Open mike 12/01/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 12th, 2024 - 118 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

118 comments on “Open mike 12/01/2024 ”

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  1. Dennis Frank 1
    12 January 2024 at 8:20 am

    I noticed Weka linked to this story (day before yesterday): https://www.scotsman.com/regions/edinburgh-fife-and-lothians/female-spaces-need-better-protection-after-trans-woman-sex-assault-on-girl-say-campaigners-140883

    Since it's the first incident brought to my attention that I've been expecting ever since the Greens censored an elderly feminist for warning everyone about the danger (in consequence of which I ditched my Greens membership again), I appreciate the info!

    So now the danger is real, and leftists remain too stupid to figure it out. Not all, you will claim, and you'd be right to. The point is that the generalisation reflects the broad effect of mass belief in the political arena. I noticed Weka wondering why this unsavoury status quo is persisting. I see it as merely due to the chronic slow-learning capacity of the left, collectively. Of course the right are even slower, but that's a red herring.

    The point is that public policy needs to be realistic – seen as such by most people usually works well. Any law privileging sickos who offend in women's toilets while pretending to be female is morally wrong. The left ought to promptly suss this out!

    • Molly 1.1
      12 January 2024 at 8:26 am

      The danger was always real, when statistical likelihood was considered.

      The breaking of single-sex provision was always non-consensual.

      All men – including those we trust and care for – are excluded from female single-sex provisions.

      And it is most often those men that we do trust that understand why, and support the protection of those provisions.

    • weka 1.2
      12 January 2024 at 8:44 am

      Unfortunately what happened to that girls is neither new, nor an isolated incident. The bigger immediate problem is the intentional policy of No Debate by gender identity ideology activists and TRAs (trans rights activists) whereby anyone not agreeing to TWAW (trans women are trans women) and taking that literally all the time, is ostracised in various ways and to various degrees.

      In the UK, women and men have lost jobs and careers when they've spoken out about this. There is nothing left wing about a movement that routinely advocates and acts on removing someone's ability to make a living.

      The original tweet I posted is now removed, because the account has been suspsended. Maybe it broke some serious twitter rules. Or maybe it was just saying stuff like this and the TRAs on twitter mass reported it (also not new, uncommon, or isolated). The account may get reinstated.

      Here's what it said,

      You’re a 10yr old girl. One day you decide to use the toilet while you’re at the market with your mom.

      You’re sexually assaulted at knifepoint by a man who’s six and a half feet tall.

      You’re told he’s a woman and they call him a her in court

      This is trans ideology

      https://www.scotsman.com/regions/edinburgh-fife-and-lothians/female-spaces-need-better-protection-after-trans-woman-sex-assault-on-girl-say-campaigners-140883

      https://twitter.com/FreyaManslayer/status/1744524603257422208

      That format in the tweet was being used using quote tweets, so each tweet was a reply to someone using that format and you could click through to see other examples. You can see the effect of No Debate, because all that work is no inaccessible to us, whereas a couple of days anyone here could have gone and read the examples.

    • Muttonbird 1.3
      12 January 2024 at 8:45 am

      Speaking of red herrings.

      If the left is slow learning, and the right even slower learning then, interpolating this scientific data, the sensible centre must be somewhere in-between.

      A bit slower than the left and slightly quicker than the right.

      • Dennis Frank 1.3.1
        12 January 2024 at 8:48 am

        Useful advocacy of rational reasoning. Could help to keep the 18th century enlightenment ethos alive a wee while longer… wink

    • David 1.4
      12 January 2024 at 12:40 pm

      I'm not sure your framing of this is correct. Gender critical viewpoints find their voice across the spectrum of political views. They can come from a place of social conservatism just as comfortably as amongst feminist progressivism, which is why this issue often unites unlikely allies.

      The bigger problem is what Weka describes as the 'no debate' 'policy'. There has been a deliberate and coordinated targeting of those with gender critical views, from Maya Forstater to JK Rowling. This targeting takes many different forms, but it frequently attacks a persons career and income. In some cases, the targets of these attacks have the wherewithall to fight back, as eg Maya Fostater did. But I suspect that many just keep quiet. Thankfully not Holly Lawford-Smith, who wrote

      "Silencing women whose feminism is based in material reality is like silencing atheists because of the demands of a fringe religion. It is the suppression of competing ideas, masquerading as a civil rights moment."

      The Digital Deplatforming of a Gender-Critical Feminist – Areo (areomagazine.com)

      • Dennis Frank 1.4.1
        12 January 2024 at 12:54 pm

        I agree with you that those other dimensions are part of the big picture. The mass psychodynamic will likely escalate until the reaction is sufficient to shift everyone toward a solution to the problem. Taken several years already, so I guess activists on this front aren't well-organised enough yet.

    • Anker 1.5
      12 January 2024 at 1:36 pm

      Thank you Denis and those other men on this site who have realised the danger that the gender ideology movement represents to women.

      We don't know which men are sex offenders and people are often shocked when they find out that their friendly next door neighbour (just an example ) is. But the reality is that men in women's change rooms automatically enables and legitimizes two sex crimes , voyerism and flashing.

      • Dennis Frank 1.5.1
        12 January 2024 at 1:49 pm

        Unfortunately politics usually requires human sacrifice (victims) before so-called progressives pull their finger out & actually eliminate a social problem. So I expect the trend to worsen before it gets better. Actual violent assaults seem necessary to shift activity in the neuronal spaghetti of (most) leftist brains.

        To some extent this is understandable though. There achieved notoriety in the 1960s something called the `it can't happen here' syndrome. Zappa & the Mothers did a cringeworthy song about it in '66. Oh, I see it originated 30 years earlier: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Can%27t_Happen_Here

    • SPC 1.6
      12 January 2024 at 1:57 pm

      So now the danger is real

      No, that risk of self ID was always a known.

      Supporters of gender ID, rather than sex based ID faced two roadblocks – the (risk of harm from) transition of minors and self ID (enabling predators and sporting grifters) creating safety issues for those of the female sex.

