During Key's doubtful reign in NZ politics, a commentator/moderator on the Standard, blip, compiled a very long list of all Key's lies and half truths.
Is it time someone did the same for Luxon's gaffes and walkbacks?
I’ll start the ball rolling, his very first action as LOTO:
1. a 200 metre ride in a hired limo to parliament.
I quite like Morgan Godfrey's writing, though I'm getting serious Piggy Muldoon (or is it John Lithgow?) vibes from his picture. Not a criticism, just an ob. On ya Morgan ❤️
He gets a piece in the Guardian, which drives a lot of righties nuts and he (usually) offers a genuine left wing perspective. And he isn't that mind bendingly smug liberal centrist Danyl Mclauchlan, so there is that.
I quite like him actually, he seems pretty on point most of the time. His commentary comes across as sensible and non-confrontational, a bit like Brian Easton's. I know he gets up Bomber Bradbury's nose, but who doesn't.
The whole TDB schtick is to provide a platform for fringe merchants, perennial protestors and the bitter to indiscriminately target anyone they think is in the "establishment" with the use often of abusive language. If you were to (for example) replace in one of Bradbury's rants "professional middle class" with "Jewish bankers" it would be indistinguishable from hate speech. That is why he doth protesteth too much at hate speech legislation – Bradbury knows he crosses the line into appalling online bullying and abuse all the time and he'd ne totally in the crosshairs of a regulator.
Rather like a unicorn hunt, eh? People think it exists, but evidence seems impossible to find. Perhaps we can see proposed law reforms as akin to the envelope of possibilities used by physicists. In this analogy enacting legislation collapses the wave function.
Hipkins played his tough hand with that purge. Not quite as tough as Stalin's purges of the 1930s, but enough to show that relentless controlling of deviant tendencies remains part of left-wing political praxis. The pc crowd yielded in instant submission, apparently. There's been a noticeable lack of rabble marching in the streets calling for the downfall of Hipkins in consequence.
Give people a focus and a licence to hate, saturate social media with ugly transphobe and 'groomer' and 'mutilator' memes, and this is what happens. Comment under a NZ social media post about the 9yo accused of being trans: 'my daughter's already been hassled in toilets because she has short hair'. Thanks, Posie Parker.
No – that is what you get when aggressive gender ideologists demand the complete removal of all safeguarding for women and children, the removal of any and all of the sex based rights and protections women fought for over the last couple of centuries, deny the very existence of same sex attraction, and promote the chemical castration and sexual mutilation of neurodiverse and same sex attracted children.
If you look at the facts, in the US and UK, GC activists and christian extremists, have advocated against, then stripped away, existing legal rights from the trans community.
[please name the laws that have been changed in the US, and the UK, that remove rights from trans people. Be specific to the laws and provide back up in the form of links. You are possibly right about the US, I don’t think you are right about the UK, but we need the details of what you are meaning so that we can respond meaningfully and not descend into SM tit for tat. Thanks – weka]
The patriarchy rolls on it seems…to paraphrase comedian Ricky Gervais…“are you into old school women with uteruses or the trendy new ones with cocks and balls?…”
Politicised Lesbian women are some of the staunchest allies in class battles I have ever met in a lengthy career, “non men” is blatant misogyny and misuse of language and meaning.
I support all exploited and oppressed people in our capitalist society on a class left basis. I defend the rights of trans people to live their lives unharrassed, and I also support the 50% of the population–women–having their own spaces and hard fought for rights defended.
Some trans activists are playing a classic divisive card politically. In all but a tiny number of people, in terms of chromosomes, Trans women are trans women and women are women. As Scientific American put it in 2021 “An individual should not need to justify their gender identity any more than someone would need to justify their eye color.” It is more realised now that gender is a social construct that is evolving. Back in the 70s it was common for males like me with long hair to get…“what is it…a boy or a girl…” type comments.
Non trans should respect trans rights and vice versa is what it comes down to.
Sorry, but in "terms of chromosomes", "trans women" are XY – they are men. They may state that they have a special identity – an "gendered soul" which makes them not a man, but the truth is still in every drop of their blood.
Their "gender identity" is certainly a social construct in that it is an identification with a set of sexist stereotypes usually reserved for the opposite sex. They can certainly call themselves what they want – the test is whether or not they are legally entitled to any and every one of the rights which women have gained in society.
I did not make my self clear enough perhaps, yes they are genetically men except in a tiny number of cases contested by various scientists over the internet–but they consider themselves women. Which is why I counterposed trans women to women–two different beings–one self identified, but in reality both able to be confirmed by DNA.
The problem with this is that DSD's (Differences of Sex Development) have nothing to do with transgenderism, and are just variations on male or variations on female. This is demonstrated by the fact that those that are fertile (and many are not) produce either sperm or eggs. There are no additional gametes and therefore no additional sexes.
They fall in to about 40 different medical syndromes which are detectable by a chromosome test.
The weaponisation of these conditions to support gender ideology does nobody any good.
It depended on what circles you moved in really, and geography played a role too. Androgynous people certainly had their fans among teens “in my day”–it’s still my day of course or would not bother commenting!
There were always trans and gays around but it was more an underground and nightlife scene apart from cultural events and maybe widened in the 80s with the gay focused clubs and public fight for Homosexual Law Reform.
I guess the shift from working for mainstream acceptance to the confrontations of recent years with some trans activists has partly been down to…
• the medicalisation and profit motive in gender issues in the 21st century
• Neo liberal individualism–me me me–has trumped collective ways to some extent and emphasised identity
• Post Modernist philosophy where anything can mean anything, as opposed to existentialism and materialism where there can be agreed terms even among opponents
• Social Media–half the world now seems to have brains like busted mirrors and hooked on a massive 24/7 info flow rather than making time for reflection and learning.
weka, why does Visubversa, who does not quote any references to rebut my original links (which are to well balanced and factual media reporting) not get this same moderator comment from you?
CNN give a thorough account of the categories of anti-trans and anti-gay bills presented to US state legislatures in the past 5 years. Over 417 alone, a huge jump, were introduced just this year til April. Of those, 15 States had passed legislation by April.
In the UK, the overide by the UK government of self-id legislation passed by the devolved Scottish Parliament last year is a removal of trans rights. And Kemi Badenoch has signalled she will change the UK Human Rights Act 2010 to remove existing trans rights. As the UK has no self-id law, this will apply to all trans women who have had those rights for more than a decade. Qcic.
I followed that CNN link and it took me down a rabbit hole where I found no explanations of the legislations, or what they do. You also didn’t say. There was this,
Senate Bill 16, which the governor signed a day after it was sent to his desk by the Utah Legislature, prohibits health care providers from “providing a hormonal transgender treatment to new patients who were not diagnosed with gender dysphoria before a certain date” and prohibits them from “performing sex characteristic surgical procedures on a minor for the purpose of effectuating a sex change.”
It also directs the Utah Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a “systematic review of the medical evidence regarding hormonal transgender treatments.”
I did find a reference to Senate Bill 16 (Utah), unfortunately I can’t get the link to load, so I’ll come back to this https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/SB0016.html On the face of it, I’m guessing that stopping experimental surgeries on teens is good idea, and I will come back to this with explanation and links too.
The second bit in the quote about Utah, “systematic review of the medical evidence regarding hormonal transgender treatments.”, is consistent with many other countries, including NZ. This has been well covered on TS in posts and comments over a long time, links below.
I cannot see a problem with mandating such a review in law, and I fail to see how reviewing medical practice has “stripped away, existing legal rights from the trans community.” It will in fact protect trans people from overmedicalisation and medical negligence, as well as protecting children and teens that have been coralled into a medical model path of gender non-conformity that has already harmed many. Again, links below.
From my perspective, the CNN link is relatively useless. What it does is repeat gender ideology talking points and link to other CNN pages based in the same. It doesn’t name specific legislation, explain what the legislation is, and explain how this negatively impacts on trans people.
I can only assume that this is the kind of material you are reading and that you too don’t know the answers to those things but have just adopted a general, vague opinion that all these Bills are bad for trans people.
I have no doubt that some of the legislation is. I also believe that the US is in a conservative backlash against trans people.
However for robust debate here we need facts to work with not ideological position statements. Myself, I want to know what’s in the legislation so that I can understand both the nature of the backlash, but also the central dynamic of why so many people are joining the the conservatives on this, almost surely because they don’t agree with minors transitioning in the way that is currently happening (overmedicalisation, surgical experimentation), and they don’t agree with the kind of material being taught to kids (age inappropriate).
The links in the next comment are akin to your CNN link and require you do the reading and parsing and figuring it all out. I want to demonstrate just how disrespectful that is to TS and mods here. I’ll let you out of premod, but I will make a note in the back end, because my patience isn’t limitless on this. Next time you make an assertion of fact I will expect specific details. That means an explanation by you, and then quotes and links to back that up. It doesn’t mean dropping links and expecting others to do a lot of reading to try and parse your point.
Did you even bother to read the entirely factual CNN article, weka? It factually enumerates ALL categories of anti trans and antigay legislation proposed in the US.
To cherrypick a single aspect that you want to emphasise and to ignore the many other elements of anti-trans laws: the anti-education, anti-drag in public, and removal of affirming medical care for all trans people, not just children? That doesn't negate the facts in the CNN article.
I provided factual articles as requested. When will you chase up Visubversa? Qcic.
Trans people are moving out of Florida and Texas because they rightfully fear for their safety and future.
[you made the claim of fact that existing legal rights from trans people had been stripped away in the US and the UK.
The onus is on you to make your argument and provide evidence for that when asked.
Links are insufficient on their own.
It’s not up to me as a moderator to use my own time to read a lot of material in order to parse your points. Or other comnenters. I’ve already explained the problems with the CNN link (it doesn’t appear to support what you claimed).
In order to back up your claim that existing legal rights from trans people had been stripped away in the US and the UK you need to do three things,
explain in your own words what the legislation is ie name the Bill and describe what it does
provide quotes to back that up
link to where you got the quotes from.
If that information is in the CNN link, you can use that, but you still have to explain, quote as well as link. Otherwise, please do the work to find the material and bring it to the table.
