Looks like the guy behind the "cash drop" has a bit of history behind him. Doesn't seem like the type of guy you want to go in to business with. I think the company will be receiving a fine of some sort.
He is only 28 that Thorn in our side! The image of him shows him to be a good looking, sleek, well dressed young man – looks self-possessed, and self-centred and apparently keen to push into profitable ventures.
Not much precautionary consideration for him I would say. His background indicates the recklessness and callousness that some business people adopt and succeed with. Sounds like Trump, looks like a Trumpian figure. There will be many decades of all sorts of clever moves to enrich himself; he might live as long as Trump.
“Silencing ‘disharmonious speech’ will not be golden” Paul Moon
One take on the issue of regulating hate speech, but I think a myopic one. Countries have usually managed to criminalize sedition without altogether outlawing dissent for example – imperfectly perhaps, but law is an imperfect instrument. It suffices to go after the frank instances of hate speech, the ones that have proven problematic – and some have.
Our country would not have been enriched by the contribution of the Southerns, and the sky did not fall, nor were many oppressed by discouraging them – their material being perfectly accessible online to anyone who cared. If that is what it takes to discourage Trumpism, it's a price I'm glad to pay.
But it isn't me that gets to decide – it's a judge.
I expect the use of the rule will be reasonably conservative – but if that cramps the style of US bought redneck gun nuts like Nicole McKee, so much the better – they contribute nothing of value to NZ.
The winds changed for ACT when David Seymour stood as the sole MP against legislation to outlaw military-style semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack…
New Zealand First, as well as New Conservatives, continue to court the gun vote (Ron Mark even went so far as to tell a Masterton audience his party didn’t agree with some of the law changes it recently signed off). But the support of the community looks set to go to ACT – a party that’s now polling consistently between 7 and 8 percent.
Given how much the party owes to its firearms family, it was no surprise to see Nicole McKee on the party’s list of candidates for this year’s election. What might have been surprising, was how much ACT has leaned into the gun vote. A June press release from ACT president Tim Jago, pointed out not once, but twice, that the party’s 2020 list included seven licensed firearms owners…
Over the past year, McKee has become synonymous with the pro-gun lobby. The prominent advocate also runs her own firearms safety training business and is a New Zealand shooting champion. She is a mother of four and until recently, was the spokesperson for the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO).
“I believe that emotive and rushed legislation adversely affects those it is intended to support. The ACT Party principles not only promote freedom to live within the law but also efficient policies while treating everyone as equal. Our laws should be rooted in policies that recognise our democratic rights to think, to speak and to behave in a legal and unobstructed way.”
From the few media appearances that she has made, McCree has established herself as a ranting fool. And you would seem to be one of her disciples – it would be sad, if it weren't so funny.
And this is the party that pretends to libertarianism?
A shameless shill for a foreign gun lobby – her disgrace is bottomless.
Chris T Southern was one of the enablers of the ChCh terror attack
Modern technology has made it easier to radicalise fringe mentally inadequate loners.
There has to be a line drawn somewhere to minimise the spread of terrorism of any type.
To allow free reign would be to you let the Taliban radicalise yet every democratic govt is shutting down their free speech so no rules for white supremacists and a complete ban on all other races and religions.
If we had to always link to what someone else says when putting our opinion forward it would not be our opinion. Hopefully people would put views supported by something/someone that can be unpicked or acknowledge as justifying….
But then sometimes they don't quote chapter and verse and that is Ok too.
The points made by Stuart Munro are valid to my mind. Another point of view.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (Conventional translation)
The difference between the text, and the Folau meme version of the text, is that one is directed at the reader, and the other is directed at an audience the meme maker wishes to intimidate.
Intimidation is often accomplished by threats, or accompanied by implicit threats. The substitution of losing a desirable goal, for being consigned to punishment changes the focus of the text substantially.
It certainly is a threat – and encouragement to the kind of self-righteous morons that shoot up pizza parlours.
But whether it meets the standard a careful judge might rule actionable is something else again. As it stands, Folau's employer distanced themselves from his statements, which covered the matter amply.
A degree of deterrence to the sort of epic redneck stupidity that has done so much harm in the US is becoming necessary here. But one would have to be right out on the fringe to meet much more than a formal warning.
Chris T I find that your pseudonym is intimidating. It appears to be Christ but coming apart which worries me deeply. I also find your frequent comments are an attempt to dominate this blog with your peculiar pronouncements according to your vision of the world, and how it should be. It appears to me that you are attempting to interfere with free, reasoned thought and speech. Could you glance over Gloriavale and others, instead, they need your pastoral care.
Surely the fact that he was trying to stir up people's negative feelings towards some people who had done him no harm, or no great harm to him or anyone else, should be referred to. The desire to hurt people, to upset and harass them is an unpleasant thing when it only happens once in private. He disagrees with something himself, strongly and might feel he has to say so in church or in an interview.
But he announced his opinion loudly and defiantly at a sports meeting, where he was because of his sporting ability which was being paid for by his club. His words were conveyed to a great crowd, the private hurt he caused became multiplied by the number in the crowd and those who heard or read the words and understood their meaning at the time, and later. It was an offence in my opinion, and illegal and irresponsible when his club was considered. Its intention was to denounce people with different ideas to him, and to damn them to the world. I think the term hate speech is being thrown around as a generic term, and another word found to replace it.
