I thought all the front line people were supposed to be vaccinated months ago? Why is it taking so long when the border is so important. Simple solution is when employees turn up to start their shift, if they can’t show anything to say they are vaccinated, then they are sent home on unpaid leave.
Covid 19 coronavirus: Securing the weakness at the border … by October – NZ Herald
Most kiwis seem to have this view that we are happy to wait because COVID hasn’t got into the community. I don’t really know anyone who is overly anxious to get it. Its simply a case of when its my turn, I will. Fucking crazy view but thats New Zealand for you.
But I agree. It should simply be mandatory for border workers.
If you’d taken the trouble to watch the PMs post cabinet news conference rather than eagerly consume the pure anti-government propaganda from the Herald your questions would be answered.
It was claimed by someone on Q&A (I think) that a lot of those not vaccinated are casual port workers. I don’t know how it works, but Covid has likely reduced the number of ships entering our smaller ports so some of these people may not have been working on the wharves for some time. Hence they have missed vaccination opportunities.
Could just be waiting for the next generation vaccine in order to lower the risk to themselves. Nothing wrong with putting yourself first, especially when we know that in the unlikely event things do go wrong you have no insurance cover and a really shit welfare system for the most dependent (mildly impaired are treated much better).
Our current mRNA vaccine doesn’t confer sterilised immunity, meaning transmission can still take place so any community benefit is highly questionable. Here is an actual expert (more like an expert of experts imho) talking about just how risky that strategy could be.
Highly questionable, huh. Underlining and everything, too. Sounds bad. “30 minutes of my life” bad? I guess I’ll never find out.
Being able to ask questions is a bit like transmission still being able to take place: the important factors are not the binary absolutism of existence, but how many and how significantly.
Dunno if it specifically rebuts what’s said in that goldbugger doomie-prep grifter Martenson’s woo-tube clip. I’m not going to waste 30 minutes to watch it to find out.
Not really correct.
Transmission can still take place – yes. The probability of it happening is severely reduced because the immune responses in a vaccinated host kill off a exponential growth in released viruses.
R5 drops down to something like R0.02 even with delta according to the last set of results I looked at.
Basically the only people who get infected are likely to be the unvaccinated. It means that people who can’t take vaccines will keep having to protect themselves. Those who choose to not take the vaccine get a genetic winnowing. Not really any one else’s problem – apart from their family and friends.
Personally I will be pretty unlikely to want to work close to someone who chooses not to vaccinated. They just increase my risks.
As far as I can tell, the only real contraindication for the Pfizer vaccine is allergic history. And even for those unfortunates, if they’re brave enough to risk an anaphylactic reaction in the knowledge that the medical staff around them will be able to safely deal with it, it’s fine to get the vaccine. Or I would hope here in NZ they would get offered one of the alternatives that doesn’t carry that allergic risk.
Immunocompromised people can apparently quite safely get the Pfizer vaccine. There’s no kind of organism replication going on that has to suppressed by a functioning immune system. The injected mRNA just does its thing, breaks down, and the detritus gets cleaned away by our body’s regular garbage disposal system.
It’s just that immunocompromised people are much less likely to get benefit from the vaccine. Since by definition, the vaccine stimulates and trains the immune system, but immunocompromised people have a low to non-functioning immune system. So they are still mostly dependent on the rest of us getting vaccinated for their protection via community immunity.
The other problem with unvaccinated people getting sick is the effect it has on the medical staff that end up trying to care for them. My rellies overseas are now finding it much tougher psychologically trying to keep an unvaccinated covid sufferer alive now that they’ve had the opportunity to get vaccinated and declined. Because that suffering is just so pointlessly stupid and so easily, cheaply, and safely avoidable.
Yeah, I felt that after I wrapped my head around the issue.
The focus for me was a intelligent fellow worker talking to me recently about a meta-study on an alternative treatment for covid-19. I read it and from what he’d said deduced (correctly) that he’d mistaken a reliability of what was measured for a reliability of the effectiveness of the treatment.
Very small sample sizes, a lot of variation in measurement in the studies, inconsistencies in how the treat was delivered, etc etc meant that the authors assessment of the reliability of the instances in the studies only got up to ‘Moderate’, and many were ‘Very Low’. Moderate was OK for data reliability, but it isn’t midway – it is barely acceptable.
The largest aggregate sample size was ~1500 for having had the treatment giving death / non-death (ie everyone in the study). And the change on the statistically expected death results was around 5% inside the sample of all people getting the treatment. Maybe verging on significance for something. But given the way the data was collected – probably more significant for evidence of wishful thinking.
The treatment was been given as a Hail Mary by medical staff who had noting else to give. You’d probably find that aspirin or a source of clean water was more effective. “Coke adds life!” could be the new slogan..
Afterwards I found that personally I would have a personal reluctance to be anyone who thinks like that after I’d been vaccinated. He’d provide a perfect vector for a new variant to infect me, and the probability was that he’d do it over and over again. His obvious wish to avoid the vaccine was likely to be a clear and present danger to my health – and my taxes.
That doesn't surprise me. It felt like much of the data used was like a Peter Singer paper on climate change – designed to confuse the credulous who are irrationally unskeptical and prefer to just jump to conspiracy conclusions.
It appeared that the authors had run entire paragraphs from press releases and websites about ivermectin and Covid-19 through a thesaurus to change key words. “Humorously, this led to them changing ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome’ to ‘extreme intense respiratory syndrome’ on one occasion,” Lawrence said.
The data also looked suspicious to Lawrence, with the raw data apparently contradicting the study protocol on several occasions.
“The authors claimed to have done the study only on 18-80 year olds, but at least three patients in the dataset were under 18,” Lawrence said.
“The authors claimed they conducted the study between the 8th of June and 20th of September 2020, however most of the patients who died were admitted into hospital and died before the 8th of June according to the raw data. The data was also terribly formatted, and includes one patient who left hospital on the non-existent date of 31/06/2020.”
What is the threshold for a second-generation vaccine being considered safe enough? After all, there will be less data on a second generation than a first, simply because it’s newer. Maybe better wait for a third, or fourth generation …
Meanwhile, in the actual world, we’re at about a year from the start of the phase 3 trials for the Pfizer and moderna mRNA vaccines. Meaning we’ve got a year of safety data for thousands of intensely monitored volunteers. We’re at about 6 months from the mass rollout, so we’ve got safety data for hundreds of millions of vaccinated people, with safety monitoring that has now detected several different kinds of “less than ten per million” side effects.
Almost all of those extremely rare vaccine side effects resolve in at most a few weeks without causing permanent damage or disability.
Unlike actual covid, which causes many many long term disabilities (we don’t know how long-term, but definitely many people are still debilitated 18 months after infection) as well as death for about 1% of those infected.
With the mRNA vaccines, it will be transcription ‘code’ to get the body cells to produce fragments of signature virus coating or other characteristics. This gets the immune system to become accustomed to attacking those signatures. This would be a separate booster shot after the original vaccine to target a specific new variant.
No mixed in other biological. Minimal or no updates to the vaccine production, transports or delivery. Mostly what they will be looking for is interactions with other conditions – ie either effectiveness or complications.
A much easier test case using the existing or similar test structures. Targeting populations who are already vaccinated and possibly subject to reinvention with a specific c
variant.
The Pfizer vaccine booster just announced as being developed is just targeting delta. I would guess that if lamda takes off then that will be next.
My comment about second generation being safe enough was aimed at KSaysHi suggesting some unvaccinated people are waiting for more safety information or for a newer purportedly safer vaccine to be released.
From the comments made by academic family and friends that need a deep understanding of cell biochemistry for their science jobs, I have zero concerns about long term safety issues with the mRNA vaccines.
The development of mRNA vaccines over the last few decades has also been long enough and careful enough to cover all the concerns I had when I first heard about the technology. Yes, there were serious obstacles to learn how to overcome, including severely problematic immune system reactions. But those reactions were seen within a very short time after vaccination, and there has been no hint of safety problems popping up months or years after vaccination.
I have zero concerns about long term safety issues with the mRNA vaccines
I’d take them over normal vaccines any time.
I have quibbles about the probable misuses of the technology though. I’d imagine that it will eventually be used as a perfect way to cause unexplained deaths. A lot harder to trace than polonium from an umbrella.
Given we no longer allow low skilled migrant labour in, maybe its time we allowed those here already here to shift from these jobs to others – such as in dairy, or horticulture. Then employers would have to offer these jobs to locals who have the option of moving from job to job, if conditions and wages are not competitive.
listening to a kiwi bank economist predicting wage inflation today and I thought of these low skilled/paid seasonal jobs that would probably require a substitution of improved wages and conditions to attract others available.
A big issue is accommodation as well. Moving for short-term work means you either give up your accommodation where you are or you pay for two lots at the same time. There is a big risk in giving up where you are now that you might not be able to find accommodation when you return home.Most people have little interest in living in a tent/back-packers/caravan for a few months. Cooking meals after a days work becomes problematic as well even if you do do this.Moving for a permanent full-time job is another kettle of fish entirely.
The migrant currently trapped in their job and earning little more than the food power and rent money may welcome the opportunity – seasonal work jobs can lead to permanent employment, and dairy farm jobs come with housing.
The jobs the migrants leave can be filled by locals – albeit the employer would have to improve pay and conditions to attract them.
The migrants may find little left after paying rent in the urban centres – they can at least save in the seasonal work jobs and the dairy farm work often comes with provided housing.
Assuming its an NZ flagged vessel I hope worksafe are investigating this.
