Well…..there is that Curia, is the Taxpayers Union (Farrar). Notwithstanding, both Labour…and Greens need to STEP UP. No good "If" they are hoping the Election is way distant. Time for their "Stars?" and some of the seat warmers to show their worth. For their sakes…and OURS !
And Jacinda….I dont know how she does it. Talk about Inner Strength ! Absolutely a Gem : ). I wish her and Family all the best. I truly hope she rests during her recovery…and gets some Family Time.
That only leaves the unfounded sour taste in the mouths of the homeowning class as their property values fall 20%. No landslide, as much as I'd wish it
Those who reckoned decreased immigration numbers, and increased taxation of speculation/house hoarding, wouldn't slow house price rises, have become, strangely, silent.
Though we all know house prices need to drop. For way too many people houses are now their only asset. Any Government that has the stomach to "fix housing", no matter how much it is needed, is unlikely to improve their re-election prospects.
Those who reckoned decreased immigration numbers, and increased taxation of speculation/house hoarding, wouldn't slow house price rises, have become, strangely, silent.
Yah – and nothing to do with increasing interest rates then? Timed exactly to match the slowing price rises you are so pleased about.
Interest rises which will do little to improve affordability btw.
As I've previously made clear, a conversation you appear to have missed, housing prices and "fixing them" takes more than one thing to change the expectation that they will always rise faster than general inflation. And that house hoarding is more profitable than working for your living. Interest rates are only one factor. But hardly the most significant one when they are still way below housing inflation.
Significant interest rate rises hadn’t been on the table before prices started to slow. The other issues I've mentioned have now been around long enough to take effect.
I fully accept – and have argued myself here many times – that there are many factors feeding into property prices. But to ignore interest rates when they are one of the most obvious factors driving affordability – just struck me as more than a bit selective.
Housing is now the most unaffordable it has been for typical first home buyers since interest.co.nz began producing its Home Loan Affordability reports at the beginning of 2004.
The new record in unaffordability levels was driven by a pause in the recent price declines at the bottom end of the market and ongoing increases in mortgage interest rates.
Housing price growth is complex,but not complicated.
Housing prices globally rose over covid,due to low interest rates and increased capital (due to lockdowns and the inability to travel)
There were also limitations on build speed (completions) mitigated somewhat by immigration growth.
Since 2017 the population demand for housing inventory has increased by 105000 units (2.76pp) and around 58000 over the covid time frame in NZ.Completion rates have slowed (net housing increase) have slowed in AK and WGN due to the increase in in city infill housing ( new stock completed less housing demolished)
The new bank BOMAD ( mum and dad) also increased its lending becoming the sixth biggest lender (18 b$) as a mix of increased savings and leverage.
Housing cost inflation is the largest increase in the CPI,and also has the largest weighting (around a third of index) as a mix of excess demand,high building costs and delays.
Excess demand has been curbed by the RBNZ by changes in the LV ratio,QE and higher interest rates.Inflation expectations need to be constrained to sustainable levels,and higher population demand (immigration without limits) will mean higher costs for housing and goods and services.
Ballance said the "old soldier" considered the media "paid lackeys as a result of payments made to them". "He doesn't want to talk to the political wing of the Labour Party."
That's correct, Jenny. Support and admiration of Putin has been on the antivaxxers "menu" for a long time now, well before the invasion of the Ukraine – it was inserted there by the same agencies that had them believe in the nanotechnology-in-vax nonsense. I noticed this many months ago. Those same people are also expecting a revival of Trump.
Your comment robert imo reads like a giant generalization wrapped in a conspiracy theory liberally garnished with pure speculation !!
Illogicality of some anti vax crowds aside id be surprised if within their ranks there was any more awareness of what was actually happening in ukraine than the average joe blogs in the street given the degree of propaganda around the topic .
Even if it were true that these " same people " were expecting a revival of trump they're by no means alone !! In the badly broken two party system of the usa trump has a very good chance of winning in 24 perish the thought .
