We are not alone in our Census problems. Somehow, "the most oppressed and marginalised people on the planet" have managed to persuade Statistics departments in at least 2 countries to abandon their professional standards in favor of an ideology.
"One might ask why the statisticians at the ONS got this so wrong, given that one of their main jobs is to design survey questions that don’t invite false positives. By the ONS’s own admission, the trans question was trialled by means of “community testing at LGBT History Month events”, which is a bit like gauging atheists’ understanding of the Catholic Mass by means of community testing at the Vatican. Why didn’t those in charge anticipate that a question couched in obscure genderese might stump noninitiates, even if it would please their Stonewall overlords?
The most obvious hypothesis would be that the ONS was cajoled, guilt-tripped, befuddled and emotionally blackmailed into linguistic compliance, like many a fellow national institution before it. Maybe so, but a wider explanation is also available: that those who designed the question didn’t even realise it was couched in obscure genderese. They took their own standards of linguistic apprehension to be universal and binding."
One interesting bit to me in the Stuff article was primary teachers’ union NZEI Te Riu Roa president Mark Potter saying very few politicians understood what it was like to work in the classroom.
I don't think very few anyones really understand what it's like to work in the classroom. There's been more noise lately than usual about what teachers should do and how they should do it. I don't think the average punter pontificating has much real appreciation of what the task is really like.
And neither do the Nats. Their 3 hours a day of the 3rs is a joke. Leaves no real time for Art, Tech, Languages, Science, Social Studies, PE, and Health.
Not only in the classroom, but also the huge efforts and time that teachers endure outside the class room. We have 1 person in our household who has worked most days over the holidays in preparation for the upcoming term, paperwork. There are 2 non English speaking students out of 28 in their class new to NZ and 1 with major learning challengers, all requiring work that I find well beyond the call of teachers- the efforts I am seeing are being replicated by so many teachers all over NZ- and we have the minister telling us of 10+% pay rises-pity their spin is to aggregate such a pay rise to appear as if it is an annual rise. Not limited to teachers but also applied to health workers etc . Disgusting behaviour by a union led party 🤬🤮
we had the funding diverted from the eastern bus route in what was once Manukau to pay for the cycle lane for the harbour bridge to then once it was obvious that this wasn’t popular then announced the funding.
Doesn’t show great decision making – and from a house of voters who’s party votes were more left than almost anyone here – there is a common theme that left is devoid of what is best for this country- only what will gain votes and then followed by u turns.
Weird that NZTA as a Crown agency with a board with a $500m+ decisionmaking delegation from its Transport minister is rigorously scrutinised by its minister and media, yet a fully Cabinet mandated design for Dunedin Hospital is overturned by MoH which had at the time no Board separation but guts the design and scope after Cabinet decision anyway.
This is never going to be a government renowned for skilled decision execution.
The u turns eg with Three Waters, came after legislation was pushed through under urgency. Labour u turned, not for the good of the country, but because they were sinking in the polls prior to Xmas.
Apparently a letter has gone out to Labour women saying we now have over 50% (or some such figure) women in our Caucus, which begs the question that as Chippy isn’t sure what a woman is and needs to pre formulate an answer to that question, how could they possibly know there are x number of women in the Caucus?
this of course relates to the census question (great article above thanks Visu).
sometimes all that is left is humour and so I lol, lol, when the rates of trans (according to the UK census) were particularly high amongst Muslims and people whose second language was English.
lol, but the serious side of this is that we have extremist ideologues controlling our Govrs
I was asked a few years back by Phil Twyford what i thought about the concept of 'quota women' and I told him then (his spouse was in his red bus wating) that generally if the Labour party does not promote women on the grounds of excellence and deeds then their quota women will only ever be seen as people who got promoted because they follow the rules and do as they are told.
And that then follows why the current PM is shitting his pants when asked to define a women, but is happy to pretend to have a half a cabinet of people whom he can't define when asked.
This is one of the most puerile comments I have seen on this site. Just an attempt to create a false premise that Labour only promote women who do as they are told. You got the wrong parties there mate. Its National and ACT who play that game.
As for the PM shitting in his pants. Once again reality has bypassed you. A silly question raised by a journo bent on revenge did not warrant a reply at all imho. Next thing you will be wanting to know what a man is. Best of luck with that one!
The silly criticism being aimed at the PM regarding what is a woman, will be going over the heads of most people who have busy lives to get on with. No one I know has raised the issue. Dog with a bone by some who would complain whatever the PM said.
Want is silly is the screaming of the trans activists when someone says that a transgender woman is NOT a real woman.
Outside of my various work places of the past few years, I’ve never met anyone who does believe a transgender woman is a real woman.
While in the workplace people are scared to have any opinions other than the officially sanctioned opinions of the rainbow mafia.
People will say one thing in the office, and something completely different at the weekend BBQ, especially when members of the rainbow mafia are not there.
