“Why John, it’s not like you to ring up in the middle of a working day. Is anything wrong?”
“Yes, Bronagh, there is something wrong. There’s been a massive leak of confidential papers from one of those law firms in Panama. You know what I mean, they arrange safe places for millions of dollars to avoid paying tax.”
“Of course I know what you mean. Are we exposed?”
“That’s just it, I’m not sure. You know what my memory is! Look, I can’t do this from here, will you give _____________ (a lawyer) a ring just to make sure we didn’t have any dealings with Mossack Fonesca.”
“We have had no dealings with Mossack Fonesca at all.”
“Well, that’s a relief. I can take the moral high ground here without lying and without fear of our name coming to light.”
“Yes, you do that so well, dearest. But Johnny, what about members of your cabinet?”
“Heh, heh, that’s a thought. I wonder if ‘Crusher’ is involved?”
“But Johnny, it won’t look good, will it.”
“No, as usual, you’re right, Bronagh. Well, nothing to see here, move on folks, eh? New Zealand is not a tax haven, hey? Just deny it until the fuss dies down.”
“We found pedophiles in the data, people, bad people, really bad people. We found mafia figures. Not just from Italy, but from Japan from America from everywhere, and they were convicted people.”
“In Uganda a company that wanted to sell a prospective oil field, paid Mossback Fonseca to help it avoid $400 million in taxes. It was simple paperwork. The company’s address was changed from one tax haven to another.
In a country where one in three people live on less than a dollar twenty-five a day, $400 million dollars represents more than the government’s annual health budget.
Uganda spent years in court trying to force the company to pay its taxes, meanwhile a hospital in the shadow of the oil field lacked funds for even the most basic equipment. Patients slept on floors, they were asked to bring their own medical supplies, like sterile gloves and cotton balls…..”
I wonder; If this is the same oil company “owned” by the shell company that is registered in New Zealand, which is implicated in fixing and bribery for the oil companies?
“Unaoil bribery scandal: New Zealand shell company linked to Unaoil scandal”
In a perfect world, we’d all walk 10,000 steps a day.
Probably not actually. Excessive exercise is bad for you.
“About a year ago we were both in New York City and we noticed that many insurance companies were advertising new programs where they would offer their customers discounts if they wore a Fitbit that was freely provided, and if they logged a certain amount of steps per day,” Ms Brain said.
Witness the fitness
“Usually the aim is to do 10,000 steps per day. And this would get you a few hundred dollars off your annual insurance bill.”
Ms Brain and her colleague found this concerning.
Very concerning. Both for peoples health and their privacy. These sorts of policies by health insurers will push more of this:
Often, compulsive exercise starts with healthy intentions. One exercises for pleasure, or stress relief, or the endorphin rush, or just to feel better. Over time, one has to do more to get the same positive boost. Before long, it’s never enough. Exercise starts ruling life.
With Saudi and Russian ties, Clinton machine’s tentacles are far reaching, according to Panama Papers
The Podesta Group, a lobbying firm headed by Clinton operatives, has made a pretty penny working for Saudi & Russia
There had previously been two petroleum conferences, one hosted by the government and one by the industry. That was not practical, so they had been combined – and the government agreed to subsidise the industry conference. “So the Government has probably decreased it’s funding for these conferences,” Madgwick said.
The new combined conference allowed a meeting of the minds for both industry and government to discuss regulations and possible improvements, he said.
Mainstream U.S. journalism has completely lost its way, especially in dealing with foreign policy issues where bias now overwhelms any commitment to facts, a dangerous development, writes Robert Parry.
Article and comments very good. Something Guyon and Susie from Morning Report should read re their question over why ppl don’t trust the media anymore.
In my view, there are a number of issues relating to Auckland Council’s purchase of the ASB building which are scandalous, and help reinforce what a disaster this Auckland ‘Supercity’ has been for the majority of Auckland citizens and ratepayers.
When were the public ever consulted on Auckland Council’s purchase of the ASB building?
What was wrong with the ‘custom built’ Auckland Council Civic Building for Council staff?
(What’s happened to the Auckland Council Civic Building – my understanding is that it is sitting there empty, and has been for some months?)
Where is the evidence of the ‘due diligence’ carried out before the purchase of the ASB building?
Who carried out the ‘due diligence’?
Who actually made the decision to purchase the ASB building?
For what reason(s)?
Were there any ‘conflicts of interest’ between those involved in purchasing the ASB and those who owned the ASB building?
How does the purchase of the ASB building, represent the much-vaunted ‘efficiency’ savings / ‘economies of scale’ that was purportedly a major reason used to ‘sell’ this ‘Supercity’ (for the 1%)?
Upon whom can the public rely for a full, thorough and independent inquiry into these matters?
“The cost of cladding repairs at Auckland Council’s Albert St headquarters has blown out from $4 million to an estimated $31m, according to a confidential report.
The huge bill for essential repairs to heavy granite slabs on the 31-storey building will be discussed by councillors behind closed doors on Tuesday.
Ratepayers have already paid $128.5m to buy and fit out the 25-year-old building, described as robust and structurally sound with good bones when it was bought in 2012.
About $4m was set aside for stonework issues picked up during due diligence. A report by the engineering firm GHD in November found there was no definitive evidence of imminent collapse, but clearly cause for concern and a high potential risk of a stone panel falling from height.
……”
____________________
What does Corin Dann do on a Sunday morning? Hit the snooze alarm as few times, crawl out of bed, leisurely turn up to work and ask questions prepared for him by TVNZ staffers?