In the UK, the overide by the UK government of self-id legislation passed by the devolved Scottish Parliament last year is a removal of trans rights. And Kemi Badenoch has signalled she will change the UK Human Rights Act 2010 to remove existing trans rights. As the UK has no self-id law, this will apply to all trans women who have had those rights for more than a decade. Qcic.
So no existing rights of trans people have been removed in the UK.
The first example was to prevent self-ID law that would remove women's sex based rights.
Re the second example, what rights specifically will be removed.
Please explain because all you are doing is still making vague declarations and expecting others to read your links and parse what you mean. You've been here long enough to know that's not how it works.
Totally agree. My point is that the reason this is so prevalent and encouraged online, is that when people hate each other they want to spend more time (and money) in their alt worlds, online. And when people hate themselves enough, they'll opt for a world where they can escape and be anything they want.
We may think we are immune, but the mighty algs affect us too.
The Biden administration said transgender activist Rose Montoya will not be invited back to the White House following her decision to go topless during the Pride Month event on the South Lawn.
…
Among the attendees was Montoya, a transgender rights activist who rose to prominence in 2021 for her educational social media content about transgender issues. On Monday, Montoya posted a video to her Instagram and TikTok accounts, recapping the White House picnic. One of the clips showed Montoya holding her bare breasts on the South Lawn.
"[Y]our feckless topless stunt has set us back further! Those of us who have been clawing and fighting for equality will not forgive you," one Instagram user commented under the video.
Of course in a country like the US, with a large religious and conservative population, actions like this are going to prompt a backlash. But it's not just a type of conservatism, lots of people would find it inappropriate socially and politically to do what the TW did. So in addition to the conservatives who hate trans people and want them not to exist, there is another, large group of people who are probably ok with trans people but will absolutely push back against the excesses of gender identity activitism. This is clearly happening in the area of sport, women's spaces, and child social and medical transition.
The elephant on the White House South Lawn of course is autogynephilia, the sexual fetish of some males who get aroused from thinking of themselves as women (or a stereotype of women). I have no idea if Montoya is AGP, and if that was a motivation in their actions, but the fact that AGP is both known to exist, is demonstrated in transgressive ways frequently, and is largely denied by the rainbow community and allies as well as most liberals, politicians and the media class, means that it's always going to be in question.
Once we get to have an open and frank conversation about AGP, things will change. The irony here is that liberals seem conservative in their thinking in their refusal to even acknowledge the existence of AGP. Which means the narratives about AGP are left to the right and to the GC people who think its disgusting and thus tar all trans people with the same brush.
The Right , of course makes absolute hay over that sort of thing. It is not politically sustainable and has real world electoral consequences.
The West Virginia Governors' race was a lot closer until voters were confronted with the sight of a father being dragged out of a School Board meeting for protesting that the Board had lied about the sexual assault of his daughter in a school bathroom by a trans identified male student. The student was later convicted of that assault, and a later one at the next school he was sent to.
The Republican candidate made a lot of noise about it, as did the right wing Press.
liberals don't want to talk about those assaults though. Only some sexual assaults are deemed worthy of consideration. They're literally divvying up which rapists are ok. Nothing to do with the women affected.
And yep, of course conservatives, centrists and quite a few lefties are going to react to that.
Autogynephilia is an antitrans hate word
coined 40 years ago by a researcher whose current twitter feed is pretty gross. His 40 yo theory that transwomen become so by uncontrollable fetishisation of the female body has been elegantly proved to be wrong. The term does have a current narrow meaning. How do I know? I read his paper and downstream research.
Good grief…..that's what you get when you put into legislation some thing that has got no popular support or need, fail to publicise it, then meet any genuine submitters with the most profound rudeness from within the Select Committee, take SUFW to court ot try to stop them having a meeting by calling them a hate group etc etc. Multiply this a 100 times around the world to sell this ideology largely through stealth and outpouring of money by the merchants of sale of drugs & ideology……
Only after all of that above when the women who may be affected finally become aware of the rights they may have lost, and the likes of PP and Sal Grover come along does your 'story' start tWiggle.
I'm fairly certain that debate won't happen – a new entitled autocratic "nobility" have decided the issue is none of our business, and events have proven they are perfectly happy to resort to violence over it.
Our government is in cahoots with them, having ridden roughshod over the greatest number of submissions ever made to an NZ select committee to demonstrate unequivocally that they are accountable to no-one.
And I'm afraid that thuggery is the most generous interpretation applicable to a twenty-year old man breaking an elderly woman's skull to shut her up. The police have a lot of explaining to do.
As does tWiggle – who asserted that we should wait for the outcome of the legal proceedings. Well, the results are not edifying.
We are nursing a generation of vipers. Our Police have forgotten their duty. And the government is away with the fairies.
Incognito will do the moderation on this, but I will explain as well. It's nothing to do with the politics or issues in the world. It's to do with yourbehaviour on TS today.
You seem to think you can be aggressive to someone who you disagree with. You can't. It's really that simple. I'm saying this in part because I want people to see that moderation here isn't partisan on this particular issue. I disagree with tWiggle, but you cannot treat them on TS like you did.
tWiggle isn't responsible for the man who assaulted the elderly woman in Albert Park, anymore than GCFs are responsible for men who attack trans women. It's a bullshit argument on both sides. But here on TS, it's anti social as well. When you do short comments like that that tie a commenter to someone else's violence it's a form of flaming and it's nasty.
I'm pretty sure you've been pulled up on this kind of thing before, so I'm asking you to stop because if you keep doing that kind of behaviour you will get banned. If you don't understand what the issue is here, please ask either of the main mods.
I'm fairly certain that debate won't happen – a new entitled autocratic "nobility" have decided the issue is none of our business, and events have proven they are perfectly happy to resort to violence over it.
All the more reason to maintain the TS robust debate ethic where we argue the politics strongly sans personal attacks.
Indeed, tWiggle cannot be held responsible for those actions of violence nor for the Government, Select Committees, NZ Police, or the outcomes of legal proceedings – you have quite a list there. By creating this imaginary link, you effectively try to make her guilty by association.
Unfortunately, you’re not the only one who behaves this way and it has a negative effect on the discourse here on TS.
I know it can be hard, especially with controversial topics, to separate and disentangle the commenter from their comment(s) and address the contents of their comments in a civil, constructive, and respectful manner. If we cannot do this then we might as well terminate TS, all join SM (or TDB) and yell and blame each other for all societal ills, and what have you.
I don’t believe you no longer believe in healthy debate, so please put your best foot forward or simply take a detour and scroll past if/when you have nothing constructive to add. I don’t think that’s asking too much, is it?
The matters are complex, but holding a position in a debate may require one to defend one's position. tWiggle has been supportive of the person who received diversion up until now. This is inconsistent with an ethical argument that contemporary trans activism deserves support because of victimization, as events have shown that they are aggressors.
tWiggle chooses not to acknowledge that he or she has forfeited the moral high ground. Successful progressive activism is usually careful to distance itself from violence. Trans activism has evidently chosen a different path. Shaming them for such a position is entirely proper.
[I really didn’t expect this needing any more litigation, but apparently you found a piece of rope 🙁
tWiggle has been supportive of the person who received diversion up until now.
Link & verbatim quote required as evidence for your accusation.
tWiggle chooses not to acknowledge that he or she has forfeited the moral high ground.
Nobody here is required to answer any question from another commenter – this is not a Court of Justice. Nobody in their right mind should respond to pig-fucker tactics, as Lprent calls it. tWiggle was wise enough not to take the bait and I’d already modded you 14 min after your comment had appeared and nipped it in the bud.
Comply with this Mod note or retract everything and apologise to tWiggle – Incognito]
Sorry Incog – I have principles – I'll take a year off or whatever while you defend the indefensible.
[I’m sorry too to read your antagonistic response, but I have to uphold the rules & principles of the site.
I was going to give you a medium-short ban for your attack on another commenter, also because you have form with this. I think it would have been easy enough to link & quote to the alleged offending comment by the other commenter if indeed it exists.
However, by adding those last words you implied that I had sided with the other commenter. This is a stupid doubling-down on a baseless and unproven accusation and dragging a Mod through the mud too.
If you change your mind on the latter aspect of your comment I’d consider halving your ban – I can read your comments in the Trash folder after you’ve been banned – the systems dumps them there fully automatically.
Well Stuart not answering your question but I am pondering this…..the Police refused to police, for breaches of the peace, the gathering as everyone was expecting they would, and has happened at protests since Adam was a cowboy.
So they made a choice not to police. Then being confronted with something that could not be ignored they were more or less forced to act to charge a person. According to what I recall on Twitter the police did not actually do the work to identify this person. It was done by a group of citizens and I think Leo Molloy was one.
So having to deal with an issue they did not want to police in the first place, then having the protestor identified by the work of others they then have given diversion. Diversion is not classed as a punishment and is not subject to appeal, as I understand.
'Diversion usually won’t be offered for the following types of offending:
…
other violent offences'
As this was the most serious of the two cases, the other the sauce tipping incident I wonder if the Police are getting out the wet bus ticket for this one also.
On viewing the distinct lack of policing at the time I wondered if the word had gone down somehow from above, it would not have been done in any traceable manner as that would breach the (so-called) independence of the police.
So with the whole incident being an example of the Thugs/Hecklers veto we now the individual thuggish behaviour being excused as well.
I wonder when the Police will take their diversion roadshow to South Auckland where there are families whose sons also commited a one off incident and who will forever face the consequences in job applications and travel? I'm picking never…..
How the pet thug got diversion* and I specifically said I was not answering it…..as it was addressed further up the page to tWiggle, I think, who has not answered.
I seem to recall that we have been over these,
don't answer others posts
no requirement to answer the queries of others
in the Robert G process and, for the first, several times before that.
I don't think we can expect only the person whose comment is being responded to to answer the query. Indeed by only allowing one person to answer one person we would hold up the free flow.
I do not want to traverse the RG issue but you did advise that people were not obliged to answer queries.
I had a view on the thug person and I wanted to express it.
I see tWiggle has exercised their ability not to answer.