What is a women etc Well if the busy lives of the sheeple people you know reality have prevented them from realizing the obvious its not so with millions observing the dismal performance of our PM from around the world who now have a perception of him as a weak lilly livered cowed specimen of a man too underdeveloped to have an opinion of his own let alone the most basic knowledge of biology .
Projection, Anne? This issue has impacts on most aspects of society. eg. This woman who attended a planned event called #LetWomenSpeak.
Recent video came out of the "opposing sides clash" narrative of Stuff:
Opposing sides clash during the protests over controversial activist Posie Parker/Kellie-Jay Keen, at a rally organised for her in Auckland’s Albert Park.
I've found a couple of comments from someone who went to the SBYW events. Not sure where they went. Sounds like the transactivists were pests there as much as at the LWS meeting on 25/3.
'Went to my local Stand By Your Woman rally 2 listen 2 speakers. Like me a (rainbow) group got 2 meeting point early. Surprised 2 see so many kids. SBYW speaker drowned out by (rainbow) member with bullhorn leading chanting. (rainbow) group found that v pleasurable. No dialogue possible. Beyond sad.'
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please stop trying to do anything other than attend to the current questions I am asking you (everything else is going in the Trash as I don't have the time or bandwidth to get distracted).
You have twisted a two sentence comment that has nothing to do with the fixation on women's rights that has become all too prevalent on this site. It is a ruse being used (by some – not all) to repeatedly ram the subject down our throats as if the rest of us are dormant mice incapable of figuring anything out for ourselves.
I'll tell you what a woman is:
She is a female homo sapien with a vagina and boobs. She's been around since God made little apples and she's the same now as she was then. Some women have brains. Others are as thick as two short planks. Some are full of compassion for others. Others are arseholes who don't have a compassionate bone in their bodies. They are all shapes and sizes and they all have the same rights under the law.
Their opposite number are male homo sapiens who have a penis and no boobs. Just like their female counterparts they can be clever or dumb, gentle and kind or common garden bastards. They too are all shapes and sizes and have equal rights under the law.
For the tiny group of individuals who are a varied mix of the two – and nature in its infinite glory can also make mistakes – they also have equal rights under the law.
Here endeth the lesson. And too bad if some of you have no sense of humour.
Anne, you enter threads to make remarks, when it is clear you have no idea of the concerns raised – even with the preponderance of comments.
Eg:
""For the tiny group of individuals who are a varied mix of the two – and nature in its infinite glory can also make mistakes – they also have equal rights under the law."
Conflating DSDs with gender identity. Thinking that intersex means a mixture of two sexes rather than a developmental disorder.
This kind of conflation actually harms those with DSDs quite significantly.
can you please dial back the disparaging rhetoric. Name the gender cult or the TRAs or whatever, by naming the ideology without making it all about trans people. People reading who don't know the issues will see transcult as an insult to trans people and their general rights. Think of the debate as a marathon and how we might keep debate on TS robust and fair as well as not turning it into an ecochamber, over the long term.
Dunedin is a very very left town for both Labour and the Greens and Christchurch isnt called the peoples republic of Christchurch for nothing, it's a very reliable labour city and both Dunedin and Chch have been absolutely pivotal in nz's progressive history.
It's weird how often the left shits on both cities and thinks South Island= Bad.
Would be cool to see more south Islanders who have ground level experience in cabinet and leadership positions, when Sage retires this year year the greens will have no south island representation and currently iirc only two south Islanders have cabinet positions.
I don't understand how that damned hospital hasn't started construction it was a 2017 election promise.
Rebecca Wright was pretty good at holding Luxon to account on Newshub this morning.
In particular she demanded of him how they formed their policy. Evidence. Research etc. Huge number of words but his MPs "talked" to lots of people, talked to the caucus then came up with a plan.
She pressed him on any evidence that his plan/policy about boot camps for instance.would have evidence that it would achieve the "outcomes" planned. Big hole!
"You are taking kids away from their home for a year but you have no idea that it would work?"
Not-for-profit health care for all; would prefer public, but don't care too much if the health care service provider is public or private, as long as extracting profit isn't its reason for being, and access to all health services is based on need, not ability to pay.
Perhaps the government and the Ministry of Health should concentrate on the crisis in their own backyard, before they embark on increasing demand by cutting out private healthcare.
Doing something like:
Doubling the intake of medical (and dental) students every year for the next 5 years
Offering claw-backs on tertiary fees for medical practitioners (for every year you work in NZ after graduation, you get 1 year of fees forgiven)
Increasing the funding to GPs to make this an attractive career path (it absolutely isn't at the moment)
Direct funding GPs in smaller/remote areas – based on the number of people enrolled, rather than a per visit payment. To say enrolled, the patient has to have at least an annual consultation with their GP (a bit like a warrant of fitness for your car)
No this crisis isn't all to do with Labour – it's been building for decades.
But, what, practically, is the government currently doing? SFA as far as I can see.
“But so far we are not seeing a huge difference on the ground. Anecdotally we are hearing that there is about a 30 per cent reduction in planned care surgery across a number of different surgical specialties.”
