In his new book, Throwing Rocks at the Google Bus: How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity, noted media theorist and author Douglas Rushkoff takes on the failure of the digital economy to make things better for more people. At the core of Rushkoff’s critique is what he calls the “obsolete economic operating system that emphasizes growth” and the abandonment of core values that occur once companies go public and succumb to short-term thinking.
Rushkoff suggests a shift away from the growth pressures of publicly traded markets and platform monopolies — and toward collaborative models that build on the contributions and add to the wealth of their workers, communities, and consumers.
Some interesting points about how the old capitalist business forms are proving even more destructive in the new digital age.
If put your head up and show ‘the government that it has holes in its social housing policy and that Paula Bennett has not been doing her job in terms of fixing these problems”, expect trouble.
Marae has fears of ‘smear campaign’
The Auckland-based marae which opened its doors to the homeless is worried it is the victim of a smear campaign by the staff of the Social Housing Minister.
Hasn’t Bennett more or less acknowledged that in her debriefing with her staff she imparted the knowledge Mr Dennis had very honourably given her ? If that’s the story the trashy thing is as guilty as sin, if one step removed. As someone said she has “form”.
That effete fuck Key then comes on and says – “Paula wears her heart on her sleeve……she wouldn’t lie to me”.
FFS ! There’s no such thing as a lie in the culture of their fetid, corrupt world so what’s that assurance worth ?
Donald Trump and his supporters are mimicking H1tler.
100%
The USA is today in about the place late 1920’s Germany was in just before they elected H1tler, with all his rhetoric blaming the muslims, I mean the jews, for everything
why did 25% of Germans vote for Hitler? Because they were sick of seeing their country and their lives being humiliated and broken by the powerful and the rich.
Agreed … Trump is only succeeding because the left has been put out of business, mainly by the elites imposing their self-serving zombie ideologies, and partly by our own divisiveness and failures.
The spectacle of the Democrats closing out the only authentically left-wing and popular candidate for generations, in favour of their own insider … will not be lost on many US voters. The message is loud and clear “this way lies no hope”.
I don;t disagree at all and those factors are very real..
still scary though as to where such rhetoric leads…… it is this which is scary…. and i dont think Trump even understands any of that… or perhaps he does …
Then to have Winston Peters come out the last two days with all of his rhetoric trying to out-pimp Trump – well, say no more…. Peters is again becoming populist with no care for the truth of his mutterances or positions and the effect those could have on encouraging hate and divisiveness ..
.. Peters claiming “we have it here too”… what a load of complete bullshit. If this carries on then Peters will be back to his previous Clark-years form of lies and bullshit, the wanker
placing NATO forces, including German military units FFS, right on the borders of Russia is not only assanine of the west, it is damn provocative and dangerous. Russia has already announced that it now has to add targets in Romania and Poland to their standard military plans.
Imagine Russia stationing 30,000 troops, missile batteries and fighter bomber squadrons in Cuba under the guise of a training exercise.
Anyone know what are the likely voting preferences of immigrants arriving since the last election. Would it be the same makeup as the population at large? If they are mostly low skilled is that a euphemism for Labour voters? If however they are ambitious and hard working is that a euphemism for National voters? I wonder how those with Chinese sounding names will vote? Perhaps a clue is that Asian membership of the National Party has doubled in the last two years.
If they parasite and leech off society, is that a euphemism for National voters? If they want to fight for basic employment rights in their jobs, is that a euphemism for Labour voters?
Take off the blinkers. National have increased benefits, extended free GP care and prescriptions to children, assisted beneficiaries into employment. increased operations, doctors, nurses and funded more medications. Sometimes the visceral venom of the Left defies credulity. In every portfolio there has been progress. Would a new immigrant want to support a winning succesful team or take a punt on a dispirite bunch of economically illiterate whingers.
fisiani, Nztional have been in power for eight ‘long’ years. So all of these should have increased- it’s called reacting, and properly so, to inflation.
Cameron and Carrick finally getting called out on their lies, perfect timing, someone’s using their head and timing it to keep him out of the election.
