Yes! Maybe time to go fill up the car today. Good move by Labour reducing the petrol tax. We all know they hate reducing any tax, but it was really needed. I just hope that in a few weeks time the price hasn't risen more than the temporary 25c reduction.
Public transport move unexpected but also a great move. Hopefully encourage more to use.
Last year the Government unveiled its proposals and invited the public to have its say, including creating a new criminal offence with harsher penalties and protections for more minority groups.
Faafoi had planned to introduce the laws to Parliament early this year but told Newshub this had been delayed. He said much care needed to be taken because "we also don't want to inflame the very issue that we are trying to fix here".
Foon said he had written to all the ministers involved, with mixed responses and only some replying. "If I, as a Commissioner tasked with following up these matters, cannot get a response, what hope is there for our concerned communities?"
There's always hope. They ought to keep hoping for the best. For the govt it's just a matter of being engaged with higher priorities. Foon knows the squeaky wheel gets the grease so he squeaks loudly. Trouble is he's drowned out by louder squawks.
There's an immense design problem with legislative change. It consists of an elephant in the room that law reformers don't want to look at: the lack of prosecutions under the current law. The media has amply reported that hate speech is already illegal – what part of this don't these people understand??
You can't reasonably expect govt & public service lawyers to fix a problem that doesn't exist. Complainants ought to get real. Launch their own prosecutions against hate speech using the law designed for that purpose. This ain't rocket science. And really, why can't Foon figure it out? I would have thought he's the ideal person to be leading any prosecution on behalf of targeted ethnicities.
Robert Habeck is a novelist, philosopher, and the German equivalent of our minister of finance:
After the Greens agreed to form a traffic light coalition government with the centre-left Social Democrats and liberal Free Democrats, new Chancellor Olaf Scholz named Habeck as Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and Vice Chancellor in December 2021, making him one of the most powerful politicians in Europe.
And he's part of the hinge between Germany and Russia now.
In an interview reflecting the moral pressure Germany is under to do more, the country’s Green economics minister, Robert Habeck, admitted Europe in the past had fed Ukraine false promises, but said Germany could not afford “the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs” that a full energy embargo would require. He said Germany at best could be freed of Russian coal by the autumn, of its oil by the end of the year, but could set no date for ending German reliance on gas.
The impasse is leaving senior allies of Zelenskiy feeling frustrated, and appealing to the UK and the US to use the G7 to try to persuade the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to sign up to a western timetable to end dependence on Russian energy.
The frustration with the German position is such that Zelenskiy is willing to turn to one of Scholz’s predecessors, Gerhard Schröder, to act as a mediator with Putin. The former chancellor has accepted the role, possibly to salvage something from the ruins of his reputation, and reportedly had talks with Putin last week.
However another dictator is poised to rescue the west:
In a game of geopolitical chess with Russia, Biden is already working to find alternative oil supplies. For now he is trying to fill the shortfall through drawing on the US reserves, oil from Venezuela, the world largest oil producer, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
White House officials were in Caracas for the first such talks in 20 years. Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro government has signalled its willingness to cooperate with the White House by releasing two political prisoners in a goodwill gesture. Venezuela’s oil output could rise by at least 400,000 bpd, the country’s petroleum chamber said on Friday.
All hail the saviour! Biden ought to invite Maduro to the White House & host him with a military parade of goose-steppers. Dictators love that stuff!
Benefits rates also increase as the second part of the increases announced last year come into force – I think my supported living allowance goes up $23 per week on 1 April
Yes, the 23 NZD that is the last payment to finally pay the increase that the WEAG demanded in 2019.
All benefit rates will increase by $20 a week from 1 July this year. A second increase will occur on 1 April next year that will see main benefits lifted in line with a key WEAG recommendation. Families and whānau with children will also receive a further $15 per adult per week.20/05/2021
again, this too is nice, but a few years late and now several tens of dollars short. And considering that it will be tacked on the main benefit, fringe benefits will be reduced accordingly to make up for the windfall and chances are benefits are still no better off, in fact my be worse of.
But an effort has been made, and i really hope that this will be enough for a while to make your life a bit easier.
Providing direct benefit to over 1,000,000 regular users
Starting in Arpil for three month. It is nice, but again, its neither here nor there, just a wee little temporary relieve. By then the 25cnts discount on the tax on gasoline will be nill and voided.
– 1 April NZSuper increases $52 per fortnight for a single person
– 1 April NZSuper increases $80 per fortnight for a couple
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
– 1 April Working for Families increases $20 per week
nothing for families on the benefit?
1 April Minimum Wage lifts to $21.20
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
all of these 'increases' are nice, but too little very much too late, an in fact will do nothing much to change anything, same as te min wage increase last year did not do much, nor the one the year before. Why?
Because there is no way any government can increase the Min Wage / Benefits / Super enough to make inflation go away, in fact it feeds into inflation, and people still are a few hundred dollar short for food and essentials after paying rent.
What is missing on your list are the important things.
rent control
proper tax reform, revisiting of tax brackets.
affordable housing for people who are on a fixed to low income
affordable food
affordable long term public transport so as to build a proper alternative to private transport.
But, another layer of sugar was applied to the stale cake of 'Non reform' and some like a good sugar rush, never mind the headache afterwards.
The point is that without meaningful reform you can increase the benefits every other month and htey would still not hold up. Case in point hte first 25 NZD i ncrease came curtesy of National, and that too did fuck all.
Public transport is not used because it is too expensive and always was. I am a public transport user as i never owned a car in NZ. I used to live close to work and walk as that was cheaper then running a car and spending x amount of hours in traffic.
The half price announcement is good, but made bad by not starting immediately and then only for three month. That is just pretending to do something, that's not even a band aid.
The budget……lol. Mind there is another poll to come for sure, and that too will reflect the compassionated and considerate movements of this government, it will move compassionately and considerably down. 27.8% is the low of Cunliffe, Little would have been even lower, so lets wait and see. Shall we?
Can you please list the houses build, vs houses sold and houses demolished. Please, that would be nice if you could actually provide proof for that point.
Re Housing, the biggest need currently is getting our population into affordable and suitable housing; and social housing needs continue to grow. THe scale of need is such that I believe we need to go back to something like the State Advances Corporation system – issuing loans at say 0.5% above government stock rates, requiring payments of a percentage of earnings which remains fixed for say 20 years, for up to 90% of the cost of a dwelling. Someone is currently paying the $6 billion that banks made last year – perhaps some of that can be reduced by removing difficult clients from seeking bank loans . . .
The delay is probably to allow systems to change fares and test changes,
Technology sometimes slows change.
(Was watching a documentary of London Underground where they had a (temporary) mechanical scheduing system instlled just after the second world war. It was the most reliable part of the whole, even in the early 2000's)
I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. I love public transport as i positively hate driving and owning a car. Eww. Literally. Trams, busses, shuttles, le chemin de fer, trains, and bicycles, are my mode of transportation of choice. Cars are something that i rent when i can't have the other stuff.
This is the first time they even contemplate it. So i guess i am applauding 'baby steps', while shaking my head at the temprorarinessness of it all.
Public transport fees need to be looked at, honestly and with affordability in mind, and we are not doing that. And if changing the software is in the too hard basket, the Government could include a tax rebate for those that use it to go to work and ship their kids to school. At the end of the year via the tax return. Maybe that is easier. After all, to some extend it is a business expense for workers and families.
Edit: And doing it right now does not seem a concentrated push to make public transport more attractive and affordable but just a wee things to shut up noises about high cost of living and being perceived at doing something. Polls and such demand actions, not foresight and anticipation of stuff happening, but polls that trend the wrong way.
"I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. "
Me, too. I am cynical about this scheme, because it seems an easy move with little cost, and limited benefit.
I also believe that public transport in Auckland needs to be improved in terms of getting better service and security, particularly in the outer regions. My family did use public transport to get into Auckland for tertiary study (pre Covid) and the cost was high, and the reliability and service mediocre.
I'm guessing they are still working on the 2022 budget and will need time to adjust things for a longer term change. In the meantime, we have three months to see what the uptake of PT is, and to lobby for making it permanent. This is how change through parliament can work well.
Greater Auckland use their influence to argue against free public transport, never once considering how much relief it will possibly give to some of the financially distressed households in Auckland.
As we attempt (unsuccessfully) to raise lower incomes, we need to also design strong policies and strategies to reduce essential costs: housing, transport, food and utilities.
I attended a few transport public lectures back in the day, with Matt L as a guest speaker. He was consistently dismissive of the topic when it was brought up.
Given that I come from a perspective that many Auckland households are struggling financially, I never heard that addressed either in person or on their blog posts, which are really well structured in terms of identifying points, which they then dismantle or discuss. However, that also often limits discussion to just those points.
Today's post seems fairly neutral, but public transport has declined – as you would expect – since the pandemic, and public transport is always championed on GA.
There are considerable improvements that could be made in terms of service and security though, especially in the farther reaches of Auckland. So, although I would support free public transport, it must be accompanied with addressing regional inequity in terms of access and quality of service.
I posted the search link because I understand I read their posts through a particular lens, and others may see it differently.
Increases (above and beyond the normal inflation adjustment) to all benefits from 1 April 2022 were announced in the 2021 budget.
While increases to the MW are inflationary, they still result on those on the MW being better off … unless rent increases (constrained by a limit to one increase a year). Landlords increase rents based on the wider market, and or knowledge of the tenants income.
Not uncommon around the world. The legacy of rivers being used for transport and ports. New Orleans is a classic example, and man's wrestling to control the Mississippi catchment is a fascinating story.
Just saw a photo of Bernard-Henri Lévy on the front lines of Odesa. We live in interesting times when 73 year old French philosophers go into bat for the defense of freedom!
Marina Ovsyannikova ran on to the set of the Channel One transmission shouting: ‘Stop the war. No to war’
An employee on Russia’s state Channel One television has interrupted the channel’s main news programme with an extraordinary protest against Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Marina Ovsyannikova, an editor at Channel One, burst on to the set of the live broadcast of the nightly news on Monday evening, shouting: “Stop the war. No to war.”
