The Prime Minister has set up a semi-secretive digital and media expert group to advise on regulating social media. It took an OIA request by @MatthewHootonNZ to disclose the identity of members of the group.
Jordan Carter, Chief Executive, Internet NZ
Nat Torkington, technologist
Miriyana Alexander, Premium Content Editor, NZME
Rick Shera, Internet and Digital Business Law Partner, Lowndes Jordan
Michael Wallmansberger, cybersecurity professional, independent director; Chair of the CERT NZ Establishment Advisory Board
Victoria Maclennan, Managing Director, MD OptimalBI Ltd; Chair of the Digital Economy and Digital Inclusion Ministerial Advisory Group; Co-Chair, NZRise
John Wesley-Smith, GL Regulatory Affairs, Spark
Lizzie Marvelly, NZ Herald columnist, Villainesse.com co-founder and editor
But the objectives remain secret 'in the public interest'.
1. This is an advisory group. Most politicians could easily be described as extreme technophobes (by my standards). They need advice about what is achievable and desirable.
2. I know several of those listed. I really don’t have any issues. They provide the required bridge between the technical and the political.
3. If there are any problems with implementing their advice, I am pretty sure that they will be entirely aware of exactly how the technical community who have to implement it will view and deal with it.
4. Hooton is technically a useless idiot who specializes in disruption. I’d prefer the people I know on this list to give advice to politicians.
My handy rule of thumb on this sort of thing is to ask 'how might my political adversaries use this power or regulation against me, when they next get the levers of power in their hands?'
Or in this instance, imagine if National had set up a 'semi-secret' committee to propose regulating social media and 'left wing extremism' … for instance.
.. imagine if National had set up a 'semi-secret' committee to propose regulating social media and 'left wing extremism'
To get quick advice after a left-wing terrorist mass murder entangled with social media? Sure, I can imagine that. As Mr George notes, the objectives did not arise from the advisory group.
I'd prefer the consultation was being done a lot more widely and openly.
Withholding any information about the objectives of the group is troubling. Either they are keeping the objectives secret (having considered the public interest), or they have formed the group and started operating with no objectives (and no work programme established). There must be objectives to have prompted the formation of the group.
It's not a broad "consultation" vehicle; it is a dedicated group for specific advice at a particular time.
Government is full of them and they are not a substitute for broader engagement during policy processes. By all means jump up and down if there are resulting law changes without appropriate process.
If there are resulting law changes without appropriate process I think it's far too late.
What if those law changes required full time moderation of The Standard? Or made it illegal to criticise laws that regulate speech in social media?
Best to jump up and down when it might still make a difference. I don't think we should leave it up to a group working on a secret agenda to serve our best interests.
Do you think that policy on the regulation of speech in social media should be formulated in secret? It's not just an advisory group that's involved, it's the Government who set up the group and meet with the group.
And as I understand things the Government can set law.
And as I understand things the Government can set law.
Your understanding is quite flawed.
Parliament can set law. The Legislative council can request changes in regulation. The cabinet can propose legislation to Parliament and regulation to the GG. Even that is subject to scrutiny by various bodies like the soliciter general, various statutory bodies, and eventually the courts.
Plus of course we live in a MMP system. That means coalition agreement.
Any proposal is a compromise. Requiring advice.
The ‘goverment’ is an interesting near fiction.. They can initiate but not control without agreement – what century are you living in?
"The ‘goverment’ is an interesting near fiction.. They can initiate but not control without agreement – what century are you living in?"
Linear time is an irrelevance to the man in the beige safari suit (just as it is, and has become to a good number in that 'gummint'). Much as he'd like to be operating in the 5th Dimension, we've yet to discover Pete's Whurl of Reality
Sorry to say @ Cleeangreen "Jacinda lets have inclusion please" probably won't happen in your (or my) lifetime. You should have had learnings by now that buzz such as 'inclusion' – even 'truth' are subject to an individual's interpretation.
All very nice of course, AND aspirational (going forward).
If Marx were alive today, it wouldn't be a case of religion being the opium of the sheeple, but consumerism and the gorgeous self.
And why not? Like a sex addict would say – what better way to go out than to fuck yourself to death. Bugger all else
It's patently obvious from the group slection what it is about, even Hooton must know even if he pretends otherwise for political stirring reasons – to feed the paranoia of the paranoid.
This is just the group one would form before the Paris meet, it certainly looks like one associated with the take down notice implementation regime for social media the Paris meet will try to agree on (inciting violence, promotion of violence glorification of violence etc).
The Paris meet is narrowly focused and does not include hate speech law, so no reason to get your …
But the objectives remain secret 'in the public interest'.
That, and the fact there are no civil libertarians or free speech advocates on the panel, suggest the government has an agenda of censorship but would prefer not to advertise the fact.
At this point, it would help if we had a credible opposition party, rather than the collection of ruthless, smarmy grifters that is our National Party caucus.
I channelled the EFF, provided lists of similar orgs and people critical of censorship who should be engaged, IDed good speech not to be lost while chasing terrorists, etc.
Most academics have absolutely no experience with the underlying structure of the internet. Why would anyone think that they have much to contribute at a technical level?
And you’d have to be daft to think that anything can be done except at a technical level when it comes to the net.
If you look at the speed used in the legal system with any of the existing tools like the defamation act, privacy act, HDCA, or even the police – then they take years to deal with.
It is hard to see what else could be done with anything like the existing structures. Besides getting anything done would be
And anything else relies upon the technical people to have figured out something that will actually work.
After that is done, then we can use wafflers to fine-tune it.
Nobody is stopping academics and universities to fulfil their legal role acting as critics and conscience of society. One would like to think that the Government does listen to advice from more than one source and that one advisory group would neither have or aim for a monopoly on nor as a filter of genuine proper advice.
Just because I see a red flag doesn’t mean the whole world is a red flag. I can zoom in and out, I can entertain multiple PoVs, I can even attempt integration of multi-level or paradoxical concepts. In very few instances, I will even admit that I don’t know shit. Or I can decide to stare myself blind on the bird shit splatter on the windscreen and drive off the road into a ditch.
There's been some angry reactions from some gun owners recently. A former neighbour weighed in against the PM, and all politicians when I pointed out that all but one MPs had voted for the Act, because friends who had been active on social media and were gun owners got a visit from the police.
Today in the Press we learn of armed police teams raiding the homes of two men who the day after the mosque shootings went and bought AR15 style weapons from Gun City in Christchurch.
They just didn't get that such a response was brought about by their actions. They bought the weapons hoping that existing gun owners would be exempt. ONe said he'd 'always wanted one.' They didn't hand in the weapons having found out the weapons would have to be impounded. They bought the guns in the same city as the massacre one day after.
They got upset because a team of armed police visited a man who bought the same weapon as used in the massacre which killed 51 people, and acted according to the possible threat and danger from a man who had two assault convictions.
As Mrs Mac1 says, " we have some very fragile people in our country."
At least one of them had been mouthing off online about Muslims, the attack's target.
The way NZ police behaved here was standard worldwide procedure, including armed police being posted everywhere. I have no sympathy for these guys whining about their hurt feelings.
And bollocks to it being standard procedure- police don’t raid people who have purchased firearms legally without a reason – and they have provided none in this case.
I have heard mutterings from inside the gun owning fraternity that they know of friends who are buying plastic piping and sealing their automatic weapons in them before burying them in the garden.
I think that the police should carry metal detectors on every such raid and check out the yard.
Man that Slate piece you linked to is one of the most racist things I have read in a long time..holy shit.
" In Peru, he recalls, a doctor reported seeing 50 cases of rape in the preceding five days. All the victims were less than 15 years old."
Yet according toNation Master you are 17% more lightly to be raped in the USA than Peru, in fact it shows that the risk from nearly all crime is higher in the US than Peru
" The abuse of state power turned out to be a human problem, not a colonial one."
Colonialist invade a poor country, completely destroy and disrupt centuries of structure and life for the inhabitants, they eventually get kicked out. and suddenly everything is meant to just go back to how it was before colonization?..seriously, I mean I am no academic, but even I understand that the deep damage caused to these formally colonized societies lays squarely at the feet of their former oppressors.
Uhh, you have any idea of the difference between recorded crime and actual crime is in places with really corrupt authorities? Particularly for a deeply personal crime such as rape, where attempting to pursue justice is much much more likely to result in further victimisation and humiliation than any kind of punishment for the perpetrator?
In your rush to find something to whine about and make yourself feel morally superior, you seem to have totally missed the point of the article. Which is to look at ways to improve things for people living in fucked up parts of the world.
Well of course we all want " to look at ways to improve things for people living in fucked up parts of the world." how that is done and under what context and by whom is also incredibly important, all I was saying is that I found the piece to be extremely condescending to the people of those poor counties, and it's lack of historical context was disturbing.
BTW Andre, When I read statements like…' You can’t just do good. You have to grapple with evil', I of course get instantly suspicious…so I was in no ' rush to find something to whine about and make yourself feel morally superior" so go get fucked with your ad hominem attacks (as you and your pals always fall quickly back to). maybe you should just try displaying a little more critical thinking.
I would have thought the same problem, patriarchal power structure existed in the first world and in the pre colonial "third world". And that, as a result of colonialism one can add institutional racism. Those dealing with both in the first world can bring that knowledge to the third world in their foreign aid programmes.
I wish these assurances were true. They aren’t. Tests do show an IQ deficit, not just for Africans relative to Europeans, but for Europeans relative to Asians. Economic and cultural theories have failed to explain most of the pattern, and there’s strong preliminary evidence that part of it is genetic. It’s time to prepare for the possibility that equality of intelligence, in the sense of racial averages on tests, will turn out not to be true.
William Salatan…racist. Or maybe just lazy and attention grabbing. Or maybe all 3.
In your rush to whine about the person whose name is on the byline, did you miss the actual content of the piece? And that the piece was almost entirely just a summary of content originally produced by Gary Haugen, with a bit of additional info about Haugen and the organisation he heads?
No actually the piece you linked to has the heading and then 'By WILLIAM SALETAN' (Their caps) so it isn't a byline.
Don't you think it is about time you grow up and stop your incessant whining and whinging every time some one points to all the holes in the shit you put up.
When you and Siobhan stop responding to just about everything with a diversionary whine that's unrelated to the content of the comment you're responding to, I'll stop telling you what you're doing is diversionary whining.
Firstly my initial comment WAS about the content of your link, and as far as I can see so was Siobhan’s. so don’t know what your are talking about there.,,just whinging for the sake of it I guess.
Secondly, maybe I will stop critiquing you when you stop putting up links that are dodgy and making comments that I don't agree with, but until then I will comment how ever I see fit, as is the nature of open political forums in case you hadn't noticed
You don't see me getting all sad and defensive on it like you when people constantly critique my links and comments (which they do)…maybe you need to harden up a bit.
So in short, if you can only understand being critiqued as whining then that is your problem not mine.
"Some liberals don’t like to hear this message. They’re uncomfortable with the language of power, punishment, deterrence, and force. They prefer to talk about amnesty, rehabilitation, or demilitarization"
Congratulations on finding one of the very few bits of the piece that's Saletan's content, not a summary of Haugen's views.