Professor Ross says legitimate criticism, or punching up, is warranted to hold people in power accountable that aren’t accessible in everyday life.
“But I’m concerned with what I call the sideways punching,” she tells Jesse Mulligan. “Sideways punching is when people are relatively of the same status that you are, but you are busily criticising them because they don’t use the words you would use, or they use the wrong gender pronoun, or they didn’t have the latest woke language.
At times "the church" should be done for hate speech depending on their preachings. Being told on the phone, during Lockdown by a church group that people who aren't abominations, like me, will be saved. Would you call that love speech?
Just like the stupid people who told Rosa Parks she had to sit at the back of the bus, or the systemic racism or bigotry that has afflicted this country's history? (ie women or non-land owning Maori not being allowed to vote) I'm sure you will cry false equivalence, well I would disagree with you on that too. Sometimes it takes Laws to be brought in to stop bigotry or dominance of one group over another so while you may say you do not think laws should be brought in to protect citizens, I do. THAT is the beauty of free speech, not allowing "stupid selves" to preach Hate Speech. In my opinion.
A law topping people? We may yet see that for those who are always shooting their mouths off. That is why we try here to elucidate reasonable ways forward. Good if you could think out something in joined up sentences which would require at least 4-5 lines explaining the whys of your wisdom.
Chris, You can hardly be very serious in your opinion that the Falau quote is hate speech. (Noteing this has since been moderated away).
If you really believed that you wouldn't then say such a thing yourself.
The thing about regulating speech is its about what is being said and not what those who say such things believe. If you say it its equally as harmful as if Falau says it.
Folau had his arse and paycheck kicked to touch for being a dick anyway, after he compromised his employer and sports code in contravention of his agreements.
The more serious problem is the 'under the radar' bigots and self-entitled agitators of the unthinking followers (like Billy TK). Sometimes the State needs to provide guidelines with consequences for the recidivist recalcitrants in the hope they will begin to respect otherds, and to protect the many, not the few. To say there is a difference between that and driving offences as Moon posits, only proves that some academics and the legislative system lacks the ability to formulate sound law. What an indictment.
JK Rowling joins 150 public figures warning over free speech
Law lecturer at Open University – https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/scottish-law-lecturer-hits-out-after-gagging-university-over-trans-comments-3059356 The academic, who has been studying English literature with the OU, was expressing his thoughts on planned hate crime laws in Scotland that would allow men to self-identify as women as well as the furore around author JK Rowling’s views on gender. He wrote the SNP’s new Bill “would make it a crime for anybody to deny that a ‘trans’ woman (i.e. a man) was a real woman”.
Where comes this hysteria about young people uncertain about who they are that has taken over our world? The young have always had to find their way in the world, try to understand their nature, their strengths and weaknesses.
Unfortunately the business world has interfered in the running of society. There is not the definite pathway to a job and adulthood that there once was. Once you left school, got a job and did that for a while, might have then gained more skills, found a life partner, saved and bought a house and that was a learning experience just getting that far.
What is the scene now, an imposition by government and authorities of disruption as a way of life; everything might change in a few years. How can you settle in and do something and build a life worth living? And the psychology broadcast by neolib – that people not in jobs are lacking in some way, NZrs are lazy, the constant chant about NZ's lack of productivity, the negative stuff is published and broadcast often. There is much of mealy-mouthed prejudices and conformist truths that speak the words of the anti-human cult; it talks about freedom and free speech, but what is it – the contents of an empty paper bag.
That emptiness is what drives the frantic uncertainty of young people searching for identity and reacting to attempts to reveal the reality of this climate of voyeurism about humanity. What are we, and where are we going? We had better not talk about it, it is too scary, and wouldn't show the authorities in a good light. Soon it will be illegal to discuss child poverty and the degradation of society.
The UK is trying to squash references to anti-capitalism in schools*; the Scots have a bill making it illegal to deny that a trans man is a woman. Our very bones and guts and minds are under attack from this mindless surge of disestablishment of society by the wealthy and predatory. Behind their facades they are valueless, and there are those who don't live by a concept of respect, kindness, and trying to be steadfast in values of fairness and honesty, in regard to themselves as well as the rest of the world, and the confused.
It's an interesting case – but I think it would be unwise to make the law a vehicle for Trans or Terf agitation. Anti racial and/or religious messages of the kind linked to criminal behaviours should be the priority – making the focus of the new law keeping the peace, not gagging inoffensive fools or encouraging skirmishing by fringe groups.
Chris Trotter, who lives in a fantasy New Zealand circa 1987, really does seem to like to spend his decline into irrelevance fretting about an imaginary mass movement of Trumpian rural gun owners, doesn't he?
I mean, they never seem to happen but he is convinced there is an army of good 'ol boy street thugs just waiting for the order from crusher to assemble for a torch lit parade and sweep to power….
Trotter's as relevant as a uni lecturer stuck in the 80's, waffling on forgetting the points then looking chuffed with themselves at the end with the verbosity they've unleashed.
That's why the msm keep going to him as their 'lefty' for the illusion of balance and not spooking the horses.
He isn't so narrow and blinkered as some of you commenters here and makes for interesting reading and an opportunity to create different scenarios and get more perspectives on whatever.
As a kid my mother made me stay at the table till I'd eaten my fish dinner, and I'd sit on and on with a ball of dry stuff in my mouth. I'd sucked out the sauce and now it was too hard to swallow. A certain amount of stuff here brings memory back to those good old days.