The interview with Winston Peters was appalling. It’s not as though information isn’t out there about the Panama Papers – a search of youtube finds docos by France 24, Australian 4 Corners, ICIJ, BBC, US PBS. Foreign news outlets that have been involved in this for a year describe us as a tax haven. There is more going on than Key/English are admitting to. Quoting Key soundbites to Peter’s was just sloppy.
Ffs, if he had just bothered to watch yesterday’s The Nation’s interview with Peter Bale, chief executive of the Center for Public Integrity / ICIJ, he would know that NZ has only been given the once over in the latest releases but there is more in depth shit coming down the pipe.
Why did he do such a bad job given he had interviewed John Christianson who said NZ was a shady dealer in this? Why did he insist on Winston Peters putting up the evidence saying he was holding Winston to account? Who us holding Dann to account? Why does not not just do his job?
Congrats The Nation, at least you bothered to go out wide and avoid the wide boys in mid-field and go to the ICIJ direct.
Surely these are rhetorical questions that you are asking William or did you hope that a National Party sock puppet was actually going to be unbiased and deliver an impartial and professional interview?
Appalling interview by Dann.
Just another compromised, owned puppet of the corporates.
He is not a journalist.
He is a tool of the establishment.
Hope all that money helps ease his conscience.
FJK is relaxed about the use of secret trusts because many people crooks and money launderers use trusts for all manner of things.
The Paris-based club of mostly rich nations is developing a global transparency initiative to crack down on tax haven secrecy. Most havens have agreed to participate and from 2017 will start to share financial data automatically so that each can tax its taxpayers appropriately. But there are recalcitrants. Panama is refusing to participate seriously. Pascal Saint-Amans, the OECD tax chief, calls it a jurisdiction “that welcomes crooks and money launderers”.
More people using trusts for all manner of things.
/
The documents also pull back the curtain on hundreds of details about how former CIA gun-runners and contractors use offshore companies for personal and private gain. Further, they illuminate the workings of a host of other characters who used offshore companies during or after their work as spy chiefs, secret agents or operatives for the CIA and other intelligence agencies.
Wyoming makes it 7 in a row and 8 out of the last 9 for Sanders.
Even the Guardian, that just the other day had a vid of Sanders challenging Clinton’s qualification for President sans all fucking context, is now publishing articles that aren’t complete hatchet jobs. I mean, it’s an opinion piece rather than a piece of reportage following editorial lines, but still – it’s a start.
I follow it pretty closely and the methods they use are blatantly obvious once you start looking for them. For instance Sanders will win a primary, but is lucky to get one sentence while the rest of the article gushes on about Trump and Clinton.
Or they’ll run ‘poison the well’ opinion articles that look like they’re about Sanders, but are really used to damn with faint praise, derail, or dismiss in a slightly sneering tone all the ‘fanatics’ who support him.
Same tactics used on Corbyn.
The good news is that judging from their comments sections a lot more people are awake to these tricks. They’ve been way over-exposed.
In this eye-opening talk, veteran investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson shows how astroturf, or fake grassroots movements funded by political, corporate, or other special interests very effectively manipulate and distort media messages.
Some small consolation insofar as it’s the least reliable of the major polls but whichever way you slice and dice it the Colmar Brunton is a shocker.
Anybody still think Labour pondering incoherently about a policy as complex as UBI and then letting the government dump on it from a great height is a great idea?
1. The MSM doesn’t inform the NZ people. Ask your average NZers about many current events stories and they are woefully ignorant about what’s going on in their own country and the world.
2. 30 years of neo-liberal poison has done a lot of damage and a lot of people only care for themselves. They only realise the benefit of society when it’s too late and they’ve been thrown on the scrapheap.
3. The NZ Labour Party does not offer an alternative to neo-liberalism. Read my lips, Labour Party. “We apologise unreservedly for the damage we wrought on New Zealand working people when we unleashed neo-liberalism on the country. We are a socialist party and will go back to representing our people.”
I agree – I think they are trying to change hearts slowly, It doesn’t work like that – they need to apologise just as you say.
If my long term partner, whom I trusted, goes reeling off and has an affair with some sex pot who turns out to be all fur coat and no knickers, am I going to accept him just sliding back into my life as though it didn’t happen? Abject apology is definitely called for, and then the rebuilding of trust, if that’s possible
I think they need to be pushing not pondering the UBI for the next 18 months, voters need to have their heads around it by the next election. Young and old will be interested in voting for it. It may be that economic conditions just aren’t bad enough for it to take hold in the middle classes though, Labour might have been a bit early on it.
30 years of neo-liberal poison has done a lot of damage and a lot of people only care for themselves. They only realise the benefit of society when it’s too late and they’ve been thrown on the scrapheap.
Labour gains nothing from National’s increasing weakness. In the new politics, people want real alternatives to what the incumbents are proposing. Not me too acts.
Labour could open up real ground between themselves and National very easily. Too bad they are preoccupied with trying to convince a neoliberal press that they will be a credible (neoliberal) government in waiting.
There is only one poll which actually matters. Until then its clear that either the polls are biased against Labour. Or the reporting of the polls are biased against Labour. Or both.
Clearly thats the real problem here, because Labour’s actual support in the community is definitely much higher than this. We all know it is.
This poll has got nothing to doe with labour voters, it has got to do with
a. what question were asked
b. who was asked
b1. what age groups
b2. Gender breakdown
b3. Location – rural vs urban
c. likely voter
c1. voted previously
c2. will vote again
d. income group
e. property owner
all of these things would put the result into context.
You are boring CV. So very very boring.