Now, do you think you can actually take the very brave step of actually considering Haugen's views about how the lack of a fair justice system is a significant part of continuing poverty? And that concentrating more aid efforts into improving justice systems might have better results than current aid efforts?
Or is it just too big a mental obstacle for you to overcome, purely because he's an evangelical, that someone might actually have developed worthwhile observations from his work helping the impoverished ?
An estimated 60% of Peruvian mothers aged between 12 and16 years old become pregnant as a result of rape. And your reaction to anecdotal reports of appalling levels of sexual violence is but America!.
@joe90, Look all I was trying to say was that the piece that was linked to initially seemed to me to be quite racist in tone, just because someone wants to help in poor third world countries doesn't mean they don't have all kinds of hooks and personal agendas that go along with that 'help’,so when I read this … ' You can’t just do good. You have to grapple with evil' and this 'The abuse of state power turned out to be a human problem, not a colonial one.' in that piece, and then looked up the author who turned out to be involved in some racist controversies, well my alarm bells started ringing…wouldn't yours?
Random morning thought: there should be a word for that really discomfiting feeling you get when someone that's nuttier than pecan pie actually agrees with you.
The Germans probably already have one. Sabine, can you help?
That's a really cool definition Gabby and as always leads to the need for further elucidation. For the benefit of very uncool people like me here is an Urban Dictionary's definition of Dre (the others were so packed with sex-loaded foul-mouthed expletives I passed them by).
an adjective used to describe anything that is cool and/or dope beyond comprehension. Applicable only to those individuals with the highest levels of swag. Derivative of the popular rapper name Dre and thus is most commonly used as an expression by members of hip hop culture. However, it is sometimes used by a select few individuals who wish they had swag…
Maybe. Works for most of the sensation. Bit it doesn't quite convey that additional little hint of feeling maybe your own views need an urgent re-examining, tho.
The scale of procrastination is increasingly evident…
"Emission budgets will be set for five-year periods once we are past 2025 and up to 2035 these will be all set by December 31st, 2021. In setting the targets consideration must be given as to how these targets may be realistically met plus another range of “cover all options” clauses.
If a budget period achieves greater savings than budgeted these can be carried forward into the next period and if a budgeted period falls short of budgeted emissions government may drag back up to 1% (borrow) from the following period."
“So it appears meaningful climate action has been deferred until post the next election”
Even further than that….
As there is no concrete plan on how to meet these targets….
It is all very well having a target, but without a concrete plan to work towards it, it is meaningless.
I could have a target to be a millionaire in 5 years.
I could even say that I will need to get $200,000 per year to reach my target.
I have a target, I am almost there.
The same with the Zero Carbon Bill, lots of targets lots of deadlines, Zero actual policy on how to meet them.
Meanwhile in the real world, business as usual continues, huge area of Taranaki opened up for oil and gas exploration. Huge coal mine expansion in Huntly Rotowaro open cast. More motorway expansion. Business as usual in all spheres
The purposes of the targets is to require those contesting elections and forming coalition governments to have plans to meet the said targets – though we have yet to see National buy in to confirm it.
The targets themselves are in accord with the OECD international consensus – sans outliers such as Oz and USA and Canada.
the stated purpose of the Bill is to confine to 1.5 degC of warming (but definitely less than 2) as per the Paris accord……and this admin is going to further waste this 3 year term and part of the next (should they get another) before any practical policy is enacted…..on current projections 1.5 will have already been exceeded by then.
This lot could teach the EU a thing or two about can kicking on that performance
Future thinking. Past thinking. Just thinking and trying and being a bit entrepreneurial and not putting it off till many of us thinking oldies will be dead. (How are we all planning for the environmentally appropriate way to be laid to rest?)
I thought of Futuro houses – alien looking double saucered homes on stilts.
I see from Nelson Mail paper that a guy has been sourcing some of these in NZ. Apparently only 100 were made in the 1970's (worldwide?) then the oil crisis, so rare. Nick McQuoid brought one from Northland to Christchurch in 2012 and later sold it to Museum in Tasmania for $280,000!
His latest is at Ohoka, Christchurch, and was a whitebait shelter in South Westland.
Futuro houses were conceived by Matti Suuronen in Finland in 1968 to be used as "portable" ski chalets. The insulated fibreglass structures were designed so the interior could heat up in just 20 minutes.
Grey, about a month ago I saw a lil truck towing a house on a trailer in Thorp St, was super impressed.
It looked like a tall prefab cottage, but what buzzed me out was the vehicle towing it, was one of those landcrusier style trucks, the ones many kiwi's own. It was so cool to watch. They backed it down their drive way and voila, instant house. Must have been lightweight to be able to be moved by such an average vehicle.
Those chalets, awesome, I think there is one at the wreckers on the left driving into Mot next to a phonebox with an alien in it….hmmmm…. going to the tip today, will double check if it is, I wonder if they've seen the article, that would be worth stopping in and sharing with them, might just do that…..thanks for sharing Grey, very cool.
Displaced people in the world 41 million!! Extreme weather displaces more people than conflicts and violence. Norway has a group keeping track.
(Me: Scandinavia for the modern UN! Time for a change of place, practice, hegemony, away from hedgemoney!)
Fog in Auckland stopping ferry sailings and international departures. (This is NZ idea of what displaced people are! We have to up our thinking, I think.)
Greed has overcome both good sense and decency, as the government opens a up huge area for oil and gas exploration on land violently seized from Maori by Colonial authorities
Iwi in Taranaki are upset the government has put their ancestral land up for oil and gas drilling…..
……Former Green Party candidate for Te Tai Hauāuru, Jack McDonald, is gutted with the offer, which covers his own tribal lands.
“It is a slap in the face that this so-called progressive government, which is meant to be taking a new approach to climate change and a new approach to Māori-Crown relations, would actually continue with this approach.”
Greed has overcome both good sense and decency, as the government opens a up huge area for oil and gas exploration on land violently seized from Maori by Colonial authorities
Iwi in Taranaki are upset the government has put their ancestral land up for oil and gas drilling…..
……Former Green Party candidate for Te Tai Hauāuru, Jack McDonald, is gutted with the offer, which covers his own tribal lands.
“It is a slap in the face that this so-called progressive government, which is meant to be taking a new approach to climate change and a new approach to Māori-Crown relations, would actually continue with this approach.”
….The problem – and it’s an existential threat both profound and perverse – is that those who lead us and have power over our shared destiny are ignoring global warming to the point of criminal negligence. Worse than that, their policies, language, patronal obligations and acts of bad faith are poisoning us, training citizens to accept the prospect of inexorable loss, unstoppable chaos, certain doom. Business as usual is robbing people of hope, white-anting the promise of change. That’s not just delinquent, it’s unforgivable…..
The Australian term white-anting comes from the action of termites that hollow out and empty something that looks fine on the surface.
The Zero Carbon Bill is an example of white-anting stopping any real action on climate change, looking substantial, but completely hollowed out of any real action.
The argument made for the Zero Carbon Bill by its supporters, is that we have to seek 'Consensus' with the National Party, otherwise when they get back into power they will repeal any concrete legislation we put in place.
As well as being a defeatist position, the evidence for for this argument is actually extremely weak.
The Nats never repealed the Nuclear Free Legislation. Labour have never repealed the Anadarko Amendment. Phil Goff traveled the Country in a big red bus with "Kill The Bill" (the National Government Bill to increase GST to 15%) before admitting that if he was elected he wouldn't repeal it.
Consensus is not democracy it is an attack on democracy.
As Winston Churchill famously said, Democracy is the worst of all possible systems, except for all those others that have been tried.
Democracy has been described by its detractors as the dictatorship of the majority over the minority.
This is the sound of ideologies crashing, sang Billy Bragg
Consensus is an effort to paper over these differences between ideologies.
And it fits into one of those worst ways Churchill spoke of.
Consensus is not democracy. Consensus is going for the lowest possible denominator to achieve unanimity.
In effect Consensus is an effort to silence and stifle political debate. To suffocate the sound of ideologies clashing.
The tragedy of Consensus politics is that it robs the electorate of making a clear choice between one way forward and another. Consensus politics prevents us hearing the arguments between both ways forward, and for making an informed decision with our vote.
Consensus politics murders democracy in back room deals between politicians.
What consensus politics displays, is a lack of faith in the people.
Consensus politics is a cowardly abrogation of leadership.
Instead of appeasing the National Party politicians what our leaders should do instead is enact the legislation that their conscience and the science demands, and then openly defy the opposition to repeal it if they dare.
“Black/white thinking is a bigger problem than consensus decision-making ever will be.” Sacha
Or are you like the oil and coal companies, scared of the possibility that you may, one day, have to submit to the dictatorship of the majority?
Democracy has its faults, but its better, as Churchill said than all those others that have been tried and that includes the so called the consensus style of politics.
Personally I think that many people are heartily sick of consensus between the two major political parties.
Which delivers no choice, and which sees many turn away from even voting, finding it hard to determine any difference between them.
Maybe you would like to enlarge on that comment Solkta?
In there is a difference of opinion between two parties, (or people), there can be only three possible outcomes. Either one side is right, or the other side is right, or both sides are wrong.
Where is the ground for consensus if both sides disagree?
An international consensus – a co-ordinated effort – is required to deal with a global issue. Whether global social media regulation against incitement/promotion/glorification of violence, money laundering, tax havens, taxation of international cartels, extradition agreements, war crimes, 200 mile economic zones, freedom of the sea, diplomatic immunity, free trade rules (WTO), and global environment concerns.
And where there is an international consensus as to national targets – nations formulate how they meet their obligations. This will include national plans – which can include an internal consensus within which parties contest elections and form coalition agreements. The recent proposal would need to be agreed to by National to become one.
As to being more ambitious than the international community programme, being a fast follower rather than a prevaricator is progress for now. The only way to be effective is by
1. taking the resistance (aka National) along with you.
2. convincing the international community to be bolder.
Subjects; The way forward' /consensus /climate change/well being/ – all in one here folks
11/5/19
Our HB/Gisborne community is still awaiting the Labour coalition promises made to us all in 2016 in the Gisborne Herald.
Three parties all now in Labour coalition had promised restoration of our rail services that the National Government has allowed to become partly washed out in 2012 by a lack of funding for rail maintenance to keep the infrastructure free of damages from any storms.
This service was already under community restoration as industry was wanting more freight services then in 2011 when in december the HBRC had evidence that more freight was wanted to be carried on Gisborne rail in a press release 21st December 2011 entitled “At risk rail can’t cope”.
(links are all provided below"
We are claiming our right to have our rail services restored by this new Labour Coalition Government under the new “well being budget policy .
This promise will see Government reducing carbon emissions and increasing infrastructure under two of the ‘five priorities’ using – Boosting Innovation, & Creating Opportunities .
QUOTE; “Alongside GDP, we will measure ourselves against five key priorities that will make real improvements to the lives of New Zealanders. We’ve used evidence to identify the five areas we can make the greatest difference. Boosting Innovation, Creating Opportunities, Backing Māori & Pasifika, Supporting Mental Health, Improving Child Wellbeing.