Think you're confusing the actual person with how they make a living in this media environment i.e. provide acceptable copy rather than express their true opinions which possibly wouldn’t be published.
That is a point tc – he does have to make a living and supplies comment to a number of outlets. One could say though that getting different ideas about politics and society into many people's heads in this country is doing god's work. And because he changes tack, people have to keep reading him to see what he says today. I don't know who you think he serves, but presume you think it isn't Labour. But which part of Labour is so wholly perfect that it shouldn't be tackled, have its jersey pulled, tripped over etc. as it makes its run for a try At The Wrong End of the field.
Ah yes, the NZ Initiative. Such lovely fellows, true heirs to the Business Round Table…
"…In posts on his personal blog, New Zealand Initiative chief editor Nathan Smith attacks Muslims and Jews and espouses incel ideology, Marc Daalder reports
The chief editor of the prominent New Zealand Initiative think tank runs a far-right blog on the side, where he bashes Muslims, says Jews invite anti-Semitism on themselves and falsely claims that the death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic has been artificially inflated…."
"espouses incel ideology" "means "involuntary celibates", are members of an onlinesubculture who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one." -Wikipedia
Perhaps part of what makes them unattractive in the first place is their barely concealed violence? The violence was in them before they were rejected.
I've met a few chaps like this…you can just about smell the aggression on them.
These right wing extremists have trouble forming relationships with women.So they blame women .
There are many of these men NZ.
I know of a least a dozen they all have no children all support conspiracy theories all believe in racial superiority all bar one haven't had any longterm relationships with women.
Most are trump supporters and antivaxxers.
They all vehemently hate strong women leaders.
David Seymour has been courting these extremists with subtle hints dog whistles ,ACT is a product of the business round table.The NZ initiative pushes ACT policy word for word.
edit
Cheapskates, those men could go to prostitutes and build a relationship with one they liked but they don't want to pay for it. So they whine and hate, which is their natural outlook. A saying is that you can't buy love. But it may be the only way they will ever get sex, and romance happens when people find each other lovable, so they will always have difficulty with that aspect. Get real, this is a society that monetises everything so go out and buy whatever you want. Don't expect to get something for nothing.
There is an interesting aspect though. What woman, or women did they get to know when they were growing up? Our childhood makes the man or woman. My contention once again is if society wants to be better, it needs to give parents the opportunity to show love to their children, and the authorities show love to the parents by helping them, with frequent workshops on parenting tied to weekly child allowance payments, goods when needed, a family holiday once a year with workshops for the parents on how to handle their problems and enjoy successful outcomes with their kids. Women being good mothers and happy in themselves would eventually see happy, capable young men go off into the world. Not these sad types who hate everyone because they dislike themselves, and no-one has ever shown them they are likable.
It would be justifiable common-sense to assume that the SIS has a bias in favour of surveilling people who present a credible threat to current accumulations of wealth/power or to the mechanisms for continuing that accumulation. Such as environmentalists, anti-free trade campaigners, anti-povery activists etc, – not racist nutters.
The SIS is an extension of the CIA and the NZ govt doesn't have much input into its operations.
That's why they are more interested in left wing greens and environmental activists .As opposed to right wing terrorists who they have deliberately overlooked.
[ Oh, please!
The SIS is an extension of the CIA and the NZ govt doesn’t have much input into its operations.
You assert that as matter of fact. I usually reply with [Link required] but you have completely ignored the last four ones 🙁
Political neutrality
The NZSIS is a politically neutral agency. The Intelligence and Security Act 2017, explicitly states that activities will not be carried out for the purpose of promoting or harming the interests of any political party or candidate. The Director-General of Security regularly meets with the Leader of the Opposition to keep them informed about matters of national security.
The Director-General reports to the Intelligence and Security Committee. Both Government and Opposition parties are represented on this body, whose membership is endorsed by Parliament.
If you want to know what really has been been occurring inside NZ's security intelligence network – particularly in relation to the Commission of Inquiry report just released – and Paul Buchanan's overall assessment, then this podcast is a must view:
I have enjoyed for a long time the flash mob in 2012 celebrating the city and the Banco Sabadell playing Ode to Joy. To hearten themselves during Covid and all the travails it has caused in 2020 they are promising another public performance.
It is an advertisement for the bank, for the city, and for their way of life which seems so much more gracious than ours. I am disturbed by the way our education is going, there seems less music, in the universities less Humanities, and in the streets less humanity and limited portions of joy.
And this is the former flashmob presentation, a great one and a great advertisement for the bank, well presented, great images and sound etc. and no-one had to cry 'Remember the children'!
Hi folks, I was talking to a mate yesty, he is an ambo. He is "not racist" but resents getting "Te Reo rammed down his throat". He was talking about getting a 'Not Guilty' t-shirt that seems to be popular in talk back circles.
There was a conversation round these parts, a few months back, along why it was inappropriate to be talking about All Lives Matter when The States was dealing with another cop that had murdered an unarmed black man.
There was a great link provided by a Standardista that summed it all up.
I am hoping someone can recall and point me in the right (no pun intended) direction.
gsays You could put the keywords in the search line at the top and see what comes up. Then under International in the Archives would be another place to search. Sometimes something is so apt that it should be framed!
Forum chair and Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano called today's virtual summit, and said Pacific leaders had a duty to encourage the world into purposeful action. The region's low-lying islands are among the worst affected by the climate crisis with threats of rising seas and increasing cyclones.
