NAct1 and supporter/cronies ethos is looking after themselves and short term gain….so, unsurprising that there is
No way to know how 'close to the edge of the cliff' we are with current environment data – commissioner
I have to say, my opinion of Simon Upton (ex Nat) has gone upward for quite a while.IMO he does seem to have genuine regard for our Environment.
However, sadly, I dont think his appeal to Logic will strike any kind of chord with the drill baby drill fasttrack mindset
"On something like biodiversity, where we know we have pretty significant pressures across a whole range of living classes of biota, if we knew more, frankly, we'd be in a better position to know just how close to the edge of the cliff we are or we aren't."
"If we don't know more, then fairly logically people say 'well, don't we need to err on the side of caution,' because if we don't really know, this might be the last and then we're in big trouble."
And considering NAct1's intensive slash/burn of Science and Research ? I dont hold too much hope for this happening..
"I'm sorry to say, there's no way you can get away from the need to invest in this stuff, it won't happen by magic."
I read the single quote you give and the first thing that comes to mind is that he is talking about the fantasy that Mātauranga Māori is science and has any relevance to the problems of climate change.
It isn't science. It is magic and it doesn't have any relevance to what we need to work on.
Simon Upton, in an excellent piece from the NZ Review of Books (undated) on being a NZer and his sense of NZ identity:
"You would need to ask me whether I was a New Zealander of Maori or European (or mixed) descent to get some useful insight into how I identified with the world around me. If my answer were Maori, then my sense of nationhood (in a human sense) would be steeped in 800 years familiarity with these lands, their flora, fauna and seasonal variability. It would also be anchored in a sense of community and culture that has evolved in the Pacific over a much longer time….insisting on a new pakeha identity simply inverts the assimilationist agenda with which colonial New Zealand sought to co-opt Maori. If biculturalism is to be anything workable it must be a celebration of two cultural strands that will, however they may over the generations be woven together, retain their own resilience and integrity."
Upton set up the CRI system out of the DSIR, and for the most part, it worked very well for NZ's research needs. That included input from local iwi.
As pointed out, Alwyn’s ‘insight’ reflects the manufactured frets in Alwyn’s mind.
They were forecasting 2 rate cuts by the Fed in the USA this year. Now only one and not to October.
But it seems tariffs is merely part of Trump's isolationist agenda (to place the USA in relationship to other nations only via inter-state power imbalance).
Inflation will rise there because of the tariffs and the "Oct rate cut" will not go ahead (or if it does will be reversed in 2026).
All good. Turned out to be an interesting link. Not convinced that it's a plan Trump conceived, but it sounds reasonable enough if you're on America's side. Tough luck for everyone else but.
This is Hooton so there is always a question as to motive, but its certainly something that I have been thinking about as well.
The media is talking about a left v right split along the lines of the current government v opposition. But there is a real prospect of a government that reflects that elected in 2017.
I think Hipkins would go the NZF route as he has worked with them before.
You seem to have swallowed hook, line & sinker, the spin from Orwellian Grand-Master Hooton. Has it ever occurred to you that TPM is counter-reacting to the Coalition’s reactionism or is that irony lost on you?
If TPM has any wise heads they’d build bridges with Labour and the Greens and publically make more conciliatory noises and gestures and don’t expect Labour and the Greens to make the first step – it’s all about building and nurturing those relationships in the spirit and meaning of the Treaty and openly practicing prefigurative politics.
The flaw in Hooton's musings is that historically NZF has only switched sides after a bust-up with the Nat/Lab governing party and a spell in opposition, or even out of Parliament completely.
1999 – below 5%, holds an electorate (Tauranga), then 6 years in opposition.
2008 – below 5%, no electorate, out of Parliament, total 9 years in opposition.
2020 – below 5%, no electorate, out of Parliament, 3 years in opposition.
2026? Either staying above 5% (or getting an "Epsom deal" with National to survive) or falling below 5% yet again – for the fourth time. Therefore, irrelevant to any potential Labour-led government.
Being a Nat support party before the election and a Lab support party the day after it … fantasy.
What the likely hood that by next year compass has renegotiated a price similar to what the former food suppliers where charging, !! That how big business operates , low ball offer to fuck competitors then bend thick arsholes like seymour over a barrel and do what they want to him .
Friday pie day might actually be a genius solution to low Friday attendance rates. Pie one week, coke &chips the nek week. It'd work..believe me..kids would be froffin. Yours- a teacher
Another catastrophic day for heavy manufacturing in New Zealand with 230 jobs gone in South Waikato, and about 60 subbies gone as well.
I don't expect any government to alter the course of entire global markets, but Jones and Willis have had plenty of time to work with Oji, the local mayor, local business, and civil society to generate some kind of recovery plan.
Shame on them.
These newly unemployed will be straight off to heavy manufacturing plants in Australia soon as they can.
More bollocks from Jones that the closure was due to power costs.
The company is on record as saying power is 15% of costs, and I reckon this sounds exaggerated. They just want to use cheap Asian labour like Tesla, Dyson etc etc ad infinitum.
The Coalition will keep minimum wage and social benefits as low as possible and they will continue to run their austerity madness package through the public sector, which will have many inevitable secondary consequences.
