"Boomers will live a long time. I think the life expectancy at 65 is now 89 years. So they will consume a lot of wealth to fund their retirement. There may be less left than their children may want."
The level of deprivation among severely disabled in the benefit system is so great that they may not be living until retirement age. They should at least have parity in terms of the amount they receive so they too can live.
"they should at least have parity in terms of the amount they receive so they too can live. "
No one has parity of amount in the existing super system. Women live longer than men .Those still working indeed receive a bonus on top of their income.
For a person at 65 now the median years left is 21.7 yrs female and 19.6 males.
All that possibly can be offered is 'early retirement' before 65 not parity of amount.
According to an NZ Herald article from yesterday that is behind their paywall (of course it is!), the government is ditching the education hub proposal.
This is less a backdown than a capitulation to the richest schools in the country, such as Auckland Grammar, etc, who are benefiting the most from the Tomorrow's School's setup.
Yes they are ditching the hub but likely replacing it with a system to assist the failing schools in other ways. One of the reasons for the hub had been to assist the 20% of failures.
Remember how the previous Government bulldozed changes without consultation? This time consultation has resulted in modification. Can't have it both ways.
Look you can recite the entire Ardern achievements video if you like. Go ahead and form a little glee club if a bit of a critique is too snowflakey for you.
None of the achievements she states refer to the actual benchmarks they legislated that they would be held against.
They are ok at redistributing tax money.
They are just shit at structural or public sector reform.
"They are just shit at xxxxxxxxxx xx public sector reform."
except that I think they've only just worked out where most of the bullshit has been emanating from.
Maarten Wevers just suprised me I have to say, but then I 'spose after 37 years that wasn't too surprising. "No surprises" in fact.
One thing to tell a Minister of a politician's actions which could potentially become a big issue. The need to actually name the politician (especially given past record) quite another
Hey #nzpol how come NZ doesn't have political movements that then set up a political party? Looks like Social Credit was the last one, none under MMP (all are break away parties).
Do we have any established movements that have the potential to set up a political party? https://t.co/g3okRYpQRK
Arent the Greens such a movement. Yes they broke away from the Alliance , but that was as it name suggests a group of pre -existing parties and they still had an 'identity' within the Alliance
yes. I think voters look for authenticity in movements.
I just found out the other day Apirana Ngata and others founded the Young Maori Party at the turn of the century. So creating political partys isnt new. Clearly maori political aspirations existed as a movement too.
It still exists in a different form as the YMP Sports club on the East Coast
I think that proves my (unspoken) point. TOP thought they had popular support, rather than building actual popular support via a movement. Parachute parties.
Tava says he wants 10% of the vote next year. Why?
Not so sure about that with TOP. Yes, it was mostly Morgan's money, but the entire UBI/flat tax/social justice model had been building popularity separately to TOP.
As opposed to Conservatives, which AFAIK had no new or significant policies other than Craig's chequebook.
Even the Density crowd could be assured of leveraging some support from existing organisations.
Tav's dreaming about 10% – if there's any basis to it, it would probably a guess as to what the Greens' base vote would be and the tory assumption that they'll just take most of the Greens' vote. But more to the point, I'm not sure there is a clearly delineated "blue/green" bloc, within or outside the Greens. It's a party being built in the belief that it will create such a movement, rather than leverage existing divisions.
Yes, there are conservatives who fancy themselves as environmentalists, but as someone said recently (and I forget who) "the only place blue-greens exist is on a colour palette"
"Yes, it was mostly Morgan's money, but the entire UBI/flat tax/social justice model had been building popularity separately to TOP."
True, but that's not what TOP or Morgan was promoting. His pre-TOP think tank produced a model that was economic not socially just. His TOP policy was a mess. I don't see a lot of movement buy in for what he was suggesting before he formed TOP, more that there was interest from different parts of society (which is a different thing). Movement to me would be like SS4C, where you have a reasonably coherent set of groups with similar aims and working together. If there was one thing that characterised TOP it was that we were supposed to follow the leader (of TOP not of any movement).
My thinking is that there's a wide range in the size of movements, and that TOP (not just Morgan) did expect to get the support of a lot of the folks who were vocal about a UBI. And Density have managed to get thousands in the streets before now, so I think they think there might be a movement there.
But I don't think Tava's crowd have a genuine belief that there is such a movement in NZ – I think it's more a general punt that they might get somewhere, or at least and ACT-style sinecure/rotten seat for their personal income.
I don't think it's in the nature of "movements" to have a centralised decision to form a party. Political parties follow centralised hierarchies and bureaucracies, while movements are largely people who turn up if they have a moment to spare. So whle prominent people in a movement might leverage their prominance for a new political party, I suspect it's much more grey than the movement setting up the party.
The only exception that comes to mind is ACT coming from the "association of consumers and taxpayers", for whatever that counts as a "movement".
"and that TOP (not just Morgan) did expect to get the support of a lot of the folks who were vocal about a UBI"
Yes, but isn't this the problem? That rather than doing the mahi from within the movement or even alongside the movement, there is this tendency to set up the party and expect people to get on board. The IP did something similar and did get some decent engagement. But because it was based around a massive ego who then gave up when things didn't go his way, there was no movement that existed for its own sake.
Destiny might be different, given they have a congregation that exists whether the party exists or not.
“His banging on about wanting evidence based policy is what got my interest.”
He talked a good game, but when it came down to it, he was really antagnostic to his policy and the evidence behind it being examined. Which was odd, because it should have been able to stand up to scrutiny if it was well based on evidence. He came in with a large bias from his personal philosophy and was unable to admit that (or maybe he just thought was right and everyone else was wrong, lol).
He and Susan Guthrie wrote The Big Kahuna in 2011:
One day, when he was contributing to the Tax and Welfare Working Group, economist Gareth Morgan made an off-the-cuff remark that the solution to all of New Zealand's tax and welfare woes lay in abolishing the present welfare system and radically overhauling the tax system. He called this idea the big kahuna.