As i understand it two crew were allowed to enter NZ and without 14 days quarintine travel to and join the vessel. Thats endangered the entire crew and if one were to die surely whoever is in charge of the boat should be in the gun for prosecution.
Hmm, hired to fish NZ quota? Would worksafe have jurisdiction?
The fact that we let the crew avoid quarantine to meet the vessel shows the influence the fishing lobby have. I feel very sorry for the crew members who have been exposed and infected thanks to irresponsible bosses. If we can prosecute we should.
Interesting how various sites set hurdles for you to jump before they will reveal any clear information. This one with a grey curtain over the page until you comply with something.
If it is Spain, then perhaps it is from the north. IIRR that area has received great concessions and subsidies from the Spanish govt to build fishing vessels which have tended to swamp the fishing industry. I wonder if they then provide jobs for Spanish, especially Catalan crew.
That all Peter chch usually seems to be able to do (in my experience). A lower form of existence who is just intelligent enough recognise that he is very ignorant, is too lazy to do anything about it, and likes having a good persecution fetish.
Generally pays to either be ignored. If you want a bit of a amusement you can spank him so that he can writhe in a foul ecstasy at being patted by a dom (his secret shame). But given his disadvantages (namely his personality), if you’re feeling kind – simply being excluded works.
Of course that is just my opinion. (yes he is usually a troll).
A troll? No. It may appear that i am, as i certainly do disagree with many opinions on here, but I would absolutely agree with the goals of most on here.
It is not, for me, an argument about the goals. Its an argument about the means. If that makes me a troll, well you are wrong. But so be It.
I’m not into spanking, more into whipping, actually.
I don’t care whether you are a troll or not. I do care about the fact that some (…) of your comments are troll-like enough to appear on my radar. I couldn’t possibly comment on a persecution fetish that you might have.
Here’s a tip, more like advice, actually: if you don’t want to appear on the radar of Moderators and/or SYSOP, lift the quality of your comments and make it look like you’re engaging in good faith here, irrespective of whether your opinion is widely agreed or disagreed with (AKA unpopular) here – robust debate is the kaupapa of this site. Put simply: lift your game, thanks.
The choice is yours; the whip is within reach, always.
Incognito. I am no troll. Yes I disagree with many posts on here. I, in my opinion, am a socialist. I, again in my opinion, engage in good faith. Same goals I think, but different means.
But let’s be honest. Many people on TS are a little unrealistic as what might work or stick.
I try to engage in good faith, but some just give abuse in response.
All this talk about whipping and spanking! Well, my partner and I went to a ‘bar’ off K road which sounded nice. The entrance fee seemed a bit steep but we were under drink. Full on sex club. Unbelievable .We enjoyed our time there. Did not partake. But I must, opened my eyes.
The vicious cycle of the climate crisis has merged with a vicious cycle of inequity in the region. Racial disparities in access to shade and air conditioning are increasingly becoming dangerous, even deadly….
…..Farm workers die of heat at roughly 20 times the national rate, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The antieviction thing has always favored certain elements in our society. They get higher levels of subsidies from those who can’t get social housing. Consequences are experienced by everyone who is nearby but not the cause of the issues and that has got to stop.
The witness alleges he is being subjected to regular nighttime gang intimidation and threats.
He also told Hawke’s Bay Today that Kāinga Ora had told him his request was low priority.
However, a Kāinga Ora spokesperson told Hawke’s Bay Today that the organisation was now “moving quickly to help our customer and provide options from which they can choose to help keep them safe”.
“We’ll continue to work with police on this matter too.”
That’s right….help the tenant to help himself by making choices! How empowering [sarc]
How to knife your ‘clients’ and your very job in the back! A ‘librarian’ sending books owned to be digitised instead of going all-out to support the excellent system we have of reading physical books, the whole literate and skilled community behind it, and the way that books encouraging imagination, discussion, are housed in places that draw communities, and are artifacts that represent humanity and serve it, in a way that bloody tech doesn’t (whether covered in red stuff or not, and of course that description is an oxymoron because tech is bloodless and dead). Stream of consciousness?
I have written a short comment on Daily Review for Mon. 12/7. This went up at 10.22am with awaiting moderation, then vanished so I sent another one after it at 10.37am, same message, has vanished also. Nothing controversial about either of them. So where, what?
Moderation
Moderation is mainly used to control spam comments that do not get caught by the anti-spam tools. This means that you might get caught in it if you use some words, have an IP range that overlaps a spam source, or your IP comes from certain geographical regions.
…
If you get moderated and don’t have a good reason why, don’t get too alarmed. It is probably the spam trap. Usually your message will get approved shortly, but sometimes during weekends and overnight it may take a while.
United States citizens and companies are buying up New Zealand land for farming, forestry and wine-making, an RNZ analysis reveals.
Almost 180,000 hectares of farming land was purchased or leased by foreign interests between 2010 and 2021.
During the 11-year period almost 460,000ha – a little under the size of the Auckland region – shifted out of New Zealand control through purchases, leases or rights to take forestry. For simplicity’s sake, this is referred to as bought land throughout this article.
More than 70,000ha of land was bought for dairying operations and more than 100,000 for farming other types of animals, such as beef, sheep or deer.
It seems that farming entities have control of the country, so no wonder we can’t get anything done for ordinary people, who now can’t even own a tiny bit of land! Perhaps Bill Sutch had to be headed off, with the way that he was encouraging us to make new pathways, go in new directions, explore other options. Think.
State Republican lawmakers around the country are pushing bills — at least one of which has become law — that would give unvaccinated people the same protections as those surrounding race, gender and religion.
If this was happening in countries where vaccinations had plateaued, like Israel, meaning just about everyone that wanted to be vaccinated had already been jabbed, then I’d take a darwinian view of it. But in most of those countries, vaccinations are still happening at a good clip, meaning there’s still lots of people that want to be vaccinated that haven’t got it yet. So opening up to let things run wild in those countries is just barbaric.
Citation please, I couldn’t see anything referring to that in your link.
Also, England, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal which have covid spikes also have high rates of vaccinated persons too… which could mean there’s an association there.
It’s plausible that high vaccination rates might precipitate a premature relaxation (aided and abetted by imprudent leaders) of precautionary behaviours that curb infection transmission, which could in turn contribute to the recent spikes in Covid variant delta infections seen in England, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands and Greece.
It’s even possible that the act of gathering in vaccination centres might (very slightly) increase transmission from infected to uninfected people.
But is there’s any scientifically plausible way that the Covid-19 vaccines themselves, administered in England, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Greece, could contribute directly to the recent ‘yikes spikes‘ graphed @12?
They also need to be named, shamed, and excluded have special units built in concrete (hoseable) in industrial areas where they can be kept under curfew at night. simple bedding and facilities suitable for the half-crazed person.
That’s dealt with the present crop. The ones coming forward can be changed by their parents entering a program run under suitable cultural levels that assists parents in their role, helps them as needed, and enables them to have a happy life bringing up children in a kindly and firm way with goals for the parents and little ones for the children, like pocket money for doing tasks as part of family life. This outrageous system actually had been proved to work many decades ago, but has fallen into disuse, now needing revival. And those in the system would be offered free skills training, and on completion a job and income equal to a living wage. Also holidays at adventure camps once or twice a year. Incentives, in-sense-activities! If a significant percentage could be enthused to start this, with parents as role models, in ten years there would be a difference growing exponentiallly.
Disabled kids missing out at local schools is well documented, just as parents paying for extra teacher aide hours is common practice because of the limited resources governments past and present put in to ensuring disabled kids get a fair go.
Where the heck is the Human Rights Commission when it comes to this problem that’s been around now for decades? Governments for years have been saying that disabled children have access to the same learning opportunities as all other students, but we know that’s not true. Schools themselves say they’re woefully under-resourced.
All the rhetoric around how well the system’s working for disabled students shows how far the government’s head is buried in the sand. It beggars belief that despite everything we know this government’s now preventing parents topping up teacher aide hours, as if it isn’t needed. It’s a tragedy, of course, that it’s only the kids of those who can afford to do this who have access to crucial resources, but to now ban parents from doing this shows just how sensitive the government is to the criticisms. The government’s position on this whole issue is just diabolical.
In 2008, IHC lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, arguing that children with a range of disabilities experience discrimination at their local school.
…
n April 2014 IHC’s legal counsel, Frances Joychild QC, filed an amended claim with the Human Rights Review Tribunal.
…
In early 2015, the Human Rights Review Tribunal held a preliminary hearing into the complaint after the Attorney General applied to strike out several of IHC’s claims. Two and a half years later we are still awaiting a decision from that preliminary hearing. Confidential discussions about the complaint between IHC, the Ministry of Education, the Education Review Office, and the Education Council over four days in 2016 failed to reach a settlement.
The legal case is effectively stalled until the preliminary decision is released by the Human Rights Review Tribunal, then IHC will be in a queue for a hearing that may be years away. The delay is because the Tribunal is very thinly resourced and has experienced a huge rise in cases in recent years. Despite IHC raising this backlog with the Minister of Justice, no action has been taken to address it.
