Open mike 15/11/2023
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6:00 am, November 15th, 2023 - 58 comments
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- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #12 2025
Open access notables The severe 2020 coral bleaching event in the tropical Atlantic linked to marine heatwaves, Rodrigues et al., Communications Earth & Environment: Marine heatwaves can amplify the vulnerabilities of regional marine ecosystems and jeopardise local economies and food resources. Here, we show that marine heatwaves in the tropical ...1 hour ago - Elbridge Colby’s vision: blocking China
Elbridge Colby’s senate confirmation hearing in early March holds more important implications for US partners than most observers in Canberra, Wellington or Suva realise. As President Donald Trump’s nominee for under secretary of defence for ...4 hours ago - China’s military spending rises should prompt regional budget responses
China’s defence budget is rising heftily yet again. The 2025 rise will be 7.2 percent, the same as in 2024, the government said on 5 March. But the allocation, officially US$245 billion, is just the ...5 hours ago
- Pressure grows for commonsense correction on safe local speeds
Concern is growing about wide-ranging local repercussions of the new Setting of Speed Limits rule, rewritten in 2024 by former transport minister Simeon Brown. In particular, there’s growing fears about what this means for children in particular. A key paradox of the new rule is that NZTA-controlled roads have the ...5 hours ago - Luxon’s Guests.
Speilmeister: Christopher Luxon’s prime-ministerial pitches notwithstanding, are institutions with billions of dollars at their disposal really going to invest them in a country so obviously in a deep funk?HAVING WOOED THE WORLD’s investors, what, if anything, has New Zealand won? Did Christopher Luxon’s guests board their private jets fizzing with enthusiasm for ...6 hours ago - S&P downgrades 18 councils, blaming Govt
Christchurch City Council is one of 18 councils and three council-controlled organisations (CCOs) downgraded by ratings agency S&P. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMōrena. Long stories shortest: Standard & Poor’s has cut the credit ratings of 18 councils, blaming the new Government’s abrupt reversal of 3 Waters, cuts to capital ...8 hours ago - Recession ends – Economic challenges remain
Figures released by Statistics New Zealand today showed that the economy grew by 0.7% ending the very deep recession seen over the past year, said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “Even though GDP grew in the three months to December, our economy is still 1.1% smaller than it ...10 hours ago - Maybe there’s a connection?
What is going on with the price of butter?, RNZ, 19 march 2025: If you have bought butter recently you might have noticed something - it is a lot more expensive. Stats NZ said last week that the price of butter was up 60 percent in February compared to ...10 hours ago - I, too, got a few things wrong
I agree with Will Leben, who wrote in The Strategist about his mistakes, that an important element of being a commentator is being accountable and taking responsibility for things you got wrong. In that spirit, ...10 hours ago
- Commandments & Cures
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Two recent foreign challenges suggest that Australia needs urgently to increase its level of defence self-reliance and to ensure that the increased funding that this would require is available. First, the circumnavigation of our continent ...13 hours ago
- Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Thursday, March 20
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- Japan and Australia can fill each other’s defence gaps
Japan and Australia talk of ‘collective deterrence,’ but they don’t seem to have specific objectives. The relationship needs a clearer direction. The two countries should identify how they complement each other. Each country has two ...1 day ago
- Submission on the Draft Biometric Processing Privacy Code
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- Eggs in more baskets: diversify Australian agricultural exports away from US
Australia’s export-oriented industries, particularly agriculture, need to diversify their markets, with a focus on Southeast Asia. This could strengthen economic security and resilience while deepening regional relationships. The Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on ...1 day ago
- The Fisheries Reform Scam – Sam Woolford