He was particularly dismayed by a decision by Government and Te Whatu Ora not to take up an offer by medical schools to train more graduates.”
One thing the Government can do is to stop the Medical School accepting dozens of foreign students instead of New Zealanders.. I have been to two prize givings at the Auckland Medical School over the last decade or so. They have them in November – practically before the ink is dry on the exam results because what seems like half the class, will not be in New Zealand at the time of the next Capping ceremony.
Places for international students into the two Med Schools in NZ are limited and restricted. To get into Medicine is highly competitive. The schools need to increase their intakes, progressively.
Your comment is inaccurate and misleading. Feel free to support with hard numbers of domestic vs. international student entries/acceptances and graduations. Until then I’d ignore it.
I agree – entry to med school (and to dentistry and to vet science) is ridiculously competitive. You could quadruple the intake into med school in NZ – and still only be creaming off the top 1% of ability in those applying.
A number of ‘rejects’ decide to take the long route and do a Science degree or two (or three) before they try again to get into Med School. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as those individuals bring considerable scientific knowledge and experience to the clinic, ultimately. Those individuals are also much more mature. Others, often with medical degrees from overseas, spend a few years in academic departments being involved in biomedical research. And some continue trying to get into Med School in Oz. It’s not all bad, necessarily, but it does tell us something about the NZ situation. I don’t sense a strong political will from the parties involved to make drastic changes. However, if National gets in, they might shake things up with a third Medical School, likely in Waikato although sorting out the mess of Te Pūkenga has higher priority and National doesn’t not have the bandwidth to tackle more than one bullet point at the time.
Have to say I'm not a great proponent of another medical school. Especially at Waikato – which suffers from being too close to Auckland, as well as not having a strong current background in medical and/or human biomedical science.
You would have to establish a totally new medical school – and face the already-known-issue that top (or even near the top) people just don't want to live in Hamilton.
It would be a heck of a lot easier and quicker to expand the capacity of Otago and Auckland. And, I've yet to be convinced that either is approaching the 'natural limit' in the size of their med schools.
I agree that there seems to be no appetite for change from any political party (seriously short-term thinking). Just where do they think that the next generation of medical specialists is going to come from? We are nowhere near training replacements for the numbers retiring each year; let alone increasing capacity for the population expansion, and increases in medical capability.
I do wonder if it is just that: "short term thinking" around political cycles – it takes 7 years to train a doctor to the base level – another 2-3 years for specialization (including GP) – which is approaching 3 election cycles away.
Right now, I can't see what can be done with Te Pūkenga – it just seems to be a rolling disaster. Even abandoning all of the sunk cost in the centralization and rolling back to what we had, isn't going to fix the issue (staff already moved on, lack of enrolments due to uncertainty, whole courses and already campuses shut down).
If National were to make it an election pledge to open a third Med School in Waikato it would be pork barrelling and pandering to its rural constituency. They could also offer a fee-rebate on utes with diesel engines. But nobody would buy that 😉
The current Med Schools are not overflowing with enthusiasm either.
Short-term thinking is engrained in the NZ psyche – Kiwis tend to operate on a seasonal and/or annual basis. They ‘manage’ accordingly.
The Te Pūkenga mess is a textbook example of change management done by amateurs. By “done” I mean that they probably received sound advice from experts but failed to include this, those, and other experts in the process. Possibly, Government didn’t want to be seen as too controlling and ‘authoritarian’ and this has created a knowledge gap and a vacuum of required expertise & adequate leadership. At least, that’s my armchair view of it from a very long distance away. Others may be better informed of this situation.
Med schools have an offer on the table to increase numbers – being ignored by the Government.
Initially only an increase of 18 at Otago – and similar at Auckland (they said they could do this immediately in this year, without any scaling up of staff or facilities) – and are open to proposals for a substantial increase in numbers – the figure of 300 more pa has been floated.
Unis have been calling for an increase for some time – as have Medical associations – zip from the Government. Suspect they are concerned over the co-funding costs – but *not* funding is costing us worse.
Verrall claims decision made before she took over (so ball in Little's court). But this is *the same government* – just changing a Minister, should not result in a substantial policy change. And, in any case, Verrall was an Associate Minister for Health to Little, so should have been over the detail, and had co-responsibility for the decisions.
Te Whatu Ora's comment seems to be typically bureaucratic:
"In considering proposed increases to medical student numbers, Te Whatu Ora would emphasise ensuring that increases maintain student well-being, keep attrition rates low, address underrepresentation of Māori and Pacific peoples in our medical workforce, and train students who want to work in rural communities and hard-to-staff areas."
Actually, none of these are significant issues in training doctors. If you want to do retention or rural staffing, then that's a decision that TWO can make in increasing rural funding for doctors to make this more attractive. TWO could even offer scholarships – with graduates bonded to work in rural communities for a decade (if they wanted to do so).
There are already plenty of dedicated places for Maori and Pasifika in Med schools – at a lower qualification bar for entry.