The Coalition’s ‘stimulus package’ for growing the economy and improving productivity (per capita) is too one-sided and too one-eyed, only looking at one side of the coin, which is private overseas investment.
The only conclusion that one can reach is that the Coalition is not interested in growth per se but only in distributing wealth upwards and consolidating economic and growing political power with the elite ruling class of ‘wealthy and sorted’ few people. Suffice to say, this will be counter-inflationary.
Rents, rates (water infrastructure and building dams and flood protection) and home insurance (rising flood risk adding to earlier re-setting after Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes) and power prices (on the current model at least) will continue to go up.
The consequence of supply chain disruption (tariffs) will lead to higher import prices.
We have local unmet infrastructure demands (lack of social housing and in aged care that is to become critical – requiring more staff also). And are wasting money on roads. This has consequences.
Of course, there are and always will be upward price pressure. But this can be off-set by keeping labour costs under tight control. Other measures are more relaxed immigration with loosening of rules and dropping qualification requirements, for example.
Any increase in money flow (revenue) will mostly bypass most people and be re-directed into the hands of a few; this is not increasing productivity but continues feeding the rentier economy (aka FIRE).
Corporate taxes might go down, tax exemptions for landlords are being reinstated, the bright line ‘test’ has become a joke among house flippers, the rules and tax regime for Foreign Investment Funds and Foreign Direct Investment will be loosened, et cetera.
Obama and Trump crippled the litigation arm of the WTO by refusing appointments to the WTO Appellate body. They effectively halted all cases since 2019. The US wanted to defang Appellate Body powers by only allowing a case to move to judgment if both parties agree.
Back when the Director-General of Health was Ashley Bloomfield and the PM was competent, a common response from the Right to the life-saving competence was … "oh, it's not that hard, it would have happened anyway if our lot had been in power". The D-G and all the essential decision-makers would have worked happily and successfully with Prime Minister X of the National-led government, to safeguard the people's health.
Since that was purely hypothetical, it could not be proved wrong.
What a wanker! The minister for the South Island claimed credit for the Cof C for the Waimea Dam, on the Breakfast programme this morning. In fact there has not been 1 cent paid by Central Govt for it.
Mexico's President says the US needs to fight fentamyl in the US as well, says The Guardian.
'Sheinbaum called on Washington not just to help crack down on cartels in Mexico, but for the “United States to do its job in the US, to make the arrests that need to be made in order to halt the trafficking of drugs in its own country”.
Australia, Britain and European countries should loosen budget rules to allow borrowing to fund higher defence spending, a new study by the Kiel Institute suggests. Currently, budget debt rules are forcing governments to finance increases ...
The NZCTU remains strongly committed to banning engineered stone in New Zealand and implementing better occupational health protections for all workers working with silica-containing materials. In this submission to MBIE, the NZCTU outlines that we have an opportunity to learn from Australia’s experience by implementing a full ban of engineered ...
The Prime Minister has announced a big win in trade negotiations with India.It’s huge, he told reporters. We didn't get everything we came for but we were able to agree on free trade in clothing, fabrics, car components, software, IT consulting, spices, tea, rice, and leather goods.He said that for ...
I have been trying to figure out the logic of Trump’s tariff policies and apparent desire for a global trade war. Although he does not appear to comprehend that tariffs are a tax on consumers in the country doing the tariffing, I can (sort of) understand that he may think ...
As Syria and international partners negotiate the country’s future, France has sought to be a convening power. While France has a history of influence in the Middle East, it will have to balance competing Syrian ...
One of the eternal truths about Aotearoa's economy is that we are "capital poor": there's not enough money sloshing around here to fund the expansion of local businesses, or to build the things we want to. Which gets used as an excuse for all sorts of things, like setting up ...
National held its ground until late 2023 Verion, Talbot Mills & Curia Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)If we remove outlier results from Curia (National Party November 2023) National started trending down in October 2024.Verion Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)Verian alone shows a clearer deterioration in early ...
In a recent presentation, I recommended, quite unoriginally, that governments should have a greater focus on higher-impact, lower-probability climate risks. My reasoning was that current climate model projections have blind spots, meaning we are betting ...
Daddy, are you out there?Daddy, won't you come and play?Daddy, do you not care?Is there nothing that you want to say?Songwriters: Mark Batson / Beyonce Giselle Knowles.This morning, a look at the much-maligned NZ Herald. Despised by many on the left as little more than a mouthpiece for the National ...
Employers, unions and health and safety advocates are calling for engineered stone to be banned, a day before consultation on regulations closes. On Friday the PSA lodged a pay equity claim for library assistants with the Employment Relations Authority, after the stalling of a claim lodged with six councils in ...
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy:Christopher Luxon surprises by announcing trade deal talks with India will start next month, and include beef and dairy. Napier is set to join Whakatane, Dunedin and Westport in staging a protest march against health spending restraints hitting their hospital services. Winston Peters ...
At a time of rising geopolitical tensions and deepening global fragmentation, the Ukraine war has proved particularly divisive. From the start, the battle lines were clearly drawn: Russia on one side, Ukraine and the West ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, Newsroom-$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 9, 2025 thru Sat, March 15, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. We are still interested ...