The Big Kahuna takes as its base assumption that we don't, as a society, accept that huge differences in income are acceptable and that we therefore choose to redistribute wealth. While they are generally regarded as separate, the tax and welfare systems are fundamentally both methods of doing just that – redistributing income from those who have plenty to those who don't.
Morgan was a dick when he lost because simply he is a dick.
If he weren't such a dick he would not have thrown away the baby because he lost.
He would have known that sometimes stuff is harder then just selling some investments and making gazillions of it – tax free of course.
btw, did morgan start to pay any taxes yet, or is he still one of these proud smart rich people who don't ever have to pay taxes at all cause loopholes for rich people, while calling workers who have to pay income tax 'paye slaves'? Cause that is what the dick called tax payers in a conversation with me.
He did have sensible tax policies, unlike the left wing parties with their illogical and ineffectual capital gains tax. I have the impression that he attracted votes from the more thoughtful on both sides of the political spectrum.
Especially if one party is using it to set up shots (for later editing) of their MPs asking questions about whatever they like, even knowing they will be dismissed or ruled out of order. Still has the right background visuals to lend some authoritah.
Another con in its use is the chance for the Minister to choose a reply whereby he or she highlights some aspect of their work or policy. Bit like a free shot before the targeted questioning begins. Jacinda Ardern is very good at this.
Yes, using the latitude Speakers have always given in exchange for the nonsensically broad scope of the Question. Not good for accountability in any way.
Much like patsies, whose speedy death I would welcome.
Yes Jacinda really nails the opportunity and to my mind she undermines the lame questions that follow from Bridges. And for some Opposition members they seem unable to adjust and ask the question after the answer. Inflexible?
For anyone who has had their life turned upside down by the depredations of private equity companies. Nicholas Shaxon lays out nicely the architecture of wealth extraction -which is the opposite of wealth creation, but cynically claims that mantle.
The World has a mass extinction going on at the minute. The beautiful creatures of the world are our gifts from God we are there caretaker we should have a culture where we value our mokopuna future and the past to give them a harmonious Future.
Its logical to behave like I have described our tamariki will not be happy with there future if we carry on making a big mess of it.
The loss of habitat is the biggest threat to jaguars in Ecuador, particularly along the coast, where more than 70% of the original forest cover has been lost. The vast majority of this destruction has taken place over the last 50 years with the expansion of the logging and agriculture industries, including coffee, cacao, palm oil and bananas, one of the country’s largest agriculture exports.
The coastal jaguar population has been declared critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Galo Zapata-Ríos, science director at the Wildlife Conservation Society Ecuador, says only a few remain in one small area on the coast, in the Cotacachi-Cayapas national park, in the northern province of Esmeraldas.
“Jaguars historically were distributed along all the Ecuadorian coast, but now they’re only in Esmeraldas,” says Zapata-Ríos, who has been studying the big cat for 10 years. “That’s the consequence of the advancement of human activity.”
As one of the largest predators in Latin America, the jaguar is essential to maintaining equilibrium in rainforest ecosystems. If it disappears, everything below it in the food chain is affected, with an overpopulation of rodents – the jaguar’s prey – that would eat more bugs and seeds, and decrease the regeneration of trees and other plants in the forest, says Zapata-Ríos
New Zealand rainforest: the trees and birds are the children of Tāne
The children of Rangi and Papa grew frustrated at their confinement in the cramped space between their parents. Tū, future god of war, proposes that they should kill their parents. But Tāne (or Tāne-mahuta) disagrees, suggesting that it is better to separate them, sending Rangi into the sky and leaving Papa below to care for them. Tāne's brothers Rongo, then Tangaroa, Haumia-tiketike and Tū all try in vain to separate the parents. After many tries, Tāne lies on his back and pushes with his strong legs, and finally forces his parents apart, and Rangi rises high into the heavens (Grey 1956:2-3).[2] Then Tāne searched for heavenly bodies as lights so that his father would be appropriately dressed. He obtained the stars and threw them up, along with the moon and the sun. At last Rangi looked handsome (Orbell 1998:145).
Tāwhirimātea, the god of storms and winds, is angry that the parents have been torn apart. He joins his father in the sky and punishes the earth and sea with violent storms (Grey 1956:3-6, Tregear 1891:54). Tāwhirimātea attacks the forests of Tāne, snapping the trunks of the trees, shattering the trees to the ground, leaving them as food for decay and insects. Then he attacks the oceans, and Tangaroa, the god of the sea, flees. Two of Tangaroa's descendants, Ikatere, father of fish and Tu-te-wehiwehi
The Venice flooding the highest in 50 years it great that a lot of the Mayors of the World’s climate are pointing out the true fact that the causes of their deasters.
I say we need our population to stop being inflated by new people. Our environmental footprint is growing rapidly because of this phenomenon.
It's quite easy to accept that Climate change has caused a lot of old civilization to collapse. not enough Kai because of droughts no Wai.
The Neo-Assyrian empire was a mighty superpower that dominated the near east for 300 years before its dramatic collapse. Now researchers say they have a novel theory for what was behind its rise and fall: climate change.
The empire emerged in about 912BC and grew to stretch from the Mediterranean down to Egypt and out to the Persian Gulf
Now scientists say the reversal in the empire’s fortunes appears to coincide with a dramatic shift in its climate from wet to dry – a potentially crucial change in an empire reliant on crops.
“Nearly two centuries of high precipitation and high agrarian outputs encouraged high-density urbanisation and imperial expansion that was not sustainable when climate shifted to megadrought conditions during the seventh century BC,” the authors write.
In other words, while civil war, overexpansion and military defeat played a role in the empire’s collapse, the underlying driver could have been crop failures that led to economic collapse, exacerbating political unrest and conflict.