I think the connection is quite direct – and there are a couple of fairly straightforward examples. The first is the Russification of Wikileaks. Wikileaks formed to critique the more dubious actions, especially of the US military in Afghanistan. It had the same kind of legitimacy that whistleblowers have – they perform a vital and difficult role improving the health of the body politic by exposing things like Afghan civilian casualties. As Wikileaks increasingly became the channel of choice for Russian disinformation however, its legitimacy diminished.
The next and related item is 'the buttery males' attack on Hillary Clinton – direct political interference by what had in fact been for some time a hostile state. Various versions of email contents were filtered through multiple Clinton opponents with the object of compromising the integrity of the US electoral system. These opponent groups circulated the material, or conclusions derived from it on social media. It was a successful action, and remnants of it can still be found on some social media.
Political advocacy or ginger groups can cope with the natural differences of opinion and interpretation, even to some degree productively, but they are not well equipped to handle organized deception conducted by a well-resourced hostile foreign power.
I cannot rule out intentional deception as you suggest – but if you took a few moments to watch the very good and concise Vexler clip I linked to above – there are a number of other good explanations available that are equally if not more applicable in my experience.
If nothing else while you could claim that anti-vax ideas were all the work of a few nefarious individuals deliberately creating misinformation – it does not explain why so many millions were willing to engage with some of the more obvious crackpot ideas like 5G chips.
Nor does it explain the bulk of vaccine hesitant people who were sufficiently distrustful of the official narrative that they invested considerable time and effort into researching for what seemed to them a better explanation.
It is a good clip – but it doesn't cover all the bases.
These folk – the Macedonian fake news rings – were not interested hostiles, but click farmers. And there are a lot of comparable enterprises that are interested only in farming readers – something made easier if one embraces polarizing or sensational content so dodgy it would make Tova blush.
Yes. Some of them have been publicly defending Russia and Putin for some time now. I concluded they were the pro-Trump forces within the anti-vaxxer and anti-mandate brigade.
To paraphrase Pl.A above… the ultimate fuckwits of the fuckwits.
Another example of Stuff using a stock photo, and not choosing a very good one for the occasion.
When I read the article I actually had some sympathy for Mr Luxon as the self-styled "head" of this protest happens to be a well-known serial nutter in the Manawatu.
Perhaps you will rule this out of order on this blog ad. but I assure you many others in the Manawatu would agree with me.
There was also a famous Minhinnick cartoon which had Muldoon sitting in an airport lounge with a newspaper in his lap that had a headline saying 'Rowling addresses crowd of faithful at Wiri Woolshed'.
Muldoon looks up at a passing Bill Rowling and tartly says 'Romney or Perendale?'
In the wake of the cruel murder Al Jazeera Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the desecration of her funeral. Let Israel know that New Zealanders will no longer tolerate a racist apartheid state in the 21st Century.
Auckland Aotea Square 2pm for a rally and speeches.
From Auckland Peace Action:
Sunday May 15 is Nakba Day – this is the day marking the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and off their land by Israeli militias in 1948….
….The Nakba has continued every day since 1948 as Israel seizes more Palestinian land and creates more Palestinian refugees every day.
Palestine Solidarity Network Aotearoa are holding Nakba Day rallys around the country.
We welcome you to join us at the Auckland gathering, Aotea Square at 2pm, to hear speeches, show solidarity, and stand with community.
Please remember to wear a mask, or kaffiyeh!
I guess back in the day you were also a supporter of the racist apartheid state of South Africa given that the black population was still on the up?? Amnesty, HRW and Btselem all agree. Israel operates as an apartheid state
Duke…the Gaza strip is effectively a concentration camp with 2 million Arab prisoners trapped in it. If drive from Wanaka to Cromwell the valley floor along the way roughly represents its size.
Rather than murdering respected journalists and illegally occupying Palestinian land the Israelis need to begin the process towards a one nation solution where Gaza and the West Bank become part of Israel with equal rights for all citizens.
Yawn – a throwaway troll attack – you care nothing about truth, history or the plight of Palestinians. Guess you will be happy that you irritated a couple of people into biting you sad pathetic little troll
After years of land confiscations and apartheid planning policies, there are now a majority of the 1.7million arabs/ Palestinians living are ghettoised in areas assigned to them in by Israel.