Minister Shane Jones is introducing fastrack ‘reforms’ to the our fishing industry that will ensure the big players squeeze out the small fishers and entrench an already bankrupt quota system. Our fisheries are under severe stress: the recent decision by the High Court ruling that the ...1 day ago - Climate Change: Failed again
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- Trump’s tariffs challenge India’s economic balance
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- NZ’s First #MeToo Case Wants To Practise Law Again
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Now I've heard there was a secret chordThat David played, and it pleased the LordBut you don't really care for music, do you?It goes like this, the fourth, the fifthThe minor falls, the major liftsThe baffled king composing HallelujahSongwriter: Leonard CohenI always thought the lyrics of that great song by ...2 days ago - People matter—especially when frigate crews are too small
People are getting carried away with the virtues of small warship crews. We need to remember the great vice of having few people to run a ship: they’ll quickly tire. Yes, the navy is struggling ...2 days ago
- Auckland’s Western Line: Walking and cycling catchments
This is a guest post by Peter Bisley. It previously appeared on his substack, and is republished here by kind permisison. How can active transport connections maximise City Rail Link benefits City Rail Link successfully ran a test train last month on the 3.45km line under central Auckland, ahead ...2 days ago
- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on Wednesday, March 19
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- Australian politics needs clearer national security boundaries
We need to establish clearer political boundaries around national security to avoid politicising ongoing security issues and to better manage secondary effects. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) revealed on 10 March that the Dural caravan ...2 days ago
- Government must act decisively and ban engineered stone
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- Tuesday 18 March
The Labour Inspectorate could soon be knocking on the door of hundreds of businesses nation-wide, as it launches a major crackdown on those not abiding by the law. NorthTec staff are on edge as Northland’s leading polytechnic proposes to stop 11 programmes across primary industries, forestry, and construction. Union coverage ...2 days ago
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- ‘There are no exemptions. Just eat it.’
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- The Hardest Word
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- It’s been done before: pay for more defence spending with debt
Australia, Britain and European countries should loosen budget rules to allow borrowing to fund higher defence spending, a new study by the Kiel Institute suggests. Currently, budget debt rules are forcing governments to finance increases ...3 days ago
- Feedback on work with engineered stone and materials containing crystalline silica
The NZCTU remains strongly committed to banning engineered stone in New Zealand and implementing better occupational health protections for all workers working with silica-containing materials. In this submission to MBIE, the NZCTU outlines that we have an opportunity to learn from Australia’s experience by implementing a full ban of engineered ...3 days ago
- Big deal
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As Syria and international partners negotiate the country’s future, France has sought to be a convening power. While France has a history of influence in the Middle East, it will have to balance competing Syrian ...3 days ago
- “Capital poor”
One of the eternal truths about Aotearoa's economy is that we are "capital poor": there's not enough money sloshing around here to fund the expansion of local businesses, or to build the things we want to. Which gets used as an excuse for all sorts of things, like setting up ...3 days ago
- Pictures Tell The Story
National held its ground until late 2023 Verion, Talbot Mills & Curia Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)If we remove outlier results from Curia (National Party November 2023) National started trending down in October 2024.Verion Polls (Red = Labour, Blue = National)Verian alone shows a clearer deterioration in early ...3 days ago - High-impact climate risks, low-probability? Think again
In a recent presentation, I recommended, quite unoriginally, that governments should have a greater focus on higher-impact, lower-probability climate risks. My reasoning was that current climate model projections have blind spots, meaning we are betting ...3 days ago