Prof Nicholas Postgate, an expert on Assyria from the University of Cambridge who was not involved in the study, said it was plausible that climate change helped finish the empire. “We don’t have any better explanation for what happened to the Assyrian empire during those times,” he said, adding that there was a dearth of written records from about 645BC to the sack of Nineveh Ka kite Ano link below.
It took someone close to me 15 years to get through the court process but she did not get treated fairly by the system she got shredded by the court process and is still negatively affected by that trauma I have posted about it in my past post.
Coke should not be using tangata whenua names to sell their products.
Watching today’s inauguration of Joe Biden as the United States’ 46th president, there’s not a lot in common with the inauguration of Donald Trump just four destructive years ago. Where Trump warned of carnage, Biden dared to hope for unity and decency. But the one place they converge is that ...
Dan FalkBritons who switched on their TVs to “Good Morning Britain” on the morning of Sept. 15, 2020, were greeted by news not from our own troubled world, but from neighboring Venus. Piers Morgan, one of the hosts, was talking about a major science story that had surfaced the ...
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Getting to Browser Tab Zero so I can reboot the computer is awfully hard when the one open tab is a Table of Contents for the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, and every issue has more stuff I want to read. A few highlights: Gugler et al demonstrating ...
Timothy Ford, University of Massachusetts Lowell and Charles M. Schweik, University of Massachusetts AmherstTo mitigate health inequities and promote social justice, coronavirus vaccines need to get to underserved populations and hard-to-reach communities. There are few places in the U.S. that are unreachable by road, but other factors – many ...
Israel chose to pay a bit over the odds for the Pfizer vaccine to get earlier access. Here’s The Times of Israel from 16 November. American government will be charged $39 for each two-shot dose, and the European bloc even less, but Jerusalem said to agree to pay $56. Israel ...
Orla is a gender critical Marxist in Ireland. She gave a presentation on 15 January 2021 on the connection between postmodern/transgender identity politics and the current attacks on democratic and free speech rights. Orla has been active previously in the Irish Socialist Workers Party and the People Before Profit electoral ...
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Sarah L Caddy, University of CambridgeVaccines are a marvel of medicine. Few interventions can claim to have saved as many lives. But it may surprise you to know that not all vaccines provide the same level of protection. Some vaccines stop you getting symptomatic disease, but others stop you ...
Back in 2016, the Portuguese government announced plans to stop burning coal by 2030. But progress has come much quicker, and they're now scheduled to close their last coal plant by the end of this year: The Sines coal plant in Portugal went offline at midnight yesterday evening (14 ...
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Health authorities in Norway are reporting some concerns about deaths in frail elderly after receiving their COVID-19 vaccine. Is this causally related to the vaccine? Probably not but here are the things to consider. According to the news there have been 23 deaths in Norway shortly after vaccine administration and ...
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All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
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TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
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Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
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This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
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An event organised by the Auckland PhilippinesSolidarity group Have a three-course lunch at Nanam Eatery with us! Help support the organic farming of our Lumad communities through the Mindanao Community School Agricultural Foundation. Each ticket is $50. Food will be served on shared plates. To purchase, please email phsolidarity@gmail.com or ...
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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
The prisoner disorder event at Waikeria Prison is over, with all remaining prisoners now safely and securely detained, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis says. The majority of those involved in the event are members of the Mongols and Comancheros. Five of the men are deportees from Australia, with three subject to ...
Travellers from the United Kingdom or the United States bound for New Zealand will be required to get a negative test result for COVID-19 before departing, and work is underway to extend the requirement to other long haul flights to New Zealand, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. “The new PCR test requirement, foreshadowed last ...
Jacinda Ardern has reminded Labour MPs "ongoing vigilance" will be required in 2021 to avoid another Covid outbreak, admitting she held her breath over the summer break. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Pinged $65 for overstaying 10 minutes in a parking block? Put away your hard-earned cash and read this first.Hopefully, by now, I’ve already established myself at The Spinoff as the resident tightarse, determined to avoid all unfair and unnecessary punishments (see: oversize baggage charges). Today, I’m focusing my attention on ...
Nuclear weapons states and their allies risk reputational ruin if they flout a new UN Treaty, Carolina Panico argues The United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will come into force this month, on January 22, 2021, turning nuclear weapons into illegal objects. It is an achievement that ...
How does one turn into a rabid extremist over the description of a children’s bike? Emily Writes looks at Facebook comments so you don’t have to.You’ve been there, I know it. You’re scrolling along, trying to avoid QAnon conspiracy theories and Trump apocalypse memes when a story catches your eye. ...
Joe Biden is now the President of the United States and many people across America and throughout the world will consequently be breathing more easily. But while the erratic, unpredictable and irresponsible years of the Trump Presidency may be over, ...
Tough border testing for New Zealand honey imports to Japan is re-igniting the conversation about the use of the weed killer glypohsate in New Zealand. ...
The Taxpayers Union should be aware of the law and of the history of ACC. The ACC is a legal system introduced in 1974 to replace the common law right of accident victims to sue for damages for personal injury sustained as a result of negligence ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denis Muller, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Advancing Journalism, University of Melbourne Terrorism, political extremism, Donald Trump, social media and the phenomenon of “cancel culture” are confronting journalists with a range of agonising free-speech dilemmas to which there are no easy answers. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Associate Professor of the Sydney Pharmacy School, University of Sydney You’ve just come from your monthly GP appointment with a new script for your ongoing medical condition. But your local pharmacy is out of stock of your usual medicine. Your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna D’Alessandro, Professor & ARC Future Fellow, University of Sydney On Wednesday this week, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere was measured at at 415 parts per million (ppm). The level is the highest in human history, and is growing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington It might be summer in New Zealand but we’re in for some wild weather this week with forecasts of heavy wind and rain, and a plunge in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Zareh Ghazarian, Senior Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, Monash University Despite many young Australians having a deep interest in political issues, most teenagers have a limited understanding about their nation’s democratic system. Results from the 2019 National Assessment Program – Civics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle O’Shea, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, Western Sydney University Last week, the McIver’s Ladies Baths in Sydney came under fire for their (since removed) policy stating “only transgender women who’ve undergone a gender reassignment surgery are allowed entry”. The policy was ...