Microbes discovered that eat and poo electricity, microbes that could revolutionize energy and at the same time clean up the planets pollution. Good to see their is a glimmer of hope for this planet.
Christ on a stick. An author at the standard has proposed a viable, inter connected, well reasoned alternative to current practises rather than just blindly criticising then coming up with an ill-thought through, impractical ideological alternative with no connection to reality. Well done Weka.
Nice post too
[moved to OM for being off topic and looks like an old argument too. You are all welcome back in the sustainable fishing thread if you can put your comments in context of the post. Nessalt, thanks for the ups but it would have been better without slagging off other authors – weka]
I think I can remember two other plausible, workable, alternatives presented on the standard.
One by Lprent in relation to something computer / network related and how it could be used to further societal cohesion.
Then something by Bill, also on mitigating harm to the environment while sustaining society in all it’s functions. including the bits you don’t like. That pay for you to sit around on a computer. which was developed and nurtured by capitalism and free market ideology. And without which no one would listen to you.
which was developed and nurtured by capitalism and free market ideology.
Capitalism has always been against the welfare state and democracy. Just need to look at the actions of this government to see that.
Also, it wasn’t capitalism that developed the computer but heavy state intervention. Apple and its products would not exist without government funding and research.
Capitalism destroys. Always has done, always will do.
Just remember that large, upfront and early Federal Gov investment was what made the transistor and computer networking possible. Private companies have been leveraging off that for many years now, but they never had to take the initial risk or expense of doing the early investment themselves.
And the government never would have made any grants if it wasn’t perfectly suited for growing the economy and improve the access of millions to information and capitalism in a short space of time. capitalist imperatives have nurtured more societal improvements than any other form of ism has. look how globalism combined with capitalism have raised more than 90% of the worlds population out of actual poverty. not the relative poverty that is an ephemeral concept and is routinely trotted out as a “valid” argument.
And the government never would have made any grants if it wasn’t perfectly suited for growing the economy and improve the access of millions to information and capitalism in a short space of time.
Back in the 1950s I really doubt any one was dreaming of the WWW or even individuals having computers.
capitalist imperatives have nurtured more societal improvements than any other form of ism has.
Nope. It always destroys them because the capitalists take all the wealth for themselves. That’s what cutting government spending and taxes is about.
look how globalism combined with capitalism have raised more than 90% of the worlds population out of actual poverty.
I’m pretty sure if you went to the people before capitalism introduced them to poverty and asked if they were in poverty they’d say no. And you probably wouldn’t find any either as those societies worked together to ensure that everyone lived well.
Now you know that public money was used in the development of much of the computer industry and internet, will you simply go on telling the same lies as before? I think so, because it suits your personal belief system, too much of which is based on lies for you to change.
You can’t even acknowledge the successes of social-democratic mixed economies, ffs.
what lies? it’s all true. capitalistic imperatives to provide a free market are essential to a government performing it’s duty to society. Government can never provide the kind of planning and distribution to make some thing like the uptake of personal computers work. and they certainly can’t bludgeon anyone into making a sustainable fishing farm like the one proposed. it’s success will be judged by the notion that it’s owners can make a profit based off low barriers to entry. boom- free market.
understand this, government intervention is successful when it’s propagating just causes like free market capitalism is a once off. it’s only when they guarantee bank and finance company deposits etc that it becomes a problem. purely because the government is now involved and markets are distorted.
capitalistic imperatives to provide a free market are essential to a government performing it’s duty to society.
The government has always done that far better when it wasn’t done through capitalism. In fact the last thirty years have shown a decrease in the ability of our government to do right by our people – as the increasing poverty and homelessness proves.
Government can never provide the kind of planning and distribution to make some thing like the uptake of personal computers work.
Actually, the PC you’re using is proof that they can. Read The Entrepreneurial State to get an idea of how the entire process was planned over decades by a small government office. An office that researched what was needed and then chose the research to fund to bring about that end. If that small government office hadn’t done that planning there’d be no way that we’d have the computers that we have today.
and they certainly can’t bludgeon anyone into making a sustainable fishing farm like the one proposed.