She also held a sign saying: “Don’t believe the propaganda. They’re lying to you here.” It was signed in English: “Russians against the war”.
The news anchor continued to read from her teleprompter speaking louder in an attempt to drown out Ovsyannikova, but her protest could be seen and heard for several seconds before the channel switched to a record segment.
Resilience tech can be viable with a simple design:
Since Energy Vault established its successful prototype in Switzerland in 2020, the company has pivoted from the tower model design, which could reach up to 200 meters in height, to 20-story modular buildings it calls "Energy Vault Resiliency Centers."
Bricks will move up and down inside the building on trolleys, controlled by an artificial intelligence system that identifies optimal times for charging or discharging energy, depending on supply and demand.
The centers will vary in footprint, possibly covering between 1.5 and 20 acres depending on the storage capacity, he adds. But they are likely to be installed in places where space isn't an issue, such as near existing wind or solar plants.
In February, Energy Vault listed on the New York stock exchange, raising approximately $235 million. It recently announced that actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio had joined the company's strategic advisory board.
This year, Energy Vault will start building resiliency centers for DG fuels, which wants a continuous supply of renewable energy to create green hydrogen fuel for the aviation industry. It has also signed deals worth up to $880 million with companies including Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil producer, metal smelting company Korea Zinc, and mining giant BHP. With this backing, Piconi is confident Energy Vault can help to accelerate the energy transition.
So far, customers have signed up to projects that equate to 2.5 gigawatt hours of energy storage — a significant addition to the 17 gigawatt hours of battery storage that Wood Mackenzie estimates is currently in operation in the US.
Interesting. I liked the UK one using old mine shafts, but can see how that would be limited. Might still be useful though.
But a large open cast pit might be the go for a bigger one – difficult to complain about sightlines if it's at or just below ground level. And give it a roof with solar panels for generation as well as storage.
A Supreme Court spokesperson said that senior judges had refused Assange’s bid to challenge the decision as his case did not raise “an arguable point of law”.
The ruling appears to exhaust Assange’s legal avenues in the UK to avoid extradition, however he could still seek to take his case to the European Court of Human Rights.
Western media and opinion makers detailing censorship in Russia, should perhaps devote 10% of their column inches and screen time to accurately reporting and analysing this situation.
And last night TVNZ repeated the lie that a Russian tank had crushed a civilian car in Kiev, as if it was breaking news
They first aired that , our own TVNZ, on the 26th , 2 days into the invasion when no tanks were anywhere near the inner streets of Kiev , but the footage had been circulated on social media, and TVNZ picked it up from whatever scumbag news aggregate they subscribe to.
That is actually a bonus for Assange – If they had agreed to hear it they would eventually have declined the application while another year or so went by of him being imprisoned . This way he will hopefully have a chance in a fairer Court.
The survivor who was shot 9 times and is completing his walk from Dunedin to Christchurch today got good coverage on TV1 Breakfast TV show. He was exceptionally dignified.
Will you lead the charge against the odious Trump man Peter Thiel please, or perhaps James Cameron ,Graeme Hart, or Richard Chandler who made his fortune at the expense of the Russian people?
The 2.5 million refugees (and climbing) need some place to live! So thoughtful of the benefactors of their counties aggressor to prearrange accommodation for them. 🙂
One would have thought that after investing so much of yourself into the debunked Trump/Putin conspiracy theory, only to be humiliated right out in public for that unquestioning support, that you might be even just a tiny little more circumspect going forward…but nope, I guess that critical thinking, historical context or any type of nuance at all just isn't your bag…but to be fair, again you are far from being alone in your unquestioning enthusiasm to march in step yet again.
I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked. But outside your small coterie of Putin dupes there has been a shift away from treating Putin like a modern liberal, and a return to seeing him as a recrudescent Stalinist.
Steele, who you were at pains to rubbish, has proven to have been a rather reliable source, and is much in demand for his expertise. Here he is addressing the Oxford Union.
"I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked"…..yeah I know that some of you have committed yourselves so fully into, and therefore internalized so deeply into yourselves that cult of stuff and nonsense, that you could never turn back….well not without some sort of professional help anyway.
@Molly, "while trying to understand how we got to this point."…I agree completely, unfortunately our friends Munro, Macro, Frank etc have shown no interest in the history, murky origins and devious Geo-Political machinations that underlay this tragic war….though to be fair they only reflect most of the worlds media own lack of interest, and as they only ever regurgitate what they are told too, and have been doing so for years, why should anyone expect anything else from this lot? monkey see, monkey do I guess.
I don't believe I have witnessed even one of them have an original thought cross from one side of their cranium to the other in matters of geo politics in the entire time I have been on The Standard.
The matter in dispute between the Putin dupes and I, is the acceptability of repeating propaganda uncritically. The most aggressive Putin trolls on this site, routinely attack any occurrence the western press dare to report, as well as the ones that maintain the highest standards themselves, like Reuters. This process is designed to create a false equivalence – if all media lie, propaganda is suddenly on an equal footing with fact based journalism.
Understanding how we got to this point is not complex – with the collapse of the Soviet Union, western powers assumed the cold war was over – and it was, briefly, under Gorbachev. Once the old party cadres regained power however, they immediately turned isolationist, and the cold war resumed – while the West naively extended trade and friendship to the Stalinist Putin.
You will never see anything verifiable or explicatory from the wretched refuse of Putin's NZ propaganda team – their game is a spoiling game – dividing and confusing responses to allow Putin to get away with his atrocities. They have no friends in eastern Europe to use as touchstones for the veracity of the fake news sites they prefer, and though long on insults, they make unsupported and indeed unsupportable assertions about every fact that crops up. They have nothing that will increase our understanding of the causes or possible end points of the conflict – They are noise, not signal.
Or, make your own contact with expat Russian journalists – a surprising number have been obliged to flee, and they will give Putin’s propagandists short shrift.
The report concludes that the investigation "did not establish that members of the Trump campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities".[4][5][6]Investigators had an incomplete picture of what happened due in part to some communications that were encrypted, deleted, or not saved, as well as testimony that was false, incomplete, or declined.[7][8][9] However, the report states that Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election was illegal and occurred "in sweeping and systematic fashion"[10][11][12] but was welcomed by the Trump campaign as it expected to benefit from such efforts.[13][14][15] It also identifies links between Trump campaign officials and individuals with ties to the Russian government,[16] about which several persons connected to the campaign made false statements and obstructed investigations.[4] Mueller later stated that his investigation's conclusion on Russian interference "deserves the attention of every American".[17]
my bold
It's all well and good to focus purely on the first statement in that summary – as did Trump, his Repugnant supporters, Faux news, and of course the Russian propogandists, but there was ample circumstantial evidence to show that there was significant interference by Russian "influencers" in Facebook and other social media to attack, and upset, the democratic process and a fair vote, not just for the wealthy, but for all.
As of October 2019, around 15,000 Facebook pages with a majority US audience were being run out of Kosovo and Macedonia, known bad actors during the 2016 election.
Collectively, those troll-farm pages—which the report treats as a single page for comparison purposes—reached 140 million US users monthly and 360 million global users weekly. Walmart’s page reached the second-largest US audience at 100 million.
The troll farm pages also combined to form:
the largest Christian American page on Facebook, 20 times larger than the next largest—reaching 75 million US users monthly, 95% of whom had never followed any of the pages.
the largest African-American page on Facebook, three times larger than the next largest—reaching 30 million US users monthly, 85% of whom had never followed any of the pages.
the second-largest Native American page on Facebook, reaching 400,000 users monthly, 90% of whom had never followed any of the pages.
the fifth-largest women’s page on Facebook, reaching 60 million US users monthly, 90% of whom had never followed any of the pages.
Troll farms primarily affect the US but also target the UK, Australia, India, and Central and South American countries.
Facebook has conducted multiple studies confirming that content more likely to receive user engagement (likes, comments, and shares) is more likely of a type known to be bad. Still, the company has continued to rank content in user’s newsfeeds according to what will receive the highest engagement.
Days after buying over-the-counter medicine from a pharmacy in Beijing, university student Yu was stunned to find her prized green health code — the essential rating needed to enter the city’s shops, offices and public transport — was gone.
In a scene being repeated across the Chinese capital, a pop-up window now warned the app could no longer ascertain her coronavirus risk status.
[…]
Yu was one of thousands who showed up to Beijing workplaces or shopping malls this week only to find they were barred entry due to their health code status, as already-strict virus controls were ramped up ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Overnight, the city had quietly rolled out a new rule requiring everyone who had bought medication for anything that might be a Covid symptom — including fever, cough and throat dryness — to take a virus test before their health app status could be restored to green.
It seems even well educated people with good, well paying jobs just don’t fucking get it.
My SO's filthy that after all the planning and effort that went into systems to avoid incidents and maintain continuity, a halfwit knowingly exposed to a positive case on the job during the weekend turned up to work yesterday and swanned around un-masked.
A big loss for National. I would suggest Jacinda thinks about doing likewise, if she wants to set herself up overseas before the possibility of WW3 starting.
Well some say that the speechifying at Harvard is the PM going to Job interviews. WW3 started the day, WW2 ended it was called the Cold War. Which we have now started in earnest and with actual bullets and as always the little people do the dying, and the rich suits do the grand standing.
Mind, if we survive this war will we finally build a monument to the unknown Mother and child.
(Mother – adult human female having given birth to a child)
Great article in the Herald today about 3 waters by Shane Jones. Sorry behind a paywall.
At last the mainstream media are allowing a sensible rebuttal to the co-governance issue this government have tried to deceptively sneak in. I suspect the co-governance debacle will quietly disappear.
Recent publicity hinted at something unusual going on at the guy's school. The principal, said to be on leave, was a would be National election candidate. That he was beaten by Matt King might say something.
The logo for the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s (PM&C) “Women’s Network” has been taken down, after it was mocked on social media for its phallic appearance.
Rather than draw focus to the purpose of the Network – which, according to a description, ”promotes gender equality and supports members to succeed in their personal professional lives” – the logo ignited controversy when it was shared to Twitter on Sunday.
