Holy fuck the most bizarre interview every between Paul Henry and the head niwa scientist. He blew Henrys tiny selfish little mind. Will be on in 50 minutes on tv3 +1
Embarrassing listening to Paul Henry on this. I’ve never heard anybody trumpet their ignorance on so many topics as loudly as he does. He even described us as “shickered” by climate change, apparently blithely unaware it means drunk. Or maybe he personally does drink to forget it.
I imagine comparatively few Standardistas have given much thought to Key’s next job – always imagining he’d be welcome among the crew that loathed him so much they gave him the nickname the smiling assassin.
Trotter (link not available yet) points to some evidence, being a lapel badge and question answered to the Josie Butler person about it. If she has made shit up like this then it will decimate her credibility – let’s see
“I went to the first security check point which was at the front driveway to the [Rydges] hotel. The guards asked for my ID, and whilst I was getting it out I noticed one of the guys had an army badge pinned to his lapel, I asked him if he was military and he confirmed that all security present today were army personnel.”
– Shouldn’t be too hard to find out if this is true
From accounts I’ve heard from others, the write up mentioned above is a pretty good reflection of the event in Dunedin. I haven’t heard anybody witnessing any members of the military amongst the security in Dunedin but there was certainly a large contingent of police, Armourgard employees and security chaps in suits.
Wonder if there will be the high level of security in Invercargill tomorrow for Todd McClays visit?
“Atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide last year rose by the biggest margin since records began, according to a US federal science agency.
Fossil fuel burning and a strong El Niño weather pattern pushed CO2 levels 3.05 parts per million (ppm) on a year earlier to 402.6 ppm, as measured at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) said on Wednesday.”
And right on call Global temperatures are going through the roof. Following on from a record monthly Global Temperature in January – February 2016 was the warmest month on record by a whopping 0.2o C! That surge in Global Temperatures brings the Earth to the 1.50 C above pre-industrial levels aspirational target that the COP 21 agreed the world must stay just last year.
Now the surge in Global temperatures that we are currently experiencing is not unexpected considering that we are in the middle of an El Nino event the like of which hasn’t been experienced since 1997-98, when there was a similar spike in Global temperatures. However the current spike (and I’m sure that temperatures will drop back – this is a temporary aberration) is far more pronounced than even the massive spike of the 97-98 event. The Earth is now on a new “Plateau” on the upward journey of increasing Global Temperatures.
Here in New Zealand, National are considering “fixing” the ETS. Submissions have been called and I’m sure many have submitted. I have done so in the past but this time I did not. In my opinion submitting again on this new amendment to a now useless Emissions Trading Scheme is a complete waste of time and energy because this is a Government of “consultation” in name only. They think that consultation involves telling others what is to happen. Not only that, there are enough “hot air” credits slopping around in the scheme to cover NZ’s arse for the next couple of years, laundered by the Government, so that NZ can meet its targets without spending any money. So expect nothing creditable to emerge from this new assessment of a scheme that is already worthless, and has done nothing to limit NZs GHG emissions. It is again simply window dressing and the rearrangement of deck chairs on a sinking ship.
NZ’s ETS is beyond redemption. It needs scraping and replaced by a Carbon Tax of at least $50 per tonne initially (I’m sure others would argue for more) and applied across all sectors. The revenue generated to be redistributed through vastly increased initiatives in public transport, alternative energies, energy efficiencies, subsidies for private solar, wind, and electric and hybrid vehicles, insulation of houses, and research and education wrt climate change.
Electric vehicles – Talking of which – much hypocrisy here! But great photo op!/sarc
NZ’s ETS is beyond redemption. It needs scraping and replaced by a Carbon Tax of at least $50 per tonne initially (I’m sure others would argue for more) and applied across all sectors.
Want to grow the economy while also helping the environment? Well, slap a $200 per metric ton tax on carbon dioxide emissions, according to a new study by an environmental group that claims such a policy would grow the economy and create jobs.
$200 per tonne of CO2. That puts a price on coal of $600 per tonne before you even start to think about digging it out of the ground. Petrol and diesel get a carbon tax of 50 to 60 cents per litre.
Bring it on. There will be massive economic stimulus from bringing online all the substitutes.
TPP- the ISDS is one of the most contentious parts of the TPP. The countries with which we have ISDS clauses in our FTAs have not featured highly in data on ISDS.
However, as you can see in the linked page of an interactive site on ISDS (showing the countries, the number of cases brought against the country using the ISDS and the Home state of the claimant corporation.) US and Canada are high on the litigant side.
Without ISDS a claimant still can get justice by using the existing judicial systems. ISDS is simply a ploy to bypass these and is used to threaten states.
So how would you test such arguments? Well, in a way we did carry out an experiment. In the early 1990s there was a widespread orthodoxy that “outward-looking” development policies were much more favorable to growth than “inward-looking” policies. This orthodoxy had a lot to do with the rapid growth of Asian economies, which had followed an export-oriented path rather than the import substitution tried by much of the world in the 50s and 60s. The question, however, was whether you would see dramatic acceleration of growth in other places, such as Latin America, when policy shifted away from inward focus.
And the answer turned out to be, not so much. Look at Mexico, which did a radical trade liberalization in 1985-88, then joined NAFTA. It has seen a transformation of its economy in many ways; it has gone from an economy that didn’t export much besides oil and tourism to a major manufacturing export power. And the effect on development has been … undewhelming.
So Brad could be right; but the evidence is far from conclusive. I would still argue very strongly that it’s crucial to keep markets open for poor countries. But we should be cautious in our claims about the virtues of free trade.
Such an outward looking way to boost an economy is underwhelming because everyone can do it and productivity is so high that only a small percentage of the world population is needed to provide everything we need (although, there probably isn’t enough actual resources to do that – the problem of over population).
The only way left to develop an economy is broadly within it’s own scope. In other words, local manufacture from local resources for local use.
I will say this though, the climate change news is scarey beyond what we’ve had in the past. I think a lot of people aren’t well equipped to deal with that, so how about we all try and be a bit kinder to each other this week? (I’m looking at myself there too).
Not surprised that you think its fine to stereotype white males of a certain age, but then call me the bigot. And then try and talk about kindness. Your hypocrisy climbs to new heights.
I didn’t say it’s fine CV and I don’t actually think it’s fine. You’re making an incorrect assumption about my politics. Again. All I did was stand up and point out your behaviour again because I’m sick of the whole bullshit false binaries and pathologising whole groups of people. Pineapples made a single comment and people are free to call them on it as they see fit. You’ve been spraying your negative shit that’s now out and out bigotry around the site for many months. It’s tedious and it’s having a negative effect on discussions and what we can do here. I’m not willing to let that slide in such an important thread.
stereotyping and bigotry aren’t exactly the same thing though, right? Feel free to call me on bigotry any time you like, so long as you can point to an example and explain why you think it’s bigoted and then engage in a conversation about that.
As Bill pointed out, the climate denialists are well represented by older white guys. I don’t think anyone that agrees with that statement thinks that that means that most older white guys are denialists (although I might be tempted to say that if I lived in the US).
You’re the one accusing CV of bigotry though, what was his bigoted comment? pointing out their whiteness doesn’t do anything to help the problem – just gives people more reason to discount what you say
CV’s bigotry is related to people he hates on and likes to now treat as a class eg ‘the left’.
“pointing out their whiteness doesn’t do anything to help the problem – just gives people more reason to discount what you say”
Contrary to what CV was thinking, I wasn’t fine with Pineapple’s comment. I thought it unnecessarily inflammatory and pretty much irrelevant outside of a conversation that was looking at power structures. It might have worked further down the thread, but as the first comment, when people were just finished reading something pretty challenging, having to jump into a conversation like that was jarring and likely to derail the thread.
Do I think that the classes of people who control both the creation of cc and whether we prevent the worst of it are dominated by older white men? Yes. Is there any disputing that? Do I think that most older white men are responsible? No. It always pays to talk to people about their politics and find out what they believe rather than jumping to conclusions based on projection.
But if you yourself stereotype people in that way, it’s all hunky dory, apparently. Seriously, mate, you need to own your prejudices and stop being such a hypocrite.
I’m going to suggest that one of the moderators shifts the whole subthread too because it’s completely off topic and it’s an important thread for people not to be put off by derailments at the top of the comments.
It’s so interesting to see CV being pursued by you weka. He is receiving the same treatment that I used to get when I attempted to say anything about rape culture, and question its pervasiveness. When people like yourself set up as gatekeeper to everything it acts to enforce censorship. But it seems that you weka are trying to dominate the discourse and control the site to the point where critical attacks are common.
And for those who don’t know what all this gerfuffle is about – this was what got it started. I think that everyone should stop, rethink and stick to the political discussion. If someone makes a pointed criticism in the heat of the moment, let it pass, particularly weka, Colonial Viper and Te Reo Putake. It is not impressive to see the unreasoning hostility that amounts to bullying, then provoking reaction. I thought The Standard was aiming higher than this unpleasant nitpicking.
February breaks all records.
esoteric pineapples 1
15 March 2016 at 10:32 am
Now all we have to do is wait for a bunch of white males over 40 to tell us either a) scientists don’t know what they are talking about or b) its a hoax driven by the illuminati or some other conspiratorial group.
Thanks grey. I’m more than happy to be challenged on what I am doing, and I’m not that happy with how I have been here lately (my questioning the macho culture of ts is in part because it tends to bring out the worst in me if I don’t keep an eye on what I am doing).
I’m going to disagree with your interpretation though. The problem I have with CV is his behaviour not his politics, so I’m not sure the comparison works re you trying to bring in a different view on rape culture. It was the same with Pete George. When people’s behaviour affects a community so negatively then I think it’s valid for others to do something about it. If I was the only person challening CV on what he is doing I might agree with your interpretation that I am trying to control the debate somehow. But many people are sick of what he is doing. Many. If you take me out of the equation, CV still sprays his shit around too much and many people react against that. They aren’t doing those things because of me.