It’s preposterous that the government is even defending this. Full access to the curriculum for disabled students is government policy, so surely one would think that when instances of discrimination arise government would welcome guidance on how to combat it. But no, ‘all litigation must be defended even if we agree with the claims made against us’ – such a silly attitude to take. This surely must be a situation where the parties should get the declaration by consent, and then work together to stamp out the discrimination? Anything other than this highlights the government’s two-faced position on disabled kids’ access to education, and the reality of it being quite happy with the status quo.
so SUFW put up a sign saying “women, adult human female” and it gets taken down.
on another post I put up a video clip of a women in California complaining cause a trans women was naked with their penis out in a women’s spa around women and girls.
we as women are supposed to put up with the latter while there is an outcry leading to the removal of a sign with the dictionary definition of women. WTF!
if this concerns you even a little do think of going to the SUFW talk this Thursday 6 30pm at the Michael Fowler centre
It seems that the new aristocrats can push the peasants off their commons again. Sexuality now is not something that you have as a mainstream bodily natural condition, its a matter of choice now in the disintegrating society of the 21st century. Nothing can be relied on that once was sure.
And the fact that Christians and right wingers are said to be involved in SUFW (Speak up For Women) doesn’t lend it lustre, but for once they have a point.
Yes I am aware the private spa was/is inclusive of trans people. I think trans people should be allowed to attend a spa. But not in the women’s only space.
But a lot of women and the mothers of girls were very uncomfortable with a trans women, naked with their penis out in a women’s private space.
Do you not understand why that is? Do you think women and girls just have to suck it up? Why should women have to accommodate to something they are uncomfortable with?
Why can you not understand that it is a private business and so they can have whatever policy they like. They could choose to have no gendered areas. Why should you get to bully them into your way of thinking?
Solkta, I have not been in contact with the Wi spa. So it is incorrect to suggest that I am bullying them.
In NZ under the human rights act, it specifies that women have the right to private change room facilities for public decency and safety.
As a woman I am defending my right for this to persist. And some of women are feeling bullied to give up this human right, should trans activists require us to give up our private spaces.
You are part of the international whinge fest so yes you are indirectly bullying them. But apparently that is OK but not for people with an opposing view to complain to an advertising company.
Afaik California law forces Wi Spa to allow male bodied people into the women’s section if the male bodied person identifies are a woman. I’m still unclear if the trans woman has to have a GRC or can simply say at that reception that they are a woman. I’m guessing in practice it’s the latter. What this means is that if someone in California set up a spa for women only, they would be legally and socially prohibited from excluding male bodied people who ID as women (TW or men).
“They could choose to have no gendered areas.”
Afaik Wi Space separates their spaces by sex not gender, so they already have no gendered spaces. If they had gendered spaces, there’d be a non-binary or GNC space. Which is a not a bad idea alongside single sex spaces.
Obviously being all mixed sex spaces wouldn’t work for a Korean spa that has cultural practices of nakedness segregated by sex. And equally obviously it doesn’t work for many women.
I haven’t been able to figure out what the California statue says exactly, tried reading it myself and couldn’t make sense of it.But if you are saying that TW are allowed entry to the women’s space on the basis of gender not sex, are you saying that TW are not female?
“In a statement to Los Angeles about this weekend’s incident, Wi Spa points to California Civil Code 51 (b), which makes discriminating against trans and other gender non-conforming people in business establishments illegal in the state.”
“(b) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”
…
(e) For purposes of this section:
…
(5) “Sex” includes, but is not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth. “Sex” also includes, but is not limited to, a person’s gender. “Gender” means sex, and includes a person’s gender identity and gender expression. “Gender expression” means a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.
(6) “Sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status” includes a perception that the person has any particular characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any particular characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories.”
Looks like there are no laws to protect single sex spaces.
“There is no specific legislation that mandates for single-sex spaces and there are no laws that protect, for example, single-sex bathrooms or locker rooms in public places. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 has a provision for sex-segregated bathrooms, but the regulatory agency produced regulations on “gender-separated” bathrooms instead.”
That particular stature is basic non-discrimination. So a business isn’t allowed to refuse service on those grounds. Doesn’t say what facilities people are supposed to use.
It looks to me like a bit of the old “not my rule, it’s [the widest possible interpretation of] the law, sorry about that [not really sorry because I wanted it to happen anyway]”. Every bouncer who’s worked a door knows a variation of that one.
Heh. Bit of a language issue there.I suspect (and I can’t emphasise that enough, this just seems to me to be a plausible way out to stop being the battleground of a global political shitfight) that Wi Spa are interpreting that specific legislation to mean that while they might be able to stop “men” going into the “womens'” section, they’re not entitled to discriminate against transmen and transwomen.
However, some websites say that for employees there should be single-occupant gender neutral facilities available for people who want additional privacy, but nobody can be forced to use them. I.e. trans people can use whatever one they want, and if someone has a problem with it then the person with the problem has an alternative.
I was thinking more generally, that if there is no law protecting single sex spaces and there is a law protecting people from discrimination on the basis of sex (assuming Ca legislators still actually know what sex is), then is there anything to stop men from going into women’s spaces?
In the UK, there is law against discrimination but there are also exemptions where warranted. This is what gives legal right to women’s spaces, even excluding TW with a gender recognition cert afaik.
It’s this exemption that Stonewall UK has been lying about in its advice to orgs that it sanctions as trans friendly, and Stonewall has been lobbying to have the exemptions removed. (that’s how I understand it). This is at the heart of the whole shit fight (although not the whole of it)
NZ law seems to be similar but haven’t looked at it closely.
So yes, men can be stopped from going into women’s restrooms. But there would be exceptions to that if your definition of “men” includes transwomen, because that does not match the definition of “men” as a subset of “sex” according to the Californian legislature.
Interesting. Wi Spa might have been right in it being the law (depending on what actually happened).
if we put aside toilets for a moment, and look at other women’s spaces, my reading of the above is that there is no law that says there is an exemption for women from the anti-discrimination laws (except where other laws have been created eg the restroom one) eg women’s refuges or someone running a women’s health group. Men could legally try to access those spaces and not be denied on the basis of sex. This is of course bizarre and it won’t surprise me if I am reading this wrong, but we are talking about the US.
And yes, my understanding is that Wi Spa acted in accordance with Ca law. What I don’t know is whether self ID happens in the Wi Spa reception or if someone has to have a state certification of gender ID. The thing pertinent to NZ here is that no-one currently is going to ask for the certificate at the reception desk, even if they think the person is a man. Self ID as a technical approach to birth cert changes shifts the overton window so that self ID becomes a matter of what the person says in the moment across society. How left wing people can believe this won’t be abused by men is beyond me.
(And as above, crazy fucking language in the Ca legislation).
As you say, there might be other laws or case law that we, as NZ googlers, might not know about.
As for your final point, sure some guy will try it sooner or later. There’s no limit to the arseholery of humanity. But at the same time, using one of the innumerable other ways to refuse service to an individual you don’t like the look of is not discrimination on the basis of gender self-id, especially if your establishment is trans-accepting.
And that’s if one argues that all one needs for gender self-id is for me to yell “I’m a girl now” to go wherever I want. If I did that wearing a three piece suit with not so much as a doctor’s appointment to talk about transitioning or what have you, the honesty of my claim could well be challenged. And being America, I’d be surprised if it hasn’t (especially as at the NZ uni I worked at a local dickhead for years kept trying to run for womens’ rights officer, and complained about sex discrimination because we wouldn’t let him). It’s quite rare for a loophole that obvious to exist for years without being tested and then patched in response to the test.
then they should tell their female customers that they can no longer provide single sex spaces. California law prohibits them from excluding trans women, and any men that ID as a woman, from the women’s space. I’m under the impression that many women don’t know this. Likewise in NZ if the govt passes self ID law without consulting women. We will end up with social changes that most NZers don’t realise is happening. That alone should be a red flag.
The Adult, Human, Female banner is on point about that.
Go Media’s general manager, Simon Teagle, told 1 NEWS it removed the billboard as soon as it started fielding calls from offended New Zealanders.
“We believe it maybe in breach of ASA codes, and therefore the advertising material in breach of our contract. We have subsequently notified the advertiser. We have placed the contract with the advertiser on hold until a clear determination from the ASA is provided.
“Go Media is an inclusive, locally-owned New Zealand business and we support all communities. While we believe in freedom of speech, we do not condone content that upsets our community. We apologise unreservedly for any distress this may have caused anyone, and remedied the situation as soon we could.”
The Conversation is ‘helping’ NZ get informed about sea level rise in a study co-led by Tim Naish and Richard Levy called the NZ SeaRise programme.
These two men are glaciologists and may be looking at the changing earth over the last 40 million years. I suggest that they lack the urgency of those worrying about whether they are going to be hit by a combination of seal level rise, storm surge and increased ground water arising from a heavy rain ‘event’ around their house, and just as importantly on the business decisions of their insurers and their actuaries. However if they can get some good theoretical statistics for the insurers, that will be most useful.
Most people still use the word woman to mean female. In English we don’t usually call women females except in specific situations. I wouldn’t for instance say see those two females standing over there, I’d say see those two women standing over there.
Scratching my head at that. Where’s the dishonesty? Women and trans women, it’s really simple. I want women to be able to retain single sex spaces. I want trans women to have access to their own spaces. I will support them to have that in society.
I’m not sure why you say there is dishonestly in my position when you seem to be presenting a semantic argument around the words female and woman. Maybe I’m missing something?
I’m not absolutist about eg I’m fine with TW using whatever toilet works for them. But we need to have the debate openly about what this means, and how it impacts on women as well as trans people. That’s where the dishonesty is currently, and the attacks on SUFW will just make that worse.
I also want to exclude men (males), from those single sex spaces.
What I and many women are also not willing to do is give up language that we need to talk about our own experiences, especially politically.