Relaxing the admission criteria (still only creaming off the top 1%) – is highly unlikely to have any effect on student retention or wellbeing. And is, in any case, the job of the university, not of TWO, to manage.
None of this has anything to do with the critical importance of increasing places in med school, now (or at least next year – since they've missed the academic boat for this year).
Those are valid concerns and they are not new concerns either. Dismissing it as bureaucratic is simplistic. Training medically qualified people takes time and is expensive. Reductionist technocratic approaches are bound to fail, which is why National will flounder in this space too – it will waste time & Taxpayers’ money to maintain quality & standards and integrity.
I think the Te Pūkenga mess is an example of top-down change management: with poor CM skills at the top level, poor direction (both from the CEO and the Minister responsible); and limited consultation with the people doing the job (and huge trust issues from those people, who had a well-justified belief, that this was a job and budget cutting exercise). So change would never have been easy, but working with people rather than informing them of your decisions, would have had a chance of working.
The heavy turnover of management at senior levels in Te Pūkenga has not contributed to a successful outcome, either.
There is no trust left in Te Pūkenga from the staff in the constituent organizations (both personal communication, and news coverage).
Three friends have bailed, and gone back to the industries they came from or taken early retirement (part of the botched redundancy plan from last year). All are excellent teachers, with a huge body of hands-on-technical knowledge, which is desperately needed for vocational training (plumbing/gas fitting, marine engineering, automotive engineering).
They will *not* be easy to replace: the combination of being able to teach as well as the technical expertise – is not common; and, everyone in the industry is regarding Te Pūkenga as a poison chalice (why would you go there).
Two friends still hanging in there. Both are staying because they're committed to their students. Both are reporting ongoing world-class levels of incompetence and cluster-fuckery from the Te Pūkenga management.
Major restructuring is very different from BAU and requires different management (skills & experience). When it involves Senior Management, or Senior Leadership Teams, as they like to call themselves nowadays, this is another reason why they should delegate as much as possible to neutral objective impartial third parties and let them make the hard calls (read: suggestions and recommendations). By analogy, no surgeon should operate on themselves (and doctors should not act as the primary healthcare provider of close ones, as this can cloud their professional judgement and they may not make decisions that are in the best interest or run into a conflict of interest).
James Hansen speaks out about global climate change [2012 TED talk] This [energy] imbalance, if we want to stabilize climate, means that we must reduce CO2 from 391 ppm, parts per million, back to 350 ppm. That is the change needed to restore energy balance and prevent further warming.
COVID-19 AIR TRAVEL RECOVERY
CRITICAL AVIATION DATA IN ONE PLACE FOR YOUR BUSINESS
GLOBAL TOTAL SEATS (DOMESTIC + INTERNATIONAL)
The air travel data is plotted by week from the beginning of 2019 to week commencing 11 April 2023.
Sustainability
The pandemic has had a huge impact on Air New Zealand, but it has not slowed our commitment to sustainability. If anything, it has demonstrated that air transport is vital to sustaining our local economies through tourism and trade, but it is critical we find a more sustainable way to do this.
Can't argue with that, and can't argue with 423.01 ppm.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
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There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
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A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
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Marjorie Taylor Greene has come out in support of Jack Teixeira who allegedly leaked a massive set of US NATO-related documents.
She's on the Homeland Security Committee.
MTG would be a natural Charles Linberg VP candidate for Trump, campaigning while he's in trial.
The Man in the High Castle just needs a decent uniform.
We are not alone in our Census problems. Somehow, "the most oppressed and marginalised people on the planet" have managed to persuade Statistics departments in at least 2 countries to abandon their professional standards in favor of an ideology.
"One might ask why the statisticians at the ONS got this so wrong, given that one of their main jobs is to design survey questions that don’t invite false positives. By the ONS’s own admission, the trans question was trialled by means of “community testing at LGBT History Month events”, which is a bit like gauging atheists’ understanding of the Catholic Mass by means of community testing at the Vatican. Why didn’t those in charge anticipate that a question couched in obscure genderese might stump noninitiates, even if it would please their Stonewall overlords?
The most obvious hypothesis would be that the ONS was cajoled, guilt-tripped, befuddled and emotionally blackmailed into linguistic compliance, like many a fellow national institution before it. Maybe so, but a wider explanation is also available: that those who designed the question didn’t even realise it was couched in obscure genderese. They took their own standards of linguistic apprehension to be universal and binding."
https://unherd.com/2023/04/how-the-trans-census-fooled-britain/?tl_inbound=1&tl_groups%5B0%5D=18743&tl_period_type=3&mc_cid=fd5d71c105&mc_eid=2c0897f414
As a teacher I have 27 kids in my Year 7 class. This will grow as the year goes on. It always does.
The idea of having only 23 students is awesome. It doesn’t sound much, but in the ability to have one on ones with students it is huge.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/131774294/smaller-class-sizes-for-years-48-to-be-announced
One interesting bit to me in the Stuff article was primary teachers’ union NZEI Te Riu Roa president Mark Potter saying very few politicians understood what it was like to work in the classroom.
