Interesting prediction: "Todd Muller also makes the list for his work first in climate change and now in agriculture. If Bridges misses out on the prime ministership, Muller will be Leader of the Opposition by the end of the year."
"On the Government side, Green leader Shaw made history last year with his Zero Carbon Bill. For all Ardern’s talk of her nuclear-free moment, it is Shaw alone who made that happen. In contrast to the far left of his party, he has actually achieved something radically important and assured its return later this year, another historic achievement."
while the Green Party’s Julie Anne Genter is popular among the public transport crowd, her aversion to roads has delayed major projects for years
Blatant bullshit. This government is still spending billions on roads and as Associate Minister primarily responsible for safety, Genter is not in charge of the overall budgets in any case. Shane's ignorant regurgitation of right-wing talking points reduces his usefulness as a commentator.
Green co-leader James Shaw should similarly remind Eugenie Sage which party she represents and tell her to stop just applying the law on things like foreign investment and get on and change it.
And more lazy ignoring of how much power the Greens actually have in this government to change anything that Winston does not want changed. It’s the same tactic as calling Ardern a do-nothing leader. With friends like Te Pou, who needs enemas.
Todd Muller also makes the list for his work first in climate change and now in agriculture. If Bridges misses out on the prime ministership, Muller will be Leader of the Opposition by the end of the year.
Muller was removed as Nat climate spokesperson for veering too far from his party's preferred stance and cooperating too much with Shaw. Yet next they are going to anoint him as leader? Don't give up that day job..
Yeah, he's typical Labour alright! Enough to make Helen Clark proud. I do agree with both your points. Lines of portfolio responsibility do actually need to be factored into political analysis. There's a reputational risk to ministers who attempt an over-reach. And we don't know the extent to which they do behind the scenes lobbying when it results in lack of success.
Why? Got any evidence for that? Sir Pete's mayor seems to be the problem according to this from Scoop: "Mayor Foster is not seeking a business case for a second Mt Victoria road tunnel." http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=122937
1) Supporting charter schools (ironic as he also supports Tomorrow's School. He and other supporters of charter schools dont get that under charter schools, parents get zero involvement in running schools).
Funny, eh? I quoted Newsroom's description of his Labour insider status deliberately. I presume he got that track record on the basis of the accomplishments you mention. Perhaps it shows that he's slightly to the right of HC…
Sen. Susan Collins is working with a ‘small group’ of GOP senators to allow impeachment witnesses
"House Democrats impeached Republican President Donald Trump on Dec. 18, 2019, but still have not transmitted the impeachment articles to the Senate, preventing the trial from starting. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday the articles could be sent over next week.
Also on Friday, Collins told reporters that in Maine that she worked all week with a “fairly small group” of Republican senators and others in the party to try to make sure both House impeachment managers and representatives of Trump can call witnesses during the upcoming trial."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the Australian military was on standby to help firefighters and emergency agencies.
"I've given them very clear instructions that they are to stand ready to move and support immediately,'' Morrison said on Friday. "In the event that they are needed in the wake of what we hope we will not see today, but we must prepare for today.''
well lucky they are on stand by……
The military has already been involved in the unfolding crisis by clearing roads closed by fallen trees, burying dead cattle and sheep and providing fodder to surviving livestock.
but they could be doing so much more…….
A wind change from the south was predicted to hit the village on Friday night which officials fear could blow the flames in a new direction. Nightingale said he and the other firefighters would work to snuff out any spot fires that flare up to try and keep them from spreading. But if conditions became too dangerous, they would need to take shelter at a community hall, a solid structure with about 25,000 litres of water attached to it. Alongside the hall is a cleared, grassy area away from trees and shrubs where people can retreat as a last resort.
"The grass on the oval is very short so there's nothing to carry a strong fire,'' he said. "So that's a survival option, basically. A patch of grass. And if that happened, we'd have trucks and sprinklers going and hoses going, wetting people down. But I would hate it to come to that. Anything but that.''
My partner, the beersies drinking and bbq'ing laughting volunteer firefighter calls this the armageddon scenario – when you have no more options available and are totally out of beer and laughs.
The conservation group WWF-Australia estimates that 1.25 billion wild animals had died during the current fire crisis in addition to livestock losses, which the government expects will exceed 100,000 animals.
I am trying to wrap my mind around the number. I can't.
The majority of estimated losses were reptiles, followed by birds, then mammals such as koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and wombats.
"Kangaroos can get away from fires. But a lot get burnt to a crisp stuck in a fence,'' Blanch said.
we need more fences obviously.
Btw, between yesterday to today we had three large fires (New Plymouth, Tauranga and Taupo) plus a whole lot of smaller ones.
that patch of grass defense, is this local firefighters who are willing to risk this because this is the community they live in and they're not going to abandon it? Is the risk in that scenario the heat? Or that the building might catch on fire?
this is when you have no more options to go anywhere because the fire is everywher and you are assembling anything alive on an area that does not risk a full burn and you hose them down to keep them alive.
btw, the fire in taupo is still ongoing, now involving helicopters and diggers.
edit: It is essentially the scenario where everyone runs to the beach and into the water to stay alive.
right, but I took it as firefighters and people who chose to stay rather than having evacuated earlier while they still could. Am wondering if the firefighters chose to stay to protect their community knowing there was a risk they would get trapped there.
no they don't 'choose'. The firefighters are there to fight the fire. Many could actually not get out in time.
look at it this way. You have a 1% chance to survive if you stay on a patch that may not burn and hose yourself down with water or you have a 100% chance of dying in your car while trying to get out. What do you do?
Also, really believe me, the firefighters that i know do not take risks with the life of people in their care. They really don't and maybe we need to stop this train of thought that we can pin this on the firefighters, professionals or voluntaries. They are not responsible for this event, they are trying their hardest to get it under control and save lives.
Also it pays to remember that the firefighter has no water to stand under, he is probably out there beating the flames with a cloth sack so that others have time to stand under the water and stay save.
nah, we'll just have some beers, roast some dead pig and have a laugh.
🙂 While fundraising for a new firetruck or something.
Honestly i have nothing but pity for the families of the dead guys in OZ. Chances are that there is nothing for them to help them over, and chances are that they now get the 'single women with children she can't afford' treatment while applying for benefits. Cause widows (with children) are considered 'single women with children' in our current world. Maybe something to consider?
The cost of deliberately erasing Aboriginal history.
"We're talking about a continent that's adapted to fire [and] they were a people who were here for 50,000 years who used fire as a management tool," he said.
Following European settlement and the displacement of the region's Aboriginal communities, traditional methods of land management ceased.
[…]
Practising 'cool' fire burning at field day
Dr Massy said that meant bringing farmers together with Aboriginal people to learn and practise techniques known as 'cool-burn patch' or 'mosaic' burning.
He recently hosted a Landcare field day on his family's 1,820-hectare sheep and cattle property, and nearly 50 people showed up to learn from Indigenous land manager, Rod Mason.
"It's very important for non-Indigenous people because they're the new land owners now," Mr Mason said.
The traditional method was to use small 'cool fires' to bring on fresh grass that would attract game for hunting.
The effect was to create a landscape over thousands of years which resulted in what the first explorers and settlers described as grassland or open woodland, using terms such as "like a park", as researched recently by award-winning historian, Bill Gammage.
Essentially, the technique involves burning a small patch in mild conditions, such as cool mornings or late afternoons in late autumn and early winter, and when there is little breeze
Yes, this and underfunding the fire department – for the paid fire force, the underfunding and neglect of the volunteer fire services and taking decision making away from the locals is what let to this disaster. And our need for mindless consumption, and our governments that actively promotes mindless consumption.
As far as i can see, Joe and Jane Six Packs and their children are fucked and on their own, and this reality has yet to properly hit. Those who lost their lifelyhood, homes and relatives to the fires already know this. The rest is still burying their heads into the sand, cause change is hard and we don't want to do hard things. .
People living in cars and chicken coops three months after the fire in northern NSW. The woman's story being reported says that the crisis is so large it's understandable they can't get to help everyone, but it's hard to fathom how local councils and NGOs aren't assisting here, or areas outside the fire zones.
do read this. is this the normal response to fires? to leave your people to live in the ashes, supported by crowdfunding appeals? https://t.co/XTVNZOiZrR
its one of the issues i have raised as a 'talking point' a few times now.
How many are homeless? How to handle such a crisis.
How many have lost businesses and are now unemployed? How to handle such a crisis.
How many will be seriously ill due to smoke, pollution and frankly unsanitary living arrangements? How to handle such a crisis.
What about the loan and credit crisis for the people that have lost homes, farms, businesses but have mortgages to pay? Any help available for those that are not farmers? And i say this not to denigrate farmers, but we seem to have funds to bail out farmers any time a natural or man made disaster strikes, but do we have something in place for everyone else?
What about schools? Hospitals, Clinics, etc that burned down.?
And last but least, would we be prepared in NZ were something like this to happen to us?
edit: The local council will have also have to deal with infrastructre burned down, their employees will likewise be without homes, water, electricty, maybe even be voluntary fire fighters.
And do we really now expect NGO’s to take over and do governments Job? Cause if that is the case, Why do we have a government? (I posted a video about an honest review of the OZ fires – yesterdays open mike – and this question was raised, if you have no seen the clip i suggest you do, the ozzie does a better job then i could ever do).
These are not question i raise because i am 'negative' or such, but these are questions that we need to ask if we want to look at the future and have something akin to a plan in place. And frankly i think we here in NZ are no more better prepared and funded for that matter then the guys in OZ. We can look at the immediate handling in CHCH after the earthquakes. It is ok for a few weeks to live in a tent with a Port a Potty, but how long can you expect people to do in case of a large scale disaster such as the devastation caused in Oz?
I agree Sabine, they're important questions and not enough people are asking them yet. I also think that NZ is badly prepared, for a big quake and/or tsunami, and for climate change.
There's a community on the West Coast that is preparing for several months without support after a big Alpine Fault quake. Impressive. I think the 3 days promoted by CD is now woefully inadequate.
I'm not sure if the local council lost its building (and council people lost their homes), but it's not like every community has been that damaged, and certainly the big cities are still intact, so why are they not stepping up? I'm struggling to see the underlying processes that have broken down. But then I thought that about Chch too, especially how the Eastern suburbs were treated.
because the damage is why more and far more spread then we know
because there is no electricty – substations, powerpoles, transforemers etc all burned.
because there is no phone – no communication
because there is no water – water purification, water transport, etc all fucked
because it is mayhem. And because you have cynical bastard that is currently shitting his depends looking at the damage and trying to put a dollar sign on it, same for the insurance companies, same for the banks. And they rather not talk about it.
Seriously, look at the maps and remind yourself that these fires have been ongoing since September now, and we really have no idea about just how bad it is. You don't loose 64 houses in a small outback village (as per the thread above) and wonder why things are not working. And you still have three month of summer – with the worst heat – to come.
Besides, they very well to do people of OZ will not have any of these issues, that is reserved for us humble peasants.
