Thanks for this traffic and the news that the housing market is taking off – Labour is the govt and we have all these issues that they were to address – Thanks for doing Nothing – Deliver on the vision you sold us at the election.
In total, these changes are estimated to reduce net migration by 20,000-30,000. Without these changes there would be up to 10,000 more houses needed and up to 20,000 more vehicles on our roads annually.
This the role of contemporary government – to present a flaccid façade of democracy while Treasury drives through the epic stupidity that has gifted NZ the fastest inequality growth in the world. The incompetent technocrats are counting on the 'niceness' of the current government to stave off the richly deserved pitchforks for a while yet.
The police hope a new strategy will bring down Māori over-representation in criminal justice statistics.
…Te Huringa o Te Tai is a refreshed version of The Turning of The Tide strategy, released in 2012.
Julia Whaipooti, a justice reform advocate who is part of an independent advisory group appointed by Justice Minister Andrew Little says “The one thing I’d be critical about that is that it puts it on Māori … in order to do that, the onus needs to be on police to change how they practise, where they patrol, and how they exercise discretion.”
…But Whaipooti says the introduction of armed police patrol trials flies in the face of what the police strategy sets out, by introducing armed police in areas with predominantly brown populations.
“This seems really contradictory in terms of what the police actions are showing, to what their strategy says that they’re doing.
“The strategy comes out and says we want to work differently with Māori… and then at the same time, they release a policy which has not done any of that.”
Oh wow. Giuliani's latest talking point to … ummm … defend America's prolapsed rectum is that only a part of his phone call to Ukraine's president was about extorting Ukraine into smearing his political opponent.
Like when Ronnie Biggs only spent part of his day robbing that train. Hence jumping the wall and only doing part of his sentence. Trump's 'smart', he's built his own wall to jump over. Not sure he thought about the reception he'll get on the other side though.
If nothing else, he's exposed the utter fraud that is the Republicans feigning any interest in ethics, morals, their country or their constituents. Just more self-obsessed Tory corporate sock puppets from where I'm sitting.
When the congresswoman Ilhan Omar called Donald Trump’s top immigration adviser, Stephen Miller, a white nationalist in April, the chorus of outrage from Republicans could not have been louder.
… The attacks on Omar were puzzling to anyone who knew about Miller’s role pushing hard-right immigration policies in the White House, but now a Southern Poverty law Center report analyzing 900 leaked emails between Miller and staff at Breitbart newsreveal that she was right all along.
The investigation into how Budget-sensitive material was accessed at the Treasury has hit a hurdle. Yet, despite that, it is expected to be completed within or near the original budget of $250,000.
The Great French cyclist from the heroic era of cycle racing the eternal second Raymond Poulidor has sadly passed today. Known fondly by his legion of fan over the decades by his nick name Pou-Pou, his career (unfortunately for him) spanned the reigns of two of the greatest cyclist the world has ever known, firstly Jacques Anquetil (5 times winner of the Tour de France) and then 'The Cannibal" Eddy Merckx, regarded as the greatest all round rider in the history of the sport.
Poulidor was adored by the public for his humble demeanor off the bike, but his ferocious fighting spirit on in the saddle, his epic shoulder to shoulder battle with Anquetil during the 1964 Tour de France on the mountains of the Puy de Dome is remembered as one of the classic stages on the history of the TdF.
The story goes that when Poulidor visited Anquetil on his death bed in 1987, Anquetil told his greatest rival the he would now have to finish second yet again.
"I believe that that’s the challenge: to give Nature the chance, not impose human technology, and try to manage our way into the future. Give Nature — which has had 3.8 billion years to evolve — give Nature a chance, and my hope is that she will be far more generous than we deserve."
seriously this 'give this a chance' is simply just a really cheap cop out to 'get the fuck of your lazy arse and learn how to do the same with less and if you can walk, walk'.
well Mr. Suzuki might believe that people get out of their cars and walk, and he might even advocate for this (something i don't dispute) but 'this give nature a chance' is failing because people a. don't give nature a chance – in fact where ever they can they concrete/tar it over so they can park their cars and drive them too, and b. walking? that is for suckers. As the same people that pave everything over to park their cars only ever jog, on a well paved road.
nature? she dying and we are doing a bang of job on killingher.
David Suzuki is arguing for that – to consume less and walk more. And arguing that we cannot rely on technology to save us as it is technology that got us into this mess in the first place. You want less carbon in the atmosphere? – consume less, especially fossil fuels and highly polluting products. Plant trees and allow regeneration of natural environments to take place.
I heard Simon Bridges talking about the news out today about discussions around TVNZ and RNZ.
He is concerned that "Where it took an editorial line – and it inevitably would – that would become the received wisdom … a liberal democracy needs many voices that check each other."
No doubt he is happy when the 'received' wisdom comes from big, reputable, authoritative sources with minor others presenting different voices. NZME with Hosking and co. = good, a big united TVNZ/RNZ = bad.
No surprises – he is routinely embarrassed on RNZ and is no friend of the platform. And structurally-speaking, it's in the right's interest to have those opinions formed inside corporate media, and sympathetic to establishment economic interests, as the dominant ones the public is exposed to. They'd drown RNZ in a bathtub if they thought they could get away with it.
The Nats success in this endeavour requires that the public has no working concept of private power. The mantra of "sate bad, private good" requires that the state be identified as the locus of oppressive power, whereas the private is characterised as just other people like us. In reality the purpose of the state (including, the state broadcaster) is to free us from domination by private power.
Why are Ukraine and Russian forces in conflict? Is the Ukraine attempting to recover Crimea? Is providing more weapons to Ukraine expected to de-escelate or to escelate this situation and the military toll there?
The conflict is the Ukraine is because Pootee is trying recover the glory days of the grand Soviet Empire by incrementally grabbing bits of former Soviet states here and there.
That's so he can truly be a leader on the world, instead of just the head thug of a rundown trailer park with a petrol station that does double-duty as a liquor store. With nukes.
Actually Andre, it sounds as though Volodymyr Zelensky is getting the message that it makes more sense to talk with, or even side with Russia since its NATO sponsor has proved itself ineffectual, other than by giving tacit support to Ukraine's Nazi militias. Of course, being big on democracy, one would have thought that you would have supported the Crimean vote to join with Russia. Those matters sorted, would you care to reflect on which thug is waging war on democratic South American states that refused to be yoked by the IMF, while at the same time, creating endless mayhem in the Middle East – Putin?
If your going to answer then do read the question. Several soldiers were killed this year, where were they (presumably Ukraine/Crimea). Who escellated to the point of that occurring?
Was your question a rhetorical device that you think you already knew the answer to?
The simple fact is in both Crimea and the Donbas, russian military forces (read up about little green men et al) made an uninvited and unwanted appearance in Ukraine territory, and are still there. There are zero Ukrainian military forces in Russian Federation territory.