Many at first assumed the logo was a fake because of its overt resemblance to male genitalia, while others were furious that it detracted from the actual purpose of the Network.
I'm pleased there was some sort of explanation of what the objection was. Graphic design and logos are something I've been involved in.
I briefly glimpsed the article, saw there was controversy and looked at the graphic without reading any of the text and seeing the words 'phallic' and 'male genitalia.' My first thought was about symbolic breasts and that depicting women through that was the issue.
What would please me would be hearing that a woman was responsible for the design and it was approved by a team with female leadership.
Green Party co-leaders say they reported MP Dr Elizabeth Kerekere to health authorities after they discovered she had breached pandemic restrictions.
In a statement on Tuesday afternoon, Kerekere said she had travelled from her home in Tairāwhiti to Wellington by plane despite being a household contact of a Covid-infected person. She had been at Parliament yesterday.
Today she resigned from her Covid-19 Response portfolio, and would not hold the Health portfolio nor sit on the Health Select Committee until further notice.
Deliberately withholding life saving medical attention from someone who needs it is a crime.
It looks likely that the person who died at the Peka Peka farm anti-mandate camp, was infected with Covid-19. The death is being investigated by the coroner. Whether this person's covid infection was the cause of their death has yet to be determined.
….A spokesman for the Office of the Chief Coroner said the death was an active case with Coroner Brigitte Windley and police were investigating.
The worms will live in every hostIt's hard to pick which one they eat the mostThe horrible people, the horrible peopleIt's as anatomic as the size of your steepleCapitalism has made it this wayOld-fashioned fascism will take it awaySongwriter: Twiggy Ramirez Read more ...
Hi,It’s almost Christmas Day which means it is almost my birthday, where you will find me whimpering in the corner clutching a warm bottle of Baileys.If you’re out of ideas for presents (and truly desperate) then it is possible to gift a full Webworm subscription to a friend (or enemy) ...
This morning’s six standouts for me at 6.30am include:Rachel Helyer Donaldson’s scoop via RNZ last night of cuts to maternity jobs in the health system;Maddy Croad’s scoop via The Press-$ this morning on funding cuts for Christchurch’s biggest food rescue charity;Benedict Collins’ scoop last night via 1News on a last-minute ...
A listing of 25 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 15, 2024 thru Sat, December 21, 2024. Based on feedback we received, this week's roundup is the first one published soleley by category. We are still interested in ...
Well, I've been there, sitting in that same chairWhispering that same prayer half a million timesIt's a lie, though buried in disciplesOne page of the Bible isn't worth a lifeThere's nothing wrong with youIt's true, it's trueThere's something wrong with the villageWith the villageSomething wrong with the villageSongwriters: Andrew Jackson ...
ACT would like to dictate what universities can and can’t say. We knew it was coming. It was outlined in the coalition agreement and has become part of Seymour’s strategy of “emphasising public funding” to prevent people from opposing him and his views—something he also uses to try and de-platform ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Are we heading ...
So the Solstice has arrived – Summer in this part of the world, Winter for the Northern Hemisphere. And with it, the publication my new Norse dark-fantasy piece, As Our Power Lessens at Eternal Haunted Summer: https://eternalhauntedsummer.com/issues/winter-solstice-2024/as-our-power-lessens/ As previously noted, this one is very ‘wyrd’, and Northern Theory of Courage. ...
The Natural Choice: As a starter for ten percent of the Party Vote, “saving the planet” is a very respectable objective. Young voters, in particular, raised on the dire (if unheeded) warnings of climate scientists, and the irrefutable evidence of devastating weather events linked to global warming, vote Green. After ...
The Government cancelled 60% of Kāinga Ora’s new builds next year, even though the land for them was already bought, the consents were consented and there are builders unemployed all over the place. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political ...
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on UnsplashEvery morning I get up at 3am to go around the traps of news sites in Aotearoa and globally. I pick out the top ones from my point of view and have been putting them into my Dawn Chorus email, which goes out with a podcast. ...
Over on Kikorangi Newsroom's Marc Daalder has published his annual OIA stats. So I thought I'd do mine: 82 OIA requests sent in 2024 7 posts based on those requests 20 average working days to receive a response Ministry of Justice was my most-requested entity, ...
Welcome to the December 2024 Economic Bulletin. We have two monthly features in this edition. In the first, we discuss what the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update from Treasury and the Budget Policy Statement from the Minister of Finance tell us about the fiscal position and what to ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi have submitted against the controversial Treaty Principles Bill, slamming the Bill as a breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and an attack on tino rangatiratanga and the collective rights of Tangata Whenua. “This Bill seeks to legislate for Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles that are ...
I don't knowHow to say what's got to be saidI don't know if it's black or whiteThere's others see it redI don't get the answers rightI'll leave that to youIs this love out of fashionOr is it the time of yearAre these words distraction?To the words you want to hearSongwriters: ...
Our economy has experienced its worst recession since 1991. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, December 20 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above and the daily Pick ‘n’ Mix below ...
Twas the Friday before Christmas and all through the week we’ve been collecting stories for our final roundup of the year. As we start to wind down for the year we hope you all have a safe and happy Christmas and new year. If you’re travelling please be safe on ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the year’s news with: on climate. Her book of the year was Tim Winton’s cli-fi novel Juice and she also mentioned Mike Joy’s memoir The Fight for Fresh Water. ...
The Government can head off to the holidays, entitled to assure itself that it has done more or less what it said it would do. The campaign last year promised to “get New Zealand back on track.” When you look at the basic promises—to trim back Government expenditure, toughen up ...
Open access notables An intensification of surface Earth’s energy imbalance since the late 20th century, Li et al., Communications Earth & Environment:Tracking the energy balance of the Earth system is a key method for studying the contribution of human activities to climate change. However, accurately estimating the surface energy balance ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guests and , ...
“Like you said, I’m an unreconstructed socialist. Everybody deserves to get something for Christmas.”“ONE OF THOSE had better be for me!” Hannah grinned, fascinated, as Laurie made his way, gingerly, to the bar, his arms full of gift-wrapped packages.“Of course!”, beamed Laurie. Depositing his armful on the bar-top and selecting ...
Data released by Statistics New Zealand today showed a significant slowdown in the economy over the past six months, with GDP falling by 1% in September, and 1.1% in June said CTU Economist Craig Renney. “The data shows that the size of the economy in GDP terms is now smaller ...
One last thing before I quitI never wanted any moreThan I could fit into my headI still remember every single word you saidAnd all the shit that somehow came along with itStill, there's one thing that comforts meSince I was always caged and now I'm freeSongwriters: David Grohl / Georg ...
Sparse offerings outside a Te Kauwhata church. Meanwhile, the Government is cutting spending in ways that make thousands of hungry children even hungrier, while also cutting funding for the charities that help them. It’s also doing that while winding back new building of affordable housing that would allow parents to ...
It is difficult to make sense of the Luxon Coalition Government’s economic management.This end-of-year review about the state of economic management – the state of the economy was last week – is not going to cover the National Party contribution. Frankly, like every other careful observer, I cannot make up ...
This morning I awoke to the lovely news that we are firmly back on track, that is if the scale was reversed.NZ ranks low in global economic comparisonsNew Zealand's economy has been ranked 33rd out of 37 in an international comparison of which have done best in 2024.Economies were ranked ...
Remember those silent movies where the heroine is tied to the railway tracks or going over the waterfall in a barrel? Finance Minister Nicola Willis seems intent on portraying herself as that damsel in distress. According to Willis, this country’s current economic problems have all been caused by the spending ...
Similar to the cuts and the austerity drive imposed by Ruth Richardson in the 1990’s, an era which to all intents and purposes we’ve largely fiddled around the edges with fixing in the time since – over, to be fair, several administrations – whilst trying our best it seems to ...
String-Pulling in the Dark: For the democratic process to be meaningful it must also be public. WITH TRUST AND CONFIDENCE in New Zealand’s politicians and journalists steadily declining, restoring those virtues poses a daunting challenge. Just how daunting is made clear by comparing the way politicians and journalists treated New Zealanders ...
Dear Nicola Willis, thank you for letting us know in so many words that the swingeing austerity hasn't worked.By in so many words I mean the bit where you said, Here is a sea of red ink in which we are drowning after twelve months of savage cost cutting and ...
The Open Government Partnership is a multilateral organisation committed to advancing open government. Countries which join are supposed to co-create regular action plans with civil society, committing to making verifiable improvements in transparency, accountability, participation, or technology and innovation for the above. And they're held to account through an Independent ...
Today I tuned into something strange: a press conference that didn’t make my stomach churn or the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. Which was strange, because it was about the torture of children. It was the announcement by Erica Stanford — on her own, unusually ...
This is a must watch, and puts on brilliant and practical display the implications and mechanics of fast-track law corruption and weakness.CLICK HERE: LINK TO WATCH VIDEOOur news media as it is set up is simply not equipped to deal with the brazen disinformation and corruption under this right wing ...
NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Acting Secretary Erin Polaczuk is welcoming the announcement from Minister of Workplace Relations and Safety Brooke van Velden that she is opening consultation on engineered stone and is calling on her to listen to the evidence and implement a total ban of the product. “We need ...
The Government has announced a 1.5% increase in the minimum wage from 1 April 2025, well below forecast inflation of 2.5%. Unions have reacted strongly and denounced it as a real terms cut. PSA and the CTU are opposing a new round of staff cuts at WorkSafe, which they say ...
The decision to unilaterally repudiate the contract for new Cook Strait ferries is beginning to look like one of the stupidest decisions a New Zealand government ever made. While cancelling the ferries and their associated port infrastructure may have made this year's books look good, it means higher costs later, ...
Hi there! I’ve been overseas recently, looking after a situation with a family member. So apologies if there any less than focused posts! Vanuatu has just had a significant 7.3 earthquake. Two MFAT staff are unaccounted for with local fatalities.It’s always sad to hear of such things happening.I think of ...
Today is a special member's morning, scheduled to make up for the government's theft of member's days throughout the year. First up was the first reading of Greg Fleming's Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill, which was passed unanimously. Currently the House is debating the third reading of ...