- Daddy
Daddy, are you out there?Daddy, won't you come and play?Daddy, do you not care?Is there nothing that you want to say?Songwriters: Mark Batson / Beyonce Giselle Knowles.This morning, a look at the much-maligned NZ Herald. Despised by many on the left as little more than a mouthpiece for the National ...3 days ago - Monday 17 March
Employers, unions and health and safety advocates are calling for engineered stone to be banned, a day before consultation on regulations closes. On Friday the PSA lodged a pay equity claim for library assistants with the Employment Relations Authority, after the stalling of a claim lodged with six councils in ...3 days ago
- Luxon announces start of India trade deal talks
Long stories shortest in Aotearoa’s political economy: Christopher Luxon surprises by announcing trade deal talks with India will start next month, and include beef and dairy. Napier is set to join Whakatane, Dunedin and Westport in staging a protest march against health spending restraints hitting their hospital services. Winston Peters ...4 days ago - In a divided world, momentum behind negotiations grows
At a time of rising geopolitical tensions and deepening global fragmentation, the Ukraine war has proved particularly divisive. From the start, the battle lines were clearly drawn: Russia on one side, Ukraine and the West ...4 days ago
- Mercury Lane, and Auckland Transport’s habitual failure
When the City Rail Link opens (circa 2026), all signs point to it immediately being a huge success. It will be transformational for Auckland, with ripple effects across the city. Thousands of people an hour will pour in and out of the new and upgraded stations. So, as well as ...4 days ago
- Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix at 6am on March 17
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, Newsroom-$, Politik-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, ...4 days ago - 2025 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
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- Maxing out – next steps for progressives
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- Bernard’s Soliloquy for the week to March 16
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You know that it's a snake eat snake worldWe slither and serpentine throughWe all took a bite, and six thousand years laterThese apples getting harder to chewSongwriters: Shawn Mavrides.“Please be Jack Tame”, I thought when I saw it was Seymour appearing on Q&A. I’d had a guts full of the ...4 days ago - David now turns to Rodney with a stricken face
So here we are at the wedding of Alexandra Vincent Martelli and David Seymour.Look at all the happy prosperous guests! How proud Nick Mowbray looks of the gift he has made of a mountain of crap plastic toys stuffed into a Cybertruck.How they drink, how they laugh, how they mug ...5 days ago - Fact brief – Is waste heat from industrial activity the reason the planet is warming?
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Some continue to defend David Seymour on school lunches, sidestepping his errors to say:“Well the parents should pack their lunch” and/or “Kids should be grateful for free food.”One of these people is the sitting Prime Minister.So I put together a quick list of why complaint is not only appropriate - ...5 days ago - Whistling Past The Graveyard.
“Bugger the pollsters!”WHEN EVERYBODY LIVED in villages, and every village had a graveyard, the expression “whistling past the graveyard” made more sense. Even so, it’s hard to describe the Coalition Government’s response to the latest Taxpayers’ Union/Curia Research poll any better. Regardless of whether they wanted to go there, or ...5 days ago
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- Ain’t No Use
See I try to make a differenceBut the heads of the high keep turning awayThere ain't no useWhen the world that you love has goneOoh, gotta make a changeSongwriters: Arapekanga Adams-Tamatea / Brad Kora / Hiriini Kora / Joel Shadbolt.Aotearoa for Sale.This week saw the much-heralded and somewhat alarming sight ...5 days ago - Bernard’s Pick ‘n’ Mix on Saturday, March 15
Here’s my selection1 of scoops, breaking news, news, analyses, deep-dives, features, interviews, Op-Eds, editorials and cartoons from around Aotearoa’s political economy on housing, climate and poverty from RNZ, 1News, The Post-$2, The Press−$, Newsroom3, NZ Herald, Stuff, BusinessDesk-$, NBR-$, Reuters, FT-$, WSJ-$, Bloomberg-$, New York Times-$, The Atlantic-$, The Economist-$ ...6 days ago - Is the New Zealand Healthcare System Doing Badly?