Whether my own behaviour makes that situation better or worse, I don’t really know at the moment. I think CV does respond to people encouraging him to be more proactive rather than just spraying shit around the site, so I try and do that until I lose my patience. I think in the instance the other day it was unfortunate that he put up an intentionally provocative post when feelings were already running high about his behaviour, because the subject he raised was important and it just got lost in the mess. I can also see that because of how ts is, he was probably limited in how he could bring that topic up, so in hindsight it was just a clusterfuck that no-one could do much about. For my part I wish I had taken a more proactive approach in my own critiques.
I basically walked out of that recent climate change thread because it was painful, and it was painfully obvious that by far the majority of people here wanted yet another round of talking rather than doing something. I have no tolerance for that and I’m sure it affected how I was posting for some time.
The stuff at the start was nothing to do with that, it was just a distraction. But I think the painful nature of the topic of the post probably contributed to the subsequent aggro. As for that convo *starting the whole thing, again I’ll disagree. It was just a continuation of something that’s pretty much continual here. My main comments at the start were to suggest we didn’t derail the thread and to suggest that the diversion get taken to OM. I’m not sure how that was a problem.
I don’t know if I am gatekeeper so much as caretaker who’s reached a point of frustration at the mess. Characterising CV’s comments as only something said in the heat of the moment misses the wider context and the impact he has on the site. If you think that I am also having a negative impact, please keep calling me on that (I don’t really get quite what you were meaning above, but I do remember you once telling me I was commenting too often, so I’ll have a think about that and whether I’d be better off making more comments from a more discerning place).
Well we live in a patriarchy that favours white males over males of other skin hue, and so they tend to have accumulated more of the available privilege that comes courtesy of the status quo . And older people tend to have more invested in the status quo than younger people, so…sure, a broad brush stroke, but to say that idiots advocating the status quo can be sort of characterised as”white males over 40″ seems fair enough in my book.
Nothing particularly sexist in it. Nothing particularly ageist in it. Absolutely nothing racist in it (can’t be racist towards whites – impossible)
Lol @ patriarchy and “can’t be racist towards whites” of course you can! It’s easy and people do it all the time, it just isn’t as harmful overall because of where power lies in western societies currently
Racism has very specific roots – Social Darwinism. Sure, other cultures may well have thought of themselves superior, but only one (as far as I’m aware) touted itself, essentially, as a race apart from and above the human race – humanity. That allowed, informed or excused colonisation by the white west of every non-white area of the world.
That all means that a white person can be on the receiving end of discrimination but never racism, because racism’s a very particular type of discrimination that always holds ‘whiteness’ as above and better and ‘god given’ (as it were).
Gawd.
Muldoon, Bolger, Clark and Key all took till their third term before they started displaying their Messiah complexes.
Muldoon and Clark got really virulent cases. Remember how Piggy was going to save the world’s monetary system? Now Little has got the bug.
Little has got it already and he has only had a year and a bit as leader of a minor party.
Please Labour . Get things sorted out. Get rid of Little and all the deadwood.
New Zealand cannot afford such a useless second party.
I have some very simple principles.
Politicians should define what outcome they want.
Then they should get out of the way.
They should never try and run a business. If they do that they will never stop doing something stupid. They are unable to admit they have done something foolish so they keep throwing money at it rather than shut it down.
They are also completely unaware that they really don’t know anything about it.
That is why we have to get a new Government every few years. The new lot don’t have anything committed to the mistake so they are willing to fix things.
If we get Little, or any other politician, making decisions about what a bank should charge in interest or who is to get loans they will make mistakes. Then they will use tax-payers money to hide the mistake. If the bank starts making unhappy noises they will give them more money to shut them up.
In the case of the Reserve Bank for example Roger Douglas laid down the first principles, and left how it was done to the Governor. Everyone since has left the Governor to get on with it and they have done very well. If they don’t they can be sacked because the blame can be put on them, not the poly.
Little seems to think he knows better. So did Muldoon and we ended up with stagflation.
Can I ask, if you are a man of principal, did you vote national in any of the last 3 elections, given that it was as obvious as hell to any one vaguely interested in politics that national us very dirty tactics around election time!
Yes I did. And I didn’t find their tactics any different to their predecessors.
I have voted in 11 of the last 12 elections. 5 Labour, 6 National and 1 when, living overseas I didn’t think I should vote.
However in 2008 I thought Labour were old, tired and corrupt. A change was essential.
They had the same people on 2011. Nothing had really changed had it? In general Labour were still useless so I voted for the ones who were better for New Zealand.
2014 was even worse. Can you really imagine a no-hoper like Cunliffe as PM?
Seriously? He seemed to have more DCMs than anyone I had ever heard of.
Now? I want to see some alternative to the current Government who was competent but at the moment Labour looks just as useless as ever. At the moment Key still seems better for the country.
I want a better option.
I think Helen Clark was responsible for the Labour party woes. She wanted people there who were subservient to her and would do what she demanded. Not a rebel or even a free thinking person in the lot of them. And they are still there!
By the way the word I used was PRINCIPLE, not PRINCIPAL. I bow down to no-one.
” Not a rebel or even a free thinking person in the lot of them.”
Can I point that not one nat with exception to the odius corrupt Collins has ever slightly broken ranks in 7 years.
For a laugh on day I asked the member for Taupo on her Facebook page what her views on keys ponytail pulling where, it got removed quickly I can tell you.
By the way I was pissed with Clarke to , for giving our land to the southern gentry, and not working more with the greens. And I always saw goff as a caretaker leader.
As for Cunliffe I found him a bit cringe worthy but he would of done a good job IMO .
Maybe, but it would still be good to see the Reserve Bank concentrate on more than just inflation. Its job is to balance the growth in the economy with inflation targets, and its concentrating on just inflation.
There’s plenty more signals Little needs to make against the retail banks. He just needs the support of the Reserve Bank to do its actual job.
Things looking pretty damn shity for Israeli Arabs
About half of Israel’s Jews support the transfer of Arabs to other countries, according to a survey by the American Pew Research Center published Tuesday. The poll was conducted among Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis from the end of 2014 until the middle of 2015, before the latest wave of terror.
One of the questions in the survey, based on face-to-face interviews of 5,601 individuals, asked to what degree they agreed with the following statement: “Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel.” The result, among the Jewish respondents: Twenty-one percent “strongly agree” and 27 percent “mostly agree.” If those two groups are combined, about half of Israeli Jews questioned – 48 percent – support transfer of Arab citizens. On the other hand, a similar proportion – 46 percent – say they oppose such a move, with 29 percent saying that they “don’t really agree” and 17 percent responding that they “don’t agree at all” to the expulsion of Arabs.
Back in 2002, polls suggested more than 40% of Israelis agreed with the expulsion (either through force or encouragement) of Israeli Arabs. By 2006, that sentiment had risen to almost 50% (forced transfer) rising to over 55% (if encouragement of Arab emigration was included).
Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of Israelis (polls have generally suggested well over 80%) have long opposed a two-state settlement grounded in international Law (in which Israel withdraws to the pre-June 67 border and allows a significant Palestinian Capital in East Jerusalem). In other words, the Israeli public fully supports the rejectionist stance of consecutive Israeli Govts over the decades.
What the majority of Israelis do support (in some polls, by a very large majority) is the sort of “settlement” of the “conflict” where Israel annexes all of the major settlement Blocs, splitting the West Bank into separate little cantons, annexes most of Jerusalem and nullifies the Right of Return.
Recent polls have also suggested a majority of Israelis support Jewish/Arab segregation on public transport, 55% supported segregated recreational facilities, large minorities agree that Arab-Israelis shouldn’t be employed in hospitals, nursing institutions or kindergartens. 75% opposed living in the same apartment buildings as Arabs, 55% believed Israeli-Arabs didn’t have the ability to reach the same level of cultural development as Jews, 61% were unwilling to have an Arab visit their home, 64% believe Arab-Israelis endanger the state of Israel because of their high birth rates. And a large minority considered Arab culture inferior.
A 2008 poll found 40% of Jewish Israelis believed Arab Israelis should not be allowed to vote, with 78% against Arab politicians having any involvement in govt and 80% opposed to Arabs being involved in “important decisions”. A 2010 poll found 57% agreed that Israeli Human Rights organisations that expose “immoral conduct by Israel” shouldn’t be allowed to operate freely. Majorities also favoured punishing Israeli citizens and journalists who either support sanctions (BDS) or report on facts that reflect badly on Israel’s international reputation.
And, of course, polls suggest overwhelming Israeli support for the IDF’s regular massacres and carpet-bombing of Gaza and Lebanon.
Just enjoying watching questions in the house today on playback, the best bit is being able to fast forward National MP’s vacuous responses and patsy questions.
tbh I’m not sure who bears the costs of these visits. I suspect the US State Dept bears much of the cost but we will be providing a shit load of outer perimeter security, state events/banquets, closing down large areas of cities at Secret Service request etc.
I wonder who this is? Reminds me of another “person of some public interest” from up North who is facing some serious charges in court very soon! Wonder when that case will start rolling out?
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by The Council of Disobedient Women In her excellent oral submission to the Abortion reform select committee on 31st October on behalf of Otago University’s Department of Public Health, historian and public health researcher Hera Cook stated: “We would ask that the committee not use the term ‘pregnant persons’ and ...
by Don Franks In 1957, E M Forster wrote, of his greatest work: “The India described in ‘A Passage to India’ no longer exists either politically or socially. Change had begun even at the time the book was published ( 1924) and during the following quarter of a century it ...
The Referendums Framework Bill was due back from select committee today. But there's no report on it. Instead, the bill has been bounced back to the House under Standing order 29593) because the Committee didn't bother to produce one. They probably tried. But given the membership of the committee (which ...