Max Harris and Max Rashbrooke discuss how we turn around the right wing slogans like nanny state, woke identity politics, and the inefficiency of the public sector – and how we build a progressive agenda. From Donald Trump to David Seymour, from Peter Dutton to Christopher Luxon, we are subject to a ...
The Government dominated the political agenda this week with its two-day conference pitching all manner of public infrastructure projects for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest in our political economy this week: The Government ploughed ahead with offers of PPPs to pension fund managers ...
You know that it's a snake eat snake worldWe slither and serpentine throughWe all took a bite, and six thousand years laterThese apples getting harder to chewSongwriters: Shawn Mavrides.“Please be Jack Tame”, I thought when I saw it was Seymour appearing on Q&A. I’d had a guts full of the ...
So here we are at the wedding of Alexandra Vincent Martelli and David Seymour.Look at all the happy prosperous guests! How proud Nick Mowbray looks of the gift he has made of a mountain of crap plastic toys stuffed into a Cybertruck.How they drink, how they laugh, how they mug ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is waste heat from industrial activity the reason the planet is warming? Waste heat’s contribution to global warming is a small fraction of ...
Some continue to defend David Seymour on school lunches, sidestepping his errors to say:“Well the parents should pack their lunch” and/or “Kids should be grateful for free food.”One of these people is the sitting Prime Minister.So I put together a quick list of why complaint is not only appropriate - ...
“Bugger the pollsters!”WHEN EVERYBODY LIVED in villages, and every village had a graveyard, the expression “whistling past the graveyard” made more sense. Even so, it’s hard to describe the Coalition Government’s response to the latest Taxpayers’ Union/Curia Research poll any better. Regardless of whether they wanted to go there, or ...
Prof Jane Kelsey examines what the ACT party and the NZ Initiative are up to as they seek to impose on the country their hardline, right wing, neoliberal ideology. A progressive government elected in 2026 would have a huge job putting Humpty Dumpty together again and rebuilding a state that ...
See I try to make a differenceBut the heads of the high keep turning awayThere ain't no useWhen the world that you love has goneOoh, gotta make a changeSongwriters: Arapekanga Adams-Tamatea / Brad Kora / Hiriini Kora / Joel Shadbolt.Aotearoa for Sale.This week saw the much-heralded and somewhat alarming sight ...
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...
By international standards the New Zealand healthcare system appears satisfactory – certainly no worse generally than average. Yet it is undergoing another redisorganisation.While doing some unrelated work, I came across some international data on the healthcare sector which seemed to contradict my – and the conventional wisdom’s – view of ...
When Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he knew that he was upending Europe’s security order. But this was more of a tactical gambit than a calculated strategy ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Over the last year, I’ve been warning about Luxon’s pitch to privatise our public assets.He had told reporters in October that nothing was off the cards:Schools, hospitals, prisons, and ...
When ASPI’s Cyclone Tracy: 50 Years On was published last year, it wasn’t just a historical reflection; it was a warning. Just months later, we are already watching history repeat itself. We need to bake ...
1. Why was school lunch provider The Libelle Group in the news this week?a. Grand Winner in Pie of The Yearb. Scored a record 108% on YELP c. Bought by Oravida d. Went into liquidation2. What did our Prime Minister offer prospective investors at his infrastructure investment jamboree?a. The Libelle ...
South Korea has suspended new downloads of DeepSeek, and it was were right to do so. Chinese tech firms operate under the shadow of state influence, misusing data for surveillance and geopolitical advantage. Any country ...
Previous big infrastructure PPPs such as Transmission Gully were fiendishly complicated to negotiate, generated massive litigation and were eventually rewritten anyway. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest: The Government’s international investment conference ignores the facts that PPPs cost twice as much as vanilla debt-funded public infrastructure, often take ...
Woolworths has proposed a major restructure of its New Zealand store operating model, leaving workers worried their hours and pay could be cut. Public servants are being asked how productive their office is, how much they use AI, and whether they’re overloaded with meetings as part of a “census”. An ...
Robert Kaplan’s book Waste Land: A World in Permanent Crisis paints a portrait of civilisation in flux. Drawing insights from history, literature and art, he examines the effect of modern technology, globalisation and urbanisation on ...
Sexuality - Strong and warm and wild and freeSexuality - Your laws do not apply to meSexuality - Don't threaten me with miserySexuality - I demand equalitySong: Billy Bragg.First, thank you to everyone who took part in yesterday’s survey. Some questions worked better than others, but I found them interesting, ...
Hi,I just got back from a week in Japan thanks to the power of cheap flights and years of accumulated credit card points.The last time I was in Japan the government held a press conference saying they might take legal action against me and Netflix, so there was a little ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s wrecking of the post-WW II political landscape; andHealth Coalition Aotearoa co-chair Lisa ...
Hi,I just got back from a short trip to Japan, mostly spending time in Tokyo.I haven’t been there since we shot Dark Tourist back in 2017 — and that landed us in a bit of hot water with the Japanese government.I am glad to report I was not thrown into ...
I’ve been on Substack for almost 8 months now.It’s been good in terms of the many great individuals that populate its space. So much variety and intelligence and humour and depth.I joined because someone suggested I should ‘start a Substack,’ whatever that meant.So I did.Turning on payments seemed like the ...