There are good grounds for optimism after the guardrails of American democracy held firm through to Joe Biden's inauguration today as President, writes Stephen Hoadley Pessimism abounds about the perilous condition of American democracy. Commentators and headline writers proffer memes such as ‘broken and divided nation’, ‘the threat from within’. ...
*This article was originally appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. Donald Trump will forever be remembered as the president who was impeached twice - and for his rhetoric that struck a chord so deep in America that it will take years to dissipate. Donald Trump leaves Washington with the lowest approval ...
A new plan shows how and where the Government will build 8,000 new state housing places it funded in Budget 2020, Marc Daalder reports Jacinda Ardern has kicked off the political year with a major announcement, promising hundreds of new state housing places in regional centres across the country. With ...
This is the full transcript of President Joe Biden's speech after being sworn in at his inauguration this morning in Washington DC Chief Justice Roberts, Vice President Harris, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, Leader McConnell, Vice President Pence, and my distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, this is America's day. This ...
Analysis: President Donald Trump has left the White House, and his deputy chief of staff confirms he is withdrawing his candidacy to lead the OECD. New Zealander Christopher Liddell withdrew his nomination to be Secretary-General of the powerful 37-member OECD and was one of the last members of the Trump Administration to depart ...
Kate Wills is facing stage four cancer with the same fierce approach she takes into her ocean swimming - never say can't. Even on the mornings Kate Wills feels wretched from her fortnightly chemotherapy treatment, she drags herself up at 5am and goes swimming. “I have to. It’s my job – to ...
Some costs associated with meetings speak for themselves, others are less conspicuous. Victoria University of Wellington's Val Hooper lays those costs out, making suggestions on where we can rein them in. Meetings – when last did we count the costs? And so it’s back to work and one of the ...
Andrew Paul Wood assesses the best-selling picture book by Grahame Sydney It's no great secret the commercially very successful Grahame Sydney has a long-standing beef that his work doesn’t receive more critical and institutional approval. I sympathise about the lack of critical attention, but I can understand why. The Discourse™ ...
This story was produced in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity and Columbia Journalism Investigations. It was originally published by Public Integrity, Mother Jones, The Arizona Republic and Orlando Sentinel. It is republished here as part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the ...
Analysis: It has been easy to ignore anyone daring to criticise or even question any aspect of the government’s Covid-19 response. Their voices have rarely been heard, and when they have been raised they have been quickly and decisively howled down by the favoured coterie of academics. ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US presidential inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated through Wednesday and Thursday. The inauguration ceremony begins at 5.15am Thursday, NZ time, and Joe Biden takes the oath of office around 6am. 7.25am: And what about Trump?In the early hours of this morning, NZ ...
In 10 x 100, we survey a group of 100 people via Stickybeak and ask them 10 questions. Last month we quizzed Wellingtonians. Today, we ask NZ drivers how they’ve found a holiday period without international tourists, and what they get up to while they’re on the road.Across Aotearoa roads ...
Emmanuel Macron's anti-separatist policies have garnered backlash from the international Muslim community. Now, a global coalition has complained to the UN. ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they go on an odyssey of women’s rage, and find out how we can channel our anger into good. First published September 15, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by ...
By Lorraine Ecarma in Cebu City The University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) will continue to stand against any threats to human rights, chancellor Clement Camposano has declared in response to the termination of a long-standing accord preventing military incursion on campus. In a Facebook post, Camposano said the academic ...
ANALYSIS:By Jennifer S. Hunt, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit different. If the last US presidential inauguration in 2017 debuted the phrase “alternative facts”, the ...
By Lulu Mark in Port Moresby In spite of Papua New Guinea’s mandatory mask-wearing requirement under the National Pandemic Act 2020, many public servants attending a dedication service in Port Moresby have failed to wear one. They were issued masks before entering the Sir John Guise Indoor Complex but took ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christian Moro, Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University How do scabs form? — Talila, aged 8 Great question, Talila! Our skin has many different jobs. One is to act as a barrier, protecting us from harmful things in the ...
US President Donald Trump is pardoning former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who is accused of fraud in a case involving funds for the border wall. ...
Joel Little with Lorde, Dera Meelan with Church & AP, Josh Fountain with Maala and Randa and Benee – producers make good songs great. Now a new fund from NZ on Air is putting the focus on them.Six months ago it looked like the music industry was on the brink ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Denise Buiten, Senior Lecturer in Social Justice and Sociology, University of Notre Dame Australia On average, one child is killed by a parent almost every fortnight in Australia. Last week, three children — Claire, 7, Anna, 5, and Matthew, 3 — were ...
This commendable and realistic decision again underlines that it is the police, not government, who are largely responsible for the reduction in cannabis prosecutions over the past 15 years, writes Russell Brown.The news that New Zealand police have discontinued the annual Helicopter Recovery Operation, which has, each summer for more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ilan Noy, Professor and Chair in the Economics of Disasters and Climate Change, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination ...
Welcome to The Spinoff’s US inauguration live blog: inauguration news, analysis and reaction, updated throughout Wednesday and Thursday, NZ time. Reach me at catherine@thespinoff.co.nz.4.00pm: What will Trump be doing tomorrow?It’s pretty well known by now that outgoing president Donald Trump intends to throw out the rulebook when it comes to ...
The Auckland Ratepayers’ Alliance is calling out Mayor Phil Goff for his undignified comment that the claim made by Councillor Greg Sayers asking why Auckland Council is funding yoga classes is “bullshit.” Yesterday, Councillor Greg Sayers penned ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne At 4am Thursday AEDT, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be inaugurated as president and vice president of the United States, replacing Donald Trump and Mike Pence. What follows is ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission. New Zealanders flocked to beaches and lakes this summer, but it wasn't enough to fill the gap left by international tourists in other regions. The tourism industry is struggling to fill a $6 billion hole left by international tourists ...