By international standards the New Zealand healthcare system appears satisfactory – certainly no worse generally than average. Yet it is undergoing another redisorganisation.While doing some unrelated work, I came across some international data on the healthcare sector which seemed to contradict my – and the conventional wisdom’s – view of ...6 days ago - Europe can still prevent a Russian victory
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- Labour draws a clear line in the sand on National’s privatisation binge
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Over the last year, I’ve been warning about Luxon’s pitch to privatise our public assets. He had told reporters in October that nothing was off the cards:Schools, hospitals, prisons, and ...6 days ago - Australia’s disaster response should build resilience
When ASPI’s Cyclone Tracy: 50 Years On was published last year, it wasn’t just a historical reflection; it was a warning. Just months later, we are already watching history repeat itself. We need to bake ...6 days ago
- Making it up as they go along
1. Why was school lunch provider The Libelle Group in the news this week?a. Grand Winner in Pie of The Yearb. Scored a record 108% on YELP c. Bought by Oravida d. Went into liquidation2. What did our Prime Minister offer prospective investors at his infrastructure investment jamboree?a. The Libelle ...6 days ago - Arbitrary or worse
Back in December, Lands Minister Chris Penk rejected proposals to recognise the proper names of Manawatū and Pito One. Both proposals were strongly supported by their communities and so recommended by Ngā Pou Taunaha o Aotearoa / New Zealand Geographic Board. Despite this, Penk rejected them. I was curious about ...6 days ago
- The problems with PPPs
Here’s the excellent explainer on PPPs from over at that this chat was based on.Government's Investment SummitThis week, the Government is hosting a grand event aimed at trying to interest big foreign capital players in financing capital works in New Zealand, particularly its big rural motorway programme.Greater ...6 days ago
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- PPPs are more expensive, slower & riskier than Govt DIY
Previous big infrastructure PPPs such as Transmission Gully were fiendishly complicated to negotiate, generated massive litigation and were eventually rewritten anyway. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesLong stories shortest: The Government’s international investment conference ignores the facts that PPPs cost twice as much as vanilla debt-funded public infrastructure, often take ...6 days ago - Friday 14 March
Woolworths has proposed a major restructure of its New Zealand store operating model, leaving workers worried their hours and pay could be cut. Public servants are being asked how productive their office is, how much they use AI, and whether they’re overloaded with meetings as part of a “census”. An ...6 days ago
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- Release: National at sea over Defence jobs
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...5 hours ago - Release: National standards returning by stealth
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...7 hours ago
- Release: Kiwis still struggling as economy stumbles along
Kiwis aren’t feeling any better off despite figures showing a very slight growth in GDP in the December quarter. ...9 hours ago
- Greens call for compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...1 day ago - Another failed ETS auction, another indictment on the Govt’s climate credibility
The ETS auction’s failure today is yet another clear sign that the Government is failing us all on climate action. ...1 day ago
- Release: Luxon quick to give away principled position on nukes
Christopher Luxon seems to have thrown New Zealand’s principled anti-nuclear advocacy under a bus. ...1 day ago
- NZ must act on Israel’s slaughter of children
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...1 day ago
- Release: Still no certainty for disability communities
One year on from the Government’s abrupt and callous changes to disability funding, the community still has no idea what the future holds. ...2 days ago
- Green Party backs volunteer firefighters in their call for ACC recognition
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...2 days ago
- Stand Up for Palestine: A Call to Action Against Israels Treacherous Attack
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...2 days ago
- MP Views: Living Strong, The Economy, Servicing Our Nation, The Golden Egg, and 4 Year Terms
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...3 days ago - Shane Jones has no shame
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...4 days ago
- Release: National botches health funding numbers
Health Minister Simeon Brown’s claim that the Government has put $16.68 billion into the health system over three years is wrong. ...5 days ago
- Government tramples on the rights of disabled migrant children
The Green Party is condemning the Government’s move to tighten access to visas for disabled children. ...6 days ago
- Release: Auckland needs second harbour crossing
Labour supports Minister Chris Bishop’s call for input on the second Waitematā Harbour crossing. ...6 days ago
- Speech: Barbara Edmonds’ speech to NZ Investment Summit 2025
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to you today about how we make overseas investment work for all New Zealanders. ...6 days ago
- Release: Labour does not support PPPs for prisons
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...7 days ago
- Dunedin Futures report should be a wake-up call
The newly released report on the South Dunedin Future Programme must be a wake-up call for our Government. ...7 days ago
- Release: Members’ Bill makes wage theft a crime
Workers will now be able to go to the Police and report their employer if they are not being paid wages they’re owed. ...1 week ago
- Missed opportunity to stop the stealing of Māori land
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour supports sanctions against Israel’s illegal occupation
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt procurement plan cuts wages and trashes the environment
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...1 week ago
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The Green Party is concerned by the impact the Government’s proposed changes to procurement processes could have on people and planet. ...1 week ago
- Just six Government MPs needed to pass Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour’s approach to Māori economy benefits all
Under Labour, the Māori economy went from strength to strength according to the latest report released by MBIE. ...1 week ago
- 20 Years of Success Down the Drain: Govt Gut Whānau Ora
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party launches petition to allow Pacific whānau visa-free access
The Green Party is launching a petition calling on the Government to extend visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island nations. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour welcomes reinstatement of Heath NZ board
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ’s Public Health system dealt yet another blow
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Chris Hipkins’ State of the Nation address
Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa It is a great pleasure to be here with you this morning. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ First Introduces Bill to Remove Woke ‘DEI’ Regulations from Public Service
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour outlines priorities of next Govt
The next Labour Government will prioritise jobs, health and homes so Kiwis and Kiwi businesses have the opportunity to thrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Refreshed team to drive Labour’s 2026 priorities
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No feed items found.