Open access notables Would Adding the Anthropocene to the Geologic Time Scale Matter?, McCarthy et al., AGU Advances:The extraordinary fossil fuel-driven outburst of consumption and production since the mid-twentieth century has fundamentally altered the way the Earth System works. Although humans have impacted their environment for millennia, justification for ...
Australia should buy equipment to cheaply and temporarily convert military transport aircraft into waterbombers. On current planning, the Australian Defence Force will have a total of 34 Chinook helicopters and Hercules airlifters. They should be ...
Indonesia’s government has slashed its counterterrorism (CT) budgets, despite the persistent and evolving threat of violent extremism. Australia can support regional CT efforts by filling this funding void. Reducing funding to the National Counterterrorism Agency ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Resource Management (Prohibition on Extraction of Freshwater for On-selling) Amendment Bill (Debbie Ngarewa-Packer) The bill does exactly what it says on the label, and would effectively end the rapacious water-bottling industry ...
Twilight Time Lighthouse Cuba, Wigan Street, Wellington, Sunday 6 April, 5:30pm for 6pm start. Twilight Time looks at the life and work of Desmond Ball, (1947-2016), a barefooted academic from ‘down under’ who was hailed by Jimmy Carter as “the man who saved the world”, as he proved the fallacy ...
Foreign aid is being slashed across the Global North, nowhere more so than in the United States. Within his first month back in the White House, President Donald Trump dismantled the US Agency for International ...
Nicola Willis has proposed new procurement rules that unions say will lead to pay cuts for already low-paid workers in cleaning, catering and security services that are contracted by government. The Crimes (Theft by Employer) Amendment Bill passed its third reading with support from all the opposition parties and NZ ...
Most KP readers will not know that I was a jazz DJ in Chicago and Washington DC while in grad school in the early and mid 1980s. In DC I joined WPFW as a grave shift host, then a morning drive show host (a show called Sui Generis, both for ...
Long stories shortest: The IMF says a capital gains tax or land tax would improve real economic growth and fix the budget. GDP is set to be smaller by 2026 than it was in 2023. Compass is flying in school lunches from Australia. 53% of National voters say the new ...
Last year in October I wrote “Where’s The Opposition?”. I was exasperated at the relative quiet of the Green Party, Labour and Te Pati Māori (TPM), as the National led Coalition ticked off a full bingo card of the Atlas Network playbook.1To be fair, TPM helped to energise one of ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkGood data visualizations can help make climate change more visceral and understandable. Back in 2016 Ed Hawkins published a “climate spiral” graph that ended up being pretty iconic – it was shown at the opening ceremony of the Olympics that year – and ...
An agreement to end the war in Ukraine could transform Russia’s relations with North Korea. Moscow is unlikely to reduce its cooperation with Pyongyang to pre-2022 levels, but it may become more selective about areas ...
This week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme. Financing vs funding: a quick explainer The key word in the sentence above is financing. It is important ...
In a month’s time, the Right Honourable Winston Peters will be celebrating his 80th birthday. Good for him. On the evidence though, his current war on “wokeness” looks like an old man’s cranky complaint that the ancient virtues of grit and know-how are sadly lacking in the youth of today. ...
As noted, early March has been about moving house, and I have had little chance to partake in all things internet. But now that everything is more or less sorted, I can finally give a belated report on my visit to the annual Regent Booksale (28th February and 1st March). ...
Information operations Australia has banned cybersecurity software Kaspersky from government use because of risks of espionage, foreign interference and sabotage. The Department of Home Affairs said use of Kaspersky products posed an unacceptable security ...
The StrategistBy Linus Cohen, Astrid Young and Alice Wai
One of the best understood tropes of screen drama is the scene where the beloved family dog is barking incessantly and cannot be calmed. Finally, somebody asks: What is it, girl? Has someone fallen down a well? Is there trouble at the old John Key place?One is reminded of this ...
The ’ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, plays a significant role in the global cocaine trade and is deeply entrenched in Australia, influencing the cocaine trade and engaging in a variety of illicit activities. A range of ...
In the US, the Trump regime is busy imposing tariffs on its neighbours and allies, then revoking them, then reimposing them, permanently poisoning relations with Canada and Mexico. Trump has also threatened to impose tariffs on agricultural goods, which will affect Aotearoa's exports. National's response? To grovel for an exemption, ...
Troy Bowker’s Caniwi Capital’s Desmond Gittings, former TradeMe and Warehouse executive Simon West, former anonymous right wing blogger / Labour attacker & now NZ On Air Board member / Waitangi Tribunal member Philip Crump, Canadian billionaire Jim Grenon who used to run vaccine critical, Treaty of Waitangi critical, and trans-rights ...
The free school lunch program was one of Labour's few actual achievements in government. Decent food, made locally, providing local employment. So naturally, National had to get rid of it. Their replacement - run by Compass, a multinational which had already been thrown out of our hospitals for producing inedible ...
New draft government procurement guidelines will remove living wage protections for thousands of low-paid workers in Aotearoa New Zealand, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi President Richard Wagstaff. “The Minister of Finance Nicola Willis has proposed a new rule saying that the Living Wage no longer needs to be paid in ...