Yet another white supremacist mass murder attack. Why is the white far right becoming increasingly murderous? We have always know hey are racist and intolerant but now they are actioning their hatred in big numbers.
Gone are the days when it was asked if the shooter was yelling Allahu Akbar.
The shooter claims (the Australian) did the most to radicalize him. this is very much a Christchurch copycat attack.
A 106-page online manifesto, believed to have been uploaded by the shooter, explained that he was motivated by a conspiracy theory that white people are being replaced by other races. In the document, he says he is 18 years old and a self-described white supremacist and anti-semite.
“If there’s one thing I want you to get from these writings, it’s that White birth rates must change. Everyday the White population becomes fewer in number,” the document says. “To maintain a population the people must achieve a birth rate that reaches replacement fertility levels, in the western world that is about 2.06 births per woman.”
Perhaps the real reason for the Anti-abortion issue is "forced" by the "need" to increase white births.
“If there’s one thing I want you to get from these writings, it’s that White birth rates must change. Everyday the White population becomes fewer in number,” the document says. “To maintain a population the people must achieve a birth rate that reaches replacement fertility levels, in the western world that is about 2.06 births per woman.”
The fact is that birth rates across the entire developed world are below replacement and this has nothing to do with race and everything to do with women choosing to have fewer children.
That some idiot extremists will wrongly and selectively apply this reality to their own race is hardly a surprise, especially when the radical left has been loudly insisting that white people – and white males in particular – are the source of all evil for a decade or so now. Or that if we loudly (and very inconsistently) argue that human overpopulation is a bad thing – that this lowers the barrier to sociopaths taking matters directly into their own hands.
Central to the Judeo-Christian narrative was the historically remarkable idea of the sanctity of individual human life. It has of course proven to be a very challenging idea to even define or observe consistently. We have stumbled with it repeatedly and grievously But giving up on the idea and casting it aside is much worse.
Hence the rather odd scenario of the left being able to get away with performative outrage over a tiny handful of unarmed black men in the US being killed by police – while 73 million abortions annually cannot be challenged in even the most anodyne, moderate fashion.
Legal abortion will cause no more no less abortions then illegal abortion, the only difference is the amount of birthing bodies found dead on a table/floor bleeding out or dying birthing bodies being wheeled into a septic ward for scraping out and some blood transfusions.
Challenge that. And the assumption that children don't cost money, need appropriate housing, enough food, shoes for winter and summer, plus education. That assumption too could be challenged and look at how we did in NZ, Motels full of Mums and Dads with their kids, homeless in emergency housing hoping that at some stage maybe next year they find a place to call home that is not a run down motel in a dying town away from education and jobs.
Abortion will continue to happen. Legal or not. The question is how much do we value the birthing bodies that need abortions to grant them safe ones.
I have rarely commented on this very fraught topic but I will confine myself to this thought. For all the reasons you outline it is not reasonable to restrict access to abortion. But at the same time I was never comfortable with the idea that this came with zero moral consequences, and thus we might want to pay a lot more attention to reducing the necessity for abortions in the first place.
because birthing bodies get pregnant no matter if they want it or not if they can't prevent sexual intercourse with a penis ejaculating into their vagina.
My grandmother had 9 kids that lived and several that were scraped out., the last child she had at 46 years.
My mother had 5 kids that lived, on ectopic pregnancy – abortion, one kid up for adoption, and then finally came the ruling that women can have the pill without permission from their husbands in Germany and all the birthing bodies in my family suddenly stopped birthing.
If you don't want the child, can't feed the child because you are already struggling to feed the children you have, have no access to birth control, have a man who can and will not fuck without a condom, or consider a vasectomy as a form of birth control, women will have abortion, and other women and men will provide these abortion.