Two years into New Zealand’s Labour-led government, the long-delayed Zero Carbon Bill became law on 7 November. Passed essentially unanimously, the lengthy public debates and political manoeuvring faded away until the final passage was even anticlimactic: Flipping through the @nzstuff@DomPost I was starting to wonder if I’d dreamt ...
Now the Zero Carbon Bill is law, what's next? Obviously, the ETS changes currently before select committee are going to be the next battleground. But we're also going to get a good idea of where we're going, and if the progress the Zero Carbon Act promises is good enough, during ...
Grant PearceThe effects of the current Australian bushfires in New South Wales and Queensland (and also again in California) are devastating and far-reaching. To date, the fires have resulted in several lives being lost and many homes and properties destroyed. Here in New Zealand, the impacts have been only ...
A passing comment in a post the other day about the labour force participation rates of older people prompted me to pull down the fuller data and see what we could see about various participation rates over the decades since the HLFS began in 1986. As it happens, the ...
Distract And Divert: The rise of what we have come to call “Identity Politics” represents the ideological manifestation of the ruling class’s objective need to destroy class politics, and of the middle-class’s subjective need to justify their participation in the process.THE RELIEF of the ruling class can only be imagined. ...
"I saw a newspaper picture,From the political campaignA woman was kissing a child,Who was obviously in pain.She spills with compassion,As that young child'sFace in her hands she gripsCan you imagine all that greed and avariceComing down on that child's lips?" ...
Dr Matt Boyd, Prof Michael Baker, Prof Nick WilsonThe Global Health Security Index which considers pandemic threats has just been published. Unfortunately, NZ scores approximately half marks (54/100), coming in 35th in the world rankings – far behind Australia. This poor result suggests that the NZ Government needs to ...
The Zero Carbon Act is inadequate, with a weak methane target designed to give farmers a free ride. But it turns out it could have been worse: Climate Change Minister James Shaw was so desperate to get National on board, he wanted to gut that target, and leave it in ...
The Herald reprints an Australian story on a couple of tragic deaths in Bali from drinking cocktails that had methanol in them. The story argues that methanol is likely the result of home distillation. But what the young tourists were experiencing was far from a hangover. They’d consumed a toxic cocktail ...
Last month, the police announced a trial of specialist roaming armed units, which would drive round (poor, brown) areas in armoured SUVs, armed to the teeth. When they announced the trial, they told us it was about having armed police "ready to attend major incidents at any time if needed". ...
Spain went to the polls today in the second elections this year, after the Socialists (who had come to power in a confidence vote, then gone to the polls in April) rejected the offer of a coalition with the left-wing PoDemos, and instead decided to gamble n a better outcome ...
A couple of days ago I attended (and spoke at) the University of Waikato’s “LearnFest” event. There were lots of talks and sessions on very diverse aspects of teaching, mostly at tertiary level. One was by Myra Williamson from Te Piringa Faculty of Law here at Waikato, on Contract Cheating ...
There will be a transit of Mercury – the planet Mercury will pass across the face of the Sun – taking place at sunrise in New Zealand on Tuesday, 12th November. It was by observing such an event 250 years ago that James Cook and his scientist colleagues were able ...
Since becoming the world’s first openly transexual mayor and member of parliament, Georgina Beyer has been recognised as a trailblazer for trans rights. Daphna Whitmore talks with her about where she sees the current trans movement We start out talking about legislation the government put on hold that would have ...
If FFNZ really put their faith in “Top Medical Journals” they would now be amending their billboards to recognise new research results. Image from FFNZ but updated to agree with the latest research. ...
National Messiah? Chris Luxon identifies himself as an evangelical Christian. If he is genuine in this self-characterisation, then he will take every opportunity his public office provides to proselytise on behalf of his faith. He will also feel obliged to bear witness against beliefs and practices he believes to be ...
I'm going to make a Reckless Prediction™ that the Tories have 'topped out' in the 'poll of polls' / Britain Elects multipoll tracker at about 38%, and in the next week we will start to see Labour creep up on them.In fact, we might just be seeing the start of ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Lizzie Marvelly: “I may have missed this… has @afterellen gone all terf-y? Or am I reading something incorrectly? “ https://twitter.com/LizzieMarvelly/status/1191840059105742849 After Ellen is a lesbian website that is unashamedly pro-lesbian, as you’d expect. So why is Ms Marvelly so bothered about lesbians having their ...
Did you know there once was a time when it was illegal to be a gypsy (aka Romani) in Britain?That was between 1530, when the Egyptians Act was passed, and 1856, when it was repealed.Amongst other things, the act forbade the entry of 'Egyptians' into England, ordered those already there ...
Some days I sit and think, “what will I write…?” What do you say when you get to 1000 posts? Maybe you just start where you are, diverge to where this all began, then offer a collection of reader’s favourite posts, and a few of your own? (And throw in ...
Counter-Puncher: The “activists” and “radicals” (his own words) from the Indian community who took such strong exception to Shane Jones’ remarks about Immigration NZ’s treatment of arranged marriages, may end up bitterly regretting their intervention. Jones is not the sort of person who turns the other cheek to his critics.SHANE ...
In the spirit of Remember, remember the fifth of November, let's keep this in mind FOREVER.
Oh dear. Extraordinary interview on PM with Andrew Bridgen and @EvanHD just now. Bridgen was defending Jacob Rees Mogg’s Grenfell comments. Evan asked him if JRM had meant to say he would have left ...
Collision Course? In conditions of ideological white-out, the international bankers’ “Woop-Woop! Pull Up!” warning may have come too late to save global capitalism.WHAT DOES IT MEAN when international bankers are more willing to embrace radical solutions than our politicians and their electors? At both the International Monetary Fund and the ...
Pertussis (whooping cough) is a conundrum. It is a disease that was described hundreds of years ago and the bacteria that causes it (Bordetella pertussis) isolated in 1906. We have had vaccines for about 80 years but this disease is defiant in the face of human immunity. I wanted to ...
The Zero Carbon Bill has just passed its third reading, uanimously. In the end, National supported it - but we all know they'll turn around and gut it the moment they regain power. Meanwhile, I guess ACT's David Seymour didn't even bother to show up. I am on record as ...
Dr Lindsay Robertson, Dr Jerram Bateman, Professor Janet HoekMembers of the public health community hold divergent views on how access to vaping products or electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products should be arranged. Some believe ENDS should be as widely available as smoked tobacco and argue for liberal ...
When the Police were trying to cover up for the National Party over Dirty Politics, they went all-in with their abuses of power. They illegally search Nicky Hager's house, violating his journalistic privilege and invading his privacy. They unlawfully acquired Hager's bank records. They did the same to left-wing blogger ...
Last month, in response to a wave of protests by Extinction Rebellion, the British government purported to ban their protests from the whole of London. It was a significant interference with the freedoms of expression and assembly, and another sign of the country's decline into tyranny. But now, a court ...
Last year, the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security reported on significant problems with the intelligence warrant system. While they were unwilling to declare any warrant "irregular" (meaning unlawful) due to the recent law change, they were also not willing to give the system a clean bill of health. Now, they've ...
The National Party has come out in support of encouraging greater vaccination uptake. But it sure isn’t the way I’d do it. National’s suggested docking the benefits of those on benefit whose kids aren’t keeping up with their vaccinations. Some in National have suggested extending that to payments under Working ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries Today the Government announced the delivery of the promise to protect New Zealand interests by applying a new National Interest Test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. This further strengthening of the Overseas Investment Act will ...
The Coalition Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high-risk assets to overseas buyers. Under current Overseas Investment Act (OIA) rules, assets such as ports and airports, telecommunications infrastructure, electricity and ...
Rt Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First Allegations raised this morning by Stuff Limited / Fairfax concern a party matter but I am confident that New Zealand First has operated within electoral laws, now and for the last 27 years. Declarable donations were declared to the Electoral Commission. Our ...
The chairman of the Upper North Island Supply Chain Strategy (UNISCS) working group, Wayne Brown, has hit back at critics of his group’s recommendations to relocate the Ports of Auckland cargo operations to Whangarei’s deepwater port of Northport. The working group's recommendation to close Auckland waterfront to all but cruise ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First backs the public to decide on the End of Life Choice Bill via a referendum at the 2020 General Election. The Bill, with New Zealand First’s referendum provision incorporated, passed its final reading in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Justice New Zealand First is proud that a key Coalition Agreement commitment which will provide for a more transparent and effective criminal justice system has been realised. Legislation to establish the Criminal Cases Review Commission, an independent body focused on identifying and responding to possible miscarriages of ...
"Today we have made a choice that will leave a legacy... I hope that means that future generations will see that we, in New Zealand, were on the right side of history." - Jacinda Ardern, Third Reading of the Zero Carbon Bill ...
Darroch Ball, New Zealand First List MP A Member’s bill has been proposed that would provide income tax exemptions for all New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel while on operational deployment overseas. The Income Tax (Exemption for Salary or Wages of NZDF Members on Active Deployment) Amendment Bill proposed by New Zealand First ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have brought common sense to the Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Bill, which passed its final reading in Parliament today. Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says months of hard work went into negotiating a balanced ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First has listened to calls to recognise paramedics as registered health professionals under the Health Practitioners’ Competence Assurance Act (the Act).Today, the Coalition Government announced plans for paramedics to be registered as health practitioners under the Act, and the establishment of a ...
We began the week by commemorating the New Zealand Wars and celebrating a major increase in the number of teachers. Then, we were busy supporting offenders into work and getting our rail back on track after years of underinvestment. And that's just the start! ...
In October I was sworn in as the Mayor of Lower Hutt.It’s the privilege of my life to serve Hutt people as their Mayor. There is something really special to be able to serve the community where I was raised, and where I live. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has welcomed the first reading of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation 2021 (APEC 2021) Bill in Parliament today. The temporary bill supports New Zealand’s security preparations for hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in 2021. “APEC is the leading economic and trade forum ...