      To use a geo-political metaphor, MacArthur went to the Yalu and then American forces returned to the parallel. The political pendulum.

    • UncookedSelachimorpha 2.1
      12 January 2024 at 8:41 am

      You need to brush up your Late Latin obviously.

      https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/viscidus

      (admission – I had never heard it in my life, had to look behind the world of warcraft results to find it….what a weird word to use)

      Amusing it was used by a communications expert.

      • Robert Guyton 2.1.1
        12 January 2024 at 8:51 am

        I thought Wilson's SpellCheck had mangled "invidious" 🙂

        • Belladonna 2.1.1.1
          12 January 2024 at 9:03 am

          Suspect you are quite correct (although it may be a spellchecker at the Stuff end)

          However, the whole story is a beat-up by Wilson – with no added information.
          Self-promotion? (wanting to be in on the story-of-the-moment) Dirty politics? (desire to put the boot into the Greens) Who knows.

    • Dennis Frank 2.2
      12 January 2024 at 8:59 am

      Tricky would be my take. Tempting to wait for the cops to work through their process. However Joe & Josephine Public will be wondering why Golriz is refraining from telling folks what actually happened.

      I mean tell her parliamentary colleagues first, despite public interest. Then those Greens would have to decide whether to tell the people.

      Truth is often important in public life (tho some would point out it's as real as a unicorn). In our current low point in the media cycle, Golriz will be focus of media interest until something better comes up. Weka's point about the DP dimension is valid too – muckrakers get traction when folks toss them muck to rake…

      • Robin The Goodfellow 2.2.1
        12 January 2024 at 9:05 am

        How is it tricky?

        If it is a misunderstanding then just issue a statement saying what happened ie medical drugs made me forgetful, the silly season made me distracted, we've all been there (I mean I personally haven't but I can understand that things sometimes happen) and that they'll clear it up with Scotties

        The longer a statement takes to come the more theories people will come up with

        • Dennis Frank 2.2.1.1
          12 January 2024 at 9:17 am

          Yeah Robin, I share your common sense view. She may have made a mistake due to meds clouding her consciousness at the time – but that theory seems weak the longer she delays giving her side of the story. However she's a lawyer, right?

          So common sense isn't prevailing. The parliament/law interface will dictate how it all plays out. The establishment defeating common sense is the tricky bit. To allow, or not to allow? A Hamletesque question…

          • SPC 2.2.1.1.1
            12 January 2024 at 9:28 am

            Whether any explanation is made now, or not, has no bearing on what happened and why.

            The obvious problem with discussing the issue in public is, it is not the place of politicians to place pressure on complainants, or police.

          • Obtrectator 2.2.1.1.2
            12 January 2024 at 9:38 am

            Trained in the law, but doesn't currently hold a practising certificate, although she had one before entering politics. That's according to today's Post. (No link, sorry – only seems to be in the print edition.)

        • mpledger 2.2.1.2
          13 January 2024 at 10:04 am

          Her lawyers will be telling her to keep quiet. And if you think that is from a position of guilt watch this illuminating video from a defence lawyer who recommends never talking to the police even if you are innocent.

          (It's from an American perspective so it's over the top but the underlying sentiment holds.)

    • SPC 2.3
      12 January 2024 at 9:20 am

      Traditionally MP's are bound by the no bribery and corruption imperative and declaration of financial interests.

      There does not seem to any other specified ethical code for MP's, as per being drunk in a public place, accepting free gifts, being accused of shoplifting (leaving without paying) and the like.

      https://www.parliament.nz/mi/visit-and-learn/how-parliament-works/parliamentary-practice-in-new-zealand/chapter-4-members-conditions-of-service/

    • Anne 2.4
      12 January 2024 at 9:36 am

      Stuff appears to be the only major outlet to comment on the story today. It contains nothing new apart from a couple of reckons from two "experts". Their claims she should be talking ignores the fact she's overseas and might well be in a part of the world where communications are difficult and perhaps also dangerous – especially if she is in the Middle East.

      • Dennis Frank 2.4.1
        12 January 2024 at 9:41 am

        Any woman with a track record of political prominence is likely to seem a sitting duck in the ME so hope she hasn't ventured there!

        When I rejoined the Greens in 2014 & attended the provincial meetings she was female Co-Convenor & always did it well. However parliament imposes a warp factor onto character – toxic consequences are the potential…

        • Robert Guyton 2.4.1.1
          12 January 2024 at 10:04 am

          " However parliament imposes a warp factor onto character "

          Does it?

          Have you examples?

          • Dennis Frank 2.4.1.1.1
            12 January 2024 at 10:13 am

            Well some MPs get more warped than others, but I don't mean to imply that it differs from any other high-pressure social group. Some capitalists get more warped by their culture than others.

          • gsays 2.4.1.1.2
            12 January 2024 at 12:14 pm

            Any examples?

            Judith Collins sometimes seems reasonable and nice.

      • Cricklewood 2.4.2
        12 January 2024 at 12:26 pm

        Theres a second accuastion up on the herald now and a little bit more detail about the first. 15k in clothes since returned!

        https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/golriz-ghahraman-allegations-mp-allegedly-identified-in-second-shoplifting-incident/UR5V6VROWNGPDATS2FWVBVUXUA/

        Given the drip feed its definitly an organised hit job and looking more and more like a career ender. Im wondering if the lack of comment was down to a bit of cat and mouse to try a flush out any other accusations in the pipeline.

        • Robin The Goodfellow 2.4.2.1
          12 January 2024 at 12:33 pm

          It'll turn out to be a sitcom like story of wacky mix ups and hilarious hijinx which we'll all laugh about later

        • Dennis Frank 2.4.2.2
          12 January 2024 at 12:48 pm

          Almost as though some investigative journalism would be a good idea. Creating a scenario of repeat offending does seem like DP but no actual evidence of the earlier incident. Folks will wonder if she got addicted to bling fashion or something or has a negative personal attitude to the shop/ owners. Expect more media to jump on the story though…

        • Clyde Perkins 2.4.2.3
          12 January 2024 at 1:10 pm

          A hit job? Shes alleged to have committed more than one crime (a minor crime) so the story isnt , this is a hit job, but how many current Green MP's knew she was stealing but kept quiet.