The consequences of abortion are for the women who have them, and most women who had abortions for what ever reason cope well enough.
a bit of 'recorded' history on abortion
The first recorded evidence of induced abortion is from the Egyptian Ebers Papyrus in 1550 BCE. Many of the methods employed in early cultures were non-surgical. Physical activities such as strenuous labor, climbing, paddling, weightlifting, or diving were a common technique
To me it is a simple thing, those that are opposed on grounds of morals or religion should themselves abstain, but should not put any obstacles in the way of those that are not opposed or want them.
And unless we make life much easier for parents to raise their children in relative safety and comfort society must accept that some will opt out of being a birthing body.
it is not a virtue, it is needed medical care. I have yet to meat one person who had an abortion for funsies, or because they consider it 'birth control'. I have however met birthing bodies who needed abortion because their baby died in uterus and did not miscarry, i have met birthing bodies who had abortion because three kids are enough, i have met birthing bodies who aborted because they were 15 years old and the father was of the same age.
The questions re access to abortion and the right to a sexual life for birthing bodies are as follows:
Should birthing bodies be allowed have sex without consequences? –
Should child birth be something that is the lot of birthing bodies?
Should child birth be punishment for birthing bodies having sex
And should abortion be safe, medically sound, and should birthing bodies have the right to decide what happens with their bodies if an unwanted pregnancy happens or a much wanted pregnancy goes wrong.
and last for the US at least, the issue is not only Roe vs Wade, but Griswold vs Connecticut.
Griswold v.
Connecticut (1965), the Supreme Court ruled that a state's ban on the use of contraceptives violated the right to marital privacy. The case concerned a Connecticut law that criminalized the encouragement or use of birth control
And of course when birthing bodies can not control the amount of pregnancies they have – be they life births or miscarriages or stillborn, it will then also affect their employability, their earning power and so on and so forth. But maybe that is the desired outcome of all these current societal changes.
As i read somewhere:
the left will lock a birthing body into a prison cell with a rapist who will rape her too, the right will force that same birthing body to have the child of that rapist and co-parent with that rapist.
You seem to be arguing with an imaginary person who thinks that access to abortion should be restricted.
As i read somewhere:
the left will lock a birthing body into a prison cell with a rapist who will rape her too, the right will force that same birthing body to have the child of that rapist and co-parent with that rapist.
If this is how you are going to debate with people who are essentially on your side – is it any wonder your opponents don’t even begin to listen or engage?
Tomorrow the government will detail the emissions pathway constraints,with how they will limit GHG emissions over the next 15 years,and how NZ can become 100% renewable in electricity generation by 2030.
The latter will be expensive in capital cost (around 15b$ boe),and will see substantive islanding of existing generation assets,and will see some costs to the consumers.
Replacement of 10 gw is around the equivalent of 5 x more wind generation,( and the potential is not always available) ,bigger then think big,and will be very capital intensive.
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
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This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
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Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
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There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
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Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
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This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
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Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
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 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
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So the latest Curia Poll has Nat/ACT able to govern with 61 seats. Lab/Gre/MP have 59.
It's a bit of a worry, but a week is a long time in politics let alone 18 months and Luxon will be taken apart by Jacinda in the election campaign.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-political-poll-puts-national-and-act-in-position-to-govern-for-first-time-since-2020/UQIG6BDL6DYMCXNELBTLEJJHAU/
Well…..there is that Curia, is the Taxpayers Union (Farrar). Notwithstanding, both Labour…and Greens need to STEP UP. No good "If" they are hoping the Election is way distant. Time for their "Stars?" and some of the seat warmers to show their worth. For their sakes…and OURS !
And Jacinda….I dont know how she does it. Talk about Inner Strength ! Absolutely a Gem : ). I wish her and Family all the best. I truly hope she rests during her recovery…and gets some Family Time.
Fix the housing and cost of living crisis and Labour will win in a landslide.
Absolutely, Jenny. After all National have told us how they will fix it – more money in the pocket from tax cuts! Is that all you were looking for?
Yeah we can be confident it will take more than a couple of dollars a week to do anything. Unless you are on half a million.
