I am confident that Winston has NZ future in his heart as he goes forward today.
he cares passonately about our beautiful country as we all do, and he wants to return NZ to a solid future where we can again feel as we all some say into how our future is planned and not just exclusively by large vested corporate interests as we now see happening now.
This is Winston’s most compeling message he sends us all when we attend any public meetings he speaks at.
The best are treatable as Zen Koans. Or something as concise as William Carlos Wiliams.
It sure teaches concision.
Think of The Standard as a good-sized regional road through a city with lots of side streets. Think of Twitter as one stretch of highway where you get on fast into brutal traffic and get off at the next exit.
But trespassing in New Zealand carries a maximum sentence of just three months. Police could not lawfully get a surveillance warrant to investigate such a minor charge.
When repeatedly asked for comment by VICE, Police wouldn’t state what justified the surveillance.
A Police spokesperson told VICE, “for operational reasons Police are not able to respond to requests which seek to confirm or deny if a person or organisation is under investigation.”
One wonders how the police even managed to get a warrant for this spying and if they even followed the law to do so.
DTB
But, but, but it was needed for homeland security! There is so much to be afraid of, particularly people who express ideas.
Ideas that are different from those established by conformists are obviously dangerous, and are a threat that the police, charged with prevention of crime must become aware of. Listening into conversations provides useful information to the point of establishing when the originating thought might be first uttered, or picked up as code by experienced snoopers, or be seen as starting possible behaviours that would lead to some criminal act, violence or subversion. /sarc
(Likely to be found in some possible police manual that might have been written, is in the process of, or is just in the mind of some officious official at present.)
And puts some perspective on Labour’s ‘Chinese sounding names’. In fact, all the evidence from around the world where these types of studies have been done are showing that Chinese buyers are a large part of the problem. It’s naive to think that NZ is any different – especially when we have even less restrictions than those countries and no CGT.
Think about it – Chinese sounding names – what about Lee, is that Chinese sounding? What about if they changed their names to Harris or Smith – would the situation improve? Chinese sounding names is a euphemism for straight racism imo. And it actually hides the real issues around foreign ownership and citizenship. So it fails on many levels and does nothing to improve the situation for non Chinese sounding named people. Sad.
It was probably more correct to say Chinese names. It is perfectly possible to extract ethnicity data from a list of names. Names like Lee in a population have a consistent and predictable percentage of European origin and another of Asian origin.
The “Chinese sounding names” was a successful Gnat communications dirty trick. It diverted attention from foreign buyers and from Gnat complicity. It also turned a lot of activist comment against them. Had Twyford’s intention been racist it would be reasonable to expect some other evidence of this personality flaw. None exists of course.
Twyford did base his initial and subsequent efforts on Chinese sounding names not Chinese names (if there is such a beastie) I thought. The underlining debate is important and valid, the framing not so much imo. Maybe Chinese looking people might have worked…
He couldn’t have done ‘Chinese looking’ because the sales data didn’t come with photos.
There are of course Chinese names – though some of them occur in other countries too – Lee for example is one of the four most common surnames in Korea. It’s quite possible to divide English names between southern and northern origins or frequency in those areas. It is much easier to distinguish names with other language origins. I know something about this, having done a bit of corpus linguistics.
Twyford’s data was good – not perfect, but it cast some light on the void the Gnats created to hide their misdeeds. And all subsequent data has tended to confirm it.
Well we’ll never know if a different push would have yielded better results. I spose all the Canadians and us college pension funds and ukians must be quaking in their boots. First they came for the wongs and we did nothing, then the wilsons but because that wasn’t my name I let it go…
Quite a history of this in this country. Even now better to be a Jones than Parata when trying to get a flat for some reason…
All good of course except they never did come for the Wongs. And NZ land is still being sold offshore by this execrable pack of traitors – not Twyford.
Oh there may be some hurt feelings among 5th generation Chinese kiwis. There are hurt feelings among people struggling for housing too. Of the two I’m more concerned about those with housing stress.
All the parallel data from offshore, and qualitative data from onshore indicates that Chinese investment has been a significant driver of NZ house price inflation. And the government got a free pass on enabling that because they sold Twyford’s critique as ‘racism’.
Funny they are both the same in my book although I spose as 5th generation they could feel even more aggrieved because they can’t buy a house and less generation euros think they are to blame because of the way they may look.
The original analysis took the list of names from the property sales, the list of names from the census ethnicity data, and identified a massive discrepancy between the two. Purchaser names like “Lee” were weighted according to the proportion of census respondents called “Lee” who were e.g. ethnically Chinese vs ethnically Scottish.
Labour never said the methodology was perfect, just that there seemed to be a discrepancy and that this crude attempt was the best data available under the National government, and we should have better data on overseas buyers.
The “Chinese sounding names” soundbite was a tory shill construction to dodge the issue Labour raised, and it worked.
Good clarification – couldn’t really remember. As I said I don’t disagree with the discussion or even the conclusions but it was a crude attempt that just gave the racists and xenophobes ammo. I find it hard to imagine the pointy heads within labour didn’t think that through but then again that was then and this is now. Can’t see Jacinda allowing that approach now.
Lee would cause a few problems – but first names would go some way to sorting out the continent. There’s probably a whole project in that name for an enterprising onomastician – but if it were too complex to sort it could be safely put to one side without compromising the overall data significantly.
Think further about it. The reason for talking about ‘Chinese sounding names’ is because the Government of National Party NZ had no wish to know or reveal to others the extent of foreign buyers ‘investing’ in NZ infrastructure, namely no-risk housing. So they didn’t keep close records, were loose about it, and evasive when questioned.
Twyford was reduced to trawling through all the names to get some approximate idea of extent and get some stats as a basis for discussion. He wanted the sort of information that shows up in RedLogix at 10.12am. Don’t cuss Phil Twyford, save your spittle for the National Party of the World (formerly NZ).
There has been plenty of negative commentary at Bloomberg about Australia recently. It covers real estate of course, but also brittle government, commodity cycle reliance, and even their massive superannuation funds under management.
I view Chinese property and business purchasing with the same kind of threat as British purchasing and ownership for our first 150 years. It formed us, sucked a lot of profit out of us, and did both good and bad. IMHO Bruce Jesson gets the balance right in his book “To Build a Nation: collected writings 1975-1999”. He traces and graphs many of the British ownership networks.
The most interesting part of a new government is where Winston and the new government land on foreign land ownership .
After what we experienced at the airport today, my family and friends have decided to never ever fly with your airline again. I will be advising others not to use your airline either.
Dear Public, if you wish to fly Nelson to Wellington, don’t fly Jetstar, instead there is the national airline AirNZ or another awesome awesome service that we have never had problems with is Sounds Air. We’ve travelled back and forth to Welly numerous times, but this will be the first and last time we will ever fly Jetstar.
I felt so sorry for the manager who had to follow rules and options on the computer instead of being able to use her own common sense, you did your best lovely lady, you did your best, it wasn’t your fault.
Needed to vent, that is all. It’s a beautiful day in Motueka.
You’re not alone! But then they’re part of Qantas. Famous for misreading baggage labels
What is it about Joyces? Alan….. Barnaby…..Steven. 3 I’ve had the misfortune to cross paths with
LMFAO.. seeing you asked.. way to much drama lolz.
A child was accidently booked on as an adult, said child had no ID on her, go home and get some ID they say (home is up to 2hrs return on the open road lolz), why dosen’t she have a cell phone they ask, you could use that (far out lady not every kid has a phone), but look she has an IPad, oh sorry only a cellphone will do, her passport would have be fine, but her passport photo was when she was a toddler, yes that would be fine they say.
Umm the school sports top she is wearing has her name on it, she is accompanied by her grandmother, grandfather and lil sister, but still they don’t believe miss twelve is who she says she is. Does she have school ID, umm she isn’t at high school yet, would a public library card do, no sorry, wait what… she had to bring in her birth cert to get a public library card in the first place.
Ummm sorry she has too much carry on… bag, sleeping bag and a birthday gift in a box, we will have to check in that luggage, and that will cost you an extra $70, but don’t worry, it will only cost an extra $13.50 for the trip back if you pay for it now.
Sheez I felt bad for my folks, it was so nice of them to take her there as I had to work. And it was so generous of the person who shouted her the flight, I felt bad for them too, they would not have wanted anyone to go through all the drama
If we change her ticket from an adult to a child that will cost you an extra (insert large ammount here), are you serious? It wasn’t a cheap flight to start with, but if she is booked as a child she won’t need ID…. far out unreals.
Apparently the manager was great, but you have to make your decisions in accordance to the options on the screen. In the end they let her on, but what a freakin circus. A nice lady in the queue offered to accompany her on the plane so she wouldn’t be travelling alone, and that was acceptable to the airline.
The werid thing is neither of my kids have been asked for personal ID before when flying alone, the adult dropping them off/picking them up is required to have ID, and just fill in the form. But then again they’ve never been on Jetstar and never will again lolololz
Miss 12 has since arrived safe and sound in fabulous Wellywood, and as long as I scan and email her some ID she should be able to get home again. She’s going to have the best time.