No. What they’d do is fund the research into producing such sustainable farms and then make that research publicly available. Just like the US government did and does with computers in fact.
it’s success will be judged by the notion that it’s owners can make a profit based off low barriers to entry.
Have you noted climate change and our polluted cities and water ways?
That’s the result of capitalism and the profit motive. Capitalism is unsustainable and always destroys the society that tries it as history proves.
What lies? You’re still telling them. Are you going to read The Entrepreneurial State as suggested, or are you happy to wallow in ignorance and dishonesty?
I bet you invent some strawman instead. Go on, pretend you’re arguing with a Communist, that’ll work 🙄
Auckland is booming but it’s the struggling regions that contribute most exports and tourist destinations – the critical determinants of living standards.
o Excessive, low value immigration is a disaster. It boosts GDP, so is politically attractive, but increases housing demand and prices, is causing serious social problems, puts pressure on Government spending AND, most importantly, reduces the living standards of New Zealanders. Building more houses for more people who don’t add economic value just digs a deeper hole!
o Immigration inflates house prices but much of the increase in house prices reflects the large tax subsidy to investors in housing, compared with savers.
o High volume – low value tourism is destructive. It adds little economic value but puts serious pressure on the environment and fundamentally erodes New Zealand’s desirable features.
o Deliberate policy targeting of savers and savings is politically expedient but bad policy, and damaging, economically and socially.
o Low productivity is a critical weakness, contributing to low incomes, low tax payments and low living standards – and welfare dependency.
o The windfall gains from Auckland house prices should be substantially taxed, to fund critical National projects, such as restoring river water quality and more effective social programs. River water quality is a disgrace!
o The Public Service needs to be sorted, urgently. It has too many serious policy and performance failures. It has too many weaknesses and is too much a lap dog rather than a source of leadership and free and frank advice and information. “Better Public Service” is dead in the water!
So how come in 9 hard years of Labour they never made huge increases in benefits, increased operations or doctors or nurses and refused to fund Herceptin. Take off the blinkers and come over to the Force.
St Matthew-in-the-City
(187 Federal St) (Corner of Wellesley and Hobson Sts)
Doors open at 6pm. LIMITED CAPACITY. $5 Koha. Thanks.
Public Meeting
Talks and discussion on the TPPA (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement) and the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership). These are two massive international treaties that spell Double Trouble.
Find out more!
The TPPA is being steamrolled through Parliament against the wishes of the majority of New Zealanders, but it is in deep trouble in the US and other countries. It may never be ratified and may never come into force. We need to keep up the pressure.
Meanwhile, the RCEP, led by China contains many of the same dangerous provisions as the TPPA. It is still in negotiation and the next round of talks is being held in Auckland on 12-18 June. If the TPPA doesn’t go through, it will be the RCEP that sets the rules for trade and investment, and for New Zealand’s laws and democratic rights.
Like the TPPA, the RCEP negotiations are shrouded in secrecy. We need to know what the New Zealand government is saying on our behalf. We need transparency.
Featured speakers:
Dr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram – former senior UN official, researcher on the TPPA
Dr. Jane Kelsey – Law Professor, University of Auckland
Sanya Reid Smith – Senior Researcher, Third World Network Malaysia
Dr. Joshua Freeman – Doctors for Healthy Trade
Barry Coates – Spokesperson, It’s Our Future
Dr. Sundaram is a prominent Malaysian economist, who has served as the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) from 2005 until 2012. He was founder chair of International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs), and sat on the Board of the United Nations Research Institute For Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva. In 2007, he was awarded the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.
A prominent critic of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Dr. Sundaram has co-authored a report, published by the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University, entitled Trading Down: Unemployment, Inequality and Other Risks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Dr Sundaram’s research indicates that the economic models used to legitimise such treaties do not take into account that they work to increase unemployment and inequality.