The way you are using woman and trans woman does not make sense. Woman is the noun and cis and trans are adjectives, they name an attribute of the noun. Woman is the set and cis woman and trans woman are subsets. If you think the term “woman” should be reserved for females then you should object to the use of “trans woman”. It is really simple, basic level grammar.
it does make sense in that you understood exactly what I meant. As most people will also understand exactly what I meant because that’s how English is used and understood in context.What you are saying is that how I am using language doesn’t suit your politics. If you want to change current use of the English language for political reasons, then stand up and make the argument.
My problem with your position is that what you are saying sits alongside women being told they’re not allowed to talk about being female as well. This is why many women who were once ok with sharing more with trans women, are now insisting on retaining the meaning of the word woman for adult human females. eg refusing to be seen as a subset. Trans woman is a noun.
Maybe you are unaware then of the volatile political context in which you are arguing that woman should no longer mean adult female.
As I said, make the political argument.
My grammar is perfectly understandable and in line with common usage. You are arguing to change that usage, but I’m not yet seeing the argument for why.
‘New Zealander’ is used to mean white person and then for all other varieties an adjective is added.
Ok, but that’s identity not ethnicity. I know very few people that use ‘New Zealander’ to mean white. It’s not used that way in law, media, education, science, medicine, or every day language. Most people I know when talking about biologically female people would use the word woman in most contexts, and this is still the main usage in law, media, education, science, medicine.
And again, if you want to change the meaning of the word woman for political reasons, front up and make the political argument to society at large and let us have a conversation about it. Challenge the no debate position, and let people talk about it.
Simply saying, or just implying, it’s bigotry to not use it the way you want is a democratic fail.
. I know very few people that use ‘New Zealander’ to mean white. It’s not used that way in law, media, education, science, medicine, or every day language.
But it happens enough to occasionally skew data gathered in those fields. Back when using paper forms, “NZ European / Pakeha” scribbled out and “NEW ZEALANDER!!!” carved into the page with biro was not uncommon. And it happened enough on the census in the early oughts that statsnz had to crank out an analysis on it (the rest of the forms mostly matched those of pakeha middle aged male mid-high income small business owners, from what I recall).
But I suspect the parallel isn’t each term’s use in administrative paperwork so match as the use in public by some smaller groups to dogwhistle to the converted and to try to spread their message of alienation.
Solkta and McFlock have explained it adequately. I am no longer prepared to indulge people who want a 101 level conversation about a topic they supposedly know about.
Sacha, you can correct me all you like, but I am sticking with the language I am comfortable with.
I believe biological sex trumps gender ideology. I believe trans gender people deserve the same rights as anyone else, but that doesn’t include the right to have me agree to their language requirements.
I am a biological women. Always have been always will be. I am not a cis women, just a women.
trans used to be referred to as transvestites or trans sexual. I understand they want to be referred to as trans men and women and that is fine by me. They have a right to identify as the opposite gender to their natal sex, no problem.
if a transgender individual asks me to use their pronouns, out of courtesy I would likely do my best to remember to do that. If they demanded I did, maybe not so much, it would depend.
women’s rights to private spaces and to women only sporting competitions are set out in the Human Rights Act 1993 and I will defend those rights vigorously
I have just read a book by Anne Perry set around rape of women and the difficulties of them at that time, in the 1890s, being safe from it, and being able to look for control and justice. because of the deep disgust felt by everybody in society about it, and the way they tended to include the victim in these emotions. In the first fifty or so pages she describes the problem well. It's 'Midnight at Marble Arch' and is quite a complicated plot, with a number of themes.
And to try and understand what women think about sex, there are two novellists specialising in stories which often have a soft porn centre, who seem to be popular, Jude Deveraux and Linda Howard. Men might learn something about women's ideas, and women might ponder on what these books indicate is missing in their lives.
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Pacific Media Watch Television New Zealand Pacific correspondent Barbara Dreaver has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to investigative journalism and Pacific communities in a ceremony at Government House, reports 1News. She has been the Pacific correspondent for 1News since 2002, breaking many ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Tuesday’s budget will respond to the deepening public agitation over Australia’s housing shortages by pouring new money into crisis accommodation for women and children, social housing and infrastructure. A specially-convened national cabinet late Friday ticked ...
By Kaneta Naimatu in Suva Journalists in the Pacific region play an important role as the “eyes and ears on the ground” when it comes to reporting the climate crisis, says the European Union’s Pacific Ambassador Barbara Plinkert. Speaking at The University of the South Pacific (USP) on World Press ...
Aldora Itunu is back in the Black Ferns squad after a three-year absence. The last of her 24 internationals was an underwhelming loss to France (7-29) in Castres to conclude the disastrous 2021 Northern Tour. The powerhouse prop won a Rugby World Cup in 2017 and thought she was done. ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Munro, Lecturer, Creative Industries and Digital Media, University of South Australia Twenty-four hours after the release of Macklemore’s pro-Palestine protest song Hind’s Hall on social media on May 7, the video had already notched up over 24 million views. In ...
Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Helal, Assistant Dean (Sustainability), The University of Melbourne Dubai skylineAleksandarPasaric/Pexels Since ancient times, people have built structures that reach for the skies – from the steep spires of medieval towers to the grand domes of ancient cathedrals and mosques. Today ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edward Musole, PhD Law Student, University of New England Girts Ragelis/ShutterstockRecent trends show Australians are increasingly buying wearables such as smartwatches and fitness trackers. These electronics track our body movements or vital signs to provide data throughout the day, with ...
Papua New Guinea experienced a significant earthquake on 24 March in East Sepik and there has also been recent flooding there and in surrounding provinces. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland Maridav/Shutterstock You wake up, stagger to the bathroom and gaze into the mirror. No, you’re not imagining it. You’ve developed face wrinkles overnight. They’re sleep wrinkles. Sleep wrinkles are temporary. But as your ...
The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
The New Zealand entrepreneur behind beauty business Ethique is gearing up to launch a new eco-venture. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Our thirst for a tasty bevvy is insatiable, but it comes with a hefty plastic price for the planet: 580 billion ...
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 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By César Albarrán-Torres, Senior Lecturer, Department of Media and Communication, Swinburne University of Technology Apple TV+ As one of billions of bilingual individuals in the world, it disappoints me when a film or TV show with characters of a non-English-speaking background is ...
The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Corderoy, Medical doctor and PhD candidate studying involuntary psychiatric treatment, School of Psychiatry, UNSW Sydney shop_py/Shutterstock Picture two people, both suffering from a serious mental illness requiring hospital admission. One was born in Australia, the other in Asia. Hopefully, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Treby, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, RMIT University P.j.Hickox, Shutterstock Peatlands store more carbon per square metre than any other ecosystem on Earth. These waterlogged, mossy bogs beat even dense rainforests for their ability to act as carbon reservoirs. Under the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
In 2021 the Public Interest Journalism Fund launched the Te Rito Journalism project, a $2.4 million initiative to boost diversity in New Zealand’s newsrooms. The initiative was in response to the decades-long shortage of Māori and Pacific journalists in the media industry. It was billed as New Zealand’s ...
The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
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Successive governments have tried, and failed, to count Māori. But with the return of social investment, it’s more important than ever to get good data. The post Government looks for a better way to count Māori appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Experts in financing social investment initiatives say New Zealand is in a prime position to tackle social issues via a social investment approach The post What will Willis’ social investment fund look like? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist A former Tuvalu prime minister says while the New Zealand government’s oil and gas plans show it is concerned about its economy, he is more concerned about the livelihoods and survival of the Tuvalu people. Enele Sopoaga — who still serves as an MP ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Many people who follow federal budgets know about the magnificent “budget tree” in a parliamentary courtyard, which turns a glorious red in time for the May event. This week Treasurer Jim Chalmers posed by ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Bennett, Professor of Music, Australian National University Richard P J Lambert/flickr, CC BY The future belongs to the analogue loyalists. Fuck digital. As a tsunami of CDs, DAT tapes and samplers swept the recording industry in the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catherine Strong, Associate professor, Music Industry, RMIT University This week American rapper Macklemore released a new track, Hind’s Hall, which has gained a lot of attention because of its explicitly political nature. The track is unapologetically pro-Palestine. It declares the artist’s ...
Explainer - The government from 2025 is mandating how state schools teach children to read. But what is structured literacy and how does it compare to other teaching methods? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danica Jenkins, Lecturer in European Studies, University of Sydney On a freezing spring night in March, Georgia’s national soccer team beat Greece in a nail-biter penalty shootout to qualify for the Euro 2024 championships. The atmosphere on the streets of the capital ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam G. Arian, Lecturer (Accounting & Finance), Australian Catholic University Loic Manegarium/Pexels Imagine every ton of carbon dioxide a company emits is slowly inflating its costs — not just in terms of potential fines or fees but in the capital it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somwrita Sarkar, Senior Lecturer in Design and Computation, University of Sydney The “latte line” is the infamous, invisible boundary that divides Sydney between the more affluent north-east and the south-west. Historically, people north of the line enjoy better access to jobs and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dowdy, Principal Research Scientist in Extreme Weather, The University of Melbourne Nomad_Soul/Shutterstock In media articles about unprecedented flooding, you’ll often come across the statement that for every 1°C of warming, the atmosphere can hold about 7% more moisture. This ...
Pick your favourite;
A: First billionaire in space
Or,
B: First dog on the moon
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/09/i-hate-to-say-it-but-it-looks-like-the-age-of-fossil-fuels-will-end-in-the-next-few-years?