For a PM who is so embarrassing, who is clearly a sleazebag with women/girls, who has done NOTHING for the ordinary New Zealander, who just loves to play around with the big wealthy VIPs, and who deals in corrupt behaviours, and who has started to get booed in public, there must be something screwed in the way the questions of polls are asked, for his seemingly continuing “popularity”.
actually yes it is.
Polls are meaningless if you can’t figure out how the result was achieved.
I don’t care much about polls generally speaking, but if they are used to uphold a result i would like to know how that result was achieved.
example.
100 National voters are asked and 50% say the PM is good as and 50% say Labour sucks. Is that a good result for the PM? Is it a bad result for Labour?
50 National voters are asked and 50 other voters are asked and 50% say the PM is good, and a further 30% say Labour sucks. is that a good result for the PM is it a bad result for Labour?
How the result was achieved in important. And i don’t actually care who wins in these polls, as our estimed CV said upstairs only one poll that matters and that would be the voting booth. But in the meantime, i would like a bit more meat with my polls. Thank eew/
Colmar Brunton are by far the most open about their methodology. Much better than the other main Public Pollsters. They produce a full report in a way that the others don’t.
The question Colmar Brunton ask (after a brief intro outlining the two votes under MMP) is: “Firstly, thinking about the Party Vote, which is for a political party – Which political Party would you vote for ? (If the reply is Don’t Know then they ask the follow-up question: “Which one would you be most likely to vote for ?” That pushes those mildly leaning one way to make a definite choice, with the remainder becoming the true Undecideds).
All Pollsters weight their data to align with NZ’s demographics (via Statistics New Zealand). Those respondents who indicate (in an initial question) that they’re either fairly or very unlikely to vote are excluded from the final results as are the Undecideds and those who Refuse to answer.
“But there are plenty of challenges for Mr Little who after more than a year in the job is now going backwards.”
So what can little do to stop his backward slide? Does he have anything or do you think he’s just hoping Key slips up on something? (Which isn’t working too well for him so far).
No, offering an alternative is what is necessary.
Look at the following 5 examples:
Spain, Greece, Scotland, England (since Corbyn) and the support for Sanders in the US.
People are hungry for an alternative to neo-liberalism which has screwed them for 30 years.
Now I am prepared to be generous and assume that you are unaware of these 5 examples, In which case, please read up on the events that have transpired there.
However, I have a nagging feeling you are simply a troll who is running the predictable and dull meme that there is no alternative to neo-liberalism and that all Labour have to do is to copy Key and adopt even more tenets of neo-liberal ideology. If so, I cannot be bothered wasting . Shilling for the 1% is a contemptible act.
Mind you, heading into the recent Canadian Federal election many of the commentators had written off Justin Trudeau (his trajectory in the polls was not that dissimilar to Little’s) and were casting around for the next Liberal Leader. Look what happened there?
Yes, massive political turnarounds do happen. But in this case, what would be the point? And I think the electorate has figured that out as well. Why vote light blue when you can have the real thing.
that would seem to be politics 101. But in the Thorndon Bubble professional political set, its still all about the narcissism of minor (miniscule) differences and waiting for the ‘tide to turn.’
this is a political crew who sincerely believes that voters have forgiven/forgotten Rogernomics. That middle class swing voters in households earning $80K to $120K pa are the most important voters in the nation.
I take your word for it and am completely amazed they are so out of touch. More and more people are suffering from the effects of neo-liberalism ( also known as ‘Rogernomics in NZ). Indeed, we have also endured disaster capitalism in Christchurch, as outlined by Naomi Klein in ‘Shock Doctrine.’
The country has been sold.
Our jobs have been off shored.
Large corporate ship of billions of untaxed profits annually.
We are over $100 billion in debt.
Despite 8 years of extreme right wing economic prescriptions, the political party supposedly representing the workers of the country refuses to offer a coherent alternative vision.
they disowned the workers of the country a long time ago. The workers, who used to give Labour a membership roll in the hundreds of thousands, have long returned the favour.
We need a party ready to face the challenges of the 21st century by cooperating not competing, secondly by working together, not fighting each other and thirdly by living in balance with the Earth, not exploiting it.
Or another way of looking at it: where is Australia and New Zealand’s equivalent of Corbyn or Sanders?
Actually let me drill into that deeper. Here in Aus Labour is polling slightly ahead of the Coalition. And that is with Bill Shorten as Leader. And I’d suggest that the space between Shorten and Little isn’t so very much. So why is the NZLP trailing the US, Canadian, UK and Aus experience so very badly?
One answer is the ongoing failure of the NZLP to bury the ghost of the 4th Lab govt. For people of my generation it’s still a live issue.
Another is our god-awful media. I’ll say it again, even here in Aus the difference is remarkable. Here I can read a balanced picture in a way that is utterly missing from the public space in NZ.
Another is that we’ve been importing lots of wealthy people who vote National.
Another is simply that we no longer really believe in ourselves as a nation anymore. We’ve been persuaded to stop believing in our better selves.
Another is the withdrawal of the left from the internationalist, global space. More than any other Western nation, we’ve been run over by the neo-liberal world order.
And finally the left in NZ remains divided. Until the Greens and Labour start behaving like they could actually run a proper govt together, then no-one is going to give them the chance.
Excellent synopsis.
And just as an example, here is how both countries looked at the Panama Papers.
Here there has been no proper journalism, while Australia ran this story.
Yes I watched that the other night. Look at the depth of research in it, and how much time and travel budget was given to this; over many months at least.
Compare and contrast with our sniveling hacks who weren’t even allowed a sniff of the story.
” we no longer really believe in ourselves as a nation anymore. We’ve been persuaded to stop believing in our better selves.”
This.