Meanwhile in stark contrast… the day prior we went to book her bus ticket, and the lady at our local info centre, asked her if she would like to go behind the counter and she would talk her through doing the booking herself, miss twelve buzzed out about that, no ID required. Love Motueka.
Once were Tim, sounds like Joyces aren’t so joyful lololz
Ed, that looks like a great clip thank you 😀 Will check it out
Important story on RNZ today, a community law lawyer is pointing out that the WINZ review system entirely lacks independence and the process is a crock from any reasonable legal perspective. The “review” is by WINZ staff and tends to just rubber stamp whatever outcome WINZ is already seeking. Questioning of “witnesses” hectors and badgers and uses leading questions, that would never be allowed in any fair court or tribunal.
More abuse of process, in NZ’s continuing abuse of the vulnerable.
As Chris Trotter says, Winston Peters should support a de- neoliberalisation of all NZ’s institutions, in the same way de Nazification was completed post WW2.
Big ups to Peace Action Wellington – these wonderful people did a fine job yesterday of blockaded the entrance to the Westpac Stadium, and stopping the Hawks from there purchases of death.
Love how the NZ police react with violence to peaceful protest, must make them feel like real men.
They even got to beat up a disabled man, did our bully boys in blue.
Love the spin at the end of the stuff piece, it will make all the soft libs here happy, as they will not have to think hard about their continued support of the death machine.
Andrew Ford, how do you sleep at night?
Is your pay packet enough to salve your conscience for being a spin merchant for crimes against humanity?
Do you dream of Yemenis, Iraqis, Syrians, Afghani being bombed in their beds?
There are words for people like Ford.
‘NZDIA deputy chairman Andrew Ford said labelling the forum a “weapons expo” was “stretching the truth” and the event was mainly about bringing together suppliers of services and products to support the defence and national security sectors, not weapons.
Most people would support New Zealand’s defence forces being properly equipped to defend themselves and fulfil their peacekeeping duties, he said.’
Emirates plans to end most of its flights between Australia and New Zealand as part of a renegotiated joint venture with Qantas Airways Ltd that will also see the Australian carrier quit flying to Dubai, the airlines said on Wednesday.
That, I believe, is cartel behaviour but it also highlights the failure of competition and the added costs it brings.
I have just been reading the latest edition of “Air Force News” – it seems the RNZAF is about to begin “Exercise Southern Katipo and the West Coast is being transformed into the fictional Pacific Island of Becara. The exercise is based on the premise that armed militia groups have sparked the breakdown of public order and a New Zealand-led coalition has been invited to restore law and order.” It then goes on further in the article to say “another task would be to take care of the island’s trouble-makers, which might require an armed response”.
Why on earth are they needing to train our military to supress civilian dissent – is this the future of our military – to squash any uprising because of the many injustices that our citizens in the future may want to fight against – do our governments expect this sort of event in the future – if so shouldn’t they be making our society a fairer place for all of us so this sort of expensive exercise isn’t ever needed.
It smacks of the police tapping into human rights activists phones – what has happened to our usual robberies and murder and conventional wars that our police and military were needed for.
Actually DTB, I remember reading somewhere that Bill Rowling put the NZ Armed Forces on standing by to stop the the TNI from invading ET and restore law and order. But Gough Witham wasn’t up for it and the Poms were pulling out of SE Asia, so the order was finally cancelled. It was like a re-run of what happen during West Papua where the Dutch asked for assistance from Commonwealth at the time the Poms and NZ government were prepared to assist the Dutch but old Meng (Menzies) pull out at the last minute and no doubt the JFK had a hand in it as it was trying to persuade the then Ino government to turn from a leftist government to a pro west government at the time.
Come to think about it may have been in the Official History of Australian involvement in South East Asia. Which was Six or seven, eight part volume which were all first edition before lost them a defence removal.
Had some interesting stuff about Kiwi Keith dragging his heels in regards to New Zealand’s involvement in South Vietnam. Which there was two part volume with regards to the political issues from Oz government POV.
DTB, thanks for the link and it was good read as will.
Sentiment among us INTERTFET vets and those on UN mission after us (note I lost a good mate from NZBATT 2, the first Kiwi to KIA since Vietnam. Pvte Lenny Manning B Coy 2/1st Battalion). Is why did our pollies allow this to happen especially amongst some of the Aussie Army All Arms Corps (My neighbor at my bush block as Ex 2RAR and did a UN tour as well) as the people of Timor help members of the Aussie Army during WW2 and only to kick down the road like a coke can or as a sacrificial sheep after the TNI invasion. As us vets know what the TNI is doing to the people of West Papua as we seen the same thing at what happening to the people ET.
And really piss’s me is that most of the left supported the then leftist Ino government annexation of West Papua from the Dutch and now these assholes are supporting West Papua freedom!
The last scenario the military forces (international) operated under had uncomfortable similarities with the fall of the Muldoon government and the time between that and Labour taking over. It is on google somewhere but it makes my skin creep, like a cold breeze passing by.
The current SK17 scenario appears to be base around what happen in East Timor back in 2006 and some other scenarios are also similar to what we face during INTERFET 99-00. The TNI Forces and the TNI backed militia push the our boundaries in terms of our ROE/ OFOF to the limit weather it was on the sea (even under the Sea), in the Air harassing the Naval Task Group incl the Air Bridge between Oz and ET and on the land around Dili and down towards the main centres around the border provinces of ET incl the onclave. You don’t know just how close it came to a all out war with the TNI. Once our section was outnumbered by 3to1 at abandoned police/ TNI barracks and it was only when shook out into a attacking formation, (I) loaded the M79’s/ prep the M72’s for firing etc and for a few mins we were about to meet our making, then other side backed down rather quickly once they saw that we meant business.
Then there is the handling of dead bodies, documented the voting fraud, the illegal abuse detainees by the TNI/ police and the human rights abuse aka rape, torture, shooting detainees etc. But another story to tell one day.
SK ex’s are a good foundation stone for the NZDF, foreign forces, other agencies both Government and NGO’s to prepare for such events for the future. Because Peacekeeping operations can be very fast and dynamic with a lot of thinking on your feet, be it the humble private/ trooper or PC etc to very to top of the decision making progress at inter government level?
To some on the left Peacekeeping may sound sexy to you, but as follow lefty who has done Peacekeeping I’ve seen the best of human kind and the bloody worst of human kind.
A well prepared, well equipped and trained Defence Force for UN peacekeeping for Chapter 1 to Chapter 7 missions comes with a big price tag than most people here realise.
I had a deal with my CO at the start of the yr after I was sent home from the Middle East late yr when I went down the rabbit hole the choice between SK17 or go back to Middle East if I was back to full health by June. Alas I’m not as I would back in NZ right now, but facing a Med discharge sometime next yr.
‘IMF: higher taxes for rich will cut inequality without hitting growth
Analysis supports tax strategy of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour in UK – and undermines that of Donald Trump in US’
New Zealand Labour and New Zealand First please note.
Brilliant article by Rachel Stewart.
Worthy of a thread in its own right.
I share her outlook.
‘What are the signs that the world’s resources are running out?
‘What are the things we need to face? It’s a ruddy great neon sign and if you can’t see it flashing, you’re either obtuse, changing nappies, and/or too busy arguing the toss on.’
‘Climate change is here. The race between human survival and the melting ice sheets is on…… The storms will be more frequent and deadly; the diseases will come thick and fast; the crops will fail and, if humans are still standing at the end of that, the heat will shut our bodies down and we will die.’
‘Population. The number of people on the planet will rise from 7.6 billion today to 9.7 billion in 2050, according to UN projections. Is that number the problem, or is it over-consumption? It’s both. One leads to the other, and both are killing us.’
‘Water. The new oil. Without it, humanity is condemned. Climate change is affecting water quality, and the risks are incalculable. Rising temperatures; increased levels of sediments, nutrients, and pollutants triggered by more frequent and heavy rainfall; industrial agriculture. The world faces an imminent water crisis that is affecting every part of the planet. Are we ready for the massive influx of refugees from Australia and Asia?’
‘Poverty and inequality are massive, unstoppable forces. Electing new governments, and new faces, is unlikely to meaningfully alter anything. No politician has the capacity to change what’s coming. The pendulum is in motion; counting down the beats to our demise.’
‘Depressed yet? You should be. And when you’re bored with that, maybe stop blaming others for their point of view, and start blaming the real culprits. Picking off fundamentally decent – and basically planetarily powerless – others is a waste of your time. Anger, sadness and fear is best expressed by doing, rather than talking into a vacuum (which, ironically, I’m likely doing here).’
‘The culprits? Oil companies, industrial agriculture, the 1 per cent, over-fishing, neoliberalism, capitalism, Monsanto, Trump, the “free” market (an oxymoron if ever there was one). You know who they are.’