As for us here in NZ, amuse yourself and find out where your local shelter is, or your local assembly place in case of a disaster. Tell me if you find something. Becuase in AKL – where i last checked a few years ago, the message was "Will be advised when the issue arises 🙂 Yeah, right TUI" and in Tauranga when they had the floods two / three years ago my friend wanting to know where to evacuate to was told on the phone by the operator to look up it up, and when she did that the webpage she was advised to use was down.
Processes have to be established before they can fail. We don't have processes in place and i would guess neither do they in Oz.
Reply to Sabine – in a big disaster (probably any big disaster) you pretty much have to look after yourself and those around you in the immediate aftermath at least. I think most people have no idea that there may be no driveable roads, maybe no petrol, no shops or cash only shops, no electricity, water or mobile connections (owing to overload) so like you say – it is important to have some plan in advance for what to do and where to evacuate to.
Re immediate aftermath example, on the day of the Feb 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch (severe earthquake but only seriously affecting about half of Christchurch) my texts both in and out kept repeating for about 10 hours and some people didn't receive my texts til hours later.
Some longer term examples – people were living in the sand dunes at the beach for months afterwards, my neighborhood (and others in the east) had portaloos from September 2010 for months until we were red zoned and then until everyone finally got kicked out in June 2013.
My point being, in a small first world modern city we struggled – we did have a huge amount of help but it takes a long time to get going and a long time to fix (many are still not "fixed" and I know 2 or 3 people who have only just settled their claims last year). So for the short term at least, get a plan, find a place to go to, have access to your hot water cylinder water (get a tap fitted underneath), have an old plug in phone (if you have a landline), keep some cash and keep your community links strong.
How Aboriginal history and technology was deliberately erased by the white settlers in Australia to justify their terra nullius thievery and slaughter of the original inhabitants.
Isaac Batey saw that the hillsides of Melbourne were terraced in the process of yam production and that the tilth of the soil was so light you could run your fingers through it. Mitchell saw these yam fields stretching as far as he could see near Gariwerd (Grampians). He extolled the beauty of these plains assuming that God had made them so that he could ‘discover’ them, not once thinking how peculiar it was for the best soil in the country to have almost no trees. This was a managed field of harvest. George Augustus Robinson saw women stretched across those same fields of horticulture in the process of harvesting the tubers.
Charles Sturt had his life saved in Central Australia when he came upon people who were harvesting a river valley and supplied him with water, from their well, roast duck and cake. Both Mitchell and Sturt described the baked goods as the lightest and sweetest they had ever tasted. How many historians have read those comments and yet not one has considered that it would be in the nation’s commercial and culinary interests to find out the particular grasses from which those flours were made?
E.M. Curr noticed that as he brought the first vehicle into the plains south of Echuca his cart wheels ‘turned up bushels of tubers’. Once again some of Australia’s best soils were almost bereft of trees, the plains having been horticulturally altered to provide permanent harvests of tubers. Unlike Mitchell’s self-indulgent congratulations, Curr was aware who had produced this productivity and later recognised that it was his sheep that destroyed it.
Of course MBA's and bean counters will be behind this.
“This airplane is designed by clowns, who in turn are supervised by monkeys,” one company pilot said in a message to a colleague in 2016, referring to the 737 Max https://t.co/e73frlVrqV
“I just jedi mind tricked this fools. I should be given $1,000 every time I take one of these calls. I save this company a sick amount of $$$$.”
“Would you put your family on a MAX simulator trained aircraft? I wouldn’t.”
“I’ll be shocked if the FAA passes this turd.”
“This is a joke. This airplane is ridiculous.”
“Best part is we are re-starting this whole thing with the 777X with the same supplier and have signed up to an even more aggressive schedule!”
“Jesus, it’s doomed.”
[…]
“I am concerned that if [redacted] chooses to require a Max simulator for its pilots beyond what all other regulators are requiring that it will be creating a difficult and unnecessary training burden for your airline, as well as potentially establish a precedent in your region for other Max customers,” the Boeing pilot wrote in the forwarded message.
An unidentified Boeing employee in a different text message exchange brags about swaying India’s regulator “to make them feel stupid about trying to require any additional training requirements.”
Added the sender: “I just Jedi mind tricked this [sic] fools. I should be given $1000 every time I take one of these calls. I save this company a sick amount of $$$$.”
This is a direct result of underfunding of the FAA and the deregulation of the Aircraft industry and handing the oversight of certification of aircraft to the industry.
WASHINGTON — Seven years ago, an internal government watchdog took a hard look at the part of the Federal Aviation Administration responsible for certifying new Boeing jetliners. The watchdog’s investigation came to some alarming conclusions.
F.A.A. employees viewed their management, the inquiry by the Transportation Department’s inspector general’s office found, as “having too close a relationship with Boeing officials.” F.A.A. managers, the report said, had not always backed efforts by agency employees “to hold Boeing accountable,” and employees feared retaliation for trying to do so.
The part of the F.A.A. under scrutiny, the Transport Airplane Directorate, was led at the time by an aerospace engineer named Ali Bahrami. The next year, he took a job at the Aerospace Industries Association, a trade group whose members include Boeing. In that position, he urged his former agency to allow manufacturers like Boeing to perform as much of the work of certifying new planes as possible.
The question of whether the F.A.A. has gone too far in allowing Boeing to regulate itself has emerged as one of the key issues after the crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia this month, the second deadly crash of the new plane in less than five months. The practice is already coming under scrutiny from Congress, and lawmakers are likely to press the F.A.A.’s acting administrator on Wednesday when he appears at a Senate hearing.
Attention Jenny, for the last time, because I am tiring wasting my time on this (and I have no obligation to do this):
You seem to still not understand why you are in Moderation and below is a timeline of relevant stuff.
You are also disconnected from other comments, replies (incl. to your own comments), moderation notes to you, and your comments ending up in Trash. Commenters who are only/largely interested in using TS as medium/platform to hear their own voice and who are or appear to be largely oblivious of the TS community should start their own blog. I don’t care either way.
Besides this, 1) you don’t call out others by giving them incorrect labels, and 2) you don’t interfere with moderation. These are the two main reasons why you ended up and still are in Moderation.
Weka replied a few times to FoRo to get him to explain his comments before moderation started.
2020/01/04 at 8:17 am (comment by FoRo moved to OM & moderated)
2020/01/04 at 12:11 pm (comment by FoRo moved to OM)
2020/01/04 at 1:16 pm (comment by FoRo moderated)
2020/01/05 at 10:55 am (comment by FoRo moved to OM)
On 5 Jan Jenny replied 3 times to FoRo but no response from FoRo.
2020/01/05 at 4:51 pm (Jenny replies to Sacha; moans that FoRo refuses to debate (presumably with Jenny; calls him a troll) – answering/replying to other commenters is not compulsory but responding to Moderation is.
5 January 2020 at 5:14 pm (Incognito replies to Jenny stating that FoRo is not trolling but is trying to explain his position to Weka, i.e. he’s responding to Moderation; Incognito warns Jenny to stay out of Moderation).
2020/01/06 at 10:50 am (Jenny put into Moderation; moans again about FoRo not engaging (with her); calls him a “right wing troll”; does not acknowledge that FoRo was actively being monitored/moderated and that she needs to butt out of moderation).
Jenny makes 13 comments unrelated to her own moderation while in Moderation, which all end up in Trash; doesn’t realise or doesn’t care.
2020/01/11 at 12:21 am (in Trash; Jenny asks how long ban is for – has already been explained to her; reckons she’s in “good company” (!?) if ban is permanent; takes a swipe at RedLogix and FoRo).
Yep. I'm pretty much over spending my time chasing people up to respond to moderation. Regulars here should know by now that if their comments don't appear they need to go back and look for their last comment and see the moderation note attached. Responding to that will get moderators to sort things out. Spamming the Trash folder (or trying to litigate there) won't. In the end it all comes down to not wasting moderator time (I'd rather be writing posts).
I've seen the claim several places, but does anyone have video or a reliable news source confirming Trump adviser Sean Hannity said on-air, online, or on radio that Iran was about to be hit by B52s shortly before an Iranian battery allegedly mistook an airliner for a US warplane?
(I ask because no country, having been told by the leader of a geopolitical foe that it could be bombed at any time, would fail to monitor the communications of a top adviser to that leader who happened to be *on-air* at the time of a potential airstrike. So this *does* matter.)
VIDEO/ OK, here it is…and…{*sigh*}… JFC—I hate this. It's bad. Bad because he did what folks said, there's no doubt Iran was watching, and based on the Trump-Hannity history of near-daily contact it's possible his source for this fake news was POTUS. https://t.co/yYbBLTkHZJ
n the hours after the missile strikes, US terrorist forces' warplanes around the country increased, and some reports of air strikes targeting strategic centers in the country were reported to numerous defense units and targets on some radar plates. It has caused more sensitivity in air defense units.
In such critical conditions, the Ukrainian Airlines departs from Imam Khomeini Airport and, while in rotation, was in close proximity to a sensitive military center of the IRGC and in a height and shape of a hostile aircraft. In these circumstances, the plane was accidentally hit by a human error, which unfortunately results in the martyrdom of dear compatriots and the death of a number of foreign nationals.
The Armed Forces General Staff sends condolences to the families of missing persons of other countries and apologizes for the human error, ensures that this will not happen again by carrying out major reforms in operational processes at armed forces level to make such errors impossible and immediately report it to the Armed Forces Judicial Organization to deal with the errors committed legally.
snip
After the USS Vincennes in 1989 shot down Iran Air Flight 655 and killed 290 people, including many children, the U.S. government denied any culpability. George H. W. Bush, the vice president of the United States at the time, commented: "I will never apologize for the United States – I don't care what the facts are… I'm not an apologize-for-America kind of guy." Despite its "error" the crew was given medals and the captain was even awarded a Legion of Merit "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service as commanding officer …".
i agree with B's comment that the Iranian officer most likely will not receive a medal.
After initial denials US officials lied through their teeth, asserting the airliner was rapidly descending and was headed toward the Vincennes in an attack profile, when in fact their own onboard systems recorded the airliner climbing and other US warships in the area had identified the aircraft as civilian and that the flight was well within a recognized international air corridor.
A month after the loss of 290 lives VP Bush declared
I will never apologize for the United States — I don’t care what the facts are. … I’m not an apologize-for-America kind of guy
and despite mealy mouthed notes of regret for the loss of human lives, the US has never formally apologized or acknowledged wrongdoing.
To rub in the salt, the Vincennes crew were awarded combat ribbons with no acknowledgement of the incident and it took eight years before any compensation was offered to the victims families.
In the days immediately following the incident, US President Ronald Reagan issued a written diplomatic note to the Iranian government, expressing deep regret.[11]
Maybe you should get the wikipedia page altered to suit.
Probably not your cup of tea music wise joe90 but a anarchist mate was at one of their concerts recently, and the place got flooded with police who shut them down when they started playing this song.