Dr. Jane Kelsey is one of New Zealand’s best-known critical commentators on issues of globalisation and neoliberalism. She is an active member of a number of international coalitions of academics, trade unionists, NGOs and social movements working for social justice.
Sanya Reid Smith is a Legal Advisor and Senior Researcher at the Third World Network, an international coalition specializing in North-South policy issues. Sanya travels the world in tireless advocacy for social justice, on topics including access to medicines, womens’ rights and environmental sustainability.
Dr. Josh Freeman is a Clinical Microbiologist at Auckland City Hospital and an honorary academic at the University of Auckland School of Molecular Medicine and Pathology.Doctors for the Protection of Health in Trade Agreements (known as Doctors for Healthy Trade) is a growing coalition of New Zealand doctors and colleagues in health in New Zealand and elsewhere, with a core group of predominantly full-time clinicians.
Barry Coates is spokesperson for It’s Our Future and former Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand. He has played a prominent role in campaigning on trade and climate change internationally and in New Zealand, and is a passionate advocate for sustainability and social justice. It’s Our Future is the leading coalition in New Zealand opposing the TPPA and similar treaties.
When the race started Sandars did not get the press, well maybe in the US, but i have not heard him speak, let alone understand his platform. Now sure r you can argue that he was new and took time to catch Clinton incumbant establishment name recognition. Though Trump branding long ago has been drummed into us all.
But that just democracy when media hold the keys to who gets airtime.
Sandars is still in because hes got leverage to get Clinton concessions. No problem with that. Question is really for me, will Republicians vote for Trump and have him define their party, like George junior, in the hopes he is a Ronald, even though both are now historically patsy establishment Presidents who created the mire that is western democracy.
I first saw Sanders many many years ago on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and it WAS complimentary.
You know what? Sanders went down so well he was given a huge round of applause and whistling by the audience. Jon Stewart was really impressed too and he said something along the lines of “Hey America, take a look at our future President!” Uncanny eh.
As for aerobubble’s question, I can’t reply to that. I’m barely following the American Presidential campaigns this time around. I’m just too tired.
Like any 2.5 mill’ Lotto winner. Of course it wouldn’t have anything to do with what I suspect to be your subliminal sense that he’s a lobotomised brown boy in a sea of equally unworthy brown people. Which sense was the problem right from the start of course.
I read somewhere there’s a still serving Auckland cop who was involved in his persecution from day one whom to this day still angrily maintains that Teina Pora’s as guilty as sin. May karma hunt that bastard cop down.
Paula Trash aye ? The staffer loses his/her job there could be some uncontrolled talking. Of course Paula Trash is gonna publicly decline the invented offer of resignation. Makes the trashy lying thing look the magnanimous non-bully she is not.
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If the government has not lined up behind a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum the way some reformers would have liked, one entirely laudable thing it did do was commission some science around the public's choice.That science landed today, in the form of the report from an expert ...
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Last night, One News ran a follow-up story to its Colmar Brunton poll results on the cannabis referendum, headed here as Government accuses big American anti-cannabis group of interfering in NZ politics.In truth it wasn't just the government: Justice minister Andrew Little, National's Shane Reti and the Greens' Chloe Swarbrick ...
When the government refused to put cameras on fishing boats to ensure fishers obeyed the law, Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash claimed that coalition partner NZ First (which has received large donations from the fishing industry) was not responsible for the decision. He has repeated that claim repeatedly since then. But ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First leader Winston Peters today scoffed at suggestions that a team of six political operatives have been dispatched to New Zealand to assist his campaign. ‘As President Ronald Reagan once said, ‘there they go again.’ ‘The clickbait journos can’t ...
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jenny Marcroft as the party’s election 2020 candidate for the Auckland Central electorate. Jenny spent years working in Auckland Central, having spent a vast proportion of her broadcasting career there. She says she, "knows the place and knows the people." Ms Marcroft says ...
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio is pleased to announce the inaugural launch of Kiribati Language Week as part of the 2020 Pacific language Weeks programme. “I am so pleased that this year we are able to provide resourcing support to the Kiribati community in Aotearoa which will ...