I don't think very few anyones really understand what it's like to work in the classroom. There's been more noise lately than usual about what teachers should do and how they should do it. I don't think the average punter pontificating has much real appreciation of what the task is really like.
And neither do the Nats. Their 3 hours a day of the 3rs is a joke. Leaves no real time for Art, Tech, Languages, Science, Social Studies, PE, and Health.
Not only in the classroom, but also the huge efforts and time that teachers endure outside the class room. We have 1 person in our household who has worked most days over the holidays in preparation for the upcoming term, paperwork. There are 2 non English speaking students out of 28 in their class new to NZ and 1 with major learning challengers, all requiring work that I find well beyond the call of teachers- the efforts I am seeing are being replicated by so many teachers all over NZ- and we have the minister telling us of 10+% pay rises-pity their spin is to aggregate such a pay rise to appear as if it is an annual rise. Not limited to teachers but also applied to health workers etc . Disgusting behaviour by a union led party 🤬🤮
and our govt believes this deserves to be a focal announcement- you under fund a project fit for purpose and then throw a few coins back. Not the 1st time that the govt has done this 🤬
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/government-strengthens-commitment-new-dunedin-hospital
we had the funding diverted from the eastern bus route in what was once Manukau to pay for the cycle lane for the harbour bridge to then once it was obvious that this wasn’t popular then announced the funding.
Doesn’t show great decision making – and from a house of voters who’s party votes were more left than almost anyone here – there is a common theme that left is devoid of what is best for this country- only what will gain votes and then followed by u turns.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/local-democracy-reporting/300354030/funds-for-auckland-harbour-cycle-bridge-should-go-to-eastern-busway–national-mp
Yes generally agree.
Weird that NZTA as a Crown agency with a board with a $500m+ decisionmaking delegation from its Transport minister is rigorously scrutinised by its minister and media, yet a fully Cabinet mandated design for Dunedin Hospital is overturned by MoH which had at the time no Board separation but guts the design and scope after Cabinet decision anyway.
This is never going to be a government renowned for skilled decision execution.
100% Herodotus.
Apparently a letter has gone out to Labour women saying we now have over 50% (or some such figure) women in our Caucus, which begs the question that as Chippy isn’t sure what a woman is and needs to pre formulate an answer to that question, how could they possibly know there are x number of women in the Caucus?
this of course relates to the census question (great article above thanks Visu).
sometimes all that is left is humour and so I lol, lol, when the rates of trans (according to the UK census) were particularly high amongst Muslims and people whose second language was English.
lol, but the serious side of this is that we have extremist ideologues controlling our Govrs
I was asked a few years back by Phil Twyford what i thought about the concept of 'quota women' and I told him then (his spouse was in his red bus wating) that generally if the Labour party does not promote women on the grounds of excellence and deeds then their quota women will only ever be seen as people who got promoted because they follow the rules and do as they are told.
And that then follows why the current PM is shitting his pants when asked to define a women, but is happy to pretend to have a half a cabinet of people whom he can't define when asked.
This is one of the most puerile comments I have seen on this site. Just an attempt to create a false premise that Labour only promote women who do as they are told. You got the wrong parties there mate. Its National and ACT who play that game.
As for the PM shitting in his pants. Once again reality has bypassed you. A silly question raised by a journo bent on revenge did not warrant a reply at all imho. Next thing you will be wanting to know what a man is. Best of luck with that one!
Have to disagree with the last bit Anne, chippy showed absolutely weaknesses on the woman question, trying to please everyone never works, .
It's lucky for labour the greens have racist at no1 spot, ir I'd ditch labour for them .
I got an email (from Carmel Sepuloni) so either it was sent to more than just women, or there was more than one email (quite possible).
The silly criticism being aimed at the PM regarding what is a woman, will be going over the heads of most people who have busy lives to get on with. No one I know has raised the issue. Dog with a bone by some who would complain whatever the PM said.
Want is silly is the screaming of the trans activists when someone says that a transgender woman is NOT a real woman.
Outside of my various work places of the past few years, I’ve never met anyone who does believe a transgender woman is a real woman.
While in the workplace people are scared to have any opinions other than the officially sanctioned opinions of the rainbow mafia.
People will say one thing in the office, and something completely different at the weekend BBQ, especially when members of the rainbow mafia are not there.
What is a women etc Well if the busy lives of the
sheeplepeople you know reality have prevented them from realizing the obvious its not so with millions observing the dismal performance of our PM from around the world who now have a perception of him as a weak lilly livered cowed specimen of a man too underdeveloped to have an opinion of his own let alone the most basic knowledge of biology .They call it projection Weston. Describing one's own image then projecting it on to someone else?
Let them project.
https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/1645758235666796545
https://twitter.com/ThePlumLineGS/status/1645768759599144963
Projection, Anne? This issue has impacts on most aspects of society. eg. This woman who attended a planned event called #LetWomenSpeak.