Been talking with mates in Russia and Putin is freaking out over popular music at the moment. Little Big, IC3PEAK and others are having concerts pulled even before they play. His control not as solid as it once was, especially with the youth.
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A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 16, 2020 through Sat, Feb 22, 2020 Editor's Pick JP Morgan economists warn climate crisis is threat to human raceLeaked report for world’s major fossil fuel financier says ...
Last week the Wall Street Journal published an article ‘The Dangerous Denial of Sex by two scientists Colin Wright and Emma Hilton. Write is an evolutionary biologist at Penn State and Hilton is a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester. It is well worth reading the article in full. Here ...
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...
Winston Peters - Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the NZ First PartyWe all know that politics can be pretty messy at times. Just look at the Dirty Politics saga in New Zealand, the misgovernment of the Australian bushfires or the recent Trump impeachment debacle in the US. In a ...
Last Monday SpaceX launched another clutch of Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit, bringing up to 300 the number of these units intended to bring 5G internet to the whole globe. In this post I present a movie showing how all 300 such satellites will be zipping around our planet over ...
The recent floods in Southland have highlighted the issue of Rio Tinto's illegal toxic waste dump in Mataura. But according to Newsroom, there's an even worse mess in Ruakaka near Whangarei:A Northland property stockpiled one million litres of flammable and toxic chemicals. Almost two years since the situation came to ...
It’s amazing just how many attack ads $100,000 buys you these days. The National Party has really been going to town lately, with their latest Twitter campaign making a number of questionable and blatantly false assertions, one being that poverty has worsened under the Labour led Government.The National Party's claim ...
OMV's exploratory drilling in the Great South Basin has failed to find oil. Good. Firstly, because we can't afford to burn the oil and gas we've already found, so there's just no point looking for more. And secondly, because offshore, deep-water drilling poses a risk of an environmental catastrophe, which ...
The government has announced it will strengthen whistleblower protections. The major change is "allowing people to report serious wrongdoing direct to an external authority if they wish", which fixes one of the big flaws in the Act. At present, whistleblowers must generally make their disclosure direct to the body they ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bruce Lieberman CARLSBAD, CA. – When it comes to paying the electric bill, most people don’t give it a second thought – it’s something that in effect is “baked in.” But across California and several other states, local governments increasingly are ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Part 4 Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the fourth part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
The Democracy Virus: China’s authoritarian political system enables a level of social surveillance and control that liberal democratic societies cannot match. The Chinese Government makes full use of the latest digital technology to both punish – and reward – its citizens. The plans it formulates cannot be challenged, or hindered. Where ...
Another day, another IPCA report on criminal conduct by policy. This time they kicked a child in the head when he was handcuffed:Police chased him and yelled out for him to stop. When he turned to face the police, he threatened them with a hammer. That's when the officers tasered ...
The investigation of two of the five parties in Parliament for fraud around their election donations has pushed the issue of party funding back into the spotlight. And while there are obvious things we can do to tighten up the donations regime - a much lower declaration threshold, realtime disclosure ...
While the south of New Zealand has been struggling with too much rain in recent days, here in the north we are so very short of it (though Saturday’s forecast looks promising). Basically, we have had almost none since Christmas.As someone who relies on rain to wash the car, ...
Former National Party MP Jami-Lee RossIt comes as no surprise that Jami-Lee Ross has been named as one of the defendants in the X2 $100,000 National Party donations case currently before the courts. Click bait journalists who were chaffing at the bit to discredit the former senior whip had already ...
Stand Clear! Winston Peters is encouraging voters to think of RNZ as belonging to “The Media Party”. He wants them to see it as a politically partisan institution with its own, vicious attack-dogs in the electoral fight. If he succeeds, it will be, and probably should be, the end of ...
"You're going to need a longer runway" Gratton et al explore the ongoing effects of upward-creeping temperatures on aviation in Greece in the period since 1955 at a range of airports in that country. For longer runways impacts are measurable but with little impact on operations. For airports with shorter runways, ...
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...
Former National Party chief whip Jami-Lee Ross is one of the four people charged over National's multiple fraudulent donations. How unsurprising. Meanwhile, just days ago National leader Simon Bridges was trying to pretend the charges were nothing to do with his party. Yeah, right. When your chief whip effectively publicly ...
If you've been watching FYI for a while, you'll have noticed that the police have a bad habit of demanding ID from requesters. They have apparently been repeatedly told to stop doing this by the Ombudsman, but we all know what law enforcement thinks of the law, so thye keep ...
Collateral Damage: For the Green Phoenix to be reborn, the funeral pyre so patiently assembled by its identity politicians over the course of many fractious years – but with growing intensity over the past three – first has to be ignited. The terrible probability, of course, is that, in setting ...
If you follow politics in New Zealand you've likely noticed that the right wing have been going on and on about the Coalition Government failing to reduce poverty. In fact they’ve been incessantly claiming, in the absence of any conclusive data, that poverty has been getting worse.Yesterday, NewstalkZB reported:Mike Hosking: ...
The Herald reported over the weekend that an Auckland business owner is being targeted with asset forfeiture laws over a workplace death:A workplace fatality has seen police use a law usually associated with drugs and organised crime to seize millions of dollars in assets from a business owner because of ...
Just days after talking about how people feel "squeezed" and promising tax and service cuts as a "solution", National is talking about cancelling a rise in the minimum wage if elected: National is considering scrapping the Government's planned minimum wage increase if it wins this year's election, the party's finance ...
Nobody thinks about the next century anymore. That at least is Sci-Fi writer William Gibson’s observation (in this BBC 4 short interview, starting at 1:43:50 ). He calls it “Futures Fatigue”, but isn’t judgemental about it. Gibson notes that in the 20th century speculation about the 21st (and beyond) was common. Now ...
A Labour government desperate for the numbers crawls into bed with Winston Peters. Winston ignores the law and secretly takes money under the table from someone. When it is exposed just months out from an election, he is investigated by the Serious Fraud Office. That's what happened back in 2008. ...
So the Serious Fraud Office has another secret $100,050 National Party donation before the Courts in a major scandal that looks set to quash any chances Simon Bridges had of winning the 2020 election.Yesterday, Newsroom reported:The Serious Fraud Office prosecution of four people over donations to the National Party involves ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Iceberg twice the size of Washington, D.C., breaks off Pine Island glacier in Antarctica Story Highlights: The Pine Island ...
Prof Philippa Howden-ChapmanHousing policy is building up to be the key election issue again. In this blog I reflect on the importance of the role of the New Zealand Government in improving access to affordable housing. I look at what the Government has been doing to increase quality public housing ...
Writing on The Spinoff, Danyl Mclauchlan argues that we have a vacuum in our political system, in that there is no longer an anti-establishment party anymore:I think there’s a vacuum in our political system. There are obvious problems with the status quo but no real critics offering reform. It’s a ...
Stuff today has a piece about the government discovering it has been oversubsidising polluters for a decade under the Emissions Trading scheme:The Government is pledging to urgently fix an issue within the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), after it emerged some polluters are likely being over-compensated with taxpayer-funded carbon credits. [...] ...
The Marlborough District Council, tired of public scrutiny, wants to increase the amount it charges for LGOIMA requests:The cost of requesting official information from Marlborough's government agency could almost double after a jump in "fishing expeditions". Charges could be raised from $60 to $100 an hour for information supplied by ...
When Winston Peters was caught money laundering donations and stalking journalists, the Greens were conspicuous by their silence. It was another example of how getting along with their government partners was eroding their values and their own reputation. It was obviously unsustainable, and so now James Shaw has finally spoken ...
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...
With over 69,000 confirmed cases and 1,600 deaths, here’s your round-up of the latest coronavirus news. New disease and virus have now officially been named On the 11th February, the WHO Director General announced a new name for the disease: COVID-19 which is short for coronavirus disease 2019. The naming ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Feb 9, 2020 through Sat, Feb 15, 2020 Editor's Pick ANALYSIS-Climate change opens up 'frontier' farmland, but at what cost to the planet?Climate change could expand farmland globally by ...
After cross-examination Jones knew he would lose the defamation case he took against film maker Renae Maihi. That’s why he threw in the towel. The weight of evidence was clearly against the old tycoon with the defense presenting fifty articles to confirm Jones’ racist views.Being unable to harass somebody into ...
Sprung! Former NZ First president, Lester Gray, chats with RNZ's Guyon Espiner in the carpark of a Tauranga shopping centre.(Photo supplied anonymously to NZ First and The BFD.)IT’S CLEAR THAT an important aspect of Jacinda Ardern’s political success is her willingness to seek – and take – advice. This ...
Ruth Cunningham, Charlotte Paul, Andrew MoorePublic health responses to infectious diseases such as COVID-19 require us to draw on our common humanity and be explicit about our values. Recognising this will help us make good decisions in difficult situations so that, for example, the need to impose restrictive measures ...
The Helen Clark Foundation has released its report on the housing crisis, and found that house-hoarders are to blame for it:Property investors are to blame for New Zealand's high house prices, a new research paper published by the Helen Clark Foundation says. [...] McArthur said previous attempts to address housing ...
The Abortion Legislation Committee has reported back on the Abortion Legislation Bill and recommended that it be passed with some amendments. Unfortunately, the latter include even more hoops to jump through for those seeking abortions after 20 weeks, including a time-wasting requirement to consult a second doctor. No-one casually seeks ...
Brexit is likely to be a disaster for the UK (how sad, never mind). But now that they're out of the EU, the latter has finaly taken the opportunity to blacklist one of their key tax havens:The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, is to be put on an EU ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, New Zealand First Deputy Leader A total delivery of 2,000 new Police Officers has been achieved. New Zealand First Deputy Leader, Fletcher Tabuteau attended the latest police graduation of Recruit Wing 335 in Porirua today. Mr Tabuteau said, “Increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one of ...
Taupō District mayor David Trewavas has welcomed today’s announcement from regional economic development minister Shane Jones outlining $5.87m of funding for the re-development of the Taupō Airport. The bulk of the investment ($5 million) will come from the Provincial Growth Fund, while the rest will be from the New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has defended multi-million dollar provincial growth fund money for Northland water storage. The New Zealand First leader, along with Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones, were recently in Dargaville to announce up to $12.745 million PGF funding top-up for water storage initiatives in the ...
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...
Kids learn better with a full stomach. That's why we launched our Lunches in Schools programme, which is already providing free and healthy school lunches to thousands of children so they can focus on what's important - learning. ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland This afternoon to a crowd of over 100 people in Mataura -- Mark Patterson, New Zealand First List MP based in Clutha-Southland launched a parliamentary petition regarding the aluminium dross issue in Mataura, Southland. The petition asks that the ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development New Zealand First Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Finance, Fletcher Tabuteau has welcomed Statistics New Zealand’s latest report as a timely reminder of the value that this Coalition Government brings to every day New Zealanders: “This Coalition Government has meant a ...