I thought all the front line people were supposed to be vaccinated months ago? Why is it taking so long when the border is so important. Simple solution is when employees turn up to start their shift, if they can’t show anything to say they are vaccinated, then they are sent home on unpaid leave.
Covid 19 coronavirus: Securing the weakness at the border … by October – NZ Herald
Complacency.
Most kiwis seem to have this view that we are happy to wait because COVID hasn’t got into the community. I don’t really know anyone who is overly anxious to get it. Its simply a case of when its my turn, I will. Fucking crazy view but thats New Zealand for you.
But I agree. It should simply be mandatory for border workers.
Knowing all the reasons why frontline workers are not vaccinated is what I want to know.
Is it being redeployed, not wanting the vaccine, the roll out, being absent, complacency?
The vaccine is not 100 per cent.
If you’d taken the trouble to watch the PMs post cabinet news conference rather than eagerly consume the pure anti-government propaganda from the Herald your questions would be answered.
The ZB Taliban at the Herald is running a stridently nakedly anti-government agenda, I wonder how the likes of Simon Wilson (who utterly excoriates national in todays paper https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/simon-wilson-judith-collins-leadership-is-1-year-old-and-its-time-her-party-grows-up/5W6IB5MNXBNKWEYHHHZTY2UINI/ – paywalled) can square working for the paper these days.
It was claimed by someone on Q&A (I think) that a lot of those not vaccinated are casual port workers. I don’t know how it works, but Covid has likely reduced the number of ships entering our smaller ports so some of these people may not have been working on the wharves for some time. Hence they have missed vaccination opportunities.
Just a possible reason.
Could just be waiting for the next generation vaccine in order to lower the risk to themselves. Nothing wrong with putting yourself first, especially when we know that in the unlikely event things do go wrong you have no insurance cover and a really shit welfare system for the most dependent (mildly impaired are treated much better).
Nothing wrong with putting yourself first, indeed. As the scripture says:
Our current mRNA vaccine doesn’t confer sterilised immunity, meaning transmission can still take place so any community benefit is highly questionable. Here is an actual expert (more like an expert of experts imho) talking about just how risky that strategy could be.
Highly questionable, huh. Underlining and everything, too. Sounds bad. “30 minutes of my life” bad? I guess I’ll never find out.
Being able to ask questions is a bit like transmission still being able to take place: the important factors are not the binary absolutism of existence, but how many and how significantly.
An expose of some of vanden Bossche’s dodgy claims.
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/covid-19-critical-thinking-pseudoscience/doomsday-prophecy-dr-geert-vanden-bossche
Dunno if it specifically rebuts what’s said in that goldbugger doomie-prep grifter Martenson’s woo-tube clip. I’m not going to waste 30 minutes to watch it to find out.
Not really correct.
Transmission can still take place – yes. The probability of it happening is severely reduced because the immune responses in a vaccinated host kill off a exponential growth in released viruses.
R5 drops down to something like R0.02 even with delta according to the last set of results I looked at.
Basically the only people who get infected are likely to be the unvaccinated. It means that people who can’t take vaccines will keep having to protect themselves. Those who choose to not take the vaccine get a genetic winnowing. Not really any one else’s problem – apart from their family and friends.
Personally I will be pretty unlikely to want to work close to someone who chooses not to vaccinated. They just increase my risks.
As far as I can tell, the only real contraindication for the Pfizer vaccine is allergic history. And even for those unfortunates, if they’re brave enough to risk an anaphylactic reaction in the knowledge that the medical staff around them will be able to safely deal with it, it’s fine to get the vaccine. Or I would hope here in NZ they would get offered one of the alternatives that doesn’t carry that allergic risk.
Immunocompromised people can apparently quite safely get the Pfizer vaccine. There’s no kind of organism replication going on that has to suppressed by a functioning immune system. The injected mRNA just does its thing, breaks down, and the detritus gets cleaned away by our body’s regular garbage disposal system.
It’s just that immunocompromised people are much less likely to get benefit from the vaccine. Since by definition, the vaccine stimulates and trains the immune system, but immunocompromised people have a low to non-functioning immune system. So they are still mostly dependent on the rest of us getting vaccinated for their protection via community immunity.
The other problem with unvaccinated people getting sick is the effect it has on the medical staff that end up trying to care for them. My rellies overseas are now finding it much tougher psychologically trying to keep an unvaccinated covid sufferer alive now that they’ve had the opportunity to get vaccinated and declined. Because that suffering is just so pointlessly stupid and so easily, cheaply, and safely avoidable.
Yeah, I felt that after I wrapped my head around the issue.
The focus for me was a intelligent fellow worker talking to me recently about a meta-study on an alternative treatment for covid-19. I read it and from what he’d said deduced (correctly) that he’d mistaken a reliability of what was measured for a reliability of the effectiveness of the treatment.
Very small sample sizes, a lot of variation in measurement in the studies, inconsistencies in how the treat was delivered, etc etc meant that the authors assessment of the reliability of the instances in the studies only got up to ‘Moderate’, and many were ‘Very Low’. Moderate was OK for data reliability, but it isn’t midway – it is barely acceptable.
The largest aggregate sample size was ~1500 for having had the treatment giving death / non-death (ie everyone in the study). And the change on the statistically expected death results was around 5% inside the sample of all people getting the treatment. Maybe verging on significance for something. But given the way the data was collected – probably more significant for evidence of wishful thinking.
The treatment was been given as a Hail Mary by medical staff who had noting else to give. You’d probably find that aspirin or a source of clean water was more effective. “Coke adds life!” could be the new slogan..
Afterwards I found that personally I would have a personal reluctance to be anyone who thinks like that after I’d been vaccinated. He’d provide a perfect vector for a new variant to infect me, and the probability was that he’d do it over and over again. His obvious wish to avoid the vaccine was likely to be a clear and present danger to my health – and my taxes.
I saw that the major contributor paper to that meta study just got redacted over what essentially looks like made up data.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/16/huge-study-supporting-ivermectin-as-covid-treatment-withdrawn-over-ethical-concerns
That doesn't surprise me. It felt like much of the data used was like a Peter Singer paper on climate change – designed to confuse the credulous who are irrationally unskeptical and prefer to just jump to conspiracy conclusions.
What is the threshold for a second-generation vaccine being considered safe enough? After all, there will be less data on a second generation than a first, simply because it’s newer. Maybe better wait for a third, or fourth generation …
Meanwhile, in the actual world, we’re at about a year from the start of the phase 3 trials for the Pfizer and moderna mRNA vaccines. Meaning we’ve got a year of safety data for thousands of intensely monitored volunteers. We’re at about 6 months from the mass rollout, so we’ve got safety data for hundreds of millions of vaccinated people, with safety monitoring that has now detected several different kinds of “less than ten per million” side effects.
Almost all of those extremely rare vaccine side effects resolve in at most a few weeks without causing permanent damage or disability.
Unlike actual covid, which causes many many long term disabilities (we don’t know how long-term, but definitely many people are still debilitated 18 months after infection) as well as death for about 1% of those infected.
With the mRNA vaccines, it will be transcription ‘code’ to get the body cells to produce fragments of signature virus coating or other characteristics. This gets the immune system to become accustomed to attacking those signatures. This would be a separate booster shot after the original vaccine to target a specific new variant.
No mixed in other biological. Minimal or no updates to the vaccine production, transports or delivery. Mostly what they will be looking for is interactions with other conditions – ie either effectiveness or complications.
A much easier test case using the existing or similar test structures. Targeting populations who are already vaccinated and possibly subject to reinvention with a specific c
variant.
The Pfizer vaccine booster just announced as being developed is just targeting delta. I would guess that if lamda takes off then that will be next.
My comment about second generation being safe enough was aimed at KSaysHi suggesting some unvaccinated people are waiting for more safety information or for a newer purportedly safer vaccine to be released.
From the comments made by academic family and friends that need a deep understanding of cell biochemistry for their science jobs, I have zero concerns about long term safety issues with the mRNA vaccines.
The development of mRNA vaccines over the last few decades has also been long enough and careful enough to cover all the concerns I had when I first heard about the technology. Yes, there were serious obstacles to learn how to overcome, including severely problematic immune system reactions. But those reactions were seen within a very short time after vaccination, and there has been no hint of safety problems popping up months or years after vaccination.
I’d take them over normal vaccines any time.
I have quibbles about the probable misuses of the technology though. I’d imagine that it will eventually be used as a perfect way to cause unexplained deaths. A lot harder to trace than polonium from an umbrella.
So aprox 5% are not yet vaccinated? New employees, those who can not? seems pretty good really Jimmy.
Pigs in Space
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Given we no longer allow low skilled migrant labour in, maybe its time we allowed those here already here to shift from these jobs to others – such as in dairy, or horticulture. Then employers would have to offer these jobs to locals who have the option of moving from job to job, if conditions and wages are not competitive.
listening to a kiwi bank economist predicting wage inflation today and I thought of these low skilled/paid seasonal jobs that would probably require a substitution of improved wages and conditions to attract others available.
A big issue is accommodation as well. Moving for short-term work means you either give up your accommodation where you are or you pay for two lots at the same time. There is a big risk in giving up where you are now that you might not be able to find accommodation when you return home.Most people have little interest in living in a tent/back-packers/caravan for a few months. Cooking meals after a days work becomes problematic as well even if you do do this.Moving for a permanent full-time job is another kettle of fish entirely.