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As a reprieve from the nogotiations and the horrors in Gaza.
From Together – the digital campaigning arm of the New Zealand union movement, an outline and a petition request for the Auckland Mayor and councilors.
https://www.together.org.nz/don_t_privatise_the_ports_of_auckland
Wayne Brown can be defeated, and like so many issues it just takes some people power and organisation. In the late 90s businessmen including Mr Brown in the Far North, proposed a sizeable Marina for picturesque Mangonui Harbour. It was inappropriate for a number of reasons that I don’t need to go into here.
The upshot was a public campaign of colourful banners, talking, signing, media campaigning, exploring legal avenues–and the proposers grumpily pulled their heads in. A small Marina in nearby Whangaroa Harbour was undersubscribed and soon turned into a rusting eyesore.
When “Brownie” became FNDC Mayor in the 00s he raised it again, at a slightly different location–near his new apartment development–and was soundly put down for a second time.
Make Bruce Jesson proud and sign the Together petition, not everything is for sale!
Chur TM, that's the spirit.
You are right about the power in acting collectively and achieving.
A sadly all too infrequent occurrence nowadays.
If you think we got problems … check out the Tory meltdown in the UK.
The following is not an attack by the opposition. These are the words of the (ex) Home Secretary to the PM who has just sacked her:
"Despite you having been rejected by a majority of party members during the summer leadership contest and thus having no personal mandate to be prime minister, I agreed to support you because of the firm assurances you gave me on key policy priorities.
You have manifestly and repeatedly failed to deliver on every single one of these key policies. Either your distinctive style of government means you are incapable of doing so. Or, as I must surely conclude now, you never had any intention of keeping your promises."
"Your response has been uncertain, weak, and lacking in the qualities of leadership that this country needs …"
And so it goes on. New Zealand politicians are cuddly BFFs by comparison.
‘A betrayal of our agreement’: Suella Braverman’s letter to Rishi Sunak in full | Suella Braverman | The Guardian
The current mob of Conservatives are so bad that this may actually threaten the survival of the party.
Normally the vote splitting between Labour and the Libdems helps the Cons to win electoral seats under the UK's terrible FPP system. But at the next election it is feasible that the Cons will poll so badly in each electorate that tactical voting will enable either Labour or the Libdems (and the SNP) to win almost all of the seats.
Get the popcorn out in a years time.
The only problem here is that Starmer, who is proving to be a wanker, will almost certainly be PM.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/nov/14/starmer-under-pressure-to-back-labour-amendment-on-gaza-ceasefire
As a middle aged white cis male I'm enjoying it a little bit to much watching old blighty being run by nasty /hopless people of colour, maybe we ain't the only baddies on the planet
Modern UK seems to have comfortably taken the position that the Tories are the natural party of government and Labour are elected only when the country has had an absolute gutsfull of them, such as happened in 1997 when the Labour leader was Tony Blair. Labour recently won a by-election in Mid Bedfordshire, which they had never held before and had been Conservative since 1918.