          • weka 2.4.2.3.1
            12 January 2024 at 1:16 pm

            you need to pick one username and one email address and stick to it. Write them down if you need to. You’re commenting privileges will be withdrawn if you don’t reply to this comment acknowledging and agreeing.

          • Robin The Goodfellow 2.4.2.3.2
            12 January 2024 at 1:23 pm

            Come on now, we don't know she was stealing, these are only allegations at the moment

            Until we hear something from the lady herself we should all refrain from thinking is there any more to come and let this run its course and for what is likely to be a perfectly reasonable explanation for all this

            Which I'm sure will be forthcoming

          • Cricklewood 2.4.2.3.3
            12 January 2024 at 1:38 pm

            The accusations are one thing, the way theyve been presented reeks of a political hit job designed to create as much damage as possible.

            It seems very likely theyve waited till the accused is overseas so as to create a time lag in any communication between the green party leadship and Gohlriz which helps create a vacuum.

            Then drip feed details and other acusations to create further uncertainty and keep the story in the news cycle.

            Id imagine there is video footage from the store in someones hands as well.

            Assume Green party leadership havent seen it that creates further difficulties that probably leaks at some stage in the next week or so if theres not a fullsome mea culpa.

  3. SPC 3
    12 January 2024 at 8:53 am

    How the failure to heed and or protect whistleblowers led to Snowden being left with no other alternative.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/22/how-pentagon-punished-nsa-whistleblowers

    • Muttonbird 4.1
      12 January 2024 at 10:25 am

      Interesting on many levels.

      Restoring Law and Order in handwritten, comic-sans like font, mixed caps and lower case. From a design choice point of view this says either they don't take restoring law and order seriously, or the statement is satire.

      Stock background image featuring justice bingo; a courtroom, a gavel, a law book, and the scales. Indicates we mean business! I hope they paid for the stock image.

      NZ First either claiming credit for this particular part of the coalition agreement, or distancing itself from it. Hard to know which.

      Coalition Commitments (underlined twice) has been formed into some sort of official looking logo at bottom right. If they are amending the Sentencing Act it is really a government order of business, not an order from this new body called Coalition Commitments (underlined twice).

  5. SPC 5
    12 January 2024 at 9:45 am

    A company shipped Iranian oil, despite sanctions, then got caught and agreed to send it onto the USA to be hand over the oil – forfeiture.

    Then it tried to use the ship to transport Iraqi oil to Turkey and this happened. I'd hate to be their insurer.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67948119

  7. SPC 7
    12 January 2024 at 10:27 am

    Hooton vs Clark on international politics and the rules based order.

    On the particular, protection of freedom of the seas Hooton 1-0, but then he imagines that a rules based order is only possible where it is imposed by a unilateral imperial power and Clark's position is based in anti-americanism. So he loses 1-2. And this is before Clark makes any refutation.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/matthew-hooton-helen-clarks-anti-americanism-on-show/UTSVJNM2MVC5LADYQVMWQSN7GA/

    • Res Publica 7.1
      12 January 2024 at 10:46 am

      Rules based international orders have traditionally been maintained by hegemonic powers (think the mediterranean during the time of the Roman Empire, or the 19th century during the height of Britain's imperial pretensions), but you're correct that this doesn't necessarily need to be the case.

      However, we have a tiny sample size of two serious, legitimate attempts to build a truly global and multipolar rules based international system of trade and law: neither of which have been totally successful.

      The UN could be it, but is more or less impotent in the face of the veto wielded by the big 5.

      Someone or a collection of someones needs to have both the means and motivation to play policeman and back up the rules with force, otherwise the system will tend to collapse under the weight of everyone's contradictory interest.

      • SPC 7.1.1
        12 January 2024 at 11:07 am

        Rome never had an international order. Nor the British empire.

        The only serious effort has been since 1945 (the absence of the USA, USSR and the continuance of empire discounts the LON).

        Someone or a collection of someones needs to have both the means and motivation to play policeman and back up the rules with force, otherwise the system will tend to collapse under the weight of everyone's contradictory interest.

        A successful international organisation would not be compromised by a singular nation behaving like a coercive imperial power, or a cartel of regional hegemon's claiming to be an opposition to that doing the same.

        It needs some real good diplomats to prevent "fires".

        • Res Publica 7.1.1.1
          12 January 2024 at 4:09 pm

          Rome never had an international order.

          Then what else would you call nearly 500 years of being the arbiter of disputes and de facto (Latin irony intended) policeman of the Mediterranean world?

          A successful international organisation would not be compromised by a singular nation behaving like a coercive imperial power, or a cartel of regional hegemon's claiming to be an opposition to that doing the same.

          It needs some real good diplomats to prevent "fires".

          I agree with you there SPC, but diplomacy sometimes need to be backed up. Even by force.

          It's important that those of us that support a rules-based order follow Thedore Roosevelts maxim of "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

          Otherwise, it's far too easy for bad-faith actors to simply ignore or subvert the system a la Japan, Italy and Germany in the 20s and 30s when they thumbed their noses at the League of Nations.

          In fact, you could argue the failure of the League came down to the lack of a strong enough power cough cough the US cough willing to back up the high-minded principles it was founded on.

          • SPC 7.1.1.1.1
            12 January 2024 at 4:23 pm

            I was seeking to distinguish international (as in world) order from regional hegemon – there has never been been a world empire as such, only regional empires with their surrounding area of hegemony.

            Only since 1945 has there been a serious attempt at an international rules based order.

            • Res Publica 7.1.1.1.1.1
              12 January 2024 at 4:37 pm

              I was seeking to distinguish international (as in world) order from regional hegemon – there has never been been a world empire as such, only regional empires with their surrounding area of hegemony.

              Depends on your definition of "world" and "empire" 😀

              But I can definitely see (and accept) your point!

