In his post Doha blah blah blah, Anthony Robins wrote;
Perhaps the only moment of genuine passion was the tears of the delegation from the Philippines, in the wake of typhoon Bopha, which left 600 dead and nearly 1000 missing. (Didn’t get as much coverage as Sandy for some reason.)
The figures are, over 300 dead and over 900 missing, 400,000 have been left homeless. The death and destruction dwarfs that caused by Hurricane Sandy. Yet got the barest coverage possible in the Western media.
I don’t think that the difference in reporting this huge human tragedy can all be explained by euro-centric racism in the MSM.
The footprint of global warming is all over this one. For the media to look too closely at the tragedy in the Philippines is to risk opening up a huge political controversy that the MSM don’t know how to cover, without offending the authorities and vested interest.
Even in Hurricane Sandy in which climate change was only possibly implicated by the mainstream media, the questions and debate about climate change threatened to spiral out of the authorities’ control and disrupt the carefully stage managed presidential elections in which all mention of climate change had been scripted out.
The same thing threatened to occur at Dohar when the current round of climate talks where briefly disrupted by the intrusion of reality by the unfolding disaster in the Philippines, when the lead representative of the Philippines called on world leaders to stand up to “our political masters“. Apart from the alternative media this emotional call for revolt was greeted with silence by the MSM.
“As we sit here in these negotiations, even as we vacillate and procrastinate here, the death toll is rising. There is massive and widespread devastation. Hundreds of thousands of people have been rendered without homes. And the ordeal is far from over, as typhoon Bopha has regained some strength as it approaches another populated area in the western part of the Philippines…..
“I appeal to the whole world, I appeal to leaders from all over the world, to open our eyes to the stark reality that we face. I appeal to ministers. The outcome of our work is not about what our political masters want.
Naderev Saño, the lead negotiator of the Philippines delegation to Dohar.
Unfortunately Naderev Sano’s plea went unheeded and the Dohar talks delivered exactly what “our political masters” wanted.
Who are “our political masters” that Sano is appealing to the government “ministers” and political “leaders” of the world to stand up to?
Would I be wrong in supposeing that they are the same political masters who influence our mainstream media outlets to play up some stories and play down others?
Are they the same “political masters” that influence even Green Party politicians to play down and ignore climate change?
That last sentence: there’s the problem, see? Reading this false claim makes me wonder how many other lies your comment contains. Undermines its effectiveness. Y’know, like when John Key’s lips are moving.
Be careful who you call a liar, you risk looking foolish. You know as well as I that the Green Party leadership are playing down climate change and that they are doing it for narrow political advantage. i.e. bums on seats. They are not even in government yet, and already they are selling out. There can be little doubt, that with all the compromises they are prepared to make to get cabinet positions the Green Party in government will be a big disappointment.
In a previous thread I asked weka to explain why the Green Party was playing down climate change.
This is what he wrote:
……I just don’t think it’s the job or responsibility of the GP to do this at this point. Time for others to step up.
weka
In reply I asked weka a simple question; Who?
Who weka are these “others” you think should “step up”, now that the Greens are standing down?
Weka has not replied to me. Maybe weka should consider the words of Naderev Sano, though addressed to the government reps gathered at Doha it could just as easily be asked of the Greens.
Please, let 2012 be remembered as the year the world found the courage to find the will to take responsibility for the future we want. I ask of all of us here, if not us, then who? If not now, then when? If not here, then where?”
Naderev Saño, lead negotiator of the Philippines delegation to Dohar.
the Green Party leadership are playing down climate change
Citation needed. Students are advised that “playing down” is normally read as an active move on the part of the sentence’s subject, and arguments based on a lack of sufficiently-robust press releases on the topic will be marked down as disingenuous.
Um, it is really hard to report things that didn’t happen. Like the fact that climate change was never mentioned by the Green Party as an election issue in the last election. And looks likely not to be raised again in the next elections by the Green Party.
I suppose I could link to a blank sheet of paper if that would satisfy you.
Never mentioned? Five press releases specifically mentioning climate change in the last 3 months before the 2011 election. Here, here, here, here, and here. Almost one a fortnight through the campaign. On top of every other issue mentioned during the campaign.
I’m never going to vote Green, but I am prepared to spend 20 seconds to do a basic search of the interwebz.
What were you saying about reporting things that didn’t happen?
Probably because we had just spent a whole lot of time and effort providing links that demonstrated you were lying about Russell Norman and grossly misrepresenting the GP as a way of manipulating reality to suit your agenda.
Or maybe it’s because I don’t believe that the GP are ARE downplaying CC, so there was no clear way to answer your somewhat idiotic and manipulative question.
I also find it weird that you don’t already know who the other parties are that should be challenging climate change AS WELL AS the GP. See that? – AS WELL AS. That was my point – that the GP has done massive amounts of work to address climate change, and they still do but they have changed their focus a bit. Hence my suggestion that others step up (political parties, NGOs, industry etc, duh).
You have an odd sense of responsibility IMO. You think that the GP should abandon its attempt to form government (which includes abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all those other equally important issues), and instead put CC at the forefront and stay in parliament as a CC lobby group. Well too bad. The GP doesn’t exist to suit your agenda, and as already amply demonstrated is doing its bit to address CC.
Thank you weka for attempting to answer my question. I am glad to see that you think that it is the time that other political parties, (presumably Labour and National), step up to the campaign against climate change. I agree totally. But for this to happen requires leadership from the Greens. Labour and National will never change their current positions unless they are challenged, and challenged strongly and repeatedly. But how can this happen when in your words, “<i>the Greens have changed their focus….</i>”? (in your opinion “a bit” in my opinion an “awful lot”). Your reply is contradictory. You say that you “<i>don’t believe that the GP are downplaying CC</i>”. But you admit that the Green Party have “<i>changed their focus a bit</i>”. A concession to the truth. You argue that the Green Party should attempt to enter government that supports deep seas oil drilling and prospecting, and open cast coal mining, and fracking. And that, to not do so means, “<i>abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all those other equally important issues</i>” (Without saying what those other equally important issues are.) It doesn’t really matter what they are, because you are full of it, just making excuses before time, for selling out. I imagine that by “<i>equally important issues</i>” you mean social issues of justice and equality and relief for the poor etc. All highly commendable and high minded, of course, and who could object? Except that by leveling them equal to climate change each one of these other issues will be worsened, not alleviated. Making your stand hypocritical.
Weka if you haven’t already, you should listen to the words of Naderev (Yeb) Sano talking about Typhoon Bopha: <blockquote>”….. heartbreaking tragedies like this are not unique to the Philippines, because the whole world, especially developing countries struggling to address poverty and achieve social and human development, confront these same realities. <b>Naderev Sano</b> Lead negotiator, Philippines delegation to Dohar round on climate change. </blockquote> You say that by not staying outside of government to fight against climate change includes abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all those other equally important issues. I say you will be following in the well trod path of <a href=’http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/an-appointment-with-reality.html’>Joshka Fischer</a> and <a href=’http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-sold-out-to-get-power-say-voters-2083293.html’>Nick Clegg</a>. To keep the pressure on the Labour and National Parties the Green Party need to abandon attempting to form a government that will allow deep sea oil drilling and fracking and new open cast strip mining of coal for export.