And not in a false flag patriotism kind of way. In a way that makes sense of our belonging with a group of human beings in a society first, rather than primarily as subjects in a win or lose economy.
When Farrar blogs it the moment it comes out … you just know it aint gonna be great news for Labour !
First time since May 2015 that the Govt’s led the Oppo in a Colmar Brunton. (Starkly contrasts with the latest March 2016 Roy Morgan which bucked its usual Govt-friendly results by giving the Oppo a rare lead).
Colmar Brunton
………………………Oppo…………Govt…………Diff
July 2015……………53……………..48…………..+ 5 Sep 2015………… …51…………….48…………..+ 3 Oct 2015…………….52…………….48……………+ 4 Feb 2016…………….50…………….48……………+ 2 April 2016…………..47…………….52…………….- 5
One and only bright spot ? Key down slightly in Preferred PM to 39% (Equal Lowest rating in a Colmar Brunton since becoming PM … but not much compensation – esp with Little down too)
* 2 point rise in the Undecideds – but that’s nowhere near enough to account for the swing.
Labour MP Su’a William Sio’s Climate Change Taskforce tour of Tuvalu and Kiribati
“In Kiribati and Tuvalu, the future is now,” Su’a William Sio
Mr Sio’s trip is an interesting move by Labour which has been accused of taking the Pacific vote for granted.
But it also points up what is a growing foreign policy concern for New Zealand which has taken to underpinning its foreign policy, particularly its role at the United Nations, with a sort of self-appointed role as a voice for small island developing states.
Mr Sio believes that there is some unease among Pacific nations about New Zealand’s initial reluctance to commit to tougher greenhouse gas emission targets at last year’s Paris conference on climate change and also its apparent reluctance to confront the impact of rising sea levels here. RICHARD HARMAN
Labour MP Sua William Sio is calling on the Government to review its immigration policies for people from Tuvalu and Kiritbati as rising sea levels are already forcing people in both island groups to flea outlying islands for the main island….
…..Currently New Zealand has an immigration quota of 75 for Tuvalu and Kiribati.
(Compare this to the unlimited access granted by New Zealand to the majority white, settler country of Australia.)
“On Tuvalu there’s a total population of 12,000 and 6000 of them live on Funafuti (the main island) and there’s just not enough room,” SU’A WILLIAM SIO.
“Notwithstanding that, I think that for a future Government which wants to stand and support the Pacific, you have to plan for that emergency and that disaster, but hoping that the disaster doesn’t happen and allow for the gradual movement of people.” SU’A WILLIAM SIO
A new Web portal developed by NASA, gives researchers, decision makers and the public a resource to stay up to date with the latest developments and scientific findings on sea level rise.
NASA projections for sea level rise forecast the disappearance of the Tuvalu and Kiribati beneath the waves by 2100.
Within our grandchildren’s life times these island nations will be gone.
….the median projection of the SEMs, (semi-empirical models) is about 0.75 meters by century’s end, and about one meter for scenario RCP 8.5. At the high end of the confidence intervals (95%), sea level reaches above 1.5 meters for the latter scenario, mostly based on the works of Rahmstorf and of Jevrejeva. Another study of modeling reliability, in which Rahmstorf et al. performed an extensive analysis of their SEMs [ [Rahmstorf et al., 2012], concluded that a rise of about one meter, produced by a warming of 1.8 degrees Celsius, represented a robust result, derived from published data and their model.
Since the publication of AR5, newer ice-sheet observations also are suggestive of the higher values for sea level rise.
But this is not the full story and these nations could go under water even sooner.
NASA studies measure mean and average global sea level rise. But the sea is not flat, and there are regional and seasonal differences that can either magnify or lessen these global effects from one season to another, and even from one decade to another, and in one region and another.
The tropical Pacific Ocean isn’t flat like a pond. Instead, it regularly has a high side and a low side. Natural cycles such as El Niño and La Niña events cause this sea level seesaw to tip back and forth, with the ocean near Asia on one end and the ocean near the Americas on the other. But over the last 30 years, the seesaw’s wobbles have been more extreme, causing variations in sea levels up to three times higher than those observed in the previous 30 years….
A new NASA/university study has found the differing alignments of two separate climate cycles could be causing these intensifying swings, which occur on top of a global rise in sea level due to melting ice sheets and warming oceans….
From 1990 to 2000, the magnitude of these sea level swings averaged about 6 inches (16 centimeters) – five times the height of global sea level rise* during the same period. Asia is currently on the high side of the sea level seesaw, while coastlines in the Americas as far north as Southern California are benefiting from a lower sea level….
Why are Tuvalu and Kiribati’s very reasonable message calling for emigration to New Zealand on grounds of climate change, and conveyed to us by Su’a William Sio on their behalf, being ignored?
And why was Su’a William Sio’s Climate Change Taskforce mission ignored by virtually all media outlets and political parties?
My feeling is that to allow the people of Tuvalu and Kiribati to immigrate to New Zealand on climate change grounds, would be to recognise that there is a problem.
Recognising climate refugees ,would mean recognising the reality and the full threat posed by climate change itself.
Interesting column up from Vernon Small on Stuff – sledging Little – it’s only been up a few hours and the comment balance is unrealistically extreme right – comments are closed of course.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
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TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
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Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
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Satire to start Sunday morning.
“John here, darling.”
“Why John, it’s not like you to ring up in the middle of a working day. Is anything wrong?”
“Yes, Bronagh, there is something wrong. There’s been a massive leak of confidential papers from one of those law firms in Panama. You know what I mean, they arrange safe places for millions of dollars to avoid paying tax.”
“Of course I know what you mean. Are we exposed?”