              • Visubversa …
                12 January 2024 at 5:56 pm

                There were certainly Empires which established regional "order". The Great Khanate established the "Pax Mongolica" in the 13thC under which it was stated that "a Virgin seated on a sack of gold could travel from Sarai in the west to Karakorum in the east without molestation". This facilitated the travels of explorers and traders like Marco Polo who no longer had to deal with various warring tribes and bandits.

      • Dennis Frank 7.1.2
        12 January 2024 at 11:14 am

        More likely the charade will persist due to inertia. The control system is still effective. Allowing warfare here & there is traditional.

        Doesn't really matter that it makes the powers that be look like a bunch of clowns – we've had several decades of that already. Thank democracy for that, not god.

        However it remains theoretically possible for competent players to change the game at the top. The ball is in the court of younger generations (who seem adept at dodging it). The solution has long been obvious: the UN must adopt a method for SC over-rule. An agreed number of non-SC countries must be given the right to provide a positive alternative to SC failure to do what the UN was established to do!

        • Res Publica 7.1.2.1
          12 January 2024 at 4:12 pm

          the solution has long been obvious: the UN must adopt a method for SC over-rule. An agreed number of non-SC countries must be given the right to provide a positive alternative to SC failure to do what the UN was established to do!

          So, convince turkeys to vote for Christmas and hope all three of our past and wannabe global hegemons suffer from a spontaneous outbreak of goodwill?

          I agree that's an entirely logical and desirable reform, but I can't see any of the big 5 letting it happen.

          • Dennis Frank 7.1.2.1.1
            12 January 2024 at 4:37 pm

            They could terminate their UN membership, perhaps. Would freak the UN bureaucrats out but everyone else would adapt. Fun watching hegemon threatening would-be hegemon while the UN is irrelevant? Dunno. I suppose as usual it depends on the global level of disgust with the status quo – each passing crisis prods the tipping point but we ain't there yet.

            Consider humanity as a self-organising system: at the global level of complexity, state changes are always possible while being inherently indeterminate in timing. So a UN reform movement just needs to design the optimal solution to the problem & wait for the collective impetus to shift into it.

            • Res Publica 7.1.2.1.1.1
              12 January 2024 at 4:41 pm

              Fun watching hegemon threatening would-be hegemon while the UN is irrelevant?

              You mean, what's happening now?

              The problem is that both the current Russian and Chinese regimes are pretty much immune to domestic public opinion, and the USA ran out of f$%*cks to give about what the rest of the world thought of its foreign policy sometime in the 60s.

              • Dennis Frank …
                12 January 2024 at 5:00 pm

                You're right, not that much different to now really – though I wouldn't discount the renegade factor since it would affect the mass psyche. Putin would be dead keen to see the US & China jump the UN ship – – `look, they're no better than me'. Moral parity due to lack of authority…

                Is global governance as charade better than a test for consensus on the basis of the common interest of nations? I doubt it.

    • Ad 7.2
      12 January 2024 at 11:30 am

      Helen Clark was right 20 years ago when GATT was fresh, the NZ-China FTA was a good thing, and the UN was still effective.

      But now, GATT and Fonterra have diminished this small state, the NZ-China FTA has been a siphon to suck us dry, and the UN is in decline.

      Only the weak and small need rules, and sadly New Zealand is weak small state in a world where international rules are falling apart.

  8. SPC 8
    12 January 2024 at 11:40 am

    Of course an international rules based order is one that nations can withdraw from supporting.

    Pat Buchanan whose foreign policy position informs that of Trump, suggests there is no no reason to aid Ukraine. And questions support for ex Warsaw Pact nations, or the Baltic states formerly of the USSR and even Finland and Sweden.

    https://www.creators.com/read/pat-buchanan

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2024/01/us-would-never-help-if-europe-was-under-attack-donald-trump-reportedly-told-eu.html

    If this became the USA position, then of course it would take us back to 1950 and Dean Acheson (as per Korea). If the USA would walk away from NATO members (and their concerns as per Ukraine and them maybe next) why not its security alliance with Oz?

    The US backed international order would implode fast. So would the global dollar economy.

    NATO would become like the TPP, sans US membership. It would negotiate a European order with Russia. The post 1945 American dominance of international organisations would end. The UN would most likely find a new base. The US likely to leave and become the empire of 50 states – till it broke up. The world would do to the American tech monopolies something breaking bad and all their tax evasion would end.

    Maybe the basis of a novel to read next summer …

    • Ad 8.1
      12 January 2024 at 12:11 pm

      Obama, Trump and Biden have all retreated from the uni-polar power position, and frankly COVID was a stronger test of global trade orders than the current wars are.

      NATO is not a trade deal; it is a defence pact. Trump's threats helped the defence ministries of many EU countries to wake up, gear up, forget previous neutralities, and prepare for the Russian invasion.

      So let's say Trump wins the White House this year.

      That does not mean that European retreat or even detente with Russia is inevitable. In fact it may even make EU military war with Russia more likely since the US is the handbrake.

      A Trump win would be a good thing for regional sovereignty. For example it would focus South East Asian military cooperation (including NZ and Au) to get very strong to protect sea lanes very quickly.

      And it will only take one military incursion into South Korea for the US to wake up to what its military bases are actually there for.

      • SPC 8.1.1
        12 January 2024 at 12:40 pm

        NATO is not a trade deal; it is a defence pact

        And it might well be sans US membership, like TPP, if Trump wins.

        The EU (and UK) would continue NATO policy on support for Ukraine, but more as the basis for a negotiating position for talks with Russia. Russia wants the end of sanctions (over occupation of the Donbass and Crimea).

        A Trump win would be a good thing for regional sovereignty

        More a threat of a regional hegemony and some sort of subordinate co-existence. Could ASEAN deter the South Sea atolls as part of China claim?

        And it will only take one military incursion into South Korea for the US to wake up to what its military bases are actually there for.

        Why would POTUS Trump commit to the defence of ROK or Taiwan and not NATO nations? White race axis GOP?

        • Ad 8.1.1.1
          12 January 2024 at 3:19 pm

          You should do a whole post.

