Open mike 15/11/2023
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6:00 am, November 15th, 2023 - 58 comments
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- Yellow Mellow
Yellow mellow, yellow mellowHello, hello, yellow mellowYellow mellow, yellow mellowOh, marmaladeSongwriters: Baden Jack Donegal / Nicholas Paul Blom / Mitchell Kenneth Galbraith / Lachlan George Galbraith / Thomas Patrick O'Brien / Angus Owen Goodwin.What a mad day in politics. In yesterday’s newsletter, I expressed hope that politicians from the left ...45 minutes ago - China’s geopolitical dominance game in the South China Sea
For all the talk about the South China Sea’s complexity as a security issue, its geopolitical significance to China is simple: China wants to condition Southeast Asian states to subordinate status. Southeast Asian countries would ...14 hours ago - Chris Hipkins’ Passionate Speech During Te Pati Māori Penalty Debate
Immediately after Hipkins’ speech, National House Leader Chris Bishop rose to defer the debate, without giving the opposition notice.This means no other opposition members were allowed to speak, despite the government scheduling the debate for today.A shortened clip of 3 minutes for those short on time:Tin-Pot DemocracyI was right in ...14 hours ago - 65
Today my heart attack turns 38 and I turn 65. It's now way older than I was when it grabbed me in a hotel bar at ten in the morning on my 27th birthday and squeezed.So many things I think of as just the other day turn out to be ...15 hours ago - Indonesia has good reasons to reject Russian aircraft basing
Indonesia has plenty of reason to reject basing of Russian aircraft at its air force base on Biak, an island north of New Guinea at 1,400 km from Darwin. From Russia’s point of view, keeping ...16 hours ago
- A desperate delay
So, that was a bit of a damp squib. Everyone having geared up for an epic filibuster battle which would upset the government's legislative program for at least the day, National has now abused its parliamentary majority to adjourn the debate on its outrageous and anti-democratic punishment of Te Pāti ...16 hours ago - Reported back
The Justice Committee has reported back on the Crimes (Countering Foreign Interference) Amendment Bill. The bill as introduced was a tyrannical law which threatened to outlaw protest and ordinary democratic activity in Aotearoa on the basis of government conspiracy theories and fantasies about its motivations. The good news is that ...17 hours ago
- Hard to believe really
Take a scenario, just as a thought experiment for now. A new government gets elected, amid a lot of rhetoric about excessive increases in government spending and public service numbers. They pretty quickly move to require government departments – typically funded by Parliament through annual appropriations – to cut their ...17 hours ago - Pay Equity Explainers
It took less than two days for the Government to announce their changes to the Equal Pay Act, and then make those changes. Because things happened this fast, a huge amount of information about pay equity has sprung up in a really short time-frame—which can be pretty confusing for anyone ...20 hours ago - Tuesday 21 May
Unions are pointing out that changes to the pay equity system have made it “virtually impossible” for new claims to succeed. The government will spend more than $600 million to upgrade the country’s rail network as part of this year’s Budget. Cabinet has signed off on introducing the Regulatory Standards ...20 hours ago
- OECD Debt Comparisons For NZ Are Wrong
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand recently patted itself on the back, claiming our government debt-to-GDP ratio of around 44.3% in 2024 was "low" compared to OECD peers like the US (113%) or Japan (242%). Sounds comforting, right? Wrong! This smug comparison glosses over a critical reality: New Zealand’s geographic ...20 hours ago - Which side are you on, Labour?
Today will see an unprecedented moment in Parliament. A racist government whose leader opposes the "Maorification" of New Zealand is using its parliamentary majority to suspend opposition MPs from the House for being Māori, silencing them and the people they represent for up to 21 days. It is outrageous and ...20 hours ago
- Federalism could torpedo AUKUS
AUKUS is under pressure, not from adversaries abroad but from state governments at home. While Canberra drives the security pact forward, Australian states are the ones that that hold the constitutional levers over the land ...21 hours ago
- Luxon’s Anti-Māori Mask Slips Again
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has once again stocked the fire a racial disharmony, this time with a damning comment that reeks of anti-Māori sentiment. In a recent Newstalk ZB interview with Mike Hosking, Luxon responded to a question about the “Māorification of this country” by saying, “Well where ...21 hours ago
- How do you stop a pitchfork?