Summer reissue: Chef Monique Fiso joins us for a chat about Hiakai – her acclaimed Wellington restaurant, and the title of her stunning new book.First published November 3, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members – click here to learn ...
A new trough was brought to our attention this morning, although ethnicity will limit the numbers of eligible applicants. If you are non-Maori, it looks like you shouldn’t bother getting into the queue – but who knows?We learned of the trough from the Scoop website, where the Kapiti ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Britta Denise Hardesty, Principal Research Scientist, Oceans and Atmosphere Flagship, CSIRO Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing costs economies up to US$50 billion globally each year, and makes up to one-fifth of the global catch. It’s a huge problem not only for the ...
Police stopping major cannabis eradication operations has given the green light to drug dealers and gangs to expand operations, make more profit, and continue to wreak havoc on the most vulnerable in our society, says Sensible Sentencing Trust. ...
Varieties of merino wool footwear are emerging faster than Netflix series about British aristocracy. Michael Andrew takes a look at the rise of the shoe that almost everyone – including his 95-year-old grandma – is wearing.Some might say it all started with Allbirds. After all, to the average consumer, it ...
A new report from New Zealand’s Independent Monitoring Mechanism (IMM) highlights the realities and challenges disabled people faced during the COVID-19 emergency. The report, Making Disability Rights Real in a Pandemic, Te Whakatinana i ngā Tika ...
The Maritime Union is questioning the reasons provided for ongoing delays at the Ports of Auckland. Maritime Union of New Zealand National Secretary Craig Harrison says there is a need for an honest conversation about what has gone wrong at the ...
As New Zealand faces a dire shortage of veterinarians, a petition has been launched urging the Government to reclassify veterinarians as critical workers so we can Get Vets into NZ. “New Zealand desperately needs veterinarians from overseas to counter ...
New Zealand is fast developing a reputation as a South Pacific vandal, says Greenpeace, as the government continues to fight against increased ocean protection. At the upcoming meeting of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO), ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and Netsafe are urging parents and caregivers to be mindful of the online content their tamariki may be consuming in the lead up to the inauguration of president-elect of the United States of America Joe Biden ...
Care is at the centre of Auckland Zoo’s mandate, and it’s clear to see when you witness the staff doing their day-to-day jobs up close. Leonie Hayden went behind the scenes to talk to two people who would do anything for the animals they look after. “We were having this ...
The Game Animal Council (GAC) is applying its expertise in the use of firearms for hunting to work alongside Police, other agencies and stakeholder groups to improve the compliance provisions for hunters and other firearms users. The GAC has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Verica Rupar, Professor, Auckland University of Technology “The lie outlasts the liar,” writes historian Timothy Snyder, referring to outgoing president Donald Trump and his contribution to the “post-truth” era in the US. Indeed, the mass rejection of reason that erupted in a ...
The internet ain’t what it used to be, thanks to privacy issues, data leaks, censorship and hate speech. But a group of New Zealanders are working on a way to give power back to the people. A flood of headlines over the last week made it clear: the internet has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Brooks, Scientia Professor of Evolutionary Ecology; Academic Lead of UNSW’s Grand Challenges Program, UNSW The views of women and men can differ on important gendered issues such as abortion, gender equity and government spending priorities. Surprisingly, however, average differences in sex ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jennifer S. Hunt, Lecturer in National Security, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Every four years on January 20, the US exercises a key tenant of democratic government: the peaceful transfer of power. This year, the scene looks a bit ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle In Australia and around the world, research is showing changes in body weight, cooking, eating and drinking patterns associated with COVID lockdowns. Some changes have been positive, such as people cooking ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hao Tan, Associate professor, University of Newcastle Australian coal exports to China plummeted last year. While this is due in part to recent trade tensions between Australia and China, our research suggests coal plant closures are a bigger threat to Australia’s export ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Asha Bowen, Head, Skin Health, Telethon Kids Institute A year ago, in late January 2020, Australia reported its first cases of COVID-19. Since then, we have seen almost 29,000 confirmed cases and 909 deaths. As cases climbed in Australian cities in 2020, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kevin Davis, Emeritus Professor of Finance, University of Melbourne Political pressure forced the federal government in 2017 – when Scott Morrison was treasurer – to call the royal commission into misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services sector. Commissioner Kenneth Hayne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Ellis, Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Newcastle, University of Newcastle The Rise and Fall of Saint George is a story about place, belonging and community that taps into universal tensions of identity and faith in multicultural societies. Playing for ...
An in-depth analysis of media coverage of the euthanasia and cannabis referendums has found that while both sides of the euthanasia referendum were given reasonably fair and balanced coverage, the YES position in the cannabis debate received a heavily ...
*This article was originally published on RNZ and is republished with permission Auckland has no plans to hand over the ownership of it assets under the government's planned water reforms, with Auckland Mayor Phil Goff saying his top priority is to ensure it stacks up for the city. Despite ...
Auckland Transport is putting nine new electric buses on the roads today, as it dramatically accelerates its plans to get rid of all its diesel buses – in a funding challenge to the council. Public transport operators are being told to not buy any more diesel buses or risk losing their council ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden as they find out exactly what we’re voting on in the cannabis referendum, and discover how legalising weed is a women’s issue.First published August 4, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is ...
A principal analyst for the Climate Change Commission says more needs to be done to reduce agricultural emissions or the country will miss its methane targets. ...
New Zealand needs to be bold in making developers enhance the environment - not just limit its degradation, writes Stephen Knight-Lenihan All human activity should help restore the natural world. This is a concept that may resonate following the upheavals of 2020 and one which is beginning to appear in law. Imagine ...
Derek Challis, son of the legendary author Robin Hyde, died last Thursday. Michelle Leggott pays tribute He opens a suitcase and there they are, the precious manuscript notebooks written by his poet mother Iris Wilkinson aka Robin Hyde. We are in Dunedin for a Hyde conference. Yes, says Derek Arden ...