Today New Zealand First made a pledge to campaign at the election to fund St John Ambulance the 90 per cent it has asked for. Government funding would allow St. John’s to achieve fully funded status. Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters publicly declared his determination to deliver ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order Newly released Police data shows once again the number of fleeing drivers have continued to skyrocket with a record 512 incidents occurring in December – almost tripling the number of incidents occurring just ten years ago, says New Zealand First Law and ...
While the Provincial Growth Fund has provided $2 million to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia, Regional Economic Minister Shane Jones said he is greatly concerned that there are “issues” in implementing the projects. The Minister said the immediate solution was to pipe water from a bore ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland NZ First is calling on Rio Tinto to accept its responsibilities to the Southland community and enable the immediate removal of the toxic Aluminium Dross from the Mataura Paper Mill site. New Zealand First List MP for Clutha-Southland, Mark Patterson ...
The Coalition Government has announced that a further $500,000 will be given to help residents in Southland and Otago to speed up recovery efforts from the floods. It follows prior government assistance of $200,000 earlier this month where the Southland Mayoral Relief Fund received $100,000 to support communities impacted by ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones was on RNZ’s Morning Report talking about the recent droughts in the Northland region and what the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is doing to alleviate its impact. The PGF recently announced a funding of $2 million for temporary water supplies to Kaikohe and Kaitaia, ...
Speaking to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, New Zealand First MP and Cabinet Minister Shane Jones talks water storage, plant-based meat imitation, and superstar Hollywood director James Cameron. While water storage may have its critics, Minister Jones defended the scheme by saying: “unless we invest and continue to invest” in this ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones is accusing northern iwi leaders of selling out Māori by voting for ideologically-driven court cases rather than practical steps to increase water supply. “I just think that iwi leaders who think that water issues are going to be solved by perpetually fighting in the ...
A dairy owner in St Kilda, Dunedin was delighted to hear that an attempted robbery of his establishment was foiled by a government-funded security system. Sean Lee was delighted at how well the anti-theft smoke system worked. When a knife-wielding man entered the store, the shop assistant immediately pressed a ...
Customs says it stopped more than three tonnes of illegal drugs coming into New Zealand last year. This includes 1,180kg of methamphetamine, 329kg of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine precursors, which could have been converted into 246kg of methamphetamine, 739kg and 6469 pills of MDMA or Ecstasy and 60kg of cocaine. Offshore, ...
Hon. Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development Up to $2 million will be allocated from the Provincial Growth Fund to set up temporary water supplies in Kaikohe and Kaitaia where drought is biting hard, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Drought conditions in Northland have led to ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Law and Order New Zealand First welcomes the deployment of an Eagle Police helicopter in Christchurch in what is a step towards fulfilling its long-standing goal to increase the use of police helicopters for the front line, particularly in addressing the scourge of fleeing drivers. Christchurch leads ...
It may have been the first sitting week of 2020, but our Government is already in full-swing - managing a strong economy, investing in infrastructure, and working to break the cycle of homelessness. Read below for all that, and more... ...
In a heated debate in Parliament, National's Deputy Leader Paula Bennett claimed that “nearly 1600 patched gang members have been added” since the Coalition Government took power. To illustrate her point, she altered a chart used by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to show her government’s progress in housing to instead ...
Speech by the Rt Hon Winston Peters at Parliament’s Opening 2020 "We all need insurance" This year New Zealanders are going to have a clear choice to make That choice is between: Optimism versus pessimism; More progress versus back to the future; Investment versus divestment; Unity versus division. New Zealand ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has slammed the Board of Auckland Airport following the airport's runway closing twice within two weeks due to maintenance. Around 2,000 passengers were affected by last week’s runway closures, according to 1NEWS. Another maintenance closure on January 24 saw two international flights and three domestic flights ...
A milestone has been reached with the graduation of more than 2,000 new Police officers since the Coalition Government took office in October 2017. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation today of Wing 335 marks a surge of 2,023 new officers, and coincides with some significant breakthroughs against organised ...
Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister, Kris Faafoi, and the Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, have welcomed a new cyber security qualification as a step towards countering cyber threats and keeping New Zealanders safe. Attending the launch of the new Level 6 Diploma of Cyber Security at Auckland’s Unitec Institute ...
Government Ministers today celebrated 20 years of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park/ Ko te Pataka kai o Tikapa Moana/ Te Moananui a Toi, and recognise there is much to celebrate and so much more to do to give nature a helping hand. Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage said “New Zealanders care deeply about nature.I want to ...
Prepared remarks on coronavirus by Finance Minister Grant Robertson to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and Massey University. Good morning ladies and gentlemen, The topic of this speech is the Budget 2020 priorities. But, given the considerable interest that I imagine is in the room about COVID-19 coronavirus, I do ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma. Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou katoa. Ni sa bula vinaka. Namaste Thank you Shamima, Hon. Minister Vuniwaqa, community leaders and Women’s Crisis Centre staff for your warm welcome. It’s an honour and privilege to officially ...
The Government has released a comprehensive response to ensuring New Zealanders get a fairer deal at the petrol pump. This follows the Commerce Commission fuel market study which found motorists were paying more than they should for petrol and includes: Fuel Market Bill drafting, to pass mid-year Industry consultation in ...
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, e ngā iwi, e ngā rau rangatira ma Tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula vinaka As-salaam alaikum It is a privilege to be here today. Thank you for welcoming us to your house of prayer. Thank you for your warmth. Thank you for greeting ...
Taupō Airport is to be upgraded and expanded through a $5.9 million Government funding boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. “Taupō Airport is the gateway to the Central North Island. It is essential for both keeping local people and businesses connected, but also to bring more people ...
The Minister of Housing Megan Woods has confirmed the Government is working with Rotorua Lakes District Council and Te Arawa for the second place-based assessment to better understand the housing and urban issues affecting the city. “Every New Zealander has a right to a warm, safe and secure place to ...
19 new community homes (in addition to 14 opened in December) delivered in Takanini, Auckland 500 people housed by CORT Housing Trust by end of March 2,290 new public housing homes delivered in Auckland (November 2017 – December 2019). Another nineteen new public housing homes are being delivered in Auckland, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker met today with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to discuss ways to strengthen ties between New Zealand and India. “India is a priority relationship for New Zealand. We share common democratic traditions, growing two-way trade, extensive people-to-people links, ...
Speech to the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) Delhi, India Wednesday 26 February 2020 [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] The Indo-Pacific: from principles to partnerships Distinguished guests, good afternoon and thank you for your invitation. It is good to be here at a time where New Zealand needs less of an introduction than ...
Tihei mauri ora Te Whare e tu nei Te Papa e takoto Tēnā korua No reira tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa Ni sa bula Vinaka It is a real pleasure to be here today, and to have the honour of addressing you all. If you’ll indulge me I’m ...
Improved air quality to support better health and environmental wellbeing is the focus of proposed amendments to air quality regulations, says the Associate Minister for the Environment, Hon Nanaia Mahuta. “Although our air quality is good in most places, during winter certain places have spikes in air pollution, mainly from ...
The remote eastern Bay of Plenty community of Raukokere will receive a Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $10.6 million for a water storage facility, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “This is great news for the rural community. The landowner, Te Whānau a Maruhaeremuri Hapū Trust, will use ...
The Lake Ōkaro lakebed has transferred to Te Arawa Lakes Trust, Minister for Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Kelvin Davis announced today. Kelvin Davis joined Te Arawa at Te Papaiōuru Marae in Rotorua to celebrate the reinstatement of Te Arawa Lakes Trust as a key decision maker over the bed ...
New legislation is being proposed which aims to reduce the stress and financial hardship caused by late payments to small businesses. The Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash is considering stricter rules around payment practices between businesses. “Late payments from large organisations to smaller suppliers can be crippling for these ...
A new partnership programme between the New Zealand Police and Fiji Police will focus on combatting transnational organised crime and enhancing investigative skills, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on the first day of her visit to Fiji. The programme will see: · New Zealand Institute of Environmental Science and Research ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama met today in Suva, and renewed their commitment to continue to strengthen Fiji-New Zealand relations on a foundation of shared values and equal partnership. The Prime Ministers acknowledged the kinship between Fijians and New Zealanders, one that has endured over ...
A $19.9 million investment from the Provincial Growth Fund will help develop essential infrastructure for an industrial hub in the Bay of Plenty town of Kawerau, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. “The funding will go to three projects to further develop the Putauaki Trust Industrial Hub, an industrial ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.3 million on a roading package for Mahia that will lead to greater and wider economic benefits for the region and beyond, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced at an event in Mahia today. The $8.3 million announced consists of: $7 ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed new reporting showing the Coalition Government is on track to meet its child poverty targets, with 18,400 children lifted out of poverty as a result of the Families Package. Stats NZ has released the first set of comprehensive child poverty statistics since the Government ...
Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter today announced that Bikes in Schools facilities have been rolled out to 20,000 more kiwi kids under this Government. She made the announcement at the opening of a new bike track at Henderson North School in Auckland. “Bikes in Schools facilities give kids ...
Benefit settings rise in line with wages as of 1 April Main benefits will increase by over 3 percent, instead of 1.66 percent, on 1 April with the Government’s decision to annually adjust benefit rates to increases in the average wage. The Minister for Social Development, Carmel Sepuloni, said ...
Strengthening New Zealand’s political and business ties with India will be the focus of Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters’ and Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker’s visit to India this week. The Ministers are co-leading a high level business delegation to India to support increased people and economic engagement ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio continues to champion for greater Pacific participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) careers with the announcement of the Toloa Awards, with 8 recipients of the Toloa Community Fund and 13 Toloa Tertiary Scholarships. “The Toloa Programme encourages more Pacific peoples ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has extended the date for people to have their say on proposed changes to improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. Submissions were due to close on 2 March 2020 but will now remain open until 9am on Monday 16 March 2020. “I have ...
The endangered toroa/Antipodean albatross has new international protection for its 100,000km annual migration, thanks to collaborative efforts led by New Zealand, Australia and Chile. Today, 130 countries agreed to strictly protect Antipodean albatross at the Conference of Parties on the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild ...
No sales to under-18-year-olds No advertising and sponsorship of vaping products and e-cigarettes No vaping or smokeless tobacco in smokefree areas Regulates vaping product safety comprehensively, - including devices, flavours and ingredients Ensure vaping products are available for those who want to quit smoking Vaping regulation that balances ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little will travel to Berlin tomorrow to represent New Zealand at a high-level summit on nuclear disarmament. This year, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) celebrates 50 years since it entered into force. “New Zealand’s proud record and leadership on nuclear disarmament is unwavering, so it’s important we are present ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will visit two of New Zealand’s most important Pacific partners, Fiji and Australia, next week. The visit to Fiji will be the first by a New Zealand Prime Minister in four years and comes during the 50th anniversary of Fijian independence and diplomatic relations between our ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little and New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball, have today announced the appointment of the Chief Commissioner of the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the location, and the membership of the Establishment Advisory Group. Colin Carruthers QC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of the CCRC for an ...