(For some reason my ability to use html has failed. I will try reposting again) Thank you weka for attempting to answer my question. I am glad to see that you think that it is the time of the Labour Party and National parties to take over the campaign against climate change. I agree totally. But for this to happen requires leadership from the Greens. Labour and National will never change their current positions unless they are challenged, and challenged strongly and repeatedly. Inside parliament and out. But how can this happen when in your words, “<i>the Greens have changed their focus….</i>”? (in your opinion “a bit” in my opinion an “awful lot”). Your reply is contradictory. You say that you “<i>don’t believe that the GP are downplaying CC</i>”. But you admit that the Green Party have “<i>changed their focus a bit</i>”. A concession to the truth. You argue that the Green Party should attempt to enter government that supports deep seas oil drilling and prospecting, and open cast coal mining, and fracking. And that, to not do so, <i>”means abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all these other equally important issues</i>” (Without saying what those other equally important issues are.) It doesn’t really matter what they are, because you are full of it, just making excuses before time, for selling out. I imagine that by “<i>equally important issues</i>” you mean social issues of justice and equality and relief for the poor etc. All highly commendable and high minded, of course, and who could object? Except that by leveling them equal to climate change each one of these other issues will be worsened, not alleviated. Weka if you haven’t already, you should listen to the words of Naderev (Yeb) Sano talking about Typhoon Bopha: <blockquote> “…….heartbreaking tragedies like this are not unique to the Philippines, because the whole world, especially developing countries struggling to address poverty and achieve social and human development, confront these same realities. <b>Naderev Sano</b> Lead negotiator, Philippines delegation to Dohar round on climate change. </blockquote> You say that by not staying outside of government to fight against climate change includes abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all those other equally important issues. I say you will be following in the well trod path of <a href=’http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/an-appointment-with-reality.html’>Joshka Fischer</a> and <a href=’http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-sold-out-to-get-power-say-voters-2083293.html’>Nick Clegg</a>. To keep the pressure on the Labour and National Parties the Green Party need to abandon attempting to form a government that will allow deep sea oil drilling and fracking and new open cast strip mining of coal for export. By staying outside of such a government you can vote on each issue, case by case. In a coalition you will be bound by collective responsibility, forced to swallow many dead rats.
I don’t think that the difference in reporting this huge human tragedy can all be explained by euro-centric racism in the MSM.
Most of the difference can be explained by reference to the fact that Sandy bore down on the highest concentration of big media producers in the english speaking world, a few days before a US presidential election, combine that with this:
So is this how the gathering global disaster of climate change will be reported? The hundreds of deaths now, which in the future will be millions, will get less media attention than the passing milestones of the yet unborn heir to the British throne.
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/12/12-0 “The honchos of America’s establishment media are quick to blame such external causes as the Internet for their problems. But if they looked internally, they might notice that they’re damn near eaten-up with a bad case of conventional wisdomitis. The problem with conventional wisdom is that more often than not it’s nothing more than the contrived “wisdom” of the corporate powers.
Associated Press. March 2023.
Sir Trevor Mallard of Wainuiomata has returned from London after six years as a highly successful and very popular High Commissioner. Sir Trevor is expected to continue to bring his unique talents to bear on assignments for the UN and the Olympics Movement.
Sir Trevor took of the London position after three hectic years as Speaker of the House during the first Cunliffe Government. He successfully guided the house through the historic period of economic reform that has led the country to its new export led prosperity and low employment. Sir Trevor is New Zealand’s last High Commissioner. The role will now be titled Ambassador, given New Zealand’s new status of a republic.
Sir Trevor was greeted at the Airport by his BFFL, Tau Henare.
NZHerald. April 2023
Premier Lady Jacinta Ardern flew back from Australasia’s capital Canberra for the annual Federation Heads meeting where she was greeting with 400 young schoolchildren who ran across the airport as she emerged from the plane. In a well choreographed display of affection with long red ribbons on sticks they all sang The People’s Flag is Deepest Red, We Praise You For Our Room And Bed.
She confirmed in a written statement that “Our decision to join in union with Australia after the ANZAC centenary has been proven the only and the best way to ensure our national sovereignty is secure, our labour rights improved, and our strategic assets retained within Canberra’s more generous banking framework. Our discussions on the New Guinea question were fruitful.”
Lady Ardern was formally welcomed by New Zealand’s last Governor-General Lord Key of Thorndon at Premier House, where the security cordon against what he described last month as “Those filthy Hobbitses” remained tight as over half the country is now officially in poverty and the vast steaming camp outside Premier House remains, in the words of the Chief of Welfare and Goodness, “Too fetid to consider seriously until they all just get a job.”
Correction for Lady Ardern – “Our discussion on the New Guinea question of overpopulation of fruitbats was sterile I’m sorry to report.” Nothing else of import was addressed.
Trevor has just issued a statement in which, in a very Statesmanlike tone, he recommends Maurice Williamson for the Speaker Role.
This great act by Sir Trevor should be applauded.
Jaysus…I just had a thought: Trevor would be a great speaker. Cunliffe should propose Trevor for that role.
And while Cunliffe is being so generous he should endorse Annette for the Wellingtom Mayoralty… Lady Annette has a certain ring to it.
Eh Cunners? Why not give Phil Goff the nod for Secretaty General of the Commonwealth? Lord Goff of Pukekohe has a certain ring to it.
Shearer you ask eh Cunners? No the UN don’t want him back. A little bit embarrassing….
These appointments have been well earned by our leaders. They are now ready to retire their seats. They have all insisted that they will not parachute in any staffers from the Parliamentary office it the Labour HQ. They would like to encourage candidates who will engage with the Membership in a respectful manner.
KMan (Absolutely Fabulous)
Very good. Interesting though how you happy republicans believe that life will be better with the type of elected uber-leader that we would get when we can’t even attract the quality under leaders we absolutely need. All in all the Monarchy is mainly monetarily supported by the Brits, does her or his best to think responsibly and behave with integrity and graciousness, and aren’t lawyers or con-men out to help their friends to chisel any money you have accumulated in the naive belief that this is the proper financial duty according to the seen laws and the general meme.
RNZ – The Panel – yesterday.
Jim Mora and his guests appeared to countenance the practice of “prank” phone calls. They are apparently part of the social fabric and have been for years, and they even interviewed a former DJ from a “pop” radio station who was world-famous-in-NZ for this type of phone call.
What is the justification for the calls to be made at all.
I wasn’t sure whether they were advocating that Radio New Zealand National start doing it. Further, I wonder if they would approve. If they were uncomfortable with that notion, then the question might be why.
I was astonished to hear that Holmes did it before ubiquitous global communications had twittered into every area of life. The basic observation was lacking in Moro, radio used to have the ability to control the message (a switch to cut the caller off), but now we all get to pile in to the bullying of shock jocks, that their meanness isn’t a bitchy corner of the media space where a few listen in, its a world where their efforts are redistributed on utube, their master complex creates copy cats from timbucktoo to alaska. This poor nurse, unable to reply, unable to remedy the offense to her own professional standing, was caught in an off moment, to the riddle of the world. That could be anyone next if we allow this incidient to go unpunished, and its striking that Moro would come to their defense, surely what’s good for the goose is good for the gander? Well no, it just continues the original reckless ridiculing. This was wrong, lawyers should have long since shutdown this debate pending criminal charges of the editors of the radio show. They were just gunning for spectacle royal stories to feed into the killing frenzy, the blood was in the water, and they wanted a bite too.
Another example of this Government’s refusal to adhere to even a basic understanding of natural justice is Judith Collins’ handling of the recommendation to pay David Bain compensation.
he has criticised the report prepared by overseas Jurist Ian Binnie but has not released it. She has asked the Solicitor General to have a critique prepared but has refused to let Bain’s lawyers see it. This is giving the side who lost the chance to undermine the proposal for compensation.
Binnie has released the most scathing response I have ever seen from a Western Jurist.
He has said that he expected Collins to follow a fair and even-handed process, yet she has taken advice from the Solicitor-General who for almost 17 years tried to uphold the guilty verdict from David Bain’s first trial.
He stated that the minister is searching for reasons that support her preferred disposition of the Bain claim.
He said says it is unfair that his report has been given to the police and other officials but Bain has not been able to see it.
Binnie finished by saying that by Collins insisting his report remain confidential she seems to have a “curiously one-sided view of confidentiality”. He believes the report should be made public so people can judge the merits of the minister’s concerns.
I don’t know, Micky. I am deeply suspicious of the Binnie report (no, I haven’t seen it). Two things – firstly it’s been reported that Binnie interviewed Bain while compiling the report. Is this normal? I would rather have thought a judge should be making decisions based on the evidence, not trying to form their own impressions of the accused at that stage of the process.
And secondly, I really doubt that it’s possible to find David Bain innocent on the balance of probabilities. There’s enough for reasonable doubt, definitely, but on balance of probabilities I think you’d have to be Joe Karam in disguise to come to Binnie’s conclusion.
“I would rather have thought a judge should be making decisions based on the evidence, not trying to form their own impressions of the accused at that stage of the process.”
The questioning was known and attended by all parties so presumably fine. Further, the report is around compensation rather than another trial over his guilt. The issue is compensation for what has occurred – the issue is not whether he is innocent or guilty.