I have a fairly good set of ideas about how/why this person got diversion:
high powered lawyers, wealthy family, knowledge of the system, pedastal-puttting of those going to Uni who might be in either the law, med or commerce streams and who might have a reasonable presumption of travelling, or of having to meet good character requirements for post Uni registration……'Just a young person who did not know what he was doing'…..There are other reasons but privilege is a reason this person has got diversion, and stereotyping is the reason that his age peers in South Auckland do not have it offered to them.
Stereotyping is probably why an elderly woman won't get to see justice:
silly issue she was going to see PP about ie rights of women is a silly issue
silly woman anyway…she deserved to have people shouting and assaulting her as she went to Albert Park on a silly issue (similar to when she/her peers were 50 years younger and blamed for wearing clothes, any clothes, and walking at night and being assaulted
Karen a combo of ageism and sexism
PM has/had uttered against PP
Shaneel Lal has/had uttered for the ambush by noise of people attending PP
Firstly, there was no question as such; it was an instruction, an imperative, and a rather problematic and rude one at that. I moderated it yet you completely ignored this and decided to pour more fuel into the flames anyway.
Your references to the other commenters, who are and have been on the receiving end, are misplaced & misguided.
You mention some previous advice and then continue to ignore and even litigate this. Go figure!
The second half of your comment is biased, highly speculative, and merely another reiteration and load of your bilious opinions that add no particular insights nor anything constructive or respectful to the conversation.
If you have views that you want to express here then start a new thread without hijacking one that’s already going up in flames of fury (from another commenter).
This conversation is over and I don’t want to waste more time on it!
This morning I posted two fairly clear examples of news stories, reported factually, in a balanced way, of how transphobic messaging has permeated US and Canada culture (and anectodally NZ culture) to directly affect innocent children. I appear to be under attack about unrelated issues from at least four people because of that post.
The argument seems distill down to 'trans people are responsible because they started it'. Really? Is that even an argument? That completely sidesteps my main point, that transphobic 'free speech' has serious real world consequences, mostly for innocent bystanders.
Does this include speech about the rights of women
to safe spaces, eg prisons, hospital wards
to play sport against peers
I ask as I have seen many responses saying 'thats transphobic' because someone had a different view or wanted to explore how the rights of women can be protected or wanted to be sure that children were protected.
I would have thought these are not transphobic but evidence of a different viewpoint or concern for the rights of others.
To be honest I don't think I have read actual transphobic speech on the Twitter or blogs or columns I read….perhaps we're too good mannered? I've read unmentionable stuff/name calling on the links that Weka has provided a couple of times but that is transpeople name calling others.
These are your examples of "The inevitable end product of stoking anti trans ideas":
Two fairly mild events from the US? (I only mention the US, because you often seem quite preoccupied on location.)
1. A non-recorded, incident of a badly behaved parent at an athletics meet? (I did competitive club athletics from 4 years of age to my early teens, then went back for volunteer work in my twenties. This was a common occurrence in competitions.) This strangely ignores the many emerging stories of women and girls leaving their sports codes because of the intrusion of men, and the distress and direct harm caused to them.
2. Children being children providing their own version of pronouns – "“USA are my pronouns,”?
Do you really blame Kellie Jay Keen (Posie Parker) for these disconnected incidents?
Is she also responsible for the death threats sent in the last couple of days to female MP's in the UK talking about ensuring that sex in the Equalities Act is confirmed as sex NOT gender identity?
LGBT+ acceptance has been trending downwards for the first time in history, for consecutive years now and it's because of radical gender ideology not homophobia.
Traditionally LGBT+ allies and many in the LGBT+ itself are really, really uncomfortable with the radicals and their changes to sexuality and sex.
I've seen more homophobia from the radical trans brigade than I've ever seen from the hard right or the god squad, and unlike the hard right and God squad, the radial gender brigade have the support of media, academia and major political parties.
We've reached a place where despite an onslaught on women's reproductive rights, left wing political leaders won't say the word woman, healthcare providers (apparently too lazy too look a patients notes) call women "birthing parents" "bleeders" "gestational parents" "uterus havers"
As for sexuality, Jesus Christ, out attractions are not just bigoted, we're not same sex attracted anymore we're same gendered, that's why gay men and lesbians are increasingly calling themselves "homosexual", and very quietly, when noones looking most gay and lesbian cis men and women are hurt, upset,angry and increasingly uncomfortable with being attached to a radical group with opposite goals to us, but afraid to say it publicly because we what happens to others who do.
If I was a young person, in a generation with based on test scores, mass illiteracy, I'd be smashing those signs down too and I'd be demanding the teachers teach us how to f***ing read, write and count instead of giving us constant positive vibes and affirmation.
I'm surprised these kids know what a pronoun is!
How can you have Pride month in school when kids cant spell pride or month.
Bravo. Lots of older lesbians are at the forefront of this resistance because we know what a woman is – and what one is not. We will not be force teamed with a bunch of straight people telling us to relearn our sexuality.
But gender ideology is everywhere, and people are forced to give it lip service if they want any public $$$ for their organisations, or to keep their jobs. People are required to signal their fealty to the belief by using the right language, to the point where it is almost instinctive.
If you read the article, the display was produced by students in the local LGBTQ support group, not teachers. I would expect that they put this material together in their out of class time, like any other club, eg, Jewish students club might.
Ben Roberts-Smith is expected to fly into Australia as soon as Wednesday night, where he will face intense scrutiny, after being spotted at a New Zealand airport.
The former SAS corporal was seen in the holiday getaway town of Queenstown on Wednesday afternoon, captured alongside his girlfriend Sarah Matulin checking into a business class flight.
Roberts-Smith was spotted in Wanaka in recent days. A witness who testified in support of the former Seven Network executive in the defamation trial owns a property near the town.
A simple test: here's a story about a gang member in NZ …
He had committed murder … by pressuring a newly deployed and inexperienced [member] to execute an elderly, unarmed [person] in order to “blood the rookie”.
He committed murder by machine-gunning a man with a prosthetic leg, and then took the leg [home] and encouraged his fellow gang members to use it as a novelty drinking vessel.
Outrage and condemnation everywhere, and a very long jail sentence. Deservedly so, I think we can agree.
Caught in a trap of his own devising. Roberts-Smith tried to scare the journalists involved into backing down with the threat of a ruinous defamation case. Instead, a parade of witnesses convincingly confirmed most of the well-researched allegations of the press.
But a bit small-minded to stop him having a holiday. Nothing to do with NZ.
Have been reading about the case for months, thanks. Just making the point that it's an Aussie issue, he's not our problem. I'm sure he's a pos too, but I believe even a pos has a right to a peaceful holiday in a country where his actions have zero relevance.
A civil defamation case is not a court-martial or a criminal case. As I understand it, there was a review in 2020 by the Australian Defense Force of war-crimes by SAS units in Afghanistan, which is when RS was first named in the media.
That review didn't seem to have any consequences for RS, but he took offence at being named, hence the defamation case.
As neither the Defense Force nor the government sanctioned him as a result of that report, it is likely there will only be further consequences for RS, pos (as became very evident in the trial), in the court of public opinion. He has lost money from cancelled appearances, and costs awarded from his trial could be as high as $23mi.
Paul Johnson
@PJTheEconomist
Staggering statistics. Real average weekly earnings are same today as in November 2005.
A completely unprecedented period with no earnings growth. Hard to compare but likely this has not happened over any comparable period since Napoleonic wars.
Tom Clark
@prospect_clark
Long view on today's labour market stats is price-adjusted average pay is down £35/wk since Feb 2008
A drop from £532 to £497 over 182 months' of data
Few would have guessed possible (without a revolution!) — except those who knew the US horror story
After months of National claiming local government spending is the cause of our inflation (when it is worldwide), Callum Purves of the Taxpayer Union now claims it is causing our recession (now we have one with a second negative quarter, albeit only 0.1.)
Why should anyone takes these buffoons seriously?
They want smaller government and more of the economic activity in the private sector (including wealth acquisition by asset purchase), but their misdiagnosis of cause end effect is in the territory of those who blame earthquakes on government social policy.
Today we have yet another example of National saying very different things to different audiences. While Luxon panders to those who grumble about the uppity Mowrees, a National party candidate is just fine with "co-governance":
If we do end up with a National/ACT government, it is inevitable that there will be a major internal row, both within National and between the two right-wing parties. Sadly, few commentators can be bothered to look beyond the horse race and actually consider what happens after the election.
There will be more popcorn days and nights than for any government since the Shipley/Peters bloodbath in 1997-98.
Last year, the Government introduced the Natural and Built Environment Bill to replace the Resource Management Act.
The Bill creates a new framework for how New Zealand manages its natural environment including freshwater, bio-diversity and resources.
Fish & Game is extremely concerned about this Bill and its implications for the sustainable management of our natural environment and the future of game bird hunting and freshwater fishing.
… The Bill also removes the habitat protection of trout and salmon, which has long been safeguarded by the Resource Management Act.
This will fundamentally strip Fish & Game’s ability to carry out our statutory duty to provide for the interests of anglers and hunters, and to ensure freshwater habitats, including wetlands, are healthy and support trout, salmon and game bird populations.
As one of the only remaining independent environmental voices, Fish and Game has stepped into the void created by Forest & Bird swallowing the 1080 Kool-Aid. No good deed goes unpunished, and the government will stamp out dissent by defunding their critics instead of addressing their concerns – shameless autocrats.
Fish and Game are copping it from both sides of the political spectrum.
Forest and Bird aren't too keen on them because F&G are all about protecting introduced predators (trout and salmon) and introduced birds that displace native species.
The agricultural lobby hate F&G's guts because they object to every irrigation consent and have a well funded and professional organisation to do that. In the recent Lindis hearing the farmers went full F&B, arguing that F&G were protecting introduced predators, and harming, not protecting the environment. The judge agreed and pretty much ignored F&G's arguments, so the Lindis continued to get trashed and F&G got no environmental gain for their efforts.
F&G did sfa about preventing the arrival and spread of didimo when it was well identified as a potential threat to our freshwater environment after wreaking havoc in North and South America. It was beyond sad when it turned up in a river frequented by overseas anglers, and then got spread throughout the country. All by F&G members.