We're going backwardsIgnoring the realitiesGoing backwardsAre you counting all the casualties?We are not there yetWhere we need to beWe are still in debtTo our insanitiesSongwriter: Martin Gore Read more ...
Willis blamed Treasury for changing its productivity assumptions and Labour’s spending increases since Covid for the worsening Budget outlook. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, December 18 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast above ...
Today the Auckland Transport board meet for the last time this year. For those interested (and with time to spare), you can follow along via this MS Teams link from 10am. I’ve taken a quick look through the agenda items to see what I think the most interesting aspects are. ...
Hi,If you’re a New Zealander — you know who Mike King is. He is the face of New Zealand’s battle against mental health problems. He can be loud and brash. He raises, and is entrusted with, a lot of cash. Last year his “I Am Hope” charity reported a revenue ...
Probably about the only consolation available from yesterday’s unveiling of the Half-Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) is that it could have been worse. Though Finance Minister Nicola Willis has tightened the screws on future government spending, she has resisted the calls from hard-line academics, fiscal purists and fiscal hawks ...
The right have a stupid saying that is only occasionally true:When is democracy not democracy? When it hasn’t been voted on.While not true in regards to branches of government such as the judiciary, it’s a philosophy that probably should apply to recently-elected local government councillors. Nevertheless, this concept seemed to ...
Long story short: the Government’s austerity policy has driven the economy into a deeper and longer recession that means it will have to borrow $20 billion more over the next four years than it expected just six months ago. Treasury’s latest forecasts show the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s fiscal strategy of ...
Come and join myself and CTU Chief Economist for a pop-up ‘Hoon’ webinar on the Government’s Half Yearly Economic and Fiscal Update (HYEFU) with paying subscribers to The Kākā for 30 minutes at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream to watch our chat. Don’t worry if ...
In 1998, in the wake of the Paremoremo Prison riot, the Department of Corrections established the "Behaviour Management Regime". Prisoners were locked in their cells for 22 or 23 hours a day, with no fresh air, no exercise, no social contact, no entertainment, and in some cases no clothes and ...
New data released by the Treasury shows that the economic policies of this Government have made things worse in the year since they took office, said NZCTU Economist Craig Renney. “Our fiscal indicators are all heading in the wrong direction – with higher levels of debt, a higher deficit, and ...
At the 2023 election, National basically ran on a platform of being better economic managers. So how'd that turn out for us? In just one year, they've fucked us for two full political terms: The government's books are set to remain deeply in the red for the near term ...
AUSTERITYText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedMy spreadsheet insists This pain leads straight to glory (File not found) Read more ...
The NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi are saying that the Government should do the right thing and deliver minimum wage increases that don’t see workers fall further behind, in response to today’s announcement that the minimum wage will only be increased by 1.5%, well short of forecast inflation. “With inflation forecast ...
Oh, I weptFor daysFilled my eyesWith silly tearsOh, yeaBut I don'tCare no moreI don't care ifMy eyes get soreSongwriters: Paul Rodgers / Paul Kossoff. Read more ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bob HensonIn this aerial view, fingers of meltwater flow from the melting Isunnguata Sermia glacier descending from the Greenland Ice Sheet on July 11, 2024, near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. According to the Programme for Monitoring of the Greenland Ice Sheet (PROMICE), the ...
In August, I wrote an article about David Seymour1 with a video of his testimony, to warn that there were grave dangers to his Ministry of Regulation:David Seymour's Ministry of Slush Hides Far Greater RisksWhy Seymour's exorbitant waste of taxpayers' money could be the least of concernThe money for Seymour ...
Willis is expected to have to reveal the bitter fiscal fruits of her austerity strategy in the HYEFU later today. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/TheKakaMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, December 17 in The Kākā’s Dawn Chorus podcast ...
On Friday the government announced it would double the number of toll roads in New Zealand as well as make a few other changes to how toll roads are used in the country. The real issue though is not that tolling is being used but the suggestion it will make ...
The Prime Minister yesterday engaged in what looked like a pre-emptive strike designed to counter what is likely to be a series of depressing economic statistics expected before the end of the week. He opened his weekly post-Cabinet press conference with a recitation of the Government’s achievements. “It certainly has ...
This whooping cough story from south Auckland is a good example of the coalition government’s approach to social need – spend money on urging people to get vaccinated but only after you’ve cut the funding to where they could get vaccinated. This has been the case all year with public ...
And if there is a GodI know he likes to rockHe likes his loud guitarsHis spiders from MarsAnd if there is a GodI know he's watching meHe likes what he seesBut there's trouble on the breezeSongwriter: William Patrick Corgan Read more ...
Here’s a quick round up of today’s political news:1. MORE FOOD BANKS, CHARITIES, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTERS AND YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES SET TO CLOSE OR SCALE BACK AROUND THE COUNTRY AS GOVT CUTS FUNDINGSome of Auckland's largest foodbanks are warning they may need to close or significantly reduce food parcels after ...
Iain Rennie, CNZMSecretary and Chief Executive to the TreasuryDear Secretary, Undue restrictions on restricted briefings This week, the Treasury barred representatives from four organisations, including the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi, from attending the restricted briefing for the Half-Year Economic and Fiscal Update. We had been ...
This is a guest post by Tim Adriaansen, a community, climate, and accessibility advocate.I won’t shut up about climate breakdown, and whenever possible I try to shift the focus of a climate conversation towards solutions. But you’ll almost never hear me give more than a passing nod to ...
A grassroots backlash has forced a backdown from Brown, but he is still eyeing up plenty of tolls for other new roads. And the pressure is on Willis to ramp up the Government’s austerity strategy. Photo: Getty ImagesMōrena. Long stories short, the six things that matter in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
Hi all,I'm pretty overwhelmed by all your messages and emails today; thank you so very much.As much as my newsletter this morning was about money, and we all need to earn money, it was mostly about world domination if I'm honest. 😉I really hate what’s happening to our country, and ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, December 8, 2024 thru Sat, December 14, 2024. Listing by Category Like last week's summary this one contains the list of articles twice: based on categories and based on ...
I started writing this morning about Hobson’s Pledge, examining the claims they and their supporters make, basically ripping into them. But I kept getting notifications coming through, and not good ones.Each time I looked up, there was another un-subscription message, and I felt a bit sicker at the thought of ...
Once, long before there was Harry and Meghan and Dodi and all those episodes of The Crown, they came to spend some time with us, Charles and Diana. Was there anyone in the world more glamorous than the Princess of Wales?Dazzled as everyone was by their company, the leader of ...
The collective right have a problem.The entire foundation for their world view is antiscientific. Their preferred economic strategies have been disproven. Their whole neoliberal model faces accusations of corporate corruption and worsening inequality. Climate change not only definitely exists, its rapid progression demands an immediate and expensive response in order ...
Just ten days ago, South Korea's president attempted a self-coup, declaring martial law and attempting to have opposition MPs murdered or arrested in an effort to seize unconstrained power. The attempt was rapidly defeated by the national assembly voting it down and the people flooding the streets to defend democracy. ...
National has only been in power for a year, but everywhere you look, its choices are taking New Zealand a long way backwards. In no particular order, here are the National Government's Top 50 Greatest Misses of its first year in power. ...
The Government is quietly undertaking consultation on the dangerous Regulatory Standards Bill over the Christmas period to avoid too much attention. ...
The Government’s planned changes to the freedom of speech obligations of universities is little more than a front for stoking the political fires of disinformation and fear, placing teachers and students in the crosshairs. ...
The Ministry of Regulation’s report into Early Childhood Education (ECE) in Aotearoa raises serious concerns about the possibility of lowering qualification requirements, undermining quality and risking worse outcomes for tamariki, whānau, and kaiako. ...
A Bill to modernise the role of Justices of the Peace (JP), ensuring they remain active in their communities and connected with other JPs, has been put into the ballot. ...
Labour will continue to fight unsustainable and destructive projects that are able to leap-frog environment protection under National’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. ...
The Green Party has warned that a Green Government will revoke the consents of companies who override environmental protections as part of Fast-Track legislation being passed today. ...
The Green Party says the Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update shows how the Government is failing to address the massive social and infrastructure deficits our country faces. ...
The Government’s latest move to reduce the earnings of migrant workers will not only hurt migrants but it will drive down the wages of Kiwi workers. ...
Te Pāti Māori has this morning issued a stern warning to Fast-Track applicants with interests in mining, pledging to hold them accountable through retrospective liability and to immediately revoke Fast-Track consents under a future Te Pāti Māori government. This warning comes ahead of today’s third reading of the Fast-Track Approvals ...
The Government’s announcement today of a 1.5 per cent increase to minimum wage is another blow for workers, with inflation projected to exceed the increase, meaning it’s a real terms pay reduction for many. ...
All the Government has achieved from its announcement today is to continue to push responsibility back on councils for its own lack of action to help bring down skyrocketing rates. ...
The Government has used its final post-Cabinet press conference of the year to punch down on local government without offering any credible solutions to the issues our councils are facing. ...
The Government has failed to keep its promise to ‘super charge’ the EV network, delivering just 292 chargers - less than half of the 670 chargers needed to meet its target. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Government to stop subsidising the largest user of the country’s gas supplies, Methanex, following a report highlighting the multi-national’s disproportionate influence on energy prices in Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party is appalled with the Government’s new child poverty targets that are based on a new ‘persistent poverty’ measure that could be met even with an increase in child poverty. ...
New independent analysis has revealed that the Government’s Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) will reduce emissions by a measly 1 per cent by 2030, failing to set us up for the future and meeting upcoming targets. ...
The loss of 27 kaimahi at Whakaata Māori and the end of its daily news bulletin is a sad day for Māori media and another step backwards for Te Tiriti o Waitangi justice. ...
Yesterday the Government passed cruel legislation through first reading to establish a new beneficiary sanction regime that will ultimately mean more households cannot afford the basic essentials. ...
Today's passing of the Government's Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill–which allows landlords to end tenancies with no reason–ignores the voice of the people and leaves renters in limbo ahead of the festive season. ...