The Trump administration’s effort to divide Russia from China is doomed to fail. This means that the United States is destroying security relationships based on a delusion. To succeed, Russia would need to overcome more ...
Māori workers now hold more high-skilled jobs than low-skilled jobs with 46 percent in high-skilled jobs, 14 percent in skilled jobs, and 40 percent in low-skilled jobs. Resource teachers of literacy and Te Reo Māori are “devastated” by a proposal from the Education Minister to stop funding 174 roles from ...
Knowing what is going on in orbit is getting harder—yet hardly less necessary. But new technologies are emerging to cope with the challenge, including some that have come from Australian civilian research. One example is ...
This is a guest post by Malcolm McCracken. It previously appeared on his blog Better Things Are Possible and is shared by kind permission. New Zealand’s largest infrastructure project, the City Rail Link (CRL), is expected to open in 2026. This will be an exciting step forward for Auckland, delivering better ...
“The reality is I'm just saying to you I'm proud of the work we're doing. We're doing a great job”, said Luxon, pushing back at Auckland Council’s reports of rising homelessness and pleas for help. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest:Christopher Luxon denies his Government caused a ...
Should I stay, or should I go now?Should I stay, or should I go now?If I go, there will be troubleAnd if I stay, it will be doubleSo come on and let me knowSongwriters: Topper Headon, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon, Joe Strummer.Christopher,Tomorrow marks seventeen months since the last election. We’re ...
Homelessness in Auckland has risen by 53% in 4 months - that’s 653 peopleliving in cars, on streets and in parks.The city’s emergency housing numbers have fallen by about 650 under National too - now at record lows.Housing First Auckland is on the frontlines: There is “more and more ...
A growing consensus holds that the future of airpower, and of defense technology in general, involves the interplay of crewed and uncrewed vehicles. Such teaming means that more-numerous, less-costly, even expendable uncrewed vehicles can bring ...
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell is avoiding accountability by refusing to answer key questions in the House as his Government faces criticism over their dangerous citizen’s arrest policy, firearm reform, and broken promises to recruit more police. ...
The number of building consents issued under this Government continues to spiral, taking a toll on the infrastructure sector, tradies, and future generations of Kiwi homeowners. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Prime Minister to rule out joining the AUKUS military pact in any capacity following the scenes in the White House over the weekend. ...
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s plan to disestablish Resource Teachers of Māori (RTM) roles, a move that takes another swing at kaupapa Māori education. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
The Government’s levies announcement is a step in the right direction, but they must be upfront about who will pay its new infrastructure levies and ensure that first-home buyers are protected from hidden costs. ...
After months of mana whenua protecting their wāhi tapu, the Green Party welcomes the pause of works at Lake Rotokākahi and calls for the Rotorua Lakes Council to work constructively with Tūhourangi and Ngāti Tumatawera on the pathway forward. ...
New Zealand First continues to bring balance, experience, and commonsense to Government. This week we've made progress on many of our promises to New Zealand.Winston representing New ZealandWinston Peters is overseas this week, with stops across the Middle East and North Asia. Winston's stops include Saudi Arabia, the ...
Green Party Co-Leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
At this year's State of the Planet address, Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick announced the party’s plans to deliver a Green Budget this year to offer an alternative vision to the Government’s trickle-down economics and austerity politics. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has announced a Coalition government would introduce legislation, based on an American law used to pursue the Mafia, to enable police to target the “kingpins” of criminal organisations such as outlaw ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paula McDonald, Professor of Work and Organisation, Queensland University of Technology Twinsterphoto/Shutterstock Australian workers have to overcome some significant barriers in navigating their careers. Some may lack the training or work experience opportunities needed to make themselves stand out and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne A fire at a nightclub in North Macedonia has killed at least 59 people and injured more than 150. The blaze broke out at the Pulse ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominic Redfern, Associate Professor, School of Art, RMIT University Serwah Attafuah, The Darkness Between The Stars, JOAN. Landscape still.Courtesy of the artist. Virtuosic digital artistry is on show in Serwah Attafuah’s installation The Darkness Between the Stars, currently showing at ACMI. ...
A workshop was held by MinEx earlier this month to help develop a pan-industry response to silicosis across extractive, construction, concrete and other sectors as well as health and safety organisations and researchers. ...
The letter, from the Council for International Development (CID), the peak body for New Zealand NGOs and charities in the international development and humanitarian space is addressed to Foreign Minister Winston Peters, Finance Minister Nicola Willis, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Catie Gressier, Adjunct Research Fellow in Agriculture and Environment, The University of Western Australia Berkshire pigsJWhitwell/Shutterstock It took thousands of years to develop the world’s extraordinary range of domesticated farm animals – an estimated 8,800 livestock breeds across 38 farmed species. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Ogden, Associate Professor in Global Studies, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Some have said Christopher Luxon’s pledge to get a free trade deal between New Zealand and India over the line in his first term as prime minister was overly ...
A decade ago today, the nation sat transfixed by a tray of red roses and a chiselled man named Arthur. I still remember where I was when I found out that The Bachelor NZ was coming. Duncan Greive was at the Three season launch and texting me live updates. As ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Peter Cronau for Declassified Australia Australia is caught in a jam, between an assertive American ally and a bold Chinese trading partner. America is accelerating its pivot to the Indo-Pacific, building up its fighting forces and expanding its military bases. As Australia tries to navigate a pathway ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is keeping his cool in the US, and particularly ahead of the main event - a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Freshwater poll for The Financial Review, conducted March 13–15 from a sample of 1,051, gave the Coalition a 51–49 lead ...