F&G got grandfathered into the RMA, and Conservation Act before, to get rid of the old Acclimatiastion Societies, and really their time is well in the past. Freshwater fisheries should be managed the same as saltwater, (but the ideal would be a bit of both current regimes) and come under a government department.
Politically F&G don't seem to have many friends, Labour don't want to know them, National and ACT have to be careful of upsetting farmers, which leaves F&G with Sue Grey's lot.
Can't see this ending well for F&G, it's all their own work.
Labour should bear in mind that F&G have a paid up membership that dwarfs both major parties.
The management of our saltwater fisheries essentially amounts to chronicling their demise – not a good model for anything.
If they munt it, as it seems they would love to do, it will make appreciable holes in both domestic and foreign tourism – one of the only industries to survive the neoliberal putsch of the 80s.
Most of that 'paid up membership' would rather they didn't have to fork out $100+ just for the privilege of going out for few cast occasionally in the vain hope of actually catching a fish. We don't pay to be members of F&G, we pay so we can go fishing and not end up in court. F&G seem to put more effort into checking you've paid your licence than doing anything to enhance the fishery.
DOC administer the Taupo fishery and do a pretty good job, would probably be more efficient if DOC took on the rest of the country as well, since most of the activity, and nearly all the high value stuff, occurs within DOC estate anyway.
F&G are an anachronism, a hangover from the old acclimatisation societies and should be put to rest along with the colonial concept of acclimatisation.
Aside from the headline (do they have sub-editors any more?) – the story itself seems relatively well-balanced. Pointing out that all 3 major leaders (Labour past/present & National) all do this – and that Luxon does it more than the others (even the quoted interview at the bottom, showing the polly using the technique, is Luxon ).
Although it's a bit of fluff, rather than hard-hitting political commentary. Was anyone in any doubt that our political leaders have extensive media training in how to deliver their message and deflect any unwanted questions?
If the only issue is the headline – then this is pretty much a known issue for every media outlet in NZ – where the headline doesn't reflect the story, or is actively misleading.
It's neither surprising nor new that politicians do what they do. Much more concerning is the lack of skill (or will) of the interviewers.
If the non-answer is "look, let me make it clear" followed by meaningless non-clarity, the interviewer should calmly say "I'll ask the question again", and do just that. No need to get in an argument, just ask until it's answered.
Jeremy Paxman once asked the same question 12 times to UK Tory Michael Howard (in 1997 if anyone wants the YouTube clip, all on Google).
With few exceptions, interviewers in the NZ media have maybe one more try and simply move on to their next prepared question. I suspect page one of "Media Training" says "They will soon give up so just waffle and wait".
Oh, I'm not excusing the misleading headline – just pointing out that it's pretty common practice to have a 'shock' headline which doesn't accurately reflect the story. And is done by every main media outlet.
‘It has been said that figures rule the world. Maybe. I am quite sure that it is figures which show us whether it is being ruled well or badly.’ GoetheI was struck at a recent conference on equity for the elderly, how many presenters implicitly relied upon Statistics New Zealand. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveReporting on defence spending late last year, RNZ said the coalition government will have to make some tough calls this term to help the force address staff shortages and ageing infrastructure. “These are huge, huge amounts of government spending. It’s a significant proportion of the government’s ...
Peter Dunne writes – I am always wary when I hear that the Controller and Auditor-General has commented on or made recommendations to the government about an issue of public policy that does not relate strictly to public expenditure. According to the legislation, the role of the Controller ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought NZ to the brink of economic and cultural chaos Chris Trotter writes – TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition ...
And why did the Crown not challenge the Tribunal’s jurisdiction? Gary Judd writes – Retired District Court Judge, David Harvey, has posted on his A Halflings View Substack an excellent summary of Justice Isacs’ judgment declining to uphold the witness summons issued by the Waitangi Tribunal ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result?As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and ...
Macklemore isn’t someone I’d usually think about. Sure I liked his big hit from a few years back, everybody did it was catchy and cool with some memorable lines. But if I was going to think of artists who might speak out on political matters or world events, he wouldn’t ...
Another week goes by in the Luxon government’s efforts to roll back the past 70 years of social progress. The school lunches programme is to be downgraded by $107 million, and women need bother their heads no longer about pay equity, let alone expect ACC to provide adequate sexual violence ...
Brrr, the first cold snap of the year. Hope you’re rugged up nice and warm. Here are some stories that caught our eye this week… This Week on Greater Auckland On Monday, we had a post from a new contributor, Connor Sharp, who dug into the public feedback ...
Almost all of the Wellington City Council’s recommended zoning changes to allow many more apartments and townhouses in its inner-suburbs have been approved.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guest on geopolitics, ...
Open access notablesA Global Increase in Nearshore Tropical Cyclone Intensification, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future:Tropical Cyclones (TCs) inflict substantial coastal damages, making it pertinent to understand changing storm characteristics in the important nearshore region. Past work examined several aspects of TCs relevant for impacts in coastal regions. However, ...
Do you believe New Zealand runs its general elections fairly and competently? As a voter, can you be confident that the votes on your ballot will be counted towards the final result? As a political scientist, I’ve been asked these questions many times and always answered “yes”, with very few ...
Thus far May has followed on from a quiet April in the blogging department, but in fairness, it has been another case of doing what I am supposed to be doing, namely writing original fiction. Plus reading. So don’t worry – I have been productive. But in order to reassure ...
Buzz from the Beehive A new government agency will open for business on July 1 – the Social Investment Agency. As a new standalone central agency effective from 1 July, it will lead the development of social investment across Government, helping ministers understand who they need to invest in, what ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The ...
Alwyn Poole writes – After being elected to Parliament in 2008 the maiden speech of Hipkins was substantially around education policy. He was Labour’s spokesperson for education 2011 – 2017. He was Minister for Education from 2017 until February 2023. This is approximately 88% of the time Labour ...
Eric Crampton writes – A fashion industry group is lobbying for protections. They make the usual arguments and a newer one. None of it makes sense. An industry group says it pumped $7.8 billion into the economy last year – that’s 1.9 percent of New Zealand’s GDP. ...
In December 2006, Fiji's military leader Voreqe Bainimarama overthrew the elected government in a coup. He ruled Fiji for the next 16 years, first as dictator, then as "elected" Prime Minister. But now, he's finally been sent to jail where he belongs. Sadly, this isn't for his real crime of ...
Don't like National's corrupt Muldoonist "fast-track" law? Aotearoa's environmental NGO's - Greenpeace, Forest & Bird, WWF, Coromandel Watchdog, Coal Action Network Aotearoa, Kiwis Against Seabed Mining, and others - have announced a joint march against it in Auckland in June: When: 13:00, 8 June, 2024 Where: Aotea Square, Auckland You ...
Seymour describes sushi as too woke for school meals. There are no fish sushi meals recommended by the School Lunches programme. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Government will swap out hot meals for packaged sandwiches to save $107 million on school lunches for poor kids. MSD has pulled ...
I don't mind stealin' bread from the mouths of decadenceBut I can't feed on the powerless when my cup's already overfilled, yeahBut it's on the table, the fire's cookin'And they're farmin' babies, while slaves are workin'The blood is on the table and the mouths are chokin'But I'm goin' hungry, yeahSome ...
The Ardern Government’s chickens came home to roost yesterday with the news that the country is short of natural gas. In 2018, Labour banned offshore petroleum exploration, and industry executives say that the attendant loss of confidence by the industry impacted overall investment in onshore gas fields. Energy Resources Minister ...
Hi,If you’ve been digging through the newly launched Webworm store (orders are being dispatched worldwide as I type!) you’ll have noticed the best model we had was Calvin.This is Calvin.Calvin.Calvin is 7, and is the son of my producer over on Flightless Bird, Rob — aka “Wobby Wob”. Rob also ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
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 ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
Introduction Good morning. It’s a great privilege to be here at the 2024 Infrastructure Symposium. I was extremely happy when the Prime Minister asked me to be his Minister for Infrastructure. It is one of the great barriers holding the New Zealand economy back from achieving its potential. Building high ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced the upcoming Budget will include new funding of $571 million for Defence Force pay and projects. “Our servicemen and women do New Zealand proud throughout the world and this funding will help ensure we retain their services and expertise as we navigate an increasingly ...
New Zealand’s ability to cope with climate change will be strengthened as part of the Government’s focus to build resilience as we rebuild the economy, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “An enduring and long-term approach is needed to provide New Zealanders and the economy with certainty as the climate ...
Jobseeker beneficiaries who have work obligations must now meet with MSD within two weeks of their benefit starting to determine their next step towards finding a job, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “A key part of the coalition Government’s plan to have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker ...
A new standalone Social Investment Agency will power-up the social investment approach, driving positive change for our most vulnerable New Zealanders, Social Investment Minister Nicola Willis says. “Despite the Government currently investing more than $70 billion every year into social services, we are not seeing the outcomes we want for ...
Check against delivery Good morning. It is a pleasure to be with you to outline the Coalition Government’s approach to our first Budget. Thank you Mark Skelly, President of the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce, together with your Board and team, for hosting me. I’d like to acknowledge His Worship ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
The fight to control major transport policy and projects in Auckland has burst into the open again, with councillors rejecting Mayor Wayne Brown’s latest attempt to steer things more under his influence. Councillors from the left and right broke ranks on the mayor’s bid to control Auckland Transport more directly ...
Exhausted by the general election campaign, horrified by the twilight zone of coalition negotiations, distracted by the silly season and waiting for the honeymoon to begin, Raw Politics has been in hibernation since October. From today, we’re back. Our weekly political video show and podcast returns for ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Authorities in the small town of Boulouparis have commemorated Armistice Day on May 8 with a new memorial honouring New Zealand soldiers who were stationed in New Caledonia during World War II. The ceremony took place in the township on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sara Dehm, Senior lecturer, international migration and refugee law, University of Technology Sydney The High Court unanimously ruled today that the Australian government can keep asylum seekers in immigration detention indefinitely in cases where they do not “voluntarily” cooperate with their own ...
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Failing to anticipate the complexity of the consenting system is being cited as the the current builder's shortcomings, an Infrastructure Commission review says. ...