Natano said with islands on the front-line of the climate emergency, the forum's global leadership and advocacy was critical. The forum also aimed to put pressure on world leaders.
It's public information. Of interest to thinkers about business in NZ. You people find fault about everything. A big tendency to nitpick. I don’t know what you think you achieve by it.
[Ignoring the obstinacy of your comment for the moment, posting e-mail addresses here lures bots that trawl through the internet and scrape sites for e-mail addresses. This is a problem because it slows down traffic to and from the site. So, please be a good member of the TS community and help keeping the place tidy and the site running smoothly, thanks – Incognito]
Naming the relevant people involved and posting their publicly available email addresses, along with a political objective (eg emailing the directors involved to lobby them to do right) is ok. Posting individual's personal addresses, and with no clear suggestion of intent, is not ok. Doubly so in situation like this where feelings are already high.
edited.
[seeing Incog’s mod note above, a better idea would be to link to email addresses for political action purposes rather than posting on site – weka]
I posted them because they were public information. I stated that I was looking at where the directors came from, two were from Bahrain, one from London, and the others all from Invercargill and involved in fertiliser and fishing. It would interest those who follow business behaviour in NZ. I guess that seeing it wan't involving close personal relationships it would fall outside the box for many. This is a strange situation where freedom of information is frowned on. What are feelings high about for goodness sake? I'm talking about ouvea, waste from aluminium manufacturing that is going to cost NZ money to dispose of, after a lot of expensive legal work which the companies involved will wiggle out of paying as with other matters. I'm not involved in the feelings about Trevor Mallard using words that have not been passed by society's censors.
[it’s up to you grey. You’ve got the attention of moderators, and you can either do the work to understand where the boundaries are, or you can ignore the boundaries and get escalating moderations. I’m happy to explain more why the boundaries are important, but I’m not going to engage with someone who is clearly wanting an argument with moderators about moderation. See this post for why https://thestandard.org.nz/a-bit-about-how-the-standard-works/ – weka]
Get lost McFlock and The Alien you must be running out of hot air and haughty self-righteousness now at the end of this busy year creating dominance over everybody writing here.
Less than two weeks before the start of Amazon's annual Prime Day sales promotion is set to start, protestors rallied outside CEO Jeff Bezos' Beverly Hills home to call for higher pay for Amazon warehouse workers and higher taxes on wealthy Americans.
Nearly a hundred protesters marched on Sunday, according to organizers of the rally. Former and current Amazon workers were joined by groups including United Teachers Los Angeles, Sunrise LA and Extinction Rebellion, which lobbies for action to combat climate change.
"The richest man in the world made $88 billion in the course of the pandemic. It's time to fight back," Chris Smalls, one of the protest's leaders, told CBS MoneyWatch.
This is the kind of direct action that Utah Phillips was advocating for, and what I assumed was clear, apologies for the confusion. I don't mind if it is removed.
I think he is also getting at the 'things' that do not just happen – that those who are killing earth are mostly people not 'things' and these people have names and addresses and through these can be called to account. 'Earth is dying' leaves out that the causes of death are mostly due to people and is likely to invoke a reaction of woe, there is nothing we can do.
I don't find it a call to violent action. It is written in active voice to encourage thought – the usual passive sentence construction does not encourage this.
People could write letters or peacefully picket.
Imagine if the famous speech by Winston Churchill after Dunkirk has been written in passive voice….
'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets……'
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. 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 ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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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 ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
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Looks like the guy behind the "cash drop" has a bit of history behind him. Doesn't seem like the type of guy you want to go in to business with. I think the company will be receiving a fine of some sort.
The man behind Safety Warehouse's fake cash stunt: Who is Andrew Thorn? | Stuff.co.nz
Agreed. But where was the Auckland city council in all this? How could such a stunt have been sanctioned for Aotea square?
He is only 28 that Thorn in our side! The image of him shows him to be a good looking, sleek, well dressed young man – looks self-possessed, and self-centred and apparently keen to push into profitable ventures.
Not much precautionary consideration for him I would say. His background indicates the recklessness and callousness that some business people adopt and succeed with. Sounds like Trump, looks like a Trumpian figure. There will be many decades of all sorts of clever moves to enrich himself; he might live as long as Trump.
“Silencing ‘disharmonious speech’ will not be golden” Paul Moon
One take on the issue of regulating hate speech, but I think a myopic one. Countries have usually managed to criminalize sedition without altogether outlawing dissent for example – imperfectly perhaps, but law is an imperfect instrument. It suffices to go after the frank instances of hate speech, the ones that have proven problematic – and some have.
Our country would not have been enriched by the contribution of the Southerns, and the sky did not fall, nor were many oppressed by discouraging them – their material being perfectly accessible online to anyone who cared. If that is what it takes to discourage Trumpism, it's a price I'm glad to pay.
You missed a bit
…………as long as I get to decide who can talk.
But it isn't me that gets to decide – it's a judge.
I expect the use of the rule will be reasonably conservative – but if that cramps the style of US bought redneck gun nuts like Nicole McKee, so much the better – they contribute nothing of value to NZ.
Again.
In your opinion.
Feel free to trot out any evidence you might have that validates a contrary position.
Stuart Munro,,, How about you trot out evidence re: Nicole McKee.
You sadden me you creep.