Alex Casey looks back at the X Factor NZ moment that stopped the nation in its tracks. First published on August 10, 2023.It’s Sunday, March 15, 2015. John Key is the prime minister, the number one song in the country is ‘fourfiveseconds’ by Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney. ...
Since October 7 2023, Palestinian t-shirts and kuffiya have become common for people in New Zealand to wear, to express solidarity. Yet very few of these products were actually made in Palestine; Shanti Mathias talks to a couple trying to change that. “Our house just became a lot more Palestinian,” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Olga Boichak, Senior Lecturer in Digital Cultures, Australian Research Council DECRA fellow, University of Sydney More than three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a 30-day ceasefire between the two warring countries may be imminent. But much more needs to happen ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shamit Saggar, Executive Director, Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success and Professor of Public Policy, Curtin University Two months out from an Australian federal election, the polling is pointing to a very tight race between the two major parties. This means, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock One of the most enduring questions humans have is how long we’re going to live. With this comes the question of how much of our lifespan is shaped by our environment and choices, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University Casino operator Star Entertainment has been under financial pressure for some time. The company’s share price has tanked, and the business, with its three casino properties, has been bleeding ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janet Davey, PhD Candidate, Australian Centre on China in the World, Australian National University Andra C Taylor Jr/Unsplash Including pronouns in introductions, your email signature or your social media bio may seem like a minor detail. Pronouns are just small words ...
Comparing our current prime minister’s net favourability to the first terms of Helen Clark, John Key and Jacinda Ardern shows the extent to which new depths are being plumbed. Everyone knows Christopher Luxon is unpopular. National’s polling is poor, and his preferred prime minister rating is now below that of ...
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News that the health minister went against official advice will likely only amplify the calls for lower screening ages for Māori and Pasifika, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Brown went against official advice Health minister Simeon ...
Employers, unions and health and safety advocates are calling for engineered stone to be banned, a day before consultation on regulations for the material closes. ...
Christopher Luxon’s big ol’ trip to India has started with a bang.The Prime Minister hadn’t even started walking down the stairs of the Airforce Boeing 757 when the traditional Rajasthani folk dancers began their spirited dance in front of an enormous billboard bearing the beaming faces of Luxon and his ...
New Zealand has been firm in its stance against Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, yet has been silent on the United States’ enabling of it, argues Robert Patman. The National-led coalition government’s policy on Gaza seems caught between a desire for a two-state diplomatic ...
Jobs, courses and a campus are on the chopping block as the first tranche of cuts reaches Aotearoa’s polytechs and training institutes.At least 154 roles, one campus and multiple courses across 10 institutes of technology and polytechnics (ITPs) have been cut as the government prepares to disestablish the nation’s ...
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A senior public servant has been criticised for de-emphasising statements about the essential need to clean-up freshwater in court evidence.Martin Workman, chief of staff at the Ministry for the Environment, was the first Crown witness in the Ngāi Tahu case being heard in the Christchurch High Court. Te Rūnanga o ...
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I do so like a little bit of satire first thing in the morning – it sort of sets my cynical day up nicely.
https://emilywrites.substack.com/p/leaked-coalition-government-emails?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=pr9pu&triedRedirect=true
NAct1 and supporter/cronies ethos is looking after themselves and short term gain….so, unsurprising that there is
I have to say, my opinion of Simon Upton (ex Nat) has gone upward for quite a while.IMO he does seem to have genuine regard for our Environment.
However, sadly, I dont think his appeal to Logic will strike any kind of chord with the drill baby drill fasttrack mindset
And considering NAct1's intensive slash/burn of Science and Research ? I dont hold too much hope for this happening..
Agree psych. Upton appears to be one Nat who looks at the climate change facts and says what he thinks based on that info. All power to him.
I read the single quote you give and the first thing that comes to mind is that he is talking about the fantasy that Mātauranga Māori is science and has any relevance to the problems of climate change.
It isn't science. It is magic and it doesn't have any relevance to what we need to work on.
Which one is the single quote, because none of them mentions "Mātauranga Māori"?
'Magic' has deflected alwyn – from Upton’s analysis, to ‘Māori’ – what a mind
Simon Upton, in an excellent piece from the NZ Review of Books (undated) on being a NZer and his sense of NZ identity:
"You would need to ask me whether I was a New Zealander of Maori or European (or mixed) descent to get some useful insight into how I identified with the world around me. If my answer were Maori, then my sense of nationhood (in a human sense) would be steeped in 800 years familiarity with these lands, their flora, fauna and seasonal variability. It would also be anchored in a sense of community and culture that has evolved in the Pacific over a much longer time….insisting on a new pakeha identity simply inverts the assimilationist agenda with which colonial New Zealand sought to co-opt Maori. If biculturalism is to be anything workable it must be a celebration of two cultural strands that will, however they may over the generations be woven together, retain their own resilience and integrity."