Last night, I put up a video where Luxon said he would not back down on the 21 day penalty for Te Pāti Māori MPs.Then came the pitchforks:“Boot them out. No compromise.”“Why debate....boot them....rules are rules!!!!”There were outwardly racist comments too.It’s hard to explain to an angry mob that there ...21 hours ago - Monday 19 May
The PSA says mediation has failed to resolve its conflict with the government over working from home, with the case now heading to the ERA. Food prices have risen at their fastest pace in more than a year driven by more expensive dairy products, hinting that inflation pressures are gathering ...22 hours ago
- May AMA (+ Webworm Updates)
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The New Zealand government, National, ACT, and NZ First, has been very busy recently earning its moniker: the Coalition of Chaos. This unholy trinity seems hell-bent on trying to rewrite reality, peddling lies that erode public trust in politics, and flouting the rules of decorum in an orchestrated attack on ...23 hours ago
- The Green Budget: Cutting Through Right-Wing Spin
You might not have heard that the Green Party’s 2025 Alternative Budget is a bold blueprint for a fairer, greener Aotearoa. That's because right-wing spin merchants are twisting its intent and manipulating the narrative with predictable ferocity. From National’s Nicola Willis labeling it “clown show economics” to NZ Herald’s Thomas ...23 hours ago
- Reuniting ASIO and the AFP under Home Affairs is the right move to address intensifying threats
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision to return policy responsibility for the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Federal Police to the Department of Home Affairs is more than a machinery-of-government change; it’s a long-term ...24 hours ago
- Volcanic cooling
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- ‘Weaponise rates to drive housing intensification’
Should Auckland Council set higher higher rates to densify housing around the stations on the City Rail Link, where low-rise warehouses and housing currently predominate? Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThe six key news items from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Tuesday, May 20 are: Apartment ...1 day ago - Nasty
Catch catch the horror taxiI fell in love with a video nastyCatch catch the horror trainFreeze frame gonna drive you insaneWriters: Raymond Burns, Christopher John Millar, David Vanian, Roman Paul Jug, Bryn Merrick.Speak English.Yesterday, the Prime Minister of our country appeared on the Mike Hosking show to beat the anti-woke ...1 day ago - Nasty
Catch catch the horror taxiI fell in love with a video nastyCatch catch the horror trainFreeze frame gonna drive you insaneWriters: Raymond Burns, Christopher John Millar, David Vanian, Roman Paul Jug, Bryn Merrick.Speak English.Yesterday, the Prime Minister of our country appeared on the Mike Hosking show to beat the anti-woke ...1 day ago
- Gordon Campbell On NZ’s Silence Over Gaza, And Creeping Health Privatisation
Since last Thursday, intensified Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed over 500 Palestinians, and a prolonged Israeli aid blockade has led to widespread starvation among the territory’s two million residents. Belatedly, Israel is letting in a token amount of food aid that UN under-secretary Tom Fletcher has called a ...1 day ago - The Pacific needs to upgrade regional intelligence cooperation
Strengthening regional partnerships can help Pacific intelligence capabilities overcome rising challenges. The Pacific should establish a centralised intelligence hub alongside or through the expansion of the existing Pacific Fusion Centre to deliver greater intelligence capabilities ...2 days ago
- There goes the neighbourhood, there goes my loafer
So, a funny thing happened last Friday. I had just dropped a couple of tabs and I was lining up side four of Tales from Topographic Oceans when out of nowhere I had this incredible vision.It got me so damn excited I wrote the whole thing down and put it ...2 days ago - From customer to catalyst: anchoring Australia’s northern marine industry through government procu...