The migrant currently trapped in their job and earning little more than the food power and rent money may welcome the opportunity – seasonal work jobs can lead to permanent employment, and dairy farm jobs come with housing.
The jobs the migrants leave can be filled by locals – albeit the employer would have to improve pay and conditions to attract them.
The migrants may find little left after paying rent in the urban centres – they can at least save in the seasonal work jobs and the dairy farm work often comes with provided housing.
Yesty arvo on RNZ, there was a great interview with Kasey Edwards about raising girls who will like themselves.
Most of what I heard can be applied to boys.
What is proposed builds self regard and resilience (something that seems to be unfashionable in parenting nowadays).
Sorry, hard to link via my batfone.
Sounds like a good idea!! https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018803627/raising-girls-who-like-themselves-with-kasey-edwards
Thanks Grey.
This is it. This shitty little rust bucket is what we’re jeopardising our Covid free country for:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/446778/covid-19-13-more-positive-cases-on-quarantined-fishing-vessel-viking-bay
13 plus 2 positive cases – how many crew on that rust bucket? What a miserable existence..
15 in total now tested positive
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-coronavirus-health-officials-to-give-update-as-13-mariners-test-positive/GQKVJPA6VHLTWVTGNNB4SZD7MU/
Assuming its an NZ flagged vessel I hope worksafe are investigating this.
As i understand it two crew were allowed to enter NZ and without 14 days quarintine travel to and join the vessel. Thats endangered the entire crew and if one were to die surely whoever is in charge of the boat should be in the gun for prosecution.
No – Spain. https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:3434693/mmsi:224342000/imo:9221516/vessel:VIKING_BAY
Hmm, hired to fish NZ quota? Would worksafe have jurisdiction?
The fact that we let the crew avoid quarantine to meet the vessel shows the influence the fishing lobby have. I feel very sorry for the crew members who have been exposed and infected thanks to irresponsible bosses. If we can prosecute we should.
And there is another one – Spanish flagged Playa Zahara.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/125732764/ship-due-to-arrive-at-port-taranaki-with-crew-suffering-from-flulike-illness
Interesting how various sites set hurdles for you to jump before they will reveal any clear information. This one with a grey curtain over the page until you comply with something.
If it is Spain, then perhaps it is from the north. IIRR that area has received great concessions and subsidies from the Spanish govt to build fishing vessels which have tended to swamp the fishing industry. I wonder if they then provide jobs for Spanish, especially Catalan crew.
I guess the extreme left ‘No Borders’ concept is dead then.
I guess that you’re trolling.
That all Peter chch usually seems to be able to do (in my experience). A lower form of existence who is just intelligent enough recognise that he is very ignorant, is too lazy to do anything about it, and likes having a good persecution fetish.
Generally pays to either be ignored. If you want a bit of a amusement you can spank him so that he can writhe in a foul ecstasy at being patted by a dom (his secret shame). But given his disadvantages (namely his personality), if you’re feeling kind – simply being excluded works.
Of course that is just my opinion. (yes he is usually a troll).
Spank him? Interesting I have never tried that.
A troll? No. It may appear that i am, as i certainly do disagree with many opinions on here, but I would absolutely agree with the goals of most on here.
It is not, for me, an argument about the goals. Its an argument about the means. If that makes me a troll, well you are wrong. But so be It.
I’m not into spanking, more into whipping, actually.
I don’t care whether you are a troll or not. I do care about the fact that some (…) of your comments are troll-like enough to appear on my radar. I couldn’t possibly comment on a persecution fetish that you might have.
Here’s a tip, more like advice, actually: if you don’t want to appear on the radar of Moderators and/or SYSOP, lift the quality of your comments and make it look like you’re engaging in good faith here, irrespective of whether your opinion is widely agreed or disagreed with (AKA unpopular) here – robust debate is the kaupapa of this site. Put simply: lift your game, thanks.
The choice is yours; the whip is within reach, always.
Incognito. I am no troll. Yes I disagree with many posts on here. I, in my opinion, am a socialist. I, again in my opinion, engage in good faith. Same goals I think, but different means.
But let’s be honest. Many people on TS are a little unrealistic as what might work or stick.
I try to engage in good faith, but some just give abuse in response.
Whipping? See my next post!
All this talk about whipping and spanking! Well, my partner and I went to a ‘bar’ off K road which sounded nice. The entrance fee seemed a bit steep but we were under drink. Full on sex club. Unbelievable .We enjoyed our time there. Did not partake. But I must, opened my eyes.
I have had time to think. I will forever leave TS. I see now that TS Sees ‘democracy ‘pr debate or dissenting views as a threat, not an opportunity
All the best, in the extremist void that will forever be limited to shouting that noone listened to
Kia kaha
‘
Saharafornication
The antieviction thing has always favored certain elements in our society. They get higher levels of subsidies from those who can’t get social housing. Consequences are experienced by everyone who is nearby but not the cause of the issues and that has got to stop.
That’s right….help the tenant to help himself by making choices! How empowering [sarc]
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/hawkes-bay-kainga-ora-tenant-nails-windows-shut-to-protect-himself-from-gang-intimidation/JMDJKAHIJXH56LZQVYFSWX2NRE/
National Library sending 600,000 books to the Philippines to be digitised
http://wellington.scoop.co.nz/?p=137587 Real books vs Pixels
How to knife your ‘clients’ and your very job in the back! A ‘librarian’ sending books owned to be digitised instead of going all-out to support the excellent system we have of reading physical books, the whole literate and skilled community behind it, and the way that books encouraging imagination, discussion, are housed in places that draw communities, and are artifacts that represent humanity and serve it, in a way that bloody tech doesn’t (whether covered in red stuff or not, and of course that description is an oxymoron because tech is bloodless and dead). Stream of consciousness?
Totally agree Grey. Digital books are great for reference or technical things, but not for ‘reading’.
Can read and immerse oneself in a physical book, but digital? Not really.
Meh, the comments are more informative than that article. Good move, IMO, and for the record, I love real books.
I have written a short comment on Daily Review for Mon. 12/7. This went up at 10.22am with awaiting moderation, then vanished so I sent another one after it at 10.37am, same message, has vanished also. Nothing controversial about either of them. So where, what?
Patience is a virtue.
https://thestandard.org.nz/policy/#moderation
Are we there yet? Are we at the hopeless bottom yet? Are we at the stage where we realise there is a serious problem yet?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/whoseatingnewzealand/446687/us-buying-up-our-primary-industries
United States citizens and companies are buying up New Zealand land for farming, forestry and wine-making, an RNZ analysis reveals.
Almost 180,000 hectares of farming land was purchased or leased by foreign interests between 2010 and 2021.
During the 11-year period almost 460,000ha – a little under the size of the Auckland region – shifted out of New Zealand control through purchases, leases or rights to take forestry. For simplicity’s sake, this is referred to as bought land throughout this article.
More than 70,000ha of land was bought for dairying operations and more than 100,000 for farming other types of animals, such as beef, sheep or deer.
It seems that farming entities have control of the country, so no wonder we can’t get anything done for ordinary people, who now can’t even own a tiny bit of land! Perhaps Bill Sutch had to be headed off, with the way that he was encouraging us to make new pathways, go in new directions, explore other options. Think.
Barking.
State Republican lawmakers around the country are pushing bills — at least one of which has become law — that would give unvaccinated people the same protections as those surrounding race, gender and religion.
https://www.axios.com/republicans-coronavirus-vaccines-discrimination-law-states-533503fb-fa83-43d0-bd51-2d614483d241.html
Way to show Chyyy-nuh who’s boss! They don’t need no stinkin’ protection from the Chyyy-nuh virus!
GOP class. (vile human, nsfw)
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1414734401439768578
Yeah, you wouldn’t want to drive near her. For starters, she’s on the wrong side of the road that she’s not paying any attention to.
Or maybe she just can’t post the video the right way around.
Yikes.
https://mobile.twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1413931514954489860
Tory scum.
https://twitter.com/allthecitizens/status/1413599090680770566
One could say he’s also de-facto promoting a level of racism that no leader should condone.
English fans booing the knee being taken by players Blojo referred to as ‘gesture politics’ so as to not upset his base.
It’s almost entirely among the unvaccinated. Some of whom are younger than the youngest age that vaccines have been approved for.
https://www.euronews.com/2021/07/03/european-nations-scramble-to-vaccinate-citizens-as-delta-variant-cases-surge
If this was happening in countries where vaccinations had plateaued, like Israel, meaning just about everyone that wanted to be vaccinated had already been jabbed, then I’d take a darwinian view of it. But in most of those countries, vaccinations are still happening at a good clip, meaning there’s still lots of people that want to be vaccinated that haven’t got it yet. So opening up to let things run wild in those countries is just barbaric.
https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations
Citation please, I couldn’t see anything referring to that in your link.
Also, England, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal which have covid spikes also have high rates of vaccinated persons too… which could mean there’s an association there.
Well, since you’re incapable of finding reliable information yourself, here’s several pieces that touch on it:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2021/07/08/covid-vaccine-variant-delta-infections-hospitalizations-cdc/7896029002/
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/01/spain-records-surge-in-covid-cases-among-unvaccinated-young-people
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roberthart/2021/06/17/englands-covid-cases-are-doubling-every-11-days-amid-surge-among-young-and-unvaccinated-study-finds/?sh=6e31e8aef294
Search terms you could use include covid breakthrough cases, or covid surge unvaccinated.