After wasting a year, Nicola Willis has delivered a worse deal for the Cook Strait ferries that will end up being more expensive and take longer to arrive. ...
Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has today launched a Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as the All Out For Gaza rally reaches Parliament. ...
After years of advocacy, the Green Party is very happy to hear the Government has listened to our collective voices and announced the closure of the greyhound racing industry, by 1 August 2026. ...
In response to a new report from ERO, the Government has acknowledged the urgent need for consistency across the curriculum for Relationship and Sexuality Education (RSE) in schools. ...
The Green Party is appalled at the Government introducing legislation that will make it easier to penalise workers fighting for better pay and conditions. ...
Thank you for the invitation to speak with you tonight on behalf of the political party I belong to - which is New Zealand First. As we have heard before this evening the Kinleith Mill is proposing to reduce operations by focusing on pulp and discontinuing “lossmaking paper production”. They say that they are currently consulting on the plan to permanently shut ...
Auckland Central MP, Chlöe Swarbrick, has written to Mayor Wayne Brown requesting he stop the unnecessary delays on St James Theatre’s restoration. ...
Kiwis planning a swim or heading out on a boat this summer should remember to stop and think about water safety, Sport & Recreation Minister Chris Bishop and ACC and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “New Zealand’s beaches, lakes and rivers are some of the most beautiful in the ...
The Government is urging Kiwis to drive safely this summer and reminding motorists that Police will be out in force to enforce the road rules, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“This time of year can be stressful and result in poor decision-making on our roads. Whether you are travelling to see ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says Health New Zealand will move swiftly to support dozens of internationally-trained doctors already in New Zealand on their journey to employment here, after a tripling of sought-after examination places. “The Medical Council has delivered great news for hardworking overseas doctors who want to contribute ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has appointed Sarah Ottrey to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). “At my first APEC Summit in Lima, I experienced firsthand the role that ABAC plays in guaranteeing political leaders hear the voice of business,” Mr Luxon says. “New Zealand’s ABAC representatives are very well respected and ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced four appointments to New Zealand’s intelligence oversight functions. The Honourable Robert Dobson KC has been appointed Chief Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, and the Honourable Brendan Brown KC has been appointed as a Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants. The appointments of Hon Robert Dobson and Hon ...
Improvements in the average time it takes to process survey and title applications means housing developments can progress more quickly, Minister for Land Information Chris Penk says. “The government is resolutely focused on improving the building and construction pipeline,” Mr Penk says. “Applications to issue titles and subdivide land are ...
The Government’s measures to reduce airport wait times, and better transparency around flight disruptions is delivering encouraging early results for passengers ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Improving the efficiency of air travel is a priority for the Government to give passengers a smoother, more reliable ...
The Government today announced the intended closure of the Apollo Hotel as Contracted Emergency Housing (CEH) in Rotorua, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. This follows a 30 per cent reduction in the number of households in CEH in Rotorua since National came into Government. “Our focus is on ending CEH in the Whakarewarewa area starting ...
The Government will reshape vocational education and training to return decision making to regions and enable greater industry input into work-based learning Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds says. “The redesigned system will better meet the needs of learners, industry, and the economy. It includes re-establishing regional polytechnics that ...
The Government is taking action to better manage synthetic refrigerants and reduce emissions caused by greenhouse gases found in heating and cooling products, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds says. “Regulations will be drafted to support a product stewardship scheme for synthetic refrigerants, Ms. Simmonds says. “Synthetic refrigerants are found in a ...
People travelling on State Highway 1 north of Hamilton will be relieved that remedial works and safety improvements on the Ngāruawāhia section of the Waikato Expressway were finished today, with all lanes now open to traffic, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“I would like to acknowledge the patience of road users ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister, Penny Simmonds, has announced a new appointment to the board of Education New Zealand (ENZ). Dr Erik Lithander has been appointed as a new member of the ENZ board for a three-year term until 30 January 2028. “I would like to welcome Dr Erik Lithander to the ...
The Government will have senior representatives at Waitangi Day events around the country, including at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, but next year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has chosen to take part in celebrations elsewhere. “It has always been my intention to celebrate Waitangi Day around the country with different ...
Two more criminal gangs will be subject to the raft of laws passed by the Coalition Government that give Police more powers to disrupt gang activity, and the intimidation they impose in our communities, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. Following an Order passed by Cabinet, from 3 February 2025 the ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Justice Christian Whata as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Whata’s appointment as a Judge of the Court of Appeal will take effect on 1 August 2025 and fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Hon Justice David Goddard on ...
The latest economic figures highlight the importance of the steps the Government has taken to restore respect for taxpayers’ money and drive economic growth, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Data released today by Stats NZ shows Gross Domestic Product fell 1 per cent in the September quarter. “Treasury and most ...
Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour today announced legislation changes to strengthen freedom of speech obligations on universities. “Freedom of speech is fundamental to the concept of academic freedom and there is concern that universities seem to be taking a more risk-averse ...
Police Minister, Mark Mitchell, and Internal Affairs Minister, Brooke van Velden, today launched a further Public Safety Network cellular service that alongside last year’s Cellular Roaming roll-out, puts globally-leading cellular communications capability into the hands of our emergency responders. The Public Safety Network’s new Cellular Priority service means Police, Wellington ...
State Highway 1 through the Mangamuka Gorge has officially reopened today, providing a critical link for Northlanders and offering much-needed relief ahead of the busy summer period, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“The Mangamuka Gorge is a vital route for Northland, carrying around 1,300 vehicles per day and connecting the Far ...
The Government has welcomed decisions by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) and Ashburton District Council confirming funding to boost resilience in the Canterbury region, with construction on a second Ashburton Bridge expected to begin in 2026, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Delivering a second Ashburton Bridge to improve resilience and ...
The Government is backing the response into high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Otago, Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says. “Cabinet has approved new funding of $20 million to enable MPI to meet unbudgeted ongoing expenses associated with the H7N6 response including rigorous scientific testing of samples at the enhanced PC3 ...
Legislation that will repeal all advertising restrictions for broadcasters on Sundays and public holidays has passed through first reading in Parliament today, Media Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “As a growing share of audiences get their news and entertainment from streaming services, these restrictions have become increasingly redundant. New Zealand on ...
Today the House agreed to Brendan Horsley being appointed Inspector-General of Defence, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Mr Horsley’s experience will be invaluable in overseeing the establishment of the new office and its support networks. “He is currently Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security, having held that role since June 2020. ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the final regulations for the levy on insurance contracts that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand from July 2026. “Earlier this year the Government agreed to a 2.2 percent increase to the rate of levy. Fire ...
The Government is delivering regulatory relief for New Zealand businesses through changes to the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act. “The Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Amendment Bill, which was introduced today, is the second Bill – the other being the Statutes Amendment Bill - that ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed further progress on the Hawke’s Bay Expressway Road of National Significance (RoNS), with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) Board approving funding for the detailed design of Stage 1, paving the way for main works construction to begin in late 2025.“The Government is moving at ...
The Government today released a request for information (RFI) to seeking interest in partnerships to plant trees on Crown-owned land with low farming and conservation value (excluding National Parks) Forestry Minister Todd McClay announced. “Planting trees on Crown-owned land will drive economic growth by creating more forestry jobs in our regions, providing more wood ...
Court timeliness, access to justice, and improving the quality of existing regulation are the focus of a series of law changes introduced to Parliament today by Associate Minister of Justice Nicole McKee. The three Bills in the Regulatory Systems (Justice) Amendment Bill package each improve a different part of the ...
A total of 41 appointments and reappointments have been made to the 12 community trusts around New Zealand that serve their regions, Associate Finance Minister Shane Jones says. “These trusts, and the communities they serve from the Far North to the deep south, will benefit from the rich experience, knowledge, ...
The Government has confirmed how it will provide redress to survivors who were tortured at the Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital Child and Adolescent Unit (the Lake Alice Unit). “The Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care found that many of the 362 children who went through the Lake Alice Unit between 1972 and ...
It has been a busy, productive year in the House as the coalition Government works hard to get New Zealand back on track, Leader of the House Chris Bishop says. “This Government promised to rebuild the economy, restore law and order and reduce the cost of living. Our record this ...
“Accelerated silicosis is an emerging occupational disease caused by unsafe work such as engineered stone benchtops. I am running a standalone consultation on engineered stone to understand what the industry is currently doing to manage the risks, and whether further regulatory intervention is needed,” says Workplace Relations and Safety Minister ...
Mehemea he pai mō te tangata, mahia – if it’s good for the people, get on with it. Enhanced reporting on the public sector’s delivery of Treaty settlement commitments will help improve outcomes for Māori and all New Zealanders, Māori Crown Relations Minister Tama Potaka says. Compiled together for the ...
Mr Roger Holmes Miller and Ms Tarita Hutchinson have been appointed to the Charities Registration Board, Community and Voluntary Sector Minister Louise Upston says. “I would like to welcome the new members joining the Charities Registration Board. “The appointment of Ms Hutchinson and Mr Miller will strengthen the Board’s capacity ...
More building consent and code compliance applications are being processed within the statutory timeframe since the Government required councils to submit quarterly data, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “In the midst of a housing shortage we need to look at every step of the build process for efficiencies ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey is proud to announce the first three recipients of the Government’s $10 million Mental Health and Addiction Community Sector Innovation Fund which will enable more Kiwis faster access to mental health and addiction support. “This fund is part of the Government’s commitment to investing in ...
New Zealand is providing Vanuatu assistance following yesterday's devastating earthquake, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. "Vanuatu is a member of our Pacific family and we are supporting it in this time of acute need," Mr Peters says. "Our thoughts are with the people of Vanuatu, and we will be ...
The Government welcomes the Commerce Commission’s plan to reduce card fees for Kiwis by an estimated $260 million a year, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says.“The Government is relentlessly focused on reducing the cost of living, so Kiwis can keep more of their hard-earned income and live a ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour has welcomed the Early Childhood Education (ECE) regulatory review report, the first major report from the Ministry for Regulation. The report makes 15 recommendations to modernise and simplify regulations across ECE so services can get on with what they do best – providing safe, high-quality care ...