Please Government give us in HB/Gisborne back our Gissbone Rail as you are doing already in most other provinces, such as Wairarapa, Tananaki, Canterbury, Otago, Westland, Waikato and Northland. – So we await your response in the new GPS called "wellbeing budget" https://www.labour.org.nz/wellbeingbudget
Yesterday I made brief comment on Micky's post, that I hoped that the National Party continue to oppose the Zero Carbon Bill so as to give the voters at least some chance to decide.
I just think you like your "war" too much. What if National oppose the Bill and win the election?
In my opinion, any party that fought an election campaign against the scientific evidence of climate change and the need to act against it, would be in for the political drubbing of their life.
The evidence is that strong.
The tragedy is that the current consensus strategy will prevent that debate ever being held.
1. propose legislation and see if National oppose it
2. if National do, win in 2020 and force them to reconsider their position.
3. post 2020 gain consensus around the plan.
4. compete in subsequent elections with policies and coalition agreements that specify implementaiton arrangements.
5. within the framework that this plan is in accord with existing international agreements which can be made more progressive should there be consensus around this.
I think it is most likely that National will vote for the Zero Carbon Bill. If certain goals prove too difficult down the track, say the reduction in methane by 2030, adjustments can be made.
After all, it it is highly unlikely Labour will still be the govt then!
The too good to be true back door wheeling and dealing arrangements are inherently unstable and readily detrimental, as the National Party involvement shows.
Why we should never considering privatising our health industry and abandon Pharmac. A small inroad by some private companies providing services for the wealthy, and some limited crossover, but very limited interaction.
Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection.
The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
That's more an artefact of the way the FDA won't recognise approvals from other countries. Daraprim's generic name is pyrimethamine and it's widely available around the world as a generic for about $1 a dose. But the US market for it is small enough it wasn't worth it for any other company to go through the rigmarole of bringing in a generic.
A thornier problem is simply the unpredictability of private health care costs. Which leads to horrifying stuff like parents with kids that have done something that really does need any emergency room visit, but the risk of a ruinous bill is so high they'll wait with the kid outside in the carpark and hope the kid pulls through so they don't have to go in.
How far the USA has declined or flat-lined. In the 1860s in Semmelweiss' time in Vienna, pregnant mums might hire a horse-drawn cab to circle the hospital to see how they went with the birth because of the high death rate for mothers at the hospital. It was a last resort.
When Semmelweiss carried out a handwashing experiment on young trainee doctors who had been handling cadavers before viewing the birthing mothers, he reduced that death rate. But his methods didn't suit the PTB and they discontinued the practice. The knowledge of those avoidable deaths practically drove him mad and to his death.
What a disgrace that the United States is as low as the 1800s in its unconcern for its citizens. I'll mention Joan Brady here. She wrote a novel Death Comes for Peter Pan based on a paper she had written about defects in the medical services in one of the States. She couldn't get her work published. So she wrote it up as 'faction' .
Review Good Reads by Steve:
High 4. This is a devastating portrait of the iniquities of the medical system in the US. When Alice Wexler is told her husband is dying and that no medical treatment can prevent this outcome, they return to their American homeland. What follows is a tale of her passionate crusade to attain a more promising diagnosis, but as Alice's hopes of her country providing a second chance become shattered`in the face of the harsh realities of the Medicare system, her struggle becomes one of fighting for her husband's right to a dignified end. As she witnesses her husband's deterioration her self-reflection rveals hidden aspects of their relationship, and as any meaningful contact with her partner becomes more and more remote, we are witness to her growing emotional attachment to the one person who provides support. The author cuts through with scalpel-precision the layers of bureaucratic hypocrisy to reveal a health care system where poorly trained staff ensure passivity of patients through over-medication, and where those in such a vagetative state are regarded by those who manage the system, as mere 'product' to keep the coffers full. In the epilogue, Joan Brady reveals that she faced her own such struggle when she returned with her terminally-ill husband to the US. The questions she raises over the allocation of funds and the impersonal operation of the US health-care system, and the call for more discussion of 'mercy killings' contained within its pages brought condemnation across the pond, but this is a wonderful novel which deftly exposes social injustice.
Amsterdam audio – Joan Brady second half of audio on her book Death Comes for Peter Pan.
May 11, 2019
gisborneherald.co.nz
Prime time to expand
by Andrew AshtonPublished: May 11, 2019 11:58AM
Report says container port, restoration of rail can boost growth
A Deloitte report says investing in rail could be more commercially viable if Eastland Port had container port facilities.
The lack of a container port in Gisborne is costing the region $36 million a year and potentially hindering the return of the Gisborne to Wairoa rail line, a report from a top finance firm says.
The second edition of Deloitte’s Shaping Our Slice of Heaven report, entitled Regions of Opportunity, assesses the economic impact of increasing exports in tourism, agribusiness, food processing and advanced manufacturing from Auckland, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay/Gisborne, Wellington and Canterbury from 2019 to 2040.
The report says Gisborne is in a prime position to take advantage of growth industries and highlights the expansion of Eastland Port and the restoration of rail as aspects that can boost the region further.
“Gisborne needs increased connectivity to flourish,” the report states.
“While the Wairoa-Napier rail line has been reopened and road upgrades between Wairoa and Gisborne have been promised, extending the operating rail line up to Gisborne would increase trade efficiency going south from Gisborne.
Whakatane residents are supplied 'E' grade water…the lowest of the low…while New Zealand Government officials woo wealthy investors to a local spring so the investor can potentially bottle 580 million litres of pure, clear water per year.
The runanga has previously said it has concerns about the health of the Awaiti aquifer, from which the water would be drawn, and the consent regime: "At every turn, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa has had to advocate for transparency and accountability by local and central government, namely making the consent hearing public, and the participation of hapū, iwi and community in decisions that affect us."
Whether the legal challenges succeed or fail, the focus on Nongfu Spring has highlighted the ease with which overseas company can access vast quantities of water for little to no cost.
In this case, consent to bottle and export 580m litres of water would cost the company around $2000 a year, the price of a resource consent monitoring fee.
Seriously beggars belief that we're still protesting this shit. If we only consider the plastic used to bottle 580 million litres of water per year then we have a strong indicator that those promoting this madness have not been listening.
That the NZ government is behind this is bordering on treason.
Talk about mitigating climate change and cleaning up our water ways and reducing plastic use….all bullshit.
This is just a fiction made up by malcontents??? Tell me the truth – this isn't really happening right? I think I need another cup of tea, it's enough to drive you to drink. But not pure water. Can someone explain why this is allowed to happen. Is it just no backbone? Is it being left up to local Councils to decide? Is it that central government can't put a stop to treating an essential resource for everything being mined? It would be right to stop it now. And try to claw back what has already been signed up to, even if it costs big money.
Does this come under the CPPPTPA etc? Have we the citizens got no come-back to this dreadful, stupid bit of 'trade’? @$%$&$ *** 👿 😈 😡 😥
(unfortunately) I'm a bit of a Ben Shapiro fan boy….
That truly is unfortunate. He's one of the truly wicked opinion-vomiters, and unlike, say, Donald Trump, he lacks even a smattering of rudimentary charm.
Why would you call yourself a "fan boy" of that chump?
Actually, and I really hate to say this, but Shapiro didn't do to badly really, he batted off Neil's questions mostly pretty well, Neil seemed to base the whole interview on just a string of lazy gotcha questions.
Most of the blogs and you tube channels I follow are framing this as a huge fail and an embarrassment for Shapiro, and when you watched their edited clips it sure looks like it, but when you take the time and watch the whole thing, it reads quite differently I think.
It is so easy to believe things when they align with your own ideology, but truth matters. if you start believing your own bullshit you end up losing elections like the Dems in 2016.
Yeah he definitely lost his shit in the end, but in a way I can kind of see why, Neil didn't seem interested in having a discussion with him, he only seemed interested in cornering him with one of his single fire questions, which is a very lazy way to expose Shapiro for the arsehole that he is, in my opinion Neil didn't do a good job in this interview.
For other uses, see Ring Road (disambiguation). "Beltway" redirects here. For the term used in American politics, see Inside the Beltway. "Periférico" redirects here. For Mexico City's beltway, see Anillo Periférico.
The inner ring road of Sheffield, England
A ring road (also known as beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country.
The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducing traffic volumes in the urban centre, such as by offering an alternate route around the city for drivers who do not need to stop in the city core.
Dunedin just needs a bypass. I was actually in an exam years ago when a slinky (lamb carcass) truck on a hot day exploded its load all down the middle of town. The stench was insane (apparently they'd filled the truck fine, but the swellage on a hot day caused overflow).
Most of the double-trailers passing through are going nowhere close to the inner hills areas. There are a couple of trans-shipping depots in southD, lots of logging trucks crunch roads up to Port Chalmers, but the stock trucks are going straight through.
Dangers of 5G – Mark Steele interview notes regarding a claim weapons expert Mark Steele marks that autonomous vehicles are never going to be a reality because of the amount of microwave radiation they emit. What's impossible is having 20-50 of them all together.
BMW did a study that showed autonomous cars interfered with pacemakers. 13:25. Nobody has warned of the danger looking at these cars with binoculars or telescopes – if the laser from the autonomous car catches the sight it will put your eye out
The Greens are not ugly centrists like NZF so they are unlikely to ever be king-makers. Unlike NZF, king-making is not what drives the Greens. Environmental and social concerns drive the Greens.
Yes. And seeing as they've got little from Labour and been forced to swallow a few dead rats, surely it wouldn't take much for National to try and entice them over?
They would only have to offer a little more than Labour has allowed them which hasn't been much. And with going with National, there is less chance of Winston getting in the way.
Personally speaking I'd rather deal with any party before I'd deal with Winston. I get the feeling that National, Labour, the Greens, Maori Party and Act all want to achieve something but Winston only wants whats best for Winston
I don't know if you've been paying attention but the Greens will not and can not 'go with' National because their political ideologies run counter to each other.
It's not going to happen.
Mind you, NZF and the Greens might be closer on policy in some areas than is generally acknowledged. Given your hatred of rail (which is weird for a self-pronounced far left activist) the idea that Winston Peters is driving a big boost for rail will leave you stinging I’m sure.
When stacked up against what Labour has offered them, the reversal and alienation would be minimal, manageable, thus survivable if it was required to secure them power.
Did you miss where the government scrapped new oil exploration and introduced methane targets and refocussed big highway funding to clean public transport?
Remembering you yourself advocate for big highways I'm not surprised you have overlooked these developments.
You think nats would support the climate change stuff, even as it is? Not to mention the fact that the entire Nat philosophy is based on exploitation rather than conservation: environment, resources, people…
Even without the social policy aspect to the Greens (because holistic attitudes cannot be restricted to one narrowly defined area, by definition), it's not a case of concessions on individual policies buying cooperation. Everybody has to be on the same broad page on most of everything else that comes up, and generally treat each other with respect. That's what would require a complete change in the nats for them to realistically have the Greens as an option.
This should be pretty basic stuff to any Green voter.