350 Aotearoa is calling the Environment Select Committee’s decision to allow oral submissions from just 40% of individual, unique submitters who asked to speak to the committee ‘a disgraceful blight to democracy’. ...
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The Environment Select Committee has just announced that 60 percent of individuals who asked to speak at the hearings will not be heard. This equates to almost 700 people who made individual submissions and more than 1000 more who made a form submission. ...
The Royal New Zealand Ballet is performing Swan Lake around the country. What kind of dream does the ballet sell?Before going to see the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform Swan Lake, I had about as much familiarity with the plot of this ballet as could be expected from having ...
A new poem by Auckland poet Eamonn Tee. High Tide at Local Maxima It is only going to get worse. The streams will be narrow and fickle. The week will bend and buckle like a pot-bellied waist. You will make it to the weekend with one ...
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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 James by Percival Everett (Mantle, $38) A retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from ...
By Kamna Kumar in Suva Pacific Islands Forum Secretary-General Henry Puna stressed the importance of media freedom and its link to the climate and environmental crisis at the 2024 World Press Freedom Day event organised by the University of the South Pacific’s journalism programme. Under the theme “A Planet for ...
Tara Ward previews a new local TV series offering alternative visions of motherhood. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. A woman is clambering up the side of her two-story house, clinging desperately to a drainpipe. Nearby, her child is perched on the ...
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) is supportive of the cross-party approach to climate adaptation announced by the Minister of Climate Change today. ...
The Sustainable Business Council (SBC) and Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) welcome today’s announcement from Government around a bipartisan inquiry into an enduring climate adaptation framework for New Zealand. ...
The Free Speech Union welcomes the decision by the Department of Internal Affairs, and Minister Brooke Van Velden, to abandon proposals to further regulate online speech. ...
Its new building in Wellington will not be nearly big enough for all its records, and it has also run out of money to build its new storage facility in Levin. ...
BusinessNZ is congratulating the Minister of Climate Change for his work in achieving cross-party consensus for a way forward on climate adaptation. ...
Recent research reveals the repeal of smokefree measures is not only bad for our health, but also the economy. The Government has repealed various smokefree measures to ensure it keeps collecting $1.2 billion a year in tobacco taxes, in order to pay for tax cuts already being delivered to ...
The club’s surprisingly good season is built on the desire to prove a random A-League YouTuber wrong… and a few other factors.“There’s no way that Wellington Phoenix play finals this year. I can’t see it happening at all.” Those are the words of Lachlan Raeside, an Australian football content ...
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The under-utilised course is a waste of space, and with a little political will, it could be turned into something better. For the duration of her stay in Wellington, my long-suffering cousin listened to me rant about golf courses. They’re bad for the environment: water intensive and pesticide heavy. They ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Leah Ruppanner, Professor of Sociology and Founding Director of The Future of Work Lab, Podcast at MissPerceived, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows US fertility rates dropped 2% in ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Goss, Adjunct Associate Professor, Health Research Institute, University of Canberra Government spending on health has been growing so rapidly that a decade ago the then health minister Peter Dutton called it “unmanageable” and “unsustainable”. Health spending grew in real terms by ...
New Zealand's largest electricity distributor is warning the country to hurry up with controls around charging electric vehicles or face unnecessary bills running into the billions. ...
New Zealanders have been asked to conserve energy this morning to combat a possible electricity shortfall, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. A call to conserve power New Zealand is facing a possible electricity shortfall, with people up ...
Writer Rebecca K Reilly breaks down the national book awards. What are the Ockhams?The Ockham New Zealand Book Awards are our annual national awards for books published for adults, and have existed in this form since 2016. There are four categories: Fiction, Poetry, General Non-fiction and Illustrated Non-fiction. There ...
Wellington City Council should keep its 34% ownership share in Wellington International Airport, argue Unions Wellington spokespeople Finn Cordwell and Ashok Jacob. Insanity, as the saying goes, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Wellington City Council (WCC) is yet again proposing to dispose ...
New Zealand’s largest book publisher has undergone drastic changes this week, leaving its future role in local publishing uncertain. Two of the most recognisable local publishers in New Zealand are among those restructured out of Penguin Random House, it was announced this week. Head of publishing Claire Murdoch will leave ...
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The Black Ferns Sevens appeared to be a mile behind Australia at the halfway point of the 2023-24 SVNS international circuit. Winless in three tournaments, a cup quarter-final exit in Perth was one of their worst results. To add insult to injury, talismanic skipper Sarah Hirini had been ruled out ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somwrita Sarkar, Senior Lecturer in Design and Computation, University of Sydney The “latte line” is the infamous, invisible boundary that divides Sydney between the more affluent north-east and the south-west. Historically, people north of the line enjoy better access to jobs and ...
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RNZ Pacific Former Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama has been sentenced to one year in prison, Fiji media are reporting. Bainimarama, alongside suspended Fiji Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho appeared in the High Court in Suva today for their sentencing hearing for a case involving their roles in blocking a police ...
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During Key's doubtful reign in NZ politics, a commentator/moderator on the Standard, blip, compiled a very long list of all Key's lies and half truths.
Is it time someone did the same for Luxon's gaffes and walkbacks?
I’ll start the ball rolling, his very first action as LOTO:
1. a 200 metre ride in a hired limo to parliament.
2."bottom feeders"
100% Barfly.
I quite like Morgan Godfrey's writing, though I'm getting serious Piggy Muldoon (or is it John Lithgow?) vibes from his picture. Not a criticism, just an ob. On ya Morgan ❤️
He gets a piece in the Guardian, which drives a lot of righties nuts and he (usually) offers a genuine left wing perspective. And he isn't that mind bendingly smug liberal centrist Danyl Mclauchlan, so there is that.
I quite like him actually, he seems pretty on point most of the time. His commentary comes across as sensible and non-confrontational, a bit like Brian Easton's. I know he gets up Bomber Bradbury's nose, but who doesn't.
The whole TDB schtick is to provide a platform for fringe merchants, perennial protestors and the bitter to indiscriminately target anyone they think is in the "establishment" with the use often of abusive language. If you were to (for example) replace in one of Bradbury's rants "professional middle class" with "Jewish bankers" it would be indistinguishable from hate speech. That is why he doth protesteth too much at hate speech legislation – Bradbury knows he crosses the line into appalling online bullying and abuse all the time and he'd ne totally in the crosshairs of a regulator.
Re hate speech legislation, I googled it to ascertain the latest state of the art. Got this Feb update:
Rather like a unicorn hunt, eh? People think it exists, but evidence seems impossible to find. Perhaps we can see proposed law reforms as akin to the envelope of possibilities used by physicists. In this analogy enacting legislation collapses the wave function.
Hipkins played his tough hand with that purge. Not quite as tough as Stalin's purges of the 1930s, but enough to show that relentless controlling of deviant tendencies remains part of left-wing political praxis. The pc crowd yielded in instant submission, apparently. There's been a noticeable lack of rabble marching in the streets calling for the downfall of Hipkins in consequence.
The inevitable end product of stoking anti trans ideas:
a Canadian spectator at a local school athletics meet asks officials to debar a 9yo girl who had a pixie cut, claiming she is a boy or trans
an organised mob of 14 yo US students destroys a Pride week display set up by by other LGBTQ students in their school, chanting 'USA is my pronoun'.
Give people a focus and a licence to hate, saturate social media with ugly transphobe and 'groomer' and 'mutilator' memes, and this is what happens. Comment under a NZ social media post about the 9yo accused of being trans: 'my daughter's already been hassled in toilets because she has short hair'. Thanks, Posie Parker.
Qui bono? The 'metaverse' and its pushers I reckon.
No – that is what you get when aggressive gender ideologists demand the complete removal of all safeguarding for women and children, the removal of any and all of the sex based rights and protections women fought for over the last couple of centuries, deny the very existence of same sex attraction, and promote the chemical castration and sexual mutilation of neurodiverse and same sex attracted children.
If you look at the facts, in the US and UK, GC activists and christian extremists, have advocated against, then stripped away, existing legal rights from the trans community.
[please name the laws that have been changed in the US, and the UK, that remove rights from trans people. Be specific to the laws and provide back up in the form of links. You are possibly right about the US, I don’t think you are right about the UK, but we need the details of what you are meaning so that we can respond meaningfully and not descend into SM tit for tat. Thanks – weka]
What "legal rights" would those be then?
The patriarchy rolls on it seems…to paraphrase comedian Ricky Gervais…“are you into old school women with uteruses or the trendy new ones with cocks and balls?…”
Politicised Lesbian women are some of the staunchest allies in class battles I have ever met in a lengthy career, “non men” is blatant misogyny and misuse of language and meaning.
I support all exploited and oppressed people in our capitalist society on a class left basis. I defend the rights of trans people to live their lives unharrassed, and I also support the 50% of the population–women–having their own spaces and hard fought for rights defended.
Some trans activists are playing a classic divisive card politically. In all but a tiny number of people, in terms of chromosomes, Trans women are trans women and women are women. As Scientific American put it in 2021 “An individual should not need to justify their gender identity any more than someone would need to justify their eye color.” It is more realised now that gender is a social construct that is evolving. Back in the 70s it was common for males like me with long hair to get…“what is it…a boy or a girl…” type comments.
Non trans should respect trans rights and vice versa is what it comes down to.
Sorry, but in "terms of chromosomes", "trans women" are XY – they are men. They may state that they have a special identity – an "gendered soul" which makes them not a man, but the truth is still in every drop of their blood.
Their "gender identity" is certainly a social construct in that it is an identification with a set of sexist stereotypes usually reserved for the opposite sex. They can certainly call themselves what they want – the test is whether or not they are legally entitled to any and every one of the rights which women have gained in society.
I did not make my self clear enough perhaps, yes they are genetically men except in a tiny number of cases contested by various scientists over the internet–but they consider themselves women. Which is why I counterposed trans women to women–two different beings–one self identified, but in reality both able to be confirmed by DNA.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/q-a-mixed-sex-biology/
The problem with this is that DSD's (Differences of Sex Development) have nothing to do with transgenderism, and are just variations on male or variations on female. This is demonstrated by the fact that those that are fertile (and many are not) produce either sperm or eggs. There are no additional gametes and therefore no additional sexes.