Get off the cyber treadmill of judgment and virtue signalling, and dismount your fat donkey and make a change in the world. Maybe there’s still time?
Whoa Rachel! You hit a few nails on the head there. Now wait for the response….. Our small interest group in Wellington has been saying this for years! So it’s not news. It’s just becoming news now! Lol
David Farrar of course defends the Alcohol Industry.
There are words for people like him.
‘Lead researcher Tim Chambers says the study provides further evidence of the need to ban alcohol sales in supermarkets. This is feasible given we have prohibited alcohol sales in supermarkets in the past and other countries, such as Australia, currently do. Moreover, supermarkets make up only three per cent of alcohol retailers but sell 30 per cent of all beer and 60 per cent of all wine.
“Children in the study were exposed to alcohol marketing almost every time they entered a supermarket, often the exposure occurred near everyday products, like bread and milk,” says Tim Chambers, research fellow at Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington.
In New Zealand, alcohol contributes to 800 deaths and costs the country over $5 billion per year. Moreover, alcohol is linked to over 200 medical conditions and causes a number of cancers. World Health Organization (WHO) Global Alcohol Strategy recommends restrictions on alcohol marketing as a ‘best buy’ for reducing alcohol-related harm. New Zealand supermarkets have some responsibility for the burden of alcohol-related harm due to their provision of convenient, low-cost alcohol as well as their market share of alcohol sales.
In New Zealand, supermarkets were not permitted to sell alcohol until the liberalisation of the alcohol laws in 1989. The researchers say that improving the supermarket promotional environment, by repealing the section of the 2012 Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act that permits supermarket alcohol sales, would both significantly reduce children’s overall exposure to alcohol marketing, and reduce the prevalence of other supermarket related infractions such as underage sales, loss-leading alcohol sales and cross-promotional activity. Further, it would save councils millions of dollars from the judicial challenges by supermarkets against Local Alcohol Policies.’
Yet Farrar – with no evidence – spins for big liquor.
And the miserable host giggles at his ridiculous defence of these multinational drug peddlers.
Farrar of course will know that Katherine Rich, is another pimp for big liquor.
No doubt his pr activities and involvement in Dirty Politics ( another fact not mentioned by RNZ in its introduction) assisted her defence of the food and liquor industries.
And we are the 3rd most obese in the world.
Thanks David and Katherine for caring about our health.
Awkward moment on the Panel as Catherine Robertson describes the traits of psychopaths,
And David Farrar remains a bit silent as he thinks of his National masters.
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The End of Life bill has been read a second time and is now heading for the House for further debate. Personally, I support the proposal. I don't ever epect to take advantage of the Bill's provisions myself, but as ...
Before the substantive issue which this column is about – whether there has been a deterioration in the economic advice given to the government – a paragraph about the budget leaks.read more ...
Below is a translation of the editorial in the June 24 round of weekly workplace bulletins issued all over France by the revolutionary workers’ organisation Lutte Ouvriere. Last Saturday, 8,000 people took to the streets of Belfort (eastern France) to ...
Why hasn't Parliament followed the lead set by our local authorities and declared a climate emergency? The answer is the National Party:The Prime Minister’s admission that she is open to the idea of declaring a climate change emergency is nothing ...
Back in May the government released its Zero Carbon Bill. While much of the bill was welcome, there was one big exception: it contained a secrecy clause, requiring the Climate Change Commission to maintain secrecy over practically everything it does. ...
by Phil Duncan This past week has marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Stonewall Inn riots in Christopher Street, New York, the event generally regarded as kicking off the gay liberation movement. Quite a few articles have ...
Southland - land of coal-burning dairy farmers - has become the first region in the country to explicitly vote against declaring a climate emergency. Their reason? They didn't want to "devalue" the word "emergency". Its an argument addressed powerfully in ...
New Zealand has a problem with police chases: officers going after fleeing drivers like rabid dogs, without any consideration for proportionality or public safety, often with fatal results. And according to an in-depth article in the Guardian today, the UK ...
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...
Holly Lawford-Smith is a senior lecturer in political philosophy at the University of Melbourne. She’s currently writing a book about radical feminism. This article appeared on Feminist Current Academics should be standing together in defence of universities’ fundamental values: the ...
The Otago Daily Times has an in-depth article about the future of wind energy in New Zealand, and it is looking bright:The news that wind will play the leading role in New Zealand’s energy future was put up in lights ...
If the sight of schoolkids striking for a future has been filling you with hope, good news: they want you to join them on September 27:Students will take to the streets again demanding action on climate change, and this time ...
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...
I have been working my way through a 47,000 document tranche of declassified US government communications related to Argentina and the “Dirty War” of 1976-83. I grew up in Argentina in the period leading up to the March 24, 1976 ...
To express concern about foreign ownership and control in New Zealand is often to invite accusations of xenophobia and economic illiteracy. It is worthwhile, therefore, to rehearse the grounds for that concern, and to explore the various forms it can ...
It must be a day ending in Y because the Guardian - remember when it used to be a good paper1 - is running another spurious story about Corbyn's leadership being threatened over anti-Semitism.The headline the Guardian runs is: "MPs tell ...
A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jun 23 through Sat, June 29, 2019 Editor's Pick When Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez met Greta Thunberg: 'Hope is contagious'Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and ...
When people slate the current Government for taking too long on certain issues, or not getting everything right, just check the outrage and quit helping National manufacture consent for their decade of Disaster Economics and much more. Bill couldn’t ...
Robots could soon replace many low-skill jobs, such as President of the United States. US Presidential hopeful and doomsday prophet Andrew Yang went to extreme lengths to make a point in the first round of Democratic primary debates today, replacing ...
More people have died in the shower this year than will die in a KiwiBuild home. KiwiBuild home owners are experiencing a surprise windfall this month, as the price of their houses have begun to rise dramatically, due to growing ...
First way – the state, Keynesian demand management, the working class as the base of support. Second way – free-market, reduce the scope of the state and cut taxes, relative indifference to social justice. Third Way – well that's the ...
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...
Million-dollar start to gun collection eventsPolice Minister Stuart Nash says a solid start has been made to the gun buyback and amnesty after the first weekend of community collection events. “Gun owners will walk away with more than ...
Police Minister Stuart Nash has praised Police and gun owners after the first firearms collection event saw a busy turnout at Riccarton Racecourse in Christchurch. “Police officers and staff have put a tremendous effort into planning and logistics for the ...
Seventy-eight new Police constables are heading out to the regions following today’s graduation of a new recruit wing from the Royal New Zealand Police College. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the record high number of new Police officers being recruited, ...
Fonterra’s use of coal has been the target of numerous grassroots campaigns in recent years. Last year 350 Aotearoa affiliated groups, Fossil Free Aoraki and 350 Nelson launched a petition dismissing the dairy giant’s initial target of no new ...
Information sessions on proposals for The Medicinal Cannabis Scheme take place in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch over the next fortnight. The sessions are open to anyone with an interest in learning more about the proposed scheme. ...
“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.” ...
“The announcement that Fonterra will immediately stop installing any new coal boilers or increasing capacity to burn coal is the signal that the biomass fuel supply industry welcomes” said Brian Cox, Executive Officer of the Bioenergy Association. ...
18 July 2019-- Coal Action Network Aotearoa (CANA) today welcomed Fonterra’s commitment to build no new coal plants, a “no brainer” for the climate crisis the world faces. The group has been urging this transition for six years now and ...
The increase in demand for cage-free eggs is set to continue according to animal rights organisation SAFE, who says the egg industry should expect this and prepare. ...
Wellington, New Zealand – 350 Pacific made a formal submission to the New Zealand Government’s Environment Parliamentary Select Committee on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, led by the Pacific Climate Warriors (PCWs) based in ...
There used to be a school of thought on the centre right side of politics that the best way to neuter the Greens as a political force would be to let them have a spell in government. Then, according to ...
Today (18 July) is Nelson Mandela International Day when the United Nations highlights the importance of humane conditions of imprisonment. In New Zealand our prisons are overcrowded and understaffed. At 214 prisoners per 100,000 people, we have the fifth ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa will take legal action over the lengthy delay in implementing pay increases for teachers. Novopay announced yesterday that teachers would have to wait until 11 September to see pay increases that they won when they settled ...
EDS has filed its submission on the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill. The Bill sets targets for greenhouse gas reductions, provides for the government to set a series of carbon budgets, and sets up a new, independent, Climate ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union has identified an absurd case of mission creep at Wellington City Council: the decision to spend $21,750 on two Consumer NZ investigations into different brands of bike lights. ...
The Motor Trade Association is welcoming the release of the Government’s new draft road safety strategy. MTA Chief Executive Craig Pomare says the association is pleased to see vehicle safety has been made a priority in the Road to Zero ...
The Department of Conservation continue to repeat the same old story about attacks on staff and how it is affecting their role in protecting our precious wildlife. NZ herald https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12249704 ...