Here is a guy who should get a good Parkour workout and training. Then make some sculpture of his own that goes outside on public display for our critical judgment, which we are all very good at it in NZ. That will teach him some skills, some planning, some discipline, some understanding of materials, some mentoring, the ability to see a thought from start to finish and outcome. And how vulnerable we all are to others' respect for ourselves and our works.
I think the tridition on single marriage is westernised. Marriage is a
very important to the old Maori thats where te Mokopuna are going to come from.
I don't think that the high devorce rate in NZ is good for anyone but lawyers.
I say that people who are going to marry should look HARD at there potential partners to make sure they are compatible as there are a lot of players out there.
I just a few years ago I new all my neighbours the way of the west goal is to individualised the common tangata easer to use there blind/fool people if they are ALONE. For tangata whenua we have to work together to make a better future for te Mokopuna.
Moden living has to change back to the hapu /familys cooperationing in all aspects of life the Marae way of living is way of the future we will use less resources and that is going to be beneficial for our future shear the tools shareing is caring if we learn that respect is a big thing that needs to be promoted.
I get pissed at accounts who say it better to rent than buy a house.
A whare is the Whanau moanga it gives the Whanau security no one can tell you to leave with out good cause it will help with financial security once you have good equity you can lend money with low interest rates you can use your equity to help the tamariki and Mokopuna get there own house.
I agree with Marama if one is paying rent WHY can't the government and the banks lend money to buy A whare the rent has to be paid or your under the bridge. Rents are higher than a mortgage in a lot of places. Figure that one out.
All the tangata of Papatuanukue need to put huge pressure on all the Papatuanukue ruling class to force them to protect OUR Mokopuna futures first and formost.
Hague climate change judgement could inspire a global civil movement
Dutch ruling could trigger similar cases worldwide with citizens taking their governments to courts to make them act on climate promises Ka kite ano links below.
Social media needs to have boundaries set to stop the haters using it to cause harm to others verbally and physically but let's not compromise free speach in the reaction.
Parlm kernel fire the stuff can self combust if not stored correctly.
Its good that more money for the homeless people to be housed,
Well national has a policy that I will back 2 days more care after our Wahine give birth to Te Mokopuna I think it's a real good policy te Wahine go thru a enormous amount of stress giveing birth to our tamariki it is quite easy for them to slip into depression.
I say that IWIs paying for health insurance for there tangata whenua is on to it yes the crown should be paying for it but we can not Rely on the government this will keep the kaumatua around longer to guide our Mokopuna up there ladders of Life.
I miss it last night Sir Heke Busby passed he will be missed dearly.
I see that the United nations Antonio is in Aotearoa promoting Papatuanukue PEACE Ka pai and championing the mitigatetion against climate change we must respect our future and past tipuna.
The poor common people need help its cool more funding is coming from our government for tangata whenua as we are the majority in those stats of homeless. Kia ora to the Black Ferns Ka kite ano
Chris you do a good job in Auckland caring for OUR homeless tangata.
The Ausse election in on hope you are wrong Jason the Papatuanukue can not afford to have the same government in power that is prow coal.
It is awesome that the protesting the lack of action against climate change around the Papatuanukue is still going strong.
Paul I agree with your words I say no more.
I say white supremacist are a bit of a problem in NZ I see there actions all the time.?
My diet is no additional sugar in prosessed food and a little hear and there and porridge rolled oats gets the digest system working it fulls you up easy as to I notice with te Mokopuna good feed of porridge and toast keeps them happy for 3 hours any other food 2 hours it a super food.
The white supremacist problem if you ignore a sore eventually it gets that big it burst.
Your mother day prize for that Wahine who lost her loved one's recently is cool she will be happy Wahine are the unsung Hero's of OUR society.
You should see how my WiFi and laptop get hacked so easily so be careful about the new technology you put in your whare if your privacy matters to you.
Now is the time to buy second hand electric car. I say our government should be investing in the technology of refurbishment of the battery's of the second hand car market or they will have to quickly try and clean up a mess that is easily foreseeable heaps of dead batterys and cars if the manufacturer won't back their secondhand car the government has to mabe legerslate but NZ is to small to have a impact at that level. Its a no brainer to chase a phenomenon that will sharply reduce our carbon footprint and can save the country billion at the same time a smart investment I say. I know heavy industries need fuel like gas or hydrogen but I say working smarter not harder is what little AOTEAROA has to do to keep up with the phase of change and get the best returns from the changes. The technology can be sold to other that are interested. There are many more poor people in the Papatuanukue than wealthy so the market for refurbishment of batteries is huge Ka kite ano links below.
Equality for all is needed Wahine are treated the less equal of OUR society. Wahine from 3 world countries have it very hard they do most of the heavy lifting in the mahi of providing for there familys. The men get most of any money they get and some waster it. Eco Maori backs Tau toko this micro financing for Wahine.
Gender inequality is a global problem, but it is especially amplified when it comes to the financial opportunities presented to men and women. While there has been a significant improvement in gender equality since women were first allowed to vote,statistically, women are underrepresented in most financial positions: form borrowers to lenders, not to mention regulatory bodies or high-standing positions in banking institutions.
Micro-financing for female borrowers
Micro-financing platforms like AssetStream will allow women with lower social status and lack of work or credit history to start borrowing small sums of money, to jumpstart their finances or even start their own small business Ka kite ano links below
We don't have to invent the wheel to fix our environment. Papatuanukue has already achieved this we just have to find the creature to will help in clearing up the mess and nerture them use mother nature creations to help clean up mess we have made with our Environment. I Back the kicks principles keep it smart and simple.
The big, beautiful Baltic Sea hides a dirty secret in its 377,000km of water.
A number of agricultural spills has turned the Baltic into one of the most polluted seas in the world, due to excess nitrogen and phosphorus lacing its waters.
This process of eutrophicationhas led to the depletion of oxygen and an overgrowth of algae in the body of water, but not all hope is lost Ka kite ano link below
Its cool that the people who can't hear have Maori sign te reo language I will find the time in the near future to master te reo.
The side of the road drug test on the roads would be fine with Eco Maori in a perfect Papatuanukue but from all the data and stories I can see. Tangata whenua will end up with the short end of that STICK.
Its awesome that school fees will be dropped and focused on education Alot of intelligent tamariki would fail or not set the test because of the fees being un payed.
Ma te wa
Antonio the tangata whenua of the Pacific Islands need help in combining climate change.
Its cool that the United nations is Tau toko indigenous culture te reo /language.
I would not be a happy MAN if that happens to my Mokopuna.
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
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The Prime Minister has set up a semi-secretive digital and media expert group to advise on regulating social media. It took an OIA request by @MatthewHootonNZ to disclose the identity of members of the group.
But the objectives remain secret 'in the public interest'.
https://yournz.org/2019/05/11/digital-and-media-expert-group-advising-on-social-media-regulation-revealed/
Four points.
1. This is an advisory group. Most politicians could easily be described as extreme technophobes (by my standards). They need advice about what is achievable and desirable.
2. I know several of those listed. I really don’t have any issues. They provide the required bridge between the technical and the political.
3. If there are any problems with implementing their advice, I am pretty sure that they will be entirely aware of exactly how the technical community who have to implement it will view and deal with it.
4. Hooton is technically a useless idiot who specializes in disruption. I’d prefer the people I know on this list to give advice to politicians.
My handy rule of thumb on this sort of thing is to ask 'how might my political adversaries use this power or regulation against me, when they next get the levers of power in their hands?'
Or in this instance, imagine if National had set up a 'semi-secret' committee to propose regulating social media and 'left wing extremism' … for instance.
To get quick advice after a left-wing terrorist mass murder entangled with social media? Sure, I can imagine that. As Mr George notes, the objectives did not arise from the advisory group.
I'd prefer the consultation was being done a lot more widely and openly.
Withholding any information about the objectives of the group is troubling. Either they are keeping the objectives secret (having considered the public interest), or they have formed the group and started operating with no objectives (and no work programme established). There must be objectives to have prompted the formation of the group.
It's not a broad "consultation" vehicle; it is a dedicated group for specific advice at a particular time.
Government is full of them and they are not a substitute for broader engagement during policy processes. By all means jump up and down if there are resulting law changes without appropriate process.
If there are resulting law changes without appropriate process I think it's far too late.
What if those law changes required full time moderation of The Standard? Or made it illegal to criticise laws that regulate speech in social media?
Best to jump up and down when it might still make a difference. I don't think we should leave it up to a group working on a secret agenda to serve our best interests.
You are acting as if this advisory group can set law.
Funny. Are you serious?
Do you think that policy on the regulation of speech in social media should be formulated in secret? It's not just an advisory group that's involved, it's the Government who set up the group and meet with the group.
And as I understand things the Government can set law.
Advice is not policy 'formulation'. Govt has a process to set law. Consultation is part of that process.
Your understanding is quite flawed.
Parliament can set law. The Legislative council can request changes in regulation. The cabinet can propose legislation to Parliament and regulation to the GG. Even that is subject to scrutiny by various bodies like the soliciter general, various statutory bodies, and eventually the courts.
Plus of course we live in a MMP system. That means coalition agreement.
Any proposal is a compromise. Requiring advice.
The ‘goverment’ is an interesting near fiction.. They can initiate but not control without agreement – what century are you living in?
🙂
"The ‘goverment’ is an interesting near fiction.. They can initiate but not control without agreement – what century are you living in?"
Linear time is an irrelevance to the man in the beige safari suit (just as it is, and has become to a good number in that 'gummint'). Much as he'd like to be operating in the 5th Dimension, we've yet to discover Pete's Whurl of Reality
"I don't think we should leave it up to a group working on a secret agenda to serve our best interests."
Continue to lobby the government.
I agree Pete.
I’d prefer the consultation was being done a lot more widely and openly.
Jacinda promised us to be included, – she said "her government will bring a kinder warmer inclusive Government"
Jacinda lets have inclusion please.
Sorry to say @ Cleeangreen "Jacinda lets have inclusion please" probably won't happen in your (or my) lifetime. You should have had learnings by now that buzz such as 'inclusion' – even 'truth' are subject to an individual's interpretation.
All very nice of course, AND aspirational (going forward).
If Marx were alive today, it wouldn't be a case of religion being the opium of the sheeple, but consumerism and the gorgeous self.
And why not? Like a sex addict would say – what better way to go out than to fuck yourself to death. Bugger all else
It's patently obvious from the group slection what it is about, even Hooton must know even if he pretends otherwise for political stirring reasons – to feed the paranoia of the paranoid.
This is just the group one would form before the Paris meet, it certainly looks like one associated with the take down notice implementation regime for social media the Paris meet will try to agree on (inciting violence, promotion of violence glorification of violence etc).
The Paris meet is narrowly focused and does not include hate speech law, so no reason to get your …
… doesn't bear thinking about. 🙂
But the objectives remain secret 'in the public interest'.
That, and the fact there are no civil libertarians or free speech advocates on the panel, suggest the government has an agenda of censorship but would prefer not to advertise the fact.
At this point, it would help if we had a credible opposition party, rather than the collection of ruthless, smarmy grifters that is our National Party caucus.
"the fact there are no civil libertarians or free speech advocates on the panel"
Really? From panel member and long-time internet expert Nathan Torkington: https://twitter.com/gnat/status/1126991181554970626
No reason to, as it has nothing to do with censoring free speech, the Paris meet does not even cover hate speech. See my 1123.