The Government is making progress on improving the wellbeing of the one million New Zealanders under the age of 18,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on World Children’s Day. The Government has today recommitted to the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history – the United Nation’s Convention on ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter has released a new report celebrating the contribution of Māori women in business across Aotearoa New Zealand. “Māori women are leaders in our communities, they employ many people and support our economy and our communities,” Julie Anne Genter said. The report, Ngā wāhine kaipakihi: ...
Four parcels of land have been bought in Omokoroa, in the Western Bay of Plenty District, for an education facility that will accommodate both a primary and secondary school on a campus-like facility, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. Two parcels were acquired from private land owners and two were ...
1 million New Zealanders warmed by the Winter Energy Payment 36,000 families bank the Best Start Payment in first year 6,000 more families received the Family Tax Credit, 220,600 in total They receive an increase too – from an average of $117 to $157 a week for Inland Revenue clients, ...
New rules to clamp down on overzealous wheel clamping and extortionate fees charged in order to release a vehicle have passed their final stage in Parliament today. The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill has now passed its third reading. “These changes mean $100 will be the maximum wheel clamping ...
An independent Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission is a step closer after it unanimously passed its first vote in Parliament today. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill lays the groundwork for establishing the Commission as a fully independent crown entity – delivering on a key recommendation of He Ara ...
We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to screen travellers for border and immigration risks off-shore before they travel to New Zealand. It was launched in August and became mandatory on 1 October 2019. More than 500,000 NZeTAs have been issued since ...
A proposed national plan of action to reduce the number of seabirds caught in fisheries is being circulated for public feedback. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage say New Zealand is a global centre of seabird diversity with about 145 species in our waters. It has more ...
The Government is delivering on its promise to protect New Zealanders’ interests by applying a new national interest test to the sales of our most sensitive and high risk assets to overseas buyers. Associate Finance Minister David Parker said under current Overseas Investment Act rules, assets such as ports and ...
The Government is building special housing to accommodate one of Aotearoa’s greatest taonga- our kaumātua, says the Minister for Māori Development, Hon Nanaia Mahuta. Speaking at a National Kaumātua Service Providers Conference in Rotorua today, the Minister reinforced the importance kaumātua play in maintaining and passing on mātauranga Māori, knowledge, ...
Eleven men from a pilot forestry training programme for prisoners in Northland now have full time jobs or job offers upon release, Corrections Minister Kelvin Davis and Forestry Minister Shane Jones announced today. The ‘release to work’ programme was a collaboration between Te Uru Rākau and the Department of Corrections, ...
Minister of State Services Chris Hipkins today introduced into Parliament a Bill that will make it easier for the public service to tackle the biggest challenges facing Governments. The Bill represents the most significant change in the public service in 30 years. The State Sector Act 1988 will be repealed ...
The families of more than 416,000 students will be better off next year as their schools have signed up to the Government’s donations scheme, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. The scheme will see almost $62.5 million in additional Government funding go to schools nationwide next year. “I’m really pleased ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced further support as the Government of Samoa responds to a serious measles outbreak. “New Zealand will deploy a further 18 vaccination nurses, bringing the total to 30 working in Samoa over the next four weeks,” Mr Peters said. “A New Zealand Medical Assistance ...
Fa’atalofa atu, malo e lelei, Kia ora koutou katoa Thank you to the Child Poverty Action Group for asking me to be here today to provide an update on some of the things that have been happening across my the social development portfolio. Can I firstly acknowledge the vast ...
***Please check against delivery*** Good morning everyone. It is a pleasure to be with you this morning to open this year’s New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Conference and AGM. Firstly, thank you Dr Alan Jackson, NZTR Chair for your introduction. And let us acknowledge also: The NZTR Board; Dean McKenzie, Chair ...
The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer and more secure, Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing) Kris Faafoi has announced today. Both renters and landlords will benefit from the suite of practical changes to the Residential ...
A marine conservation milestone - the 20th anniversary of the establishment of Te Tapuwae o Rongokako Marine Reserve - is being celebrated today at a community event in Tairāwhiti/East Coast attended by the Minister of Conservation, Eugenie Sage. “The creation of this marine reserve in November 1999 was a game ...
The Government is asking the food industry to step up work to tackle obesity including reducing sugar, fat and salt in their products, better information for consumers, and tighter restrictions on advertising to children. Health Minister David Clark and Food Safety Minister Damien O’Connor have responded to a ...
ew, modern emergency department and outpatient facilities at Queenstown’s Lakes District Hospital mean better emergency care for the growing tourist mecca’s visitors and locals, says Health Minister David Clark. Today Dr Clark officially opened the hospital’s redeveloped Emergency Department and Outpatient facilities. The new facilities include: • An extended Emergency Department ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter says today’s release of sexual and reproductive health data reinforces the significance of the Government’s commitment to providing free or very low-cost contraception. The Ministry of Health today published statistics from the Ministry of Health’s 2014/15 Health Survey. “It is important people can make ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced that at the request of the Samoan Government, New Zealand will be providing further support to Samoa as it faces a worsening measles outbreak. “In response to a request from the people of Samoa, New Zealand is providing 3000 measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) ...
“The new Disability Action Plan 2019–2023 moves us towards the inclusive and accessible New Zealand that this government has committed to,” Minister for Disability Issues Carmel Sepuloni announced today. “The Action Plan was designed by disabled people, their family and supporters, the disability sector and government agencies. It will ensure ...
Third Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting 14 November 2019 Joint Statement 1. Defence Ministers Ron Mark and Dr Ng Eng Hen today conducted their third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Singapore. 2. Building on the Enhanced Partnership signed between both countries in May this year, this annual meeting ...
A Bill to improve the court system’s response to sexual violence has passed its first reading in Parliament today. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Sexual Violence Legislation Bill will reduce the trauma sexual violence complainants experience in court, while maintaining defendants’ fundamental rights and making sure the trial process ...
Streamlined payment practices are a step closer for Kiwi businesses with the formal launch of New Zealand’s e-Invoicing framework. Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says the government has now established the structure to enable automated and direct data exchange between the accounting systems of buyers and sellers. “The move to ...
Another 51 quarantine officers and four new biosecurity detector dog teams will help protect New Zealand from invasive pests and diseases this summer, says Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor. “The Government is delivering on its commitment to strengthen New Zealand’s biosecurity system and support our valuable primary sector “New Zealand’s flora, fauna ...
A new report has found New Zealand’s space sector contributed $1.69 billion to the economy in the last financial year and employs 12,000 people, Minister for Economic Development Phil Twyford announced today. The report by Deloitte was commissioned by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and shows New Zealand ...
Judge Coral Shaw has been appointed as the new Chair of the Royal Commission into Historical Abuse in State Care and in the Care of Faith-based Institutions, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. "Judge Shaw, who is currently one of the inquiry commissioners, is extremely well qualified for the ...
The Government has confirmed its third major mental health facility upgrade since the Budget, this time at Palmerston North Hospital. The Prime Minister and Health Minister today visited MidCentral DHB to announce that $30 million has been allocated to upgrade its acute mental health facility. It follows earlier announcements in ...
The roll out of the National Bowel Screening Programme has reached the halfway mark, with 10 out of 20 District Health Boards now part of the programme. MidCentral DHB, which covers Palmerston North, Manawatu and surrounding districts, this week became the latest to DHB to offer free bowel screening to ...
The Government welcomes PHARMAC’s decision to fund a vaccine to protect young people from meningococcal disease from 1 December this year. “Meningococcal disease is a serious threat which people at higher risk should be protected from,” says Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter. “The combined pharmaceutical budget was increased by ...
Groups involved with innovative fisheries research projects are encouraged to apply for government support in the latest funding round from the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures programme. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash says the SFF Futures funding is designed to be flexible enough to support small or large projects across a ...
The Government has fixed an issue affecting how Immigration New Zealand has processed visa applications for culturally arranged marriages, which will now see a consistent process applied which ensures people with legitimate arranged marriages can visit New Zealand while also preventing any rorting of the system. Earlier this year Immigration ...
The Royal Commission into the Attacks on Christchurch Mosques will report back on 30 April 2020 to give it more time to hear submissions and consider information, Internal Affairs Minister Tracey Martin announced today. The Royal Commission was originally scheduled to report back to Government by 10 December 2019. “There has ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Washington DC today to attend a ministerial meeting focused on defeating ISIS, and to continue pursuing New Zealand’s trade opportunities. Mr Peters will participate in a meeting of Foreign and Defence Ministers from key countries contributing to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. ...
The recently crowned Bird of the Year, the hoiho/yellow eyed penguin, is getting a much needed helping hand alongside more than 168 other community conservation projects announced Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage today. 168 community conservation projects throughout New Zealand are benefiting from $8 million in government grants, including $500,000 ...
Controls on assault rifles and semi-automatic firearms are to be broadened to include some types of pistols, under changes to a bill currently making its way through Parliament. Police Minister Stuart Nash has tabled a Supplementary Order Paper to the Arms Legislation Bill, which is currently before a Select Committee ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark will travel to Singapore today to conduct a counterpart visit and to co-chair the third annual Singapore-New Zealand Defence Ministers’ Meeting with his counterpart, Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen. “Singapore is one of our most important defence partners in the region, and our ...
A flash new playground has been unveiled on Parliament's grounds today, amid growing calls for the government to take more action to help lift Kiwi kids out of poverty. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne Two and a half months before the February 3 Iowa Democratic caucus, the highly regarded Selzer poll for CNN and the Des Moines Register gave Pete Buttigieg 25% in Iowa ...
A bill allowing overseas security agents to carry illegal guns while in New Zealand for the APEC summit has passed its first reading, without support from the Greens. ...