To turn northern Australia’s marine potential into performance, the Australian government must stop acting as a passive regulator and start acting as an active customer. Procurement is power, and in thin, undercapitalised markets such as ...2 days ago
- Chipping away at National’s gang-patch ban
National's racist gang-patch was clearly intended to humiliate gangs and allow them to be punished for being seen in public, and police have taken on that mission with enthusiasm, attacking funerals and kicking in doors to seize banned clothing (meanwhile, they've also abandoned domestic violence and mental health callouts, in ...2 days ago
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- Assault From All Sides
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- Climate Change: Now what?
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- Ensuring Australia’s defence through complex interdependence
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- Govt announces fixing mess it probably created…
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- Turning the Page
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The six key news items from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Monday, May 19 are: The lobby group for the big electricity gentailers has warned the Electricity Authority that consumer power prices could rise 25% if the market is reformed to force Meridian, Contact, Genesis & ...2 days ago - Taking back political sanity in Aotearoa can be done, but don’t underestimate the work ahead
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..As most of the mainstream media was meeting behind school sheds, sniggering as Act Minister Brooke Van Velden uttered the word ‘cunt’ in Parliament, adults around the country were continuing the struggle for pay equity in industries that have been traditionally under-valued, under-paid, and undertaken by women.For many families, this ...3 days ago - Privileges Committee delivers racist decision
Many MPs stand and support the hakaThere is no other credible interpretation of what has influenced the Privileges Committee decision regarding the penalties for performing a haka in the house other than pure racism. The broader context for this cannot be ignored and supports a view that Te Pāti Māori have ...3 days ago
- Judith Collins – Arsehole Of The Week
In a move that reeks of authoritarianism, Judith Collins, as chair of Parliament’s Privileges Committee, has overseen the unprecedented suspension of three Te Pāti Māori MPs...Rawiri Waititi, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer, and Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke...for performing a haka in protest against the divisive Treaty Principles Bill. This 21-day suspension for the co-leaders and ...3 days ago
- Coalition’s Climate Chaos: Selling Out To Big Polluters
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- Hope and Dreams
Big wheels roll through fieldsWhere sunlight streamsOh meet me in a land of hope and dreamsMeet me in a land of hope and dreamsSong: Bruce Springsteen. Read more ...3 days ago - As big as our problems are, the possibilities are bigger
Let me be blunt, says Nicola Willis to a room of people in suits, it's not the easiest time to be putting together a Budget.Let me be blunt: that's the only line in the speech with even the hint of a pulse.The rest is utterly bland and predictable. It's the ...3 days ago - Has this country’s media lost its collective mind?
..To re-cap:Tuesday 6 May - Workplace Minister, and member of the Act Party which won only 8.64% of the vote, Brooke van Velden, announced that she had unilaterally scrapped thirty-three equal pay agreements.Minister Van Velden explained:"Claims have been able to progress without strong evidence of undervaluation and there have been ...3 days ago - Fact brief – Did Viking settlers enjoy a warm beach climate in Greenland?
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- A return to Nature.
Thomas Hobbes wrote his seminal work Leviathan in 1651. In it he describes the world system as it was then as being in “a state of nature,” something that some have interpreted as anarchy. However, anarchy has order and purpose. It is not chaos. In fact, if we think of ...4 days ago - Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to May 17
Labour’s Finance Spokesperson Barbara Edmonds (left) committed to the same Government net debt cap of 50% of GDP and the same aspiration of returning the budget to surplus by 2028/29 as National, which would severe limit the ability of any future Labour-led government to fix the unmeasured infrastructure, housing, health, ...4 days ago - National Has Increased The Child Suicide Rate
The latest UNICEF Innocenti Report Card 19, Fragile Gains - Child Wellbeing at Risk in an Unpredictable World, should be a wake up call for the New Zealand government. Ranking us 32nd out of 36 OECD and EU countries for child wellbeing, it lays bare a shameful truth: our kids ...4 days ago
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Few issues are as urgent and as poorly understood as Australia’s energy policy. While we build up renewable energy to replace an ageing and increasingly uneconomic coal fleet, we are more dependent on gas to ...5 days ago
- Catholic Theology on the Economy
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- Maybe Little should actually win the election first?