To be fair that's pretty much true every of every Labour party including pre MMP NZLP. Labour parties only get elected when capitalism fails.
Blair is the only UK Labour pm in history to serve two full terms and while it's been 26 years since he was elected, you have to go back 50 years to see a pre Blair pm be elected.
Nuts.
Other than Hawke/Keating Aussie labor usually gets one term and is chucked into opposition for a decade or two, if they are lucky they get a second term but they fall apart mid way.
Prior to MMP NZLP was exactly the same, other than the initial govt, Labour would win a term then be in opposition for a decade or more until labour stopped being a Labour party in 84 and won a second term for the first time in 50 years.
Nowadays that to MMP NZLP is able to be somewhat competitive, but even then it's only one the popular vote twice in 20 years.
It's weird because the centre left in Canada is basically perpetually in government and the democrats are in office 50% of the time
Revisit that comment in a year. IMO they're all cut from the same cloth and the gloves haven't come off here yet.
Once they do I reckon it'll make Keys tenure look benevolent by comparison.
Owen Jones is superb here on the evil that has permeated the Tories:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/14/suella-braverman-modern-tory-conservative-party-david-cameron-theresa-may
Pretty sure Peters knows how to get the jandal out when he needs to.
Why did Braverman get fired?
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-67401753
Of course, we don't know what was really going on in Sunak's mind. But Braverman refusing to follow the party line, when specifically asked to tone down inflammatory comments – must be high on the list. Of course, Braverman being a standard-bearer for the right wing of the Conservatives – will also be a factor. Politicians rarely do anything for a single reason…..
The guardian line summed it up for me being she took the dog whistle and swapped it for a loudhailer.
Back to the Gaza horrors–ban Israeli products from your homes and business activities, support BDS, call for trade bans and cut diplomatic relations.
A small rally was run last week in Kaitaia outside the local supermarket in sync with other centres around the country and it was 99% support from shoppers and motorists.
Butchers like the IDF that can turn off baby incubators!! deserve the strongest sanctions available to civilised humanity. Before any of the usual suspects start, I do not support Hamas due to the religious and undemocratic elements of their operations. But what can Palestinians do? There is a land and sea blockade of their shameful prision. The international community and mainly US Imperialism have bought about the rise of Hamas by funding the Israeli Military and state and not respecting the hundreds of UN resolutions.
Hit the Israelis where it hurts–economically and culturally.
Unfortunately my Israeli-made Sodastream is fundamental to my existence. If it claps out I think there is another brand out there that makes fizzy drinks that I will buy instead.
Does anyone have a list of any other Israeli-made products that should be avoided?
There seems to be a high-level list here – very little of which would be purchasable individually.
https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/imports/israel
The totals don't seem to be high.
I suspect that at a supermarket level, it's going to be things like dates and pomegranate molasses – i.e. specialist purchases, rather than everyday essentials.
Ditto, it has long been a problem for those that like fizz but not the IDF!, there is this one now…
https://ohbubbles.co.nz
Thanks Tiger….and Bella above.
Having said that, the Oh Bubbles marketing could come straight from the IDF’s propaganda machine:
“This bottle is not just an addition to your kitchen; it’s an embodiment of your commitment to crafting, savoring, and preserving the joy of bubbles. Bubbles for Life opens the door to endless possibilities, where flavors intertwine with sustainability.”
Your comment re the marketing blurb was a genuine LOL from me…
And by the way…some of the online slang sites are saying that there is a newish ‘lol’ alternative–IJBOL–meaning “I Just Burst Out Laughing.”
What ’ev…
Thanks Tiger…there is more where that comes from.
The investor class are back in the housing market.
Riding population demand to go even higher under NACT's worker migrant and foreign student policy.
Reduced incentive to build new supply with the restoration of mortgage deduction against rent income being restored for existing property.
Thus rents will increase and so will house prices.
And their tenants will have less rights under a NACT regime.
So FOMO is back.