The Labour led coalition government is continuing to create homelessness. The impact of immigration, failure of Kiwibuild, and attacks on the rental market, have resulted in the opposite outcomes that New Zealanders were promised. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Every, Senior Research Fellow in social vulnerability and disasters, CQUniversity Australia If you live in a bushfire-prone area, you’ll likely have considered what you will do in the event of a bushfire. The decision, which should be made well in advance ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni Di Virgilio, Research associate, UNSW Temperatures across many regions of Australia are set to exceed 40℃ this week, including heatwaves forecast throughout parts of eastern Australia, raising the spectre of more devastating bushfires. We have already heard warnings this fire season ...
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) says that the Government’s Families Package Monitoring Report shows strong commitment to the intentions outlined in the Child Poverty Reduction Act, specifically with regard to reporting on progressing towards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni Di Virgilio, Research associate, UNSW Temperatures across many regions of Australia are set to exceed 40℃ this week, including heatwaves forecast throughout parts of eastern Australia, raising the spectre of more devastating bushfires. We have already heard warnings this fire season ...
Today leading Māori health and public health organisations called on the Crown to meet its obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi as it drafts legislation for the regulation of cannabis. More than 50 Māori leaders joined the call for Māori rights ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claudia Vickers, Director, Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, CSIRO We need to revolutionise agriculture in the next 30 years. In 2050 we may have almost 10 billion people to feed. Farmland is already degraded by existing agriculture, and climate change is putting ...
Between now and March 2020 there is a small window where migrants who work in industries like aged care will have a realistic chance to get residency for the first time. This is due to ANZSCO skill levels being reclassified in Australia and some of those ...
Spinoff Art editor Mark Amery and photographer Ebony Lamb pay a visit to the internationally celebrated jewellery couple at their colonial cottage above Island Bay.The white horses are galloping in from the Cook Strait as photographer and singer-songwriter Ebony Lamb (Eb and Sparrow) and I roll in to Island Bay, ...
New powers to protect strategically-important assets from overseas investors are necessary due to the extremes of global capitalism, the government says. ...
Don’t get sucked in by the jovial banter and the sausage sizzle with Jacinda Ardern. Stephen Colbert is an international criminal mastermind who must be stopped. New Zealand is fizzing today with the exciting news that someone from another country has noticed that we exist. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert ...
When the 59 new constables of Wing 332 graduate on Thursday, one of them will be the 1,800th new constable to head to the frontline since October 2017. ...
Extending the amnesty period for the return of banned firearms is utterly pointless unless the compensation period is extended as well, says the Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO). ...
The Taxpayers Union denounced the role it seemed the government would require taxpayers to play in resolving the Ihumatao land dispute. But the union further claimed that taxpayers had contributed to the funding of an organisation which has been involved in the prolonged protest action at Ihumatao. This was a ...
Save the Children are extremely pleased by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement today that the Government will recommit to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). ...
David Farrier has been writing about clamping enthusiast Michael Organ for nearly three years. In this latest installment, the totally logical thing happens and the New Zealand government rolls up its sleeves.Catch up with the extraordinary saga of the clamp-happy Bashford Antiques: Parts I to V are hereWhen Michael Organ ...
In October teams of second-year Unitec Architecture students designed, modelled, then constructed interactive light installations in Devonport’s Windsor Reserve for GLOW@Artweek. The brief is strict. Their budget is zero. And the installations must be zero waste too, both in the construction and in the afterlife of the projects. These strict conditions ...
A wave of reviews and inquiries into audit around the globe are raising questions about trust, independence, and freedom from conflicts of interest in the profession, says CAANZ President Stephen Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen, who has previously been shadow treasurer and before that treasurer, wants the study of economics made “more sexy” to attract more students, especially women, to study it. And he thinks young ...
Jenée Tibshraeny of interest.co.nz surveys the issues that have farmers worried right now, and looks at the facts behind the fears.Rumblings from the dairy farming sector are becoming increasingly loud, as both the Government and Reserve Bank (RBNZ) make policy changes that affect the sector.New Zealand has for years milked ...
He Kākano Ahau is a podcast by writer and activist Kahu Kutia (Ngāi Tūhoe) that explores stories of Māori in the city, and weaves together strands of connection. In this episode: what happens when Māori are not ‘urban Māori’ as we know them, but mana whenua.For episode four of He ...
New powers to protect strategically-important assets from overseas investors are necessary due to the extremes of global capitalism, the government says. ...
The Children’s Commissioner is calling on the government to re-prioritise its commitment to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Children’s Convention) on International Children’s Day. ...
National Party leaders Simon Bridges wants Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to take stronger action over allegations that New Zealand First has breached electoral law. ...
"Prince Charles’ visit to Waitangi today, the first by a Royal in a quarter-century, highlights Moana Jackson’s view that it is kāwanatanga that is the Treaty partner," said Lewis Holden, campaign chair of New Zealand Republic. ...
Seriously, if you haven’t seen The Mandalorian, look away now. This article also contains spoilers for Return of the Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Return of the Sith, and The Last Jedi.In case you didn’t read the standfirst: this article contains spoilers about The Mandalorian, and also all of Star Wars.The ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.NZ First Matt Shand (Stuff): What NZ First slush fund was spent on: Campaign HQ, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Cook, Lecturer, Computer and Security Science,Edith Cowan University, Edith Cowan University Fake videos and doctored photographs, often based on events such as the Moon landing and supposed UFO appearances, have been the subject of fascination for decades. Such imagery is often ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Evelyn Parr, Research Fellow in Exercise Metabolism and Nutrition, Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, Australian Catholic University As an aesthetic society, we often demonise body fat and stigmatise people with lots of it. There’s often an assumption that people carrying excess ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Renwick, Professor, Physical Geography (climate science), Victoria University of Wellington CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Larissa McLean Davies, Associate Professor Language and Literacy Education, University of Melbourne In recent weeks, Australian universities’ commitment to teaching Australian literature has come under scrutiny. This came amid revelations Sydney University has withdrawn funding from its Chair of Australian Literature – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Maund, PhD Candidate, School of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Newcastle The impacts of the bushfires that are overwhelming emergency services in New South Wales and Queensland suggest houses are being built in areas where the risks are high. We ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Cebulla, Senior Research Fellow, South Australian Centre for Economic Studies, University of Adelaide In the past decade a 30-year trend to earlier retirement has been reversed. In OECD countries the average age at which people retire has risen by about one ...
Correspondence between MPI (Fisheries NZ) and NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmosphere), obtained by Sea Shepherd under the Official Information Act, shows conclusively that MPI unreasonably influenced the research they had contracted from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gay Hawkins, Professor, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University Most of us will never see a platypus or a lyrebird in the wild, but it’s likely we’ve encountered them on television. Our new research looks at the vital role early ...
The release of the proposed new electoral boundaries is an appropriate time to consider whether our electoral system is fit for purpose or needs a complete revamp. ...
Winston Peters says his party has always obeyed electoral law after new revelations about foundation; and RBNZ steps up BNZ supervision after capital calculation breaches. ...
The government has released statistics showing uptake of its budgeted welfare package two days after it was criticised over inaction on child poverty reduction. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Pressure mounts over NZ First Foundation, range of changes made to overseas investment office, and accusations of bottom trawling destroying coral.The allegations swirling around the NZ First Foundation are serious enough to warrant going back to again today. Party leader Winston ...
Are possible solutions to child maltreatment complicated? Yes. Quantum physics? No. The University of Auckland's Dr Ian Hyslop looks at how we can address child abuse as a social problem. ...
Erica Dawson didn't want to be another female who dropped out of sailing, so now she's focused on the Tokyo Olympics and being a role model instead ...
If what has been reported is both true and not a breach of the rules for political donations, then New Zealand’s reputation for for being squeaky clean looks like a joke, writes electoral law expert Andrew Geddis.Anyone paying attention to New Zealand political parties and how they run their election ...
New Zealanders like to claim moral superiority over their Australian neighbours when it comes to how asylum seekers are treated. But this belief is not based on reality, writes Tim Maurice of the Asylum Seekers Support TrustThe local news media has welcomed Iranian asylum seeker Behrouz Boochani into New Zealand ...
Sometimes it’s a great job being a news editor. Like the BBC staffer putting together the national news for radio on Tuesday morning.Lead off with the Conservative party election pledge to increase the life sentence for child murderers to … er … really life. Add factual qualification: this might ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government is responding to increasing concern about the faltering economy by bringing forward A$3.8 billion of infrastructure investment into the next four years, including $1.8 billion for the current and next financial years. Scott ...
Power Play - Rumours of dodgy political donations, Winston Peters full of bluster and denial, and potentially a drawn-out series of combative but ultimately meaningless exchanges with the press gallery. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government has overhauled its much-criticised robo-debt scheme which has seen many welfare recipients asked to repay money they do not owe. A Tuesday email to staff in the Human Services department’s customer compliance division ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The government has overhauled its much-criticised robo-debt scheme which has seen many welfare recipients asked to repay money they do not owe. A Tuesday email to staff in the Human Services department’s customer compliance division ...
Open mike 15/03/2016 
Open mike is your post.