The government's silence on the fact that the country's second-largest milk processor is on the brink of becoming 25% Chinese Government owned has been deafening. ...
School Strike 4 Climate NZ welcomes the coalition Government’s endeavour to take action on reducing agricultural emissions but is disappointed at the weak stance that the Government has taken on the issue. ...
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has issued a formal warning under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 (AML/CFT Act) to seven reporting entities within the Regus Management Limited (RNZML) designated business ...
The Northland Regional Council (NRC) has voted to exclude all GM/GE precautionary provisions in its regional plan, despite years of community engagement showing support for such protection. There is a sense of betrayal following the way the NRC Chairman ...
New Zealand’s ‘mission-driven’ charities working in international aid are showing early signs of changing the way they work, in particular prioritising building the capacity and resilience of local communities to do their own development. ...
Teachers will have to wait until 11 September for pay increases won as part of their collective agreement negotiations settled in June, according to an update sent to schools today from Novopay. ...
July 16 (BusinessDesk) - Energy Minister Megan Woods says the government “won’t die in a ditch” if its goal of 100 percent renewable electricity generation isn't reached by 2035. ...
The Electricity Networks Association (ENA) is welcoming the Government’s response to the Interim Climate Change Committee (ICCC) Report released today. Graeme Peters, chief executive of the ENA, said one of the key recommendations, endorsed by the ...
An article* published this month in the Journal of Health Organization and Management raises questions over the way health board members are elected and whether the boards are even needed. ...
NZEI Te Riu Roa's kindergarten teacher members will vote on a proposed settlement to their collective agreement after four days of negotiations with the Ministry of Education and kindergarten employers. ...
Vector has today welcomed the ICCC’s report on Accelerated Electrification . Vector agrees that accelerating the electrification of transport and process heat will play a major role in reducing the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. Initiatives to ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Porirua City Council to cancel its underwriting of a proposed Canadian-led privately owned adventure park slated for public land after a similar project created a huge liability for Christchurch ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero welcome the Interim Climate Change Committee’s (ICCC’s) reports: Accelerated Electrification and Action on agricultural emissions ; which were finally released by the Government today, almost three months ...
Fish & Game New Zealand notes the announcement today that the Government and the intensive agriculture leadership have reached a ‘historic consensus’ and are exploring using a formal sector-government agreement instead of bringing agriculture ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report on Accelerated Electrification was released today by the Minister for Energy and Resources, Hon Dr Megan Woods. ...
The independent Interim Climate Change Committee’s report Action on agricultural emissions was released today by the Minister for Climate Change, Hon James Shaw and the Minister of Agriculture, Hon Damien O’Connor. ...
Please find attached embargoed copies of two media statements from the Interim Climate Change Committee http://img.scoop.co.nz/media/pdfs/1907/Embargoed_Interim_Climate_Change_Committee_Accelerated_electrification_MEDIA_STATEMENT.pdf ...
Greenpeace Executive Director, Dr Russel Norman, has reacted with disbelief that the Government’s latest climate proposal includes an option for dairy to voluntarily deal with their emissions over the next six years. ...
This week’s “Youth Parliament” is an expensive waste of time that promotes taxpayer-funded junketeering, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union . “We shouldn’t be training kids on the joys of the trough,” says Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones admitted on Q+A tonight that the state of New Zealand’s infrastructure planning is “dismal” and the government needs to get on with building “rather than writing more reports about it.” ...
DairyNZ has released its submission on the Zero Carbon Bill and is calling on the Government to revise the methane target in the Bill to one that does not put at risk New Zealand’s world-leading dairy sector. Farm profit could ...
July 15 (BusinessDesk) - Foreign Minister Winston Peters will have bi-lateral meetings with two of US president Donald Trump's most hawkish defence and security advisers in a five day trip to Washington D.C. ...
Youth climate change campaigners Generation Zero are calling for Members of Parliament to show political courage as the Zero Carbon Bill goes through the crucial Select Committee process. ...
Annual net migration was provisionally estimated at 50,200 (± 800) in the year ended December 2018 compared with 52,600 in the previous year, Stats NZ said today. ...
New Zealanders have the opportunity to contribute to the government’s Review of Retirement Income Policies, including questions around Superannuation and KiwiSaver. Submissions are now open for the Review, being run by the Commission for Financial ...
Yesterday at Mataatua Marae the Tamaki Makaurau Electorate of the Māori party congratulated Rangi Mclean who was appointed to the Vice president Tāne role of the party nation-wide executive. ...
The funding crisis facing the disability sector has become more urgent following the disturbing news that the Ministry of Health will not increase contract prices for providers this year, the New Zealand Disability Support Network said today. ...
The growing number of working poor is an alarming indicator that the regulatory Minimum Wage does not cut it said Closing the Gap spokesperson Peter Malcolm. ...
Historic hui gives overwhelming agreement for a Māori Inquiry The inquiry into state run Oranga Tamariki will be led by whanau, kaimahi and Māori leaders. ...
Drug infiltration into our maximum security prisons is putting prisoners and staff at unnecessary risk, and one tool that would be of huge benefit is a full body scanner. ...
A children’s television presenter, New Zealand’s first supermodel, and bloody Cocksy! Jordan Hamel pays tribute to the Kiwi icons that helped get him through his life.Adolescence was not a great time for me. Depression, anxiety, sexuality, awkward social interactions, emotional ...
The House - The Youth Parliament has beat the real thing to the punch by declaring a climate change emergency this week. Youth Press Gallery member Sophie Dixon reports. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rona Macniven, Research Fellow, University of Sydney Indigenous Australians have a long and proud heritage in both traditional sports and games, and in modern sport through the achievements of people like Johnathan ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University It’s 50 years since the two Apollo 11 astronauts – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin – spent 22 hours collecting samples, ...
The Real Pod assembles to dissect the week in reality television and real life, with special thanks to Nando’s.It’s a wacky, wacky week on The Real Pod this week. But is it wackier than the fact that Gilda Kirkpatrick saw a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neal Hughes, Senior Economist, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) Water prices in the southern Murray-Darling Basin have reached their highest levels since the worst of the Millennium ...
It seems inevitable that New Zealand will soon officially be in a state of emergency over climate change, with a declaration likely to be passed in Parliament. Is this a good thing? The debate over moving into official emergency status ...
The newsreader turned talkback host Peter Williams (not Peter Williams) is furious about the mainstream refusal to acknowledge the cheesiness of the moon.I’m sorry but my head still hurts.Yesterday I blew to smithereens the so-called “consensus” on the “science” around ...
Every fish on the iconic New Zealand Commercial Fish Species poster, ranked. There are a few staples of the quintessential fish and chip shop: sticky plastic curtains, soggy paper tickets with a little red number, tin pottles of Wattie’s tomato sauce, ...
Eligible home owners will be able to claim grants for energy-efficient heaters this winter as part of the government's Warmer Kiwi Homes programme. ...
MediaRoom this week: the Media Council backs reporters asking questions, urges caution linking a group to the Christchurch attacks, muses on news vs advertising and wants corrections published faster. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Even though we can see the Moon shining brightly in the night sky – and sometimes in daylight – it’s hard to put into ...
By Pacific Media Centre NewsdeskIndonesian President Joko Widodo’s threat to pursue anyone who impedes investment is worrying environmental activists who claim that such actions could criminalise those fighting for the environment, reports CNN Indonesia.Jokowi made the threat ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monica Barratt, Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University A NSW Coronial Inquest investigating a series of drug-related deaths at Australian music festivals has heard evidence of ...
The Netball World Cup grand final is tie-proof and won't end in any kind of super over. RNZ's netball reporter Ravinder Hunia who's in Liverpool explains why. ...
Party Line is a new audio work by Evangeline Riddiford Graham that reinvestigates the Cartwright Inquiry, medical mispractice and misogyny through the lens of the #metoo era. In a red room six handsets dangle from the ceiling on their spiral cords. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neil R Jordan, Lecturer, UNSW Humans and dogs go way back. From wolf totems to the big bad wolf of fact and fairy tale, through sheepdogs, lap dogs, and labradoodles, our relationships ...
For Auckland is a new Spinoff podcast of civic conversations with people working to create and sustain a better Auckland for all. In episode three, host Timothy Giles speaks to Grace Stratton about accessibility, in fashion and in Auckland.She’s launched ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s contentForeign affairs and trade Peter Dunne (Newsroom): Beware, nice ...
Human rights activists and refugees are calling on the PM to use her international profile to speak out against China’s persecution of religious groups. ...