Nicole McKee – a little info.https://www.newsroom.co.nz/nicole-mckee-firearms-freedom-and-family
The winds changed for ACT when David Seymour stood as the sole MP against legislation to outlaw military-style semi-automatic weapons in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attack…
New Zealand First, as well as New Conservatives, continue to court the gun vote (Ron Mark even went so far as to tell a Masterton audience his party didn’t agree with some of the law changes it recently signed off). But the support of the community looks set to go to ACT – a party that’s now polling consistently between 7 and 8 percent.
Given how much the party owes to its firearms family, it was no surprise to see Nicole McKee on the party’s list of candidates for this year’s election.
What might have been surprising, was how much ACT has leaned into the gun vote.
A June press release from ACT president Tim Jago, pointed out not once, but twice, that the party’s 2020 list included seven licensed firearms owners…
Over the past year, McKee has become synonymous with the pro-gun lobby. The prominent advocate also runs her own firearms safety training business and is a New Zealand shooting champion.
She is a mother of four and until recently, was the spokesperson for the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO).
https://www.act.org.nz/nicole-mckee
From the few media appearances that she has made, McCree has established herself as a ranting fool. And you would seem to be one of her disciples – it would be sad, if it weren't so funny.
And this is the party that pretends to libertarianism?
A shameless shill for a foreign gun lobby – her disgrace is bottomless.
Chris T Southern was one of the enablers of the ChCh terror attack
Modern technology has made it easier to radicalise fringe mentally inadequate loners.
There has to be a line drawn somewhere to minimise the spread of terrorism of any type.
To allow free reign would be to you let the Taliban radicalise yet every democratic govt is shutting down their free speech so no rules for white supremacists and a complete ban on all other races and religions.
I await your link to this with baited breath.
Read the govt report Chris T it's been all over the local media.
[You have a Moderation note waiting for you here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11-12-2020/#comment-1770573 ]
[You have a Moderation note waiting for you here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-11-12-2020/#comment-1770573 ]
Obviously. We all get that. Self evident (ie use of 'I', no links) so why are you commenting?
Because someone is making a wild claim without any evidence to justify it.
Or "doing a Mallard"
……..or expressing an opinion.
If we had to always link to what someone else says when putting our opinion forward it would not be our opinion. Hopefully people would put views supported by something/someone that can be unpicked or acknowledge as justifying….
But then sometimes they don't quote chapter and verse and that is Ok too.
The points made by Stuart Munro are valid to my mind. Another point of view.
Question for the people at the Standard.
Do you think what Israel Folau said should de fined as "hate" speech. ?
YES
It was, because it was rephrased as a threat.
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (Conventional translation)
https://biblia.com/bible/nkjv/1-corinthians/6/9-10#footnote2
[deleted quote due to lack of link]
That isn't a threat.
Unless you think the church should be done for hate speech.
The difference between the text, and the Folau meme version of the text, is that one is directed at the reader, and the other is directed at an audience the meme maker wishes to intimidate.
Intimidation is often accomplished by threats, or accompanied by implicit threats. The substitution of losing a desirable goal, for being consigned to punishment changes the focus of the text substantially.
It is not even a threat.
If people are sheep enough to believe there is a Hell, then they are into it enough to know Folau doesn't get to decide who goes there.
It certainly is a threat – and encouragement to the kind of self-righteous morons that shoot up pizza parlours.
But whether it meets the standard a careful judge might rule actionable is something else again. As it stands, Folau's employer distanced themselves from his statements, which covered the matter amply.
A degree of deterrence to the sort of epic redneck stupidity that has done so much harm in the US is becoming necessary here. But one would have to be right out on the fringe to meet much more than a formal warning.
Chris T I find that your pseudonym is intimidating. It appears to be Christ but coming apart which worries me deeply. I also find your frequent comments are an attempt to dominate this blog with your peculiar pronouncements according to your vision of the world, and how it should be. It appears to me that you are attempting to interfere with free, reasoned thought and speech. Could you glance over Gloriavale and others, instead, they need your pastoral care.
Surely the fact that he was trying to stir up people's negative feelings towards some people who had done him no harm, or no great harm to him or anyone else, should be referred to. The desire to hurt people, to upset and harass them is an unpleasant thing when it only happens once in private. He disagrees with something himself, strongly and might feel he has to say so in church or in an interview.
But he announced his opinion loudly and defiantly at a sports meeting, where he was because of his sporting ability which was being paid for by his club. His words were conveyed to a great crowd, the private hurt he caused became multiplied by the number in the crowd and those who heard or read the words and understood their meaning at the time, and later. It was an offence in my opinion, and illegal and irresponsible when his club was considered. Its intention was to denounce people with different ideas to him, and to damn them to the world. I think the term hate speech is being thrown around as a generic term, and another word found to replace it.
An academic who has been an activist for years has some thoughts on better ways of taking forward concerns on rights and behaviours.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018776224/loretta-ross-callout-and-cancel-culture-don-t-serve-social-justice
Professor Ross says legitimate criticism, or punching up, is warranted to hold people in power accountable that aren’t accessible in everyday life.
“But I’m concerned with what I call the sideways punching,” she tells Jesse Mulligan.
“Sideways punching is when people are relatively of the same status that you are, but you are busily criticising them because they don’t use the words you would use, or they use the wrong gender pronoun, or they didn’t have the latest woke language.
At times "the church" should be done for hate speech depending on their preachings. Being told on the phone, during Lockdown by a church group that people who aren't abominations, like me, will be saved. Would you call that love speech?