Māori Development Minister Hon Nanaia Mahuta and Agriculture Minister Hon Damien O’Connor co-announced the first horticultural finalists for the Ahuwhenua Trophy celebrating excellence in the Māori agricultural sector. The three finalists are Ngai Tukairangi Trust from Mt Maunganui, Otama Marere Trust from Tauranga, and Hineora Orchard Te Kaha 15B Ahuwhenua ...
A new kete of resources to strengthen support for students with dyslexia will provide extra tools for the new Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) as they start in schools, Associate Education Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Minister launched the kete in Wellington this morning, at the first of three induction ...
The Government continues to make progress on a fairer and more secure rental market for renters and landlords with the First Reading of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill and its referral to the Social Services and Community Select Committee. “Now is the opportunity for landlords, tenants and others who want ...
Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister Hon James Marape will visit New Zealand from 21-25 February, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “New Zealand and Papua New Guinea have a warm and friendly relationship. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Marape here and strengthening the relationship between our two countries,” ...
Thousands of children have begun receiving a free lunch on every day of the school week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. The Government’s free and healthy school lunch programme is under way for 7,000 students at 31 schools in Hawke’s Bay / Tairāwhiti and Bay of Plenty / Waiariki, extending ...
The Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni today announced a new approach that continues to broaden the Government’s social sector focus from a narrow, investment approach to one centred on people and wellbeing. Minister Sepuloni said redefining the previous approach to social investment by combining science, data and lived experience ...
The Government is strengthening the Protected Disclosures Act to provide better protection for whistle blowers, Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins said today. “The Protected Disclosures Act is meant to encourage people to speak up about serious wrongdoing in the workplace and protect them from losing their jobs or being ...
Nǐn hǎo (Hello in Mandarin). Xīn Nián Kuài Lè (Happy New Year in Mandarin) Néi Hóu (Hello in Cantonese). Sun Nin Fai Lok (Happy New Year in Cantonese) Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. Thank you for your invitation to attend this celebration today. I would like to acknowledge ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The federal government has activated its emergency response plan to deal with a spread of the coronavirus locally, in anticipation of it becoming a “pandemic”. It is also considering limited assistance for those hardest hit ...
In an apparent change of tune, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects to raise the topic of climate change with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison tomorrow. ...
The Government says it wants to protect small businesses from getting shafted by big companies who don’t or won’t pay their bills on time. The move can’t come too soon. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Muecke, Clinical senior lecturer in Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Adelaide Humans are physiologically hardwired to love and seek out sweet things. It’s an ancient survival mechanism that evolved to prepare our bodies for periods of fasting when food supplies ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marilyn McMahon, Deputy Dean, School of Law, Deakin University The NSW government has just introduced a bill that will, among other significant reforms, make it easier for a jury to be informed about the prior convictions of a person on trial for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marilyn McMahon, Deputy Dean, School of Law, Deakin University The NSW government has just introduced a bill that will, among other significant reforms, make it easier for a jury to be informed about the prior convictions of a person on trial for ...
By RNZ Pacific Jacinda Ardern has paid tribute to the three Fijians who died in last year’s Christchurch mosque shootings. Ardern spoke today at Lautoka Mosque as part of her trip to Fiji to remember Imam Hafiz Musa Patel, Ashraf Ali Razak and Ashraf Ali, who died almost a ...
The Real Pod reassembles to dissect the cultured fourth week of The Bachelorette NZ with special thanks to Nando’s.This week on The Bachelorette NZ, a burrito bust-up ends in anaphylaxis, Steve chows down on some one-ply, and the Buenos Aires hostel goes full Lord of the Flies. It’s become abundantly ...
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, the Catholic Bishops' agency for justice, peace and development, is concerned that the latestchild poverty numbers show that there has been anincrease in material hardship,with 4100 more children living in ...
Dr Bryce Edwards.Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni described this year’s annual benefit increases of 3 per cent as “significant”, and “a way of sharing the wealth”. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern also heralded them as the biggest increase to benefits in nine years, if National’s 2015 one-off adjustments are excluded. ...
Is it the kind of headline that will win votes at the general election? “Rock-star reception in Fijian village” followed by a sub-head “Rapturous greeting for Ardern during visit to launch $3m sanitation project”. The reporter (veteran Barry Soper, Newstalk ZB’s political editor) poses the rhetorical question: “Is there any ...
The New Zealand First Foundation received $100,000 in just one week from two rich-listers, whose donations remained secret because the individual payments fell below the disclosure threshold. ...
BusinessNZ says legislation requiring more transparent petrol pricing will probably be well-received, but there are concerns about the market study that prompted it. The Government has announced it is drafting a Fuel Market Bill to introduce requirements ...
Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Andrea Watson, Sparrows CEO and founder, and Simon Yarrow, who leads Callaghan Innovation’s ...
LGNZ say a new report from the Deep South National Science Challenge is a reminder for central government policy makers to step up the pace on progressing a national strategy on climate change adaption. LGNZ is the peak body representing New Zealand’s ...
Art schools are seen by many as beacons of liberalism. But is this the reality? Former Māori student Anna McAllister recounts her fraught journey through an Auckland art school.In high school, the only subjects I was remotely good at were the practical arts. I stayed in the art block during ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Madeline Taylor, Academic Fellow, University of Sydney This week’s decision by Norwegian company Equinor to abandon a A$200 million plan to drill for oil in the Great Australian Bight surprised both its critics and backers. Equinor says it abandoned the project off ...
Finance Minister sees serious, short-term impact on economy from Covid-19. He says the Government is able to deliver more general fiscal stimulus and sector-specific help if the economic hit is longer and harder. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has given his first comprehensive update on the economic effects expected from the ...
In response to reports that 30,000 New Zealanders earning over $100,000 are taking superannuation, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Casey Russell says: “It’s clear that many wealthy New Zealanders are collecting superannuation they don’t ...
Fancy a quick trip to Europe without leaving the comfort of your own couch? Tara Ward rounds up the best European drama for your viewing pleasure. Anyone who reckons travel is the only way to expand your mind has never had the pleasure of lying on a couch for three days ...
Child protection social work involves risk. It always will. The right decisions cannot always be made and sometimes it can be a question of choosing between the least damaging alternatives. We have had a long list of child abuse tragedies for over 30 years now – in Aotearoa New Zealand and ...
SFO scrutiny of National and NZ First donations sparked debate about party funding and electoral laws. Now, Transparency International has a warning. ...
Not paying NZ Super out to those on incomes of $100,000 or more would save taxpayers around $608 million. Is it time we shake up who gets paid and what? RNZ‘s Nita Blake-Persen reports.The number of New Zealand retirees getting their superannuation while earning more than $100,000 has topped 30,000, ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentCoronavirus John Gibb (ODT): Otago academic fears ‘massive’ impact Chris Trotter (Daily Blog): Nothing Xenophobic Or Racist About The Chinese ...
Dr Bryce Edwards.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won power in 2017 on the basis of statements such as “My goal is to eradicate child poverty in New Zealand”. The Government’s progress on child poverty will be under scrutiny at this year’s general election, but progress is slow, and many are claiming ...
New Zealand King Salmon has had a better-than-expected first half, driven by record prices for its fish products. The Marlborough-based salmon farmer's net profit rose nearly 38 percent to $20.8 million in the six months to December, with the average sale price up 6.6 percent. However, revenue of $84.2m was ...
Reform of superannuation is overdue, with new figures showing more than 30,000 superannuitants are earning more than $100,000 per year. This number is growing fast as more people keep working past 65. More than 126,000 superannuitants (17% of the total) are earning ...
Funding to give nature a helping hand and support community conservation projects opens this week, with $5.6m available for community-led projects. “The Department of Conservation (DOC) Community Fund enables us to go further and faster in our conservation ...
Police acknowledge the findings of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) in relation to decision-making in a sexual assault investigation in Palmerston North. The IPCA found that the decision-making was sound, and there was no conflict of interest ...
Thursday, February 27: Greenpeace has published an open letter calling on the organisers of music festival WOMAD to dump oil industry sponsorship. Todd Energy and Austrian oil giant OMV are on the bill again this year, despite persistent criticism from ...
The clash between urban cyclists and car drivers has been brewing for several years now. But pedestrians have been advocating for their rights for far longer, writesNot so long ago, the journalist Bernard Hickey predicted that cyclists vs motorists will become one of the political issues of our age. “We ...
A2 Milk has delivered a strong financial result, with increased sales in its infant nutrition business and with better than expected profit margins. The specialty milk company's net profit rose 21 percent in the six months to December to $184.9m, with an underlying sales margin of 32.6 percent. Sales rose ...
Air New Zealand's half year profit has taken a larger hit than expected, falling 33 percent amid slowing demand for air travel and increased costs. Its net profit was $101 million in the six months ended December, compared with $150m the year before. Costs rose due to price hikes for ...
You might be trying to reduce your carbon footprint in everyday life, but what about in death? Alex Casey talks to Becs Bartells, founder of Outside the Box about creating the perfect cardboard casket. Becs Bartells often forgets she has an empty coffin sitting in the back of her station wagon, ...
As government services shut their doors in communities and drive people to interact online, the wellbeing of New Zealand's most vulnerable people is being diminished, says the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB). CAB has released the report 'Face to Face ...
New research from justice advocacy group JustSpeak released today shows that structural bias in policing continues to disproportionately harm Māori and demonstrates the urgent need for transformative change across our justice system. Using the Statistics ...
A Spinoff article last year rightly raised concerns that citizens’ assemblies could be yet another imposition of Western ideas on Māori. But assemblies and tino rangatiratanga-based visions in fact share a critique of our current democratic system – and could together transform politics, write Emily Beausoleil and Max Rashbrooke.Nadine Anne ...
More new coronavirus cases have for the first time been reported outside China than inside, World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said. ...
Simon Bridges wouldn't deport mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant if found guilty despite calling for reciprocal policy; and Why climate change should be on the agenda for Jacinda meet Morrison. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David A. Savage, Associate Professor of Behavioural Economics , Newcastle Business School, University of Newcastle Recent days have brought reports of shoppers clearing out supermarket shelves from Wuhan and Hong Kong to Singapore and Milan in response to the spread of coronavirus. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato The Christchurch mosque attacks on March 15 last year have prompted a significant rise in tip-offs about people expressing extremist views, according to a report by New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS). During the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Beirman, Senior Lecturer, Tourism, University of Technology Sydney The coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) has now reached more than 80,000 recorded cases, largely concentrated in China, with a death toll over 2,700 and rising. There are few signs the epidemic is abating. In ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tessa Copp, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common hormonal condition. When using the definition supported by the international guidelines, it affects just under one in six young Australian women. To meet the diagnostic criteria of PCOS, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul McGorrery, PhD Candidate in Criminal Law, Deakin University The recent killing of Hannah Clarke and her three children by her estranged husband has raised national attention to the types of behaviour that might lead to such a horrific crime, and how ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominique Hes, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Architecture, University of Melbourne Despite a wealth of evidence to the contrary, some still propagate the myth that the world will need Australian coal for decades to come. Last weekend Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese joined in, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mehmet Ulubasoglu, Professor of Economics, Head of the Department of Economics and Director of the Centre for Energy, the Environment and Natural Disasters, Deakin University My team and I have analysed the incomes of people affected by some of Australia’s worst bushfires, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tiffani J. Howell, Research Fellow, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University Australians are slightly obsessed with our dogs. But are we obsessed enough to watch a reality doggy makeover show? The reality makeover concept has a long history, from ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Saving water becomes crucial amid drought, means testing Super back in the news, and a hard look at a Special Purpose Vehicle.Aucklanders need to get serious about saving water or restrictions will come in. Newshub reports that’s the message from Watercare, who ...