They fall in to about 40 different medical syndromes which are detectable by a chromosome test.
The weaponisation of these conditions to support gender ideology does nobody any good.
https://differently-normal.com/2021/10/25/the-invention-of-intersex/
very well put TM.
you might enjoy this thread. It's the 1980s, I wonder how much had changed by then.
https://twitter.com/GrantJupiter/status/1668681538509086724
It depended on what circles you moved in really, and geography played a role too. Androgynous people certainly had their fans among teens “in my day”–it’s still my day of course or would not bother commenting!
There were always trans and gays around but it was more an underground and nightlife scene apart from cultural events and maybe widened in the 80s with the gay focused clubs and public fight for Homosexual Law Reform.
I guess the shift from working for mainstream acceptance to the confrontations of recent years with some trans activists has partly been down to…
• the medicalisation and profit motive in gender issues in the 21st century
• Neo liberal individualism–me me me–has trumped collective ways to some extent and emphasised identity
• Post Modernist philosophy where anything can mean anything, as opposed to existentialism and materialism where there can be agreed terms even among opponents
• Social Media–half the world now seems to have brains like busted mirrors and hooked on a massive 24/7 info flow rather than making time for reflection and learning.
here endeth etc…
mod note. please attend to this before you comment again, thanks.
weka, why does Visubversa, who does not quote any references to rebut my original links (which are to well balanced and factual media reporting) not get this same moderator comment from you?
I’ll be happy to look at that once you have responded to my mod request 👍
CNN give a thorough account of the categories of anti-trans and anti-gay bills presented to US state legislatures in the past 5 years. Over 417 alone, a huge jump, were introduced just this year til April. Of those, 15 States had passed legislation by April.
In the UK, the overide by the UK government of self-id legislation passed by the devolved Scottish Parliament last year is a removal of trans rights. And Kemi Badenoch has signalled she will change the UK Human Rights Act 2010 to remove existing trans rights. As the UK has no self-id law, this will apply to all trans women who have had those rights for more than a decade. Qcic.
thanks.
I followed that CNN link and it took me down a rabbit hole where I found no explanations of the legislations, or what they do. You also didn’t say. There was this,
I did find a reference to Senate Bill 16 (Utah), unfortunately I can’t get the link to load, so I’ll come back to this https://le.utah.gov/~2023/bills/static/SB0016.html On the face of it, I’m guessing that stopping experimental surgeries on teens is good idea, and I will come back to this with explanation and links too.
The second bit in the quote about Utah, “systematic review of the medical evidence regarding hormonal transgender treatments.”, is consistent with many other countries, including NZ. This has been well covered on TS in posts and comments over a long time, links below.
I cannot see a problem with mandating such a review in law, and I fail to see how reviewing medical practice has “stripped away, existing legal rights from the trans community.” It will in fact protect trans people from overmedicalisation and medical negligence, as well as protecting children and teens that have been coralled into a medical model path of gender non-conformity that has already harmed many. Again, links below.
From my perspective, the CNN link is relatively useless. What it does is repeat gender ideology talking points and link to other CNN pages based in the same. It doesn’t name specific legislation, explain what the legislation is, and explain how this negatively impacts on trans people.
I can only assume that this is the kind of material you are reading and that you too don’t know the answers to those things but have just adopted a general, vague opinion that all these Bills are bad for trans people.
I have no doubt that some of the legislation is. I also believe that the US is in a conservative backlash against trans people.
However for robust debate here we need facts to work with not ideological position statements. Myself, I want to know what’s in the legislation so that I can understand both the nature of the backlash, but also the central dynamic of why so many people are joining the the conservatives on this, almost surely because they don’t agree with minors transitioning in the way that is currently happening (overmedicalisation, surgical experimentation), and they don’t agree with the kind of material being taught to kids (age inappropriate).
The links in the next comment are akin to your CNN link and require you do the reading and parsing and figuring it all out. I want to demonstrate just how disrespectful that is to TS and mods here. I’ll let you out of premod, but I will make a note in the back end, because my patience isn’t limitless on this. Next time you make an assertion of fact I will expect specific details. That means an explanation by you, and then quotes and links to back that up. It doesn’t mean dropping links and expecting others to do a lot of reading to try and parse your point.
[commented edited]
https://thestandard.org.nz/search/puberty+blockers/?search_posts=true&search_sortby=date
https://thestandard.org.nz/search/puberty+blockers/?search_comments=true&search_sortby=date
https://thestandard.org.nz/search/Tavistock/?search_posts=true&search_sortby=date
https://thestandard.org.nz/search/tavistock/?search_comments=true&search_sortby=date
https://thestandard.org.nz/search/detrans/?search_posts=true&search_sortby=date
https://thestandard.org.nz/search/detrans/?search_comments=true&search_sortby=date
At least in those links you will find actual explanations of what people are talking about.
Did you even bother to read the entirely factual CNN article, weka? It factually enumerates ALL categories of anti trans and antigay legislation proposed in the US.
To cherrypick a single aspect that you want to emphasise and to ignore the many other elements of anti-trans laws: the anti-education, anti-drag in public, and removal of affirming medical care for all trans people, not just children? That doesn't negate the facts in the CNN article.
I provided factual articles as requested. When will you chase up Visubversa? Qcic.
Trans people are moving out of Florida and Texas because they rightfully fear for their safety and future.
[you made the claim of fact that existing legal rights from trans people had been stripped away in the US and the UK.
The onus is on you to make your argument and provide evidence for that when asked.
Links are insufficient on their own.
It’s not up to me as a moderator to use my own time to read a lot of material in order to parse your points. Or other comnenters. I’ve already explained the problems with the CNN link (it doesn’t appear to support what you claimed).
In order to back up your claim that existing legal rights from trans people had been stripped away in the US and the UK you need to do three things,
If that information is in the CNN link, you can use that, but you still have to explain, quote as well as link. Otherwise, please do the work to find the material and bring it to the table.
mod note.
So no existing rights of trans people have been removed in the UK.
The first example was to prevent self-ID law that would remove women's sex based rights.
Re the second example, what rights specifically will be removed.
Please explain because all you are doing is still making vague declarations and expecting others to read your links and parse what you mean. You've been here long enough to know that's not how it works.
Totally agree. My point is that the reason this is so prevalent and encouraged online, is that when people hate each other they want to spend more time (and money) in their alt worlds, online. And when people hate themselves enough, they'll opt for a world where they can escape and be anything they want.
We may think we are immune, but the mighty algs affect us too.
Then there are things like this,
https://www.newsweek.com/white-house-bars-topless-transgender-influencer-events-pride-lgbtq-1806366
Of course in a country like the US, with a large religious and conservative population, actions like this are going to prompt a backlash. But it's not just a type of conservatism, lots of people would find it inappropriate socially and politically to do what the TW did. So in addition to the conservatives who hate trans people and want them not to exist, there is another, large group of people who are probably ok with trans people but will absolutely push back against the excesses of gender identity activitism. This is clearly happening in the area of sport, women's spaces, and child social and medical transition.
The elephant on the White House South Lawn of course is autogynephilia, the sexual fetish of some males who get aroused from thinking of themselves as women (or a stereotype of women). I have no idea if Montoya is AGP, and if that was a motivation in their actions, but the fact that AGP is both known to exist, is demonstrated in transgressive ways frequently, and is largely denied by the rainbow community and allies as well as most liberals, politicians and the media class, means that it's always going to be in question.
Once we get to have an open and frank conversation about AGP, things will change. The irony here is that liberals seem conservative in their thinking in their refusal to even acknowledge the existence of AGP. Which means the narratives about AGP are left to the right and to the GC people who think its disgusting and thus tar all trans people with the same brush.
The Right , of course makes absolute hay over that sort of thing. It is not politically sustainable and has real world electoral consequences.
The West Virginia Governors' race was a lot closer until voters were confronted with the sight of a father being dragged out of a School Board meeting for protesting that the Board had lied about the sexual assault of his daughter in a school bathroom by a trans identified male student. The student was later convicted of that assault, and a later one at the next school he was sent to.
The Republican candidate made a lot of noise about it, as did the right wing Press.
https://www2.cbn.com/news/us/va-judge-finds-trans-teen-guilty-sexual-assault-loudoun-county-high-school-girls-bathroom?fbclid=IwAR2lUG5PVFm2AbqGhkIJykK1_RZb33NNOnASw0mZ5hC7RyMCwKSJthcTF1I
liberals don't want to talk about those assaults though. Only some sexual assaults are deemed worthy of consideration. They're literally divvying up which rapists are ok. Nothing to do with the women affected.
And yep, of course conservatives, centrists and quite a few lefties are going to react to that.
Autogynephilia is an antitrans hate word
coined 40 years ago by a researcher whose current twitter feed is pretty gross. His 40 yo theory that transwomen become so by uncontrollable fetishisation of the female body has been elegantly proved to be wrong. The term does have a current narrow meaning. How do I know? I read his paper and downstream research.
Good grief…..that's what you get when you put into legislation some thing that has got no popular support or need, fail to publicise it, then meet any genuine submitters with the most profound rudeness from within the Select Committee, take SUFW to court ot try to stop them having a meeting by calling them a hate group etc etc. Multiply this a 100 times around the world to sell this ideology largely through stealth and outpouring of money by the merchants of sale of drugs & ideology……
Only after all of that above when the women who may be affected finally become aware of the rights they may have lost, and the likes of PP and Sal Grover come along does your 'story' start tWiggle.
Now explain to us how your pet thug got diversion.
[Please tone down the level of contempt & aggression, thanks. We can have robust debate without it – Incognito]
Mod note
I'm fairly certain that debate won't happen – a new entitled autocratic "nobility" have decided the issue is none of our business, and events have proven they are perfectly happy to resort to violence over it.
Our government is in cahoots with them, having ridden roughshod over the greatest number of submissions ever made to an NZ select committee to demonstrate unequivocally that they are accountable to no-one.
And I'm afraid that thuggery is the most generous interpretation applicable to a twenty-year old man breaking an elderly woman's skull to shut her up. The police have a lot of explaining to do.