Bomber raises a good point
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/05/11/ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-shouldnt-an-advisory-board-to-the-pm-on-censoring-the-internet-require-some-academics-and-experts-on-civil-rights-and-freedom-of-speech/
It's like you guys know little about either the historically US-liberal culture of internet policy, or about the specific people named here.
And what leads you to assert that?
Relevant knowledge.
Most academics have absolutely no experience with the underlying structure of the internet. Why would anyone think that they have much to contribute at a technical level?
And you’d have to be daft to think that anything can be done except at a technical level when it comes to the net.
If you look at the speed used in the legal system with any of the existing tools like the defamation act, privacy act, HDCA, or even the police – then they take years to deal with.
It is hard to see what else could be done with anything like the existing structures. Besides getting anything done would be
And anything else relies upon the technical people to have figured out something that will actually work.
After that is done, then we can use wafflers to fine-tune it.
Academics can help provide balance in the creation of the policy ideas being tested.
"After that is done, then we can use wafflers to fine-tune it."
It would be preferable to have their input in the initial creation of the policy ideas.
This would publicly demonstrate that safeguards to freedom of speech will be instilled from the outset.
Nobody is stopping academics and universities to fulfil their legal role acting as critics and conscience of society. One would like to think that the Government does listen to advice from more than one source and that one advisory group would neither have or aim for a monopoly on nor as a filter of genuine proper advice.
Yes, one would like to think that. However, thus far, in this instance the Government hasn't shown that.
Just because I see a red flag doesn’t mean the whole world is a red flag. I can zoom in and out, I can entertain multiple PoVs, I can even attempt integration of multi-level or paradoxical concepts. In very few instances, I will even admit that I don’t know shit. Or I can decide to stare myself blind on the bird shit splatter on the windscreen and drive off the road into a ditch.
Hooters is whipping himself into a frenzy over this as well. Tunnel vision narrowing ..
Not really, the group is advising on the take down regime, implementation – not legislative policy on free speech and hate speech.
It is stated the group provides an informal way to test policy ideas.
In this case, merely implementation – practicality of.
If hate speech legislation were proposed it would go through the Select Committee process.
Nevertheless, policy ideas are being drafted and tested.
She didn't ask Sarah Dowie? WTF?
Well, that's just irresponsible and it's clear why Pete George and The Chairman are full-on affronted!
There's been some angry reactions from some gun owners recently. A former neighbour weighed in against the PM, and all politicians when I pointed out that all but one MPs had voted for the Act, because friends who had been active on social media and were gun owners got a visit from the police.
Today in the Press we learn of armed police teams raiding the homes of two men who the day after the mosque shootings went and bought AR15 style weapons from Gun City in Christchurch.
They just didn't get that such a response was brought about by their actions. They bought the weapons hoping that existing gun owners would be exempt. ONe said he'd 'always wanted one.' They didn't hand in the weapons having found out the weapons would have to be impounded. They bought the guns in the same city as the massacre one day after.
They got upset because a team of armed police visited a man who bought the same weapon as used in the massacre which killed 51 people, and acted according to the possible threat and danger from a man who had two assault convictions.
As Mrs Mac1 says, " we have some very fragile people in our country."
I had some sympathy until i read they bought the guns the day after the raids in ChCh . DUH
did they buy the guns legally?
If so – whats the problem? There is no justification of a raid unless there was evidence they were planning something
There had just been a major terrorist mass murder involving the type of weapon these guys purchased the next day. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/christchurch-shooting/112634121/police-seize-gun-collectors-firearms-in-over-the-top-raid
At least one of them had been mouthing off online about Muslims, the attack's target.
The way NZ police behaved here was standard worldwide procedure, including armed police being posted everywhere. I have no sympathy for these guys whining about their hurt feelings.
”At least one of them had been mouthing off online about Muslims, the attack's target”
there is is no mention of that in the link at all. What’s this guy done that deserved a raid like that ?????
You're right. I'm confusing it with a different story. Leaves the other factor I've already mentioned.
And bollocks to it being standard procedure- police don’t raid people who have purchased firearms legally without a reason – and they have provided none in this case.
It is standard procedure after a terrorist attack. Don't be so wilfully dim.
Well, the plods do tend to turn up armed to the teeth when they visit people possessing firearms, legally or otherwise.
Plus there was a high terror alert.
I have heard mutterings from inside the gun owning fraternity that they know of friends who are buying plastic piping and sealing their automatic weapons in them before burying them in the garden.
I think that the police should carry metal detectors on every such raid and check out the yard.
Some interesting thoughts on how and why building more just law-enforcement systems should get more emphasis in aid to developing countries.
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/05/how-to-fix-poverty-gary-haugen-ijm.html?via=homepage_taps_top
Man that Slate piece you linked to is one of the most racist things I have read in a long time..holy shit.
" In Peru, he recalls, a doctor reported seeing 50 cases of rape in the preceding five days. All the victims were less than 15 years old."
Yet according to Nation Master you are 17% more lightly to be raped in the USA than Peru, in fact it shows that the risk from nearly all crime is higher in the US than Peru
https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Peru/United-States/Crime.
Love this little gem….
" The abuse of state power turned out to be a human problem, not a colonial one."
Colonialist invade a poor country, completely destroy and disrupt centuries of structure and life for the inhabitants, they eventually get kicked out. and suddenly everything is meant to just go back to how it was before colonization?..seriously, I mean I am no academic, but even I understand that the deep damage caused to these formally colonized societies lays squarely at the feet of their former oppressors.
Uhh, you have any idea of the difference between recorded crime and actual crime is in places with really corrupt authorities? Particularly for a deeply personal crime such as rape, where attempting to pursue justice is much much more likely to result in further victimisation and humiliation than any kind of punishment for the perpetrator?
In your rush to find something to whine about and make yourself feel morally superior, you seem to have totally missed the point of the article. Which is to look at ways to improve things for people living in fucked up parts of the world.
Well of course we all want " to look at ways to improve things for people living in fucked up parts of the world." how that is done and under what context and by whom is also incredibly important, all I was saying is that I found the piece to be extremely condescending to the people of those poor counties, and it's lack of historical context was disturbing.
BTW Andre, When I read statements like…' You can’t just do good. You have to grapple with evil', I of course get instantly suspicious…so I was in no ' rush to find something to whine about and make yourself feel morally superior" so go get fucked with your ad hominem attacks (as you and your pals always fall quickly back to). maybe you should just try displaying a little more critical thinking.
I would have thought the same problem, patriarchal power structure existed in the first world and in the pre colonial "third world". And that, as a result of colonialism one can add institutional racism. Those dealing with both in the first world can bring that knowledge to the third world in their foreign aid programmes.
I am fairly sure the UN Development agency does.
William Salatan…racist. Or maybe just lazy and attention grabbing. Or maybe all 3.
https://slate.com/technology/2007/11/liberal-creationism.html
https://slate.com/culture/2007/12/a-response-to-liberal-creationism.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20071203013749/http://cscs.umich.edu/~crshalizi/weblog/546.html
In your rush to whine about the person whose name is on the byline, did you miss the actual content of the piece? And that the piece was almost entirely just a summary of content originally produced by Gary Haugen, with a bit of additional info about Haugen and the organisation he heads?
No actually the piece you linked to has the heading and then 'By WILLIAM SALETAN' (Their caps) so it isn't a byline.
Don't you think it is about time you grow up and stop your incessant whining and whinging every time some one points to all the holes in the shit you put up.
When you and Siobhan stop responding to just about everything with a diversionary whine that's unrelated to the content of the comment you're responding to, I'll stop telling you what you're doing is diversionary whining.
Firstly my initial comment WAS about the content of your link, and as far as I can see so was Siobhan’s. so don’t know what your are talking about there.,,just whinging for the sake of it I guess.
Secondly, maybe I will stop critiquing you when you stop putting up links that are dodgy and making comments that I don't agree with, but until then I will comment how ever I see fit, as is the nature of open political forums in case you hadn't noticed
You don't see me getting all sad and defensive on it like you when people constantly critique my links and comments (which they do)…maybe you need to harden up a bit.
So in short, if you can only understand being critiqued as whining then that is your problem not mine.
"Some liberals don’t like to hear this message. They’re uncomfortable with the language of power, punishment, deterrence, and force. They prefer to talk about amnesty, rehabilitation, or demilitarization"
Like this, most of the article is
By WILLIAM SALETAN
As for Haegen, I'm sure the guy means well, but I try and stay well clear of Evangelicals. too problematic.
.
Congratulations on finding one of the very few bits of the piece that's Saletan's content, not a summary of Haugen's views.
Now, do you think you can actually take the very brave step of actually considering Haugen's views about how the lack of a fair justice system is a significant part of continuing poverty? And that concentrating more aid efforts into improving justice systems might have better results than current aid efforts?
Or is it just too big a mental obstacle for you to overcome, purely because he's an evangelical, that someone might actually have developed worthwhile observations from his work helping the impoverished ?
An estimated 60% of Peruvian mothers aged between 12 and16 years old become pregnant as a result of rape. And your reaction to anecdotal reports of appalling levels of sexual violence is but America!.
FFS.
@joe90, Look all I was trying to say was that the piece that was linked to initially seemed to me to be quite racist in tone, just because someone wants to help in poor third world countries doesn't mean they don't have all kinds of hooks and personal agendas that go along with that 'help’,so when I read this … ' You can’t just do good. You have to grapple with evil' and this 'The abuse of state power turned out to be a human problem, not a colonial one.' in that piece, and then looked up the author who turned out to be involved in some racist controversies, well my alarm bells started ringing…wouldn't yours?
Random morning thought: there should be a word for that really discomfiting feeling you get when someone that's nuttier than pecan pie actually agrees with you.
The Germans probably already have one. Sabine, can you help?
Pfennigfallen dredre.
That's a really cool definition Gabby and as always leads to the need for further elucidation. For the benefit of very uncool people like me here is an Urban Dictionary's definition of Dre (the others were so packed with sex-loaded foul-mouthed expletives I passed them by).
dre
an adjective used to describe anything that is cool and/or dope beyond comprehension. Applicable only to those individuals with the highest levels of swag. Derivative of the popular rapper name Dre and thus is most commonly used as an expression by members of hip hop culture. However, it is sometimes used by a select few individuals who wish they had swag…
Boy 1: bruh, did you see them new Nike Blasers?
Boy 2: you know i did foo, i aint neva seen shoes so dre.
#cool#dope#awesome#boss#prime
by camster82 May 15, 2011
The pfennig must have lodged somewhere on the way down greysy.
Don't they call it The Standard?
Bumboozled
Maybe. Works for most of the sensation. Bit it doesn't quite convey that additional little hint of feeling maybe your own views need an urgent re-examining, tho.
Introprobation
Yeah!
Phew
Discombobulated
Too broad. What I'm talking about is a very specific subset of discombobulated.
The scale of procrastination is increasingly evident…
"Emission budgets will be set for five-year periods once we are past 2025 and up to 2035 these will be all set by December 31st, 2021. In setting the targets consideration must be given as to how these targets may be realistically met plus another range of “cover all options” clauses.