Those first home buyers who can buy will note, mortgage cost has peaked and rents will continue to rise.
https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/tony-alexander-why-kiwis-shouldnt-bet-against-a-rapid-rise-in-house-prices-44639
ADVICE
For those who will be renting awhile yet, two couples buying a 2 double bedroom flat/apartment is an option and for those starting a family – there is the option of two couples buying a three bedroom house (and having two children share a bedroom)(then with second children – one couple moves to a sleepout).
Australasian wins New Zealand bird of the century contest.
From the bat (not a bird) to the superbird (not a kiwi), popularised by John Oliver
(John Oliver is an English import to the Last Week Tonight show only seen for half an hour once a week – where he preens himself live).
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11379407/Elle-Macpherson-58-transforms-gothic-queen-ball-Transylvania.html
I think your link is not what you intended (unless the connection is to 'meta' for me to comprehend)
Oh, so an Australian superbird attending a vampire ball in Transylvania getting "celebrity" publicity in the UK Daily Mail is not related to some hack import in American exploiting us down under for his own media celebrity publicity …
OK – definitely to 'meta' for me to comprehend.
It's too meta, as in too sophisticated.
Otherwise, so meta. So transcending.
Playing dumb, only understanding the obvious – raw data, simplistic meaning.
Playing the explaining is losing tactic, until this is exposed for what it is.
Possibly. Or possibly poorly explained, and a connection which exists only in your own mind.
Yeah I got the insult first time. Thanks for making it clear what your meaning was.
Frankly while it's sstaggering for me to agree with Belladonna I have to say I would have to smoke a hella lot of weed to get that connection.
Mind you cryptic crosswords are a mystery to me as well.
Yeah sure, cryptic crosswords are for the crowd stoned on weed … whatever … .
It only requires being informed about a topic to get the inferences about it. If everything is dumbed down to the level where everyone gets it, it all becomes a bit meh.
There is concept in the area of film and other art of semiology – it relates to levels (and creation) of meaning. So the intellectual can also be entertained.
Can you try to be a bit more obtuse ? /sarc
Self deprecation is a form of sentiency – as to awareness of ones place in an environment
Trying to show intelligence by linking the most tenuously related items is a sign of insecurity
Do you know why no one wants a curmudgeon or a psychoanalyst at a dinner party?
Dinner parties OMG
A lot of our birds have had their origin in Australia, the Puteketeke is one of them along with waxeyes, plovers, even the parakeet with its own support group, it fact shit loads of them, blame the wind. I’ve had first hand experience of a Puteketeke, which by the way is not an Aussie word, I attempted to rescue it off the road and got it home and can testify to its Australianess, its argumentative, prickly, agressive, a show off, loud and opinionated, in fact come to think of it, it would right in here at the Standard, oh and its an immigrant just like the rest of us here. Just thank Christ snakes can't fly.
It survived btw, made a home in our reservoir found a mate, and raised a family the following year, all without a word of thanks. Bloody Australians.
Yeah, one of my grandmothers was born over there.
The one with local pedigree is in North, leaving the guest to the South Island.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_grebe
According to stuff:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/133291298/pteketeke-wins-bird-of-the-century-with-a-record-number-of-votes-placed-in-2023
So, I suppose you could say they have spread their wings afar and therefore worthy of the title. :wink;
Lake birds, evolved for that environment.
Kiwi second and Kea third – the Kea was in the lead, but presumably was overtaken in support by the Kiwi when local nationalists sought to keep foreign paws from grebbing control of our contest.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2023/11/bird-of-the-century-p-teketeke-wins-title-after-heated-contest-delayed-results-john-oliver-intervention.html
Harriers too. Possibly fantails as well. Australia has several types but one is identical to the NZ fantail. I think Barn Owls may also have spread from Oz, though they are of course native to Europe.
I've also seen a Pukeko on the set of The Repair Shop in the British countryside. I also caught sight of some in Norfolk Island – I believe they're called purple swamp hens. I much prefer Pukeko for a name – short and to the point.