That only leaves the unfounded sour taste in the mouths of the homeowning class as their property values fall 20%. No landslide, as much as I'd wish it
If Labour ensures that every Kiwi wins big in Lotto then Labour will win easily in 2023.
That it?
Nothing about Climate Change, for example, or that miracle cure for inequity?
Housing prices look like they are slowing.
Those who reckoned decreased immigration numbers, and increased taxation of speculation/house hoarding, wouldn't slow house price rises, have become, strangely, silent.
Though we all know house prices need to drop. For way too many people houses are now their only asset. Any Government that has the stomach to "fix housing", no matter how much it is needed, is unlikely to improve their re-election prospects.
Those who reckoned decreased immigration numbers, and increased taxation of speculation/house hoarding, wouldn't slow house price rises, have become, strangely, silent.
Yah – and nothing to do with increasing interest rates then? Timed exactly to match the slowing price rises you are so pleased about.
Interest rises which will do little to improve affordability btw.
As I've previously made clear, a conversation you appear to have missed, housing prices and "fixing them" takes more than one thing to change the expectation that they will always rise faster than general inflation. And that house hoarding is more profitable than working for your living. Interest rates are only one factor. But hardly the most significant one when they are still way below housing inflation.
Significant interest rate rises hadn’t been on the table before prices started to slow. The other issues I've mentioned have now been around long enough to take effect.
I fully accept – and have argued myself here many times – that there are many factors feeding into property prices. But to ignore interest rates when they are one of the most obvious factors driving affordability – just struck me as more than a bit selective.
And a quick scan of media shows they noticed the connection.
Who? Was "ignoring interest rates"?
I mentioned two factors. I did not! exclude others.
Straw Man, seems to be your preferred method of debate.
Goalpost shifting yours.
Sure.
Housing price growth is complex,but not complicated.
Housing prices globally rose over covid,due to low interest rates and increased capital (due to lockdowns and the inability to travel)
There were also limitations on build speed (completions) mitigated somewhat by immigration growth.
Since 2017 the population demand for housing inventory has increased by 105000 units (2.76pp) and around 58000 over the covid time frame in NZ.Completion rates have slowed (net housing increase) have slowed in AK and WGN due to the increase in in city infill housing ( new stock completed less housing demolished)
The new bank BOMAD ( mum and dad) also increased its lending becoming the sixth biggest lender (18 b$) as a mix of increased savings and leverage.
Housing cost inflation is the largest increase in the CPI,and also has the largest weighting (around a third of index) as a mix of excess demand,high building costs and delays.
Excess demand has been curbed by the RBNZ by changes in the LV ratio,QE and higher interest rates.Inflation expectations need to be constrained to sustainable levels,and higher population demand (immigration without limits) will mean higher costs for housing and goods and services.
Lots of moving parts.
Not only a Fake but an insult to those who served.
For the anti vaxxers…he was the fuckwits…fuckwit.
despicable.
Has anyone else noticed how many of the anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorists are also supporters of Putin's invasion of Ukraine?
What's with that?
Haven't noticed that .
How did you come to that…conclusion?
That's correct, Jenny. Support and admiration of Putin has been on the antivaxxers "menu" for a long time now, well before the invasion of the Ukraine – it was inserted there by the same agencies that had them believe in the nanotechnology-in-vax nonsense. I noticed this many months ago. Those same people are also expecting a revival of Trump.
Your comment robert imo reads like a giant generalization wrapped in a conspiracy theory liberally garnished with pure speculation !!
Illogicality of some anti vax crowds aside id be surprised if within their ranks there was any more awareness of what was actually happening in ukraine than the average joe blogs in the street given the degree of propaganda around the topic .
Even if it were true that these " same people " were expecting a revival of trump they're by no means alone !! In the badly broken two party system of the usa trump has a very good chance of winning in 24 perish the thought .
I guess Putin has a spy network operating in Ukraine. He probably knows more than us about what was happening there prior to the invasion.
However, I'm only speculating.