          Certainly people like John Bolton are saying that Trump would actively collapse NATO.

          I would not dare to speculate further on the consequences of a Trump II presidency. It's too dark.

          • Morrissey 8.1.1.1.1
            12 January 2024 at 5:03 pm

            NATO won't "collapse." It needs to be disbanded. If Trump and Bolton actually believed their own rhetoric, and did do something about pulling apart that warmongering coalition, then reasonable people would vote for them.

            • Res Publica 8.1.1.1.1.1
              12 January 2024 at 6:52 pm

              So collective security is great, unless you actually organise it. Then it's warmongering. Because reasons?

              Riiiiiighhht.

              So, what should Europe do to contain Russian revanchism and expansionism and the multitude of other security threats facing Europe?

              Ask noted respecter of international and human rights law Vladimir Putin if he could pretty please stop interfering with and invading his neighbours out of the goodness of his heart?

              • Morrissey …
                12 January 2024 at 9:30 pm

                Provoking Russia by funding Nazis like the Azov Brigade, which the U.S. was doing even before the end of World War II, and by siting military bases all around Russia is not "collective security" except in the minds of madmen like John Bolton and the "neocons" who destroyed Afghanistan and Iraq.

                • UncookedSelachimorpha …
                  13 January 2024 at 12:27 am

                  "provoking Russia"…

                  russia "provokes" itself to invade various neighbours often, doesn't need any help. They invent whatever reasons suit them at the time.

                  • Morrissey …
                    13 January 2024 at 6:13 am

                    You seem to have mistaken Russia for the United States or Great Britain or Israel or France.

            • SPC 8.1.1.1.1.2
              13 January 2024 at 12:57 am

              No.

              If the USA chooses isolationism, NATO (the EU defence group + UK) would negotiate with Russia.

              If the USA chose to continue with multi-lateral collective security, the alternative to current arrangements would be for USA/Canada/UK Norway to be the residual of NATO and the EU block to have defence co-operation with NATO and Russia, once there was agreement on a post Ukraine war Europe.

              The sort of arrangement George Kennan would have advised in the 1990’s.

      • Res Publica 8.1.2
        12 January 2024 at 4:32 pm

        A Trump win would be a good thing for regional sovereignty. For example it would focus South East Asian military cooperation (including NZ and Au) to get very strong to protect sea lanes very quickly.

        With what money? With who's army, navy and air assets?

        China has a massive and almost insurmountable head start in terms of military capability and technology that will take truly epic and lengthy investment to even start closing. Assuming it's even affordable.

        For example, look at the Australian nuclear submarine programme.

        They're anticipating maybe buying three Virginia class boats in the 2030s while waiting for their 8 subs to be delivered sometime in the 2050s and 60s. The cost? Something like $350 billion AUD.

        Whereas the PLAN already has 11 nuclear powered attack submarines, with at least 3 more under construction. On top of its already large conventional sub force. God only knows how many more they could construct by 2055 if they felt like they were in a regional arms race.

        In that scenario, we, along with much of your militarised ASEAN alliance, would be no better than passengers.

        Let's face it: as uncomfortable and frustrating as they are as allies, our security, and that of the rest of the region relies on the US maintaining the strength and will to counterbalance Chinese pretensions.

    • Corey 8.2
      12 January 2024 at 1:22 pm

      The thing is most Americans don't want their government funding Ukraines or Israels military.

      Poor, young, working class, black and latino voters are particularly against money going out of their country while their public services and social safety nets are being cut…

      Funding these wars has made Joe Biden the most unpopular president in modern history.

      If Joe Biden continues funding Israel or Ukraine they might as well not have the election because Trump will win all three houses in a landslide because Trump now wins with young, black and Latino voters.

      You can't force Americans to pay for it.

      As for Nato, it's definitely well past time the other members all increased their military budgets to make up for the eventual American cut backs, the rules based order shouldn't rely solely on one country, it’s unfair to that one nation and it’s people.

      The EU really ought to start pulling its weight.

      • SPC 8.2.1
        12 January 2024 at 1:40 pm

        NATO determined in 2014 to have its members meet a 2% GDP defence budget by 2024. While Obama was POTUS.

        America is not a large scale funder of the Israeli military – it is however an important consumer of American military supplies. What support it provides has stayed the same for decades (diminishing in real value over time) with a similar amount of aid to Egypt and Jordan. And the reason for it was to play the neutral peace broker – for diplomatic reasons.

        The GOP is stronger on support for Israel, than the party of Biden (albeit weird reasons, bible fundamentalists see Israel as proof of the fulfillment of prophecy and their hawks appreciate regional military allies).

        There is currently no large scale funding of Ukraine by the USA because it has been blocked by the GOP in Congress. The same GOP majority in Congress is not proposing any of that money in ways useful to the young, blacks or Hispanics. They are the party of public services and social safety nets being cut.

        • Morrissey 8.2.1.1
          13 January 2024 at 6:39 am

          America is not a large scale funder of the Israeli military…

          And thirty beheaded babies. And those hospitals deserved to be destroyed. And NATO is a "defence" alliance. Got it.

          • SPC 8.2.1.1.1
            13 January 2024 at 8:42 am

            So no evidence that the US is a large scale funder of the Israel military.

            • Morrissey 8.2.1.1.1.1
              13 January 2024 at 8:57 am

              You're not a serious person. I'm not going to waste any more time on your inane false statements.

      • UncookedSelachimorpha 8.2.2
        12 January 2024 at 2:15 pm

        US aid to Ukraine was 0.33% of GDP in 2023, most of which was spent in the USA employing Americans. 11 other countries contributed more as percentage of GDP.

        US aid to Ukraine has little to no influence on the USA's ability to pay for public services etc – that is more to do with internal neoliberal policies. The "pay for services, not for Ukraine" narrative is an important russian propaganda point, heavily promoted by the russian disinfo machine.

      • Res Publica 8.2.3
        12 January 2024 at 4:34 pm

        The thing is most Americans don't want their government funding Ukraines or Israels military.