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- Showcasing the economic benefits of AUKUS—today
To convince the public of AUKUS’s value, government and industry messaging should focus on how the program can provide benefits in the near term—not in 20 years. AUKUS is a megaproject that will define the ...5 days ago
- Friday 16 May
The Council of Trade Unions met with Brooke van Velden and demanded that she reversed the recent pay equity changes. Remaining staff members at polytech UCOL may be expected to pick up some of the work of colleagues made redundant if a proposed restructure goes ahead. Health NZ on Thursday ...5 days ago
- The Haka. The Cheering. Then The Bite.
IMPORTANT: Even if next week’s debate lessens the severe penalty onTe Pāti Māori, the punishment has been timed to ice their leaders out of Budget 2025, and the introduction of the anti Treaty of Waitangi Regulatory Standards Bill.When Te Pāti Māori stood up to perform a historic haka in the ...5 days ago
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- The Hoon around the week to May 16
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- Your Place
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Briefly in the news from Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, May 16:Auditor General John Ryan issued a scathing report yesterday into Oranga Tamariki’s abrupt and surprising cancellation and clawback last year of $60 million of funding for social services organisations, describing the agency’s (virtually nil) ...5 days ago - How A Creative Sector Dies
Art is inevitable, eternal, inexhaustible, unsuppressable. It comes from a place deep within ourselves; it comes from the spaces deep between ourselves, and it connects us like a tether. Even when it’s silly or funny or rude or violent or immature or enigmatic or conventional or bad. (Name a filmmaking ...5 days ago - Pacific island countries need support to address information manipulation
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- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #20 2025
Open access notables Institutionalizing politicized science, Moynihan & Herd, Science [editorial]: The opening months of the Trump administration represent a historic disruption to America’s scientific agencies. Staff have been fired or reassigned in the name of efficiency, resulting in chaos. Grants have been canceled mid-project for featuring the wrong words. “Pauses” ...6 days ago
- Shipbuilding to Citizenship: solving the US skills shortage with immigration
Skill-based immigration can help the United States fill its severe shortage of shipbuilding workers, for both naval and civilian construction. Bolstering the labour pool would help the US and its allies match the Chinese maritime ...6 days ago
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Craig Renney will share his insights into Budget 2025, showing exactly what is going on with the government accounts, and what it might mean for the Election next year. Who are the winners and losers from the choices made by the Minister of Finance? How might different choices lead to ...6 days ago - Brownlee stands up for democracy
Yesterday, parliament's white privilege committee recommended that three Te Pāti Māori MPs be suspended for up to three weeks for opposing the racist Treaty Principles Bill with a haka. The penalty is outrageous and antidemocratic - and surprisingly, even National's Speaker agrees. At the beginning of question time today, he ...6 days ago
- How very dare you
6 days ago - Sri Lanka stalls Starlink over security and sovereignty concerns
Starlink is great for developing countries, offering connectivity without costly infrastructure. But it’s a challenge for their national security, since authorities can’t monitor the traffic it carries. This policy conflict arose in Sri Lanka in ...6 days ago
- Economic Bulletin April/May 2025
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- Release: Govt risks hospice care by cutting women’s pay
The Government’s decision to cut women’s pay could result in an exodus of palliative care nurses from the profession. ...19 hours ago - Release: Govt leaves sexual abuse survivors out in the cold
The Government is quietly cutting more services for women, this time it’s ACC support for survivors of sexual abuse and pausing the expansion of a major sexual violence prevention programme. ...19 hours ago
- Report shows Govt’s callous lack of support for system at breaking point
A new report from Aotearoa Educators’ Collective, released today, has confirmed what teachers, students, and whanau have been calling out for years–our learning support system is overstretched, underfunded, and simply not working. ...20 hours ago - Prime Minister must scrap the Regulatory Standards Bill