[Please check and correct your user name in the next comment, thanks]
Mod note
It is my sense of there may be a correlation but it is not a direct one – what both groups have in common is a loss of trust in social institutions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5laM89Qxykc
I think the connection is quite direct – and there are a couple of fairly straightforward examples. The first is the Russification of Wikileaks. Wikileaks formed to critique the more dubious actions, especially of the US military in Afghanistan. It had the same kind of legitimacy that whistleblowers have – they perform a vital and difficult role improving the health of the body politic by exposing things like Afghan civilian casualties. As Wikileaks increasingly became the channel of choice for Russian disinformation however, its legitimacy diminished.
The next and related item is 'the buttery males' attack on Hillary Clinton – direct political interference by what had in fact been for some time a hostile state. Various versions of email contents were filtered through multiple Clinton opponents with the object of compromising the integrity of the US electoral system. These opponent groups circulated the material, or conclusions derived from it on social media. It was a successful action, and remnants of it can still be found on some social media.
Political advocacy or ginger groups can cope with the natural differences of opinion and interpretation, even to some degree productively, but they are not well equipped to handle organized deception conducted by a well-resourced hostile foreign power.
I cannot rule out intentional deception as you suggest – but if you took a few moments to watch the very good and concise Vexler clip I linked to above – there are a number of other good explanations available that are equally if not more applicable in my experience.
If nothing else while you could claim that anti-vax ideas were all the work of a few nefarious individuals deliberately creating misinformation – it does not explain why so many millions were willing to engage with some of the more obvious crackpot ideas like 5G chips.
Nor does it explain the bulk of vaccine hesitant people who were sufficiently distrustful of the official narrative that they invested considerable time and effort into researching for what seemed to them a better explanation.
It is a good clip – but it doesn't cover all the bases.
These folk – the Macedonian fake news rings – were not interested hostiles, but click farmers. And there are a lot of comparable enterprises that are interested only in farming readers – something made easier if one embraces polarizing or sensational content so dodgy it would make Tova blush.
Yes. Some of them have been publicly defending Russia and Putin for some time now. I concluded they were the pro-Trump forces within the anti-vaxxer and anti-mandate brigade.
To paraphrase Pl.A above… the ultimate fuckwits of the fuckwits.
Amusing Stuff headline – is there a caption competition in the accompanying photo?
3 clubs, 4 hearts…
Blocked by the sheeple???
You should have saved that for the caption competition. 😀
Another example of Stuff using a stock photo, and not choosing a very good one for the occasion.
When I read the article I actually had some sympathy for Mr Luxon as the self-styled "head" of this protest happens to be a well-known serial nutter in the Manawatu.
Perhaps you will rule this out of order on this blog ad. but I assure you many others in the Manawatu would agree with me.
I tried that photo for a Caption Contest but the quality is too poor, IMHO. Better next time
It's a natural for the Arabic proverb:
A sheep spends her whole life fearing the wolves, and gets eaten in the end by the shepherd.
There was also a famous Minhinnick cartoon which had Muldoon sitting in an airport lounge with a newspaper in his lap that had a headline saying 'Rowling addresses crowd of faithful at Wiri Woolshed'.
Muldoon looks up at a passing Bill Rowling and tartly says 'Romney or Perendale?'
Minhinnick – the Giles of the South Pacific.
Were the protesters not impressed with his system card?
"Sean" Luxon and party faithful…..
Today is Nakba Day,
Make sure to attend your local event.
In the wake of the cruel murder Al Jazeera Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and the desecration of her funeral. Let Israel know that New Zealanders will no longer tolerate a racist apartheid state in the 21st Century.
Auckland Aotea Square 2pm for a rally and speeches.
From Auckland Peace Action:
Yesterday you were claiming it was a million Palestinians in 1948, now it’s 3/4 of that?
And there only around 650,000 Jews to do this pushing in 1948?
and there are now 1.7million arabs/ Palestinians living in Israel, so they’ve done an atypically bad job of “cleaning”
I guess back in the day you were also a supporter of the racist apartheid state of South Africa given that the black population was still on the up?? Amnesty, HRW and Btselem all agree. Israel operates as an apartheid state
Duke…the Gaza strip is effectively a concentration camp with 2 million Arab prisoners trapped in it. If drive from Wanaka to Cromwell the valley floor along the way roughly represents its size.