But seriously, this bunch of neanderthals in government simply buy the recommendations and opinions that suit their political requirements. Examples – Wyatt Creech’s Ecan report, John Key’s Hardtalk interview which gave his game away, and now Judith Collins and Binnie.
Heard Justice Binnie on Checkpoint. An understated, truly authoritative, quintessential, impeccable, judicial analysis of the ignorant backwoodsman behaviour of Judith Collins. Collins…… the true, leathered, impervious to mature thought, redneck.
Was left thinking that Collins is much like George Dubya – “I say, therefore it is”.
Agreed Blue about the complexity of the Bain case and I am not sure that he should qualify for compensation. But the process is appalling. If a Minister asks a Judge for an opinion and he gives her one she should follow it. If she is not going to she should at least release the decision and set out her concerns and then let Bain have a chance to respond.
Which begs a second question. With Parata, Power, Bennett and now Collins out of the running by dint of incompetence, retirement or plain stupidity, does that leave Joyce as the next leader of the Nat party?
Thanks for that. It’s a pity Binnie referred to his expertise as an “opinion” – “just one judge’s opinion and I can show you another that will give you a counterview”.
Look in Nz the law is to simple, you become
entangled in a crime scene, and the evidence
does not stack up, in fact, starts shrinking
as time passes, but courts being run by
humans make the mistake and convict.
Now if you appreciate this,
and argue that courts should be judicious,
bring all matters (and appeals) in timely
fashion, then commonly held (other nations)
this would be considered a credit to a nation.
But in NZ we ignore incompetence, and in
ignoring end up rewarding the failures
(who fail to learn).
Look at neo-conservatist neo-liberalist
deregulation, that contributed not only to
Pike River, CTV, SCF, but now Bain.
Judith Collins, by ignoring, by not humbling
herself, and admitting the horrendously long
time for justice to be done, is bringing the
case back to life, and re-litigating it.
So I ask when will the law council start
proceedings to disbar Judith Collins.
Now, of course, it could just be political
and Collins needing the prosecutors to sign
on to compensation too.
The Bain case says more about us as a country than
of a soulless Justice Minister or the patently
incapable legal fraternity of admitting error.
Do we believe as a nation, that if you walk into
a murder scene where nearly all your family have
been murdered, and fight for your life also,
then at trial the wrong verdict, guilty, was
announced. Leads to you losing your family
wealth, incarcerated for over a decade, all the
time you are declaring your innocence. How would
you see the case? when you finally vindicated
that the state had not given you a fair trial,
a speedy process that uncovers guilt?
The balance of probabilities test does not
access the fairness of the trial, the
the court system ability to discern truth,
or hold them to account when they inevitably gone wrong.
A persons life, their family murdered, then
can be destroyed by the system on top? where
the courts are used by the real murderer to
continue the criminality?
So as the evidence shrinks, the possibility
of another perpetrator rises, the pronounced
reality that the system is aiding and abetting
them.
Its not beyond possibility that a murderer can
wipe out their family, inadvertantly frame the
sole survivor. Murder suicides do not go to plan.
And if you haven’t noticed, you cannot make a
case on the balance of probabilites if you
don’t have the initial weights of those possibilites
before the evidence is added in.
We cannot have a situation where the less
evidence there is, the more definitive we can be
about merits of our own case. Its like declaring
the classic invisible pink unicorn is both pink and
has just one horn, having a discussion that the
balance of probabilities tells us that it must be
just the one horn is nonsense, not none or many.
Our court system has too
streams, civil and criminal, we remove incarceration
as civil punishments. Just by admitting the need
to discuss probabilities should mean we compensate
for the incarceration. Bain should get some
compensation no matter what, even if its just
to safeguard the surviving relatives from paying
back inheritances.
Should we let one innocent person go to jail, who
lost their whole family, their inheritance,
their right to a judicious court process, time
having destroyed the evidence of innocence?
Do we live in a nation where innocent till proven otherwise?
Do we live in a nation of law, or of a lawyer pandering
to their political needs?
Impeach Judith Collins. Sick sad. How is it my
problem that see cannot understand a competent
legalist and has to call in ‘help’ from partial
lawyers? Why do we as a nation have to talk
Judith collins done from her high horse again.
The idea that anyone of us could walk into
a crime, be wrongly convicted, fight for justice
languishing in jail for over a decade, only to
be vindicated, and then be ignored by a sad sick
lawyer more worried about her political career
than her oath to uphold the integrity of the legal
system, to not bring parliament into disrepute,
by micro managing to political ends, what now is
clear to all, even the impartial third party expert
believes compensation is merited.
There’s been excuses all over the news channels about how they weren’t in cahoots with the drug-runners, it’s just their systems weren’t robust enough. The man in charge at the time, Stuart Green is now the UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment.
No such thing as a sacking or accountability for these types, just a life peerage and a seat in the House of Lords
That is weird. The flag to display it or not is stored in a cookie from your system that is sent to the server.
It literally doesn’t write the code for the HTML page that it sends back unless it see that coming through. Nothing is meant to be caching the HTML at the server side or at cloudflare.
Ummm just tried myself and it turned it on and off on chrome / ubuntu.
Something odd but not a problem.
Just left a comment. Hit submit, which took me to the comment in final form in the thread. Hit the “back’ button to get out and it took me to the comment in the thread with the draft underneath it. never happened like that before, usually the “back” takes me back in time to before the comment was posted on my way out and back to the site as a whole.
As i say, it didn’t cause a problem, I just mention it in case the difference indicates some kind of problem.
edit: same thing happened as I tried to exit this comment. Guess this is the new normal.
That will be your browser. It probably had an upgrade of some type as well. Those history operations are usually completely done on the client and they have all kinds of odd behaviours.
There is something incredibly boring about the current labour leadership. They have no spark or imagination. How they ever think they could win an election beats me. That cheshire cat (Chris Hipkins) makes me want to vomit when I see and hear him on the tv. Nothing logical or sensible comes out of his mouth. He looks like a schoolboy and has about the same level of appeal as a teenage boy to what was once loyal labour voters.
Stale, stayed and lacking vision is what this labour leadership is all about. They chopped off the only tall poppy so they are all as dull as each other now.
I remember some old Radio NZ or NZBC(?) comedy show about a vain doctor. In one episode, as he left for his holiday, he told the others in the practise, “Now remember: don’t do anything I can’t do.” Since the ABC gang are saying that… nobody’s doing anything.
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One of the big problems in New Zealand climate change policy is the government working at cross-purposes with itself. It wants to reduce fossil fuel use, but encourages oil and gas exploration. It wants to reduce transport emissions, but then builds enormous new roads. The problem could be avoided if ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzAccording to the United Nations, food shortages are a threat ...
Last year, the government announced it was ending offshore oil exploration by no longer issuing new permits. The idea was that the industry would then die off as permits expired. Except almost immediately the government revealed its bad faith, by saying they would extend permits and alter conditions to keep ...
The government introduced the Education and Training Bill to Parliament yesterday. Its a massive bill, which replaces both existing Education Acts, as well as various other bits of legislation (including some which are still proceeding through the House). I'll leave the serious analysis to teachers and people who actually know ...
Amelia SharmanThere’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to micro-credentials, those bits of bite-sized learning that can help workers stay on top of technological change. What’s a micro-credential? While definitions vary, micro-credentials can be understood as short courses that allow people to learn new skills or have an existing competency recognised. ...
All Smiles Now: Claire Szabo is taking up her presidential role after serving as the CEO of Habitat For Humanity. Which is absolutely perfect! After KiwiBuild was so comprehensively mismanaged by Phil Twyford, the party has not only elected a new president from a thoroughly respectable not-for-profit, but one who ...
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...
by Daphna Whitmore At Golden Oaks, a luxurious country retreat in the Hudson Valley, pregnant women have the best care money can buy. From the organic food, personalised exercise programmes, private yoga instruction and daily massages Golden Oaks looks like a country lodge for the upper class. Set some time ...
When Labour was running for election in 2017, it felt it needed to demonstrate "fiscal responsibility" and signed itself up to masochistic "budget responsibility rules". It was a fool's errand: the sorts of voters who demand fiscal responsibility are also the sorts of voters who believe that labour can never ...