It’s plausible that high vaccination rates might precipitate a premature relaxation (aided and abetted by imprudent leaders) of precautionary behaviours that curb infection transmission, which could in turn contribute to the recent spikes in Covid variant delta infections seen in England, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands and Greece.
It’s even possible that the act of gathering in vaccination centres might (very slightly) increase transmission from infected to uninfected people.
But is there’s any scientifically plausible way that the Covid-19 vaccines themselves, administered in England, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Greece, could contribute directly to the recent ‘yikes spikes‘ graphed @12?
Some people are not fit to be landlords. They should name and shame the landlord.
Auckland landlord who called tenant a ‘bloody Māori’ must pay $8900 in damages | Stuff.co.nz
Not sure why but I don’t seem to be able to paste links anymore.
True, but some tenants are not fit to be tenants. They also need to be named, shamed, and excluded.
Yes, let’s actively make more people unhoused by excluding them from rentals. /s
People don’t need to be landlords, but everyone needs somewhere to live.
All people living in NZ have the human right to adequate housing. What you’re proposing would contravene this human right.
Are you suggesting that there is no circumstance where a landlord cannot exclude someone a tenancy (irrespective of who that landlord may be) ?
No
Umm. What’s left below tenant in the hierarchy of housing?
The street, I guess.
They also need to be named, shamed, and excluded have special units built in concrete (hoseable) in industrial areas where they can be kept under curfew at night. simple bedding and facilities suitable for the half-crazed person.
That’s dealt with the present crop. The ones coming forward can be changed by their parents entering a program run under suitable cultural levels that assists parents in their role, helps them as needed, and enables them to have a happy life bringing up children in a kindly and firm way with goals for the parents and little ones for the children, like pocket money for doing tasks as part of family life. This outrageous system actually had been proved to work many decades ago, but has fallen into disuse, now needing revival. And those in the system would be offered free skills training, and on completion a job and income equal to a living wage. Also holidays at adventure camps once or twice a year. Incentives, in-sense-activities! If a significant percentage could be enthused to start this, with parents as role models, in ten years there would be a difference growing exponentiallly.
I agree Peter, tenants that purposely trash houses should be named and shamed and excluded from other rentals.
I’ll have a look at it soonish. Any day now my head will revert from last weeks bug and switch from birdbrain to crazy good programmer again. 😈
Disabled kids missing out at local schools is well documented, just as parents paying for extra teacher aide hours is common practice because of the limited resources governments past and present put in to ensuring disabled kids get a fair go.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/125734372/boys-teacher-aide-cut-off-after-parents-told-theyre-not-allowed-to-fund-it
Where the heck is the Human Rights Commission when it comes to this problem that’s been around now for decades? Governments for years have been saying that disabled children have access to the same learning opportunities as all other students, but we know that’s not true. Schools themselves say they’re woefully under-resourced.
All the rhetoric around how well the system’s working for disabled students shows how far the government’s head is buried in the sand. It beggars belief that despite everything we know this government’s now preventing parents topping up teacher aide hours, as if it isn’t needed. It’s a tragedy, of course, that it’s only the kids of those who can afford to do this who have access to crucial resources, but to now ban parents from doing this shows just how sensitive the government is to the criticisms. The government’s position on this whole issue is just diabolical.
Where the heck is the Human Rights Commission
Too busy making friends with the gangs. Want some money from this government? Join a gang.
I see that you’re a fully patched gang member of the Troll Mob.
Govts are very comfortable with HRC delays. https://ihc.org.nz/ihcs-education-complaint
I think this might be the result of that preliminary hearing?
http://www.nzlii.org/cgi-bin/download.cgi/cgi-bin/download.cgi/download/nz/cases/NZHRRT/2020/47.pdf
It’s preposterous that the government is even defending this. Full access to the curriculum for disabled students is government policy, so surely one would think that when instances of discrimination arise government would welcome guidance on how to combat it. But no, ‘all litigation must be defended even if we agree with the claims made against us’ – such a silly attitude to take. This surely must be a situation where the parties should get the declaration by consent, and then work together to stamp out the discrimination? Anything other than this highlights the government’s two-faced position on disabled kids’ access to education, and the reality of it being quite happy with the status quo.
Yes, I’m not clear what precedent they believe they are defending this time. Immoral.
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2021/07/13/women-will-not-be-silenced/
so SUFW put up a sign saying “women, adult human female” and it gets taken down.
on another post I put up a video clip of a women in California complaining cause a trans women was naked with their penis out in a women’s spa around women and girls.
we as women are supposed to put up with the latter while there is an outcry leading to the removal of a sign with the dictionary definition of women. WTF!
if this concerns you even a little do think of going to the SUFW talk this Thursday 6 30pm at the Michael Fowler centre
A private spa and a private media company find your ideas offensive, so what.
Anker
It seems that the new aristocrats can push the peasants off their commons again. Sexuality now is not something that you have as a mainstream bodily natural condition, its a matter of choice now in the disintegrating society of the 21st century. Nothing can be relied on that once was sure.
And the fact that Christians and right wingers are said to be involved in SUFW (Speak up For Women) doesn’t lend it lustre, but for once they have a point.
The private spa was/is inclusive of trans people Anker.
Yes I am aware the private spa was/is inclusive of trans people. I think trans people should be allowed to attend a spa. But not in the women’s only space.
But a lot of women and the mothers of girls were very uncomfortable with a trans women, naked with their penis out in a women’s private space.
Do you not understand why that is? Do you think women and girls just have to suck it up? Why should women have to accommodate to something they are uncomfortable with?
Why can you not understand that it is a private business and so they can have whatever policy they like. They could choose to have no gendered areas. Why should you get to bully them into your way of thinking?
Solkta, I have not been in contact with the Wi spa. So it is incorrect to suggest that I am bullying them.
In NZ under the human rights act, it specifies that women have the right to private change room facilities for public decency and safety.
As a woman I am defending my right for this to persist. And some of women are feeling bullied to give up this human right, should trans activists require us to give up our private spaces.
You are part of the international whinge fest so yes you are indirectly bullying them. But apparently that is OK but not for people with an opposing view to complain to an advertising company.
Afaik California law forces Wi Spa to allow male bodied people into the women’s section if the male bodied person identifies are a woman. I’m still unclear if the trans woman has to have a GRC or can simply say at that reception that they are a woman. I’m guessing in practice it’s the latter. What this means is that if someone in California set up a spa for women only, they would be legally and socially prohibited from excluding male bodied people who ID as women (TW or men).
“They could choose to have no gendered areas.”
Afaik Wi Space separates their spaces by sex not gender, so they already have no gendered spaces. If they had gendered spaces, there’d be a non-binary or GNC space. Which is a not a bad idea alongside single sex spaces.
Obviously being all mixed sex spaces wouldn’t work for a Korean spa that has cultural practices of nakedness segregated by sex. And equally obviously it doesn’t work for many women.
They are obviously doing by gender if they allow a woman with a penis in the women’s area.
I haven’t been able to figure out what the California statue says exactly, tried reading it myself and couldn’t make sense of it.But if you are saying that TW are allowed entry to the women’s space on the basis of gender not sex, are you saying that TW are not female?
Maybe someone else can make sense of this.
“In a statement to Los Angeles about this weekend’s incident, Wi Spa points to California Civil Code 51 (b), which makes discriminating against trans and other gender non-conforming people in business establishments illegal in the state.”
https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/wi-spa-video/
“(b) All persons within the jurisdiction of this state are free and equal, and no matter what their sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status are entitled to the full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, privileges, or services in all business establishments of every kind whatsoever.”
…
(e) For purposes of this section:
…
(5) “Sex” includes, but is not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth. “Sex” also includes, but is not limited to, a person’s gender. “Gender” means sex, and includes a person’s gender identity and gender expression. “Gender expression” means a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior whether or not stereotypically associated with the person’s assigned sex at birth.
(6) “Sex, race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, citizenship, primary language, or immigration status” includes a perception that the person has any particular characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories or that the person is associated with a person who has, or is perceived to have, any particular characteristic or characteristics within the listed categories.”
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CIV§ionNum=51
Looks like there are no laws to protect single sex spaces.
“There is no specific legislation that mandates for single-sex spaces and there are no laws that protect, for example, single-sex bathrooms or locker rooms in public places. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 has a provision for sex-segregated bathrooms, but the regulatory agency produced regulations on “gender-separated” bathrooms instead.”
https://www.keep-prisons-single-sex.org.uk/california
That particular stature is basic non-discrimination. So a business isn’t allowed to refuse service on those grounds. Doesn’t say what facilities people are supposed to use.
It looks to me like a bit of the old “not my rule, it’s [the widest possible interpretation of] the law, sorry about that [not really sorry because I wanted it to happen anyway]”. Every bouncer who’s worked a door knows a variation of that one.
The closest I’ve found is a rule around single-occupant bathrooms needing to be indicated as all-gender. Maybe there’s something more substantial, maybe not.
does that mean Wi Spa couldn’t stop men from going into the women’s section?
Heh. Bit of a language issue there.I suspect (and I can’t emphasise that enough, this just seems to me to be a plausible way out to stop being the battleground of a global political shitfight) that Wi Spa are interpreting that specific legislation to mean that while they might be able to stop “men” going into the “womens'” section, they’re not entitled to discriminate against transmen and transwomen.
However, some websites say that for employees there should be single-occupant gender neutral facilities available for people who want additional privacy, but nobody can be forced to use them. I.e. trans people can use whatever one they want, and if someone has a problem with it then the person with the problem has an alternative.