No. It is just the church being their stupid selves.
But I don't think there should be some law topping people from doing it.
Just like the stupid people who told Rosa Parks she had to sit at the back of the bus, or the systemic racism or bigotry that has afflicted this country's history? (ie women or non-land owning Maori not being allowed to vote) I'm sure you will cry false equivalence, well I would disagree with you on that too. Sometimes it takes Laws to be brought in to stop bigotry or dominance of one group over another so while you may say you do not think laws should be brought in to protect citizens, I do. THAT is the beauty of free speech, not allowing "stupid selves" to preach Hate Speech. In my opinion.
Utter crap analogy.
Is someone talking forcing anyone to do anything?
A law topping people? We may yet see that for those who are always shooting their mouths off. That is why we try here to elucidate reasonable ways forward. Good if you could think out something in joined up sentences which would require at least 4-5 lines explaining the whys of your wisdom.
Chris, You can hardly be very serious in your opinion that the Falau quote is hate speech. (Noteing this has since been moderated away).
If you really believed that you wouldn't then say such a thing yourself.
The thing about regulating speech is its about what is being said and not what those who say such things believe. If you say it its equally as harmful as if Falau says it.
Folau had his arse and paycheck kicked to touch for being a dick anyway, after he compromised his employer and sports code in contravention of his agreements.
The more serious problem is the 'under the radar' bigots and self-entitled agitators of the unthinking followers (like Billy TK). Sometimes the State needs to provide guidelines with consequences for the recidivist recalcitrants in the hope they will begin to respect otherds, and to protect the many, not the few. To say there is a difference between that and driving offences as Moon posits, only proves that some academics and the legislative system lacks the ability to formulate sound law. What an indictment.
https://www.afr.com/companies/sport/inside-story-how-israel-folau-s-legal-team-played-rugby-australia-20191216-p53kcr
edit
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53330105
JK Rowling joins 150 public figures warning over free speech
Law lecturer at Open University – https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/scottish-law-lecturer-hits-out-after-gagging-university-over-trans-comments-3059356
The academic, who has been studying English literature with the OU, was expressing his thoughts on planned hate crime laws in Scotland that would allow men to self-identify as women as well as the furore around author JK Rowling’s views on gender.
He wrote the SNP’s new Bill “would make it a crime for anybody to deny that a ‘trans’ woman (i.e. a man) was a real woman”.
Where comes this hysteria about young people uncertain about who they are that has taken over our world? The young have always had to find their way in the world, try to understand their nature, their strengths and weaknesses.
Unfortunately the business world has interfered in the running of society. There is not the definite pathway to a job and adulthood that there once was. Once you left school, got a job and did that for a while, might have then gained more skills, found a life partner, saved and bought a house and that was a learning experience just getting that far.
What is the scene now, an imposition by government and authorities of disruption as a way of life; everything might change in a few years. How can you settle in and do something and build a life worth living? And the psychology broadcast by neolib – that people not in jobs are lacking in some way, NZrs are lazy, the constant chant about NZ's lack of productivity, the negative stuff is published and broadcast often. There is much of mealy-mouthed prejudices and conformist truths that speak the words of the anti-human cult; it talks about freedom and free speech, but what is it – the contents of an empty paper bag.
That emptiness is what drives the frantic uncertainty of young people searching for identity and reacting to attempts to reveal the reality of this climate of voyeurism about humanity. What are we, and where are we going? We had better not talk about it, it is too scary, and wouldn't show the authorities in a good light. Soon it will be illegal to discuss child poverty and the degradation of society.
The UK is trying to squash references to anti-capitalism in schools*; the Scots have a bill making it illegal to deny that a trans man is a woman. Our very bones and guts and minds are under attack from this mindless surge of disestablishment of society by the wealthy and predatory. Behind their facades they are valueless, and there are those who don't live by a concept of respect, kindness, and trying to be steadfast in values of fairness and honesty, in regard to themselves as well as the rest of the world, and the confused.
*https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/01/ban-anti-capitalist-resources-schools-stifle-dissent-orban-hungary
It's an interesting case – but I think it would be unwise to make the law a vehicle for Trans or Terf agitation. Anti racial and/or religious messages of the kind linked to criminal behaviours should be the priority – making the focus of the new law keeping the peace, not gagging inoffensive fools or encouraging skirmishing by fringe groups.
I think that is right – keep balance. These are unbalanced individuals anyway – it's a mistake to tip them over the edge of reason.
Chris Trotter, who lives in a fantasy New Zealand circa 1987, really does seem to like to spend his decline into irrelevance fretting about an imaginary mass movement of Trumpian rural gun owners, doesn't he?
I mean, they never seem to happen but he is convinced there is an army of good 'ol boy street thugs just waiting for the order from crusher to assemble for a torch lit parade and sweep to power….
Chris lets his lyricism get in the way of his ideas. He might simply have the demographic wrong.
Trotter's as relevant as a uni lecturer stuck in the 80's, waffling on forgetting the points then looking chuffed with themselves at the end with the verbosity they've unleashed.
That's why the msm keep going to him as their 'lefty' for the illusion of balance and not spooking the horses.
He isn't so narrow and blinkered as some of you commenters here and makes for interesting reading and an opportunity to create different scenarios and get more perspectives on whatever.