Writing in Stuff, Joel MacManus looks at what we need to do to meet the Zero Carbon Act's targets. The core of it:1. Convert 85 per cent of vehicles on the road to electric. 2. Eliminate fossil fuels from all industrial heating up to 300 degrees Celsius. 3. Double our ...
Professors Janet Hoek and Richard Edwards, Emeritus Professor Phil Gendall, Jude Ball, Dr Judith McCool, Anaru Waa, Dr Becky FreemanRecent media reports have presented conflicting evidence on youth vaping in NZ. While some NZ school principals report concerns about increasing vaping on school grounds and confiscating vapes, ASH Year ...
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...
Image credit:The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ...
1080 is used to control pests in NZ. Its use is contested by a noisy few. A new report claims high levels of 1080 in rats washed up on a beach. Flora and Fauna of Aotearoa (F&F) won’t name the laboratory that did their testing. It has sparked a hunt ...
What Kind Of Empire? The thing for Kiwis to decide is what kind of empire they want to belong to. The kind that, while offering its own citizens democratic rights, demands absolute obedience from its “friends”? Or, the kind that, while authoritarian at home, takes a relaxed attitude to the ...
It hasn't been a good week for the Conservatives, pollwise. All major recent polls are showing their lead shrinking.Comparing each pollster's current (between 29/11 and 22/11) and previous most recent poll.Com Res - Conservative lead down 3 points.You Gov - Conservative lead down 1 point.Kantar - Conservative lead down 4 ...
Within quick succession, Countdown maths wizard and twitterer Rachel Riley, alleged comedian David Baddiel and prominent lawyer Andrew Julius have all expressed very similar opinions / ideas:
These #3billboards are going round London today, organised by ex-Labour people, horrified by what their party has become. Their principles haven’t changed, they’re ...
So, there have been a bunch of bad polls out for Labour, and even the Leftie's friend, Survation, have recently given the Conservatives a rip-snorting 11% lead. You Gov's much vaunted MRP poll - which pretty much nailed the result in 2015 - is currently predicting a comfortable majority for ...
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to declare a climate emergency:The European parliament has declared a global “climate and environmental emergency” as it urged all EU countries to commit to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The vote came as scientists warned that the world may have already crossed ...
Pure Fear: Worse than Heroin, this drug’s addictive power was terrifying. People under its influence didn’t drift off to Elysium. Nor did it persuade inadequate individuals that they could conquer the world. No, this drug – pure crystal methamphetamine, “P” for short – unlocked the gates of Hell itself. It ...
As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have ...
Samoa are experiencing a devastating measles epidemic. It is possible that 2-3% of the population will ultimately be infected by the time it is over. Hopefully the mass immunisation campaign currently under way can mitigate some of this, for many it is too late. The first question many people ask ...
Meghan Murphy is a Canadian writer and journalist She runs the Feminist Current website which she founded in 2012. She was a keynote speaker for the Feminism2020 conference in Wellington this month. When Massey University cancelled the original venue booking Feminism2020 was hosted in Parliament by MP David Seymour. Meghan ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Colombia has lived through one week of protests against the economic measures taken by president Duque. What looked like a protest that would fizzle out after its first day on November 21st is still going strong. Part of the reason for the continuance ...
Around a million billion pass through you each second, almost all originating from our sun, but few of them are likely to interact with you enroute. I was reading in a physics magazine earlier in the week about the nature of neutrinos. These are extremely numerous elementary particles, but only ...
By Pallab GhoshThere’s value in covering new research advances, even when the underlying science is unsettled. But there are also risks.The recent announcement that scientists discovered water on the planet K2-18b, 110 light years away, prompted a media swoon. News stories, including a piece written by me, billed ...
I wrote this review a couple of years ago when I was still in the process of getting my head around the politics of transgenderism, and specifically the claim that intersex conditions lend support to the notion that sex is ‘socially constructed’. Since writing this review I have come across ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzHow much does our use of air travel contribute to the ...
Minor planet/asteroid (2309) Mr. Spock is named not for the character in Star Trek, but for a cat that was itself imperturbable, logical, intelligent and had pointed ears. In a preceding blog post I introduced one of my favourite asteroids, (2472) Bradman, and also mentioned (6581) Sobers amongst a few ...
Today the death toll from measles in Samoa rose to 32. All but four of the dead were less than 5 years old. Absolutely terrible, heartbreaking, news. That statistic alone should be enough to give the lie to the common claim by antivaccination activists plague enthusiasts that “measles is a ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh It is late here in Bogotá, almost 11.30pm on Monday the 25th of November as I write this. The day began full of hope with yet more massive marches throughout the country, a mix of the International Day of Non-Violence Against Women and the National Strike. ...
Anti-fluoride activists are rubbing their hands in glee over what they claim is “yet another study” showing fluoride harms the brains of children. But their promotion relies on IQ relationships which the paper’s authors acknowledge disappearing when outliers or other factors are considered. And they completely ignore other relationships ...
The feature below is the conclusion of A History of Economic Thought, whose author was a leading Marxist economist in Russia in the early 20th century, Isaac Ilyich Rubin. The book arose from a course he ran at Moscow University following the Russian Revolution. First published in Russian in 1929, ...
There are many thousands of asteroids with formal names, some humdrum but other more noteworthy (depending on your predilections). One of my favourites, the name of which I was involved in suggesting, is (2472) Bradman, named for the Australian cricketing great. As a minor planet (synonym: asteroid) spotter, I have ...
Tory manifesto: big on austerity, low on promise, non-existent on delivery. The Tories: the party so big on ambition they couldn't be arsed writing a manifesto. MLK: "I have a dream!"BJ: "I'll just have a nap." Labour: Broadband!Tories: Narrow minds! Labour have hope, dreams and ambition. The Tories will save ...
The Ministry of Health has announced that “people under the age of 50 travelling from New Zealand to Samoa, Tonga, Philippines and Fiji” are now on the list of national priorities for MMR vaccination. Given the outbreaks of measles in Samoa, Tonga, Philippines and Fiji, the Ministry of Health is ...
Hong Kong has been protesting for six months for, demanding democracy, human rights, and an end to police violence. Today, they went to the polls in district council elections - a low-level of government with virtually no power, similar to community boards in New Zealand. But while the positions themselves ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On Friday 22nd of November a curfew came into effect and troops were deployed on the streets, here in Bogota. It was the first time since September 1977 that a curfew had been imposed on the city. The decision was a cynical pre-planned ...
Meanwhile, while the government is planning to restore voting rights to prisoners, National is promising to turn our prisons into US-style slave-labour camps:The Opposition is proposing compulsory education, training or employment for prisoners who are serving sentences of two years or more. [...] On Sunday, National Party Leader Simon Bridges ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman Spinifex Press, 2013. Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the second part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
Dalmeet Singh ChawlaIn 2008, psychologists proposed that when humans are shown an unfamiliar face, they judge it on two main dimensions: trustworthiness and physical strength. These form the basis of first impressions, which may help people make important social decisions, from who to vote for to how long a ...
Claas Kirchhelle, University of Oxford; Adam Roberts, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Andrew Singer, Centre for Ecology & HydrologyAntibiotics are among the most important medicines known to humankind, but we are running out of this crucial resource. Decisive action is needed if we are to retain access to ...
Things That Make You Go - Hmmmm: “All right. Let me come at this another way. I’m guessing that what you’ve got in that box contains names, dates, bank account numbers – all the details you need to put Winston Peters and Jacinda Ardern squarely in the cross-hairs. So, the first ...
Coasters Turn Out In Droves: It’s precisely the widening gulf between those with actual experience of things like guns, chainsaws and drilling machines, and those who regulate their use, that accounts for the angry crowd at Greymouth’s Messenger Park on Sunday, 17 November 2019. In the rarefied atmosphere where decisions ...
There are perennial arguments about the circumstances of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, and in particular whether more than one shooter is required by the evidence (such as the Zapruder film). Those who know little about physics frequently claim that the sharp backwards motion of JFK’s head as ...
Apparently, some people enjoy washing their cars. Each to his or her own, I suppose. I mean, some people like duck shooting, some people follow Coronation Street, and some people’s idea of a good day out is to sit on a grass bank at Seddon Park and watch cricket all ...