The Green Party is urging the Prime Minister to get rid of the Regulatory Standards Bill after the Waitangi Tribunal found that the Bill breaches the Crown’s Tiriti o Waitangi obligations. ...2 days ago
- Release: Women in funded sector unlikely to get pay equity
The Government is unlikely to fund pay equity for hospice and Plunket nurses, care and support workers and other workforces made up of mostly women. ...2 days ago
- Chris Hipkins Speech Auckland regional conference
Tēnā koutou katoa. It’s fantastic to be here with you all—grassroots campaigners, organisers, union members, councillors, MPs, and Labour whānau. ...4 days ago
- Release: Minister’s rash orders fail frontline providers
The Auditor-General has found serious failings in the Government’s review of frontline providers such as counselling and prevention services. ...5 days ago
- Release: Prices keep rising while National cuts women’s pay
Prices for essentials, like milk, butter and electricity continue to get more expensive under National, at the same time as the Government takes money from women’s pockets to save their budget. ...5 days ago
- Te Pāti Māori Condemns Fast-Track Approval of Seabed Mining
Te Pāti Māori is gravely concerned by the Government’s approval of the Trans-Tasman Resources (Taranaki VTM) seabed mining project under its fast-track regime. This marks the first time a commercial shallow seabed mining operation has been approved anywhere in the world- pushed through with no transparency, no public input, and ...5 days ago
- Social Security Amendment Bill pushes poverty on people
The Government’s just-passed Social Security Amendment Bill is set to create more benefit sanctions that will push families deeper into poverty. ...6 days ago
- Report exposes damage of rushed cuts to Oranga Tamariki
Today’s report into last year’s Oranga Tamariki contract procurement process confirms the Government’s brutal cuts were rushed, poorly managed, and made with no concern for the impact on tamariki. ...6 days ago
- 210,000 Māori Silenced: Committee Delivers Harshest Punishment in Parliament History
Today the Privileges Committee handed down a severe punishment. Te Pāti Māori Co-leaders Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have been suspended for 21 days, and MP for Hauraki-Waikato Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke has been suspended for 7 days. ...6 days ago
- Release: Govt finally admits 180,000 in line for a pay cut
The Government finally admitted late last night that roughly 180,000 people will be affected by its decision to halt pay equity claims. ...7 days ago
- Release: Admin nearly a quarter of entire FamilyBoost spend
Nearly a quarter of the money spent on the Government’s flagship FamilyBoost policy has gone to administration, not to families to help with childcare. ...7 days ago
- Green Budget for a country worth fighting for
The Green Budget shows how much better our lives could be under a Green Government, instead of one dominated by corporate greed. ...7 days ago
- Green Budget: Early Childhood Education for Everyone
The Green Party has unveiled its new plan to make Early Childhood Education (ECE) free. ...7 days ago
- Green Budget delivers for Māori
The Green Party is delivering for Māori with its Green Budget. ...7 days ago
- Green Budget: Free GPs for all
The Green Party has launched its plan for Free GPs as part of its Green Budget. ...7 days ago
- Chris Hipkins: Pre-Budget speech
Tēnā koutou katoa. Good morning. I read recently that one of the keys to success in life is to do the hard stuff first thing in the morning. ...1 week ago
- Release; Budget should not be paid for by working women
The Government must do three things in Budget 2025 if it is genuinely going to turn things around for New Zealanders. ...1 week ago
- Release: Peeni Henare takes over foreign affairs
Labour’s Peeni Henare will pick up the foreign affairs portfolio, following David Parker’s departure from Parliament. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt better at crushing women’s rights than cars
Rehashing old laws around boy racers is not going to make our communities safer, or distract New Zealanders from the appalling decision to cut women’s pay. ...1 week ago
- No Justice for State Abuse Survivors- Kapa-Kingi
Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau calls out the government’s decision to keep funding state abuse, turning their backs on justice and real change for abuse in care survivors. “The government has committed to throwing $744 million down the drain, reinforcing a violent regime of disrespect against the ...2 weeks ago