“That’s just it, I’m not sure. You know what my memory is! Look, I can’t do this from here, will you give _____________ (a lawyer) a ring just to make sure we didn’t have any dealings with Mossack Fonesca.”
—————————————————————————————————
“Bronagh here, John.”
“Yes, yes, I know it’s you. What did you find?”
“We have had no dealings with Mossack Fonesca at all.”
“Well, that’s a relief. I can take the moral high ground here without lying and without fear of our name coming to light.”
“Yes, you do that so well, dearest. But Johnny, what about members of your cabinet?”
“Heh, heh, that’s a thought. I wonder if ‘Crusher’ is involved?”
“But Johnny, it won’t look good, will it.”
“No, as usual, you’re right, Bronagh. Well, nothing to see here, move on folks, eh? New Zealand is not a tax haven, hey? Just deny it until the fuss dies down.”
“Yes, that’s the line to take.”
Good one Tony.
Hilarious
‘
John Key’s real legacy
Radio NZ
New Zealand a very nice place for rich criminals
@4:55 Minutes:
@02:07 Minutes:
I wonder; If this is the same oil company “owned” by the shell company that is registered in New Zealand, which is implicated in fixing and bribery for the oil companies?
+100 Jenny
National: Making New Zealand a protected sanctuary for Mossack Fonesca and Unaoil
The party that has the following screen shot on their election hoardings, will win the election for the opposition.
http://img.newstalkzb.co.nz/media/9255884/planet-key-screenshot-supplied.jpg?mode=crop&width=675&height=379&quality=80&scale=both
Unfit Bits: How to hack your fitness data
Probably not actually. Excessive exercise is bad for you.
Very concerning. Both for peoples health and their privacy. These sorts of policies by health insurers will push more of this:
With Saudi and Russian ties, Clinton machine’s tentacles are far reaching, according to Panama Papers
The Podesta Group, a lobbying firm headed by Clinton operatives, has made a pretty penny working for Saudi & Russia
http://www.salon.com/2016/04/08/with_saudi_and_russian_ties_clinton_machines_tentacles_are_far_reaching_according_to_panama_papers/
Government dishes out big bucks to ‘struggling’ petroleum industry for conference
Oh, great, the governments paying to be lobbied.
No wonder we’re going to hell in a hand-basket.
All this corporate welfare, and more, ensures that Per capita, New Zealand is the world leader in subsidising fossil fuel companies.
Corporate welfare and international corporate tax fraud, as well as inaction on climate change are this government’s weak points.
The opposition need to take advantage of these weak points and go in for the kill.
https://consortiumnews.com/2016/04/07/a-media-unmoored-from-facts/
Mainstream U.S. journalism has completely lost its way, especially in dealing with foreign policy issues where bias now overwhelms any commitment to facts, a dangerous development, writes Robert Parry.
Article and comments very good. Something Guyon and Susie from Morning Report should read re their question over why ppl don’t trust the media anymore.
Yea – Mihi’s back!!
In my view, there are a number of issues relating to Auckland Council’s purchase of the ASB building which are scandalous, and help reinforce what a disaster this Auckland ‘Supercity’ has been for the majority of Auckland citizens and ratepayers.
When were the public ever consulted on Auckland Council’s purchase of the ASB building?
What was wrong with the ‘custom built’ Auckland Council Civic Building for Council staff?
(What’s happened to the Auckland Council Civic Building – my understanding is that it is sitting there empty, and has been for some months?)
Where is the evidence of the ‘due diligence’ carried out before the purchase of the ASB building?
Who carried out the ‘due diligence’?
Who actually made the decision to purchase the ASB building?
For what reason(s)?
Were there any ‘conflicts of interest’ between those involved in purchasing the ASB and those who owned the ASB building?
How does the purchase of the ASB building, represent the much-vaunted ‘efficiency’ savings / ‘economies of scale’ that was purportedly a major reason used to ‘sell’ this ‘Supercity’ (for the 1%)?
Upon whom can the public rely for a full, thorough and independent inquiry into these matters?
http://m.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11619820
“The cost of cladding repairs at Auckland Council’s Albert St headquarters has blown out from $4 million to an estimated $31m, according to a confidential report.
The huge bill for essential repairs to heavy granite slabs on the 31-storey building will be discussed by councillors behind closed doors on Tuesday.
Ratepayers have already paid $128.5m to buy and fit out the 25-year-old building, described as robust and structurally sound with good bones when it was bought in 2012.
About $4m was set aside for stonework issues picked up during due diligence. A report by the engineering firm GHD in November found there was no definitive evidence of imminent collapse, but clearly cause for concern and a high potential risk of a stone panel falling from height.
……”
____________________
Penny Bright
2016 Auckland Mayoral candidate.
What does Corin Dann do on a Sunday morning? Hit the snooze alarm as few times, crawl out of bed, leisurely turn up to work and ask questions prepared for him by TVNZ staffers?
The interview with Winston Peters was appalling. It’s not as though information isn’t out there about the Panama Papers – a search of youtube finds docos by France 24, Australian 4 Corners, ICIJ, BBC, US PBS. Foreign news outlets that have been involved in this for a year describe us as a tax haven. There is more going on than Key/English are admitting to. Quoting Key soundbites to Peter’s was just sloppy.
Ffs, if he had just bothered to watch yesterday’s The Nation’s interview with Peter Bale, chief executive of the Center for Public Integrity / ICIJ, he would know that NZ has only been given the once over in the latest releases but there is more in depth shit coming down the pipe.
Why did he do such a bad job given he had interviewed John Christianson who said NZ was a shady dealer in this? Why did he insist on Winston Peters putting up the evidence saying he was holding Winston to account? Who us holding Dann to account? Why does not not just do his job?