Last week we learned that New Zealand First had apparently tried to enrich itself from public office, with a dodgy forestry company linked to a number of NZ First figures sticking its hand out repeatedly for government money. Today in Question Time Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had his ...
Finally, governments seem slowly to be beginning to act on climate change. But its not enough. While they're publicly signing up to targets, they're planning to destroy the world by continuing fossil fuel extraction:The world’s nations are on track to produce more than twice as much coal, oil and gas ...
Stuff has begun interviewing NZ First's secret donors, and it turns out that its as bad as we expected. They start with racing industry figure Garry Chittick, who is predictably grumpy about NZ First's coalition choices. Meanwhile, I'm looking at the list of pork NZ First has effectively given its ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
The chairman of the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy (UNISCS) working group, Wayne Brown, has hit back at critics of his group’s recommendations to relocate the Ports of Auckland cargo operations to Whangarei’s deepwater port of Northport. The working group's recommendation to close Auckland waterfront to all but cruise ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
A package of new and expanded technology and other tools will encourage responsible camping and help communities and local councils better manage freedom camping this summer, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “Our Government has been investing to improve the freedom camping experience for everyone because we want to support ...
The government is laying the groundwork to understanding our genes – work that can help us tackle some of our biggest health challenges, like heart disease and diabetes, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. $4.7 million has been invested in the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme. The programme will ...
Nearly every state schools will receive a capital injection next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government’s infrastructure package ...
The Government has decided to bring forward major investments in New Zealand’s infrastructure to future proof the economy. “Cabinet has agreed to a significant boost to infrastructure investment. I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government’s short and ...
It is a great pleasure to be with you today in Whanganui. Like the Prime Minister I grew up with the TV clip of Selwyn Toogood booming “What do you say Whanganui, the money or the bag?” to an unsuspecting ‘It’s in the Bag’ audience. For those under the age ...
New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, was officially opened in Blackball today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage alongside the family members of the Pike 29 and Ngāti Waewae. Local mayors and MP for the West Coast Hon Damien O’Connor were also in attendance. “Paparoa National Park ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark turned the first sod of earth on the infrastructure works for the new P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea today. “The Coalition Government’s investment in Ohakea will ensure the Royal New Zealand Air Force can manage, maintain and task the new fleet efficiently ahead ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare today announced the establishment of the new National Emergency Management Agency from 1 December 2019. The National Emergency Management Agency will replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. It will be an autonomous departmental agency, hosted by the Department of the Prime ...
New Zealand tertiary students with top grades and a passion for space will once again be offered the opportunity to work with the world’s best and brightest at NASA, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Recipients of the New Zealand Space Scholarship are nominated by the Ministry of Business, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced further support to Samoa in the wake of an ongoing measles outbreak in the country. Additional medical supplies and personnel, including a third rotation of New Zealand’s emergency medical assistance team (NZMAT), further nurse vaccinators, intensive care (ICU) specialists and Samoan-speaking medical professionals, will ...
In light of increasing public concern over the harmful effects of plastic pollution, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, is presenting the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand report to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
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The Absolute Book is one of our picks of the year and you should buy it for someone you love for Christmas. A story that sticks like a biddi-bid, Elizabeth Knox said on Twitter the other day. Here, she writes about the books that stuck in her own psyche – ...
The government would argue it’s on track to reduce child poverty significantly by the next reporting round, and culture change is well underway at Work and Income. But change at WINZ is a slow-moving process. Pip Colgan is an advocate at Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP), which means she spends a ...
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Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...
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A historic referendum on independence has been completed in Bougainville. Johnny Blades of RNZ was there. People in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region of Bougainville have voted in an historic independence referendum. The long-anticipated referendum is the ultimate provision of 2001’s Bougainville Peace Agreement, which followed a brutal, protracted ...
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The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) has had to clarify the law with Police and receive their reassurance that while the amnesty for ammunition was not extended to 20 December, Police will act as if it has been. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 We Are Here: An Atlas of Aotearoa by Chris McDowall & Tim Denee (Massey University Press, $70)Superlative ...
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The National Party cannot credibly critique the Government’s hikes to fuel tax while it refuses to commit to reversing these hikes, says the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “Simon Bridges has lambasted ...
Newspaper staff were among those to express dismay and fury during the frenzy of denunciations that followed publication of an ill-considered cartoon about Samoa and the measles epidemic. The Spinoffrecorded their reactions under the heading ODT cartoonist infuriates his colleagues with Sāmoa measles epidemic ‘joke’. It also reproduced the ...
New Zealand Police Association condemns comments made by People Against Prisons Aotearoa following the fatal police shooting of an armed man who had made threats of suicide. ...
A new poem by Harry Ricketts. The Writing Life You want to write.You want to be published.You want to be read. You want to be a cult figure.You want to be reviewed.You want to write. You want to win prizes.You want to be anthologised.You want to be read. You want to be taught in schools ...
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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.Kris Faafoi immigration case Fiona Connor and Tova O’Brien (Newshub): ‘I’m on it bro’: Messages show Kris Faafoi offering help to ...
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The shooting of a suicidal man in Southland shows that police armament is dangerous, says criminal justice group People Against Prisons Aotearoa. The shooting comes just over a month into the controversial trial of heavily armed police teams in 3 regions ...
The Prime Minister should deal urgently with reports Cabinet Minister Kris Faafoi offered to help a friend over an immigration case, National Party leader Simon Bridges says. ...
The families of top former All Blacks are likely to donate their loved ones’ brains to research so the effect of head impacts in sport can be studied. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gottfried Lechner, Associate Professor and Director of the Institute for Telecommunications Research, University of South Australia, University of South Australia Satellites are becoming increasingly important in our lives, as they help us meet a demand for more data, exchanged at higher speeds. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond University According to the latest figures, homicides in Australia are at historic lows and compare well against international trends. So what do the trends tell us and why is the homicide rate in Australia declining? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy O’Rourke, Senior Lecturer, School of Architecture, The University of Queensland Welcome to the next article in our Designing Hospitals series, where we explore how architecture and design shape our hospitals and medical centres. Today, we look at what Indigenous people tell ...
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Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Changes coming to fuel market, anti-vaxxer arrested in Samoa, and banks told to hold more capital.New recommendations to increase competition in the fuel market have been made by the Commerce Commission, reports the NZ Herald. Their conclusion is that it isn’t competitive ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. ...
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German politician Joschka Fischer has had a remarkable career. From street violence and helping to set up the Green party, he matured into the foreign minister and vice-chancellor of a united Germany, serving until 2005. His understanding of power politics led him to support the use of force in the ...
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PARENTS AROUND THE WORLD PLEA FOR URGENT CLIMATE ACTION 222 parents groups from 27 countries have released a heartfelt joint plea calling on negotiators at this year’s UN climate summit – COP25 – in Madrid to push for ambitious and urgent ...
Open mike 12/12/2012 
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In his post Doha blah blah blah, Anthony Robins wrote;
The figures are, over 300 dead and over 900 missing, 400,000 have been left homeless. The death and destruction dwarfs that caused by Hurricane Sandy. Yet got the barest coverage possible in the Western media.
I don’t think that the difference in reporting this huge human tragedy can all be explained by euro-centric racism in the MSM.
The footprint of global warming is all over this one. For the media to look too closely at the tragedy in the Philippines is to risk opening up a huge political controversy that the MSM don’t know how to cover, without offending the authorities and vested interest.
Even in Hurricane Sandy in which climate change was only possibly implicated by the mainstream media, the questions and debate about climate change threatened to spiral out of the authorities’ control and disrupt the carefully stage managed presidential elections in which all mention of climate change had been scripted out.
The same thing threatened to occur at Dohar when the current round of climate talks where briefly disrupted by the intrusion of reality by the unfolding disaster in the Philippines, when the lead representative of the Philippines called on world leaders to stand up to “our political masters“. Apart from the alternative media this emotional call for revolt was greeted with silence by the MSM.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/12/4/as_typhoon_bopha_wreaks_havoc_philippine
Unfortunately Naderev Sano’s plea went unheeded and the Dohar talks delivered exactly what “our political masters” wanted.
Who are “our political masters” that Sano is appealing to the government “ministers” and political “leaders” of the world to stand up to?
Would I be wrong in supposeing that they are the same political masters who influence our mainstream media outlets to play up some stories and play down others?