        You could decently argue that far from being subsidised by US taxpayers, the Israelis are doing a fair bit to prop up the American military-industrial complex.

        • Morrissey 8.2.3.1
          13 January 2024 at 6:41 am

          They don't need U.S. financial and diplomatic support. And they're stabilising the region for us. Right.

    • mikesh 8.3
      12 January 2024 at 2:49 pm

      The US backed international order would implode fast. So would the global dollar economy.

      The "global dollar" seems to be part of the problem. That's why a number of countries are endevouring to set up BRICS.

  9. roblogic 9
    12 January 2024 at 12:27 pm

    Has Martyn Bradbury fallen out with Chris Trotter? Bomber seems fairly pissed about Trotter's alignment with NZ First. I agree with Bomber, it is pretty disappointing, but Trotter has a track record of inconsistency and going off the rails. Maybe in 2016 Winston First showed some support of meat and potatoes working class issues, but that's a faint memory now and Winnie has laid down with the conspiracy crowd, and gotten fleas.

    The Democracy Project’sresident NZ First apologist, Chris Trotter, argues this new hard right racist Government IS NOT hard right while other defenders of this new hard right racist Government bemoan ‘why can’t we be friends‘ because that’s the new game now […]

    Trotter argues that this is NOT a hard right Government so as to justify his support of NZ First.

    Why Right are suddenly frightened at the backlash to their hard right racist Government and how LINO incrementalists are helping them | The Daily Blog

    • Dennis Frank 9.1
      12 January 2024 at 12:40 pm

      Leftists disagreeing with other leftists is classic leftism. The syndrome is well-documented as originating in the late 18th century, compounded internationally during the 19th century, raised to the status of political art in the 20th. You just spotted an attempt by a couple of late runners trying to keep up with the bunch.

      Ardern’s political rhetoric indicated a determination to “transform” New Zealand. Exactly what their country was to be transformed into was never made clear to New Zealanders. https://democracyproject.substack.com/p/where-the-people-walk?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=ykmyv&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

      Seems accurate analysis, but punters may come up with proof to the contrary so I'll keep an open mind on his assertion. Reality is real hard to detect sometimes.

      It was the possession of this unassailable majority that spurred Labour’s Māori Caucus into action, and encouraged Labour’s social liberals to proceed as if their radical ideas enjoyed wide popular support.

      These misapprehensions: that New Zealanders were ready to become a Te Tiriti-based nation; and that the peculiar notions of the educated urban middle classes could be imposed upon the rest of the country without provoking passionate resistance; were what convinced Labour and the Greens that they could move sharply leftward without generating a significant conservative backlash.

      I don't blame them for their gamble – times are when we need progress. Will a semblance suffice? No, and that's where the Labour strategy went wrong. Substance is usually required. If they had common sense, they'd know that already.

      • roblogic 9.1.1
        12 January 2024 at 12:49 pm

        No, Trotter's piece merely shows that the Atlas Network's propaganda campaign succeeded in portraying Labour a certain way and he's (eloquently) expressing the false impression that a couple of years of FUD and lies can produce.

        Trotter wallpapers over the rank misogyny of anti-Jacinda rhetoric and unabashed racism from anti-3W arseholes.

        And there’s no mention of the NAF coalition’s tolerance, or even tacit endorsement, of fringe theories about Covid and the WEF and 15-minute cities and global warming, etc

        Trotter makes the coalition of bullshitters and shysters seem reasonable, mainstream, moderate. That is a shame and a failure of journalism.

    • Ad 9.2
      12 January 2024 at 3:26 pm

      Bradbury keeps complaining about the absence of 'broad church' activism, but doesn't have an answer for NZFirst getting 8 seats when three months before the election they were going to get nothing.

      There's 8 seats out there begging for the left to get.

      Far better to understand how to win them, than slag off commentators figuring it out.

  11. Morrissey 11
    12 January 2024 at 1:41 pm

    Well, that should distract the public from the court case on Israeli genocide…

    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/yemen-us-uk-launch-air-strikes-houthis-red-sea-shipping-attacks-gaza-solidarity

  12. Muttonbird 12
    12 January 2024 at 1:47 pm

    I'd be interested in the relationship between Scotties owner Sonja Batt and Philip Crump/Thomas Cramer.

    And also between Sonja Batt and Gloriz Ghahraman.

    • Robin The Goodfellow 12.1
      12 January 2024 at 3:00 pm

      Bet she wishes she'd shown the Scotties employee the contents of her bag that first time when asked

    • Muttonbird 13.1
      12 January 2024 at 6:07 pm

      The capitalist economies of the West rely on uninterrupted trade to maintain their hegemonic and exploitative agenda. Suez and the Red Sea are strategic weak points in this house of cards and the self-appointed global police have been bound to act.

      Big ups to the Palestine freedom fighting Houthi rebels who have managed to focus attention on the injustices of colonialist powers.

      • tsmithfield 13.1.1
        12 January 2024 at 8:06 pm

        Firing missiles and hijacking commercial ships is a bit different to marching down the street waving placards don't you think?

        • Muttonbird 13.1.1.1
          12 January 2024 at 8:19 pm

          It sure is, but marching down the street waving placards is not going to force the issue of a Palestinian state and eject Israel out of the West Bank.

          Direct action is the only way to do this and direct action in that region is necessarily militant. No one listens otherwise.

    • Robin The Goodfellow 14.1
      12 January 2024 at 5:07 pm

      Well I'd have to say that's cleared everything up, nothing more to see here

      • Robert Guyton 14.1.1
        13 January 2024 at 3:19 pm

        What's the word that describes this style of commenting from Robin the Goodfellow?

        It's not "Obsequious", or "passive/aggressive/servile".

        It's something else.

        I've seen the same behaviour in a Tom & Jerry cartoon.

        Supercilious, maybe?

    • Anne 14.2
      12 January 2024 at 5:08 pm

      The Herald's take had headline: Green Party knew of shoplifting against Golriz Gharaman last year. (My bold.)