Former New Zealand gymnast Katya Nosova is now a champion bodybuilder, who was prepared to spend Christmas alone in quarantine to compete in the 'Olympics' of her sport. Katya Nosova was willing to do everything she could to pose on the world stage in her third Ms Olympia. Despite a ...
He should be on a banknote 🙂
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/116997225/a-forgotten-pioneer-the-depressed-conservationist-who-rowed-500-kkp-to-safety
I wasn't aware of Henry and I'm so pleased I now am, thanks A. I agree, he deserves to be remembered.
I like that Riccardo Scott painting of Henry in a rowboat full of parrots….Riccardo should of included a soft leather muzzled Lassie.
Wonderful man!
Richard Henry's namesake.
The level of deprivation among severely disabled in the benefit system is so great that they may not be living until retirement age. They should at least have parity in terms of the amount they receive so they too can live.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/117339974/policies-hardcoded-differences-between-baby-boomers-and-younger-generations-researcher-says
Indeed, A.
Thinking that The Kindness would be inclusive of non ACC severely disabled was foolish.
We have learned.
"they should at least have parity in terms of the amount they receive so they too can live. "
No one has parity of amount in the existing super system. Women live longer than men .Those still working indeed receive a bonus on top of their income.
For a person at 65 now the median years left is 21.7 yrs female and 19.6 males.
All that possibly can be offered is 'early retirement' before 65 not parity of amount.
According to an NZ Herald article from yesterday that is behind their paywall (of course it is!), the government is ditching the education hub proposal.
This is less a backdown than a capitulation to the richest schools in the country, such as Auckland Grammar, etc, who are benefiting the most from the Tomorrow's School's setup.
Totally agree. Labour is just so gutless, they shit themselves everytime the middle class cock an eyebrow at them.
+100 that and NZF have made this a disappointing term.
Nash,mallard, twyford, Hipkins,robertson, Jones etc blah blah on unchecked.
Yes they are ditching the hub but likely replacing it with a system to assist the failing schools in other ways. One of the reasons for the hub had been to assist the 20% of failures.
Remember how the previous Government bulldozed changes without consultation? This time consultation has resulted in modification. Can't have it both ways.
It sounded like another complicated and expensive layer of bureaucracy to me.
After all the grief they got from the teachers' and principals' unions, it just wasn't worth it.
I just haven't see a part of the public service this government has been capable of reforming.
No justice reforms
No energy reforms
No education reforms
No health reforms (other than cancer)
No social welfare reforms
No tertiary education reforms
No local government reforms
No competition reforms
No tax reforms
Some housing reforms.
Limited transport reforms.
What they will end up with at the end of the term is:
We spent more money where it was needed.
Ta-daaa!
Haven't tried yet while the very detailed review process continues. About to announce some moves this week apparently.
The rest of your list ignores what has been done – or just tells us how good your eyesight is.
Look you can recite the entire Ardern achievements video if you like. Go ahead and form a little glee club if a bit of a critique is too snowflakey for you.
None of the achievements she states refer to the actual benchmarks they legislated that they would be held against.
They are ok at redistributing tax money.
They are just shit at structural or public sector reform.
Exaggerating undercuts your argument. The word 'No' is not your friend.
Education reforms …tadaaa
Tertiary Education reforms…tadaaa
Local Government/Water supply …..tadaaa
Other reforms were advanced but blocked by coalition partners, Ad still lives in a pre 1996 world
The tertiary polytech one is a proposal.
The education one from today is a tinker that kills one reform and proposes an even milder one.
Nothing has happened in fresh water other than some standards.
Well I might agree on one thing:
"They are just shit at xxxxxxxxxx xx public sector reform."
except that I think they've only just worked out where most of the bullshit has been emanating from.
Maarten Wevers just suprised me I have to say, but then I 'spose after 37 years that wasn't too surprising. "No surprises" in fact.
One thing to tell a Minister of a politician's actions which could potentially become a big issue. The need to actually name the politician (especially given past record) quite another
"They are just shit at structural or public sector reform".
We have a virtual public sector. Everything is outsourced. Even property.
That is why Jacinda's government cannot reform it.
Big thanks to Robert for putting this link up on Daily Review last night.
Interesting information. He talks about the impacts of industrial agriculture on soils.
It bears reposting.
'Straya burns, 'Murica freezes.
Thoughts on this Standardistas?
Arent the Greens such a movement. Yes they broke away from the Alliance , but that was as it name suggests a group of pre -existing parties and they still had an 'identity' within the Alliance
true. The Greens predate the Alliance, and it could be argued that they arose out of a movement from the old Values Party and environmental groups.
yes. I think voters look for authenticity in movements.
I just found out the other day Apirana Ngata and others founded the Young Maori Party at the turn of the century. So creating political partys isnt new. Clearly maori political aspirations existed as a movement too.
It still exists in a different form as the YMP Sports club on the East Coast
Labour itself too.
What about National?
National was the amalgamation of two pre WW2 political parties – Reform and United.
I suspect most new parties think they're the groundswell of a popular movement – TOP, the various Density Church parties, etc.
If Morgan thought his ideas didn't have popular support, he wouldn't have been such a dick when he lost.
I think that proves my (unspoken) point. TOP thought they had popular support, rather than building actual popular support via a movement. Parachute parties.
Tava says he wants 10% of the vote next year. Why?
Not so sure about that with TOP. Yes, it was mostly Morgan's money, but the entire UBI/flat tax/social justice model had been building popularity separately to TOP.
As opposed to Conservatives, which AFAIK had no new or significant policies other than Craig's chequebook.
Even the Density crowd could be assured of leveraging some support from existing organisations.