Upton set up the CRI system out of the DSIR, and for the most part, it worked very well for NZ's research needs. That included input from local iwi.
As pointed out, Alwyn’s ‘insight’ reflects the manufactured frets in Alwyn’s mind.
That's right Alwyn.
Science maintained that the sun orbited the earth and disease was caused by miasma.
And yet the 'magic' you refer to enabled sea-faring well before the 'scientific' followers had worked things out.
alwyn. I was going to say you must need unbelievable, near magical, arm strength for your longbow ?
But really…your comment is just bizarre, and/or sad.
They were forecasting 2 rate cuts by the Fed in the USA this year. Now only one and not to October.
But it seems tariffs is merely part of Trump's isolationist agenda (to place the USA in relationship to other nations only via inter-state power imbalance).
Inflation will rise there because of the tariffs and the "Oct rate cut" will not go ahead (or if it does will be reversed in 2026).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/360580937/fight-against-inflation-us-appears-have-stalled
This is a very interesting read. Are Trump's tariffs part of a very cunning plan?
https://unherd.com/2025/02/why-trumps-tariffs-are-a-masterplan/
[link fixed – Incognito]
Odd – I'm getting a 404 on that link.
I’ve entered the correct link; see if that works for you.
Apologies.
All good. Turned out to be an interesting link. Not convinced that it's a plan Trump conceived, but it sounds reasonable enough if you're on America's side. Tough luck for everyone else but.
Hooton has an interesting piece in the Herald (paywalled)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/labour-eyes-swift-return-to-government-matthew-hooton/TJ7YA3J5IRBOTOQFC2W7Y3IVGA/
This is Hooton so there is always a question as to motive, but its certainly something that I have been thinking about as well.
The media is talking about a left v right split along the lines of the current government v opposition. But there is a real prospect of a government that reflects that elected in 2017.
I think Hipkins would go the NZF route as he has worked with them before.
can be read here.
https://archive.li/ILigk
You seem to have swallowed hook, line & sinker, the spin from Orwellian Grand-Master Hooton. Has it ever occurred to you that TPM is counter-reacting to the Coalition’s reactionism or is that irony lost on you?
If TPM has any wise heads they’d build bridges with Labour and the Greens and publically make more conciliatory noises and gestures and don’t expect Labour and the Greens to make the first step – it’s all about building and nurturing those relationships in the spirit and meaning of the Treaty and openly practicing prefigurative politics.
Better for New Zealand if Hipkins ran on a strong economic development platform for workers and regions, and wiped out New Zealand First altogether.
That is a reasonable ambition for Labour to actually have in 2026.
The flaw in Hooton's musings is that historically NZF has only switched sides after a bust-up with the Nat/Lab governing party and a spell in opposition, or even out of Parliament completely.
1999 – below 5%, holds an electorate (Tauranga), then 6 years in opposition.
2008 – below 5%, no electorate, out of Parliament, total 9 years in opposition.
2020 – below 5%, no electorate, out of Parliament, 3 years in opposition.
2026? Either staying above 5% (or getting an "Epsom deal" with National to survive) or falling below 5% yet again – for the fourth time. Therefore, irrelevant to any potential Labour-led government.
Being a Nat support party before the election and a Lab support party the day after it … fantasy.
Having him descend to working with the Fisherman's Friend would be too big a rat for this writer to swallow (but I party-vote Green anyway).
The way the polls are going NZF could be out on 4.9 whereas TPM are a safe bet to be back.
Hipkins (asuming he is still leader which I hope he isn't) needs to say nothing except that he will negotiate after the result.
Compass has called in Pies and Pita Pit to provide meals to schools.
Presumably because if it continued to fail to provide a service, it would be in breach of contract.
Regardless, it is now obvious Seymour's alternative programme is not viable.
The government has to step in and return to the old regime.
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/health/compass-calls-pita-pit-pie-shop-to-the-rescue
"The government has to step in and return to the old regime "
Would you care for a small wager on that?
If not now, then in 2026 .. this incompetence is on the scale of their ferry disaster.
What the likely hood that by next year compass has renegotiated a price similar to what the former food suppliers where charging, !! That how big business operates , low ball offer to fuck competitors then bend thick arsholes like seymour over a barrel and do what they want to him .
One hopes Peters uses this to get the ferries he wants.
Chinese industry MO as well.
Friday pie day might actually be a genius solution to low Friday attendance rates. Pie one week, coke &chips the nek week. It'd work..believe me..kids would be froffin. Yours- a teacher
BHN Pat and Magenta discuss media around the Treaty Principles Bill submissions and comment.
Sir Geoffrey Palmer says that the whole process over this bill is backward to Parliamentary process.
Another catastrophic day for heavy manufacturing in New Zealand with 230 jobs gone in South Waikato, and about 60 subbies gone as well.
I don't expect any government to alter the course of entire global markets, but Jones and Willis have had plenty of time to work with Oji, the local mayor, local business, and civil society to generate some kind of recovery plan.
Shame on them.
These newly unemployed will be straight off to heavy manufacturing plants in Australia soon as they can.
Another Japanese owned plant closed down recently in Gisborne but later an Australian company moved in and re-opened it.