Instead of buying a cuppa in exchange for a place to work, Coffee Supreme is flipping the script.For the last 25 years, Coffee Supreme has stuck to what it does best, which is sourcing, roasting, brewing and selling some seriously ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Blaskovich, Senior Research Officer, The University of Queensland Artistic depictions of several chemical elements feature in a new exhibition from today as part of Australia’s celebrations for the International Year of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Hopkins, Senior Lecturer, Australian National University In 2017, a small group of male prisoners participated in an eight-week yoga program at the Alexander Maconochie Centre(AMC), which houses all adult prisoners in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ramon Zenel Shaban, Clinical Chair and Professor of Infection Prevention and Disease Control at the University of Sydney, University of Sydney “Travel safe, travel far, travel wide, and travel often,” saysNomadic ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Bone, Lecturer, Massey University A majority of academic staff at some of Australia’s top universities work in casual or fixed-term positions. This reflects a trend towards casualisation in academia, and other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Smith, Professor of Archaeology, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape in south-west Victoria is the first Indigenous Australian landscape to be gazetted on ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will touch down in Melbourne this afternoon, four months after her planned visit to the city was called off due to the Christchurch terror attack. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Union to take legal action against Novopay, building site sediment damaging waterways, and the govt’s road safety strategy explained.Teachers are taking legal action against Novopay, amidst the news their payrise ...
The lawyer representing bankrupt blogger Cameron Slater in a defamation case has been trying since February to withdraw from the case, but a judge keeps declining. Tim Murphy reports. ...
Net migration, skills shortage, and the challenge for employers to hire the people they need are frequent themes in our media, but there is a talent pool trained right here many are overlooking. ...
The young Kiwi sprinters who won relay bronze at the World University Games - setting a new NZ record - can still go much faster on the world stage. ...
A recent issue of Air Force News revealed that a senior NZDF officer served a six-month posting at the Qatar base, placing New Zealanders at the heart of the main targeting and bombing centre in that region, writes Darius ShahtahmasebiLast ...
Figure 10: A Kanak voter wearing a ‘Kanaky New Caledonia’ flag tee shirt at the Loyalty Islands special polling booth in Vallee du Tir, Noumea. Image: David Robie David Robie Wednesday, July 17, 2019 Abstract The French-ruled ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Paul Fisher, Head of Directing, Department of Film, Screen and Creative Media, Bond University Something incredible might be happening to James Bond: a separation, a personal Brexit of sorts. According to ...
Depending on which coalition party you ask, the Government is either introducing a new way to fund community wellbeing or using the same funds to tackle organised crime. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Hepburn, Director of the Centre for Energy and Natural Resources Law, Deakin Law School, Deakin University A freedom of information request has revealed Adani sought the names of CSIRO and Geoscience ...
For generations, women have done the heavy lifting in the fight for social change. What will it take to get more men to give a fuck about their children’s future?At every question and answer session I attend, I get a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Melissa Kang, Associate professor, University of Technology Sydney I Need to Know is an ongoing series for teens in search of reliable, confidential advice about life’s tricky questions. If you’re a teen, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katarina Miljkovic, ARC DECRA fellow, Curtin University Look up on a clear night and you can see some circular formations on the face of our lunar neighbour. These are impact craters, circular ...
Open Mike 12/10/2017 
I have been reading and listening to the aftermath of Trump’s comments about the four female first term Democratic representatives, all of whom are “people of color.” I found the US coverage interesting both as evidence of partisanship and the ...2 hours ago
The Herald reports that the housing shortage / bubble has hit a new level:New Zealand is short of 130,000 homes, the tally having risen lately by 30,000, two economists say. Jarrod Kerr and Jeremy Couchman, Kiwibank economists said: "This time ...2 hours ago
The proposed Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill treats biogenic methane emissions differently from all other carbon emissions. The latter are to be measured net so that emissions from fossil fuels can be offset by carbon stored in trees. ...18 hours ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh This article aims to answer a simple question, whether the conflict is only a rural one or whether it is also urban. The verb ‘to be’ is conjugated in the present tense as ,despite what some ...1 day ago
1 day ago
On Sunday July 7, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter announced their intention to review the Ministry of Health’s Funded Family Care policy and repeal Part 4Aof the 2000 NZ Public Health and Disability Act. These are festering injustices ...2 days ago
Belle is a lovely fifteen year-old border collie who belongs to our friends and neighbours at Bryan’s Beach, Michael and Judy Corboy. Belle, in her old age, can hardly see or hear, but – as a constant participant at social ...2 days ago
A Woman’s Place is on the Podium was a public meeting in London on 10 July to discuss women’s sports and the impact of transwomen competing against women. The venue was sold out with a packed hall of 750 people. ...4 days ago
An occasional series where I will ponder allegations of anti-Semitism directed at the British Labour Party and its members.In this case, we are thinking about an allegedly anti-Semitic image shared by a Labour Party member. Its origins appear to be ...1 week ago
1 week ago
2 weeks ago
Welcome to another heaping helping of research publications related to climate change drivers and mechanisms, the effects of climate change and how we might yet grope our way into systems approaches to dealing with the mess we're making, despite ourselves. ...2 weeks ago
The People's "Friend": In this masterpiece of revolutionary propaganda, the homicidal political psychopath, Jean-Paul Marat, has been transformed by Jacques-Louis David, the French Revolution's most accomplished artist, into a martyred hero of the ordinary people of Paris. Thanks to Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook, ...2 weeks ago
The principle of one person, one vote doesn’t apply for local elections. In fact, you don’t even need to be a person to have voting rights. Welcome to the ratepayer roll. While the ratepayer roll accounts for less than 1% ...2 weeks ago
Image Credit: Blog Writing Tips. I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the ... 2 weeks ago
When people slate the current Government for taking too long on certain issues, or not getting everything right, just check the outrage and quit helping National manufacture consent for their decade of Disaster Economics and much more. Bill couldn’t ...3 weeks ago
Robots could soon replace many low-skill jobs, such as President of the United States. US Presidential hopeful and doomsday prophet Andrew Yang went to extreme lengths to make a point in the first round of Democratic primary debates today, replacing ...3 weeks ago
More people have died in the shower this year than will die in a KiwiBuild home. KiwiBuild home owners are experiencing a surprise windfall this month, as the price of their houses have begun to rise dramatically, due to growing ...3 weeks ago
A new digital platform aims to make it easier for small businesses to access services from multiple government agencies, leaving them more time to focus on their own priorities. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Small Business Stuart Nash ...2 days ago
Fonterra’s use of coal has been the target of numerous grassroots campaigns in recent years. Last year 350 Aotearoa affiliated groups, Fossil Free Aoraki and 350 Nelson launched a petition dismissing the dairy giant’s initial target of no new ...2 hours ago
A children’s television presenter, New Zealand’s first supermodel, and bloody Cocksy! Jordan Hamel pays tribute to the Kiwi icons that helped get him through his life.Adolescence was not a great time for me. Depression, anxiety, sexuality, awkward social interactions, emotional ...28 mins ago
The House - The Youth Parliament has beat the real thing to the punch by declaring a climate change emergency this week. Youth Press Gallery member Sophie Dixon reports. ...55 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rona Macniven, Research Fellow, University of Sydney Indigenous Australians have a long and proud heritage in both traditional sports and games, and in modern sport through the achievements of people like Johnathan ...57 mins ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alice Gorman, Senior Lecturer in Archaeology and Space Studies, Flinders University It’s 50 years since the two Apollo 11 astronauts – Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin – spent 22 hours collecting samples, ...2 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neal Hughes, Senior Economist, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) Water prices in the southern Murray-Darling Basin have reached their highest levels since the worst of the Millennium ...2 hours ago
Instagram will test the removal of 'likes' from New Zealand-based users' content from today. ...3 hours ago
The newsreader turned talkback host Peter Williams (not Peter Williams) is furious about the mainstream refusal to acknowledge the cheesiness of the moon.I’m sorry but my head still hurts.Yesterday I blew to smithereens the so-called “consensus” on the “science” around ...3 hours ago
Every fish on the iconic New Zealand Commercial Fish Species poster, ranked. There are a few staples of the quintessential fish and chip shop: sticky plastic curtains, soggy paper tickets with a little red number, tin pottles of Wattie’s tomato sauce, ...3 hours ago
MediaRoom this week: the Media Council backs reporters asking questions, urges caution linking a group to the Christchurch attacks, muses on news vs advertising and wants corrections published faster. ...3 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Even though we can see the Moon shining brightly in the night sky – and sometimes in daylight – it’s hard to put into ...4 hours ago
By Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s threat to pursue anyone who impedes investment is worrying environmental activists who claim that such actions could criminalise those fighting for the environment, reports CNN Indonesia. Jokowi made the threat ...4 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monica Barratt, Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellow, Social and Global Studies Centre, RMIT University A NSW Coronial Inquest investigating a series of drug-related deaths at Australian music festivals has heard evidence of ...4 hours ago
The Netball World Cup grand final is tie-proof and won't end in any kind of super over. RNZ's netball reporter Ravinder Hunia who's in Liverpool explains why. ...5 hours ago