Congrats The Nation, at least you bothered to go out wide and avoid the wide boys in mid-field and go to the ICIJ direct.
Surely these are rhetorical questions that you are asking William or did you hope that a National Party sock puppet was actually going to be unbiased and deliver an impartial and professional interview?
Appalling interview by Dann.
Just another compromised, owned puppet of the corporates.
He is not a journalist.
He is a tool of the establishment.
Hope all that money helps ease his conscience.
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/the-pencilsword-shifty-business
want to observe rising sealevels as viewed from space.
well now you can.
https://sealevel.nasa.gov/
thanks Nasa.
FJK is relaxed about the use of secret trusts because
many peoplecrooks and money launderers use trusts for all manner of things.The Paris-based club of mostly rich nations is developing a global transparency initiative to crack down on tax haven secrecy. Most havens have agreed to participate and from 2017 will start to share financial data automatically so that each can tax its taxpayers appropriately. But there are recalcitrants. Panama is refusing to participate seriously. Pascal Saint-Amans, the OECD tax chief, calls it a jurisdiction “that welcomes crooks and money launderers”.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d01062a0-fa71-11e5-8f41-df5bda8beb40.html#axzz45NWMpFFf
More people using trusts for all manner of things.
/
The documents also pull back the curtain on hundreds of details about how former CIA gun-runners and contractors use offshore companies for personal and private gain. Further, they illuminate the workings of a host of other characters who used offshore companies during or after their work as spy chiefs, secret agents or operatives for the CIA and other intelligence agencies.
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/nation-world/world/article70044452.html
That ABC bootboy and bag carrier Clayton Cosgrove is not standing for Parliament again.
Good riddance to a nasty piece of work.
Who will Grant Robertson use now to scurry around the Press Gallery bad mouthing colleagues?
Now, that is good news 🙂
Quite a few other relics of neo-liberalism still in the party.
Wyoming makes it 7 in a row and 8 out of the last 9 for Sanders.
Even the Guardian, that just the other day had a vid of Sanders challenging Clinton’s qualification for President sans all fucking context, is now publishing articles that aren’t complete hatchet jobs. I mean, it’s an opinion piece rather than a piece of reportage following editorial lines, but still – it’s a start.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/09/bernie-sanders-wins-wyoming-seventh-state-unstoppable-new-york-primary-next
The Guardian Gatekeeper.
I follow it pretty closely and the methods they use are blatantly obvious once you start looking for them. For instance Sanders will win a primary, but is lucky to get one sentence while the rest of the article gushes on about Trump and Clinton.
Or they’ll run ‘poison the well’ opinion articles that look like they’re about Sanders, but are really used to damn with faint praise, derail, or dismiss in a slightly sneering tone all the ‘fanatics’ who support him.
Same tactics used on Corbyn.
The good news is that judging from their comments sections a lot more people are awake to these tricks. They’ve been way over-exposed.
Well yeah. The editorial piece that shows up next to the opinion piece I linked is headed (short version) “Sanders wins, but…”
Comments sections on newspaper after newspaper are flying in the face of the reporting on Sanders and Clinton.
And yes, the Guardian will always side with the establishment in the final analysis. Always.
The Guardian is just part of the establishment’s system.
In this eye-opening talk, veteran investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson shows how astroturf, or fake grassroots movements funded by political, corporate, or other special interests very effectively manipulate and distort media messages.
Some small consolation insofar as it’s the least reliable of the major polls but whichever way you slice and dice it the Colmar Brunton is a shocker.
Anybody still think Labour pondering incoherently about a policy as complex as UBI and then letting the government dump on it from a great height is a great idea?
It’s no wonder….
1. The MSM doesn’t inform the NZ people. Ask your average NZers about many current events stories and they are woefully ignorant about what’s going on in their own country and the world.
2. 30 years of neo-liberal poison has done a lot of damage and a lot of people only care for themselves. They only realise the benefit of society when it’s too late and they’ve been thrown on the scrapheap.
3. The NZ Labour Party does not offer an alternative to neo-liberalism. Read my lips, Labour Party. “We apologise unreservedly for the damage we wrought on New Zealand working people when we unleashed neo-liberalism on the country. We are a socialist party and will go back to representing our people.”
I agree – I think they are trying to change hearts slowly, It doesn’t work like that – they need to apologise just as you say.
If my long term partner, whom I trusted, goes reeling off and has an affair with some sex pot who turns out to be all fur coat and no knickers, am I going to accept him just sliding back into my life as though it didn’t happen? Abject apology is definitely called for, and then the rebuilding of trust, if that’s possible
I think they need to be pushing not pondering the UBI for the next 18 months, voters need to have their heads around it by the next election. Young and old will be interested in voting for it. It may be that economic conditions just aren’t bad enough for it to take hold in the middle classes though, Labour might have been a bit early on it.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/poll-flag-flop-fails-dent-governments-popularity
Labour and little take a hammering in the latest poll.
Winston will be happy however – he has over taken little in the preferred pm figures.
I’m guessing a lot on here thought that the flag loss was going to hurt key. Seems like many read that wrong as well.
National continue to head towards another term.
30 years of neo-liberal poison has done a lot of damage and a lot of people only care for themselves. They only realise the benefit of society when it’s too late and they’ve been thrown on the scrapheap.
I sense you are one of these Galt-like creatures.
So Key is on 37% preferred now. Wasn’t he up in the 50-60% lastime. A bit sad if the people are getting a bit tired of him..
Labour gains nothing from National’s increasing weakness. In the new politics, people want real alternatives to what the incumbents are proposing. Not me too acts.