Recent video came out of the "opposing sides clash" narrative of Stuff:
Opposing sides clash during the protests over controversial activist Posie Parker/Kellie-Jay Keen, at a rally organised for her in Auckland’s Albert Park.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/opinion/300852693/josie-pagani-why-banning-hate-speech-doesnt-get-rid-of-the-hate
The intimidation, harassment and violence is in one direction when it comes to women wanting to speak.
When will people stop making excuses for abusive behaviour?
https://twitter.com/adriftandhappy/status/1647028966094680064?s=20
I've found a couple of comments from someone who went to the SBYW events. Not sure where they went. Sounds like the transactivists were pests there as much as at the LWS meeting on 25/3.
'Went to my local Stand By Your Woman rally 2 listen 2 speakers. Like me a (rainbow) group got 2 meeting point early. Surprised 2 see so many kids. SBYW speaker drowned out by (rainbow) member with bullhorn leading chanting. (rainbow) group found that v pleasurable. No dialogue possible. Beyond sad.'
and
[deleted unlinked quote]
Dr Carol Hamilton
@kiriceilidh
4h
[quote deleted, in premod until we sort this out once and for all. Please reply to my comment below – weka]
mod note. Please read above and then respond to the directions below. None of you other comments will appear on TS until this is sorted.
Please read the following instructions and agree to each number. If you don't understand any of the points, then please ask for clarification of each number you don't get.
To link to a tweet,
I trashed your comment by mistake, because you did two replies. Please stop trying to do anything else other than replying to my mod note.
You said,
when you copy and pasted the link to that Joni Mitchell tweet did you:
1 yes
2 no
thanks. What should be happening if you are copy and pasting straight into the comment box is the tweet should embed. But instead, your link is ending up with html tags around it and is turning into a link instead.
Hang on, sorry my bad, new instructions.
https://twitter.com/racoons_daily/status/1558509457130209282
Sorry cat has had a sustained period of walking all over the keyboard, I think I have got it right.
brilliant, thanks. That looks good.
Right, from now on, whenever you want to share something from a tweet to TS, do what you just did. I need you to agree to that before I let you out of premod.
I also want you to agree to keep a copy of these instructions so you can refer to them:
Thanks Weka. I have done a copy & paste into a word doc and put it on my desktop for reference.
👍 Out of premod now, thanks.
please stop trying to do anything other than attend to the current questions I am asking you (everything else is going in the Trash as I don't have the time or bandwidth to get distracted).
Haven't read a word. Here's why:
You have twisted a two sentence comment that has nothing to do with the fixation on women's rights that has become all too prevalent on this site. It is a ruse being used (by some – not all) to repeatedly ram the subject down our throats as if the rest of us are dormant mice incapable of figuring anything out for ourselves.
I'll tell you what a woman is:
She is a female homo sapien with a vagina and boobs. She's been around since God made little apples and she's the same now as she was then. Some women have brains. Others are as thick as two short planks. Some are full of compassion for others. Others are arseholes who don't have a compassionate bone in their bodies. They are all shapes and sizes and they all have the same rights under the law.
Their opposite number are male homo sapiens who have a penis and no boobs. Just like their female counterparts they can be clever or dumb, gentle and kind or common garden bastards. They too are all shapes and sizes and have equal rights under the law.
For the tiny group of individuals who are a varied mix of the two – and nature in its infinite glory can also make mistakes – they also have equal rights under the law.
Here endeth the lesson. And too bad if some of you have no sense of humour.![sad sad](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/sad_smile.png?x42494)
Anne, you enter threads to make remarks, when it is clear you have no idea of the concerns raised – even with the preponderance of comments.
Eg:
""For the tiny group of individuals who are a varied mix of the two – and nature in its infinite glory can also make mistakes – they also have equal rights under the law."
Conflating DSDs with gender identity. Thinking that intersex means a mixture of two sexes rather than a developmental disorder.
This kind of conflation actually harms those with DSDs quite significantly.
https://differently-normal.com/2021/10/25/the-invention-of-intersex/
Thanks for this Molly. Just shows how the Transcult invades and colonises anything and everything they think might further their interests.
can you please dial back the disparaging rhetoric. Name the gender cult or the TRAs or whatever, by naming the ideology without making it all about trans people. People reading who don't know the issues will see transcult as an insult to trans people and their general rights. Think of the debate as a marathon and how we might keep debate on TS robust and fair as well as not turning it into an ecochamber, over the long term.
Stephen Jack NAT candidate knows what a woman is , he posted on F/B he likes them like covid easy to spread
Dunedin nurses had a good solid turnout for their protest in the Octagon this morning.
Also tge ODT had full page ads against the new hospital cost savings.
Amazing how bad political management turns the most leftie city in NZ against Labour.
I love Dunedin, very fun town.
Dunedin is a very very left town for both Labour and the Greens and Christchurch isnt called the peoples republic of Christchurch for nothing, it's a very reliable labour city and both Dunedin and Chch have been absolutely pivotal in nz's progressive history.
It's weird how often the left shits on both cities and thinks South Island= Bad.