Two of Australia's big banks and their New Zealand operations have taken another hit. ...5 hours ago
Fonterra is accelerating plans to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels by 11 years. ...5 hours ago
Party Line is a new audio work by Evangeline Riddiford Graham that reinvestigates the Cartwright Inquiry, medical mispractice and misogyny through the lens of the #metoo era. In a red room six handsets dangle from the ceiling on their spiral cords. ...6 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Neil R Jordan, Lecturer, UNSW Humans and dogs go way back. From wolf totems to the big bad wolf of fact and fairy tale, through sheepdogs, lap dogs, and labradoodles, our relationships ...6 hours ago
The government's chief digital technology advisor said it is fulfilling its function despite meeting only once this year. ...6 hours ago
Human rights activists and refugees are calling on the PM to use her international profile to speak out against China’s persecution of religious groups. ...8 hours ago
Instead of buying a cuppa in exchange for a place to work, Coffee Supreme is flipping the script.For the last 25 years, Coffee Supreme has stuck to what it does best, which is sourcing, roasting, brewing and selling some seriously ...8 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Blaskovich, Senior Research Officer, The University of Queensland Artistic depictions of several chemical elements feature in a new exhibition from today as part of Australia’s celebrations for the International Year of ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ramon Zenel Shaban, Clinical Chair and Professor of Infection Prevention and Disease Control at the University of Sydney, University of Sydney “Travel safe, travel far, travel wide, and travel often,” says Nomadic ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Con Doolan, Professor, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, UNSW Former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown made headlines this week after he objected to a proposed wind farm on Tasmania’s Robbins Island. ...9 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Smith, Professor of Archaeology, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University The Budj Bim Cultural Landscape in south-west Victoria is the first Indigenous Australian landscape to be gazetted on ...9 hours ago
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Union to take legal action against Novopay, building site sediment damaging waterways, and the govt’s road safety strategy explained.Teachers are taking legal action against Novopay, amidst the news their payrise ...10 hours ago
The Government is readying tens of millions of dollars to cover a Stats NZ budget blowout. ...11 hours ago
The lawyer representing bankrupt blogger Cameron Slater in a defamation case has been trying since February to withdraw from the case, but a judge keeps declining. Tim Murphy reports. ...11 hours ago
Net migration, skills shortage, and the challenge for employers to hire the people they need are frequent themes in our media, but there is a talent pool trained right here many are overlooking. ...12 hours ago
Te Radar reviews a history of Kiwi comedy which establishes that we’ve been laughing at ourselves since forever. ...12 hours ago
The young Kiwi sprinters who won relay bronze at the World University Games - setting a new NZ record - can still go much faster on the world stage. ...12 hours ago
The Foreign Affairs Minister's latest Washington speech was less contentious than his last - but there was still plenty to chew over. ...12 hours ago
A recent issue of Air Force News revealed that a senior NZDF officer served a six-month posting at the Qatar base, placing New Zealanders at the heart of the main targeting and bombing centre in that region, writes Darius ShahtahmasebiLast ...12 hours ago
After 50 years of resting on our Moon-landing achievement, the space race is gaining momentum again. ...12 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Darren Paul Fisher, Head of Directing, Department of Film, Screen and Creative Media, Bond University Something incredible might be happening to James Bond: a separation, a personal Brexit of sorts. According to ...24 hours ago
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Here we are then. Awaiting the outcome of the negotiations. May fairness prevail.
I’ve given up reading or watching anything from the political commentariat. It’s all just so much rubbish.
Agreed Patricia,
I am confident that Winston has NZ future in his heart as he goes forward today.
he cares passonately about our beautiful country as we all do, and he wants to return NZ to a solid future where we can again feel as we all some say into how our future is planned and not just exclusively by large vested corporate interests as we now see happening now.
This is Winston’s most compeling message he sends us all when we attend any public meetings he speaks at.
We are in good hands with Winston & NZF.
+1 CleanGreen, I feel the same
Really; you’re in la la land if you think we’re in “good hands with Winston and NZF”.
How to avoid sexually harassing someone.
A quick hack, approved on Twitter by The Rock himself:
View at Medium.com
.
For the life of me I cannot understand why intelligent people take any notice of Twitter at all. It’s a forum for intellectually crippled discourse.
Worse, the practise of filing “news” stories padded out with Twitter comments, often anonymous, is the ultimate in lazy journalism.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Not really. I don’t read every tweet but many Twitter conversations are quite enlightening.
The best are treatable as Zen Koans. Or something as concise as William Carlos Wiliams.
It sure teaches concision.
Think of The Standard as a good-sized regional road through a city with lots of side streets. Think of Twitter as one stretch of highway where you get on fast into brutal traffic and get off at the next exit.
Why Were Police Tapping the Phones of NZ Human Rights Activists?
One wonders how the police even managed to get a warrant for this spying and if they even followed the law to do so.
DTB
But, but, but it was needed for homeland security! There is so much to be afraid of, particularly people who express ideas.
Ideas that are different from those established by conformists are obviously dangerous, and are a threat that the police, charged with prevention of crime must become aware of. Listening into conversations provides useful information to the point of establishing when the originating thought might be first uttered, or picked up as code by experienced snoopers, or be seen as starting possible behaviours that would lead to some criminal act, violence or subversion. /sarc
(Likely to be found in some possible police manual that might have been written, is in the process of, or is just in the mind of some officious official at present.)
+1 this is an abuse of power. Prison rights activists ffs. The police have learned nothing since their terror raids 10 years ago.
Interesting information from Australia.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-11/foreign-buyers-not-deterred-by-rising-stamp-duty/9038014
Which is probably why our local front for the CCCP (aka National) doesn’t want to collect any data.
And puts some perspective on Labour’s ‘Chinese sounding names’. In fact, all the evidence from around the world where these types of studies have been done are showing that Chinese buyers are a large part of the problem. It’s naive to think that NZ is any different – especially when we have even less restrictions than those countries and no CGT.
Think about it – Chinese sounding names – what about Lee, is that Chinese sounding? What about if they changed their names to Harris or Smith – would the situation improve? Chinese sounding names is a euphemism for straight racism imo. And it actually hides the real issues around foreign ownership and citizenship. So it fails on many levels and does nothing to improve the situation for non Chinese sounding named people. Sad.
It was probably more correct to say Chinese names. It is perfectly possible to extract ethnicity data from a list of names. Names like Lee in a population have a consistent and predictable percentage of European origin and another of Asian origin.
The “Chinese sounding names” was a successful Gnat communications dirty trick. It diverted attention from foreign buyers and from Gnat complicity. It also turned a lot of activist comment against them. Had Twyford’s intention been racist it would be reasonable to expect some other evidence of this personality flaw. None exists of course.
Twyford did base his initial and subsequent efforts on Chinese sounding names not Chinese names (if there is such a beastie) I thought. The underlining debate is important and valid, the framing not so much imo. Maybe Chinese looking people might have worked…
He couldn’t have done ‘Chinese looking’ because the sales data didn’t come with photos.
There are of course Chinese names – though some of them occur in other countries too – Lee for example is one of the four most common surnames in Korea. It’s quite possible to divide English names between southern and northern origins or frequency in those areas. It is much easier to distinguish names with other language origins. I know something about this, having done a bit of corpus linguistics.
Twyford’s data was good – not perfect, but it cast some light on the void the Gnats created to hide their misdeeds. And all subsequent data has tended to confirm it.
Well we’ll never know if a different push would have yielded better results. I spose all the Canadians and us college pension funds and ukians must be quaking in their boots. First they came for the wongs and we did nothing, then the wilsons but because that wasn’t my name I let it go…
Quite a history of this in this country. Even now better to be a Jones than Parata when trying to get a flat for some reason…
Which is why an Irish immigrant family I knew when I was a kid changed their name from Kehoe to Keogh.
Lot of germans did too after the war – seems to have happened a lot.
This was in the mid-sixties and it was the first time I realised that discrimination and racial bias was a thing,
So sad the Irish persecuted there and here. Not acceptable imo
Marty, because of the way they spelt their name it was assumed they were Māori, and they were denied rental accommodation.
Wow i finally get it. Thanks Joe.
All good of course except they never did come for the Wongs. And NZ land is still being sold offshore by this execrable pack of traitors – not Twyford.
So the twyford approach didn’t work? Has it made it better or worse for kiwis? What about for the 5th generation kiwi Wongs?
Oh there may be some hurt feelings among 5th generation Chinese kiwis. There are hurt feelings among people struggling for housing too. Of the two I’m more concerned about those with housing stress.
All the parallel data from offshore, and qualitative data from onshore indicates that Chinese investment has been a significant driver of NZ house price inflation. And the government got a free pass on enabling that because they sold Twyford’s critique as ‘racism’.
Funny they are both the same in my book although I spose as 5th generation they could feel even more aggrieved because they can’t buy a house and less generation euros think they are to blame because of the way they may look.
Actually, no, he didn’t.
The original analysis took the list of names from the property sales, the list of names from the census ethnicity data, and identified a massive discrepancy between the two. Purchaser names like “Lee” were weighted according to the proportion of census respondents called “Lee” who were e.g. ethnically Chinese vs ethnically Scottish.