No matter how much diversionary smoke gets blown, those two simple facts make Russia the aggressor in an act of territorial expansion.
Erm, no, the russians are on ukrainian soil outside of the annexed crimea, so more a continued defensive operation rather than an offensive push to recapture lost territory.
Which is, of course, like a decision to ally with nato and the EU, as a sovereign nation, their self determined right.
Because the Carpathian mountains and the Balkan mountains are to the west of Ukraine and it is all flat country as the southern part of Great European Plain, right to the gates of Moscow. Even today mountain ranges and water barriers are vital for security. If the Ukraine sides more with the west then Western troops would only be hours from Moscow and with a 3000 kms open country approach that makes it very vulnerable.
Russias only friend when invaded is winter which has saved it at least twice, once each from France and Germany.
That is a great point, not to mention that from the Russian point of view (rightly or wrongly) any defense of Russia would hinge on the Russian Black Sea Fleet being fully functional.
Here is a good discussion on the situation of USA/Russia/Ukraine…
Ukrainegate impeachment saga worsens US-Russia Cold War
"We want to promote democracy, particularly constitutionalism, as opposed to political caprice in the former Soviet territories. That's been official Amercan policy. Why then would you support the overthrow by a street mob..there were plenty of neo-facists among them….[of] a leader who had been by all ratifying monitoring organisations freely and fairly elected.. especially when he'd agreed to move elections up within 9 months..
Why would the United States therefore immediately, this being President Obama, support what was essentially a street coup,
It's a blow to constitutionalism, the cause we claim to be promoting.
That was a turning point, it was a message about what the United State was prepared to send. It was a very important moment and it was very wrong headed…
….Its sets a precedent for American behaviour"
Those who as so pigheadedly Russiaphobic would do well to listen to this video and gain themselves some knowledge.
Actually Brigid, I couldn't agree with you more with regard to Russia phobia and the suggestion of manipulation in relation to interpretation pertaining to constitutional matters.
But global dynamics will always significantly influence interpretation of a myriad of things related to ideals, both domestic and foreign.
Russia does tend to get a hammering, but when observers can overlook a lot of the self fueled media hype, along with much of the fear mongering in relation to Russia generally, viewed in balance, it is evident that both the USA and Russia play a very interesting game of chess.
Axiomatic, although not as economically strong as either the USA or the PRC, Russia does now to have an edge in relation to both global and regional influence which the United States of America seems to have fallen well behind on in many regions. Perhaps, in part, due to the amount of of distrust that has been created again and again, through various administrations in relation to foreign policy and influence.
Quite sad really, when you consider that for many, the USA was once respected as a model of liberty, security and good intentions, correctly or incorrectly as the case may be.
On the telephone wording, my point was that just a word or two out of place, or misinterpreted can change both perspective and dynamic considerably, though nothing at all may have changed in reality, or "on the ground."
It's width actually and width is very hard to defend as the invader has all the options and the invaded needs to be able react over in this case about 3000kms , The reason why the Normandy landings were effective as they were spread over quite a distance with numerous "feint " attacks.
@ McFlock , Are you fucking serious..26 million Russians died defending their homeland from a fascist invasion made up of various hostile European nations in World War Two….are you laughing out loud at that are you?, personally I don't find that funny at all.
The only reason countries like NZ didn't lose twice as many men in that conflict is that the Russians had already broken the fascists back on the Eastern Fronts by the time we landed in Normandy….maybe you should show them some respect for that at least.
not to mention that from the Russian point of view (rightly or wrongly) any defense of Russia would hinge on the Russian Black Sea Fleet being fully functional.
This would be the "defense of Russia" in 1942 that you were talking about?
Any leader of Russia is going to feel exactly the same about the Ukraine as part of their defense strategy, so no I am not talking about Putin, I am talking about any Russian leadership generally, and further, as I made clear, and you even quoted, I said "rightly or wrongly", so was making no defense of Putin, just pointing out a fact…don't you get the difference?
And yes I could have been talking about WW2, or now..that was my point.
Your comments @ 6, 11.1, and 11.1.2.1, have no substance, are not constructive, and don’t stimulate healthy debate. You have been trolling this site for too long IMO. Start packing your bags with your ‘free speech’ and ‘political opinion’ if you cannot or don’t want to make positive and constructive contributions to the discourse here.
We're just trying to help you lift your game. If we don't point out that you come across as a tory troll who delights in trying to sow alarm and despondency amongst "the left", how can you expected to rectify your inability to deliver constructive criticism instead of incessant moaning?
Your constant failing in this regard is a blight on progressive discourse and serves only to provide comfort to tories. Hopefully our raising of this issue will help you end your track record of disappointment.
And special thanks to The Chairman for his sterling work revealing all of Labour's failings. Without his constant soulful moaning and his tireless efforts to undermine our confidence in the Labour Party, where would we be?? The Chairman puts the wet in blanket, the stick in mud and the boot into Labour at every opportunity.
I have accused Concern Troll Chairman of blowing his own cover so many times that I have given up doing so, because all he does is over-protest about how genuinely 'Left' he is, then try to spread more gloom.
Chairman, please give in to the vast majority here, and cease your bleatings. It must be pretty obvious by now that your influence is zilch, or even the opposite of what you want.
@The Chairman, True that, except I had no illusions going in…unfortunately.
Don’t worry about these Labour Party sycophants, they are very easily upset, as well they should be, defending the centrist free market ideology of this New Labour Party gets harder and harder for them as it becomes more and more obvious that the project has run it’s course..straight on to the rocks…hence their hysterical out bursts at any dissent.
If you can't tell the difference between people fucked off at someone trashing an online community, and political sycophancy, maybe your political analysis isn't up to scratch either. I can't see anyone in this thread that objects to useful critique of Labour (don't know Alan). Lots of regulars here don't even vote Labour.
I don't quite have my moderator hat on, but you may as well know I'm getting annoyed at the bullshit going on in comments like this. Have a go at the politics. When you start spraying shit around about fellow commenters, you'll get moderator attention.
I happen to agree with lot's of the critique's that The Chairman levels at Labour..that is what a political forum is for…the way The Standard is going you lot are going to be talking to each other in an extremely small box soon (and in case you haven't noticed it's getting pretty close to that now), and the echoes will probably start to hurt even your ears..or maybe not.
When was the last time you came on here and defended me when the piles of shit get sprayed at me…I will tell when..never thats when.
I will say what I believe on The Standard when and how I want, so don't threaten me, unless you are prepared to threaten the commenters who attack me for my political positions the same way.
[you know how this works. So consider this a formal warning. There two moderators who consider TC a liability for the site and it has absolutely nothing to do with his politics. It’s about his pattern of behaviour. It doesn’t matter if you agree with that or not, other than how that affects what you post and whether that gets moderator attention.
You can say and do whatever you like here, but don’t complain when you get moderated for breaking the rules and ignoring what moderators say. If you are getting harrassed, please let me or one of the other mods know. We don’t all read everything on site.