The union should make a case to Oz companies in this sector – supply to the Oz market and beyond.
https://union.org.nz/oji-needs-to-work-with-government-and-unions-before-closure/
The Gisborne plant was timber supply.
https://www.eastcoastmulching.com.au/how-to-stop-deforestation-australia/
https://www.kwm.com/au/en/insights/latest-thinking/the-european-deforestation-regulation-set-to-impact-Australian-exports-now-expected-to-be-deferred.html
This is paper supply. It might depend on Oz "trade policy", or retail policy, as to lower cost paper imports derived from rainforest land use etc.
More detail here.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2025/02/14/230-jobs-to-go-at-kinleith-mill-as-end-of-paper-production-confirmed/
Another vote of confidence in National's glam rock economy.
More bollocks from Jones that the closure was due to power costs.
The company is on record as saying power is 15% of costs, and I reckon this sounds exaggerated. They just want to use cheap Asian labour like Tesla, Dyson etc etc ad infinitum.
The standard assessment as to RB policy during the COVID period.
And identifying the problem as to the way forward: there might be limited growth without inflationary pressures returning.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/541807/group-think-these-were-our-covid-19-mistakes-economists-say
Expectations of inflation are tempered and low.
https://www.interest.co.nz/economy/131841/influential-rbnz-survey-has-shown-drops-expectations-future-levels-inflation-move
The Coalition will keep minimum wage and social benefits as low as possible and they will continue to run their austerity madness package through the public sector, which will have many inevitable secondary consequences.
The Coalition’s ‘stimulus package’ for growing the economy and improving productivity (per capita) is too one-sided and too one-eyed, only looking at one side of the coin, which is private overseas investment.
Other token efforts and lazy measures such as golden Visas have been thoroughly debunked, e.g., by Gordon Campbell and others: https://werewolf.co.nz/2025/02/gordon-campbell-on-why-golden-visas-are-a-losing-bet-on-growth/.
The only conclusion that one can reach is that the Coalition is not interested in growth per se but only in distributing wealth upwards and consolidating economic and growing political power with the elite ruling class of ‘wealthy and sorted’ few people. Suffice to say, this will be counter-inflationary.
There is a dichotomy.
Rents, rates (water infrastructure and building dams and flood protection) and home insurance (rising flood risk adding to earlier re-setting after Christchurch and Kaikoura earthquakes) and power prices (on the current model at least) will continue to go up.
The consequence of supply chain disruption (tariffs) will lead to higher import prices.
We have local unmet infrastructure demands (lack of social housing and in aged care that is to become critical – requiring more staff also). And are wasting money on roads. This has consequences.
Of course, there are and always will be upward price pressure. But this can be off-set by keeping labour costs under tight control. Other measures are more relaxed immigration with loosening of rules and dropping qualification requirements, for example.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/541645/removing-teacher-requirements-could-be-devastating-teaching-council-says
Increased automation will be another nail in the working-class coffin.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2025/02/14/why-restaurants-are-doubling-down-on-self-service-kiosks/ [still behind subscription wall]
Any increase in money flow (revenue) will mostly bypass most people and be re-directed into the hands of a few; this is not increasing productivity but continues feeding the rentier economy (aka FIRE).
Corporate taxes might go down, tax exemptions for landlords are being reinstated, the bright line ‘test’ has become a joke among house flippers, the rules and tax regime for Foreign Investment Funds and Foreign Direct Investment will be loosened, et cetera.
Follow the money – cui bono?
Surprisingly Sco Mo said something pertinent about this.
Try to avoid being noticed by the bozo.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/541892/nz-depends-on-rules-based-world-trump-is-dismantling-why-the-silence
It helps being able to appear friendly (if a right winger).
Argue a case, when required to.
Otherwise
Focus on maintaining organisations the USA is not part of (TPP/ASEAN/RCEP)(South Pacific Forum) and FTA such as with UK and EU.
And helping organisations the US is part of to cope – WTO/UN.
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/markets/nz-and-world-about-to-discover-how-much-protectionism-sucks-economist-says
Obama and Trump crippled the litigation arm of the WTO by refusing appointments to the WTO Appellate body. They effectively halted all cases since 2019. The US wanted to defang Appellate Body powers by only allowing a case to move to judgment if both parties agree.
The world should move to the original plan, an ITO, and exclude the USA from any power in or over the organisation.
Back when the Director-General of Health was Ashley Bloomfield and the PM was competent, a common response from the Right to the life-saving competence was … "oh, it's not that hard, it would have happened anyway if our lot had been in power". The D-G and all the essential decision-makers would have worked happily and successfully with Prime Minister X of the National-led government, to safeguard the people's health.
Since that was purely hypothetical, it could not be proved wrong.
It is now.
What a wanker! The minister for the South Island claimed credit for the Cof C for the Waimea Dam, on the Breakfast programme this morning. In fact there has not been 1 cent paid by Central Govt for it.
He has to do something to justify his invented and spurious ministerial post.
Mexico's President says the US needs to fight fentamyl in the US as well, says The Guardian.
'Sheinbaum called on Washington not just to help crack down on cartels in Mexico, but for the “United States to do its job in the US, to make the arrests that need to be made in order to halt the trafficking of drugs in its own country”.
You know it is ‘fentanyl’, yes? You consistently get this wrong.