Labour could open up real ground between themselves and National very easily. Too bad they are preoccupied with trying to convince a neoliberal press that they will be a credible (neoliberal) government in waiting.
could you link to the actual poll and the question asked and the people polled?
who was asked
% of likely voter
% of members of either party
% of age groups
% of rural vs urban
really the blerb in the fishwrap is pretty meaningless if it actually does not show how an who was polled.
There is only one poll which actually matters. Until then its clear that either the polls are biased against Labour. Or the reporting of the polls are biased against Labour. Or both.
Clearly thats the real problem here, because Labour’s actual support in the community is definitely much higher than this. We all know it is.
Haha. You nearly had me for a moment.
This poll has got nothing to doe with labour voters, it has got to do with
a. what question were asked
b. who was asked
b1. what age groups
b2. Gender breakdown
b3. Location – rural vs urban
c. likely voter
c1. voted previously
c2. will vote again
d. income group
e. property owner
all of these things would put the result into context.
You are boring CV. So very very boring.
Totally agree with you, Sabine.
For a PM who is so embarrassing, who is clearly a sleazebag with women/girls, who has done NOTHING for the ordinary New Zealander, who just loves to play around with the big wealthy VIPs, and who deals in corrupt behaviours, and who has started to get booed in public, there must be something screwed in the way the questions of polls are asked, for his seemingly continuing “popularity”.
Polling methodology is not the problem here.
actually yes it is.
Polls are meaningless if you can’t figure out how the result was achieved.
I don’t care much about polls generally speaking, but if they are used to uphold a result i would like to know how that result was achieved.
example.
100 National voters are asked and 50% say the PM is good as and 50% say Labour sucks. Is that a good result for the PM? Is it a bad result for Labour?
50 National voters are asked and 50 other voters are asked and 50% say the PM is good, and a further 30% say Labour sucks. is that a good result for the PM is it a bad result for Labour?
How the result was achieved in important. And i don’t actually care who wins in these polls, as our estimed CV said upstairs only one poll that matters and that would be the voting booth. But in the meantime, i would like a bit more meat with my polls. Thank eew/
Colmar Brunton are by far the most open about their methodology. Much better than the other main Public Pollsters. They produce a full report in a way that the others don’t.
The question Colmar Brunton ask (after a brief intro outlining the two votes under MMP) is: “Firstly, thinking about the Party Vote, which is for a political party – Which political Party would you vote for ? (If the reply is Don’t Know then they ask the follow-up question: “Which one would you be most likely to vote for ?” That pushes those mildly leaning one way to make a definite choice, with the remainder becoming the true Undecideds).
All Pollsters weight their data to align with NZ’s demographics (via Statistics New Zealand). Those respondents who indicate (in an initial question) that they’re either fairly or very unlikely to vote are excluded from the final results as are the Undecideds and those who Refuse to answer.
sabine is convinced that bad polling methodology is at the core of Labour’s low numbers.
Please don’t disabuse her of that truth.
“But there are plenty of challenges for Mr Little who after more than a year in the job is now going backwards.”
So what can little do to stop his backward slide? Does he have anything or do you think he’s just hoping Key slips up on something? (Which isn’t working too well for him so far).
You don’t care, so stop pretending.
Fool.
so Paul. I take it you have no idea then?
Read my comment at 15.1
Your suggested apology would drop labour under 20 %
Still, would love them to take you up on it.
No, offering an alternative is what is necessary.
Look at the following 5 examples:
Spain, Greece, Scotland, England (since Corbyn) and the support for Sanders in the US.
People are hungry for an alternative to neo-liberalism which has screwed them for 30 years.
Now I am prepared to be generous and assume that you are unaware of these 5 examples, In which case, please read up on the events that have transpired there.
However, I have a nagging feeling you are simply a troll who is running the predictable and dull meme that there is no alternative to neo-liberalism and that all Labour have to do is to copy Key and adopt even more tenets of neo-liberal ideology. If so, I cannot be bothered wasting . Shilling for the 1% is a contemptible act.
What happens when you offer an alternative.
Jeremy Corbyn more popular than David Cameron for first time, new poll reveals.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/new-poll-shows-cameron-less-popular-than-corbyn-for-first-time-a6974891.html
The SNP now have a 39 point poll lead over Labour.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/snp-poll-leader-labour-holyrood-2016-elections-may-date-a6905316.html
Spain’s election will be felt across the whole continent
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/18/spain-election-podemos-austerity-syriza-greece
Paul has a solution: blame the people.
GR2020. It’s a foregone conclusion now.
You may be right.
Mind you, heading into the recent Canadian Federal election many of the commentators had written off Justin Trudeau (his trajectory in the polls was not that dissimilar to Little’s) and were casting around for the next Liberal Leader. Look what happened there?
Yes, massive political turnarounds do happen. But in this case, what would be the point? And I think the electorate has figured that out as well. Why vote light blue when you can have the real thing.
Offering a real alternative is what is necessary.
that would seem to be politics 101. But in the Thorndon Bubble professional political set, its still all about the narcissism of minor (miniscule) differences and waiting for the ‘tide to turn.’
Do they not see what happened to the Scottish Labour Party when it just copied Cameron’s austerity?
this is a political crew who sincerely believes that voters have forgiven/forgotten Rogernomics. That middle class swing voters in households earning $80K to $120K pa are the most important voters in the nation.
I take your word for it and am completely amazed they are so out of touch. More and more people are suffering from the effects of neo-liberalism ( also known as ‘Rogernomics in NZ). Indeed, we have also endured disaster capitalism in Christchurch, as outlined by Naomi Klein in ‘Shock Doctrine.’