Commenting is at a low point at the moment, in terms of numbers. Maybe in terms of content as well. My long experience both here and elsewhere online is that the one sure thing that will put people off is shit fights instead of debate. Both Incognito and I are putting too much time into fighting stupid fires at the moment. I’d rather be writing posts. Posts will always take precedent over comments, for obvious reasons.
I’m running out of patience for explaining all this to long term commenters who should know better and who still don’t take notice when it’s spelled out for them. Fastest way to get a ban is to waste moderator time. – weka]
There’s a difference between warning and threatening.
Please give a sign to moderators when you feel someone is personally attacking you instead of your political position. I concur that these lines blur all too often but we are not omniscient nor omnipresent.
IMHO the main problem with The Chairman critiquing left-leaning political party policies/MPs is that The Chair is not commenting in good faith.
Until The Chairman increases the ratio of their 'comments critical of right-leaning parties' to 'comments critical left-leaning parties' (in Government or opposition), I'll continue to believe that they are a concern troll bent on promoting National party kleptocrat attack lines.
The ratio of The Chairman's ‘anti-right’ comments to "relentlessly soggy" ‘anti-left’ comments currently stands at about 1 in 1000, so they wouldn't need to do much to bolster their "lefty" "more left than most" credentials. Or they can continue to reap the rewards of being "as transparent as a transparent thing".
" the ratio of their 'comments critical of right-leaning parties' to 'comments critical left-leaning parties' "
I too am 'guilty' of this Thought Crime.
I almost never comment on The Republicans, the Tories or National…simply because they are not the parties, nor do they have philosophies, that I have any interest in as they simply stand for everything I abhor..
In other words, to my mind, it goes without saying that I object to their actions. And complaining about them would be pointless.
I do regularly criticise NZ Labour, NZ Greens, the Centrist arm of UK Labour and the Democrats regularly..simply because they are parties that I feel are best able to deliver change and create equality..and their failure to enact real progres is a daily disappointment.
There are a number of people on this site I would consider 'trolls' on the basis of their abusive tone, The Chairman is not one of them.
And if he is a concern troll, which I very much doubt, then credit where credit is due, his arguments and comments are better thought out and far more considered than many folk around here…
The way The Standard is going you lot are going to be talking to each other in an extremely small box soon (and in case you haven't noticed it's getting pretty close to that now), and the echoes will probably start to hurt even your ears..or maybe not.
Indeed, Adrian. Could explain the increase in comments over at the Daily Blog. Although, I suspect Save NZ posting there (were they banned from here?) has also helped in lifting the numbers commenting over there.
On a side note, thanks again for your support. Sorry it got you a warning.
FYI, last time SaveNZ had been banned for 6 months for making deliberate defamatory comments and putting the site at legal risk. TDB can have them and keep them, thanks.
I've been reading some blog sites attacking Ardern. It seems her hopes to do something about mental health services haven't been fulfilled either. Maybe a good election result might do something for the symptoms even if the underlying problems aren't sorted.
Here in Murchison at the top pf the South Island we have had an unusually wet spring with weeks and weeks of rain. The slugs are playing havoc with my vegetable garden.
More concerning than my slug problem, this week has seen the closure of SH6 north of Murchison, for several days due to torrential rain causing a series of slips involving enormous rocks. SH6 reopened at 1pm today, however there has just been another rockfall closing SH6 south of Murchison, which hit a vehicle. Sadly it is reported someone has died.
We are going to more of these weather events causing havoc with the infrastructure that we all take for granted.
Controversial opinion but I think there are quite a few places in NZ that need to plan around not having road access at times. A big quake will do that so we should be thinking about this anyway, but I'm not sure how many people have gotten to grips yet with the huge cost of regular big slips from rain. I don't know if this is solvable in the long term by constructing roads in different places, but in the short and medium term it seems like something we may as well get used to and plan for.
Food supply lines shouldn't be too hard, but jobs are going to be a tough one for people that travel a lot. Maybe we should be relocalising economies too, for this and all the good reasons, and moving away from a driving culture.
The solution could be as simple as a few mandatory forms filed online, and a direct debit authority.
We entrust our political leaders and government generally to find solutions to daunting problems when there is a crisis or serious issue of some sort. Yes?
So. Just as with tobacco related issues, foreign speculation fueling the rise of housing costs and property market values, and like so many other things that political government especially seems to need to respond to, the following could be the ultimate solution by governments regionally and internationally:
Firstly. Express concerns via the internet and with some street protests and marches.
Secondly. Go back to doing what you ordinarily do.
Thirdly. Sit back and relax.
BECAUSE THEY CAN JUST TAX GLOBAL WARMING OUT OF EXISTENCE
A useful primer on Latin American coups if you've got the time or interest in it. Bananas in 1954, lithium in 2019. Time and technology moves on, but some things are constant. It is after all true what we learnt in Sunday school – that it's the love of money that turns humans into evil, sadistic chimps. (apologies to chimps)
But where would we be without it AB? Money, that is.
Actually, money is one of the best indicators in relation to people's position, disposition, behavior, perception and so many other things.
It really seems to be a reflection of general human behavior in relation to it's acquisition, disposal (what it is spent on), how it is managed or mismanaged, and how well it can be used with which to manipulate.
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As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have ...
Samoa are experiencing a devastating measles epidemic. It is possible that 2-3% of the population will ultimately be infected by the time it is over. Hopefully the mass immunisation campaign currently under way can mitigate some of this, for many it is too late. The first question many people ask ...
Meghan Murphy is a Canadian writer and journalist She runs the Feminist Current website which she founded in 2012. She was a keynote speaker for the Feminism2020 conference in Wellington this month. When Massey University cancelled the original venue booking Feminism2020 was hosted in Parliament by MP David Seymour. Meghan ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Colombia has lived through one week of protests against the economic measures taken by president Duque. What looked like a protest that would fizzle out after its first day on November 21st is still going strong. Part of the reason for the continuance ...
Around a million billion pass through you each second, almost all originating from our sun, but few of them are likely to interact with you enroute. I was reading in a physics magazine earlier in the week about the nature of neutrinos. These are extremely numerous elementary particles, but only ...
By Pallab GhoshThere’s value in covering new research advances, even when the underlying science is unsettled. But there are also risks.The recent announcement that scientists discovered water on the planet K2-18b, 110 light years away, prompted a media swoon. News stories, including a piece written by me, billed ...
I wrote this review a couple of years ago when I was still in the process of getting my head around the politics of transgenderism, and specifically the claim that intersex conditions lend support to the notion that sex is ‘socially constructed’. Since writing this review I have come across ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzHow much does our use of air travel contribute to the ...