On both sides of the Atlantic, some purportedly “contentious” and “difficult to deal with” leadership contenders to lead the US and UK, as President and Prime Minister respectively, seem to have thrown a few spanners into the works of the normal messaging most are used to hearing constantly. Except they’re ...18 mins ago
In Question Time today the Prime Minister was naturally facing questions about Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and his dubious party financing arrangements, which seem to violate electoral finance law. Her response was to pretend that it was nothing to do with her, and that she is not responsible for ...5 hours ago
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz I saw an article claiming that “king tides” will increase in ...10 hours ago
It has been revealed that firing ranges used by the NZDF while deployed to the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Bamyan Province, Afghanistan, contained unexploded ordnance that caused numerous deaths and injuries after the NZDF withdrew the PRT in April 2013. In 2014 seven children were killed when an unidentified ...11 hours ago
Didn't See It Coming: NZ Herald columnist Lizzie Marvelly's latest column merits serious scrutiny because such a clear example of anti-democratic thinking is encountered only rarely on the pages of the daily press. Which is not to say that the elitism which lies at the heart of such social disparagement ...1 day ago
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Initially it was reported that in an aerial bombardment that took place on August 30th seven children were massacred; the figure then went up to eight and then on November 11th Noticias Uno reported that, according to people from the community in close proximity to the ...2 days ago
MediaWorks announced in October 2019 that it intended to sell off its struggling television business and cancel or cut back on several popular local programmes, including New Zealand Today, Married at First Sight New Zealand and 7 Days. Its radio and outdoor advertising arms are currently performing well, but MediaWorks’ ...3 days ago
There is an article in The Conversation, written by Jeremy P. Shapiro (Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University), about what he sees as the psychologically-based underpinnings of three main matters that seem to vex people all around the planet. The article is titled “The Thinking ...4 days ago
. . Blogger Martyn Bradbury has won his case against unreasonable search and surveillance against the NZ Police; and subsequent Police attempts to produce evidence in secrecy, in a closed Court. His case highlights a disturbing growing trend in Aotearoa New Zealand for State power to be used against ...4 days ago
by The Council of Disobedient Women In her excellent oral submission to the Abortion reform select committee on 31st October on behalf of Otago University’s Department of Public Health, historian and public health researcher Hera Cook stated: “We would ask that the committee not use the term ‘pregnant persons’ and ...1 week ago
If FFNZ really put their faith in “Top Medical Journals” they would now be amending their billboards to recognise new research results. Image from FFNZ but updated to agree with the latest research. ... 1 week ago
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third reading in Parliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...10 hours ago
We're setting our young people up for success, investing in education around the country. ...2 days ago
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has welcomed the first reading of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation 2021 (APEC 2021) Bill in Parliament today. The temporary bill supports New Zealand’s security preparations for hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in 2021. “APEC is the leading economic and trade forum ...2 hours ago
The Government has a $7.5b surplus, which experts and advocates say should be spent on helping children and families most in need. ...9 mins ago
Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier has proposed an "overlying structure" that would help with oversight of local government. ...1 hour ago
A flash new playground has been unveiled on Parliament's grounds today, amid growing calls for the government to take more action to help lift Kiwi kids out of poverty. ...1 hour ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Melbourne Two and a half months before the February 3 Iowa Democratic caucus, the highly regarded Selzer poll for CNN and the Des Moines Register gave Pete Buttigieg 25% in Iowa ...2 hours ago
The Labour led coalition government is continuing to create homelessness. The impact of immigration, failure of Kiwibuild, and attacks on the rental market, have resulted in the opposite outcomes that New Zealanders were promised. ...2 hours ago
Is Labour looking to increase the top personal tax rate again and considering reinstating long-abandoned wealth and inheritance taxes? ...3 hours ago
A mystery bidder has made a play for one of the country's biggest retirement village operators. ...5 hours ago
Spinoff Art editor Mark Amery and photographer Ebony Lamb pay a visit to the internationally celebrated jewellery couple at their colonial cottage above Island Bay.The white horses are galloping in from the Cook Strait as photographer and singer-songwriter Ebony Lamb (Eb and Sparrow) and I roll in to Island Bay, ...5 hours ago
New powers to protect strategically-important assets from overseas investors are necessary due to the extremes of global capitalism, the government says. ...5 hours ago
The Taxpayers Union denounced the role it seemed the government would require taxpayers to play in resolving the Ihumatao land dispute. But the union further claimed that taxpayers had contributed to the funding of an organisation which has been involved in the prolonged protest action at Ihumatao. This was a ...6 hours ago
Zespri is pursuing legal action in China to stop the spread of pirated kiwifruit cuttings. ...7 hours ago
A wave of reviews and inquiries into audit around the globe are raising questions about trust, independence, and freedom from conflicts of interest in the profession, says CAANZ President Stephen Walker. ...7 hours ago
Half of New Zealand's electoral boundaries are expected to change, and a new electorate is proposed for South Auckland. ...7 hours ago
The National Party leader Simon Bridges says the Prime Minister can not distance herself from allegations against her coalition partner. ...11 hours ago
Winston Peters says his party has always obeyed electoral law after new revelations about foundation; and RBNZ steps up BNZ supervision after capital calculation breaches. ...12 hours ago
Money from a NZ First-linked slush fund was reportedly spent for campaign purposes and kept secret from party officials and MPs. ...12 hours ago
Are possible solutions to child maltreatment complicated? Yes. Quantum physics? No. The University of Auckland's Dr Ian Hyslop looks at how we can address child abuse as a social problem. ...14 hours ago
Dr Simon Chapple discusses what he describes as a considerable power grab by government ministers - to the detriment of the public good. ...14 hours ago
Erica Dawson didn't want to be another female who dropped out of sailing, so now she's focused on the Tokyo Olympics and being a role model instead ...14 hours ago
Otaki writer Renée reveals the personal circumstances behind her new crime novel The Wild Card. ...14 hours ago
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If the Mt Albert protests are about removing trees, why have the Tree Council and Forest & Bird taken the side of the axemen? ...15 hours ago
Sometimes it’s a great job being a news editor. Like the BBC staffer putting together the national news for radio on Tuesday morning. Lead off with the Conservative party election pledge to increase the life sentence for child murderers to … er … really life. Add factual qualification: this might ...17 hours ago
More politics will be added into the mix when it comes to the issue of foreign ownership. ...22 hours ago
New Zealand talks with Iran.
So RNZ allows an Israeli spokesperson on air to tell what New Zealand to do.
And then a wretched interview ensues.
‘wretched’ ? You are being kind. Try unprepared, incoherent, self-aggrandising, self-delusional ..
According to Sputnik & RT, Russia is to start withdrawing its main forces in Syria
https://www.rt.com/news/335554-putin-orders-syria-withdrawal/
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20160314/1036274550/putin-orders-syria-withdrawal.html
Reaction from Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem ..
http://m.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Syrian-opposition-says-Russian-withdrawal-would-be-positive-44791
yes RNZ propaganda is one sided, uncritical and pathetic …I listen to RNZ less and less
I think that should have read *ground* forces ..
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/russia-withdraws-ground-troops-not-air-force/
Exposing the Libyan Agenda: A Closer Look at Hillary’s Emails’
http://www.globalresearch.ca/exposing-the-libyan-agenda-a-closer-look-at-hillarys-emails/5514010
Holy fuck the most bizarre interview every between Paul Henry and the head niwa scientist. He blew Henrys tiny selfish little mind. Will be on in 50 minutes on tv3 +1
Any chance of a link ? I’d like to see &/or hear that .. I lost interest in teevee a long time ago.
Audio only but that was hard enough for this Henry avoider to listen to, even though it would have been interesting to watch his facial expressions.
Have similar to Morrisey’s view on the banter and sycophantic laugh track so best leave it at that for comments from me.
Embarrassing listening to Paul Henry on this. I’ve never heard anybody trumpet their ignorance on so many topics as loudly as he does. He even described us as “shickered” by climate change, apparently blithely unaware it means drunk. Or maybe he personally does drink to forget it.
A bit of fun from a mate of mine that pretty much encapsulates (in less than 1 minute) my view of the the current flag debate… 🙂
F**king Flag by RedKey (expliciy lyrics)
+1
I imagine comparatively few Standardistas have given much thought to Key’s next job – always imagining he’d be welcome among the crew that loathed him so much they gave him the nickname the smiling assassin.
But there is a role in which his talents would give him a unique competitive advantage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKPwtDjzJMI
Even narcissists can benefit society if they find the appropriate position.
So has the military been protecting the TPPA roadshow, as Chris Trotter asks in his piece this morning in the paper?
As Trotter outlines, this is surely the most pressing and substantial issue.
Is the military protecting the TPPA roadshow?
Does anybody know?
The consequences and implications are fucking scary
Was there any evidence attached? I am in the military and to be honest would find it very surprising if this was the case.
Yes same.
Trotter (link not available yet) points to some evidence, being a lapel badge and question answered to the Josie Butler person about it. If she has made shit up like this then it will decimate her credibility – let’s see
It should be followed up quite seriously imo
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/77838411/chris-trotter-protecting-the-tpp
“I went to the first security check point which was at the front driveway to the [Rydges] hotel. The guards asked for my ID, and whilst I was getting it out I noticed one of the guys had an army badge pinned to his lapel, I asked him if he was military and he confirmed that all security present today were army personnel.”
– Shouldn’t be too hard to find out if this is true
The police can’t waste money on this – they’ve got burglars to hunt down.
I’m not saying shes wrong, lying or mistaken but, when it comes to the TPPA, I’ll need more evidence from her before I believe her
I’ve seen someone on twitter who was at a roadshow talking about the army being there. I agree, it would be good to see it confirmed.
This person has a write up about attending (no idea who they are),
https://skepticnz.wordpress.com/2016/03/14/inside-the-tppa-roadshow-experience/
From accounts I’ve heard from others, the write up mentioned above is a pretty good reflection of the event in Dunedin. I haven’t heard anybody witnessing any members of the military amongst the security in Dunedin but there was certainly a large contingent of police, Armourgard employees and security chaps in suits.
Wonder if there will be the high level of security in Invercargill tomorrow for Todd McClays visit?
I have a feeling the army were at the Chch one?
CO2 and Global Temperatures reach record Highs, and National fiddles with the ETS.
As reported in the Guardian today
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/10/co2-levels-make-largest-recorded-annual-leap-noaa-data-shows
And right on call Global temperatures are going through the roof. Following on from a record monthly Global Temperature in January – February 2016 was the warmest month on record by a whopping 0.2o C! That surge in Global Temperatures brings the Earth to the 1.50 C above pre-industrial levels aspirational target that the COP 21 agreed the world must stay just last year.