The country has been sold.
Our jobs have been off shored.
Large corporate ship of billions of untaxed profits annually.
We are over $100 billion in debt.
Despite 8 years of extreme right wing economic prescriptions, the political party supposedly representing the workers of the country refuses to offer a coherent alternative vision.
they disowned the workers of the country a long time ago. The workers, who used to give Labour a membership roll in the hundreds of thousands, have long returned the favour.
We need a new socialist party.
Although it provides some vital stepping stones, socialism is not prepared for the demanding and unique requirements of the 21st century situation .
We need a party ready to face the challenges of the 21st century by cooperating not competing, secondly by working together, not fighting each other and thirdly by living in balance with the Earth, not exploiting it.
Exactly.
Or another way of looking at it: where is Australia and New Zealand’s equivalent of Corbyn or Sanders?
Actually let me drill into that deeper. Here in Aus Labour is polling slightly ahead of the Coalition. And that is with Bill Shorten as Leader. And I’d suggest that the space between Shorten and Little isn’t so very much. So why is the NZLP trailing the US, Canadian, UK and Aus experience so very badly?
One answer is the ongoing failure of the NZLP to bury the ghost of the 4th Lab govt. For people of my generation it’s still a live issue.
Another is our god-awful media. I’ll say it again, even here in Aus the difference is remarkable. Here I can read a balanced picture in a way that is utterly missing from the public space in NZ.
Another is that we’ve been importing lots of wealthy people who vote National.
Another is simply that we no longer really believe in ourselves as a nation anymore. We’ve been persuaded to stop believing in our better selves.
Another is the withdrawal of the left from the internationalist, global space. More than any other Western nation, we’ve been run over by the neo-liberal world order.
And finally the left in NZ remains divided. Until the Greens and Labour start behaving like they could actually run a proper govt together, then no-one is going to give them the chance.
Excellent synopsis.
And just as an example, here is how both countries looked at the Panama Papers.
Here there has been no proper journalism, while Australia ran this story.
Yes I watched that the other night. Look at the depth of research in it, and how much time and travel budget was given to this; over many months at least.
Compare and contrast with our sniveling hacks who weren’t even allowed a sniff of the story.
” we no longer really believe in ourselves as a nation anymore. We’ve been persuaded to stop believing in our better selves.”
This.
And not in a false flag patriotism kind of way. In a way that makes sense of our belonging with a group of human beings in a society first, rather than primarily as subjects in a win or lose economy.
When Farrar blogs it the moment it comes out … you just know it aint gonna be great news for Labour !
First time since May 2015 that the Govt’s led the Oppo in a Colmar Brunton. (Starkly contrasts with the latest March 2016 Roy Morgan which bucked its usual Govt-friendly results by giving the Oppo a rare lead).
Colmar Brunton
………………………Oppo…………Govt…………Diff
July 2015……………53……………..48…………..+ 5
Sep 2015………… …51…………….48…………..+ 3
Oct 2015…………….52…………….48……………+ 4
Feb 2016…………….50…………….48……………+ 2
April 2016…………..47…………….52…………….- 5
One and only bright spot ? Key down slightly in Preferred PM to 39% (Equal Lowest rating in a Colmar Brunton since becoming PM … but not much compensation – esp with Little down too)
* 2 point rise in the Undecideds – but that’s nowhere near enough to account for the swing.
Labour MP Su’a William Sio’s Climate Change Taskforce tour of Tuvalu and Kiribati
“In Kiribati and Tuvalu, the future is now,” Su’a William Sio
A new Web portal developed by NASA, gives researchers, decision makers and the public a resource to stay up to date with the latest developments and scientific findings on sea level rise.
https://sealevel.nasa.gov/
https://sealevel.nasa.gov/news/40
NASA projections for sea level rise forecast the disappearance of the Tuvalu and Kiribati beneath the waves by 2100.
Within our grandchildren’s life times these island nations will be gone.
But this is not the full story and these nations could go under water even sooner.
NASA studies measure mean and average global sea level rise. But the sea is not flat, and there are regional and seasonal differences that can either magnify or lessen these global effects from one season to another, and even from one decade to another, and in one region and another.
*My emphasis, Jenny.
Why are Tuvalu and Kiribati’s very reasonable message calling for emigration to New Zealand on grounds of climate change, and conveyed to us by Su’a William Sio on their behalf, being ignored?
And why was Su’a William Sio’s Climate Change Taskforce mission ignored by virtually all media outlets and political parties?
My feeling is that to allow the people of Tuvalu and Kiribati to immigrate to New Zealand on climate change grounds, would be to recognise that there is a problem.
Recognising climate refugees ,would mean recognising the reality and the full threat posed by climate change itself.
The French stand up for their rights.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/08/nuit-debout-protesters-occupy-french-cities-in-a-revolutionary-call-for-change
Interesting column up from Vernon Small on Stuff – sledging Little – it’s only been up a few hours and the comment balance is unrealistically extreme right – comments are closed of course.
Link?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/78754432/national-support-hits-50-per-cent-labour-and-little-fall-in-new-poll
Ta.
FJK could eat a pony in public and the commenters would still vote for the prick.
Yeah – but this looked fake – almost no regular commenters and many round numbers of up/down votes.
Comments closed in less than 3 hours – but 100s of votes for nothing special comments = fakery.
Documents released so far.
https://www.documentcloud.org/public/search/Source:%20%22Internal%20documents%20from%20Mossack%20Fonseca%20%28Panama%20Papers%29%22
First NZ mention.
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2779708-Hinojosa-Juan-Armandodoc1.html