Minor planet/asteroid (2309) Mr. Spock is named not for the character in Star Trek, but for a cat that was itself imperturbable, logical, intelligent and had pointed ears. In a preceding blog post I introduced one of my favourite asteroids, (2472) Bradman, and also mentioned (6581) Sobers amongst a few ...
Today the death toll from measles in Samoa rose to 32. All but four of the dead were less than 5 years old. Absolutely terrible, heartbreaking, news. That statistic alone should be enough to give the lie to the common claim by antivaccination activists plague enthusiasts that “measles is a ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh It is late here in Bogotá, almost 11.30pm on Monday the 25th of November as I write this. The day began full of hope with yet more massive marches throughout the country, a mix of the International Day of Non-Violence Against Women and the National Strike. ...
Anti-fluoride activists are rubbing their hands in glee over what they claim is “yet another study” showing fluoride harms the brains of children. But their promotion relies on IQ relationships which the paper’s authors acknowledge disappearing when outliers or other factors are considered. And they completely ignore other relationships ...
The feature below is the conclusion of A History of Economic Thought, whose author was a leading Marxist economist in Russia in the early 20th century, Isaac Ilyich Rubin. The book arose from a course he ran at Moscow University following the Russian Revolution. First published in Russian in 1929, ...
There are many thousands of asteroids with formal names, some humdrum but other more noteworthy (depending on your predilections). One of my favourites, the name of which I was involved in suggesting, is (2472) Bradman, named for the Australian cricketing great. As a minor planet (synonym: asteroid) spotter, I have ...
Tory manifesto: big on austerity, low on promise, non-existent on delivery. The Tories: the party so big on ambition they couldn't be arsed writing a manifesto. MLK: "I have a dream!"BJ: "I'll just have a nap." Labour: Broadband!Tories: Narrow minds! Labour have hope, dreams and ambition. The Tories will save ...
The Ministry of Health has announced that “people under the age of 50 travelling from New Zealand to Samoa, Tonga, Philippines and Fiji” are now on the list of national priorities for MMR vaccination. Given the outbreaks of measles in Samoa, Tonga, Philippines and Fiji, the Ministry of Health is ...
Hong Kong has been protesting for six months for, demanding democracy, human rights, and an end to police violence. Today, they went to the polls in district council elections - a low-level of government with virtually no power, similar to community boards in New Zealand. But while the positions themselves ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh On Friday 22nd of November a curfew came into effect and troops were deployed on the streets, here in Bogota. It was the first time since September 1977 that a curfew had been imposed on the city. The decision was a cynical pre-planned ...
Meanwhile, while the government is planning to restore voting rights to prisoners, National is promising to turn our prisons into US-style slave-labour camps:The Opposition is proposing compulsory education, training or employment for prisoners who are serving sentences of two years or more. [...] On Sunday, National Party Leader Simon Bridges ...
Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman Spinifex Press, 2013. Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the second part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna ...
Dalmeet Singh ChawlaIn 2008, psychologists proposed that when humans are shown an unfamiliar face, they judge it on two main dimensions: trustworthiness and physical strength. These form the basis of first impressions, which may help people make important social decisions, from who to vote for to how long a ...
Claas Kirchhelle, University of Oxford; Adam Roberts, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and Andrew Singer, Centre for Ecology & HydrologyAntibiotics are among the most important medicines known to humankind, but we are running out of this crucial resource. Decisive action is needed if we are to retain access to ...
Things That Make You Go - Hmmmm: “All right. Let me come at this another way. I’m guessing that what you’ve got in that box contains names, dates, bank account numbers – all the details you need to put Winston Peters and Jacinda Ardern squarely in the cross-hairs. So, the first ...
Coasters Turn Out In Droves: It’s precisely the widening gulf between those with actual experience of things like guns, chainsaws and drilling machines, and those who regulate their use, that accounts for the angry crowd at Greymouth’s Messenger Park on Sunday, 17 November 2019. In the rarefied atmosphere where decisions ...
There are perennial arguments about the circumstances of the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, and in particular whether more than one shooter is required by the evidence (such as the Zapruder film). Those who know little about physics frequently claim that the sharp backwards motion of JFK’s head as ...
Apparently, some people enjoy washing their cars. Each to his or her own, I suppose. I mean, some people like duck shooting, some people follow Coronation Street, and some people’s idea of a good day out is to sit on a grass bank at Seddon Park and watch cricket all ...
Last week we learned that New Zealand First had apparently tried to enrich itself from public office, with a dodgy forestry company linked to a number of NZ First figures sticking its hand out repeatedly for government money. Today in Question Time Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had his ...
Finally, governments seem slowly to be beginning to act on climate change. But its not enough. While they're publicly signing up to targets, they're planning to destroy the world by continuing fossil fuel extraction:The world’s nations are on track to produce more than twice as much coal, oil and gas ...
Stuff has begun interviewing NZ First's secret donors, and it turns out that its as bad as we expected. They start with racing industry figure Garry Chittick, who is predictably grumpy about NZ First's coalition choices. Meanwhile, I'm looking at the list of pork NZ First has effectively given its ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
The chairman of the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy (UNISCS) working group, Wayne Brown, has hit back at critics of his group’s recommendations to relocate the Ports of Auckland cargo operations to Whangarei’s deepwater port of Northport. The working group's recommendation to close Auckland waterfront to all but cruise ...
The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the release today of a pivotal report for dealing with waste. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealandreport, released by her Chief Science Advisor ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
A package of new and expanded technology and other tools will encourage responsible camping and help communities and local councils better manage freedom camping this summer, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. “Our Government has been investing to improve the freedom camping experience for everyone because we want to support ...
The government is laying the groundwork to understanding our genes – work that can help us tackle some of our biggest health challenges, like heart disease and diabetes, says Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods. $4.7 million has been invested in the Genomics Aotearoa Rakeiora programme. The programme will ...
Nearly every state schools will receive a capital injection next year valued at $693 per student to bring forward urgent school property improvements, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The one-off cash injection is the first project to be announced from the Government’s infrastructure package ...
The Government has decided to bring forward major investments in New Zealand’s infrastructure to future proof the economy. “Cabinet has agreed to a significant boost to infrastructure investment. I have directed the Treasury to help bring together a package of projects that can be brought into the Government’s short and ...
It is a great pleasure to be with you today in Whanganui. Like the Prime Minister I grew up with the TV clip of Selwyn Toogood booming “What do you say Whanganui, the money or the bag?” to an unsuspecting ‘It’s in the Bag’ audience. For those under the age ...
New Zealand’s newest Great Walk, the Paparoa Track, was officially opened in Blackball today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage alongside the family members of the Pike 29 and Ngāti Waewae. Local mayors and MP for the West Coast Hon Damien O’Connor were also in attendance. “Paparoa National Park ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark turned the first sod of earth on the infrastructure works for the new P-8A Poseidon fleet at RNZAF Base Ohakea today. “The Coalition Government’s investment in Ohakea will ensure the Royal New Zealand Air Force can manage, maintain and task the new fleet efficiently ahead ...