- Govt’s War on Te Tiriti Continues as Review of Treaty Act Announced
Te Pāti Māori is absolutely disgusted by the Government’s announcement to review the Waitangi Tribunal- a deliberate and dangerous escalation in its ongoing campaign to undermine Te Tiriti o Waitangi and silence tangata whenua. “The Government’s onslaught against Te Tiriti continues with this latest move to review the Treaty of ...2 weeks ago
- Tribunal review an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi
The Government’s plans to limit the powers and scope of the Waitangi Tribunal is a disgrace. ...2 weeks ago
- Tribunal review an attack on Te Tiriti o Waitangi
The Government’s plans to limit the powers and scope of the Waitangi Tribunal is a disgrace. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour asks why Govt is silent on Gaza
Labour is asking the Government why it is silent on Israel’s deliberate use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, saying New Zealand should be speaking out. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Govt ignores the voices of survivors
Survivors of abuse in state care have a right to feel disappointed and sidelined by the Government. ...2 weeks ago
- Redress announcement leaves little justice for survivors
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s decision to severely underfund financial compensation for survivors of abuse in state care. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Bill launched to stop tobacco industry lobbying
Labour is launching a members’ bill to stop the Government from putting tobacco industry interests ahead of public health. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour fights for firefighters
The Labour Party backs volunteer firefighters who are currently not covered by ACC for workplace disease and mental injury and is drafting policy to put this right when the party wins the election in 2026. ...2 weeks ago
- Wildlife law change a deep betrayal of public trust
The Green Party is appalled by the Government’s use of urgency to rewrite the Wildlife Act–without consultation, without an impact statement, and in direct response to a court ruling in favour of protecting wildlife. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: National cuts women’s pay
National has forced through a law change that will take money out of women’s pockets. ...2 weeks ago
- ‘Govt’s Pay Bill Entrenches Discrimination Against Women’ – Kemp
Te Pāti Māori stands in staunch and emotional opposition to the Government’s so-called Equal Pay Amendment Bill, calling it a calculated attack on working women and a cruel betrayal of the generations who have fought for pay equity in Aotearoa. “This bill doesn’t just undermine equal pay — it completely ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Fewer jobs and opportunities for Māori, again
In the last 12 months life has only got worse for Māori under Christopher Luxon’s Government. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: More than one in 10 Pacific people unemployed under National
There are more Pacific people unemployed as the rate increases to a staggering 10.8% under National. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Unemployment remains high under National
Job losses remain stubbornly high under National, as their attack on jobs, wages, and women rages on. ...2 weeks ago
- Govt for the rich is failing the unemployed
The latest job market statistics show that unemployed people are being failed by a Government more focused on punishing the poor than creating jobs. ...2 weeks ago
- RSE Draft Erases Rainbow and Takatāpui Youth
Te Pāti Māori is demanding urgent changes to the draft Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) framework, calling it a dangerous step backwards for Takatāpui, trans, and rainbow rangatahi. “This draft erases Takatāpui voices, ignores whānau diversity, and delays consent education. It’s not just inadequate, it’s unbelievably unsafe” said Te Pāti ...2 weeks ago
- RSE Draft Erases Rainbow and Takatāpui Youth
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- New tools to help women navigate online harm
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- Te Pāti Māori put ‘on remand’ as debate on punishment postponed
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- The coalition Govt just doesn’t care about women
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- Minister shelves faster phase-out of $70m carbon subsidies
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- The high cost of getting high in New Zealand
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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