If a budget period achieves greater savings than budgeted these can be carried forward into the next period and if a budgeted period falls short of budgeted emissions government may drag back up to 1% (borrow) from the following period."
https://www.interest.co.nz/rural-news/99610/legal-degree-may-become-necessary-skill-farmers-feel-good-politicians-and
So it appears meaningful climate action has been deferred until post the next election
“So it appears meaningful climate action has been deferred until post the next election”
Even further than that….
As there is no concrete plan on how to meet these targets….
It is all very well having a target, but without a concrete plan to work towards it, it is meaningless.
I could have a target to be a millionaire in 5 years.
I could even say that I will need to get $200,000 per year to reach my target.
I have a target, I am almost there.
The same with the Zero Carbon Bill, lots of targets lots of deadlines, Zero actual policy on how to meet them.
Meanwhile in the real world, business as usual continues, huge area of Taranaki opened up for oil and gas exploration. Huge coal mine expansion in Huntly Rotowaro open cast. More motorway expansion. Business as usual in all spheres
the cognitive dissonance within the coalition is something to behold….how the Greens cope with this humourless farce I cannot fathom.
The purposes of the targets is to require those contesting elections and forming coalition governments to have plans to meet the said targets – though we have yet to see National buy in to confirm it.
The targets themselves are in accord with the OECD international consensus – sans outliers such as Oz and USA and Canada.
the stated purpose of the Bill is to confine to 1.5 degC of warming (but definitely less than 2) as per the Paris accord……and this admin is going to further waste this 3 year term and part of the next (should they get another) before any practical policy is enacted…..on current projections 1.5 will have already been exceeded by then.
This lot could teach the EU a thing or two about can kicking on that performance
Future thinking. Past thinking. Just thinking and trying and being a bit entrepreneurial and not putting it off till many of us thinking oldies will be dead. (How are we all planning for the environmentally appropriate way to be laid to rest?)
I thought of Futuro houses – alien looking double saucered homes on stilts.
I see from Nelson Mail paper that a guy has been sourcing some of these in NZ. Apparently only 100 were made in the 1970's (worldwide?) then the oil crisis, so rare. Nick McQuoid brought one from Northland to Christchurch in 2012 and later sold it to Museum in Tasmania for $280,000!
His latest is at Ohoka, Christchurch, and was a whitebait shelter in South Westland.
Futuro houses were conceived by Matti Suuronen in Finland in 1968 to be used as "portable" ski chalets. The insulated fibreglass structures were designed so the interior could heat up in just 20 minutes.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/houses/112505522/canterbury-entrepreneur-tackles-weird-and-wonderful-restoration-project
Grey, about a month ago I saw a lil truck towing a house on a trailer in Thorp St, was super impressed.
It looked like a tall prefab cottage, but what buzzed me out was the vehicle towing it, was one of those landcrusier style trucks, the ones many kiwi's own. It was so cool to watch. They backed it down their drive way and voila, instant house. Must have been lightweight to be able to be moved by such an average vehicle.
Those chalets, awesome, I think there is one at the wreckers on the left driving into Mot next to a phonebox with an alien in it….hmmmm…. going to the tip today, will double check if it is, I wonder if they've seen the article, that would be worth stopping in and sharing with them, might just do that…..thanks for sharing Grey, very cool.
http://www.breezepod.com/
Newest news from Radionz:
Displaced people in the world 41 million!! Extreme weather displaces more people than conflicts and violence. Norway has a group keeping track.
(Me: Scandinavia for the modern UN! Time for a change of place, practice, hegemony, away from hedgemoney!)
Fog in Auckland stopping ferry sailings and international departures. (This is NZ idea of what displaced people are! We have to up our thinking, I think.)
https://thestandard.org.nz/how-to-get-there-5-5-19/?fbclid=IwAR2buGynxzZepSvtH0anscmwPuVcq08GfXFFCTXR66IM4kdrZcUY9i1sh3w#comment-1613431
Greed has overcome both good sense and decency, as the government opens a up huge area for oil and gas exploration on land violently seized from Maori by Colonial authorities
Greed has overcome both good sense and decency, as the government opens a up huge area for oil and gas exploration on land violently seized from Maori by Colonial authorities
Why consensus stinks
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/20/our-leaders-are-ignoring-global-warming-to-the-point-of-criminal-negligence-its-unforgivable
Unforgiveable
The Australian term white-anting comes from the action of termites that hollow out and empty something that looks fine on the surface.
The Zero Carbon Bill is an example of white-anting stopping any real action on climate change, looking substantial, but completely hollowed out of any real action.
The argument made for the Zero Carbon Bill by its supporters, is that we have to seek 'Consensus' with the National Party, otherwise when they get back into power they will repeal any concrete legislation we put in place.
As well as being a defeatist position, the evidence for for this argument is actually extremely weak.
The Nats never repealed the Nuclear Free Legislation. Labour have never repealed the Anadarko Amendment. Phil Goff traveled the Country in a big red bus with "Kill The Bill" (the National Government Bill to increase GST to 15%) before admitting that if he was elected he wouldn't repeal it.
Consensus is not democracy it is an attack on democracy.
As Winston Churchill famously said, Democracy is the worst of all possible systems, except for all those others that have been tried.
Democracy has been described by its detractors as the dictatorship of the majority over the minority.
This is the sound of ideologies crashing, sang Billy Bragg
Consensus is an effort to paper over these differences between ideologies.
And it fits into one of those worst ways Churchill spoke of.
Consensus is not democracy. Consensus is going for the lowest possible denominator to achieve unanimity.
In effect Consensus is an effort to silence and stifle political debate. To suffocate the sound of ideologies clashing.
The tragedy of Consensus politics is that it robs the electorate of making a clear choice between one way forward and another. Consensus politics prevents us hearing the arguments between both ways forward, and for making an informed decision with our vote.
Consensus politics murders democracy in back room deals between politicians.
What consensus politics displays, is a lack of faith in the people.
Consensus politics is a cowardly abrogation of leadership.
Instead of appeasing the National Party politicians what our leaders should do instead is enact the legislation that their conscience and the science demands, and then openly defy the opposition to repeal it if they dare.
This is what is called leadership.
"Consensus politics prevents us hearing the arguments between both ways forward"
Black/white thinking is a bigger problem than consensus decision-making ever will be.
“Black/white thinking is a bigger problem than consensus decision-making ever will be.” Sacha
Or are you like the oil and coal companies, scared of the possibility that you may, one day, have to submit to the dictatorship of the majority?
Democracy has its faults, but its better, as Churchill said than all those others that have been tried and that includes the so called the consensus style of politics.
Personally I think that many people are heartily sick of consensus between the two major political parties.
Which delivers no choice, and which sees many turn away from even voting, finding it hard to determine any difference between them.
Democracy can include consensus.
Really?
Maybe you would like to enlarge on that comment Solkta?
In there is a difference of opinion between two parties, (or people), there can be only three possible outcomes. Either one side is right, or the other side is right, or both sides are wrong.
Where is the ground for consensus if both sides disagree?
An international consensus – a co-ordinated effort – is required to deal with a global issue. Whether global social media regulation against incitement/promotion/glorification of violence, money laundering, tax havens, taxation of international cartels, extradition agreements, war crimes, 200 mile economic zones, freedom of the sea, diplomatic immunity, free trade rules (WTO), and global environment concerns.
And where there is an international consensus as to national targets – nations formulate how they meet their obligations. This will include national plans – which can include an internal consensus within which parties contest elections and form coalition agreements. The recent proposal would need to be agreed to by National to become one.
As to being more ambitious than the international community programme, being a fast follower rather than a prevaricator is progress for now. The only way to be effective is by
1. taking the resistance (aka National) along with you.
2. convincing the international community to be bolder.
Subjects; The way forward' /consensus /climate change/well being/ – all in one here folks
11/5/19
Our HB/Gisborne community is still awaiting the Labour coalition promises made to us all in 2016 in the Gisborne Herald.
Three parties all now in Labour coalition had promised restoration of our rail services that the National Government has allowed to become partly washed out in 2012 by a lack of funding for rail maintenance to keep the infrastructure free of damages from any storms.
This service was already under community restoration as industry was wanting more freight services then in 2011 when in december the HBRC had evidence that more freight was wanted to be carried on Gisborne rail in a press release 21st December 2011 entitled “At risk rail can’t cope”.
(links are all provided below"
We are claiming our right to have our rail services restored by this new Labour Coalition Government under the new “well being budget policy .
https://www.labour.org.nz/wellbeingbudget
This promise will see Government reducing carbon emissions and increasing infrastructure under two of the ‘five priorities’ using – Boosting Innovation, & Creating Opportunities .
QUOTE; “Alongside GDP, we will measure ourselves against five key priorities that will make real improvements to the lives of New Zealanders. We’ve used evidence to identify the five areas we can make the greatest difference. Boosting Innovation, Creating Opportunities, Backing Māori & Pasifika, Supporting Mental Health, Improving Child Wellbeing.
Please Government give us in HB/Gisborne back our Gissbone Rail as you are doing already in most other provinces, such as Wairarapa, Tananaki, Canterbury, Otago, Westland, Waikato and Northland. – So we await your response in the new GPS called "wellbeing budget" https://www.labour.org.nz/wellbeingbudget
http://www.scoop.co.nz/…/PA1302/S00183/kiwirail-admits-lack-of-maintenance-led-to-wash-out.htm
http://gisborneherald.co.nz/localnews/2535803-135/three-parties-say-fix-rail
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/6170590/At-risk-rail-line-can-t-cope-with-demand
Cleangreen did you hear Winston today? A big boost for Rail in the budget.
Yesterday I made brief comment on Micky's post, that I hoped that the National Party continue to oppose the Zero Carbon Bill so as to give the voters at least some chance to decide.
To which Solkta replied:
In my opinion, any party that fought an election campaign against the scientific evidence of climate change and the need to act against it, would be in for the political drubbing of their life.
The evidence is that strong.
The tragedy is that the current consensus strategy will prevent that debate ever being held.
The coalition's approach is to
1. propose legislation and see if National oppose it
2. if National do, win in 2020 and force them to reconsider their position.
3. post 2020 gain consensus around the plan.
4. compete in subsequent elections with policies and coalition agreements that specify implementaiton arrangements.
5. within the framework that this plan is in accord with existing international agreements which can be made more progressive should there be consensus around this.
I think it is most likely that National will vote for the Zero Carbon Bill. If certain goals prove too difficult down the track, say the reduction in methane by 2030, adjustments can be made.
After all, it it is highly unlikely Labour will still be the govt then!
Certainly not if they keep odious company like the Gnats.
That's not like you to be so open about how the nats decide policy. You must've had had a few wines, and was only 5 o'clock.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/112321733/chinese-water-giant-nongfu-spring-had-a-rocky-road-to-setting-up-in-new-zealand
More national government filth revealed.
See also at #16.
The too good to be true back door wheeling and dealing arrangements are inherently unstable and readily detrimental, as the National Party involvement shows.