      Yeah… 27th Dec 2023 when the news rooms were effectively shut down. They've changed it now to "last month", but the inference is the same… the Greens have been hiding the story from the public.

      This is one big effing dirty political cop out!

      https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/golriz-ghahraman-shoplifting-allegations-green-party-knew-of-claims-against-mp-last-month/IPWXRSTVANDSTEOMXILPDWA3EE/

      Edit. Someone closely associated with Scotties or works for them is supplying ZB Plus with the inside info.?

      • Dennis Frank 14.2.1
        12 January 2024 at 5:57 pm

        Just to clarify:

        Green co-leaders Marama Davidson and James Shaw, in a joint statement issued on Friday afternoon, said they first became aware of an issue on December 27. But at that point, they said it was “not clear” what had happened. In the new year, on January 5, the co-leaders said they were told of a second allegation of shoplifting.

        By who? Doesn't say.

        Behind closed doors, Ghahraman agreed to step down from all her portfolios on January 5 – but that wasn’t communicated to the public until Wednesday.

        So the co-leaders are in touch with her. Seems like it was due to the 2nd allegation, making the issue more serious. So why have they not obtained an explanation from her?? If they have, why keep it quiet? It's in the common interest of the Greens to minimise damage to their brand.

        Experts in political communication say her silence will damage her credibility. But ultimately, as a lawmaker, the MP would be expected to prove her innocence to continue in the job.

        Gordon Campbell gets the point:

        The Greens brand is based on its claims to hold itself to a higher set of values, a fact now being reflected in some of the gleeful schadenfreude evident on social media about the incident. The perception of wrong-doing is already doing harm to the Greens, regardless of whether the shoplifting allegation is proven to have substance. At this interim stage a resignation might be taken as an admission of guilt, with implications for criminal liability. Yet whatever happens from here on, Ghahraman’s political career looks to be irretrievably damaged. http://werewolf.co.nz/2024/01/gordon-campbell-on-biden-v-trump-and-the-taiwan-election/

        Stonewalling a resolution of the impasse seems poor political strategy. Whether innocent or guilty, she ought to demonstrate competence in achieving a rapid exit from her situation. Parental advice would help. Nothing about her comedian partner in all this but if they're still together he could help her think it through too.

        • Dennis Frank 14.2.1.1
          12 January 2024 at 6:12 pm

          Oh, the Newshub reporter just told us she's expected to return home in the next few days. So she'll front the thing personally then I guess…

        • Res Publica 14.2.1.2
          12 January 2024 at 6:55 pm

          Stonewalling a resolution of the impasse seems poor political strategy. Whether innocent or guilty, she ought to demonstrate competence in achieving a rapid exit from her situation. Parental advice would help. Nothing about her comedian partner in all this but if they're still together he could help her think it through too.

          I thought her and Guy Williams broke up years ago?

          But totally agree with the sentiment. Irrespective of the facts of the case and the circumstances in which they've come to light, these allegations are incredibly damaging to both Golriz and the party.

          The longer it goes on, the more political capital the Greens will be forced to burn to defend her.

  15. Morrissey 15
    12 January 2024 at 5:15 pm

    NATO, that infamous tool of U.S. agitation and provocation, is not just laughably paranoid and inept, but dangerous. Here are just two of the reasons it needs to be disbanded:

    Operation Gladio…

    and Operation Washtub…

    https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mass-for-shut-ins-the-gin-and-tacos-podcast/id1341525125

    • Ad 15.1
      12 January 2024 at 7:32 pm

      So you believe that NATO should be disbanded.

      Go right ahead and explain what happens next.

      • Morrissey 15.1.1
        12 January 2024 at 9:20 pm

        Well, for a start, there'll be scores of neo-Nazi groups from Ukraine to Italy that will be sorely short of U.S. funding.

        • Ad 15.1.1.1
          12 January 2024 at 9:49 pm

          Citation of those funding lines, or stop the bullshit.

          • Morrissey 15.1.1.1.1
            12 January 2024 at 11:34 pm

            Certainly.

            American politicians, military and intelligence officers were highly likely to have had cooperation with the Azov Battalion, in order to foster extremist forces in Eastern Europe against Russia. …

            According to a Yahoo News article from January 2022, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has been secretly training forces for Ukraine since 2015. The CIA has been overseeing a secret intensive training program in the US "for elite Ukrainian special operations forces and other intelligence personnel," the article quoted "five former intelligence and national security officials familiar with the initiative" as saying.

            The multi-week program includes training in firearms, camouflage techniques, land navigation, tactics like "cover and move," intelligence and other areas, said the former officials. In addition to the above-mentioned, the CIA also started "traveling to the front in eastern Ukraine to advise their counterparts there by 2015," Yahoo reported.

            Also in 2015, the US Congress removed a ban on funding neo-Nazi groups like Azov Battalion from its year-end spending bill, said an article by The Nation magazine in January 2016. In July 2015, two Congressmen drew up an amendment to the House Defense Appropriations bill that limited "arms, training, and other assistance to the neo-Nazi Ukrainian militia, the Azov Battalion," but the amendment was removed in November following "pressure from the Pentagon," an insider told The Nation.

            "Considering the fact that the US Army has been training Ukrainian armed forces and national guard troops, … Congress and the administration have paved the way for US funding to end up in the hands of the most noxious elements circulating within Ukraine today," commented the article's author James Carden, suggesting that the US military had also engaged in the training of NGU, which may include Azov Battalion members.

            Not surprisingly, observers reportedly saw American weapons in Ukraine "flowing directly to the extremists of Azov." In December 2017, Richard Vandiver of American weapon manufacturer AirTronic told VOA that its sales of lethal weapons to Ukraine were conducted in "very close coordination" with the US Embassy, the US State Department, the Pentagon and the Ukrainian government. Weeks later, the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab confirmed in a January 2018 report that Azov Battalion was a recipient of the transfer.

            More….

            https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202203/1254217.shtml

          • Morrissey 15.1.1.1.2
            12 January 2024 at 11:44 pm

            U.S. funding of fascist groups in Italy…

            Was the US involved in neo-fascist Italian terrorism?