Civil Defence Minister Hon Peeni Henare today announced the establishment of the new National Emergency Management Agency from 1 December 2019. The National Emergency Management Agency will replace the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management. It will be an autonomous departmental agency, hosted by the Department of the Prime ...
New Zealand tertiary students with top grades and a passion for space will once again be offered the opportunity to work with the world’s best and brightest at NASA, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Recipients of the New Zealand Space Scholarship are nominated by the Ministry of Business, ...
Our Seas Our Future welcomes Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s announcement that the Government is aiming to phase out another round of single-use hard plastics, made of PVC and Polystyrene. ...
The Fraudster exposes the life and crimes of a million dollar conwoman Award-winning investigative team Stuff Circuit’s latest documentary exposes the cautionary tale of a woman who ripped off New Zealand businesses and government agencies, and a justice ...
Press Release 8 December 2019 Auckland, 8 December 2019 : The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, presented the 262-page report on ‘Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand’ to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet should make a policy decision tomorrow that Auckland’s car and container port must close by 31 December 2029, Waterfront 2029 Spokesperson Michael Goldwater said today. ...
In light of increasing public concern over the harmful effects of plastic pollution, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, is presenting the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand report to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
The government will start phasing out polystyrene packaging and beverage containers in response to a major new report calling for a nationwide rethink on plastics in New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern announced today. Here’s what you need to know about the announcement, and the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa report.For much ...
The Absolute Book is one of our picks of the year and you should buy it for someone you love for Christmas. A story that sticks like a biddi-bid, Elizabeth Knox said on Twitter the other day. Here, she writes about the books that stuck in her own psyche – ...
The government would argue it’s on track to reduce child poverty significantly by the next reporting round, and culture change is well underway at Work and Income. But change at WINZ is a slow-moving process. Pip Colgan is an advocate at Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP), which means she spends a ...
Frozen 2 is out, but more importantly the soundtrack is available for your kids to play on repeat. Sam Brooks ranks the songs by how likely it is that they’ll sing them into your face for the foreseeable future.Parents and caregivers, get your loins girded because Frozen 2 is here. The film ...
Five New Zealanders from across culturalspaces explain what it is they love about basketball.Historically, basketball has always held a relatively small but special in Aotearoa’s sporting landscape. The NBL was established in 1981, giving provinces the chance to duke it out for national supremacy. In 2002 the Tall Blacks ...
After 40 years at the frontline, the University of Otago's Professor Marie Crowe discusses her research on treatments beyond medicine to alleviate symptoms of mood disorders like bipolar and depression. ...
Everything you need to know about the suspension of buses in Auckland and the industrial action standoff that it springs from.What’s going on?Yesterday saw the cancellation of thousands of bus trips and a lot of people standing around at Auckland bus stops looking puzzled after services operated by NZ Bus ...
ASMS message to DHB Chairs and appointees The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) welcomes the District Health Board Chairs and board appointees announced by Health Minister David Clark. ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced this week. The new criterion, he explained, ” … emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
“CEAC – University of Auckland asks ‘Can democracy survive’? Subject; Can democracy survive? https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/news/2019/12/03/can-democracy-survive-.html Citizens Environmental Advocacy Centre Incorporated (CEAC) Press release 8th December ...
The Minister of Health’s announcement to appoint a new chair to the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board has come as a surprise and with some disappointment, especially given he had personally asked me to stand again with his confidence to continue in ...
Hell’s bells it’s Gone By Lunchtime, with Annabelle Lee, Ben Thomas and Toby Manhire shooting the breeze on Kris Faafoi, Jason Kerrison, Winston Peters, NZ First donations, a cannabis referendum, and the year to come.Just when you thought politics was tucking under the duvet for Christmas, along comes the guy ...
Tis the season for hangovers, so we convinced some of New Zealand’s most experienced consumers of food and/or drink (OK, Spinoff staff and a bunch of chefs/hospo people) to share their tried-and-true culinary remedies.A hangover is a very individual thing. For some, it manifests as a splitting headache and extreme ...
Before Britain’s Got Talent: Champions hits our screens tonight, let’s take a fond look back at some of the show’s weirdest and most wonderful acts.Place your hands on your Golden Buzzer, because Britain’s Got Talent: The Champions kicks off this weekend. Champions is BGT bigger and better than it’s been before, ...
Following the raging success of the 2018 non-goat ethical Christmas gift guide, here for you today – responsibly wrapped in reusable gift wrap – is the 2019 list of ethical, sustainable, socially conscious, or charitable gift ideas to satisfy all kinds of family members and budgets.Budget Category: ‘Can we pay ...
Lime brought e-scooters to Auckland and changed the way we travel in less than a year. Now, the council is replacing it and Wave with three new contenders. Josie Adams goes to the Lime warehouse to say goodbye to the original scooters.In a warehouse in Eden Terrace, almost a thousand ...
Analysis - The government's first crack at cannabis legislation runs into trouble, a foreign donations bill is rammed through Parliament and a select committee refuses to listen to former NZ First officeholders. ...
Dr Ben Jansen is Oceania's leading prescriber of cannabis medicines, and a co-founder of the Hemp Foundation.org.nz “I’d like to thank the Labour Party and Chris Woodney. Thanks to his policy remit at Labours national conference, and Labours full support, ...
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Open mike 14/11/2019 
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Net Migration Dec 2017 = 52 646
Sept 2019 = 54,623
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/102531/migration-added-54623-people-countrys-population-year-september
Thanks for this traffic and the news that the housing market is taking off – Labour is the govt and we have all these issues that they were to address – Thanks for doing Nothing – Deliver on the vision you sold us at the election.
In total, these changes are estimated to reduce net migration by 20,000-30,000. Without these changes there would be up to 10,000 more houses needed and up to 20,000 more vehicles on our roads annually.
https://www.labour.org.nz/immigration
Don't want to ramp down 'business confidence'.
Without imported cheap labour, profits and GDP 'growth' would stagnate.
Well sooner or later we have to consolidate and become sustainable … "Procrastination is the thief of time " Start now.
This the role of contemporary government – to present a flaccid façade of democracy while Treasury drives through the epic stupidity that has gifted NZ the fastest inequality growth in the world. The incompetent technocrats are counting on the 'niceness' of the current government to stave off the richly deserved pitchforks for a while yet.
Annual net migration year ended December 2017 70,000
you are saying it is currently 54,000
that's a significant drop so they are doing what they said they would do
it does need to go down from where it currently is though
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/net-migration-remains-high
Still lower than under National. George is right.
"Migration estimates up to December 2017 are now final. The final net migration for the year ended December 2017 was 52,600."