Are they the same “political masters” that influence even Green Party politicians to play down and ignore climate change?
That last sentence: there’s the problem, see? Reading this false claim makes me wonder how many other lies your comment contains. Undermines its effectiveness. Y’know, like when John Key’s lips are moving.
Lift your game.
+1
Be careful who you call a liar, you risk looking foolish. You know as well as I that the Green Party leadership are playing down climate change and that they are doing it for narrow political advantage. i.e. bums on seats. They are not even in government yet, and already they are selling out. There can be little doubt, that with all the compromises they are prepared to make to get cabinet positions the Green Party in government will be a big disappointment.
In a previous thread I asked weka to explain why the Green Party was playing down climate change.
This is what he wrote:
In reply I asked weka a simple question; Who?
Who weka are these “others” you think should “step up”, now that the Greens are standing down?
Weka has not replied to me. Maybe weka should consider the words of Naderev Sano, though addressed to the government reps gathered at Doha it could just as easily be asked of the Greens.
…the Green Party leadership are playing down climate change…
It’s time for your reality check.
Oh look, here’s a press-release from five days ago. From Russell Norman. The co-leader.
“Looking foolish”? Yes, you are.
<blockquote>Oh look, here’s a press-release from five days ago. From Russell Norman. The co-leade
<b>One Tāne Viper</b>
</blockquote>
Oh look, there’s not a single word in this press release attributed to Russel Norman. The co-leader
Grabbing for straws are we not?
Um – the entire release is attributed to RN. He’s the primary contact for it.
Impressive
the Green Party leadership are playing down climate change
Citation needed. Students are advised that “playing down” is normally read as an active move on the part of the sentence’s subject, and arguments based on a lack of sufficiently-robust press releases on the topic will be marked down as disingenuous.
Um, it is really hard to report things that didn’t happen. Like the fact that climate change was never mentioned by the Green Party as an election issue in the last election. And looks likely not to be raised again in the next elections by the Green Party.
I suppose I could link to a blank sheet of paper if that would satisfy you.
Never mentioned? Five press releases specifically mentioning climate change in the last 3 months before the 2011 election.
Here, here, here, here, and here. Almost one a fortnight through the campaign. On top of every other issue mentioned during the campaign.
I’m never going to vote Green, but I am prepared to spend 20 seconds to do a basic search of the interwebz.
What were you saying about reporting things that didn’t happen?
“Weka has not replied to me.”
Probably because we had just spent a whole lot of time and effort providing links that demonstrated you were lying about Russell Norman and grossly misrepresenting the GP as a way of manipulating reality to suit your agenda.
Or maybe it’s because I don’t believe that the GP are ARE downplaying CC, so there was no clear way to answer your somewhat idiotic and manipulative question.
I also find it weird that you don’t already know who the other parties are that should be challenging climate change AS WELL AS the GP. See that? – AS WELL AS. That was my point – that the GP has done massive amounts of work to address climate change, and they still do but they have changed their focus a bit. Hence my suggestion that others step up (political parties, NGOs, industry etc, duh).
You have an odd sense of responsibility IMO. You think that the GP should abandon its attempt to form government (which includes abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all those other equally important issues), and instead put CC at the forefront and stay in parliament as a CC lobby group. Well too bad. The GP doesn’t exist to suit your agenda, and as already amply demonstrated is doing its bit to address CC.
Thank you weka for attempting to answer my question. I am glad to see that you think that it is the time that other political parties, (presumably Labour and National), step up to the campaign against climate change. I agree totally. But for this to happen requires leadership from the Greens. Labour and National will never change their current positions unless they are challenged, and challenged strongly and repeatedly. But how can this happen when in your words, “<i>the Greens have changed their focus….</i>”? (in your opinion “a bit” in my opinion an “awful lot”). Your reply is contradictory. You say that you “<i>don’t believe that the GP are downplaying CC</i>”. But you admit that the Green Party have “<i>changed their focus a bit</i>”. A concession to the truth. You argue that the Green Party should attempt to enter government that supports deep seas oil drilling and prospecting, and open cast coal mining, and fracking. And that, to not do so means, “<i>abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all those other equally important issues</i>” (Without saying what those other equally important issues are.) It doesn’t really matter what they are, because you are full of it, just making excuses before time, for selling out. I imagine that by “<i>equally important issues</i>” you mean social issues of justice and equality and relief for the poor etc. All highly commendable and high minded, of course, and who could object? Except that by leveling them equal to climate change each one of these other issues will be worsened, not alleviated. Making your stand hypocritical.
Weka if you haven’t already, you should listen to the words of Naderev (Yeb) Sano talking about Typhoon Bopha: <blockquote>”….. heartbreaking tragedies like this are not unique to the Philippines, because the whole world, especially developing countries struggling to address poverty and achieve social and human development, confront these same realities. <b>Naderev Sano</b> Lead negotiator, Philippines delegation to Dohar round on climate change. </blockquote> You say that by not staying outside of government to fight against climate change includes abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all those other equally important issues. I say you will be following in the well trod path of <a href=’http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/an-appointment-with-reality.html’>Joshka Fischer</a> and <a href=’http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-sold-out-to-get-power-say-voters-2083293.html’>Nick Clegg</a>. To keep the pressure on the Labour and National Parties the Green Party need to abandon attempting to form a government that will allow deep sea oil drilling and fracking and new open cast strip mining of coal for export.
are you putting markup tags in the WYSIWYG editor?
It’s a complete mystery to me. All paragraphs have been removed as well.
(For some reason my ability to use html has failed. I will try reposting again) Thank you weka for attempting to answer my question. I am glad to see that you think that it is the time of the Labour Party and National parties to take over the campaign against climate change. I agree totally. But for this to happen requires leadership from the Greens. Labour and National will never change their current positions unless they are challenged, and challenged strongly and repeatedly. Inside parliament and out. But how can this happen when in your words, “<i>the Greens have changed their focus….</i>”? (in your opinion “a bit” in my opinion an “awful lot”). Your reply is contradictory. You say that you “<i>don’t believe that the GP are downplaying CC</i>”. But you admit that the Green Party have “<i>changed their focus a bit</i>”. A concession to the truth. You argue that the Green Party should attempt to enter government that supports deep seas oil drilling and prospecting, and open cast coal mining, and fracking. And that, to not do so, <i>”means abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all these other equally important issues</i>” (Without saying what those other equally important issues are.) It doesn’t really matter what they are, because you are full of it, just making excuses before time, for selling out. I imagine that by “<i>equally important issues</i>” you mean social issues of justice and equality and relief for the poor etc. All highly commendable and high minded, of course, and who could object? Except that by leveling them equal to climate change each one of these other issues will be worsened, not alleviated. Weka if you haven’t already, you should listen to the words of Naderev (Yeb) Sano talking about Typhoon Bopha: <blockquote> “…….heartbreaking tragedies like this are not unique to the Philippines, because the whole world, especially developing countries struggling to address poverty and achieve social and human development, confront these same realities. <b>Naderev Sano</b> Lead negotiator, Philippines delegation to Dohar round on climate change. </blockquote> You say that by not staying outside of government to fight against climate change includes abandoning an attempt to effect real change within parliament on all those other equally important issues. I say you will be following in the well trod path of <a href=’http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/an-appointment-with-reality.html’>Joshka Fischer</a> and <a href=’http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/clegg-sold-out-to-get-power-say-voters-2083293.html’>Nick Clegg</a>. To keep the pressure on the Labour and National Parties the Green Party need to abandon attempting to form a government that will allow deep sea oil drilling and fracking and new open cast strip mining of coal for export. By staying outside of such a government you can vote on each issue, case by case. In a coalition you will be bound by collective responsibility, forced to swallow many dead rats.
No luck
I don’t think that the difference in reporting this huge human tragedy can all be explained by euro-centric racism in the MSM.
Most of the difference can be explained by reference to the fact that Sandy bore down on the highest concentration of big media producers in the english speaking world, a few days before a US presidential election, combine that with this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN_effect
and it would have been a miracle if anything else happened.
Exactly. Occam’s Rasor, yes. Huge global conspiring new order cabals of racists, no.
So is this how the gathering global disaster of climate change will be reported? The hundreds of deaths now, which in the future will be millions, will get less media attention than the passing milestones of the yet unborn heir to the British throne.