As a kid my mother made me stay at the table till I'd eaten my fish dinner, and I'd sit on and on with a ball of dry stuff in my mouth. I'd sucked out the sauce and now it was too hard to swallow. A certain amount of stuff here brings memory back to those good old days.
Think you're confusing the actual person with how they make a living in this media environment i.e. provide acceptable copy rather than express their true opinions which possibly wouldn’t be published.
We all gotta serve somebody as Mr Dylan sang.
That is a point tc – he does have to make a living and supplies comment to a number of outlets. One could say though that getting different ideas about politics and society into many people's heads in this country is doing god's work. And because he changes tack, people have to keep reading him to see what he says today. I don't know who you think he serves, but presume you think it isn't Labour. But which part of Labour is so wholly perfect that it shouldn't be tackled, have its jersey pulled, tripped over etc. as it makes its run for a try At The Wrong End of the field.
Ah yes, the NZ Initiative. Such lovely fellows, true heirs to the Business Round Table…
"…In posts on his personal blog, New Zealand Initiative chief editor Nathan Smith attacks Muslims and Jews and espouses incel ideology, Marc Daalder reports
The chief editor of the prominent New Zealand Initiative think tank runs a far-right blog on the side, where he bashes Muslims, says Jews invite anti-Semitism on themselves and falsely claims that the death toll from the Covid-19 pandemic has been artificially inflated…."
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/think-tank-editor-runs-far-right-blog
"espouses incel ideology" "means "involuntary celibates", are members of an online subculture who define themselves as unable to find a romantic or sexual partner despite desiring one." -Wikipedia
So they use violence against women.
So they use violence against women.
Perhaps part of what makes them unattractive in the first place is their barely concealed violence? The violence was in them before they were rejected.
I've met a few chaps like this…you can just about smell the aggression on them.
These right wing extremists have trouble forming relationships with women.So they blame women .
There are many of these men NZ.
I know of a least a dozen they all have no children all support conspiracy theories all believe in racial superiority all bar one haven't had any longterm relationships with women.
Most are trump supporters and antivaxxers.
They all vehemently hate strong women leaders.
David Seymour has been courting these extremists with subtle hints dog whistles ,ACT is a product of the business round table.The NZ initiative pushes ACT policy word for word.
edit
Cheapskates, those men could go to prostitutes and build a relationship with one they liked but they don't want to pay for it. So they whine and hate, which is their natural outlook. A saying is that you can't buy love. But it may be the only way they will ever get sex, and romance happens when people find each other lovable, so they will always have difficulty with that aspect. Get real, this is a society that monetises everything so go out and buy whatever you want. Don't expect to get something for nothing.
There is an interesting aspect though. What woman, or women did they get to know when they were growing up? Our childhood makes the man or woman. My contention once again is if society wants to be better, it needs to give parents the opportunity to show love to their children, and the authorities show love to the parents by helping them, with frequent workshops on parenting tied to weekly child allowance payments, goods when needed, a family holiday once a year with workshops for the parents on how to handle their problems and enjoy successful outcomes with their kids. Women being good mothers and happy in themselves would eventually see happy, capable young men go off into the world. Not these sad types who hate everyone because they dislike themselves, and no-one has ever shown them they are likable.
Why it takes Newsroom to do the job of the SIS outing these guys is beyond me.
It would be justifiable common-sense to assume that the SIS has a bias in favour of surveilling people who present a credible threat to current accumulations of wealth/power or to the mechanisms for continuing that accumulation. Such as environmentalists, anti-free trade campaigners, anti-povery activists etc, – not racist nutters.
Same question could be asked of TVNZ/RNZ and should be but don't hold your breath with club member Kris and his former employer.
The SIS is an extension of the CIA and the NZ govt doesn't have much input into its operations.
That's why they are more interested in left wing greens and environmental activists .As opposed to right wing terrorists who they have deliberately overlooked.
[ Oh, please!
You assert that as matter of fact. I usually reply with [Link required] but you have completely ignored the last four ones 🙁
https://www.nzsis.govt.nz/about-us/
You are in Pre-Moderation until you provide an adequate response to this Moderation note or you can take an extended Summer break – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 2:06 PM.
The business round table / NZ initiative /tax payers union.push a lot of untruths through their media releases.
When the business roundtable became unpopular they changed their name to try and get back in the public's good books and pretend they are independent.
They seem to use unsavory characters to push their agenda.
Hey Tricledrown you have power in your fingertips.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/432644/think-tank-editor-running-far-right-blog-resigns
If you want to know what really has been been occurring inside NZ's security intelligence network – particularly in relation to the Commission of Inquiry report just released – and Paul Buchanan's overall assessment, then this podcast is a must view:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn0wkfEOXko&feature=youtu.be
I have enjoyed for a long time the flash mob in 2012 celebrating the city and the Banco Sabadell playing Ode to Joy. To hearten themselves during Covid and all the travails it has caused in 2020 they are promising another public performance.
It is an advertisement for the bank, for the city, and for their way of life which seems so much more gracious than ours. I am disturbed by the way our education is going, there seems less music, in the universities less Humanities, and in the streets less humanity and limited portions of joy.
But this is their 2020 promise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tHrpJxinP8
And this is the former flashmob presentation, a great one and a great advertisement for the bank, well presented, great images and sound etc. and no-one had to cry 'Remember the children'!
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBaHPND2QJg
Hi folks, I was talking to a mate yesty, he is an ambo. He is "not racist" but resents getting "Te Reo rammed down his throat". He was talking about getting a 'Not Guilty' t-shirt that seems to be popular in talk back circles.