The Government‘s Offshore Renewable Energy Bill to create a new regulatory regime that will enable firms to construct offshore wind generation has passed its first reading in Parliament, Energy Minister Simeon Brown says.“New Zealand currently does not have a regulatory regime for offshore renewable energy as the previous government failed ...
A separate passport, citizenship and membership of the United Nations are only available to fully independent nations, Winston Peters' office says. ...
By Emma Andrews, Henare te Ua Māori Journalism Intern at RNZ News The New Zealand fuel company Z Energy is swapping out street names for “correct” kupu on service stops around the country, with the help of local hapū. When Z took over 226 fuel sites from Shell in 2010, ...
Summer reissue: Was it a false measurement, a full-blown conspiracy or just some mild incompetence? Mad Chapman uncovers the truth of Maddi Wesche’s final throw. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julie Old, Associate Professor, Biology, Zoology, Animal Science, Western Sydney University Dmitry Chulov, Shutterstock At this time of year, images of reindeer are everywhere. I’ve had a soft spot for reindeer ever since I was a little girl. Doesn’t everyone? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grozdana Manalo, Career Services Manager (Education), University of Sydney hedgehog94/Shutterstock Getting casual work over summer, or a part-time job that you might continue once your tertiary course starts, can be a great way to get workplace experience and earn some extra ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ty Ferguson, Research associate in exercise, nutrition and activity, University of South Australia Peera_Stockfoto/Shutterstock It’s never been easier to stay connected to work. Even when we’re on leave, our phones and laptops keep us tethered. Many of us promise ourselves we ...
The NZ Media Council upheld the complaint under principle four: comment and fact On 5 September 2024, The Spinoff published a brief article titled Made in Palestine, found in 1970s Hastings, which highlighted an upcoming art exhibition featuring photographs of vintage cosmetic products labelled “Made in Palestine.” The piece, described ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kasey Symons, Lecturer of Communication, Sports Media, Deakin University We are well and truly in cricket season. The Australian men’s cricket team is taking centre stage against India in the Border Gavaskar Trophy series while the Big Bash League is underway, as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Woods, Lecturer, Nursing, Faculty of Health, Southern Cross University FTiare/Shutterstock Summer is here and for many that means going to the beach. You grab your swimmers, beach towel and sunscreen then maybe check the weather forecast. Did you think to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Saman Khalesi, Senior Lecturer and Discipline Lead in Nutrition, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity Australia Dean Clarke/Shutterstock The holiday season can be a time of joy, celebration, and indulgence in delicious foods and meals. However, for many, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia Late Night With The Devil. Maslow Entertainment Marketing is critical to the success of commercial films, and companies will often spend half as much again on top of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Francisco Jose Testa, Lecturer in Earth Sciences (Mineralogy, Petrology & Geochemistry), University of Tasmania The Conversation As a kid, it was tough for me to grasp the massive time scale of Earth’s history. Now, with nearly two decades of experience as ...
Te Pāti Māori has had to adopt a new way of debating, operating and even thinking in Parliament in response to the Government’s “onslaught” against te ao Māori, co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer says.In an end-of-year interview with Newsroom, the Te Tai Hauauru MP reflected on how 2024 has differed from her ...
Opinion: The latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science report was announced earlier this month, yet it didn’t get the flurry of media attention and political hand-wringing that typically accompanies these announcements. This might be because it presented good news, or you could argue, no news; the results paint a ...
NewsroomBy Dr Lisa Darragh, Dr Raewyn Eden and Dr David Pomeroy
At long last, The Spinoff shells out for a nut ranking. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today.It recently came to The Spinoff’s attention ...
I was one of hundreds of people who lost my government job this week. Here’s exactly how it played out. The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a ...
Summer reissue: One anxiously attentive passenger pays attention to an in-flight safety video, and wonders ‘Why can’t I pick up my own phone?’ The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up ...
Summer reissue: Why do those Lange-Douglas years cast such a long shadow 40 years on? The Spinoff needs to double the number of paying members we have to continue telling these kinds of stories. Please read our open letter and sign up to be a member today. First published June ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp');Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions.The post Newsroom daily quiz, Monday 23 December appeared first on Newsroom. ...
The Government’s social housing agency has backed out of a billion-dollar infrastructure alliance that would have built about 6000 new homes in Auckland – less than 18 months after signing a five-year extension.Labour says the decision to rip up the contract and sell off existing state houses could lead to ...
An unrelenting faith in “swift transition” has driven Tauranga Whai to their first Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa championship. At a boisterous Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre, the visiting Tokomanawa Queens were blown away 90-71 in the final.Whai led by 20 points at halftime as their urgent movement and unflinching faith in three-point shooting from anywhere ...
ByKoroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor New Zealand’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) says impending bad weather for Port Vila is now the most significant post-quake hazard. A tropical low in the Coral Sea is expected to move into Vanuatu waters, bringing heavy rainfall. Authorities have issued warnings to people ...
Cosmic CatastropheThe year draws to a close.King Luxon has grown tired of the long eveningsListening to the dreary squabbling of his Triumvirate.He strolls up to the top floor of the PalaceTo consult with his Astronomer Royal.The Royal Telescope scans the skies,And King Luxon stares up into the heavensFrom the terrestrial ...
Spinoff editor Mad Chapman and books editor Claire Mabey debate Carl Shuker’s new novel about… an editor. Claire: Hello Mad, you just finished The Royal Free – overall impressions? Mad: Hi Claire, I literally just put the book down and I would have to say my immediate impression is ...
Christmas and its buildup are often lonely, hard and full of unreasonable expectations. Here’s how to make it to Jesus’s birthday and find the little bit of joy we all deserve. Have you found this year relentless? Has the latest Apple update “fucked up your life”? Have you lost two ...
Despite overwhelming public and corporate support, the government has stalled progress on a modern day slavery law. That puts us behind other countries – and makes Christmas a time of tragedy rather than joy, argues Shanti Mathias. Picture the scene on Christmas Day. Everyone replete with nice things to eat, ...
Asia Pacific Report “It looks like Hiroshima. It looks like Germany at the end of World War Two,” says an Israeli-American historian and professor of holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University about the horrifying reality of Gaza. Professor Omer Bartov, has described Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza as an ...
The New Zealand government coalition is tweaking university regulations to curb what it says is an increasingly “risk-averse approach” to free speech. The proposed changes will set clear expectations on how universities should approach freedom of speech issues. Each university will then have to adopt a “freedom of speech statement” ...
Report by Dr David Robie – Café Pacific. – COMMENTARY: By Caitlin Johnstone New York prosecutors have charged Luigi Mangione with “murder as an act of terrorism” in his alleged shooting of health insurance CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. This news comes out at the same time as ...
Pacific Media Watch The union for Australian journalists has welcomed the delivery by the federal government of more than $150 million to support the sustainability of public interest journalism over the next four years. Combined with the announcement of the revamped News Bargaining Initiative, this could result in up to ...
It’s a little under two months since the White Ferns shocked the cricketing world, deservedly taking home the T20 World Cup. Since then the trophy has had a tour around the country, five of the squad have played in the WBBL in Australia while most others have returned to domestic ...
Comment: If we say the word ‘dementia’, many will picture an older person struggling to remember the names of their loved ones, maybe a grandparent living out their final years in an aged care facility. Dementia can also occur in people younger than 65, but it can take time before ...
Yes! Maybe time to go fill up the car today. Good move by Labour reducing the petrol tax. We all know they hate reducing any tax, but it was really needed. I just hope that in a few weeks time the price hasn't risen more than the temporary 25c reduction.
Public transport move unexpected but also a great move. Hopefully encourage more to use.
Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon calls out Government: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/hate-speech-laws-race-relations-commissioner-meng-foon-calls-out-government-over-delays-three-years-after-march-15-attacks/NJCG5HWNUFDBEYELB45LQXHH6Y/
There's always hope. They ought to keep hoping for the best. For the govt it's just a matter of being engaged with higher priorities. Foon knows the squeaky wheel gets the grease so he squeaks loudly. Trouble is he's drowned out by louder squawks.
There's an immense design problem with legislative change. It consists of an elephant in the room that law reformers don't want to look at: the lack of prosecutions under the current law. The media has amply reported that hate speech is already illegal – what part of this don't these people understand??
You can't reasonably expect govt & public service lawyers to fix a problem that doesn't exist. Complainants ought to get real. Launch their own prosecutions against hate speech using the law designed for that purpose. This ain't rocket science. And really, why can't Foon figure it out? I would have thought he's the ideal person to be leading any prosecution on behalf of targeted ethnicities.
Robert Habeck is a novelist, philosopher, and the German equivalent of our minister of finance:
And he's part of the hinge between Germany and Russia now.
However another dictator is poised to rescue the west:
All hail the saviour! Biden ought to invite Maduro to the White House & host him with a military parade of goose-steppers. Dictators love that stuff!
What sort of stuff do unelected Presidents like Guaido,appointed President of Venezuela by the U.S….like?
cloak & dagger stuff… useful idiot theory says you can always find one suitable on either the left or right side of the fence…
@ D.Frank..Here is a speech that I can only assume was written especially for you….
So you never get tired of wallowing in a mire of false assumptions? Why? 🙄
Important to note the scale and impact of all the government's $$ increases to New Zealanders from yesterday:
– Half price public transport.
Providing direct benefit to over 1,000,000 regular users
– 1 April NZSuper increases $52 per fortnight for a single person
– 1 April NZSuper increases $80 per fortnight for a couple
That assists 800,000 Kiwis
– 1 April Working for Families increases $20 per week
That assists a further 365,000 families with children
– 1 April Minimum Wage lifts to $21.20
That assists a further 300,000 people
Easily 2.5 million New Zealanders getting greater government funding in 16 days time.
Benefits rates also increase as the second part of the increases announced last year come into force – I think my supported living allowance goes up $23 per week on 1 April
Yes, the 23 NZD that is the last payment to finally pay the increase that the WEAG demanded in 2019.
https://www.msd.govt.nz/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/information-releases/cabinet-papers/2021/welfare-overhaul-work-programme-update/appendix-three.html
again, this too is nice, but a few years late and now several tens of dollars short. And considering that it will be tacked on the main benefit, fringe benefits will be reduced accordingly to make up for the windfall and chances are benefits are still no better off, in fact my be worse of.