As does tWiggle – who asserted that we should wait for the outcome of the legal proceedings. Well, the results are not edifying.
We are nursing a generation of vipers. Our Police have forgotten their duty. And the government is away with the fairies.
Incognito will do the moderation on this, but I will explain as well. It's nothing to do with the politics or issues in the world. It's to do with your behaviour on TS today.
You seem to think you can be aggressive to someone who you disagree with. You can't. It's really that simple. I'm saying this in part because I want people to see that moderation here isn't partisan on this particular issue. I disagree with tWiggle, but you cannot treat them on TS like you did.
tWiggle isn't responsible for the man who assaulted the elderly woman in Albert Park, anymore than GCFs are responsible for men who attack trans women. It's a bullshit argument on both sides. But here on TS, it's anti social as well. When you do short comments like that that tie a commenter to someone else's violence it's a form of flaming and it's nasty.
I'm pretty sure you've been pulled up on this kind of thing before, so I'm asking you to stop because if you keep doing that kind of behaviour you will get banned. If you don't understand what the issue is here, please ask either of the main mods.
All the more reason to maintain the TS robust debate ethic where we argue the politics strongly sans personal attacks.
I concur with weka.
Indeed, tWiggle cannot be held responsible for those actions of violence nor for the Government, Select Committees, NZ Police, or the outcomes of legal proceedings – you have quite a list there. By creating this imaginary link, you effectively try to make her guilty by association.
Unfortunately, you’re not the only one who behaves this way and it has a negative effect on the discourse here on TS.
I know it can be hard, especially with controversial topics, to separate and disentangle the commenter from their comment(s) and address the contents of their comments in a civil, constructive, and respectful manner. If we cannot do this then we might as well terminate TS, all join SM (or TDB) and yell and blame each other for all societal ills, and what have you.
I don’t believe you no longer believe in healthy debate, so please put your best foot forward or simply take a detour and scroll past if/when you have nothing constructive to add. I don’t think that’s asking too much, is it?
The matters are complex, but holding a position in a debate may require one to defend one's position. tWiggle has been supportive of the person who received diversion up until now. This is inconsistent with an ethical argument that contemporary trans activism deserves support because of victimization, as events have shown that they are aggressors.
tWiggle chooses not to acknowledge that he or she has forfeited the moral high ground. Successful progressive activism is usually careful to distance itself from violence. Trans activism has evidently chosen a different path. Shaming them for such a position is entirely proper.
[I really didn’t expect this needing any more litigation, but apparently you found a piece of rope 🙁
Link & verbatim quote required as evidence for your accusation.
Nobody here is required to answer any question from another commenter – this is not a Court of Justice. Nobody in their right mind should respond to pig-fucker tactics, as Lprent calls it. tWiggle was wise enough not to take the bait and I’d already modded you 14 min after your comment had appeared and nipped it in the bud.
Comply with this Mod note or retract everything and apologise to tWiggle – Incognito]
Mod note
Sorry Incog – I have principles – I'll take a year off or whatever while you defend the indefensible.
[I’m sorry too to read your antagonistic response, but I have to uphold the rules & principles of the site.
I was going to give you a medium-short ban for your attack on another commenter, also because you have form with this. I think it would have been easy enough to link & quote to the alleged offending comment by the other commenter if indeed it exists.
However, by adding those last words you implied that I had sided with the other commenter. This is a stupid doubling-down on a baseless and unproven accusation and dragging a Mod through the mud too.
If you change your mind on the latter aspect of your comment I’d consider halving your ban – I can read your comments in the Trash folder after you’ve been banned – the systems dumps them there fully automatically.
For now, take two months off – Incognito]
Mod note
Well Stuart not answering your question but I am pondering this…..the Police refused to police, for breaches of the peace, the gathering as everyone was expecting they would, and has happened at protests since Adam was a cowboy.
So they made a choice not to police. Then being confronted with something that could not be ignored they were more or less forced to act to charge a person. According to what I recall on Twitter the police did not actually do the work to identify this person. It was done by a group of citizens and I think Leo Molloy was one.
So having to deal with an issue they did not want to police in the first place, then having the protestor identified by the work of others they then have given diversion. Diversion is not classed as a punishment and is not subject to appeal, as I understand.
https://communitylaw.org.nz/community-law-manual/chapter-33-the-criminal-courts/ways-to-stay-out-of-court-diversion-and-restorative-justice/
From the link above
'Diversion usually won’t be offered for the following types of offending:
…
As this was the most serious of the two cases, the other the sauce tipping incident I wonder if the Police are getting out the wet bus ticket for this one also.
On viewing the distinct lack of policing at the time I wondered if the word had gone down somehow from above, it would not have been done in any traceable manner as that would breach the (so-called) independence of the police.
So with the whole incident being an example of the Thugs/Hecklers veto we now the individual thuggish behaviour being excused as well.
I wonder when the Police will take their diversion roadshow to South Auckland where there are families whose sons also commited a one off incident and who will forever face the consequences in job applications and travel? I'm picking never…..
/Intense sarc
What question?
You realise that SM wasn’t addressing you, yes?
How the pet thug got diversion* and I specifically said I was not answering it…..as it was addressed further up the page to tWiggle, I think, who has not answered.
I seem to recall that we have been over these,
in the Robert G process and, for the first, several times before that.
I don't think we can expect only the person whose comment is being responded to to answer the query. Indeed by only allowing one person to answer one person we would hold up the free flow.
I do not want to traverse the RG issue but you did advise that people were not obliged to answer queries.
I had a view on the thug person and I wanted to express it.
I see tWiggle has exercised their ability not to answer.
high powered lawyers, wealthy family, knowledge of the system, pedastal-puttting of those going to Uni who might be in either the law, med or commerce streams and who might have a reasonable presumption of travelling, or of having to meet good character requirements for post Uni registration……'Just a young person who did not know what he was doing'…..There are other reasons but privilege is a reason this person has got diversion, and stereotyping is the reason that his age peers in South Auckland do not have it offered to them.
Stereotyping is probably why an elderly woman won't get to see justice:
I see a number of issues with your comment.
Firstly, there was no question as such; it was an instruction, an imperative, and a rather problematic and rude one at that. I moderated it yet you completely ignored this and decided to pour more fuel into the flames anyway.
You said that you were not answering it, yet that’s exactly what you’re doing here, and rather poorly, may I add (see below). You’re not facilitating ‘the free flow’, you’re diverting away to your own preferred narrative aka block & bridge (https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/491995/what-chris-hipkins-says-when-he-wants-to-change-the-subject).
Your references to the other commenters, who are and have been on the receiving end, are misplaced & misguided.
You mention some previous advice and then continue to ignore and even litigate this. Go figure!
The second half of your comment is biased, highly speculative, and merely another reiteration and load of your bilious opinions that add no particular insights nor anything constructive or respectful to the conversation.
If you have views that you want to express here then start a new thread without hijacking one that’s already going up in flames of fury (from another commenter).
This conversation is over and I don’t want to waste more time on it!
This morning I posted two fairly clear examples of news stories, reported factually, in a balanced way, of how transphobic messaging has permeated US and Canada culture (and anectodally NZ culture) to directly affect innocent children. I appear to be under attack about unrelated issues from at least four people because of that post.
The argument seems distill down to 'trans people are responsible because they started it'. Really? Is that even an argument? That completely sidesteps my main point, that transphobic 'free speech' has serious real world consequences, mostly for innocent bystanders.
Thanks for stepping in, Incognito.
Quick question:
You mention 'transphobic free speech'.
Does this include speech about the rights of women
I ask as I have seen many responses saying 'thats transphobic' because someone had a different view or wanted to explore how the rights of women can be protected or wanted to be sure that children were protected.
I would have thought these are not transphobic but evidence of a different viewpoint or concern for the rights of others.
To be honest I don't think I have read actual transphobic speech on the Twitter or blogs or columns I read….perhaps we're too good mannered? I've read unmentionable stuff/name calling on the links that Weka has provided a couple of times but that is transpeople name calling others.
These are your examples of "The inevitable end product of stoking anti trans ideas":
Two fairly mild events from the US? (I only mention the US, because you often seem quite preoccupied on location.)
1. A non-recorded, incident of a badly behaved parent at an athletics meet? (I did competitive club athletics from 4 years of age to my early teens, then went back for volunteer work in my twenties. This was a common occurrence in competitions.) This strangely ignores the many emerging stories of women and girls leaving their sports codes because of the intrusion of men, and the distress and direct harm caused to them.
2. Children being children providing their own version of pronouns – "“USA are my pronouns,”?
Do you really blame Kellie Jay Keen (Posie Parker) for these disconnected incidents?
Is she also responsible for the death threats sent in the last couple of days to female MP's in the UK talking about ensuring that sex in the Equalities Act is confirmed as sex NOT gender identity?
Let's see, shall we?
https://twitter.com/joannaccherry/status/1668941085278720000?s=20
Link to a woman cyclist's retirement speech:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11895323/Heartbreaking-words-female-cyclist-quit-sport-constant-beatings-trans-competitors.html
Yeah na. As a gay man, y'all don't speak for me.
LGBT+ acceptance has been trending downwards for the first time in history, for consecutive years now and it's because of radical gender ideology not homophobia.
Traditionally LGBT+ allies and many in the LGBT+ itself are really, really uncomfortable with the radicals and their changes to sexuality and sex.
I've seen more homophobia from the radical trans brigade than I've ever seen from the hard right or the god squad, and unlike the hard right and God squad, the radial gender brigade have the support of media, academia and major political parties.
We've reached a place where despite an onslaught on women's reproductive rights, left wing political leaders won't say the word woman, healthcare providers (apparently too lazy too look a patients notes) call women "birthing parents" "bleeders" "gestational parents" "uterus havers"
As for sexuality, Jesus Christ, out attractions are not just bigoted, we're not same sex attracted anymore we're same gendered, that's why gay men and lesbians are increasingly calling themselves "homosexual", and very quietly, when noones looking most gay and lesbian cis men and women are hurt, upset,angry and increasingly uncomfortable with being attached to a radical group with opposite goals to us, but afraid to say it publicly because we what happens to others who do.