Why we should never considering privatising our health industry and abandon Pharmac. A small inroad by some private companies providing services for the wealthy, and some limited crossover, but very limited interaction.
Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection.
The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sept 20, 2015
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/21/business/a-huge-overnight-increase-in-a-drugs-price-raises-protests.html
That's more an artefact of the way the FDA won't recognise approvals from other countries. Daraprim's generic name is pyrimethamine and it's widely available around the world as a generic for about $1 a dose. But the US market for it is small enough it wasn't worth it for any other company to go through the rigmarole of bringing in a generic.
A thornier problem is simply the unpredictability of private health care costs. Which leads to horrifying stuff like parents with kids that have done something that really does need any emergency room visit, but the risk of a ruinous bill is so high they'll wait with the kid outside in the carpark and hope the kid pulls through so they don't have to go in.
https://www.vox.com/health-care/2019/5/10/18526696/health-care-costs-er-emergency-room
How far the USA has declined or flat-lined. In the 1860s in Semmelweiss' time in Vienna, pregnant mums might hire a horse-drawn cab to circle the hospital to see how they went with the birth because of the high death rate for mothers at the hospital. It was a last resort.
When Semmelweiss carried out a handwashing experiment on young trainee doctors who had been handling cadavers before viewing the birthing mothers, he reduced that death rate. But his methods didn't suit the PTB and they discontinued the practice. The knowledge of those avoidable deaths practically drove him mad and to his death.
What a disgrace that the United States is as low as the 1800s in its unconcern for its citizens. I'll mention Joan Brady here. She wrote a novel Death Comes for Peter Pan based on a paper she had written about defects in the medical services in one of the States. She couldn't get her work published. So she wrote it up as 'faction' .
Review Good Reads by Steve:
High 4. This is a devastating portrait of the iniquities of the medical system in the US. When Alice Wexler is told her husband is dying and that no medical treatment can prevent this outcome, they return to their American homeland. What follows is a tale of her passionate crusade to attain a more promising diagnosis, but as Alice's hopes of her country providing a second chance become shattered`in the face of the harsh realities of the Medicare system, her struggle becomes one of fighting for her husband's right to a dignified end. As she witnesses her husband's deterioration her self-reflection rveals hidden aspects of their relationship, and as any meaningful contact with her partner becomes more and more remote, we are witness to her growing emotional attachment to the one person who provides support. The author cuts through with scalpel-precision the layers of bureaucratic hypocrisy to reveal a health care system where poorly trained staff ensure passivity of patients through over-medication, and where those in such a vagetative state are regarded by those who manage the system, as mere 'product' to keep the coffers full. In the epilogue, Joan Brady reveals that she faced her own such struggle when she returned with her terminally-ill husband to the US. The questions she raises over the allocation of funds and the impersonal operation of the US health-care system, and the call for more discussion of 'mercy killings' contained within its pages brought condemnation across the pond, but this is a wonderful novel which deftly exposes social injustice.
Amsterdam audio – Joan Brady second half of audio on her book Death Comes for Peter Pan.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS-I-hfiIEM
and – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis
Use of rail will reduce over use of truck freight emissions.
http://gisborneherald.co.nz/localnews/4077328-135/prime-time-to-expand
May 11, 2019
gisborneherald.co.nz
Prime time to expand
by Andrew AshtonPublished: May 11, 2019 11:58AM
Report says container port, restoration of rail can boost growth
A Deloitte report says investing in rail could be more commercially viable if Eastland Port had container port facilities.
The lack of a container port in Gisborne is costing the region $36 million a year and potentially hindering the return of the Gisborne to Wairoa rail line, a report from a top finance firm says.
The second edition of Deloitte’s Shaping Our Slice of Heaven report, entitled Regions of Opportunity, assesses the economic impact of increasing exports in tourism, agribusiness, food processing and advanced manufacturing from Auckland, Waikato, Hawke’s Bay/Gisborne, Wellington and Canterbury from 2019 to 2040.
The report says Gisborne is in a prime position to take advantage of growth industries and highlights the expansion of Eastland Port and the restoration of rail as aspects that can boost the region further.
“Gisborne needs increased connectivity to flourish,” the report states.
“While the Wairoa-Napier rail line has been reopened and road upgrades between Wairoa and Gisborne have been promised, extending the operating rail line up to Gisborne would increase trade efficiency going south from Gisborne.
The infamous District Judge Michael Snow in his pomp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kyos-M48B8U
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/apr/11/assange-branded-a-narcissist-by-judge-who-found-him-guilty
Whakatane residents are supplied 'E' grade water…the lowest of the low…while New Zealand Government officials woo wealthy investors to a local spring so the investor can potentially bottle 580 million litres of pure, clear water per year.
The runanga has previously said it has concerns about the health of the Awaiti aquifer, from which the water would be drawn, and the consent regime: "At every turn, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa has had to advocate for transparency and accountability by local and central government, namely making the consent hearing public, and the participation of hapū, iwi and community in decisions that affect us."
Whether the legal challenges succeed or fail, the focus on Nongfu Spring has highlighted the ease with which overseas company can access vast quantities of water for little to no cost.
In this case, consent to bottle and export 580m litres of water would cost the company around $2000 a year, the price of a resource consent monitoring fee.
Seriously beggars belief that we're still protesting this shit. If we only consider the plastic used to bottle 580 million litres of water per year then we have a strong indicator that those promoting this madness have not been listening.
That the NZ government is behind this is bordering on treason.
Talk about mitigating climate change and cleaning up our water ways and reducing plastic use….all bullshit.
This is just a fiction made up by malcontents??? Tell me the truth – this isn't really happening right? I think I need another cup of tea, it's enough to drive you to drink. But not pure water. Can someone explain why this is allowed to happen. Is it just no backbone? Is it being left up to local Councils to decide? Is it that central government can't put a stop to treating an essential resource for everything being mined? It would be right to stop it now. And try to claw back what has already been signed up to, even if it costs big money.
Does this come under the CPPPTPA etc? Have we the citizens got no come-back to this dreadful, stupid bit of 'trade’? @$%$&$ *** 👿 😈 😡 😥
Does this come under the CPPPTPA etc?
Which this Current Mob broke land speed records to sign…with the ink barely dry on the Coalition Agreement.
Or the China (F?)TA…which the Previous Labour Government tripped over their feet to sign?
Treason. Traitors.
heh
https://twitter.com/euro268/status/1126959569559855104
https://twitter.com/RobBurl/status/1126816217669488640
I'll have to wait until I get home to watch this (unfortunately) I'm a bit of a Ben Shapiro fan boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXb4h6cXvX4
(unfortunately) I'm a bit of a Ben Shapiro fan boy….
That truly is unfortunate. He's one of the truly wicked opinion-vomiters, and unlike, say, Donald Trump, he lacks even a smattering of rudimentary charm.
Why would you call yourself a "fan boy" of that chump?
Facts don't care about your feelings
Actually, and I really hate to say this, but Shapiro didn't do to badly really, he batted off Neil's questions mostly pretty well, Neil seemed to base the whole interview on just a string of lazy gotcha questions.
Most of the blogs and you tube channels I follow are framing this as a huge fail and an embarrassment for Shapiro, and when you watched their edited clips it sure looks like it, but when you take the time and watch the whole thing, it reads quite differently I think.
It is so easy to believe things when they align with your own ideology, but truth matters. if you start believing your own bullshit you end up losing elections like the Dems in 2016.
Shapiro couldn't cope when the interviewer ignored his babbling and demanded he answer the question. He folded and took his ball home.
Yeah he definitely lost his shit in the end, but in a way I can kind of see why, Neil didn't seem interested in having a discussion with him, he only seemed interested in cornering him with one of his single fire questions, which is a very lazy way to expose Shapiro for the arsehole that he is, in my opinion Neil didn't do a good job in this interview.
Wag the Dog. When all else fails, start a war
https://twitter.com/ZekeJMiller/status/1126838297249099776
Today another truck fire in the city caught fire and burnt completely out surrounded by residential traffic in the close proximity of homes.
We need ‘US style’ ‘ring road’ heavy truck routes around our NZ cities not through the middle of them like this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_road Ring road – From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Ring Road (disambiguation). "Beltway" redirects here. For the term used in American politics, see Inside the Beltway. "Periférico" redirects here. For Mexico City's beltway, see Anillo Periférico.
The inner ring road of Sheffield, England
A ring road (also known as beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city, or country.
The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducing traffic volumes in the urban centre, such as by offering an alternate route around the city for drivers who do not need to stop in the city core.
Wake up useless NZTA!!!!
Dunedin just needs a bypass. I was actually in an exam years ago when a slinky (lamb carcass) truck on a hot day exploded its load all down the middle of town. The stench was insane (apparently they'd filled the truck fine, but the swellage on a hot day caused overflow).
Most of the double-trailers passing through are going nowhere close to the inner hills areas. There are a couple of trans-shipping depots in southD, lots of logging trucks crunch roads up to Port Chalmers, but the stock trucks are going straight through.
I think you mean just need to bypass Dunedin 🙂
Depends entirely on who wants to avoid who 🙂
Dangers of 5G – Mark Steele interview notes regarding a claim weapons expert Mark Steele marks that autonomous vehicles are never going to be a reality because of the amount of microwave radiation they emit. What's impossible is having 20-50 of them all together.
BMW did a study that showed autonomous cars interfered with pacemakers. 13:25. Nobody has warned of the danger looking at these cars with binoculars or telescopes – if the laser from the autonomous car catches the sight it will put your eye out
https://youtu.be/DK3zVjG-koc
Get your protection products here:
http://www.lessemf.com/personal.html
But we need 5G – self-driving flying cars are coming (in 5 years, apparently) – how ‘cool’.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuCeQvacwcQ
That will keep the shareholders happy, going forward…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/euthanasia-debate/112559499/cancer-snuck-up-on-me-now-i-deserve-to-die-peacefully
It is often touted the Greens need more votes to implement change.
But would it really make a difference?
They still won't have king maker leverage.
They've shown they'd prefer to be in the tent than out. So no leverage there.
Thus, they would still be the smaller partner of Labour that prefers not to rock the boat.
The Greens are not ugly centrists like NZF so they are unlikely to ever be king-makers. Unlike NZF, king-making is not what drives the Greens. Environmental and social concerns drive the Greens.
Yes. And seeing as they've got little from Labour and been forced to swallow a few dead rats, surely it wouldn't take much for National to try and entice them over?
They would only have to offer a little more than Labour has allowed them which hasn't been much. And with going with National, there is less chance of Winston getting in the way.
Personally speaking I'd rather deal with any party before I'd deal with Winston. I get the feeling that National, Labour, the Greens, Maori Party and Act all want to achieve something but Winston only wants whats best for Winston
The sooner he's gone the better
He has his benefits and his experience will be a great loss.
He has his perks and his experience will not be missed
No one packs a hall like Winston, so I say he will be missed.
By greying lamington-seekers, sure.
Greying lamington-seekers are voters too, and motivated voters at that!
I don't know if you've been paying attention but the Greens will not and can not 'go with' National because their political ideologies run counter to each other.
It's not going to happen.