Would be cool to see more south Islanders who have ground level experience in cabinet and leadership positions, when Sage retires this year year the greens will have no south island representation and currently iirc only two south Islanders have cabinet positions.
I don't understand how that damned hospital hasn't started construction it was a 2017 election promise.
hoping the Greens’ membership list placement process prioritises some SI people.
Rebecca Wright was pretty good at holding Luxon to account on Newshub this morning.
In particular she demanded of him how they formed their policy. Evidence. Research etc. Huge number of words but his MPs "talked" to lots of people, talked to the caucus then came up with a plan.
She pressed him on any evidence that his plan/policy about boot camps for instance.would have evidence that it would achieve the "outcomes" planned. Big hole!
"You are taking kids away from their home for a year but you have no idea that it would work?"
About 17 minutes in. Well done Rebecca.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2023/04/christopher-luxon-calls-new-zealand-crime-utterly-unacceptable-as-he-doubles-down-on-boot-camp-policy.html
Policy by anecdata.
No matter what your left persuasion is, these bastards have to kept as far away from the levers of power as possible.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/opinion/131777189/forprofit-healthcare-will-lead-to-increasing-neglect-of-kiwis-on-the-margins
The cancer of private health care must be removed now before it kills the patient
Not-for-profit health care for all; would prefer public, but don't care too much if the health care service provider is public or private, as long as extracting profit isn't its reason for being, and access to all health services is based on need, not ability to pay.
Looking at you, Coleman.
We should ban politicians from having health insurance so they can experience the Healthcare us unwashed do.
Based on my reckons that they'll all have health insurance I would if I was on their incomes.
Meanwhile public healthcare already is killing the patient.
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/health/southern-cancer-patients-harmed-long-delays-report
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/487760/investigation-highly-critical-of-wait-times-to-see-cancer-specialists
Perhaps the government and the Ministry of Health should concentrate on the crisis in their own backyard, before they embark on increasing demand by cutting out private healthcare.
Doing something like:
No this crisis isn't all to do with Labour – it's been building for decades.
But, what, practically, is the government currently doing? SFA as far as I can see.
Is that not the reason labour have got rid of dhbs, ? To stop the post code lottery
That's what they claimed. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked.
Bit early to tell I'd say.
How long are you prepared to wait?
Seems like the wait times across the country are getting worse, not better.
Herald premium article
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/health-reforms-problems-get-worse-as-11b-shake-up-yet-to-help-struggling-sector/XJVJO76BU5FN3EN4HDMDHXZUTU/
Archived version
https://archive.ph/6v4qY
“But so far we are not seeing a huge difference on the ground. Anecdotally we are hearing that there is about a 30 per cent reduction in planned care surgery across a number of different surgical specialties.”
He was particularly dismayed by a decision by Government and Te Whatu Ora not to take up an offer by medical schools to train more graduates.”
One thing the Government can do is to stop the Medical School accepting dozens of foreign students instead of New Zealanders.. I have been to two prize givings at the Auckland Medical School over the last decade or so. They have them in November – practically before the ink is dry on the exam results because what seems like half the class, will not be in New Zealand at the time of the next Capping ceremony.
Places for international students into the two Med Schools in NZ are limited and restricted. To get into Medicine is highly competitive. The schools need to increase their intakes, progressively.
https://www.otago.ac.nz/oms/education/mbchb/prospective-students/international-students/electives/
Your comment is inaccurate and misleading. Feel free to support with hard numbers of domestic vs. international student entries/acceptances and graduations. Until then I’d ignore it.
I agree – entry to med school (and to dentistry and to vet science) is ridiculously competitive. You could quadruple the intake into med school in NZ – and still only be creaming off the top 1% of ability in those applying.
A number of ‘rejects’ decide to take the long route and do a Science degree or two (or three) before they try again to get into Med School. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as those individuals bring considerable scientific knowledge and experience to the clinic, ultimately. Those individuals are also much more mature. Others, often with medical degrees from overseas, spend a few years in academic departments being involved in biomedical research. And some continue trying to get into Med School in Oz. It’s not all bad, necessarily, but it does tell us something about the NZ situation. I don’t sense a strong political will from the parties involved to make drastic changes. However, if National gets in, they might shake things up with a third Medical School, likely in Waikato although sorting out the mess of Te Pūkenga has higher priority and National doesn’t not have the bandwidth to tackle more than one bullet point at the time.
Have to say I'm not a great proponent of another medical school. Especially at Waikato – which suffers from being too close to Auckland, as well as not having a strong current background in medical and/or human biomedical science.
You would have to establish a totally new medical school – and face the already-known-issue that top (or even near the top) people just don't want to live in Hamilton.
It would be a heck of a lot easier and quicker to expand the capacity of Otago and Auckland. And, I've yet to be convinced that either is approaching the 'natural limit' in the size of their med schools.
I agree that there seems to be no appetite for change from any political party (seriously short-term thinking). Just where do they think that the next generation of medical specialists is going to come from? We are nowhere near training replacements for the numbers retiring each year; let alone increasing capacity for the population expansion, and increases in medical capability.