I have no idea how that is supposed to relate to my comment, or the aspect of your comment I was responding to.
‘
http://www.janbrett.com/piggybacks/deep_tex.mid
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/12/12-0 “The honchos of America’s establishment media are quick to blame such external causes as the Internet for their problems. But if they looked internally, they might notice that they’re damn near eaten-up with a bad case of conventional wisdomitis. The problem with conventional wisdom is that more often than not it’s nothing more than the contrived “wisdom” of the corporate powers.
And again, while this is an interesting area, it doesn’t relate in any way to what we were talking about.
Associated Press. March 2023.
Sir Trevor Mallard of Wainuiomata has returned from London after six years as a highly successful and very popular High Commissioner. Sir Trevor is expected to continue to bring his unique talents to bear on assignments for the UN and the Olympics Movement.
Sir Trevor took of the London position after three hectic years as Speaker of the House during the first Cunliffe Government. He successfully guided the house through the historic period of economic reform that has led the country to its new export led prosperity and low employment. Sir Trevor is New Zealand’s last High Commissioner. The role will now be titled Ambassador, given New Zealand’s new status of a republic.
Sir Trevor was greeted at the Airport by his BFFL, Tau Henare.
NZHerald. April 2023
Premier Lady Jacinta Ardern flew back from Australasia’s capital Canberra for the annual Federation Heads meeting where she was greeting with 400 young schoolchildren who ran across the airport as she emerged from the plane. In a well choreographed display of affection with long red ribbons on sticks they all sang The People’s Flag is Deepest Red, We Praise You For Our Room And Bed.
She confirmed in a written statement that “Our decision to join in union with Australia after the ANZAC centenary has been proven the only and the best way to ensure our national sovereignty is secure, our labour rights improved, and our strategic assets retained within Canberra’s more generous banking framework. Our discussions on the New Guinea question were fruitful.”
Lady Ardern was formally welcomed by New Zealand’s last Governor-General Lord Key of Thorndon at Premier House, where the security cordon against what he described last month as “Those filthy Hobbitses” remained tight as over half the country is now officially in poverty and the vast steaming camp outside Premier House remains, in the words of the Chief of Welfare and Goodness, “Too fetid to consider seriously until they all just get a job.”
Hell 2060
Very warm welcomes are expected in Hell for the NZ members of the Australasian politburo lynched by a mob of “rabid hobbits”.
Correction for Lady Ardern – “Our discussion on the New Guinea question of overpopulation of fruitbats was sterile I’m sorry to report.” Nothing else of import was addressed.
Trevor has just issued a statement in which, in a very Statesmanlike tone, he recommends Maurice Williamson for the Speaker Role.
This great act by Sir Trevor should be applauded.
Jaysus…I just had a thought: Trevor would be a great speaker. Cunliffe should propose Trevor for that role.
And while Cunliffe is being so generous he should endorse Annette for the Wellingtom Mayoralty… Lady Annette has a certain ring to it.
Eh Cunners? Why not give Phil Goff the nod for Secretaty General of the Commonwealth? Lord Goff of Pukekohe has a certain ring to it.
Shearer you ask eh Cunners? No the UN don’t want him back. A little bit embarrassing….
I thought this post was taking the p**s – but here is the link to Mallard the Duck’s press release
– http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1212/S00228/new-speaker-must-want-the-job.htm
On the same subject, Tariana Turia’s response to Tau Henare’s blaming the MP for not now supporting his bid for Speaker
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1212/S00221/turia-corrects-record-regarding-contest-for-speaker.htm
LOL – love the other suggestions in your comment!
Moi? Take the P*ss?
These appointments have been well earned by our leaders. They are now ready to retire their seats. They have all insisted that they will not parachute in any staffers from the Parliamentary office it the Labour HQ. They would like to encourage candidates who will engage with the Membership in a respectful manner.
Laughed Out Loud
Another V
+1
…and another……
KMan (Absolutely Fabulous)
Very good. Interesting though how you happy republicans believe that life will be better with the type of elected uber-leader that we would get when we can’t even attract the quality under leaders we absolutely need. All in all the Monarchy is mainly monetarily supported by the Brits, does her or his best to think responsibly and behave with integrity and graciousness, and aren’t lawyers or con-men out to help their friends to chisel any money you have accumulated in the naive belief that this is the proper financial duty according to the seen laws and the general meme.
RNZ – The Panel – yesterday.
Jim Mora and his guests appeared to countenance the practice of “prank” phone calls. They are apparently part of the social fabric and have been for years, and they even interviewed a former DJ from a “pop” radio station who was world-famous-in-NZ for this type of phone call.
What is the justification for the calls to be made at all.
I wasn’t sure whether they were advocating that Radio New Zealand National start doing it. Further, I wonder if they would approve. If they were uncomfortable with that notion, then the question might be why.
I was astonished to hear that Holmes did it before ubiquitous global communications had twittered into every area of life. The basic observation was lacking in Moro, radio used to have the ability to control the message (a switch to cut the caller off), but now we all get to pile in to the bullying of shock jocks, that their meanness isn’t a bitchy corner of the media space where a few listen in, its a world where their efforts are redistributed on utube, their master complex creates copy cats from timbucktoo to alaska. This poor nurse, unable to reply, unable to remedy the offense to her own professional standing, was caught in an off moment, to the riddle of the world. That could be anyone next if we allow this incidient to go unpunished, and its striking that Moro would come to their defense, surely what’s good for the goose is good for the gander? Well no, it just continues the original reckless ridiculing. This was wrong, lawyers should have long since shutdown this debate pending criminal charges of the editors of the radio show. They were just gunning for spectacle royal stories to feed into the killing frenzy, the blood was in the water, and they wanted a bite too.
“Spectacle royal stories” – I hope I live to when New Zealand voters elect their Head of State.
This is for anybody who still thinks the Cullen fund is going to provide us with pensions for the rest of times.
Lovely rant there for the morning – great stuff in the interview.
Isn’t it just 🙂
Another example of this Government’s refusal to adhere to even a basic understanding of natural justice is Judith Collins’ handling of the recommendation to pay David Bain compensation.
he has criticised the report prepared by overseas Jurist Ian Binnie but has not released it. She has asked the Solicitor General to have a critique prepared but has refused to let Bain’s lawyers see it. This is giving the side who lost the chance to undermine the proposal for compensation.
Binnie has released the most scathing response I have ever seen from a Western Jurist.
He has said that he expected Collins to follow a fair and even-handed process, yet she has taken advice from the Solicitor-General who for almost 17 years tried to uphold the guilty verdict from David Bain’s first trial.
He stated that the minister is searching for reasons that support her preferred disposition of the Bain claim.
He said says it is unfair that his report has been given to the police and other officials but Bain has not been able to see it.
Binnie finished by saying that by Collins insisting his report remain confidential she seems to have a “curiously one-sided view of confidentiality”. He believes the report should be made public so people can judge the merits of the minister’s concerns.
Strong stuff.
I don’t know, Micky. I am deeply suspicious of the Binnie report (no, I haven’t seen it). Two things – firstly it’s been reported that Binnie interviewed Bain while compiling the report. Is this normal? I would rather have thought a judge should be making decisions based on the evidence, not trying to form their own impressions of the accused at that stage of the process.
And secondly, I really doubt that it’s possible to find David Bain innocent on the balance of probabilities. There’s enough for reasonable doubt, definitely, but on balance of probabilities I think you’d have to be Joe Karam in disguise to come to Binnie’s conclusion.
“I would rather have thought a judge should be making decisions based on the evidence, not trying to form their own impressions of the accused at that stage of the process.”
The questioning was known and attended by all parties so presumably fine. Further, the report is around compensation rather than another trial over his guilt. The issue is compensation for what has occurred – the issue is not whether he is innocent or guilty.
But seriously, this bunch of neanderthals in government simply buy the recommendations and opinions that suit their political requirements. Examples – Wyatt Creech’s Ecan report, John Key’s Hardtalk interview which gave his game away, and now Judith Collins and Binnie.
They are a joke this government
Judith Collins has just done a Parata. With hopefully the same result. Let’s hope Chauvel is up for it.