But an effort has been made, and i really hope that this will be enough for a while to make your life a bit easier.
– Half price public transport.
Providing direct benefit to over 1,000,000 regular users
Starting in Arpil for three month. It is nice, but again, its neither here nor there, just a wee little temporary relieve. By then the 25cnts discount on the tax on gasoline will be nill and voided.
– 1 April NZSuper increases $52 per fortnight for a single person
– 1 April NZSuper increases $80 per fortnight for a couple
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
– 1 April Working for Families increases $20 per week
nothing for families on the benefit?
1 April Minimum Wage lifts to $21.20
needed as rent increases will be announced on April 2
all of these 'increases' are nice, but too little very much too late, an in fact will do nothing much to change anything, same as te min wage increase last year did not do much, nor the one the year before. Why?
Because there is no way any government can increase the Min Wage / Benefits / Super enough to make inflation go away, in fact it feeds into inflation, and people still are a few hundred dollar short for food and essentials after paying rent.
What is missing on your list are the important things.
But, another layer of sugar was applied to the stale cake of 'Non reform' and some like a good sugar rush, never mind the headache afterwards.
No other NZ government in 50 years has increased benefits on this scale.
Rent controls as a maximum rent rarely work.
No other government in 50 years has built more affordable housing. Not enough and the waiting lines are worse, but the building is happening.
Public transport use is currently only a substantial share of trips per day in 2 NZ cities: Wellington and Auckland.
I'll wait for budget to comment on tax bracket changes.
That is not the point of my comment Ad.
The point is that without meaningful reform you can increase the benefits every other month and htey would still not hold up. Case in point hte first 25 NZD i ncrease came curtesy of National, and that too did fuck all.
Public transport is not used because it is too expensive and always was. I am a public transport user as i never owned a car in NZ. I used to live close to work and walk as that was cheaper then running a car and spending x amount of hours in traffic.
The half price announcement is good, but made bad by not starting immediately and then only for three month. That is just pretending to do something, that's not even a band aid.
The budget……lol. Mind there is another poll to come for sure, and that too will reflect the compassionated and considerate movements of this government, it will move compassionately and considerably down. 27.8% is the low of Cunliffe, Little would have been even lower, so lets wait and see. Shall we?
Can you please list the houses build, vs houses sold and houses demolished. Please, that would be nice if you could actually provide proof for that point.
Re Housing, the biggest need currently is getting our population into affordable and suitable housing; and social housing needs continue to grow. THe scale of need is such that I believe we need to go back to something like the State Advances Corporation system – issuing loans at say 0.5% above government stock rates, requiring payments of a percentage of earnings which remains fixed for say 20 years, for up to 90% of the cost of a dwelling. Someone is currently paying the $6 billion that banks made last year – perhaps some of that can be reduced by removing difficult clients from seeking bank loans . . .
Might be a small thing to you, for others it is significant.
https://twitter.com/A_G_Hawkins/status/1503225624441208837
Indeed it is, and that is why i would have preferred that today the prices are already at half price and without a three month expiry date.
The delay is probably to allow systems to change fares and test changes,
Technology sometimes slows change.
(Was watching a documentary of London Underground where they had a (temporary) mechanical scheduing system instlled just after the second world war. It was the most reliable part of the whole, even in the early 2000's)
I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. I love public transport as i positively hate driving and owning a car. Eww. Literally. Trams, busses, shuttles, le chemin de fer, trains, and bicycles, are my mode of transportation of choice. Cars are something that i rent when i can't have the other stuff.
This is the first time they even contemplate it. So i guess i am applauding 'baby steps', while shaking my head at the temprorarinessness of it all.
Public transport fees need to be looked at, honestly and with affordability in mind, and we are not doing that. And if changing the software is in the too hard basket, the Government could include a tax rebate for those that use it to go to work and ship their kids to school. At the end of the year via the tax return. Maybe that is easier. After all, to some extend it is a business expense for workers and families.
Edit: And doing it right now does not seem a concentrated push to make public transport more attractive and affordable but just a wee things to shut up noises about high cost of living and being perceived at doing something. Polls and such demand actions, not foresight and anticipation of stuff happening, but polls that trend the wrong way.
"I have been advocating for free public transport for ever. "
Me, too. I am cynical about this scheme, because it seems an easy move with little cost, and limited benefit.
I also believe that public transport in Auckland needs to be improved in terms of getting better service and security, particularly in the outer regions. My family did use public transport to get into Auckland for tertiary study (pre Covid) and the cost was high, and the reliability and service mediocre.
I'm guessing they are still working on the 2022 budget and will need time to adjust things for a longer term change. In the meantime, we have three months to see what the uptake of PT is, and to lobby for making it permanent. This is how change through parliament can work well.
Greater Auckland use their influence to argue against free public transport, never once considering how much relief it will possibly give to some of the financially distressed households in Auckland.
https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/?s=free+public+transport
As we attempt (unsuccessfully) to raise lower incomes, we need to also design strong policies and strategies to reduce essential costs: housing, transport, food and utilities.
have you got a tl'dr precis of their objection to free PT?
I attended a few transport public lectures back in the day, with Matt L as a guest speaker. He was consistently dismissive of the topic when it was brought up.
Given that I come from a perspective that many Auckland households are struggling financially, I never heard that addressed either in person or on their blog posts, which are really well structured in terms of identifying points, which they then dismantle or discuss. However, that also often limits discussion to just those points.
Today's post seems fairly neutral, but public transport has declined – as you would expect – since the pandemic, and public transport is always championed on GA.
There are considerable improvements that could be made in terms of service and security though, especially in the farther reaches of Auckland. So, although I would support free public transport, it must be accompanied with addressing regional inequity in terms of access and quality of service.
I posted the search link because I understand I read their posts through a particular lens, and others may see it differently.
sent you an email.
Increases (above and beyond the normal inflation adjustment) to all benefits from 1 April 2022 were announced in the 2021 budget.
While increases to the MW are inflationary, they still result on those on the MW being better off … unless rent increases (constrained by a limit to one increase a year). Landlords increase rents based on the wider market, and or knowledge of the tenants income.
The lucky country.
https://twitter.com/QReconstruction/status/1501294218559512580?cxt=HHwWiICziefI1dUpAAAA
Build your third largest city at the base of a major river catchment …
Not uncommon around the world. The legacy of rivers being used for transport and ports. New Orleans is a classic example, and man's wrestling to control the Mississippi catchment is a fascinating story.
Bloody scary!
Just saw a photo of Bernard-Henri Lévy on the front lines of Odesa. We live in interesting times when 73 year old French philosophers go into bat for the defense of freedom!
And an equally brave person acting in Russia
oops! see Joe beat me to it
Resilience tech can be viable with a simple design:
More.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/gravity-energy-storage-will-show-its-potential-in-2021
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_battery
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_energy_storage_power_plants
Interesting. I liked the UK one using old mine shafts, but can see how that would be limited. Might still be useful though.
But a large open cast pit might be the go for a bigger one – difficult to complain about sightlines if it's at or just below ground level. And give it a roof with solar panels for generation as well as storage.
Julian Assange refused permission to appeal against US extradition by UK’s top court
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/julian-assange-us-extradition-appeal-b2035579.html#comments-area
Western media and opinion makers detailing censorship in Russia, should perhaps devote 10% of their column inches and screen time to accurately reporting and analysing this situation.
Yes it's disgusting…UK govt immoral out in the open..did RNZ even cover this today?
Can't find it, if they did.
No Adrian
And last night TVNZ repeated the lie that a Russian tank had crushed a civilian car in Kiev, as if it was breaking news
They first aired that , our own TVNZ, on the 26th , 2 days into the invasion when no tanks were anywhere near the inner streets of Kiev , but the footage had been circulated on social media, and TVNZ picked it up from whatever scumbag news aggregate they subscribe to.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/02/26/russian-tank-runs-over-ukrainian-civilian-car-driver-survives/
The story has long been exposed , by France 24, but the NZ public continues to be subjected to propaganda.
https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/truth-or-fake/20220303-chimeras-and-the-war-in-ukraine
In case the previous link doesnt work this one is much better, text rather than tedious video
https://observers.france24.com/en/europe/20220301-video-debunked-russian-tank-crush-civilian-car-kyiv
France 24 is a Rupert Murdoch channel ie fox news France.
Yep wasnt detailed but they did report it
That is actually a bonus for Assange – If they had agreed to hear it they would eventually have declined the application while another year or so went by of him being imprisoned . This way he will hopefully have a chance in a fairer Court.
I hope you are proven right.
Courageous.
https://twitter.com/maxseddon/status/1503445657805373446
https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/status/1503453014643949576
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/remembering-march-15-three-years
But tax cuts hog the limelight
The survivor who was shot 9 times and is completing his walk from Dunedin to Christchurch today got good coverage on TV1 Breakfast TV show. He was exceptionally dignified.
Respect!
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/03/14/mosque-attack-survivor-on-final-leg-of-360km-peace-walk/
Hoping this catches on…
https://twitter.com/AliceFromQueens/status/1503475138997719044?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
Looks like it is.
https://twitter.com/AlexandruC4/status/1503142677503692803
google translate
Excellent. Oligarchs and billionaires should not exist. Slay the dragons. Give the wealth back to the people.
Will you lead the charge against the odious Trump man Peter Thiel please, or perhaps James Cameron ,Graeme Hart, or Richard Chandler who made his fortune at the expense of the Russian people?
Oh pardon me , his thefts are to be celebrated
Will do, as soon as I can mobilise my 27 followers on twitter. In the meantime, I will continue to sledge the Government like it’s a piñata
Can't wait for our unhoused people to do the same to empty rich listers houses here in NZ. Liberate all the ghost houses for the homeless.
right on Sabine!
I'm with you,We have morality on our side
Better make sure no-one that has had a facist thought, or dressed as Hitler joins in, because,….
… they don't care about the cause, they just want the world to burn so they can rise out of the ashes.
