions, then advancing to diarrhea, dementia and in about 40% of cases, death. The disease, already well known among poorer populations in Southern Europe, had been documented in the South in 1908. By 1912, more than 30,000 cases had been identified in South Carolina alone.
[…]
Goldberger was initially welcomed. Southern leaders expected him to blame the disease on an infection, or even better, on a contaminant in corn imported from the Yankee Midwest. Instead, his experiments backed up his initial suspicion that pellagra was a nutritional deficiency. Goldberg published his findings in 1915, demonstrating that pellagra was a consequence of a poorly diversified corn diet, and could be remedied by adding a few fresh foods. His conclusion wasn’t novel, matching the recommendations of earlier researchers in Europe, but his report sparked angry denials.
An earlier commission of Southern researchers in 1909 had reached an erroneous conclusion more welcome to Southern planters and mill owners – pellagra was an infectious disease, spread either by flies or adulterated corn. It could, therefore, be remedied by educating the poor toward better sanitary habits and/or regulating imports from the hated North. Goldberg’s discoveries instead tied the disease to Southern economic practices that were producing wealth for a few powerful people. Wealthy Southerners worked to promote their preferred diagnosis.
https://www.politicalorphans.com/hookworm-pellagra-and-covid-diseases-of-dysfunction/