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/net-migration-remains-high'
“National took net migration to 70k and Labour immediately slashed it by 20k. It hovers around that level today” antihobbs
https://figure.nz/chart/a3PV9tKfbfVBCRwv
I guess Stats NZ must be wrong then
https://tohu.figure.nz/external/what_we_do/#figurenzs-story
https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/net-migration-levels-steady
I agree with this analysis
Oh wow. Giuliani's latest talking point to … ummm … defend America's prolapsed rectum is that only a part of his phone call to Ukraine's president was about extorting Ukraine into smearing his political opponent.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rudy-giuliani-op-ed-wall-street-journal_n_5dcbc31ae4b0d43931cc8308
Like when Ronnie Biggs only spent part of his day robbing that train. Hence jumping the wall and only doing part of his sentence. Trump's 'smart', he's built his own wall to jump over. Not sure he thought about the reception he'll get on the other side though.
If nothing else, he's exposed the utter fraud that is the Republicans feigning any interest in ethics, morals, their country or their constituents. Just more self-obsessed Tory corporate sock puppets from where I'm sitting.
The enemies of the Earth.
The truth does come out sometimes.
I guess 'white male working class with economic anxiety ' sounds so much less threatening and ugly.
Speaking of 'End of life Bill's"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018722169/could-rnz-as-we-know-it-be-a-thing-of-the-past
The investigation into how Budget-sensitive material was accessed at the Treasury has hit a hurdle. Yet, despite that, it is expected to be completed within or near the original budget of $250,000.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/11/14/909069/budget-bungle-continues
Does anybody else find the original time frame (months) and cost of this investigation to be excessive?
The Great French cyclist from the heroic era of cycle racing the eternal second Raymond Poulidor has sadly passed today. Known fondly by his legion of fan over the decades by his nick name Pou-Pou, his career (unfortunately for him) spanned the reigns of two of the greatest cyclist the world has ever known, firstly Jacques Anquetil (5 times winner of the Tour de France) and then 'The Cannibal" Eddy Merckx, regarded as the greatest all round rider in the history of the sport.
Poulidor was adored by the public for his humble demeanor off the bike, but his ferocious fighting spirit on in the saddle, his epic shoulder to shoulder battle with Anquetil during the 1964 Tour de France on the mountains of the Puy de Dome is remembered as one of the classic stages on the history of the TdF.
http://66.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6ai6ynbPk1qaahfxo1_1280.jpg
The story goes that when Poulidor visited Anquetil on his death bed in 1987, Anquetil told his greatest rival the he would now have to finish second yet again.
He will be sadly missed
David Suzuki says:
"I believe that that’s the challenge: to give Nature the chance, not impose human technology, and try to manage our way into the future. Give Nature — which has had 3.8 billion years to evolve — give Nature a chance, and my hope is that she will be far more generous than we deserve."
https://news.mongabay.com/2017/09/why-we-cant-lose-hope-dr-david-suzuki-speaks-out/
yeah, nah, not gonna change anything.
seriously this 'give this a chance' is simply just a really cheap cop out to 'get the fuck of your lazy arse and learn how to do the same with less and if you can walk, walk'.
Funny, characterising David Suzuki as someone offering a "cheap cop out". You'll find a reading of the whole article instructive.
well Mr. Suzuki might believe that people get out of their cars and walk, and he might even advocate for this (something i don't dispute) but 'this give nature a chance' is failing because people a. don't give nature a chance – in fact where ever they can they concrete/tar it over so they can park their cars and drive them too, and b. walking? that is for suckers. As the same people that pave everything over to park their cars only ever jog, on a well paved road.
nature? she dying and we are doing a bang of job on killingher.
David Suzuki is arguing for that – to consume less and walk more. And arguing that we cannot rely on technology to save us as it is technology that got us into this mess in the first place. You want less carbon in the atmosphere? – consume less, especially fossil fuels and highly polluting products. Plant trees and allow regeneration of natural environments to take place.
I heard Simon Bridges talking about the news out today about discussions around TVNZ and RNZ.
He is concerned that "Where it took an editorial line – and it inevitably would – that would become the received wisdom … a liberal democracy needs many voices that check each other."
No doubt he is happy when the 'received' wisdom comes from big, reputable, authoritative sources with minor others presenting different voices. NZME with Hosking and co. = good, a big united TVNZ/RNZ = bad.
voiceshttps://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/403255/no-mandate-for-creating-single-public-broadcaster-simon-bridges
No surprises – he is routinely embarrassed on RNZ and is no friend of the platform. And structurally-speaking, it's in the right's interest to have those opinions formed inside corporate media, and sympathetic to establishment economic interests, as the dominant ones the public is exposed to. They'd drown RNZ in a bathtub if they thought they could get away with it.
The Nats success in this endeavour requires that the public has no working concept of private power. The mantra of "sate bad, private good" requires that the state be identified as the locus of oppressive power, whereas the private is characterised as just other people like us. In reality the purpose of the state (including, the state broadcaster) is to free us from domination by private power.
Just a quick review of why the US are now in an Impeachment Inquiry:
Why are Ukraine and Russian forces in conflict? Is the Ukraine attempting to recover Crimea? Is providing more weapons to Ukraine expected to de-escelate or to escelate this situation and the military toll there?
The conflict is the Ukraine is because Pootee is trying recover the glory days of the grand Soviet Empire by incrementally grabbing bits of former Soviet states here and there.
That's so he can truly be a leader on the world, instead of just the head thug of a rundown trailer park with a petrol station that does double-duty as a liquor store. With nukes.
Actually Andre, it sounds as though Volodymyr Zelensky is getting the message that it makes more sense to talk with, or even side with Russia since its NATO sponsor has proved itself ineffectual, other than by giving tacit support to Ukraine's Nazi militias. Of course, being big on democracy, one would have thought that you would have supported the Crimean vote to join with Russia. Those matters sorted, would you care to reflect on which thug is waging war on democratic South American states that refused to be yoked by the IMF, while at the same time, creating endless mayhem in the Middle East – Putin?
If your going to answer then do read the question. Several soldiers were killed this year, where were they (presumably Ukraine/Crimea). Who escellated to the point of that occurring?
Was your question a rhetorical device that you think you already knew the answer to?
The simple fact is in both Crimea and the Donbas, russian military forces (read up about little green men et al) made an uninvited and unwanted appearance in Ukraine territory, and are still there. There are zero Ukrainian military forces in Russian Federation territory.
No matter how much diversionary smoke gets blown, those two simple facts make Russia the aggressor in an act of territorial expansion.
So yes the Ukraine military is trying to recapture Crimea hence the casualties?
Erm, no, the russians are on ukrainian soil outside of the annexed crimea, so more a continued defensive operation rather than an offensive push to recapture lost territory.
Which is, of course, like a decision to ally with nato and the EU, as a sovereign nation, their self determined right.
No. The current hotpots are where Russia is trying to grab part of eastern Ukraine. It's a long way away from Crimea.