Swinging rate rises predicted for Wellington.
And I don't think this even factors in the increases needed to repair the ageing water infrastructure (pipes more than 100 years old). Which will be (based on the Auckland experience) hugely expensive and disruptive.
https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/nz-news/350109260/wellington-warned-unprecedented-rates-rises?utm_source=+stuff_website&utm_medium=+stuff_referral&utm_campaign=mh_stuff&utm_id=mh_stuf
SwingingSwingeing (apologies)Thanks for the spelling correction. Missed this one….
[NB: not /sarc/, really do appreciate people quietly fixing obvious errors]
Biden's quiet unpicking of the tRump era.
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/tracking-regulatory-changes-in-the-biden-era/
I am thinking of putting a hundy on NZ to win the cricket tonight. They were paying $3.40 last time I looked.
But, what the odds don't seem to take into account is the high impact of the toss on the outcome. They were talking about that on the news last night. Apparently at that ground the team batting first has averaged around 350 while the team batting second has averaged around 160. And the only team to win batting second in the pool stage was Australia against Afghanistan. And Australia was around 90 for 7 at one stage before Maxwell went mental.
So, if it comes down to the toss, then there is basically a 50% chance to triple my money.
Good 'investment'.
Our team had a few wobbles after a great start, team basically fully fit, a couple of players coming into form against a team that has pressure and expectation on it that dwarfs anything the ABs experience.
Kohli is the key, get him early and hear the alarm bells ringing.
I think you will see the price change after the toss. If we win the toss we might come into 2:80 or 3:00 if we lose it then out to 4:00.
Whoever wins the toss will have a better chance of winning the match but it doesn't make you a certain winner.
Oh well, I was off the mark.
Congratulations India, thoroughly deserved, well done Black Caps for making a competition of it till the last 8 or so overs.
Hearing about labour in the US. Which is a good thing, a slow rise of the interests of labour. Step by step.
Then included in the below video the question that needs to be asked.
How insane is the US senate. Republican Shrill front and center.
At the 39th minute if you think you need any more proof the far right are scumbags.
Results of the other two electorate recounts are in.
Helen White holds onto Mt Albert for Labour, majority now 20.
Takutai Kemp confirmed winner for Te Pati Maori in Tamaki Makaurau, majority increased to 42.
Reassuring that the Poll was so close to being accurate. No saga of a stolen Election then?
Not stolen, but bought with plenty of spending loot.
https://www.districtcourts.govt.nz/all-judgments/re-an-application-for-a-recount-of-electorate-votes-in-the-maori-electorate-of-tamaki-makaurau-2023-nzdc-24875/
https://www.districtcourts.govt.nz/all-judgments/re-an-application-by-melissa-lee-for-a-recount-of-electorate-votes-in-the-mt-albert-district-2023-nzdc-25093/
Tamaki Makaurau and Mt Albert recounts are finished, no change in the outcomes. Takutai Tarsh Kemp's majority was increased by 38 votes to 42 and Helen White's majority was reduced by 2 votes to 18.
Both had discrepancies in the counts, and there are some suggestions for future elections – particularly the statement that you get 2 votes seems to have caused some electors to cast 2 votes for the parties and candidates ie 4 votes in total. Hopefully the forms are updated to avoid that.
I'm pretty sure that the instructions on the ballot paper say explicitly that you can only make one mark (vote) on each side of the ballot paper. Perhaps it is a literacy problem.
The judge surmises it's the increase in numbers of voters with English not being their first language.
Everyone immediately spots the problem:
Checkpoint also spoke to several Aucklanders for their views on the charge.
Emily said it was "outrageous" because not everyone could choose when they started and finished work.
"Firstly, we need more access to public transport and probably more affordability for that as well."
Simon said he thought congestion charges only worked in cities with viable alternative transport options.
"It seems pretty steep. I don't know what it is overseas but … if you're doing that everyday, with no other way to do it, then ($5) would be quite expensive."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/502518/auckland-councillor-residents-industry-groups-against-congestion-charge