Tav's dreaming about 10% – if there's any basis to it, it would probably a guess as to what the Greens' base vote would be and the tory assumption that they'll just take most of the Greens' vote. But more to the point, I'm not sure there is a clearly delineated "blue/green" bloc, within or outside the Greens. It's a party being built in the belief that it will create such a movement, rather than leverage existing divisions.
Yes, there are conservatives who fancy themselves as environmentalists, but as someone said recently (and I forget who) "the only place blue-greens exist is on a colour palette"
algae
"Yes, it was mostly Morgan's money, but the entire UBI/flat tax/social justice model had been building popularity separately to TOP."
True, but that's not what TOP or Morgan was promoting. His pre-TOP think tank produced a model that was economic not socially just. His TOP policy was a mess. I don't see a lot of movement buy in for what he was suggesting before he formed TOP, more that there was interest from different parts of society (which is a different thing). Movement to me would be like SS4C, where you have a reasonably coherent set of groups with similar aims and working together. If there was one thing that characterised TOP it was that we were supposed to follow the leader (of TOP not of any movement).
SS4C?
School Strike for Climate.
Thinking of recent movements that have the potential to become party political.
gotcha.
My thinking is that there's a wide range in the size of movements, and that TOP (not just Morgan) did expect to get the support of a lot of the folks who were vocal about a UBI. And Density have managed to get thousands in the streets before now, so I think they think there might be a movement there.
But I don't think Tava's crowd have a genuine belief that there is such a movement in NZ – I think it's more a general punt that they might get somewhere, or at least and ACT-style sinecure/rotten seat for their personal income.
I don't think it's in the nature of "movements" to have a centralised decision to form a party. Political parties follow centralised hierarchies and bureaucracies, while movements are largely people who turn up if they have a moment to spare. So whle prominent people in a movement might leverage their prominance for a new political party, I suspect it's much more grey than the movement setting up the party.
The only exception that comes to mind is ACT coming from the "association of consumers and taxpayers", for whatever that counts as a "movement".
Selfish rich people have been a movement for centuries.
"and that TOP (not just Morgan) did expect to get the support of a lot of the folks who were vocal about a UBI"
Yes, but isn't this the problem? That rather than doing the mahi from within the movement or even alongside the movement, there is this tendency to set up the party and expect people to get on board. The IP did something similar and did get some decent engagement. But because it was based around a massive ego who then gave up when things didn't go his way, there was no movement that existed for its own sake.
Destiny might be different, given they have a congregation that exists whether the party exists or not.
The biggest problem was Morgan turned out to be a one election gutless wonder. If he'd kept at it he may have got to 5% this election .
His banging on about wanting evidence based policy is what got my interest.
“His banging on about wanting evidence based policy is what got my interest.”
He talked a good game, but when it came down to it, he was really antagnostic to his policy and the evidence behind it being examined. Which was odd, because it should have been able to stand up to scrutiny if it was well based on evidence. He came in with a large bias from his personal philosophy and was unable to admit that (or maybe he just thought was right and everyone else was wrong, lol).
But Morgan and co did do work within and alongside the UBI movement, well before founding the party. And it certainly existed before he got involved.
Mana party might also be an example.
bwaghorn: yeah, totally. He seemed to follow the maxim “If at first you don’t succeed, throw a tantrum and fuck off” lol
"But Morgan and co did do work within and alongside the UBI movement, well before founding the party."
Can you give some examples?
"And it certainly existed before he got involved."
Yes, and then he went and set up a party on his own.
Agreed about MANA even though it was from HH leaving the Mp.
He and Susan Guthrie wrote The Big Kahuna in 2011:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22101818-the-big-kahuna
Does he get a bonus from his masters if he gets to 10%?
Morgan was a dick when he lost because simply he is a dick.
If he weren't such a dick he would not have thrown away the baby because he lost.
He would have known that sometimes stuff is harder then just selling some investments and making gazillions of it – tax free of course.
btw, did morgan start to pay any taxes yet, or is he still one of these proud smart rich people who don't ever have to pay taxes at all cause loopholes for rich people, while calling workers who have to pay income tax 'paye slaves'? Cause that is what the dick called tax payers in a conversation with me.
Beggars belief that he the support he did on the left.
He did have sensible tax policies, unlike the left wing parties with their illogical and ineffectual capital gains tax. I have the impression that he attracted votes from the more thoughtful on both sides of the political spectrum.
Ohh My….
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/defamation-accusations-fly-in-feud-between-alan-dershowitz-and-david-boies
Looks like the kiddy f&^*^s may be outed this time.
Mind you, if it looks like Dershowitz may lose – he may accidently just fall down some stairs.
Gotta wonder who else was on that plane…
"Does he/she stand by all his/her Government’s policies and statements" at QT?
Did the Key Government get that form of questioning from the then Opposition?
My wife says yes. I say no.
You owe her a pint. They frequently used that question in opposition.
Been going for years.
Thanks Alien and Sacha. Gee I hate it when she is right!
Cheers to you both 🙂
Mines a double double if you're both buying 😉
It's not really a question these days, it's more of a ritual to avoid giving notice of what their actual question is going to be.
pros: the opposition gets to do a wee ambush
cons: if the followups are too precise, the ministerial response can dodge giving specific answers on the grounds of the lack of warning.
Whole thing is getting a bit ridiculous.
Especially if one party is using it to set up shots (for later editing) of their MPs asking questions about whatever they like, even knowing they will be dismissed or ruled out of order. Still has the right background visuals to lend some authoritah.
Another con in its use is the chance for the Minister to choose a reply whereby he or she highlights some aspect of their work or policy. Bit like a free shot before the targeted questioning begins. Jacinda Ardern is very good at this.
Yes, using the latitude Speakers have always given in exchange for the nonsensically broad scope of the Question. Not good for accountability in any way.
Much like patsies, whose speedy death I would welcome.
Yes Jacinda really nails the opportunity and to my mind she undermines the lame questions that follow from Bridges. And for some Opposition members they seem unable to adjust and ask the question after the answer. Inflexible?
What is it about Turkey these days?