Because the Carpathian mountains and the Balkan mountains are to the west of Ukraine and it is all flat country as the southern part of Great European Plain, right to the gates of Moscow. Even today mountain ranges and water barriers are vital for security. If the Ukraine sides more with the west then Western troops would only be hours from Moscow and with a 3000 kms open country approach that makes it very vulnerable.
Russias only friend when invaded is winter which has saved it at least twice, once each from France and Germany.
That is a great point, not to mention that from the Russian point of view (rightly or wrongly) any defense of Russia would hinge on the Russian Black Sea Fleet being fully functional.
Here is a good discussion on the situation of USA/Russia/Ukraine…
Ukrainegate impeachment saga worsens US-Russia Cold War
Interesting (video clip) caption.
Could it have something to do with NATO perhaps?
Using “but” during a telephone conversation usually implies that a condition must be met, or that there is some proviso.
Such as; “We can, but we would want, or insist on.”
If simply including words such as; “we would like you to”, then context can be more widely interpreted.
What an exceedingly wise and knowledgeable man.
"We want to promote democracy, particularly constitutionalism, as opposed to political caprice in the former Soviet territories. That's been official Amercan policy. Why then would you support the overthrow by a street mob..there were plenty of neo-facists among them….[of] a leader who had been by all ratifying monitoring organisations freely and fairly elected.. especially when he'd agreed to move elections up within 9 months..
Why would the United States therefore immediately, this being President Obama, support what was essentially a street coup,
It's a blow to constitutionalism, the cause we claim to be promoting.
That was a turning point, it was a message about what the United State was prepared to send. It was a very important moment and it was very wrong headed…
….Its sets a precedent for American behaviour"
Those who as so pigheadedly Russiaphobic would do well to listen to this video and gain themselves some knowledge.
Actually Brigid, I couldn't agree with you more with regard to Russia phobia and the suggestion of manipulation in relation to interpretation pertaining to constitutional matters.
But global dynamics will always significantly influence interpretation of a myriad of things related to ideals, both domestic and foreign.
Russia does tend to get a hammering, but when observers can overlook a lot of the self fueled media hype, along with much of the fear mongering in relation to Russia generally, viewed in balance, it is evident that both the USA and Russia play a very interesting game of chess.
Axiomatic, although not as economically strong as either the USA or the PRC, Russia does now to have an edge in relation to both global and regional influence which the United States of America seems to have fallen well behind on in many regions. Perhaps, in part, due to the amount of of distrust that has been created again and again, through various administrations in relation to foreign policy and influence.
Quite sad really, when you consider that for many, the USA was once respected as a model of liberty, security and good intentions, correctly or incorrectly as the case may be.
On the telephone wording, my point was that just a word or two out of place, or misinterpreted can change both perspective and dynamic considerably, though nothing at all may have changed in reality, or "on the ground."
And who do you suppose wants to invade Russia?
While Putin has been in power the boot has always been on the other foot.
Funny how a 3000km depth makes Russia "very vulnerable", too.
Nobody tell the Germans or the French, lol
There's some humour in the historical perspective too – the Ukraine isn't so much part of Russia – as Russia is historically part of the Ukraine.
It's width actually and width is very hard to defend as the invader has all the options and the invaded needs to be able react over in this case about 3000kms , The reason why the Normandy landings were effective as they were spread over quite a distance with numerous "feint " attacks.
What a load of bollocks.
@ McFlock , Are you fucking serious..26 million Russians died defending their homeland from a fascist invasion made up of various hostile European nations in World War Two….are you laughing out loud at that are you?, personally I don't find that funny at all.
The only reason countries like NZ didn't lose twice as many men in that conflict is that the Russians had already broken the fascists back on the Eastern Fronts by the time we landed in Normandy….maybe you should show them some respect for that at least.
No, I'm laughing at you two trying to make Putin look like anything other than an aggressor who murders his political opponents.
No that's not what you said..or laughed at
"Funny how a 3000km depth makes Russia "very vulnerable", too.
Nobody tell the Germans or the French, lol"
I said nothing about Putin.
This would be the "defense of Russia" in 1942 that you were talking about?
Any leader of Russia is going to feel exactly the same about the Ukraine as part of their defense strategy, so no I am not talking about Putin, I am talking about any Russian leadership generally, and further, as I made clear, and you even quoted, I said "rightly or wrongly", so was making no defense of Putin, just pointing out a fact…don't you get the difference?
And yes I could have been talking about WW2, or now..that was my point.
Except applying it to WW2 would be factually incorrect.
And I'm not arguing that Russian leaders in the past have not also invaded or occupied the Ukraine. It's a recurring historical conflict.
But saying the equivalent of "his predecessors did it, too" is a minimisation of what Putin is doing now. Which is invading a sovereign nation.
You get pissy when the yanks do it, why aren't you equally outraged when the Russians do it?
Disgusting pricks have gone full George Soros done did it.
#ImpeachmentHearings
Year of delivery?
Average national house price – highest ever
Immigration – higher than last year
The left are once again discovering Labour are the party we can count on to let us down.
The Chairman is once again confirming he is the commenter we can count on to put Labour down.
Your trolling needs to stop! Alan’s comment had more substance than your lashing out. Get a grip or leave.
I'm not trolling. I'm expressing my genuine opinion on an open forum.
Do you have something against free speech and people expressing their political opinion?
Your comments @ 6, 11.1, and 11.1.2.1, have no substance, are not constructive, and don’t stimulate healthy debate. You have been trolling this site for too long IMO. Start packing your bags with your ‘free speech’ and ‘political opinion’ if you cannot or don’t want to make positive and constructive contributions to the discourse here.
We're just trying to help you lift your game. If we don't point out that you come across as a tory troll who delights in trying to sow alarm and despondency amongst "the left", how can you expected to rectify your inability to deliver constructive criticism instead of incessant moaning?
Your constant failing in this regard is a blight on progressive discourse and serves only to provide comfort to tories. Hopefully our raising of this issue will help you end your track record of disappointment.
We merely provide a public service.
And special thanks to The Chairman for his sterling work revealing all of Labour's failings. Without his constant soulful moaning and his tireless efforts to undermine our confidence in the Labour Party, where would we be?? The Chairman puts the wet in blanket, the stick in mud and the boot into Labour at every opportunity.
Labour via their failings undermine our confidence in them.
Ironic! I have full confidence your repeated attempts to undermine them expose all your failings.
You only speak for yourself here! Stop your trolling!
Absolutely agree.
I have accused Concern Troll Chairman of blowing his own cover so many times that I have given up doing so, because all he does is over-protest about how genuinely 'Left' he is, then try to spread more gloom.
Chairman, please give in to the vast majority here, and cease your bleatings. It must be pretty obvious by now that your influence is zilch, or even the opposite of what you want.
OMG what's that smell?
@The Chairman, True that, except I had no illusions going in…unfortunately.