I was thinking more generally, that if there is no law protecting single sex spaces and there is a law protecting people from discrimination on the basis of sex (assuming Ca legislators still actually know what sex is), then is there anything to stop men from going into women’s spaces?
In the UK, there is law against discrimination but there are also exemptions where warranted. This is what gives legal right to women’s spaces, even excluding TW with a gender recognition cert afaik.
It’s this exemption that Stonewall UK has been lying about in its advice to orgs that it sanctions as trans friendly, and Stonewall has been lobbying to have the exemptions removed. (that’s how I understand it). This is at the heart of the whole shit fight (although not the whole of it)
NZ law seems to be similar but haven’t looked at it closely.
Dunno about “spaces” generally, but the Ca restroom requirements state “for each sex”. Although your c&p above also includes (but not limited to) “gender” in “sex”.
So yes, men can be stopped from going into women’s restrooms. But there would be exceptions to that if your definition of “men” includes transwomen, because that does not match the definition of “men” as a subset of “sex” according to the Californian legislature.
Interesting. Wi Spa might have been right in it being the law (depending on what actually happened).
if we put aside toilets for a moment, and look at other women’s spaces, my reading of the above is that there is no law that says there is an exemption for women from the anti-discrimination laws (except where other laws have been created eg the restroom one) eg women’s refuges or someone running a women’s health group. Men could legally try to access those spaces and not be denied on the basis of sex. This is of course bizarre and it won’t surprise me if I am reading this wrong, but we are talking about the US.
And yes, my understanding is that Wi Spa acted in accordance with Ca law. What I don’t know is whether self ID happens in the Wi Spa reception or if someone has to have a state certification of gender ID. The thing pertinent to NZ here is that no-one currently is going to ask for the certificate at the reception desk, even if they think the person is a man. Self ID as a technical approach to birth cert changes shifts the overton window so that self ID becomes a matter of what the person says in the moment across society. How left wing people can believe this won’t be abused by men is beyond me.
(And as above, crazy fucking language in the Ca legislation).
As you say, there might be other laws or case law that we, as NZ googlers, might not know about.
As for your final point, sure some guy will try it sooner or later. There’s no limit to the arseholery of humanity. But at the same time, using one of the innumerable other ways to refuse service to an individual you don’t like the look of is not discrimination on the basis of gender self-id, especially if your establishment is trans-accepting.
And that’s if one argues that all one needs for gender self-id is for me to yell “I’m a girl now” to go wherever I want. If I did that wearing a three piece suit with not so much as a doctor’s appointment to talk about transitioning or what have you, the honesty of my claim could well be challenged. And being America, I’d be surprised if it hasn’t (especially as at the NZ uni I worked at a local dickhead for years kept trying to run for womens’ rights officer, and complained about sex discrimination because we wouldn’t let him). It’s quite rare for a loophole that obvious to exist for years without being tested and then patched in response to the test.
then they should tell their female customers that they can no longer provide single sex spaces. California law prohibits them from excluding trans women, and any men that ID as a woman, from the women’s space. I’m under the impression that many women don’t know this. Likewise in NZ if the govt passes self ID law without consulting women. We will end up with social changes that most NZers don’t realise is happening. That alone should be a red flag.
The Adult, Human, Female banner is on point about that.
The media company were find to put the sign up until they got complaints. If they geniunely found the sign offensive they wouldn’t have put it up.
What is so offensive about the dictionary definition of women?
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/anti-trans-billboard-removed-wellingtons-cbd
The Conversation is ‘helping’ NZ get informed about sea level rise in a study co-led by Tim Naish and Richard Levy called the NZ SeaRise programme.
These two men are glaciologists and may be looking at the changing earth over the last 40 million years. I suggest that they lack the urgency of those worrying about whether they are going to be hit by a combination of seal level rise, storm surge and increased ground water arising from a heavy rain ‘event’ around their house, and just as importantly on the business decisions of their insurers and their actuaries. However if they can get some good theoretical statistics for the insurers, that will be most useful.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/446809/significant-number-of-new-zealanders-overestimate-sea-level-rise-and-that-could-stop-them-from-taking-action
https://speakupforwomen.nz/speak-up-for-women-campaigners/
This is who SUFW members are. Not christians or right wingers. Feminists who are committed to women
Thanks for that Anker. It’s ironic that today’s feminists can’t support other women who are just being themselves
It’s not just restricted to today’s feminists. Goes back to at least the 1970s.
Committed to females. At least be honest about that.
Most people still use the word woman to mean female. In English we don’t usually call women females except in specific situations. I wouldn’t for instance say see those two females standing over there, I’d say see those two women standing over there.
We have had this conversation. If you want to exclude trans women from things, then you are campaigning for females. Be honest about it.
Scratching my head at that. Where’s the dishonesty? Women and trans women, it’s really simple. I want women to be able to retain single sex spaces. I want trans women to have access to their own spaces. I will support them to have that in society.
I’m not sure why you say there is dishonestly in my position when you seem to be presenting a semantic argument around the words female and woman. Maybe I’m missing something?
I’m not absolutist about eg I’m fine with TW using whatever toilet works for them. But we need to have the debate openly about what this means, and how it impacts on women as well as trans people. That’s where the dishonesty is currently, and the attacks on SUFW will just make that worse.
I also want to exclude men (males), from those single sex spaces.
What I and many women are also not willing to do is give up language that we need to talk about our own experiences, especially politically.
The way you are using woman and trans woman does not make sense. Woman is the noun and cis and trans are adjectives, they name an attribute of the noun. Woman is the set and cis woman and trans woman are subsets. If you think the term “woman” should be reserved for females then you should object to the use of “trans woman”. It is really simple, basic level grammar.
it does make sense in that you understood exactly what I meant. As most people will also understand exactly what I meant because that’s how English is used and understood in context.What you are saying is that how I am using language doesn’t suit your politics. If you want to change current use of the English language for political reasons, then stand up and make the argument.
My problem with your position is that what you are saying sits alongside women being told they’re not allowed to talk about being female as well. This is why many women who were once ok with sharing more with trans women, are now insisting on retaining the meaning of the word woman for adult human females. eg refusing to be seen as a subset. Trans woman is a noun.
Just because i can understand what you are saying does not mean that i think you are using language in an honest or grammatically coherent way.
I have not said anything about the word female so you can refrain from putting words in my mouth.
Maybe you are unaware then of the volatile political context in which you are arguing that woman should no longer mean adult female.
As I said, make the political argument.
My grammar is perfectly understandable and in line with common usage. You are arguing to change that usage, but I’m not yet seeing the argument for why.
Same dynamic as white people claiming the word ‘New Zealander’ as an ethnicity. Not defensible.
How is it the same? You’re asserting it is but not explaining how.
‘New Zealander’ is used to mean white person and then for all other varieties an adjective is added.
but hey it is a common usage so i guess that makes it OK.
Ok, but that’s identity not ethnicity. I know very few people that use ‘New Zealander’ to mean white. It’s not used that way in law, media, education, science, medicine, or every day language. Most people I know when talking about biologically female people would use the word woman in most contexts, and this is still the main usage in law, media, education, science, medicine.
And again, if you want to change the meaning of the word woman for political reasons, front up and make the political argument to society at large and let us have a conversation about it. Challenge the no debate position, and let people talk about it.
Simply saying, or just implying, it’s bigotry to not use it the way you want is a democratic fail.
But it happens enough to occasionally skew data gathered in those fields. Back when using paper forms, “NZ European / Pakeha” scribbled out and “NEW ZEALANDER!!!” carved into the page with biro was not uncommon. And it happened enough on the census in the early oughts that statsnz had to crank out an analysis on it (the rest of the forms mostly matched those of pakeha middle aged male mid-high income small business owners, from what I recall).
But I suspect the parallel isn’t each term’s use in administrative paperwork so match as the use in public by some smaller groups to dogwhistle to the converted and to try to spread their message of alienation.
Solkta and McFlock have explained it adequately. I am no longer prepared to indulge people who want a 101 level conversation about a topic they supposedly know about.
(seriously, I don’t understand what your argument is here).
There are rules
https://twitter.com/figgled/status/1414813272239263746
Sacha, you can correct me all you like, but I am sticking with the language I am comfortable with.
I believe biological sex trumps gender ideology. I believe trans gender people deserve the same rights as anyone else, but that doesn’t include the right to have me agree to their language requirements.
I am a biological women. Always have been always will be. I am not a cis women, just a women.
trans used to be referred to as transvestites or trans sexual. I understand they want to be referred to as trans men and women and that is fine by me. They have a right to identify as the opposite gender to their natal sex, no problem.
if a transgender individual asks me to use their pronouns, out of courtesy I would likely do my best to remember to do that. If they demanded I did, maybe not so much, it would depend.
women’s rights to private spaces and to women only sporting competitions are set out in the Human Rights Act 1993 and I will defend those rights vigorously
I have just read a book by Anne Perry set around rape of women and the difficulties of them at that time, in the 1890s, being safe from it, and being able to look for control and justice. because of the deep disgust felt by everybody in society about it, and the way they tended to include the victim in these emotions. In the first fifty or so pages she describes the problem well. It's 'Midnight at Marble Arch' and is quite a complicated plot, with a number of themes.
And to try and understand what women think about sex, there are two novellists specialising in stories which often have a soft porn centre, who seem to be popular, Jude Deveraux and Linda Howard. Men might learn something about women's ideas, and women might ponder on what these books indicate is missing in their lives.
Wrong OM?