Rather than murdering respected journalists and illegally occupying Palestinian land the Israelis need to begin the process towards a one nation solution where Gaza and the West Bank become part of Israel with equal rights for all citizens.
Yawn – a throwaway troll attack – you care nothing about truth, history or the plight of Palestinians. Guess you will be happy that you irritated a couple of people into biting you sad pathetic little troll
After years of land confiscations and apartheid planning policies,
there are nowa majority of the 1.7million arabs/ Palestinianslivingare ghettoised in areas assigned to theminby Israel.fify
/
The estimated number of Palestinians at the end of 2021 was about 14 million:
5.3 million in the State of Palestine (3.2 million in the West Bank and 2.1 million in the Gaza Strip),
– land confiscations occur in East Jerusalem and the West Bank
1.7 million in the 1948 territories
– most of these in the same areas they occupied in 1948
– there are no widely reported accounts of land confiscations within 1948 Israel in recent decades
7 million in the diaspora (6.3 million live in Arab countries and 750,000 in foreign countries).
Yet another white supremacist mass murder attack. Why is the white far right becoming increasingly murderous? We have always know hey are racist and intolerant but now they are actioning their hatred in big numbers.
Gone are the days when it was asked if the shooter was yelling Allahu Akbar.
https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1525572912836554752
Veteran campaigner explains why the GOP is pushing anti abortion laws.
https://twitter.com/ALT_uscis/status/1522657929991700480
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bF0B-DJCDzE
A 106-page online manifesto, believed to have been uploaded by the shooter, explained that he was motivated by a conspiracy theory that white people are being replaced by other races. In the document, he says he is 18 years old and a self-described white supremacist and anti-semite.
“If there’s one thing I want you to get from these writings, it’s that White birth rates must change. Everyday the White population becomes fewer in number,” the document says. “To maintain a population the people must achieve a birth rate that reaches replacement fertility levels, in the western world that is about 2.06 births per woman.”
https://bnonews.com/index.php/2022/05/mass-shooting-supermarket-buffalo-10-dead/
Perhaps the real reason for the Anti-abortion issue is "forced" by the "need" to increase white births.
FFS is there nothing the left cannot try and blame white people for? Taken a look at the situation in China recently?
The fact is that birth rates across the entire developed world are below replacement and this has nothing to do with race and everything to do with women choosing to have fewer children.
That some idiot extremists will wrongly and selectively apply this reality to their own race is hardly a surprise, especially when the radical left has been loudly insisting that white people – and white males in particular – are the source of all evil for a decade or so now. Or that if we loudly (and very inconsistently) argue that human overpopulation is a bad thing – that this lowers the barrier to sociopaths taking matters directly into their own hands.
Central to the Judeo-Christian narrative was the historically remarkable idea of the sanctity of individual human life. It has of course proven to be a very challenging idea to even define or observe consistently. We have stumbled with it repeatedly and grievously But giving up on the idea and casting it aside is much worse.
Hence the rather odd scenario of the left being able to get away with performative outrage over a tiny handful of unarmed black men in the US being killed by police – while 73 million abortions annually cannot be challenged in even the most anodyne, moderate fashion.
Legal abortion will cause no more no less abortions then illegal abortion, the only difference is the amount of birthing bodies found dead on a table/floor bleeding out or dying birthing bodies being wheeled into a septic ward for scraping out and some blood transfusions.
Challenge that. And the assumption that children don't cost money, need appropriate housing, enough food, shoes for winter and summer, plus education. That assumption too could be challenged and look at how we did in NZ, Motels full of Mums and Dads with their kids, homeless in emergency housing hoping that at some stage maybe next year they find a place to call home that is not a run down motel in a dying town away from education and jobs.
Abortion will continue to happen. Legal or not. The question is how much do we value the birthing bodies that need abortions to grant them safe ones.
Abortion will continue to happen. Legal or not.
Why?