Labour never said the methodology was perfect, just that there seemed to be a discrepancy and that this crude attempt was the best data available under the National government, and we should have better data on overseas buyers.
The “Chinese sounding names” soundbite was a tory shill construction to dodge the issue Labour raised, and it worked.
Good clarification – couldn’t really remember. As I said I don’t disagree with the discussion or even the conclusions but it was a crude attempt that just gave the racists and xenophobes ammo. I find it hard to imagine the pointy heads within labour didn’t think that through but then again that was then and this is now. Can’t see Jacinda allowing that approach now.
@ Stuart (5.1.1.1) … “Names like Lee in a population have a consistent and predictable percentage of European origin and another of Asian origin.”
That’s true.
And for some reason or other, the name Lee appears frequently throughout the British Romany population also.
Proves name alone cannot be used to confirm ethnicity.
Lee would cause a few problems – but first names would go some way to sorting out the continent. There’s probably a whole project in that name for an enterprising onomastician – but if it were too complex to sort it could be safely put to one side without compromising the overall data significantly.
Think further about it. The reason for talking about ‘Chinese sounding names’ is because the Government of National Party NZ had no wish to know or reveal to others the extent of foreign buyers ‘investing’ in NZ infrastructure, namely no-risk housing. So they didn’t keep close records, were loose about it, and evasive when questioned.
Twyford was reduced to trawling through all the names to get some approximate idea of extent and get some stats as a basis for discussion. He wanted the sort of information that shows up in RedLogix at 10.12am. Don’t cuss Phil Twyford, save your spittle for the National Party of the World (formerly NZ).
I will cuss those I deem deserve a cussing. Sorry if you disagree.
There has been plenty of negative commentary at Bloomberg about Australia recently. It covers real estate of course, but also brittle government, commodity cycle reliance, and even their massive superannuation funds under management.
I view Chinese property and business purchasing with the same kind of threat as British purchasing and ownership for our first 150 years. It formed us, sucked a lot of profit out of us, and did both good and bad. IMHO Bruce Jesson gets the balance right in his book “To Build a Nation: collected writings 1975-1999”. He traces and graphs many of the British ownership networks.
The most interesting part of a new government is where Winston and the new government land on foreign land ownership .
Dear Jetstar
After what we experienced at the airport today, my family and friends have decided to never ever fly with your airline again. I will be advising others not to use your airline either.
Dear Public, if you wish to fly Nelson to Wellington, don’t fly Jetstar, instead there is the national airline AirNZ or another awesome awesome service that we have never had problems with is Sounds Air. We’ve travelled back and forth to Welly numerous times, but this will be the first and last time we will ever fly Jetstar.
I felt so sorry for the manager who had to follow rules and options on the computer instead of being able to use her own common sense, you did your best lovely lady, you did your best, it wasn’t your fault.
Needed to vent, that is all. It’s a beautiful day in Motueka.
You’re not alone! But then they’re part of Qantas. Famous for misreading baggage labels
What is it about Joyces? Alan….. Barnaby…..Steven. 3 I’ve had the misfortune to cross paths with
So what happened?
LMFAO.. seeing you asked.. way to much drama lolz.
A child was accidently booked on as an adult, said child had no ID on her, go home and get some ID they say (home is up to 2hrs return on the open road lolz), why dosen’t she have a cell phone they ask, you could use that (far out lady not every kid has a phone), but look she has an IPad, oh sorry only a cellphone will do, her passport would have be fine, but her passport photo was when she was a toddler, yes that would be fine they say.
Umm the school sports top she is wearing has her name on it, she is accompanied by her grandmother, grandfather and lil sister, but still they don’t believe miss twelve is who she says she is. Does she have school ID, umm she isn’t at high school yet, would a public library card do, no sorry, wait what… she had to bring in her birth cert to get a public library card in the first place.
Ummm sorry she has too much carry on… bag, sleeping bag and a birthday gift in a box, we will have to check in that luggage, and that will cost you an extra $70, but don’t worry, it will only cost an extra $13.50 for the trip back if you pay for it now.
Sheez I felt bad for my folks, it was so nice of them to take her there as I had to work. And it was so generous of the person who shouted her the flight, I felt bad for them too, they would not have wanted anyone to go through all the drama
If we change her ticket from an adult to a child that will cost you an extra (insert large ammount here), are you serious? It wasn’t a cheap flight to start with, but if she is booked as a child she won’t need ID…. far out unreals.
Apparently the manager was great, but you have to make your decisions in accordance to the options on the screen. In the end they let her on, but what a freakin circus. A nice lady in the queue offered to accompany her on the plane so she wouldn’t be travelling alone, and that was acceptable to the airline.
The werid thing is neither of my kids have been asked for personal ID before when flying alone, the adult dropping them off/picking them up is required to have ID, and just fill in the form. But then again they’ve never been on Jetstar and never will again lolololz
Miss 12 has since arrived safe and sound in fabulous Wellywood, and as long as I scan and email her some ID she should be able to get home again. She’s going to have the best time.
Meanwhile in stark contrast… the day prior we went to book her bus ticket, and the lady at our local info centre, asked her if she would like to go behind the counter and she would talk her through doing the booking herself, miss twelve buzzed out about that, no ID required. Love Motueka.
Once were Tim, sounds like Joyces aren’t so joyful lololz
Ed, that looks like a great clip thank you 😀 Will check it out
Thank you for sharing.
Jetstar is just another symptom of neoliberalism.
Are they as bad as this bunch of clowns?
Important story on RNZ today, a community law lawyer is pointing out that the WINZ review system entirely lacks independence and the process is a crock from any reasonable legal perspective. The “review” is by WINZ staff and tends to just rubber stamp whatever outcome WINZ is already seeking. Questioning of “witnesses” hectors and badgers and uses leading questions, that would never be allowed in any fair court or tribunal.
More abuse of process, in NZ’s continuing abuse of the vulnerable.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/341404/lawyer-urges-independent-benefit-reviews
As Chris Trotter says, Winston Peters should support a de- neoliberalisation of all NZ’s institutions, in the same way de Nazification was completed post WW2.
Big ups to Peace Action Wellington – these wonderful people did a fine job yesterday of blockaded the entrance to the Westpac Stadium, and stopping the Hawks from there purchases of death.
Love how the NZ police react with violence to peaceful protest, must make them feel like real men.
They even got to beat up a disabled man, did our bully boys in blue.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/97713861/peace-action-blockades-westpac-stadium-arms-industry-forum
Love the spin at the end of the stuff piece, it will make all the soft libs here happy, as they will not have to think hard about their continued support of the death machine.
Andrew Ford, how do you sleep at night?
Is your pay packet enough to salve your conscience for being a spin merchant for crimes against humanity?
Do you dream of Yemenis, Iraqis, Syrians, Afghani being bombed in their beds?
There are words for people like Ford.
‘NZDIA deputy chairman Andrew Ford said labelling the forum a “weapons expo” was “stretching the truth” and the event was mainly about bringing together suppliers of services and products to support the defence and national security sectors, not weapons.
Most people would support New Zealand’s defence forces being properly equipped to defend themselves and fulfil their peacekeeping duties, he said.’
Talking about Qantas:
That, I believe, is cartel behaviour but it also highlights the failure of competition and the added costs it brings.
Bugger ! Personally I always preferred Emirates to the ‘budget in everything but price’ services Air NZ and Qantas run.
I have just been reading the latest edition of “Air Force News” – it seems the RNZAF is about to begin “Exercise Southern Katipo and the West Coast is being transformed into the fictional Pacific Island of Becara. The exercise is based on the premise that armed militia groups have sparked the breakdown of public order and a New Zealand-led coalition has been invited to restore law and order.” It then goes on further in the article to say “another task would be to take care of the island’s trouble-makers, which might require an armed response”.
Why on earth are they needing to train our military to supress civilian dissent – is this the future of our military – to squash any uprising because of the many injustices that our citizens in the future may want to fight against – do our governments expect this sort of event in the future – if so shouldn’t they be making our society a fairer place for all of us so this sort of expensive exercise isn’t ever needed.
It smacks of the police tapping into human rights activists phones – what has happened to our usual robberies and murder and conventional wars that our police and military were needed for.
Neoliberalism is not at its core a democratic idea or cult.
It needs to be enforced.
QFT
– East Timor
– Fiji
– Tonga riots
– Bouganville
– Solomon Islands
Sometimes we get asked to help, the rest of the time it’s good to be ready.
East Timor is an interesting one because before we went in to help them become independent we helped the dictator oppress them.
Actually DTB, I remember reading somewhere that Bill Rowling put the NZ Armed Forces on standing by to stop the the TNI from invading ET and restore law and order. But Gough Witham wasn’t up for it and the Poms were pulling out of SE Asia, so the order was finally cancelled. It was like a re-run of what happen during West Papua where the Dutch asked for assistance from Commonwealth at the time the Poms and NZ government were prepared to assist the Dutch but old Meng (Menzies) pull out at the last minute and no doubt the JFK had a hand in it as it was trying to persuade the then Ino government to turn from a leftist government to a pro west government at the time.