Oh dear
No sense of irony?
You get that
nope, not with fascism and especially not on the 15 March.
I would have no problem with that
The 2.5 million refugees (and climbing) need some place to live! So thoughtful of the benefactors of their counties aggressor to prearrange accommodation for them. 🙂
One would have thought that after investing so much of yourself into the debunked Trump/Putin conspiracy theory, only to be humiliated right out in public for that unquestioning support, that you might be even just a tiny little more circumspect going forward…but nope, I guess that critical thinking, historical context or any type of nuance at all just isn't your bag…but to be fair, again you are far from being alone in your unquestioning enthusiasm to march in step yet again.
I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked. But outside your small coterie of Putin dupes there has been a shift away from treating Putin like a modern liberal, and a return to seeing him as a recrudescent Stalinist.
Steele, who you were at pains to rubbish, has proven to have been a rather reliable source, and is much in demand for his expertise. Here he is addressing the Oxford Union.
"I know that you seem to believe the Trump/Putin conspiracy has been debunked"…..yeah I know that some of you have committed yourselves so fully into, and therefore internalized so deeply into yourselves that cult of stuff and nonsense, that you could never turn back….well not without some sort of professional help anyway.
Fact free diatribe as usual Adrian.
Some nutritious fact for you: Russian Misinformation Is "A Military Assault” on the West | Amanpour and Company – YouTube
Just so you know the role you are playing in the dissemination of Putin's disinformatzia.
We can agree that the war is terrible, and needs to end – while trying to understand how we got to this point.
@Molly, "while trying to understand how we got to this point."…I agree completely, unfortunately our friends Munro, Macro, Frank etc have shown no interest in the history, murky origins and devious Geo-Political machinations that underlay this tragic war….though to be fair they only reflect most of the worlds media own lack of interest, and as they only ever regurgitate what they are told too, and have been doing so for years, why should anyone expect anything else from this lot? monkey see, monkey do I guess.
I don't believe I have witnessed even one of them have an original thought cross from one side of their cranium to the other in matters of geo politics in the entire time I have been on The Standard.
Big-nosed monkeys regurgitate MSM narrative…
It's fascinating how you dress up your credulity as superior knowledge.
Though of course my sources are actual people, not the msm – so you have only proven your ignorance yet again.
The matter in dispute between the Putin dupes and I, is the acceptability of repeating propaganda uncritically. The most aggressive Putin trolls on this site, routinely attack any occurrence the western press dare to report, as well as the ones that maintain the highest standards themselves, like Reuters. This process is designed to create a false equivalence – if all media lie, propaganda is suddenly on an equal footing with fact based journalism.
Understanding how we got to this point is not complex – with the collapse of the Soviet Union, western powers assumed the cold war was over – and it was, briefly, under Gorbachev. Once the old party cadres regained power however, they immediately turned isolationist, and the cold war resumed – while the West naively extended trade and friendship to the Stalinist Putin.
You will never see anything verifiable or explicatory from the wretched refuse of Putin's NZ propaganda team – their game is a spoiling game – dividing and confusing responses to allow Putin to get away with his atrocities. They have no friends in eastern Europe to use as touchstones for the veracity of the fake news sites they prefer, and though long on insults, they make unsupported and indeed unsupportable assertions about every fact that crops up. They have nothing that will increase our understanding of the causes or possible end points of the conflict – They are noise, not signal.
If you're interested in the causes of the war, this interview is at least informed: Professor David Marples: Putin’s true motives for invading Ukraine | RNZ
Or, make your own contact with expat Russian journalists – a surprising number have been obliged to flee, and they will give Putin’s propagandists short shrift.
Sometimes Adrian one needs to look at oneself in the mirror. Have you ever read the Mueller Report? This is a fair summary of its findings:
my bold
It's all well and good to focus purely on the first statement in that summary – as did Trump, his Repugnant supporters, Faux news, and of course the Russian propogandists, but there was ample circumstantial evidence to show that there was significant interference by Russian "influencers" in Facebook and other social media to attack, and upset, the democratic process and a fair vote, not just for the wealthy, but for all.
And a more recent independent investigation by MIT found Troll farms reached 140 million Americans a month on Facebook before the 2020 election
This would give the butmuhfreedumb mob something to complain about.
https://twitter.com/lauriechenwords/status/1502920100193914881
Life in a real totalitarian state.
Days after buying over-the-counter medicine from a pharmacy in Beijing, university student Yu was stunned to find her prized green health code — the essential rating needed to enter the city’s shops, offices and public transport — was gone.
In a scene being repeated across the Chinese capital, a pop-up window now warned the app could no longer ascertain her coronavirus risk status.
[…]
Yu was one of thousands who showed up to Beijing workplaces or shopping malls this week only to find they were barred entry due to their health code status, as already-strict virus controls were ramped up ahead of the Winter Olympics.
Overnight, the city had quietly rolled out a new rule requiring everyone who had bought medication for anything that might be a Covid symptom — including fever, cough and throat dryness — to take a virus test before their health app status could be restored to green.
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/01/30/not-easy-being-green-chinas-health-codes-define-covid-era-life/
Whatever it takes to stop this getting away on them.
https://twitter.com/yaling_jiang/status/1503034729209032706
we should have that here.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/463342/green-party-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-breaks-self-isolation-rules
It seems even well educated people with good, well paying jobs just don’t fucking get it.
My SO's filthy that after all the planning and effort that went into systems to avoid incidents and maintain continuity, a halfwit knowingly exposed to a positive case on the job during the weekend turned up to work yesterday and swanned around un-masked.
Exasperated is not the word.
Yep,lots of wilful negligence.
Say what!!
https://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/15-03-2022/simon-bridges-to-quit-politics-and-leave-parliament-in-the-coming-weeks
A big loss for National. I would suggest Jacinda thinks about doing likewise, if she wants to set herself up overseas before the possibility of WW3 starting.
Well some say that the speechifying at Harvard is the PM going to Job interviews. WW3 started the day, WW2 ended it was called the Cold War. Which we have now started in earnest and with actual bullets and as always the little people do the dying, and the rich suits do the grand standing.
Mind, if we survive this war will we finally build a monument to the unknown Mother and child.
(Mother – adult human female having given birth to a child)
Expressed so well Sabine – my respect
Great article in the Herald today about 3 waters by Shane Jones. Sorry behind a paywall.
At last the mainstream media are allowing a sensible rebuttal to the co-governance issue this government have tried to deceptively sneak in. I suspect the co-governance debacle will quietly disappear.
I wondered who the man in the high vis vest was, throwing stuff at police in Wellington. A number of feeds and photographers got the action shots.
Turns out he's from the Far North where there seem to be quite a few with weird ideas. A teacher no less.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/abundant-life-school-staff-spotted-at-parliament-protest/UULLUZDA75Q2UGU4IJ32VL2JWY/
Recent publicity hinted at something unusual going on at the guy's school. The principal, said to be on leave, was a would be National election candidate. That he was beaten by Matt King might say something.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/abundant-life-school-seniors-in-limbo-after-closure-of-senior-school/EQV4SIBUEO2QBQOBHHB6U4ZSKI/
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/nationals-five-enter-final-battle-for-northland-electorate/GZ3HGSQT74WFUHAE4PXQV5RZSY/
Surely they got the date wrong, and this article belongs to April 1st:
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/controversial-womens-network-logo-taken-down-after-twitter-backlash/news-story/fd5e2d01baa384d2d5b4e20fe86fe0e1
Apologies. Tried saving to smaller size, but was unsuccessful.
I'm not going to say anything more about size, as I would likely incriminate myself…
Better now, after I've resized it? Size matters
Thanks, Incognito.
(I deleted a couple of comments before posting, along the lines you mention )
A dirty mind is a joy forever.
They even chose the same colour as the euphemistic emoji 🍆
Save the image, select it and pick your size
http://www.simpleimageresizer.com/
Thanks.
I'm pleased there was some sort of explanation of what the objection was. Graphic design and logos are something I've been involved in.
I briefly glimpsed the article, saw there was controversy and looked at the graphic without reading any of the text and seeing the words 'phallic' and 'male genitalia.' My first thought was about symbolic breasts and that depicting women through that was the issue.
What would please me would be hearing that a woman was responsible for the design and it was approved by a team with female leadership.
There is an explanation of sorts, due to the design proforma (which I found later).
https://twitter.com/samanthamaiden/status/1503466149639786496
Greens deal to one of their own. If only Labour would do the same with Trev.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-green-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-quits-portfolio-after-covid-19-breach/EYDHYPP46GW2JWVQZTFLW
Yes Jacinda is no Helen Clark or John key when it comes to disciplining party members who are out of line. We all remember David Clark over lockdown.
I'm sure Robert Guyton will be along to defend this Green party member shortly.
Green Party MP Elizabeth Kerekere breaks self-isolation rules (msn.com)
That link didn't work – somehow got truncated… https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-green-mp-elizabeth-kerekere-quits-portfolio-after-covid-19-breach/EYDHYPP46GW2JWVQZTFLWASF3Y/
Remembering one of the worst massacres in NZ history. 15 March, 2019, 51 precious Kiwis were cruelly murdered by a sick and twisted white supremacist.
https://twitter.com/sammyhill78/status/1503459735215173632?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
https://twitter.com/AyaUmari/status/1503495950261981186?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
https://twitter.com/TamathaPaul/status/1503465566623141888?s=20&t=EGdKlJ-Gu7EKRjRNyfZTkA
Wonderful news! Now… how to get them out of Ukraine safely:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/463338/visas-for-ukrainian-new-zealanders-families-as-government-increases-aid
Even during the Vietnam war I can't recall a protest like this.
The sheer courage, not only has Marina Ovsyannikova sacrificed her job and career, she is also facing a possible 15 year jail term
This war can only end in one way. A humiliating defeat for Putin.
Deliberately withholding life saving medical attention from someone who needs it is a crime.
It looks likely that the person who died at the Peka Peka farm anti-mandate camp, was infected with Covid-19. The death is being investigated by the coroner. Whether this person's covid infection was the cause of their death has yet to be determined.