An anonymous international student at the University of Auckland grapples with when and how she might return to NZ amid the coronavirus outbreak, and what challenges she will face if she makes it back. I am a Chinese international student at the University of Auckland. Having completed my language course and ...
When will there be a vaccine? What can we do and how do we stay up to date? Helen Petousis-Harris gives an update on the COVID-19 global health emergency Less than two months after China told the World Health Organisation there was a problem, a lot has happened. Sadly, deaths, confirmed ...
From February 28, Kiwibank will be cheque-free. Mark Jennings looks at how it has been preparing its customers for the big change. It’s raining heavily in Nelson, something it hasn’t done for a while. Local MP and former cabinet minister Nick Smith hurriedly climbs into an old bus parked outside the city’s library. ...
Experts in far-right extremism see a number of similarities between the Christchurch terror attack and last week's mass shooting in Hanau, Germany. Marc Daalder reports. On the evening of February 19, a man shot up two shisha bars frequented by Muslims in Hanau, Germany. It later emerged that he had released ...
ReadingRoom has devoted all week to the biggest-selling book in New Zealand right now, In The Clearing, a brilliant thriller by Ngāpuhi author JP Pomare, based on creepy Australian cult The Family. We conclude the series with a review by Bill Ralston.JP Pomare's second novel In ...
Up-and-coming teenage freeskiier Ruby Andrews has shown she has the boldness and the bravery to become one of the world's top women in not one, but three, different events. There’s no questioning Ruby Andrews’ grit and determination. While most 15-year-olds are spending this summer hanging with friends on the beach, Andrews ...
New Zealand’s travel ban on China has been extended another week. The president of the New Zealand Union of Students’ Associations argues for a student exemption.The loss of lives and poor health caused by coronavirus is devastating. We must acknowledge the families, across the globe, who have lost loved ones ...
The first issue of the Otago student magazine for 2020 had barely hit campus before it was making headlines in the wider media. The cover was censored by Facebook, and a furious editorial denounced party politics, promising to give them a miss. Josie Adams speaks to editor Sinead Gill about ...
The global health emergency that is the Coronavirus - or Covid-19 - has become a game-changer for scientists around the world in terms of the speed of the response. But at the same time it's been termed a 'misinfodemic' Covid-19 – or coronavirus – is a game changer for scientists around the ...
President Rodrigo Duterte administers the oath of office to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) officials in a ceremony at the Rizal Hall in Malacañang Palace on February 26, 2020. Video: RapplerBy Felipe F. Salvosa II in Manila Reporters have finally got the chance to ...
Andy Ayamiseba died a few days ago. While the West Papuan was loved, admired and supported in Vanuatu, he fought tirelessly to win a home he could return to. He died before the dream was achieved.Originally published by the Pacific Institute of Public Policy (PIPP), this 2013 profile ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Merryn McKinnon, Senior lecturer, Australian National University Public representation of science in the media still struggles to reflect the true diversity of those who work in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). According to the Women in Leadership Australia’s 2019 Women for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Mathews, Professor of Strategic Management, Macquarie Graduate School of Management, Macquarie University Australia is the world’s third largest fossil fuels exporter – a fact that generates intense debate as climate change intensifies. While the economy is heavily reliant on coal and ...
The Otago Regional Council (ORC) voted today to request that Minister for the Environment Hon. David Parker exercise his authority to ‘call in’ upcoming proposed plan changes to the Regional Plan for Otago: Water and Regional Plan for Otago: Waste ...
This week’s plummeting international stock markets are a sign the ‘best case scenario’ economic outcomes of the coronavirus are increasingly unlikely. And that’s a worry for NZ’s manufacturers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Mark Butler, Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, is optimistic that Labor is better placed to prosecute its climate policy at the next election, compared to the last. “I think we are better positioned ...
The huge majority of New Zealanders think fishing industry donations to Members of Parliament at the last election have the potential to “strongly influence” decisions the MPs make, according to a poll conducted by Horizon Research. The poll, ...
Open mike 11/01/2020 
Here is the speech that Maya Forstater gave at the Woman’s Place UK Women’s Liberation 2020 conference at UCL on February 1st In a recent newsletter she wrote: it was an amazing day (and brilliant to meet so many people in real life). I talked about what makes people and ...4 hours ago
A New Hope from the National Party leader ...12 hours ago
NZ First portrays itself as an anti-establishment party, standing up for "the little guy" (always a guy) against Big Auckland Money and its tool-parties. But it turns out that its secret slush fund is funded by the very people it claims to oppose:Stuff can reveal a longer list of donors ...13 hours ago
14 hours ago
Will She, Or Won't She? Jacinda’s white vestments may look impressive on the cover of the international edition of TIME magazine, but every day Labour’s relationship with Winston Peters and NZ First continues, her ability to go on wearing them back home in New Zealand – without exciting derision – diminishes.IT WAS ...14 hours ago
BAMS survey of 2018 extreme weather The Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society has published a collection of articles examining unusually extreme weather events of 2018 and connections of those to climate change. These investigations are listed separately below but thanks to the generosity of AMS appear free for ...21 hours ago
Fans are outraged at the prospect of Destiny Church pastor Hannah Tamaki joining the Black Caps ...1 day ago
Less than two months after China told the WHO there was a problem, a lot has happened. Sadly, deaths, confirmed cases and countries affected are increasing every day. However, on a scientific and medical level, what is going on to contain, cure and prevent this new disease is truly inspirational. ...1 day ago
I am about to mail my overseas ballot to Florida so that it can be counted in the Democratic primary on March 17. In Florida you have closed as opposed to open primaries, which means that one must declare a party preference in order to vote in a party primary. ...5 days ago
In mid-December the Israeli secret police, the Shin Beit, revealed it had arrested dozens of Palestinian left-wing activists, including members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), in the previous few months. Among those arrested was one of the central leaders of the PFLP, Khalida Jarrar. As ...1 week ago
I am among the most pro-free speech people I know. I don’t doubt there are others more strident than me, but I’m certainly up there. And my support for freedom of expression isn’t limited to opposition to government-imposed restrictions. It extends to a belief that employers should have limited powers ...2 weeks ago
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, New Zealand First Deputy Leader A total delivery of 2,000 new Police Officers has been achieved. New Zealand First Deputy Leader, Fletcher Tabuteau attended the latest police graduation of Recruit Wing 335 in Porirua today. Mr Tabuteau said, “Increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one of ...11 hours ago
One of our most immediate priorities upon forming Government was to get people out of sleeping in cars, garages, or on the street and into safe and warm housing. Since then, we've made major progress towards breaking the cycle of homelessness, including expanding Housing First, building more state houses, and ...2 days ago
A milestone has been reached with the graduation of more than 2,000 new Police officers since the Coalition Government took office in October 2017. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation today of Wing 335 marks a surge of 2,023 new officers, and coincides with some significant breakthroughs against organised ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The federal government has activated its emergency response plan to deal with a spread of the coronavirus locally, in anticipation of it becoming a “pandemic”. It is also considering limited assistance for those hardest hit ...3 hours ago
In an apparent change of tune, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern expects to raise the topic of climate change with Australian counterpart Scott Morrison tomorrow. ...5 hours ago
The Government says it wants to protect small businesses from getting shafted by big companies who don’t or won’t pay their bills on time. The move can’t come too soon. ...6 hours ago
Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand, the Catholic Bishops' agency for justice, peace and development, is concerned that the latestchild poverty numbers show that there has been anincrease in material hardship,with 4100 more children living in ...9 hours ago
Is it the kind of headline that will win votes at the general election? “Rock-star reception in Fijian village” followed by a sub-head “Rapturous greeting for Ardern during visit to launch $3m sanitation project”. The reporter (veteran Barry Soper, Newstalk ZB’s political editor) poses the rhetorical question: “Is there any ...10 hours ago
Art schools are seen by many as beacons of liberalism. But is this the reality? Former Māori student Anna McAllister recounts her fraught journey through an Auckland art school.In high school, the only subjects I was remotely good at were the practical arts. I stayed in the art block during ...11 hours ago
Jacinda Ardern has paid tribute to the three Fijians who died in last year's Christchurch mosque shootings. ...11 hours ago
Finance Minister sees serious, short-term impact on economy from Covid-19. He says the Government is able to deliver more general fiscal stimulus and sector-specific help if the economic hit is longer and harder. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has given his first comprehensive update on the economic effects expected from the ...12 hours ago
Child protection social work involves risk. It always will. The right decisions cannot always be made and sometimes it can be a question of choosing between the least damaging alternatives. We have had a long list of child abuse tragedies for over 30 years now – in Aotearoa New Zealand and ...13 hours ago
New Zealand King Salmon has had a better-than-expected first half, driven by record prices for its fish products. The Marlborough-based salmon farmer's net profit rose nearly 38 percent to $20.8 million in the six months to December, with the average sale price up 6.6 percent. However, revenue of $84.2m was ...14 hours ago
The Government has accepted a majority of the recommendations of the Commerce Commission's retail fuel market study, Marc Daalder reports Energy Minister Megan Woods announced today that the Government will regulate the wholesale fuel market, in line with recommendations from the Commerce Commission. In legislation due to be passed by ...14 hours ago
A2 Milk has delivered a strong financial result, with increased sales in its infant nutrition business and with better than expected profit margins. The specialty milk company's net profit rose 21 percent in the six months to December to $184.9m, with an underlying sales margin of 32.6 percent. Sales rose ...15 hours ago
Air New Zealand's half year profit has taken a larger hit than expected, falling 33 percent amid slowing demand for air travel and increased costs. Its net profit was $101 million in the six months ended December, compared with $150m the year before. Costs rose due to price hikes for ...15 hours ago
More new coronavirus cases have for the first time been reported outside China than inside, World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said. ...17 hours ago
New Zealand is flush with Lotto fever, with a $50 million must-win record jackpot up for grabs this Saturday. ...17 hours ago
Simon Bridges wouldn't deport mosque shooter Brenton Tarrant if found guilty despite calling for reciprocal policy; and Why climate change should be on the agenda for Jacinda meet Morrison. ...17 hours ago
An anonymous international student at the University of Auckland grapples with when and how she might return to NZ amid the coronavirus outbreak, and what challenges she will face if she makes it back. I am a Chinese international student at the University of Auckland. Having completed my language course and ...20 hours ago
When will there be a vaccine? What can we do and how do we stay up to date? Helen Petousis-Harris gives an update on the COVID-19 global health emergency Less than two months after China told the World Health Organisation there was a problem, a lot has happened. Sadly, deaths, confirmed ...20 hours ago
From February 28, Kiwibank will be cheque-free. Mark Jennings looks at how it has been preparing its customers for the big change. It’s raining heavily in Nelson, something it hasn’t done for a while. Local MP and former cabinet minister Nick Smith hurriedly climbs into an old bus parked outside the city’s library. ...20 hours ago
Experts in far-right extremism see a number of similarities between the Christchurch terror attack and last week's mass shooting in Hanau, Germany. Marc Daalder reports. On the evening of February 19, a man shot up two shisha bars frequented by Muslims in Hanau, Germany. It later emerged that he had released ...20 hours ago
ReadingRoom has devoted all week to the biggest-selling book in New Zealand right now, In The Clearing, a brilliant thriller by Ngāpuhi author JP Pomare, based on creepy Australian cult The Family. We conclude the series with a review by Bill Ralston. JP Pomare's second novel In ...20 hours ago
Up-and-coming teenage freeskiier Ruby Andrews has shown she has the boldness and the bravery to become one of the world's top women in not one, but three, different events. There’s no questioning Ruby Andrews’ grit and determination. While most 15-year-olds are spending this summer hanging with friends on the beach, Andrews ...20 hours ago
The global health emergency that is the Coronavirus - or Covid-19 - has become a game-changer for scientists around the world in terms of the speed of the response. But at the same time it's been termed a 'misinfodemic' Covid-19 – or coronavirus – is a game changer for scientists around the ...20 hours ago
Global health officials have declared the world is not ready for coronavirus - but can we be ready for future outbreaks? ...1 day ago
This week’s plummeting international stock markets are a sign the ‘best case scenario’ economic outcomes of the coronavirus are increasingly unlikely. And that’s a worry for NZ’s manufacturers. ...1 day ago
Shane Te Pou is a former candidate, campaign manager and executive member of the Labour Party. He previews election 2020: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@politics/2020/01/08/976532/the-stars-the-safe-pairs-of-hands-and-the-disasters
Interesting prediction: "Todd Muller also makes the list for his work first in climate change and now in agriculture. If Bridges misses out on the prime ministership, Muller will be Leader of the Opposition by the end of the year."