There was a conversation round these parts, a few months back, along why it was inappropriate to be talking about All Lives Matter when The States was dealing with another cop that had murdered an unarmed black man.
There was a great link provided by a Standardista that summed it all up.
I am hoping someone can recall and point me in the right (no pun intended) direction.
gsays You could put the keywords in the search line at the top and see what comes up. Then under International in the Archives would be another place to search. Sometimes something is so apt that it should be framed!
Cheers grey, I will give it a go.
edit
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/432641/temperatures-drop-to-freezing-levels-in-otago-southland
Linked news items today – we're in this climate thing together.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/432635/pacific-islands-forum-leaders-urged-to-target-worst-greenhouse-gas-emitters-for-climate-action
Samoan-born, New Zealand-based climate scientist Penehuro Lefale said the world's reliance on oil, gas and coal and its inability to find alternatives for "clean fuel" was the problem to the climate crisis.
Forum chair and Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano called today's virtual summit, and said Pacific leaders had a duty to encourage the world into purposeful action.
The region's low-lying islands are among the worst affected by the climate crisis with threats of rising seas and increasing cyclones.
Natano said with islands on the front-line of the climate emergency, the forum's global leadership and advocacy was critical.
The forum also aimed to put pressure on world leaders.
and
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/432611/potential-black-sand-mining-operation-in-png-may-threaten-communities-endangered-leatherback-turtles
Thirty-eight kilometres of black sand beaches north of the town of Madang in Papua New Guinea could be about to be mined, threatening communities and the environment, including nesting grounds for endangered leatherback turtles.
Did anyone have a bet that this would happen?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/432657/toxic-waste-in-mataura-won-t-be-removed-this-year
[deleted]
[deleted]
[please don’t post people’s personal details like that have no relevance to the political issue – weka]
Why are you posting names and addresses?
yeah, doxxing (especially on the basis of one line in a newspaper) is a dick move.
It's public information. Of interest to thinkers about business in NZ. You people find fault about everything. A big tendency to nitpick. I don’t know what you think you achieve by it.
[Ignoring the obstinacy of your comment for the moment, posting e-mail addresses here lures bots that trawl through the internet and scrape sites for e-mail addresses. This is a problem because it slows down traffic to and from the site. So, please be a good member of the TS community and help keeping the place tidy and the site running smoothly, thanks – Incognito]
Naming the relevant people involved and posting their publicly available email addresses, along with a political objective (eg emailing the directors involved to lobby them to do right) is ok. Posting individual's personal addresses, and with no clear suggestion of intent, is not ok. Doubly so in situation like this where feelings are already high.
edited.
[seeing Incog’s mod note above, a better idea would be to link to email addresses for political action purposes rather than posting on site – weka]
I posted them because they were public information. I stated that I was looking at where the directors came from, two were from Bahrain, one from London, and the others all from Invercargill and involved in fertiliser and fishing. It would interest those who follow business behaviour in NZ. I guess that seeing it wan't involving close personal relationships it would fall outside the box for many. This is a strange situation where freedom of information is frowned on. What are feelings high about for goodness sake? I'm talking about ouvea, waste from aluminium manufacturing that is going to cost NZ money to dispose of, after a lot of expensive legal work which the companies involved will wiggle out of paying as with other matters. I'm not involved in the feelings about Trevor Mallard using words that have not been passed by society's censors.
[it’s up to you grey. You’ve got the attention of moderators, and you can either do the work to understand where the boundaries are, or you can ignore the boundaries and get escalating moderations. I’m happy to explain more why the boundaries are important, but I’m not going to engage with someone who is clearly wanting an argument with moderators about moderation. See this post for why https://thestandard.org.nz/a-bit-about-how-the-standard-works/ – weka]
If that's all you said I don't think there would have been a problem.
Just admit you done wrong, learn, and move on from it.
mod note.
Why is someone's exact personal address of interest to anyone else – unless you want them to pay a visit?
Public information is public, but that doesn't mean you have to collate it into a handy list for any idiot looking for fame.
Get lost McFlock and The Alien you must be running out of hot air and haughty self-righteousness now at the end of this busy year creating dominance over everybody writing here.
See my Moderation note @ 5:56 PM.
Reads like an incitement to violence.
Utah Phillips was a pacifist, but I agree that the meme is ambiguous in this context. I'm leaving it now that the personal info is gone.
In context with the deleted dox, I drew a similar conclusion as McFlock, but good to know you're on to it
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amazon-workers-protest-jeff-bezos-house/
This is the kind of direct action that Utah Phillips was advocating for, and what I assumed was clear, apologies for the confusion. I don't mind if it is removed.
I think he is also getting at the 'things' that do not just happen – that those who are killing earth are mostly people not 'things' and these people have names and addresses and through these can be called to account. 'Earth is dying' leaves out that the causes of death are mostly due to people and is likely to invoke a reaction of woe, there is nothing we can do.
I don't find it a call to violent action. It is written in active voice to encourage thought – the usual passive sentence construction does not encourage this.
People could write letters or peacefully picket.
Imagine if the famous speech by Winston Churchill after Dunkirk has been written in passive voice….
'We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets……'
And in the days of the long-tail of the internet, empty rhetoric can become action.
A better bet might be that that before this stuff is finally removed the mighty Mataura will reach flood levels that will again threaten the storage.