For anyone who has had their life turned upside down by the depredations of private equity companies. Nicholas Shaxon lays out nicely the architecture of wealth extraction -which is the opposite of wealth creation, but cynically claims that mantle.
The World has a mass extinction going on at the minute. The beautiful creatures of the world are our gifts from God we are there caretaker we should have a culture where we value our mokopuna future and the past to give them a harmonious Future.
Its logical to behave like I have described our tamariki will not be happy with there future if we carry on making a big mess of it.
The loss of habitat is the biggest threat to jaguars in Ecuador, particularly along the coast, where more than 70% of the original forest cover has been lost. The vast majority of this destruction has taken place over the last 50 years with the expansion of the logging and agriculture industries, including coffee, cacao, palm oil and bananas, one of the country’s largest agriculture exports.
The coastal jaguar population has been declared critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Galo Zapata-Ríos, science director at the Wildlife Conservation Society Ecuador, says only a few remain in one small area on the coast, in the Cotacachi-Cayapas national park, in the northern province of Esmeraldas.
“Jaguars historically were distributed along all the Ecuadorian coast, but now they’re only in Esmeraldas,” says Zapata-Ríos, who has been studying the big cat for 10 years. “That’s the consequence of the advancement of human activity.”
As one of the largest predators in Latin America, the jaguar is essential to maintaining equilibrium in rainforest ecosystems. If it disappears, everything below it in the food chain is affected, with an overpopulation of rodents – the jaguar’s prey – that would eat more bugs and seeds, and decrease the regeneration of trees and other plants in the forest, says Zapata-Ríos
Ka kite Ano link below.
Other namesTāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-RangiGenderMaleRegionPolynesiaEthnic groupMāori, TahitiansPersonal informationConsortsHine-nui-te-pō, RangahoreOffspringHine-nui-te-pō, Tiki, Haumia-tiketike (southern Bay of Plenty and parts of the east coast)ParentsRangi and PapaSiblingsHaumia (Arawa), Rongo, Tangaroa, Tāwhirimātea, Tū, Rūaumoko, Whiro
New Zealand rainforest: the trees and birds are the children of Tāne
The children of Rangi and Papa grew frustrated at their confinement in the cramped space between their parents. Tū, future god of war, proposes that they should kill their parents. But Tāne (or Tāne-mahuta) disagrees, suggesting that it is better to separate them, sending Rangi into the sky and leaving Papa below to care for them. Tāne's brothers Rongo, then Tangaroa, Haumia-tiketike and Tū all try in vain to separate the parents. After many tries, Tāne lies on his back and pushes with his strong legs, and finally forces his parents apart, and Rangi rises high into the heavens (Grey 1956:2-3).[2] Then Tāne searched for heavenly bodies as lights so that his father would be appropriately dressed. He obtained the stars and threw them up, along with the moon and the sun. At last Rangi looked handsome (Orbell 1998:145).
Tāwhirimātea, the god of storms and winds, is angry that the parents have been torn apart. He joins his father in the sky and punishes the earth and sea with violent storms (Grey 1956:3-6, Tregear 1891:54). Tāwhirimātea attacks the forests of Tāne, snapping the trunks of the trees, shattering the trees to the ground, leaving them as food for decay and insects. Then he attacks the oceans, and Tangaroa, the god of the sea, flees. Two of Tangaroa's descendants, Ikatere, father of fish and Tu-te-wehiwehi
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C4%81ne
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C4%81ne
Tane Mahuta God of the Forest
Kia Ora 1 News.
Yes getting the tamariki vacancies is very important tangata.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Its good that immigration decide to change that law that discriminatied against people.
That's the way feed the tamariki and teach them cooking skills at the same time Kai Aroha Kura.
Ka kite Ano
Waiata is good for one's Wairua I'm fighting to many Wahwahi to listen to some of the ones I like.
Kia Ora The breakfast show.
The Venice flooding the highest in 50 years it great that a lot of the Mayors of the World’s climate are pointing out the true fact that the causes of their deasters.
I say we need our population to stop being inflated by new people. Our environmental footprint is growing rapidly because of this phenomenon.
Self belief is the best trait anyone can have.
Ka kite Ano
It's quite easy to accept that Climate change has caused a lot of old civilization to collapse. not enough Kai because of droughts no Wai.
The Neo-Assyrian empire was a mighty superpower that dominated the near east for 300 years before its dramatic collapse. Now researchers say they have a novel theory for what was behind its rise and fall: climate change.
The empire emerged in about 912BC and grew to stretch from the Mediterranean down to Egypt and out to the Persian Gulf
Now scientists say the reversal in the empire’s fortunes appears to coincide with a dramatic shift in its climate from wet to dry – a potentially crucial change in an empire reliant on crops.
“Nearly two centuries of high precipitation and high agrarian outputs encouraged high-density urbanisation and imperial expansion that was not sustainable when climate shifted to megadrought conditions during the seventh century BC,” the authors write.
In other words, while civil war, overexpansion and military defeat played a role in the empire’s collapse, the underlying driver could have been crop failures that led to economic collapse, exacerbating political unrest and conflict.
Prof Nicholas Postgate, an expert on Assyria from the University of Cambridge who was not involved in the study, said it was plausible that climate change helped finish the empire. “We don’t have any better explanation for what happened to the Assyrian empire during those times,” he said, adding that there was a dearth of written records from about 645BC to the sack of Nineveh Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/nov/13/climate-change-may-be-behind-fall-of-ancient-empire-say-researchers
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
Kia Ora 1 News.
I hear that accent.
Trees mitigate carbon full stop what needs to happen is a selected gradient of topography needs to be planted.
Venice is a ancient city there you go that's reality the discription of their leaders.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
It took someone close to me 15 years to get through the court process but she did not get treated fairly by the system she got shredded by the court process and is still negatively affected by that trauma I have posted about it in my past post.
Coke should not be using tangata whenua names to sell their products.
Ka kite Ano.