"On the Government side, Green leader Shaw made history last year with his Zero Carbon Bill. For all Ardern’s talk of her nuclear-free moment, it is Shaw alone who made that happen. In contrast to the far left of his party, he has actually achieved something radically important and assured its return later this year, another historic achievement."
Blatant bullshit. This government is still spending billions on roads and as Associate Minister primarily responsible for safety, Genter is not in charge of the overall budgets in any case. Shane's ignorant regurgitation of right-wing talking points reduces his usefulness as a commentator.
And more lazy ignoring of how much power the Greens actually have in this government to change anything that Winston does not want changed. It’s the same tactic as calling Ardern a do-nothing leader. With friends like Te Pou, who needs enemas.
Muller was removed as Nat climate spokesperson for veering too far from his party's preferred stance and cooperating too much with Shaw. Yet next they are going to anoint him as leader? Don't give up that day job..
I wasn't all that impressed either. Get the feeling he is just repeating current MSM political credo.
Lazy thinking, basically.
Yeah, he's typical Labour alright! Enough to make Helen Clark proud. I do agree with both your points. Lines of portfolio responsibility do actually need to be factored into political analysis. There's a reputational risk to ministers who attempt an over-reach. And we don't know the extent to which they do behind the scenes lobbying when it results in lack of success.
He's typical Labour's too left all right fraxie.
Bullshit to your bullshit.
You can thank her for the second Mt Vic tunnel that isn’t happening.
Why? Got any evidence for that? Sir Pete's mayor seems to be the problem according to this from Scoop: "Mayor Foster is not seeking a business case for a second Mt Victoria road tunnel." http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=122937
Sequencing of one part of a bigger regional programme, sure. Not cancelled. The rest of the claim is regurgitated bullshit.
Shane Te Pou is on record as:
1) Supporting charter schools (ironic as he also supports Tomorrow's School. He and other supporters of charter schools dont get that under charter schools, parents get zero involvement in running schools).
2) Supporting mining in national parks.
Just as an FYI
Funny, eh? I quoted Newsroom's description of his Labour insider status deliberately. I presume he got that track record on the basis of the accomplishments you mention. Perhaps it shows that he's slightly to the right of HC…
And you’re on record as saying that a man who walked into WINZ offices and shot innocent employees dead should be held up as a hero.
just as a FYI
[FFS, James! Address the content. Do not start a flame war with an attack on a commenter. You must be itching for another ban – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 5:42 PM.
Sen. Susan Collins is working with a ‘small group’ of GOP senators to allow impeachment witnesses
"House Democrats impeached Republican President Donald Trump on Dec. 18, 2019, but still have not transmitted the impeachment articles to the Senate, preventing the trial from starting. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Friday the articles could be sent over next week.
Also on Friday, Collins told reporters that in Maine that she worked all week with a “fairly small group” of Republican senators and others in the party to try to make sure both House impeachment managers and representatives of Trump can call witnesses during the upcoming trial."
https://www.theepochtimes.com/sen-susan-collins-working-with-small-group-of-gop-senators-to-allow-impeachment-witnesses_3200320.html
https://www.theepochtimes.com/resolution-to-submit-trump-impeachment-articles-to-the-senate-could-be-introduced-next-week-pelosi_3200175.html
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/118724735/australians-leave-homes-as-heat-winds-escalate-fire-danger
well lucky they are on stand by……
but they could be doing so much more…….
My partner, the beersies drinking and bbq'ing laughting volunteer firefighter calls this the armageddon scenario – when you have no more options available and are totally out of beer and laughs.
I am trying to wrap my mind around the number. I can't.
we need more fences obviously.
Btw, between yesterday to today we had three large fires (New Plymouth, Tauranga and Taupo) plus a whole lot of smaller ones.
So far we have been very lucky.
that patch of grass defense, is this local firefighters who are willing to risk this because this is the community they live in and they're not going to abandon it? Is the risk in that scenario the heat? Or that the building might catch on fire?
this is when you have no more options to go anywhere because the fire is everywher and you are assembling anything alive on an area that does not risk a full burn and you hose them down to keep them alive.
btw, the fire in taupo is still ongoing, now involving helicopters and diggers.
edit: It is essentially the scenario where everyone runs to the beach and into the water to stay alive.
right, but I took it as firefighters and people who chose to stay rather than having evacuated earlier while they still could. Am wondering if the firefighters chose to stay to protect their community knowing there was a risk they would get trapped there.
no they don't 'choose'. The firefighters are there to fight the fire. Many could actually not get out in time.
look at it this way. You have a 1% chance to survive if you stay on a patch that may not burn and hose yourself down with water or you have a 100% chance of dying in your car while trying to get out. What do you do?
Also, really believe me, the firefighters that i know do not take risks with the life of people in their care. They really don't and maybe we need to stop this train of thought that we can pin this on the firefighters, professionals or voluntaries. They are not responsible for this event, they are trying their hardest to get it under control and save lives.
Also it pays to remember that the firefighter has no water to stand under, he is probably out there beating the flames with a cloth sack so that others have time to stand under the water and stay save.
are you following the NZ fires online somewhere?
my partner is a voluntary firefighter and we get the updates of all the fires.
And when the beeper goes, i wave him goodbye and hope he comes home in one piece.
As all of us 'spouses' do.
And frankly we have been so lucky so far.
That must be scary.
it’s a hell of a job they do. Can’t be easy for those at home either.
nah, we'll just have some beers, roast some dead pig and have a laugh.
🙂 While fundraising for a new firetruck or something.
Honestly i have nothing but pity for the families of the dead guys in OZ. Chances are that there is nothing for them to help them over, and chances are that they now get the 'single women with children she can't afford' treatment while applying for benefits. Cause widows (with children) are considered 'single women with children' in our current world. Maybe something to consider?
The cost of deliberately erasing Aboriginal history.
"We're talking about a continent that's adapted to fire [and] they were a people who were here for 50,000 years who used fire as a management tool," he said.
Following European settlement and the displacement of the region's Aboriginal communities, traditional methods of land management ceased.
[…]
Practising 'cool' fire burning at field day
Dr Massy said that meant bringing farmers together with Aboriginal people to learn and practise techniques known as 'cool-burn patch' or 'mosaic' burning.
He recently hosted a Landcare field day on his family's 1,820-hectare sheep and cattle property, and nearly 50 people showed up to learn from Indigenous land manager, Rod Mason.
"It's very important for non-Indigenous people because they're the new land owners now," Mr Mason said.
The traditional method was to use small 'cool fires' to bring on fresh grass that would attract game for hunting.
The effect was to create a landscape over thousands of years which resulted in what the first explorers and settlers described as grassland or open woodland, using terms such as "like a park", as researched recently by award-winning historian, Bill Gammage.
Essentially, the technique involves burning a small patch in mild conditions, such as cool mornings or late afternoons in late autumn and early winter, and when there is little breeze
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-24/monaro-farmers-use-aboriginal-cool-burn-fires-to-recover/7440824?
Yes, this and underfunding the fire department – for the paid fire force, the underfunding and neglect of the volunteer fire services and taking decision making away from the locals is what let to this disaster. And our need for mindless consumption, and our governments that actively promotes mindless consumption.
As far as i can see, Joe and Jane Six Packs and their children are fucked and on their own, and this reality has yet to properly hit. Those who lost their lifelyhood, homes and relatives to the fires already know this. The rest is still burying their heads into the sand, cause change is hard and we don't want to do hard things. .
People living in cars and chicken coops three months after the fire in northern NSW. The woman's story being reported says that the crisis is so large it's understandable they can't get to help everyone, but it's hard to fathom how local councils and NGOs aren't assisting here, or areas outside the fire zones.
its one of the issues i have raised as a 'talking point' a few times now.
How many are homeless? How to handle such a crisis.
How many have lost businesses and are now unemployed? How to handle such a crisis.
How many will be seriously ill due to smoke, pollution and frankly unsanitary living arrangements? How to handle such a crisis.
What about the loan and credit crisis for the people that have lost homes, farms, businesses but have mortgages to pay? Any help available for those that are not farmers? And i say this not to denigrate farmers, but we seem to have funds to bail out farmers any time a natural or man made disaster strikes, but do we have something in place for everyone else?
What about schools? Hospitals, Clinics, etc that burned down.?
And last but least, would we be prepared in NZ were something like this to happen to us?
edit: The local council will have also have to deal with infrastructre burned down, their employees will likewise be without homes, water, electricty, maybe even be voluntary fire fighters.
And do we really now expect NGO’s to take over and do governments Job? Cause if that is the case, Why do we have a government? (I posted a video about an honest review of the OZ fires – yesterdays open mike – and this question was raised, if you have no seen the clip i suggest you do, the ozzie does a better job then i could ever do).