Heard Justice Binnie on Checkpoint. An understated, truly authoritative, quintessential, impeccable, judicial analysis of the ignorant backwoodsman behaviour of Judith Collins. Collins…… the true, leathered, impervious to mature thought, redneck.
Was left thinking that Collins is much like George Dubya – “I say, therefore it is”.
Embarrassing !
Agreed Blue about the complexity of the Bain case and I am not sure that he should qualify for compensation. But the process is appalling. If a Minister asks a Judge for an opinion and he gives her one she should follow it. If she is not going to she should at least release the decision and set out her concerns and then let Bain have a chance to respond.
Natural Justice requires no less.
mr micky, this latest grunting from the current NZ Government is simply mroe evidence that we have neanderthals in charge..
ooga booga, snort grunt stomp stomp stomp.
ug ug
oog oog oog
nothing more. there is no sophistication, no civility, no wisdom, no judgment, certainly no justice or fairness. There is just grunting and grabbing.
ooga booga
Have a listen to this. Sounds like Collins has bitten off more than she can chew with this guy.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/national/news/video.cfm?c_id=1503075&gal_cid=1503075&gallery_id=129782
Which begs a second question. With Parata, Power, Bennett and now Collins out of the running by dint of incompetence, retirement or plain stupidity, does that leave Joyce as the next leader of the Nat party?
Thanks for that. It’s a pity Binnie referred to his expertise as an “opinion” – “just one judge’s opinion and I can show you another that will give you a counterview”.
Look in Nz the law is to simple, you become
entangled in a crime scene, and the evidence
does not stack up, in fact, starts shrinking
as time passes, but courts being run by
humans make the mistake and convict.
Now if you appreciate this,
and argue that courts should be judicious,
bring all matters (and appeals) in timely
fashion, then commonly held (other nations)
this would be considered a credit to a nation.
But in NZ we ignore incompetence, and in
ignoring end up rewarding the failures
(who fail to learn).
Look at neo-conservatist neo-liberalist
deregulation, that contributed not only to
Pike River, CTV, SCF, but now Bain.
Judith Collins, by ignoring, by not humbling
herself, and admitting the horrendously long
time for justice to be done, is bringing the
case back to life, and re-litigating it.
So I ask when will the law council start
proceedings to disbar Judith Collins.
Now, of course, it could just be political
and Collins needing the prosecutors to sign
on to compensation too.
The Bain case says more about us as a country than
of a soulless Justice Minister or the patently
incapable legal fraternity of admitting error.
Do we believe as a nation, that if you walk into
a murder scene where nearly all your family have
been murdered, and fight for your life also,
then at trial the wrong verdict, guilty, was
announced. Leads to you losing your family
wealth, incarcerated for over a decade, all the
time you are declaring your innocence. How would
you see the case? when you finally vindicated
that the state had not given you a fair trial,
a speedy process that uncovers guilt?
The balance of probabilities test does not
access the fairness of the trial, the
the court system ability to discern truth,
or hold them to account when they inevitably gone wrong.
A persons life, their family murdered, then
can be destroyed by the system on top? where
the courts are used by the real murderer to
continue the criminality?
So as the evidence shrinks, the possibility
of another perpetrator rises, the pronounced
reality that the system is aiding and abetting
them.
Its not beyond possibility that a murderer can
wipe out their family, inadvertantly frame the
sole survivor. Murder suicides do not go to plan.
And if you haven’t noticed, you cannot make a
case on the balance of probabilites if you
don’t have the initial weights of those possibilites
before the evidence is added in.
We cannot have a situation where the less
evidence there is, the more definitive we can be
about merits of our own case. Its like declaring
the classic invisible pink unicorn is both pink and
has just one horn, having a discussion that the
balance of probabilities tells us that it must be
just the one horn is nonsense, not none or many.
Our court system has too
streams, civil and criminal, we remove incarceration
as civil punishments. Just by admitting the need
to discuss probabilities should mean we compensate
for the incarceration. Bain should get some
compensation no matter what, even if its just
to safeguard the surviving relatives from paying
back inheritances.
Should we let one innocent person go to jail, who
lost their whole family, their inheritance,
their right to a judicious court process, time
having destroyed the evidence of innocence?
Do we live in a nation where innocent till proven otherwise?
Do we live in a nation of law, or of a lawyer pandering
to their political needs?
Impeach Judith Collins. Sick sad. How is it my
problem that see cannot understand a competent
legalist and has to call in ‘help’ from partial
lawyers? Why do we as a nation have to talk
Judith collins done from her high horse again.
The idea that anyone of us could walk into
a crime, be wrongly convicted, fight for justice
languishing in jail for over a decade, only to
be vindicated, and then be ignored by a sad sick
lawyer more worried about her political career
than her oath to uphold the integrity of the legal
system, to not bring parliament into disrepute,
by micro managing to political ends, what now is
clear to all, even the impartial third party expert
believes compensation is merited.
Hekia Parata plagiarises the “Teaching 101” introduction to teaching textbook yet again ….
http://news.msn.co.nz/nationalnews/8578933/govt-blamed-for-poor-student-performance
DunnoKeyo still has great confidence in “His Team” 😀
Ho hum, another day, another “journalist” peddling wingnut spin.
…she revealed retired Canadian judge Ian Binnie went “well beyond”…
Revealed? Not “asserted” then?
Isn’t it time the electoral commission started totting up the value of these free services Fairfax media et al provide to the National Party?
Hello David, you are a part of this family and you are my child- ‘mine’ Forever.
“All for one, one for all”.
WE work together, that is the deal, we are family.
You have two choices- be a leader or be a loser?
At least I am getting the ball rolling!
You have to believe, both of you.
The art of magic, is the art of believing.
DON’T EVER DOUBT YOURSELVES!
So What?
Draco T Bastard gone too?
WTF is going on??
Journos on the tweet machine saying the Auditor General has sent draft report about the Sky City convention centre bizzo to interested parties.
Should be ready for release when everyone is sitting on the beach then.
you pretty much have to laugh at this shit by now:
http://t.co/pOr5cdcF
That’s some well written reportage there too, BTW.
There’s been excuses all over the news channels about how they weren’t in cahoots with the drug-runners, it’s just their systems weren’t robust enough. The man in charge at the time, Stuart Green is now the UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment.
No such thing as a sacking or accountability for these types, just a life peerage and a seat in the House of Lords
Now on WordPress 3.5. Tests worked ok. Leave me a message if any problems show…
Test message
I’m getting the wysiwyg editor for comments, never had it before. Haven’t got the box checked.
Chrome on xp.
That is weird. The flag to display it or not is stored in a cookie from your system that is sent to the server.
It literally doesn’t write the code for the HTML page that it sends back unless it see that coming through. Nothing is meant to be caching the HTML at the server side or at cloudflare.
Ummm just tried myself and it turned it on and off on chrome / ubuntu.
Try killing your TS cookies and/or cache
Test message2
Test message3, links are alive dead on wysiwg
Test message 4, testing not logged in.
Reedit appears to work
Something odd but not a problem.
Just left a comment. Hit submit, which took me to the comment in final form in the thread. Hit the “back’ button to get out and it took me to the comment in the thread with the draft underneath it. never happened like that before, usually the “back” takes me back in time to before the comment was posted on my way out and back to the site as a whole.
As i say, it didn’t cause a problem, I just mention it in case the difference indicates some kind of problem.
edit: same thing happened as I tried to exit this comment. Guess this is the new normal.
That will be your browser. It probably had an upgrade of some type as well. Those history operations are usually completely done on the client and they have all kinds of odd behaviours.
There is something incredibly boring about the current labour leadership. They have no spark or imagination. How they ever think they could win an election beats me. That cheshire cat (Chris Hipkins) makes me want to vomit when I see and hear him on the tv. Nothing logical or sensible comes out of his mouth. He looks like a schoolboy and has about the same level of appeal as a teenage boy to what was once loyal labour voters.
Stale, stayed and lacking vision is what this labour leadership is all about. They chopped off the only tall poppy so they are all as dull as each other now.
so they are all as dull as each other now
I remember some old Radio NZ or NZBC(?) comedy show about a vain doctor. In one episode, as he left for his holiday, he told the others in the practise, “Now remember: don’t do anything I can’t do.” Since the ABC gang are saying that… nobody’s doing anything.