If I was a young person, in a generation with based on test scores, mass illiteracy, I'd be smashing those signs down too and I'd be demanding the teachers teach us how to f***ing read, write and count instead of giving us constant positive vibes and affirmation.
I'm surprised these kids know what a pronoun is!
How can you have Pride month in school when kids cant spell pride or month.
Bravo. Lots of older lesbians are at the forefront of this resistance because we know what a woman is – and what one is not. We will not be force teamed with a bunch of straight people telling us to relearn our sexuality.
But gender ideology is everywhere, and people are forced to give it lip service if they want any public $$$ for their organisations, or to keep their jobs. People are required to signal their fealty to the belief by using the right language, to the point where it is almost instinctive.
It is enforced with violence and intimidation.
If you read the article, the display was produced by students in the local LGBTQ support group, not teachers. I would expect that they put this material together in their out of class time, like any other club, eg, Jewish students club might.
Well…evidently somebody likes this POS. But really….a VC hero? Just a fkn scumbag.
IMO i rate the whistleblowers in the SAS..who spoke up..and refused to be part of the torture and murder this slime enabled. SAS..not SS.
A simple test: here's a story about a gang member in NZ …
He had committed murder … by pressuring a newly deployed and inexperienced [member] to execute an elderly, unarmed [person] in order to “blood the rookie”.
He committed murder by machine-gunning a man with a prosthetic leg, and then took the leg [home] and encouraged his fellow gang members to use it as a novelty drinking vessel.
Outrage and condemnation everywhere, and a very long jail sentence. Deservedly so, I think we can agree.
But probably not a medal.
Caught in a trap of his own devising. Roberts-Smith tried to scare the journalists involved into backing down with the threat of a ruinous defamation case. Instead, a parade of witnesses convincingly confirmed most of the well-researched allegations of the press.
But a bit small-minded to stop him having a holiday. Nothing to do with NZ.
Are you…. serious? Maybe actually read the links….
Have been reading about the case for months, thanks. Just making the point that it's an Aussie issue, he's not our problem. I'm sure he's a pos too, but I believe even a pos has a right to a peaceful holiday in a country where his actions have zero relevance.
Good to see where you are on this. I'll keep that in mind…..
The allegations are extremely serious (the war crimes of civilian murder) and similar civilian crimes would get you barred.
A civil defamation case is not a court-martial or a criminal case. As I understand it, there was a review in 2020 by the Australian Defense Force of war-crimes by SAS units in Afghanistan, which is when RS was first named in the media.
That review didn't seem to have any consequences for RS, but he took offence at being named, hence the defamation case.
As neither the Defense Force nor the government sanctioned him as a result of that report, it is likely there will only be further consequences for RS, pos (as became very evident in the trial), in the court of public opinion. He has lost money from cancelled appearances, and costs awarded from his trial could be as high as $23mi.
"A civil defamation case is not a court-martial or a criminal case."
True. I expect the decision to grant an entry visa into NZ would rely on civil standards of evidence (balance of probability), not criminal.
All boats will rise.
/
Paul Johnson
@PJTheEconomist
Staggering statistics. Real average weekly earnings are same today as in November 2005.
A completely unprecedented period with no earnings growth. Hard to compare but likely this has not happened over any comparable period since Napoleonic wars.
https://twitter.com/PJTheEconomist/status/1668634104517242883
After months of National claiming local government spending is the cause of our inflation (when it is worldwide), Callum Purves of the Taxpayer Union now claims it is causing our recession (now we have one with a second negative quarter, albeit only 0.1.)
Why should anyone takes these buffoons seriously?
They want smaller government and more of the economic activity in the private sector (including wealth acquisition by asset purchase), but their misdiagnosis of cause end effect is in the territory of those who blame earthquakes on government social policy.
Today we have yet another example of National saying very different things to different audiences. While Luxon panders to those who grumble about the uppity Mowrees, a National party candidate is just fine with "co-governance":
https://thespinoff.co.nz/live-updates/15-06-2023/national-often-misunderstood-on-co-governance-says-tamaki-makaurau-candidate
If we do end up with a National/ACT government, it is inevitable that there will be a major internal row, both within National and between the two right-wing parties. Sadly, few commentators can be bothered to look beyond the horse race and actually consider what happens after the election.
There will be more popcorn days and nights than for any government since the Shipley/Peters bloodbath in 1997-98.
Last year, the Government introduced the Natural and Built Environment Bill to replace the Resource Management Act.
The Bill creates a new framework for how New Zealand manages its natural environment including freshwater, bio-diversity and resources.
Fish & Game is extremely concerned about this Bill and its implications for the sustainable management of our natural environment and the future of game bird hunting and freshwater fishing.
…
The Bill also removes the habitat protection of trout and salmon, which has long been safeguarded by the Resource Management Act.
This will fundamentally strip Fish & Game’s ability to carry out our statutory duty to provide for the interests of anglers and hunters, and to ensure freshwater habitats, including wetlands, are healthy and support trout, salmon and game bird populations.
As one of the only remaining independent environmental voices, Fish and Game has stepped into the void created by Forest & Bird swallowing the 1080 Kool-Aid. No good deed goes unpunished, and the government will stamp out dissent by defunding their critics instead of addressing their concerns – shameless autocrats.
Is the tagline of fish and game 'we kill animals for fun'..?
If not it should be…
Fish and Game are copping it from both sides of the political spectrum.
Forest and Bird aren't too keen on them because F&G are all about protecting introduced predators (trout and salmon) and introduced birds that displace native species.
The agricultural lobby hate F&G's guts because they object to every irrigation consent and have a well funded and professional organisation to do that. In the recent Lindis hearing the farmers went full F&B, arguing that F&G were protecting introduced predators, and harming, not protecting the environment. The judge agreed and pretty much ignored F&G's arguments, so the Lindis continued to get trashed and F&G got no environmental gain for their efforts.
F&G did sfa about preventing the arrival and spread of didimo when it was well identified as a potential threat to our freshwater environment after wreaking havoc in North and South America. It was beyond sad when it turned up in a river frequented by overseas anglers, and then got spread throughout the country. All by F&G members.
F&G got grandfathered into the RMA, and Conservation Act before, to get rid of the old Acclimatiastion Societies, and really their time is well in the past. Freshwater fisheries should be managed the same as saltwater, (but the ideal would be a bit of both current regimes) and come under a government department.
Politically F&G don't seem to have many friends, Labour don't want to know them, National and ACT have to be careful of upsetting farmers, which leaves F&G with Sue Grey's lot.
Can't see this ending well for F&G, it's all their own work.
Labour should bear in mind that F&G have a paid up membership that dwarfs both major parties.
The management of our saltwater fisheries essentially amounts to chronicling their demise – not a good model for anything.
If they munt it, as it seems they would love to do, it will make appreciable holes in both domestic and foreign tourism – one of the only industries to survive the neoliberal putsch of the 80s.
Most of that 'paid up membership' would rather they didn't have to fork out $100+ just for the privilege of going out for few cast occasionally in the vain hope of actually catching a fish. We don't pay to be members of F&G, we pay so we can go fishing and not end up in court. F&G seem to put more effort into checking you've paid your licence than doing anything to enhance the fishery.
DOC administer the Taupo fishery and do a pretty good job, would probably be more efficient if DOC took on the rest of the country as well, since most of the activity, and nearly all the high value stuff, occurs within DOC estate anyway.
F&G are an anachronism, a hangover from the old acclimatisation societies and should be put to rest along with the colonial concept of acclimatisation.
Up until now the hate-primed policies/ideas/beliefs of the raving loons in act..have pretty much had no scrutiny from the media…
It's about/past time that media got off their arses…and did what they are meant to do..
Shine some light in that dark corner..
And show to the voters what an act-nat government would mean/do..
The radio station upset with story manipulation doesn't have a problem with story manipulation.
As Hamish Keith points out in the comments: "That Radio New Zealand can do this on the eve of an inquiry into media manipulation is beyond belief"
https://twitter.com/SachaDylan/status/1669136184529031168
Aside from the headline (do they have sub-editors any more?) – the story itself seems relatively well-balanced. Pointing out that all 3 major leaders (Labour past/present & National) all do this – and that Luxon does it more than the others (even the quoted interview at the bottom, showing the polly using the technique, is Luxon ).
Although it's a bit of fluff, rather than hard-hitting political commentary. Was anyone in any doubt that our political leaders have extensive media training in how to deliver their message and deflect any unwanted questions?
If the only issue is the headline – then this is pretty much a known issue for every media outlet in NZ – where the headline doesn't reflect the story, or is actively misleading.
It's neither surprising nor new that politicians do what they do. Much more concerning is the lack of skill (or will) of the interviewers.
If the non-answer is "look, let me make it clear" followed by meaningless non-clarity, the interviewer should calmly say "I'll ask the question again", and do just that. No need to get in an argument, just ask until it's answered.
Jeremy Paxman once asked the same question 12 times to UK Tory Michael Howard (in 1997 if anyone wants the YouTube clip, all on Google).
With few exceptions, interviewers in the NZ media have maybe one more try and simply move on to their next prepared question. I suspect page one of "Media Training" says "They will soon give up so just waffle and wait".
Luxon would not survive a real interview.
QFT and that interview with Jack Tame is QED
Was he as bad as Hipkins seems to be when talking to Mike Hosking?
It's the headline that people take in. And it does not reflect accurately the result of the study.
Oh, I'm not excusing the misleading headline – just pointing out that it's pretty common practice to have a 'shock' headline which doesn't accurately reflect the story. And is done by every main media outlet.
Here's a Suff example from today
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/300903897/hastings-councils-increased-development-fees-will-see-developers-thrown-under-the-bus
And a Herald one
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/fieldays-act-party-differing-from-nationals-flip-flopping-in-hunt-for-rural-vote/THJEGGPHYFH5LAU2O5P5FVLOSU/
Both have headlines which are arguably misleading when reading the articles in question.
Yes. Some are arguable, some are plain and simple misleading. Read only that headline and you won't find out the facts. It's a form of propaganda.
What is this about and why should we click on the link?
What is the political point you want to make and discuss here?
Please make a genuine effort to initiate, stimulate, and encourage a real conversation with others on this forum.