These are not question i raise because i am 'negative' or such, but these are questions that we need to ask if we want to look at the future and have something akin to a plan in place. And frankly i think we here in NZ are no more better prepared and funded for that matter then the guys in OZ. We can look at the immediate handling in CHCH after the earthquakes. It is ok for a few weeks to live in a tent with a Port a Potty, but how long can you expect people to do in case of a large scale disaster such as the devastation caused in Oz?
I agree Sabine, they're important questions and not enough people are asking them yet. I also think that NZ is badly prepared, for a big quake and/or tsunami, and for climate change.
There's a community on the West Coast that is preparing for several months without support after a big Alpine Fault quake. Impressive. I think the 3 days promoted by CD is now woefully inadequate.
I'm not sure if the local council lost its building (and council people lost their homes), but it's not like every community has been that damaged, and certainly the big cities are still intact, so why are they not stepping up? I'm struggling to see the underlying processes that have broken down. But then I thought that about Chch too, especially how the Eastern suburbs were treated.
because the fires are ongoing.
because the damage is why more and far more spread then we know
because there is no electricty – substations, powerpoles, transforemers etc all burned.
because there is no phone – no communication
because there is no water – water purification, water transport, etc all fucked
because it is mayhem. And because you have cynical bastard that is currently shitting his depends looking at the damage and trying to put a dollar sign on it, same for the insurance companies, same for the banks. And they rather not talk about it.
Seriously, look at the maps and remind yourself that these fires have been ongoing since September now, and we really have no idea about just how bad it is. You don't loose 64 houses in a small outback village (as per the thread above) and wonder why things are not working. And you still have three month of summer – with the worst heat – to come.
Besides, they very well to do people of OZ will not have any of these issues, that is reserved for us humble peasants.
As for us here in NZ, amuse yourself and find out where your local shelter is, or your local assembly place in case of a disaster. Tell me if you find something. Becuase in AKL – where i last checked a few years ago, the message was "Will be advised when the issue arises 🙂 Yeah, right TUI" and in Tauranga when they had the floods two / three years ago my friend wanting to know where to evacuate to was told on the phone by the operator to look up it up, and when she did that the webpage she was advised to use was down.
Processes have to be established before they can fail. We don't have processes in place and i would guess neither do they in Oz.
Reply to Sabine – in a big disaster (probably any big disaster) you pretty much have to look after yourself and those around you in the immediate aftermath at least. I think most people have no idea that there may be no driveable roads, maybe no petrol, no shops or cash only shops, no electricity, water or mobile connections (owing to overload) so like you say – it is important to have some plan in advance for what to do and where to evacuate to.
Re immediate aftermath example, on the day of the Feb 2011 earthquakes in Christchurch (severe earthquake but only seriously affecting about half of Christchurch) my texts both in and out kept repeating for about 10 hours and some people didn't receive my texts til hours later.
Some longer term examples – people were living in the sand dunes at the beach for months afterwards, my neighborhood (and others in the east) had portaloos from September 2010 for months until we were red zoned and then until everyone finally got kicked out in June 2013.
My point being, in a small first world modern city we struggled – we did have a huge amount of help but it takes a long time to get going and a long time to fix (many are still not "fixed" and I know 2 or 3 people who have only just settled their claims last year). So for the short term at least, get a plan, find a place to go to, have access to your hot water cylinder water (get a tap fitted underneath), have an old plug in phone (if you have a landline), keep some cash and keep your community links strong.
How Aboriginal history and technology was deliberately erased by the white settlers in Australia to justify their terra nullius thievery and slaughter of the original inhabitants.
Isaac Batey saw that the hillsides of Melbourne were terraced in the process of yam production and that the tilth of the soil was so light you could run your fingers through it. Mitchell saw these yam fields stretching as far as he could see near Gariwerd (Grampians). He extolled the beauty of these plains assuming that God had made them so that he could ‘discover’ them, not once thinking how peculiar it was for the best soil in the country to have almost no trees. This was a managed field of harvest. George Augustus Robinson saw women stretched across those same fields of horticulture in the process of harvesting the tubers.
Charles Sturt had his life saved in Central Australia when he came upon people who were harvesting a river valley and supplied him with water, from their well, roast duck and cake. Both Mitchell and Sturt described the baked goods as the lightest and sweetest they had ever tasted. How many historians have read those comments and yet not one has considered that it would be in the nation’s commercial and culinary interests to find out the particular grasses from which those flours were made?
E.M. Curr noticed that as he brought the first vehicle into the plains south of Echuca his cart wheels ‘turned up bushels of tubers’. Once again some of Australia’s best soils were almost bereft of trees, the plains having been horticulturally altered to provide permanent harvests of tubers. Unlike Mitchell’s self-indulgent congratulations, Curr was aware who had produced this productivity and later recognised that it was his sheep that destroyed it.
http://archive.li/Vi9vR
Of course MBA's and bean counters will be behind this.
Some of the most notable messages:
[…]
“I am concerned that if [redacted] chooses to require a Max simulator for its pilots beyond what all other regulators are requiring that it will be creating a difficult and unnecessary training burden for your airline, as well as potentially establish a precedent in your region for other Max customers,” the Boeing pilot wrote in the forwarded message.
An unidentified Boeing employee in a different text message exchange brags about swaying India’s regulator “to make them feel stupid about trying to require any additional training requirements.”
Added the sender: “I just Jedi mind tricked this [sic] fools. I should be given $1000 every time I take one of these calls. I save this company a sick amount of $$$$.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-01-10/-incredibly-damning-boeing-messages-show-employee-unease-on-max
This is a direct result of underfunding of the FAA and the deregulation of the Aircraft industry and handing the oversight of certification of aircraft to the industry.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/26/us/politics/boeing-faa.html
Attention Jenny, for the last time, because I am tiring wasting my time on this (and I have no obligation to do this):
You seem to still not understand why you are in Moderation and below is a timeline of relevant stuff.
You are also disconnected from other comments, replies (incl. to your own comments), moderation notes to you, and your comments ending up in Trash. Commenters who are only/largely interested in using TS as medium/platform to hear their own voice and who are or appear to be largely oblivious of the TS community should start their own blog. I don’t care either way.
Besides this, 1) you don’t call out others by giving them incorrect labels, and 2) you don’t interfere with moderation. These are the two main reasons why you ended up and still are in Moderation.
Weka replied a few times to FoRo to get him to explain his comments before moderation started.
2020/01/04 at 8:17 am (comment by FoRo moved to OM & moderated)
2020/01/04 at 12:11 pm (comment by FoRo moved to OM)
2020/01/04 at 1:16 pm (comment by FoRo moderated)
2020/01/05 at 10:55 am (comment by FoRo moved to OM)
On 5 Jan Jenny replied 3 times to FoRo but no response from FoRo.
2020/01/05 at 4:51 pm (Jenny replies to Sacha; moans that FoRo refuses to debate (presumably with Jenny; calls him a troll) – answering/replying to other commenters is not compulsory but responding to Moderation is.
5 January 2020 at 5:14 pm (Incognito replies to Jenny stating that FoRo is not trolling but is trying to explain his position to Weka, i.e. he’s responding to Moderation; Incognito warns Jenny to stay out of Moderation).
2020/01/06 at 10:50 am (Jenny put into Moderation; moans again about FoRo not engaging (with her); calls him a “right wing troll”; does not acknowledge that FoRo was actively being monitored/moderated and that she needs to butt out of moderation).
Jenny makes 13 comments unrelated to her own moderation while in Moderation, which all end up in Trash; doesn’t realise or doesn’t care.
2020/01/11 at 12:21 am (in Trash; Jenny asks how long ban is for – has already been explained to her; reckons she’s in “good company” (!?) if ban is permanent; takes a swipe at RedLogix and FoRo).
I feel tired just reading that.
Sorry. Sleep on it 😉
Yep. I'm pretty much over spending my time chasing people up to respond to moderation. Regulars here should know by now that if their comments don't appear they need to go back and look for their last comment and see the moderation note attached. Responding to that will get moderators to sort things out. Spamming the Trash folder (or trying to litigate there) won't. In the end it all comes down to not wasting moderator time (I'd rather be writing posts).
and so it goes,
Iran admitted to accidentally shooting down the plane. From Al Jazeera.
More news forthcoming.
This year is gonna be so interesting.
This week has been an interesting year.
(I ask because no country, having been told by the leader of a geopolitical foe that it could be bombed at any time, would fail to monitor the communications of a top adviser to that leader who happened to be *on-air* at the time of a potential airstrike. So this *does* matter.)
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1215337524064915456.html
this is a good summary
i agree with B's comment that the Iranian officer most likely will not receive a medal.
Thanks Sabine. Read the Stuff article 5 mins ago and my immediate reaction:
If the US accidently shot down an Iranian plane with a missile they would never own up to it.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/world/middle-east/118731355/iran-says-it-unintentionally-shot-down-ukrainian-jetliner
If the US accidently shot down an Iranian plane with a missile they would never own up to it.
The USS Vincennes incident with Iran Air Flight 655 suggests otherwise.
After initial denials US officials lied through their teeth, asserting the airliner was rapidly descending and was headed toward the Vincennes in an attack profile, when in fact their own onboard systems recorded the airliner climbing and other US warships in the area had identified the aircraft as civilian and that the flight was well within a recognized international air corridor.
A month after the loss of 290 lives VP Bush declared
and despite mealy mouthed notes of regret for the loss of human lives, the US has never formally apologized or acknowledged wrongdoing.
To rub in the salt, the Vincennes crew were awarded combat ribbons with no acknowledgement of the incident and it took eight years before any compensation was offered to the victims families.
Maybe you should get the wikipedia page altered to suit.
Yes. That was what I was thanking Sabine for. 😉
I read Stuff piece prior to seeing Sabine's post and thought… now the US wouldn't own up to it would they. Forgot about 1989 incident.
Should add… neither do the Russians own up to it:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48691488
Probably not your cup of tea music wise joe90 but a anarchist mate was at one of their concerts recently, and the place got flooded with police who shut them down when they started playing this song.
Been talking with mates in Russia and Putin is freaking out over popular music at the moment. Little Big, IC3PEAK and others are having concerts pulled even before they play. His control not as solid as it once was, especially with the youth.
Relatively quick admission and apology for a tragic error. Good.
From the Summer Newsroom: Rod Oram exposes Judith Collins (again).
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/10/20/865053/national-climate-crisis?fbclid=IwAR3pRZLNrjjKY3vBAxZf8cQwdjbcBbYWYQIp6nsoBwh5umRExSJhcqnMS6k
Sigh. Judith is quite capable of exposing herself without anyone else's help, and I bet lots of folk wish she would (mostly male, I suspect)… 😎
Dude, seriously?
What Milt said.
Ew.
Not best praxis.
https://loudwomen.org/2018/01/23/best-praxis-10-question-interview/
*Cough cough*
There's always one, isn't there? You're shameless, Pucky.