I have rarely commented on this very fraught topic but I will confine myself to this thought. For all the reasons you outline it is not reasonable to restrict access to abortion. But at the same time I was never comfortable with the idea that this came with zero moral consequences, and thus we might want to pay a lot more attention to reducing the necessity for abortions in the first place.
because birthing bodies get pregnant no matter if they want it or not if they can't prevent sexual intercourse with a penis ejaculating into their vagina.
My grandmother had 9 kids that lived and several that were scraped out., the last child she had at 46 years.
My mother had 5 kids that lived, on ectopic pregnancy – abortion, one kid up for adoption, and then finally came the ruling that women can have the pill without permission from their husbands in Germany and all the birthing bodies in my family suddenly stopped birthing.
If you don't want the child, can't feed the child because you are already struggling to feed the children you have, have no access to birth control, have a man who can and will not fuck without a condom, or consider a vasectomy as a form of birth control, women will have abortion, and other women and men will provide these abortion.
The consequences of abortion are for the women who have them, and most women who had abortions for what ever reason cope well enough.
a bit of 'recorded' history on abortion
To me it is a simple thing, those that are opposed on grounds of morals or religion should themselves abstain, but should not put any obstacles in the way of those that are not opposed or want them.
And unless we make life much easier for parents to raise their children in relative safety and comfort society must accept that some will opt out of being a birthing body.
I wasn't quibbling with need for reasonable access to abortion. It seems that in our current world it is a necessity.
Just not comfortable with making a virtue of it.
it is not a virtue, it is needed medical care. I have yet to meat one person who had an abortion for funsies, or because they consider it 'birth control'. I have however met birthing bodies who needed abortion because their baby died in uterus and did not miscarry, i have met birthing bodies who had abortion because three kids are enough, i have met birthing bodies who aborted because they were 15 years old and the father was of the same age.
The questions re access to abortion and the right to a sexual life for birthing bodies are as follows:
and last for the US at least, the issue is not only Roe vs Wade, but Griswold vs Connecticut.
And of course when birthing bodies can not control the amount of pregnancies they have – be they life births or miscarriages or stillborn, it will then also affect their employability, their earning power and so on and so forth. But maybe that is the desired outcome of all these current societal changes.
As i read somewhere:
the left will lock a birthing body into a prison cell with a rapist who will rape her too, the right will force that same birthing body to have the child of that rapist and co-parent with that rapist.
Where is the virtue in that?
You seem to be arguing with an imaginary person who thinks that access to abortion should be restricted.
As i read somewhere:
the left will lock a birthing body into a prison cell with a rapist who will rape her too, the right will force that same birthing body to have the child of that rapist and co-parent with that rapist.
Where is the virtue in that?
None whatsoever. Indeed if you scrolled down the very next reply you will see I have already made a response to this.
If this is how you are going to debate with people who are essentially on your side – is it any wonder your opponents don’t even begin to listen or engage?
I am not trying to arguing with you RL, just really stating the obvious. Legal or not it will happen. Legal however would be my preferred outcome.
Thank you Sabine.
I learnt something new because you took time to write this (and other) comments out on the discussion around women's rights and abortion.
Others may have too. It makes a difference.
BA2 92%
BA1 2%
Delta 0%
Only the fittest coronavirus variant survives. Aced evolution theory.
BA2 to be replaced with BA4 and BA5 soon enough, as cases have been found here. Just like in the rest of the world.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/466765/explainer-why-are-there-so-many-new-omicron-sub-variants-like-ba-4-and-ba-5
Tomorrow the government will detail the emissions pathway constraints,with how they will limit GHG emissions over the next 15 years,and how NZ can become 100% renewable in electricity generation by 2030.
The latter will be expensive in capital cost (around 15b$ boe),and will see substantive islanding of existing generation assets,and will see some costs to the consumers.
Replacement of 10 gw is around the equivalent of 5 x more wind generation,( and the potential is not always available) ,bigger then think big,and will be very capital intensive.
https://twitter.com/SPGlobal/status/1524147366047232000?cxt=HHwWgMC9qYj97aYqAAAA