I do wonder if it is just that: "short term thinking" around political cycles – it takes 7 years to train a doctor to the base level – another 2-3 years for specialization (including GP) – which is approaching 3 election cycles away.
Right now, I can't see what can be done with Te Pūkenga – it just seems to be a rolling disaster. Even abandoning all of the sunk cost in the centralization and rolling back to what we had, isn't going to fix the issue (staff already moved on, lack of enrolments due to uncertainty, whole courses and already campuses shut down).
If National were to make it an election pledge to open a third Med School in Waikato it would be pork barrelling and pandering to its rural constituency. They could also offer a fee-rebate on utes with diesel engines. But nobody would buy that 😉
The current Med Schools are not overflowing with enthusiasm either.
Short-term thinking is engrained in the NZ psyche – Kiwis tend to operate on a seasonal and/or annual basis. They ‘manage’ accordingly.
The Te Pūkenga mess is a textbook example of change management done by amateurs. By “done” I mean that they probably received sound advice from experts but failed to include this, those, and other experts in the process. Possibly, Government didn’t want to be seen as too controlling and ‘authoritarian’ and this has created a knowledge gap and a vacuum of required expertise & adequate leadership. At least, that’s my armchair view of it from a very long distance away. Others may be better informed of this situation.
Med schools have an offer on the table to increase numbers – being ignored by the Government.
Initially only an increase of 18 at Otago – and similar at Auckland (they said they could do this immediately in this year, without any scaling up of staff or facilities) – and are open to proposals for a substantial increase in numbers – the figure of 300 more pa has been floated.
Unis have been calling for an increase for some time – as have Medical associations – zip from the Government. Suspect they are concerned over the co-funding costs – but *not* funding is costing us worse.
Verrall claims decision made before she took over (so ball in Little's court). But this is *the same government* – just changing a Minister, should not result in a substantial policy change. And, in any case, Verrall was an Associate Minister for Health to Little, so should have been over the detail, and had co-responsibility for the decisions.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/02/28/offer-from-2-medical-schools-to-train-more-students-ignored-by-govt/
Te Whatu Ora's comment seems to be typically bureaucratic:
Actually, none of these are significant issues in training doctors. If you want to do retention or rural staffing, then that's a decision that TWO can make in increasing rural funding for doctors to make this more attractive. TWO could even offer scholarships – with graduates bonded to work in rural communities for a decade (if they wanted to do so).
There are already plenty of dedicated places for Maori and Pasifika in Med schools – at a lower qualification bar for entry.
Relaxing the admission criteria (still only creaming off the top 1%) – is highly unlikely to have any effect on student retention or wellbeing. And is, in any case, the job of the university, not of TWO, to manage.
None of this has anything to do with the critical importance of increasing places in med school, now (or at least next year – since they've missed the academic boat for this year).
Those are valid concerns and they are not new concerns either. Dismissing it as bureaucratic is simplistic. Training medically qualified people takes time and is expensive. Reductionist technocratic approaches are bound to fail, which is why National will flounder in this space too – it will waste time & Taxpayers’ money to maintain quality & standards and integrity.
I think the Te Pūkenga mess is an example of top-down change management: with poor CM skills at the top level, poor direction (both from the CEO and the Minister responsible); and limited consultation with the people doing the job (and huge trust issues from those people, who had a well-justified belief, that this was a job and budget cutting exercise). So change would never have been easy, but working with people rather than informing them of your decisions, would have had a chance of working.
The heavy turnover of management at senior levels in Te Pūkenga has not contributed to a successful outcome, either.
There is no trust left in Te Pūkenga from the staff in the constituent organizations (both personal communication, and news coverage).
Three friends have bailed, and gone back to the industries they came from or taken early retirement (part of the botched redundancy plan from last year). All are excellent teachers, with a huge body of hands-on-technical knowledge, which is desperately needed for vocational training (plumbing/gas fitting, marine engineering, automotive engineering).
They will *not* be easy to replace: the combination of being able to teach as well as the technical expertise – is not common; and, everyone in the industry is regarding Te Pūkenga as a poison chalice (why would you go there).
Two friends still hanging in there. Both are staying because they're committed to their students. Both are reporting ongoing world-class levels of incompetence and cluster-fuckery from the Te Pūkenga management.
Major restructuring is very different from BAU and requires different management (skills & experience). When it involves Senior Management, or Senior Leadership Teams, as they like to call themselves nowadays, this is another reason why they should delegate as much as possible to neutral objective impartial third parties and let them make the hard calls (read: suggestions and recommendations). By analogy, no surgeon should operate on themselves (and doctors should not act as the primary healthcare provider of close ones, as this can cloud their professional judgement and they may not make decisions that are in the best interest or run into a conflict of interest).
https://twitter.com/GretaThunberg/status/1645145093555322881
Can't argue with that, and can't argue with 423.01 ppm.
English as a physical language.
https://twitter.com/bfcarlson/status/1645382039401816065