Now the surge in Global temperatures that we are currently experiencing is not unexpected considering that we are in the middle of an El Nino event the like of which hasn’t been experienced since 1997-98, when there was a similar spike in Global temperatures. However the current spike (and I’m sure that temperatures will drop back – this is a temporary aberration) is far more pronounced than even the massive spike of the 97-98 event. The Earth is now on a new “Plateau” on the upward journey of increasing Global Temperatures.
Here in New Zealand, National are considering “fixing” the ETS. Submissions have been called and I’m sure many have submitted. I have done so in the past but this time I did not. In my opinion submitting again on this new amendment to a now useless Emissions Trading Scheme is a complete waste of time and energy because this is a Government of “consultation” in name only. They think that consultation involves telling others what is to happen. Not only that, there are enough “hot air” credits slopping around in the scheme to cover NZ’s arse for the next couple of years, laundered by the Government, so that NZ can meet its targets without spending any money. So expect nothing creditable to emerge from this new assessment of a scheme that is already worthless, and has done nothing to limit NZs GHG emissions. It is again simply window dressing and the rearrangement of deck chairs on a sinking ship.
NZ’s ETS is beyond redemption. It needs scraping and replaced by a Carbon Tax of at least $50 per tonne initially (I’m sure others would argue for more) and applied across all sectors. The revenue generated to be redistributed through vastly increased initiatives in public transport, alternative energies, energy efficiencies, subsidies for private solar, wind, and electric and hybrid vehicles, insulation of houses, and research and education wrt climate change.
Electric vehicles – Talking of which – much hypocrisy here! But great photo op!/sarc
Yep, $200 per tonne:
$200 per tonne of CO2. That puts a price on coal of $600 per tonne before you even start to think about digging it out of the ground. Petrol and diesel get a carbon tax of 50 to 60 cents per litre.
Bring it on. There will be massive economic stimulus from bringing online all the substitutes.
Whilst we won’t be like Mexico. To many white people live here. The TTP will make us poorer.
‘EXCLUSIVE: Why US Spy Boss is really in NZ’
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/03/15/exclusive-why-us-spy-boss-is-really-in-nz/
Why would you travel in a Globemaster?
Surely a Lear or Gulfstream would be much quicker and comfortable.
There was discussion here yesterday on the three planes that arrived in Wellington – see this link and the thread, plus the links to photos.
One of my favourite thinkers this century.
Dr. Vijay Prashad is interviewed by Abbey Martin, about Syria. If you have not read any of his books take the time, it is worth it.
The last 2 minutes of this interview is just wonderful.
please swap “is just wonderful” to “are just wonderful”
Sheesh how bad was that error…
Most excellent my friend..your old flatmate from Chambers ST.
TPP- the ISDS is one of the most contentious parts of the TPP. The countries with which we have ISDS clauses in our FTAs have not featured highly in data on ISDS.
However, as you can see in the linked page of an interactive site on ISDS (showing the countries, the number of cases brought against the country using the ISDS and the Home state of the claimant corporation.) US and Canada are high on the litigant side.
http://investmentpolicyhub.unctad.org/ISDS/FilterByCountry
Without ISDS a claimant still can get justice by using the existing judicial systems. ISDS is simply a ploy to bypass these and is used to threaten states.
Notice that the claims/cases per year has doubled in five years. Who is next?
Globalization and Growth
Such an outward looking way to boost an economy is underwhelming because everyone can do it and productivity is so high that only a small percentage of the world population is needed to provide everything we need (although, there probably isn’t enough actual resources to do that – the problem of over population).
The only way left to develop an economy is broadly within it’s own scope. In other words, local manufacture from local resources for local use.
Trade is defunct.
[r0b: This comment was moved, as per request below, to open mike. It was originally a reply to
/february-breaks-all-records/#comment-1146794 ]
what is this crappy racist sexist ageist shite.
LOL!
As usual, the Left leads the way.
As usual, another day of CV’s bigotry.
I will say this though, the climate change news is scarey beyond what we’ve had in the past. I think a lot of people aren’t well equipped to deal with that, so how about we all try and be a bit kinder to each other this week? (I’m looking at myself there too).
Not surprised that you think its fine to stereotype white males of a certain age, but then call me the bigot. And then try and talk about kindness. Your hypocrisy climbs to new heights.
I didn’t say it’s fine CV and I don’t actually think it’s fine. You’re making an incorrect assumption about my politics. Again. All I did was stand up and point out your behaviour again because I’m sick of the whole bullshit false binaries and pathologising whole groups of people. Pineapples made a single comment and people are free to call them on it as they see fit. You’ve been spraying your negative shit that’s now out and out bigotry around the site for many months. It’s tedious and it’s having a negative effect on discussions and what we can do here. I’m not willing to let that slide in such an important thread.
You don’t think its fine but you were silent about it. But you point the finger at me for making a bigoted comment.
What was that bigoted comment by the way? I have no idea what I said that you got in such a twist about.
“You don’t think its fine but you were silent about it.”
For various reasons. Plus strange as it may seem, I don’t comment on every thing I disagree with.
“What was that bigoted comment by the way? I have no idea what I said that you got in such a twist about.”
I’m happy to have that conversation but not in this thread because it’s so off topic. Let’s take it to Open Mike.
CV is a negative nelly it’s true but weka you do seem to be quite comfortable stereotyping white males sometimes so I think it’s a fair point
stereotyping and bigotry aren’t exactly the same thing though, right? Feel free to call me on bigotry any time you like, so long as you can point to an example and explain why you think it’s bigoted and then engage in a conversation about that.
As Bill pointed out, the climate denialists are well represented by older white guys. I don’t think anyone that agrees with that statement thinks that that means that most older white guys are denialists (although I might be tempted to say that if I lived in the US).
You’re the one accusing CV of bigotry though, what was his bigoted comment? pointing out their whiteness doesn’t do anything to help the problem – just gives people more reason to discount what you say
CV’s bigotry is related to people he hates on and likes to now treat as a class eg ‘the left’.
“pointing out their whiteness doesn’t do anything to help the problem – just gives people more reason to discount what you say”
Contrary to what CV was thinking, I wasn’t fine with Pineapple’s comment. I thought it unnecessarily inflammatory and pretty much irrelevant outside of a conversation that was looking at power structures. It might have worked further down the thread, but as the first comment, when people were just finished reading something pretty challenging, having to jump into a conversation like that was jarring and likely to derail the thread.
Do I think that the classes of people who control both the creation of cc and whether we prevent the worst of it are dominated by older white men? Yes. Is there any disputing that? Do I think that most older white men are responsible? No. It always pays to talk to people about their politics and find out what they believe rather than jumping to conclusions based on projection.
But if you yourself stereotype people in that way, it’s all hunky dory, apparently. Seriously, mate, you need to own your prejudices and stop being such a hypocrite.
Hey TRP, you’re such a straight shooter, hope you make it high on to the Labour List.
how about we take this to OM?
I’m going to suggest that one of the moderators shifts the whole subthread too because it’s completely off topic and it’s an important thread for people not to be put off by derailments at the top of the comments.
Good call. I’m happy to stop while I’m ahead 😉
I agree – and the irony is that the scientists quoted in the story was … a white male over 40. Too funny for words.
how is that ironical?
The irony is not apparent to everyone it seems.
What was ironical was you getting all het up with your own identity politics.
It seems that you understand irony just fine when you decide to.
Maybe, but I’m willing to be that you can’t explain what the irony was that cyclonemike referred to.
It’s so interesting to see CV being pursued by you weka. He is receiving the same treatment that I used to get when I attempted to say anything about rape culture, and question its pervasiveness. When people like yourself set up as gatekeeper to everything it acts to enforce censorship. But it seems that you weka are trying to dominate the discourse and control the site to the point where critical attacks are common.
And for those who don’t know what all this gerfuffle is about – this was what got it started. I think that everyone should stop, rethink and stick to the political discussion. If someone makes a pointed criticism in the heat of the moment, let it pass, particularly weka, Colonial Viper and Te Reo Putake. It is not impressive to see the unreasoning hostility that amounts to bullying, then provoking reaction. I thought The Standard was aiming higher than this unpleasant nitpicking.
February breaks all records.
esoteric pineapples 1
15 March 2016 at 10:32 am
Now all we have to do is wait for a bunch of white males over 40 to tell us either a) scientists don’t know what they are talking about or b) its a hoax driven by the illuminati or some other conspiratorial group.
Thanks grey. I’m more than happy to be challenged on what I am doing, and I’m not that happy with how I have been here lately (my questioning the macho culture of ts is in part because it tends to bring out the worst in me if I don’t keep an eye on what I am doing).
I’m going to disagree with your interpretation though. The problem I have with CV is his behaviour not his politics, so I’m not sure the comparison works re you trying to bring in a different view on rape culture. It was the same with Pete George. When people’s behaviour affects a community so negatively then I think it’s valid for others to do something about it. If I was the only person challening CV on what he is doing I might agree with your interpretation that I am trying to control the debate somehow. But many people are sick of what he is doing. Many. If you take me out of the equation, CV still sprays his shit around too much and many people react against that. They aren’t doing those things because of me.
Whether my own behaviour makes that situation better or worse, I don’t really know at the moment. I think CV does respond to people encouraging him to be more proactive rather than just spraying shit around the site, so I try and do that until I lose my patience. I think in the instance the other day it was unfortunate that he put up an intentionally provocative post when feelings were already running high about his behaviour, because the subject he raised was important and it just got lost in the mess. I can also see that because of how ts is, he was probably limited in how he could bring that topic up, so in hindsight it was just a clusterfuck that no-one could do much about. For my part I wish I had taken a more proactive approach in my own critiques.
I basically walked out of that recent climate change thread because it was painful, and it was painfully obvious that by far the majority of people here wanted yet another round of talking rather than doing something. I have no tolerance for that and I’m sure it affected how I was posting for some time.