Mind you, NZF and the Greens might be closer on policy in some areas than is generally acknowledged. Given your hatred of rail (which is weird for a self-pronounced far left activist) the idea that Winston Peters is driving a big boost for rail will leave you stinging I’m sure.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/112648672/deputy-pm-winston-peters-signals-budget-boost-for-railways
I wasn't advocating they go with National, just pointing out it wouldn't take much for National to out offer Labour.
I fully support trains. My comment in that other thread was merely a reference to the timetable (one each way a day) which is vastly insufficient.
And yes, NZF and the Greens are closer on policy in some areas than is generally acknowledged.
Just a complete reversal of their policies and an alienation of their corporate and rural support.
When stacked up against what Labour has offered them, the reversal and alienation would be minimal, manageable, thus survivable if it was required to secure them power.
Yep, more mining, dirty dairying and big highways would be just what Green voters were seeking. You're a genius!
Labour haven't offered much less in that respect. There is still more mining, dirty dairying and big highways.
Remove Winston from the equation and we'll see about that.
Did you miss where the government scrapped new oil exploration and introduced methane targets and refocussed big highway funding to clean public transport?
Remembering you yourself advocate for big highways I'm not surprised you have overlooked these developments.
@Muttonbird
Did you miss how Labour has fallen short on most of that, hence they aren't that apart from National when one looks deeper than the soundbites.
And we will still require highways going forward for environmentally friendly vehicles.
No Mate, that's what they government has actually done. Things National would have the guts for.
No, on the part of National.
You think nats would support the climate change stuff, even as it is? Not to mention the fact that the entire Nat philosophy is based on exploitation rather than conservation: environment, resources, people…
Even without the social policy aspect to the Greens (because holistic attitudes cannot be restricted to one narrowly defined area, by definition), it's not a case of concessions on individual policies buying cooperation. Everybody has to be on the same broad page on most of everything else that comes up, and generally treat each other with respect. That's what would require a complete change in the nats for them to realistically have the Greens as an option.
This should be pretty basic stuff to any Green voter.
The Chairman is an ACT voter.
Hell no!
Everything comment you make suggests so I'm afraid.
No.
or Chairman of "Sustainable New Zealand"
They most likely will with methane further reduced And as it has no teeth, it won't really be such a big one to swallow. Despite the current noise.
National can act respectably and professionally when required And have worked with the Greens before.
lol rubbish – you're just another wanker sending the kids to hell cos you can't be bothered changing your cushy lifestyle. You are a gnat supporter.
Not for confidence and supply. Especially come budget time.
As the the great politician M.E. Atloaf once said “I’d do anything for power, but I won’t do that!”.
Yep, Greens would be like a bat out o hell.
I feel there is a rap base here. Alienation, exploration, exploitation, equation, conservation, commendation – chacha.
Well, well well, here is Mr Green the party activist toying with the idea of a Nat-Green coalition. Never saw that one coming lol.
Thread.
https://twitter.com/paddydocherty/status/1120756675210817538
https://tttthreads.com/thread/1120756675210817538.html
RIP Pua
https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/112648625/pua-magasiva-found-dead
Only 38. We need to look after our creatives. RIP.
Here is a guy who should get a good Parkour workout and training. Then make some sculpture of his own that goes outside on public display for our critical judgment, which we are all very good at it in NZ. That will teach him some skills, some planning, some discipline, some understanding of materials, some mentoring, the ability to see a thought from start to finish and outcome. And how vulnerable we all are to others' respect for ourselves and our works.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/384071/man-who-broke-wellington-s-len-lye-sculpture-sentenced-to-community-work
Watched Chernobyl.
Fuck.
Kia ora R&R.
I think the tridition on single marriage is westernised. Marriage is a
very important to the old Maori thats where te Mokopuna are going to come from.
I don't think that the high devorce rate in NZ is good for anyone but lawyers.
I say that people who are going to marry should look HARD at there potential partners to make sure they are compatible as there are a lot of players out there.
I would not use a dating website.
Ka kite ano P.S chose your partners wisely
Kia ora R&R on Maori Tv.
I just a few years ago I new all my neighbours the way of the west goal is to individualised the common tangata easer to use there blind/fool people if they are ALONE. For tangata whenua we have to work together to make a better future for te Mokopuna.
Moden living has to change back to the hapu /familys cooperationing in all aspects of life the Marae way of living is way of the future we will use less resources and that is going to be beneficial for our future shear the tools shareing is caring if we learn that respect is a big thing that needs to be promoted.
I get pissed at accounts who say it better to rent than buy a house.
A whare is the Whanau moanga it gives the Whanau security no one can tell you to leave with out good cause it will help with financial security once you have good equity you can lend money with low interest rates you can use your equity to help the tamariki and Mokopuna get there own house.
I agree with Marama if one is paying rent WHY can't the government and the banks lend money to buy A whare the rent has to be paid or your under the bridge. Rents are higher than a mortgage in a lot of places. Figure that one out.
Ka kite ano
I Back the call for IWI leaders to declare Human Caused Climate change a national emergency in Aotearoa as in my view on our REALITY it is.
Iwi leaders say New Zealand should declare an environment and climate emergency, as the British parliament did last week Ka kite ano links below
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/388691/we-have-to-react-with-speed-iwi-leaders-on-climate-change
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/cEXhZ8PwM-Y
All the tangata of Papatuanukue need to put huge pressure on all the Papatuanukue ruling class to force them to protect OUR Mokopuna futures first and formost.
Hague climate change judgement could inspire a global civil movement
Dutch ruling could trigger similar cases worldwide with citizens taking their governments to courts to make them act on climate promises Ka kite ano links below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jun/24/hague-climate-change-judgement-could-inspire-a-global-civil-movement
https://youtu.be/oJ_QkjieLmw
Kia ora Newshub.
Social media needs to have boundaries set to stop the haters using it to cause harm to others verbally and physically but let's not compromise free speach in the reaction.
Parlm kernel fire the stuff can self combust if not stored correctly.
Its good that more money for the homeless people to be housed,
Well national has a policy that I will back 2 days more care after our Wahine give birth to Te Mokopuna I think it's a real good policy te Wahine go thru a enormous amount of stress giveing birth to our tamariki it is quite easy for them to slip into depression.
I say that IWIs paying for health insurance for there tangata whenua is on to it yes the crown should be paying for it but we can not Rely on the government this will keep the kaumatua around longer to guide our Mokopuna up there ladders of Life.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Te ao Maori News.
I miss it last night Sir Heke Busby passed he will be missed dearly.
I see that the United nations Antonio is in Aotearoa promoting Papatuanukue PEACE Ka pai and championing the mitigatetion against climate change we must respect our future and past tipuna.
The poor common people need help its cool more funding is coming from our government for tangata whenua as we are the majority in those stats of homeless. Kia ora to the Black Ferns Ka kite ano
Kia ora The AM Show.
Chris you do a good job in Auckland caring for OUR homeless tangata.
The Ausse election in on hope you are wrong Jason the Papatuanukue can not afford to have the same government in power that is prow coal.
It is awesome that the protesting the lack of action against climate change around the Papatuanukue is still going strong.
Paul I agree with your words I say no more.
I say white supremacist are a bit of a problem in NZ I see there actions all the time.?
My diet is no additional sugar in prosessed food and a little hear and there and porridge rolled oats gets the digest system working it fulls you up easy as to I notice with te Mokopuna good feed of porridge and toast keeps them happy for 3 hours any other food 2 hours it a super food.
The white supremacist problem if you ignore a sore eventually it gets that big it burst.
Your mother day prize for that Wahine who lost her loved one's recently is cool she will be happy Wahine are the unsung Hero's of OUR society.
You should see how my WiFi and laptop get hacked so easily so be careful about the new technology you put in your whare if your privacy matters to you.
Ka kite ano
Now is the time to buy second hand electric car. I say our government should be investing in the technology of refurbishment of the battery's of the second hand car market or they will have to quickly try and clean up a mess that is easily foreseeable heaps of dead batterys and cars if the manufacturer won't back their secondhand car the government has to mabe legerslate but NZ is to small to have a impact at that level. Its a no brainer to chase a phenomenon that will sharply reduce our carbon footprint and can save the country billion at the same time a smart investment I say. I know heavy industries need fuel like gas or hydrogen but I say working smarter not harder is what little AOTEAROA has to do to keep up with the phase of change and get the best returns from the changes. The technology can be sold to other that are interested. There are many more poor people in the Papatuanukue than wealthy so the market for refurbishment of batteries is huge Ka kite ano links below.
https://youtu.be/K9m9WDxmSN8
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/jZHcuKeau8M
Equality for all is needed Wahine are treated the less equal of OUR society. Wahine from 3 world countries have it very hard they do most of the heavy lifting in the mahi of providing for there familys. The men get most of any money they get and some waster it. Eco Maori backs Tau toko this micro financing for Wahine.
Gender inequality is a global problem, but it is especially amplified when it comes to the financial opportunities presented to men and women. While there has been a significant improvement in gender equality since women were first allowed to vote,statistically, women are underrepresented in most financial positions: form borrowers to lenders, not to mention regulatory bodies or high-standing positions in banking institutions.
Micro-financing for female borrowers
Micro-financing platforms like AssetStream will allow women with lower social status and lack of work or credit history to start borrowing small sums of money, to jumpstart their finances or even start their own small business Ka kite ano links below
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cryptopolitan.com/implications-of-greater-gender-equality-through-microfinance/amp/
https://youtu.be/4viXOGvvu0Y
We don't have to invent the wheel to fix our environment. Papatuanukue has already achieved this we just have to find the creature to will help in clearing up the mess and nerture them use mother nature creations to help clean up mess we have made with our Environment. I Back the kicks principles keep it smart and simple.
The big, beautiful Baltic Sea hides a dirty secret in its 377,000km of water.
A number of agricultural spills has turned the Baltic into one of the most polluted seas in the world, due to excess nitrogen and phosphorus lacing its waters.
This process of eutrophicationhas led to the depletion of oxygen and an overgrowth of algae in the body of water, but not all hope is lost Ka kite ano link below
https://www.euronews.com/2019/05/09/pollution-fighting-mussels
https://youtu.be/6LAT1gLMPu4
Kia ora Newshub.
I say that the gumman would have had others helping him he was just the minupulate puppet.
I say it's dumb Fonterra selling Tip Top you know how to win monuply not selling ASSETS.??????.
What's the point of a study on unreported unproven crime it will be similar everywhere
Drones delivery orgain/kidneys is a sign of the Times technology is cool in the correct HANDS.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora Te ao Maori News.
Sir Heke will have a huge tangi
Its cool that the people who can't hear have Maori sign te reo language I will find the time in the near future to master te reo.
The side of the road drug test on the roads would be fine with Eco Maori in a perfect Papatuanukue but from all the data and stories I can see. Tangata whenua will end up with the short end of that STICK.
Its awesome that school fees will be dropped and focused on education Alot of intelligent tamariki would fail or not set the test because of the fees being un payed.
Ma te wa
Antonio the tangata whenua of the Pacific Islands need help in combining climate change.
Its cool that the United nations is Tau toko indigenous culture te reo /language.
I would not be a happy MAN if that happens to my Mokopuna.
Ka kite ano