Come to think about it may have been in the Official History of Australian involvement in South East Asia. Which was Six or seven, eight part volume which were all first edition before lost them a defence removal.
Had some interesting stuff about Kiwi Keith dragging his heels in regards to New Zealand’s involvement in South Vietnam. Which there was two part volume with regards to the political issues from Oz government POV.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0209/S00107/new-zealand-ought-to-say-sorry-to-east-timorese.htm
DTB, thanks for the link and it was good read as will.
Sentiment among us INTERTFET vets and those on UN mission after us (note I lost a good mate from NZBATT 2, the first Kiwi to KIA since Vietnam. Pvte Lenny Manning B Coy 2/1st Battalion). Is why did our pollies allow this to happen especially amongst some of the Aussie Army All Arms Corps (My neighbor at my bush block as Ex 2RAR and did a UN tour as well) as the people of Timor help members of the Aussie Army during WW2 and only to kick down the road like a coke can or as a sacrificial sheep after the TNI invasion. As us vets know what the TNI is doing to the people of West Papua as we seen the same thing at what happening to the people ET.
And really piss’s me is that most of the left supported the then leftist Ino government annexation of West Papua from the Dutch and now these assholes are supporting West Papua freedom!
The last scenario the military forces (international) operated under had uncomfortable similarities with the fall of the Muldoon government and the time between that and Labour taking over. It is on google somewhere but it makes my skin creep, like a cold breeze passing by.
The current SK17 scenario appears to be base around what happen in East Timor back in 2006 and some other scenarios are also similar to what we face during INTERFET 99-00. The TNI Forces and the TNI backed militia push the our boundaries in terms of our ROE/ OFOF to the limit weather it was on the sea (even under the Sea), in the Air harassing the Naval Task Group incl the Air Bridge between Oz and ET and on the land around Dili and down towards the main centres around the border provinces of ET incl the onclave. You don’t know just how close it came to a all out war with the TNI. Once our section was outnumbered by 3to1 at abandoned police/ TNI barracks and it was only when shook out into a attacking formation, (I) loaded the M79’s/ prep the M72’s for firing etc and for a few mins we were about to meet our making, then other side backed down rather quickly once they saw that we meant business.
Then there is the handling of dead bodies, documented the voting fraud, the illegal abuse detainees by the TNI/ police and the human rights abuse aka rape, torture, shooting detainees etc. But another story to tell one day.
SK ex’s are a good foundation stone for the NZDF, foreign forces, other agencies both Government and NGO’s to prepare for such events for the future. Because Peacekeeping operations can be very fast and dynamic with a lot of thinking on your feet, be it the humble private/ trooper or PC etc to very to top of the decision making progress at inter government level?
To some on the left Peacekeeping may sound sexy to you, but as follow lefty who has done Peacekeeping I’ve seen the best of human kind and the bloody worst of human kind.
A well prepared, well equipped and trained Defence Force for UN peacekeeping for Chapter 1 to Chapter 7 missions comes with a big price tag than most people here realise.
Thank you ExKF, for your analysis and setting the context.
No worries Philj,
I had a deal with my CO at the start of the yr after I was sent home from the Middle East late yr when I went down the rabbit hole the choice between SK17 or go back to Middle East if I was back to full health by June. Alas I’m not as I would back in NZ right now, but facing a Med discharge sometime next yr.
‘IMF: higher taxes for rich will cut inequality without hitting growth
Analysis supports tax strategy of Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour in UK – and undermines that of Donald Trump in US’
New Zealand Labour and New Zealand First please note.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/oct/11/imf-higher-taxes-rich-inequality-jeremy-corbyn-labour-donald-trump
Brilliant article by Rachel Stewart.
Worthy of a thread in its own right.
I share her outlook.
‘What are the signs that the world’s resources are running out?
‘What are the things we need to face? It’s a ruddy great neon sign and if you can’t see it flashing, you’re either obtuse, changing nappies, and/or too busy arguing the toss on.’
‘Climate change is here. The race between human survival and the melting ice sheets is on…… The storms will be more frequent and deadly; the diseases will come thick and fast; the crops will fail and, if humans are still standing at the end of that, the heat will shut our bodies down and we will die.’
‘Population. The number of people on the planet will rise from 7.6 billion today to 9.7 billion in 2050, according to UN projections. Is that number the problem, or is it over-consumption? It’s both. One leads to the other, and both are killing us.’
‘Water. The new oil. Without it, humanity is condemned. Climate change is affecting water quality, and the risks are incalculable. Rising temperatures; increased levels of sediments, nutrients, and pollutants triggered by more frequent and heavy rainfall; industrial agriculture. The world faces an imminent water crisis that is affecting every part of the planet. Are we ready for the massive influx of refugees from Australia and Asia?’
‘Poverty and inequality are massive, unstoppable forces. Electing new governments, and new faces, is unlikely to meaningfully alter anything. No politician has the capacity to change what’s coming. The pendulum is in motion; counting down the beats to our demise.’
‘Depressed yet? You should be. And when you’re bored with that, maybe stop blaming others for their point of view, and start blaming the real culprits. Picking off fundamentally decent – and basically planetarily powerless – others is a waste of your time. Anger, sadness and fear is best expressed by doing, rather than talking into a vacuum (which, ironically, I’m likely doing here).’
‘The culprits? Oil companies, industrial agriculture, the 1 per cent, over-fishing, neoliberalism, capitalism, Monsanto, Trump, the “free” market (an oxymoron if ever there was one). You know who they are.’
Get off the cyber treadmill of judgment and virtue signalling, and dismount your fat donkey and make a change in the world. Maybe there’s still time?
I doubt it, but at least you’ll go down trying.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11931445
Whoa Rachel! You hit a few nails on the head there. Now wait for the response….. Our small interest group in Wellington has been saying this for years! So it’s not news. It’s just becoming news now! Lol
Some people know powerful people who can pull strings for them.
David Farrar (National propagandist – not that this is ever acknowledged by RNZ) gets airtime the day the coalition talks end.
Mr Griffin, I presume, acting on behalf of the people who actually control New Zealand.
Amazing – no ACT spokesperson on the panel today!
‘NZ kids can’t escape alcohol marketing next to bread and milk’
http://www.otago.ac.nz/news/news/otago665655.html
David Farrar of course defends the Alcohol Industry.
There are words for people like him.
‘Lead researcher Tim Chambers says the study provides further evidence of the need to ban alcohol sales in supermarkets. This is feasible given we have prohibited alcohol sales in supermarkets in the past and other countries, such as Australia, currently do. Moreover, supermarkets make up only three per cent of alcohol retailers but sell 30 per cent of all beer and 60 per cent of all wine.
“Children in the study were exposed to alcohol marketing almost every time they entered a supermarket, often the exposure occurred near everyday products, like bread and milk,” says Tim Chambers, research fellow at Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington.
In New Zealand, alcohol contributes to 800 deaths and costs the country over $5 billion per year. Moreover, alcohol is linked to over 200 medical conditions and causes a number of cancers. World Health Organization (WHO) Global Alcohol Strategy recommends restrictions on alcohol marketing as a ‘best buy’ for reducing alcohol-related harm. New Zealand supermarkets have some responsibility for the burden of alcohol-related harm due to their provision of convenient, low-cost alcohol as well as their market share of alcohol sales.
In New Zealand, supermarkets were not permitted to sell alcohol until the liberalisation of the alcohol laws in 1989. The researchers say that improving the supermarket promotional environment, by repealing the section of the 2012 Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act that permits supermarket alcohol sales, would both significantly reduce children’s overall exposure to alcohol marketing, and reduce the prevalence of other supermarket related infractions such as underage sales, loss-leading alcohol sales and cross-promotional activity. Further, it would save councils millions of dollars from the judicial challenges by supermarkets against Local Alcohol Policies.’
Yet Farrar – with no evidence – spins for big liquor.
And the miserable host giggles at his ridiculous defence of these multinational drug peddlers.
Farrar of course will know that Katherine Rich, is another pimp for big liquor.
No doubt his pr activities and involvement in Dirty Politics ( another fact not mentioned by RNZ in its introduction) assisted her defence of the food and liquor industries.
And we are the 3rd most obese in the world.
Thanks David and Katherine for caring about our health.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/66427410/ties-to-liquor-industry-hamstring-health-promotion-agency-say-critics
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11448711
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10853482
Awkward moment on the Panel as Catherine Robertson describes the traits of psychopaths,
And David Farrar remains a bit silent as he thinks of his National masters.
The past week marks the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the killings of two of the 20th century’s outstanding socialist figures, Che Guevara (executed without trial in Bolivia on October 9, 1967) and Seamus Costello (assassinated in Dublin on October 5, 1977).
There is a number of articles about them – and links to some stuff by them – here: https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/che-guevara-and-seamus-costello/