Don’t worry about these Labour Party sycophants, they are very easily upset, as well they should be, defending the centrist free market ideology of this New Labour Party gets harder and harder for them as it becomes more and more obvious that the project has run it’s course..straight on to the rocks…hence their hysterical out bursts at any dissent.
If you can't tell the difference between people fucked off at someone trashing an online community, and political sycophancy, maybe your political analysis isn't up to scratch either. I can't see anyone in this thread that objects to useful critique of Labour (don't know Alan). Lots of regulars here don't even vote Labour.
I don't quite have my moderator hat on, but you may as well know I'm getting annoyed at the bullshit going on in comments like this. Have a go at the politics. When you start spraying shit around about fellow commenters, you'll get moderator attention.
I happen to agree with lot's of the critique's that The Chairman levels at Labour..that is what a political forum is for…the way The Standard is going you lot are going to be talking to each other in an extremely small box soon (and in case you haven't noticed it's getting pretty close to that now), and the echoes will probably start to hurt even your ears..or maybe not.
When was the last time you came on here and defended me when the piles of shit get sprayed at me…I will tell when..never thats when.
I will say what I believe on The Standard when and how I want, so don't threaten me, unless you are prepared to threaten the commenters who attack me for my political positions the same way.
[you know how this works. So consider this a formal warning. There two moderators who consider TC a liability for the site and it has absolutely nothing to do with his politics. It’s about his pattern of behaviour. It doesn’t matter if you agree with that or not, other than how that affects what you post and whether that gets moderator attention.
You can say and do whatever you like here, but don’t complain when you get moderated for breaking the rules and ignoring what moderators say. If you are getting harrassed, please let me or one of the other mods know. We don’t all read everything on site.
Commenting is at a low point at the moment, in terms of numbers. Maybe in terms of content as well. My long experience both here and elsewhere online is that the one sure thing that will put people off is shit fights instead of debate. Both Incognito and I are putting too much time into fighting stupid fires at the moment. I’d rather be writing posts. Posts will always take precedent over comments, for obvious reasons.
I’m running out of patience for explaining all this to long term commenters who should know better and who still don’t take notice when it’s spelled out for them. Fastest way to get a ban is to waste moderator time. – weka]
There’s a difference between warning and threatening.
Please give a sign to moderators when you feel someone is personally attacking you instead of your political position. I concur that these lines blur all too often but we are not omniscient nor omnipresent.
mod note above.
IMHO the main problem with The Chairman critiquing left-leaning political party policies/MPs is that The Chair is not commenting in good faith.
Until The Chairman increases the ratio of their 'comments critical of right-leaning parties' to 'comments critical left-leaning parties' (in Government or opposition), I'll continue to believe that they are a concern troll bent on promoting National party kleptocrat attack lines.
The ratio of The Chairman's ‘anti-right’ comments to "relentlessly soggy" ‘anti-left’ comments currently stands at about 1 in 1000, so they wouldn't need to do much to bolster their "lefty" "more left than most" credentials. Or they can continue to reap the rewards of being "as transparent as a transparent thing".
So transparent that you could pin some tentacles on him and call him a jellyfish.
I too am 'guilty' of this Thought Crime.
I almost never comment on The Republicans, the Tories or National…simply because they are not the parties, nor do they have philosophies, that I have any interest in as they simply stand for everything I abhor..
In other words, to my mind, it goes without saying that I object to their actions. And complaining about them would be pointless.
I do regularly criticise NZ Labour, NZ Greens, the Centrist arm of UK Labour and the Democrats regularly..simply because they are parties that I feel are best able to deliver change and create equality..and their failure to enact real progres is a daily disappointment.
There are a number of people on this site I would consider 'trolls' on the basis of their abusive tone, The Chairman is not one of them.
And if he is a concern troll, which I very much doubt, then credit where credit is due, his arguments and comments are better thought out and far more considered than many folk around here…
Have my doubts – until The Chair can just once bring themself to refer to "Jacinda" as PM Ardern, we'll have to agree to disagree re their motives.
Indeed, Adrian. Could explain the increase in comments over at the Daily Blog. Although, I suspect Save NZ posting there (were they banned from here?) has also helped in lifting the numbers commenting over there.
On a side note, thanks again for your support. Sorry it got you a warning.
FYI, last time SaveNZ had been banned for 6 months for making deliberate defamatory comments and putting the site at legal risk. TDB can have them and keep them, thanks.
I've been reading some blog sites attacking Ardern. It seems her hopes to do something about mental health services haven't been fulfilled either. Maybe a good election result might do something for the symptoms even if the underlying problems aren't sorted.
Here in Murchison at the top pf the South Island we have had an unusually wet spring with weeks and weeks of rain. The slugs are playing havoc with my vegetable garden.
More concerning than my slug problem, this week has seen the closure of SH6 north of Murchison, for several days due to torrential rain causing a series of slips involving enormous rocks. SH6 reopened at 1pm today, however there has just been another rockfall closing SH6 south of Murchison, which hit a vehicle. Sadly it is reported someone has died.
We are going to more of these weather events causing havoc with the infrastructure that we all take for granted.
Yep agree. We always stop in Murch on the way down the island – good spot.
Controversial opinion but I think there are quite a few places in NZ that need to plan around not having road access at times. A big quake will do that so we should be thinking about this anyway, but I'm not sure how many people have gotten to grips yet with the huge cost of regular big slips from rain. I don't know if this is solvable in the long term by constructing roads in different places, but in the short and medium term it seems like something we may as well get used to and plan for.
Food supply lines shouldn't be too hard, but jobs are going to be a tough one for people that travel a lot. Maybe we should be relocalising economies too, for this and all the good reasons, and moving away from a driving culture.
This global warming matter, and responses to it.
The solution could be as simple as a few mandatory forms filed online, and a direct debit authority.
We entrust our political leaders and government generally to find solutions to daunting problems when there is a crisis or serious issue of some sort. Yes?
So. Just as with tobacco related issues, foreign speculation fueling the rise of housing costs and property market values, and like so many other things that political government especially seems to need to respond to, the following could be the ultimate solution by governments regionally and internationally:
Firstly. Express concerns via the internet and with some street protests and marches.
Secondly. Go back to doing what you ordinarily do.
Thirdly. Sit back and relax.
BECAUSE THEY CAN JUST TAX GLOBAL WARMING OUT OF EXISTENCE
A useful primer on Latin American coups if you've got the time or interest in it. Bananas in 1954, lithium in 2019. Time and technology moves on, but some things are constant. It is after all true what we learnt in Sunday school – that it's the love of money that turns humans into evil, sadistic chimps. (apologies to chimps)
But where would we be without it AB? Money, that is.
Actually, money is one of the best indicators in relation to people's position, disposition, behavior, perception and so many other things.
It really seems to be a reflection of general human behavior in relation to it's acquisition, disposal (what it is spent on), how it is managed or mismanaged, and how well it can be used with which to manipulate.
It is almost a mirror.