            The Spectator, 12 Sept. 2021

            Last month, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi promised to declassify government documents involving two organisations: Gladio, an anti-communist paramilitary group linked to Nato and the CIA, and a masonic lodge known as P2. These two groups are believed by some to have been involved in the darkest moments of post-war Italian history.

            For much of the latter half of the 20th century, Italy had the unenviable position of being the epicentre of European terrorism. The blast at the Bologna train station in 1980, which left 76 people dead and more than 200 wounded, was at the time the bloodiest terrorist attack ever suffered by a European country. The bombing was pinned on a small neo-fascist militia called Armed Revolutionary Nucleus. But many Italians remain convinced that the attack emerged from a wider far-right network. Draghi’s decision to declassify the papers came on the 41st anniversary of the Bologna killings.

            Post-war Italian psychology was shaped by the overwhelming forces of the USSR stationed just a couple of hours drive from the north eastern border

            Post-war fascism in Italy was predicated on a ‘strategy of tension’. The term, coined by British journalist Neal Ascherson in the Observer in 1972, describes all sorts of plots, including assassinations and false flag terrorist acts, carried out with the aim — not of destabilising the country — but of consolidating power and justifying emergency laws. When I asked Senator Felice Casson, the prosecutor who headed the investigation into Gladio, what his opinion was of Draghi’s decision, he replied ‘Fuffa!’ — ‘just crap’. Casson explained: ‘It’s just an announcement. There is not the courage nor the will to disclose the involvement of foreign powers.’ In 2001, Guido Salvini, a judge involved in the Massacres Commission, claimed: ‘The role of the Americans was ambiguous, halfway between knowing and not preventing and actually inducing people to commit atrocities.’

            The truth of such claims — denied by the US State Department — remain unverified. ….

            https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/was-the-us-involved-in-neo-fascist-italian-terrorism/

        • SPC 15.1.1.2
          13 January 2024 at 12:21 am

          Good luck demonstrating a connection between NATO (a defence alliance) and the CIA.

          • Morrissey 15.1.1.2.1
            13 January 2024 at 6:16 am

            I've just furnished you with two pieces demonstrating the connection between NATO and the CIA.

            Now you need to do some reading.

            • SPC 15.1.1.2.1.1
              13 January 2024 at 8:37 am

              If that is all you have, then you failed. The USA is not NATO, it and the CIA operate independently of NATO, even within Europe.

  16. Muttonbird 16
    12 January 2024 at 9:05 pm

    Anyone else find it embarrassing it is left to South Africa to put Israel in the dock?

    • Ad 16.1
      12 January 2024 at 9:54 pm

      More embarrassing that South Africa has never been taken to the ICC for outrageous racist violence, mass deaths, and more, and for at least as long as Israel, but feels it's pure enough to take Israel to the ICC for the same thing.

      • Morrissey 16.1.1
        12 January 2024 at 11:26 pm

        The apartheid state of South Africa, which was supported by Israel and the United States and Britain, is no more.

        This is a very different South Africa to the one which was responsible for "outrageous racist violence, mass deaths, and more."

    • aj 16.2
      12 January 2024 at 10:00 pm

      A moment in history. Live streamed, I think, only by AJ News? Doesn't fit the narrative run by most western leaders.

      Supporters: Bolivia, Belgium, Brazil, Maldives, Venezuela and Namibia, Afghanistan, Albania, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Djibouti, Colombia, Chad, Indonesia, Morocco, Cote d’Ivoire, Palestine, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Iraq, Iran, Cameroon, Qatar, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Comoros, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mali, Egypt, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Senegal, Spain, Sierra Leone, Somali, Sudan, Surinam, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, Togo, Tunisia, Türkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Oman, Jordan and Yemen.

      • Morrissey 16.2.1
        13 January 2024 at 6:26 am

        Add to that list of supporters: The overwhelming majority of citizens in the United States, and in the other countries with governments afraid to stand up to the United States.

        https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/6/us-congress-support-for-gaza-ceasefire-lower-than-american-public

        Some 384 parliamentarians around the world have signed a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, urging their governments to seek accountability for “grave violations of human rights”.

        As Israel continues its assault in Gaza, the effort is being led by Ilhan Omar, a member of “the Squad” of progressive Democrats in the US Congress, and Sevim Dağdelen, a member of the German Bundestag for the BSW party.

        “We join together to call for an immediate, multilateral ceasefire in Israel and Palestine, the release of all the remaining Israeli and international hostages, and the facilitation of humanitarian aid entry into Gaza,” the statement says.

        “We further urge our own respective governments and the international community to uphold international law and seek accountability for grave violations of human rights.”

        The American signatories are the representatives Omar, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, André Carson, Greg Casar, Jesús García, Hank Johnson, Summer Lee, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Nydia Velázquez and Bonnie Watson Coleman.

        Omar, the first woman of color to represent Minnesota, and one of the first two Muslim-American women elected to Congress, said: “We can hold two things in our heads at once: that the attacks by Hamas on October 7 were a war crime, and that Israel has responded by committing crimes against humanity – crimes that the United States, and much of the West continue to let happen, despite our professed support for international law.

        “I am proud to lead this international effort to demand an end to this violence, to demand a release of the hostages who have now suffered for 133 days, and to condemn all violations of international law in this conflict.”

        The list also includes politicians from Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Britain, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.

        Among the British contingent are Jeremy Corbyn, a former leader of the Labour party, John McDonnell, a former shadow chancellor of the exchequer, and Shami Chakrabarti, a member of the House of Lords and former director of Liberty, a civil rights organisation.

        Their demand comes on the day that the international court of justice in The Hague is scheduled to hold hearings in a case brought by South Africa claiming that Israel’s war against Hamas militants in Gaza violates the 1948 genocide convention. Colombia and Brazil expressed support for South Africa late on Wednesday.

        https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/jan/11/ilhan-omar-gaza-ceasefire-joint-letter

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    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Hoon around the week to July 19

    TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #29 2024

    Open access notables Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society: To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    22 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
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  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

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