The stuff at the start was nothing to do with that, it was just a distraction. But I think the painful nature of the topic of the post probably contributed to the subsequent aggro. As for that convo *starting the whole thing, again I’ll disagree. It was just a continuation of something that’s pretty much continual here. My main comments at the start were to suggest we didn’t derail the thread and to suggest that the diversion get taken to OM. I’m not sure how that was a problem.
I don’t know if I am gatekeeper so much as caretaker who’s reached a point of frustration at the mess. Characterising CV’s comments as only something said in the heat of the moment misses the wider context and the impact he has on the site. If you think that I am also having a negative impact, please keep calling me on that (I don’t really get quite what you were meaning above, but I do remember you once telling me I was commenting too often, so I’ll have a think about that and whether I’d be better off making more comments from a more discerning place).
(cut and pasted from CC thread)
Well we live in a patriarchy that favours white males over males of other skin hue, and so they tend to have accumulated more of the available privilege that comes courtesy of the status quo . And older people tend to have more invested in the status quo than younger people, so…sure, a broad brush stroke, but to say that idiots advocating the status quo can be sort of characterised as”white males over 40″ seems fair enough in my book.
Nothing particularly sexist in it. Nothing particularly ageist in it. Absolutely nothing racist in it (can’t be racist towards whites – impossible)
Lol @ patriarchy and “can’t be racist towards whites” of course you can! It’s easy and people do it all the time, it just isn’t as harmful overall because of where power lies in western societies currently
You can be bigoted towards towards white people, that is a given
But, how on God’s green earth can the privileged group have racism directed at them?
You get that the exercise of power is a fundamental aspect of racism, Tim?
.
Because people of other races can have power over white people… White people aren’t invincible lol
Racism has very specific roots – Social Darwinism. Sure, other cultures may well have thought of themselves superior, but only one (as far as I’m aware) touted itself, essentially, as a race apart from and above the human race – humanity. That allowed, informed or excused colonisation by the white west of every non-white area of the world.
That all means that a white person can be on the receiving end of discrimination but never racism, because racism’s a very particular type of discrimination that always holds ‘whiteness’ as above and better and ‘god given’ (as it were).
Nice.
/
He’s gotta be troling, I hope.
Nick Kalman Verified account
@NickKalmanFN
.@realDonaldTrump supporters sporting armbands in Florida http://campl.us/suUn
They’re a couple of political jokesters it seems
Today’s misanthropy red lining….
Ali Alimadadi
@alialimadadi110
#Hamoo,#Iraqi father who pushes handicapped daughter on #Greek border, seeking a better future beyond barbed wires
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/77905481/labour-leader-andrew-little-warns-banks-cut-rates-or-face-compulsion
When both National and the Greens think its a bad idea then you know you’ve really outdone yourself
Gawd.
Muldoon, Bolger, Clark and Key all took till their third term before they started displaying their Messiah complexes.
Muldoon and Clark got really virulent cases. Remember how Piggy was going to save the world’s monetary system? Now Little has got the bug.
Little has got it already and he has only had a year and a bit as leader of a minor party.
Please Labour . Get things sorted out. Get rid of Little and all the deadwood.
New Zealand cannot afford such a useless second party.
Ha ha right winger doesn’t like it when a leftwing poly says something that gets him a positive head line. # takingthefuckersonattheirowngame
I have some very simple principles.
Politicians should define what outcome they want.
Then they should get out of the way.
They should never try and run a business. If they do that they will never stop doing something stupid. They are unable to admit they have done something foolish so they keep throwing money at it rather than shut it down.
They are also completely unaware that they really don’t know anything about it.
That is why we have to get a new Government every few years. The new lot don’t have anything committed to the mistake so they are willing to fix things.
If we get Little, or any other politician, making decisions about what a bank should charge in interest or who is to get loans they will make mistakes. Then they will use tax-payers money to hide the mistake. If the bank starts making unhappy noises they will give them more money to shut them up.
In the case of the Reserve Bank for example Roger Douglas laid down the first principles, and left how it was done to the Governor. Everyone since has left the Governor to get on with it and they have done very well. If they don’t they can be sacked because the blame can be put on them, not the poly.
Little seems to think he knows better. So did Muldoon and we ended up with stagflation.
Can I ask, if you are a man of principal, did you vote national in any of the last 3 elections, given that it was as obvious as hell to any one vaguely interested in politics that national us very dirty tactics around election time!
Yes I did. And I didn’t find their tactics any different to their predecessors.
I have voted in 11 of the last 12 elections. 5 Labour, 6 National and 1 when, living overseas I didn’t think I should vote.
However in 2008 I thought Labour were old, tired and corrupt. A change was essential.
They had the same people on 2011. Nothing had really changed had it? In general Labour were still useless so I voted for the ones who were better for New Zealand.
2014 was even worse. Can you really imagine a no-hoper like Cunliffe as PM?
Seriously? He seemed to have more DCMs than anyone I had ever heard of.
Now? I want to see some alternative to the current Government who was competent but at the moment Labour looks just as useless as ever. At the moment Key still seems better for the country.
I want a better option.
I think Helen Clark was responsible for the Labour party woes. She wanted people there who were subservient to her and would do what she demanded. Not a rebel or even a free thinking person in the lot of them. And they are still there!
By the way the word I used was PRINCIPLE, not PRINCIPAL. I bow down to no-one.
” Not a rebel or even a free thinking person in the lot of them.”
Can I point that not one nat with exception to the odius corrupt Collins has ever slightly broken ranks in 7 years.
For a laugh on day I asked the member for Taupo on her Facebook page what her views on keys ponytail pulling where, it got removed quickly I can tell you.
By the way I was pissed with Clarke to , for giving our land to the southern gentry, and not working more with the greens. And I always saw goff as a caretaker leader.
As for Cunliffe I found him a bit cringe worthy but he would of done a good job IMO .
Maybe, but it would still be good to see the Reserve Bank concentrate on more than just inflation. Its job is to balance the growth in the economy with inflation targets, and its concentrating on just inflation.
There’s plenty more signals Little needs to make against the retail banks. He just needs the support of the Reserve Bank to do its actual job.
Things looking pretty damn shity for Israeli Arabs
About half of Israel’s Jews support the transfer of Arabs to other countries, according to a survey by the American Pew Research Center published Tuesday. The poll was conducted among Jewish and non-Jewish Israelis from the end of 2014 until the middle of 2015, before the latest wave of terror.
One of the questions in the survey, based on face-to-face interviews of 5,601 individuals, asked to what degree they agreed with the following statement: “Arabs should be expelled or transferred from Israel.” The result, among the Jewish respondents: Twenty-one percent “strongly agree” and 27 percent “mostly agree.” If those two groups are combined, about half of Israeli Jews questioned – 48 percent – support transfer of Arab citizens. On the other hand, a similar proportion – 46 percent – say they oppose such a move, with 29 percent saying that they “don’t really agree” and 17 percent responding that they “don’t agree at all” to the expulsion of Arabs.
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.707589
Yep, but nothing new in that.
Back in 2002, polls suggested more than 40% of Israelis agreed with the expulsion (either through force or encouragement) of Israeli Arabs. By 2006, that sentiment had risen to almost 50% (forced transfer) rising to over 55% (if encouragement of Arab emigration was included).
Meanwhile, an overwhelming majority of Israelis (polls have generally suggested well over 80%) have long opposed a two-state settlement grounded in international Law (in which Israel withdraws to the pre-June 67 border and allows a significant Palestinian Capital in East Jerusalem). In other words, the Israeli public fully supports the rejectionist stance of consecutive Israeli Govts over the decades.
What the majority of Israelis do support (in some polls, by a very large majority) is the sort of “settlement” of the “conflict” where Israel annexes all of the major settlement Blocs, splitting the West Bank into separate little cantons, annexes most of Jerusalem and nullifies the Right of Return.
Recent polls have also suggested a majority of Israelis support Jewish/Arab segregation on public transport, 55% supported segregated recreational facilities, large minorities agree that Arab-Israelis shouldn’t be employed in hospitals, nursing institutions or kindergartens. 75% opposed living in the same apartment buildings as Arabs, 55% believed Israeli-Arabs didn’t have the ability to reach the same level of cultural development as Jews, 61% were unwilling to have an Arab visit their home, 64% believe Arab-Israelis endanger the state of Israel because of their high birth rates. And a large minority considered Arab culture inferior.
A 2008 poll found 40% of Jewish Israelis believed Arab Israelis should not be allowed to vote, with 78% against Arab politicians having any involvement in govt and 80% opposed to Arabs being involved in “important decisions”. A 2010 poll found 57% agreed that Israeli Human Rights organisations that expose “immoral conduct by Israel” shouldn’t be allowed to operate freely. Majorities also favoured punishing Israeli citizens and journalists who either support sanctions (BDS) or report on facts that reflect badly on Israel’s international reputation.
And, of course, polls suggest overwhelming Israeli support for the IDF’s regular massacres and carpet-bombing of Gaza and Lebanon.
Speaking of fascist, authoritarian, militarised, apartheid nations
Just enjoying watching questions in the house today on playback, the best bit is being able to fast forward National MP’s vacuous responses and patsy questions.
Is it true that President Obama is going to come to New Zealand soon … or is it just another vicious rumour spread by the National Party? LOL.
Key is on a build up to an early election so he is going to do everything he can to get Obama over here.
Getting Obama here will make his Richie McCaw and All Black suck-a-thon pale into total insignificance.
Ironically so many of the anti-Obama mob are Key supporters but they will go into a suck up frenzy if their lord and master gets his way.
As an aside, how much would any such visit cost us?
tbh I’m not sure who bears the costs of these visits. I suspect the US State Dept bears much of the cost but we will be providing a shit load of outer perimeter security, state events/banquets, closing down large areas of cities at Secret Service request etc.
@Colonial Viper
Why do you say that John Key is building up to an early General Election?
You are the first person I have heard mention this.
I wonder who this is? Reminds me of another “person of some public interest” from up North who is facing some serious charges in court very soon! Wonder when that case will start rolling out?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11606101