Wildlife institutions affected by a loss of visitor revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown are set to receive government support with nearly $15 million of funding available announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “Eco-sanctuaries, zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, and wildlife rescue, hospital and rehabilitation facilities provide crucial support for the recovery ...
The Government is expanding and accelerating frontline mental health and wellbeing services at tertiary education institutes (TEI) to help students manage ongoing stresses related to COVID-19. “The lockdown has been hugely disruptive for students. Many of them have had to relocate and move to online learning, isolating them from their ...
The Minister of Police says a major operation against the Mongrel Mob in Waikato will make a big dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks. “Senior leadership of the Waikato Mongrel Mob has been taken out as a result of Operation Kingsville, which resulted in ...
The Government is extending the border exception criteria to enable some offshore victims and support people of the Christchurch mosque attacks to attend the sentencing of the accused beginning on 24 August2020, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “We want to support our valued Muslim brothers and sisters who were directly ...
A project to support volunteer efforts to look after streams and rivers is getting a boost thanks to support from DOC’s Community Conservation Fund announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “The government is backing efforts to look after waterways with $199,400 for the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust from ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...
The Government’s books were better than forecast with a higher GST take as the economy got moving again after lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May indicate the year end results for tax revenue will be stronger than forecast. ...
A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s strong wool sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path was unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The newly-released report - Vision and Action for New Zealand’s Wool Sector - was developed by the Wool Industry Project Action Group ...
Community efforts to create a Predator Free Whangārei will receive a $6 million boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The new funding, through Government company Predator Free 2050 Ltd, will create around 12 jobs while enabling the complete removal of possums over ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the settings of its relationship with Hong Kong. “China’s decision to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong has fundamentally changed the environment for international engagement there,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand remains deeply ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced details of a multimillion-dollar investment in Whangārei for infrastructure projects that will help it recover from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 jobs are expected to be created through the $26 million investment from the Government’s rejuvenation package ...
Following a second incident in which a person escaped from a managed isolation facility, security is being enhanced, including more police presence onsite, Minister Megan Woods said. “The actions of some individuals who choose to break the very clear rules to stay within the facilities means that more resourcing is ...
Waste reduction and recycling programmes in Kaipara are set to get a boost with Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announcing a $361,447 grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) Sustainable Kaipara. “The new funding will allow Sustainable Kaipara to partner with local schools, kura, community ...
The Government will support the Southland economy in the wake of multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s decision to follow through with its long signalled closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. “This day has unfortunately been on the cards for some time now, but nevertheless the final decision is a ...
New tools being developed to help boost Aotearoa’s Predator Free 2050 effort were unveiled today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. A new rat poison, a camera with predator recognition software to detect and report predators, a new predator lure and a ...
The Coalition Government has approved the purchase of a fleet of Bushmaster vehicles to replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers, Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced today. The new fleet of 43 Australian-designed and built Bushmaster NZ5.5 will provide better protection for personnel and improved carrying capacity. “The age ...
The Government’s three prevention frameworks to reduce family violence in Aotearoa were launched this week by Associate Minister for Social Development Poto Williams. The frameworks were developed in partnership with communities around New Zealand, and build on the work the Government has already begun with its new family violence prevention ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
Waffles don’t need to be sweet – these cheese and onion numbers make an excellent savoury breakfast with an egg, or an equally tasty dinner with leftover mince.It’s easy to default to sweet breakfasts without thinking. At least that’s the case in our household, as porridge or bircher muesli is ...
The government is revitalising the wool sector, splashing out on freshwater restoration projects, relieving student stress and showing kindness to Muslims by extending the border exception criteria. It is also increasing its support (in announcements from two separate Green Party Ministers) for women and for wildlife institutions. And it is ...
People have called it for it be pulled from the service, but the escapist fantasy of 365 Days is nothing new, writes Alie Benge.To every generation, a bullish alpha-male psychopath is born, and is for someone reason considered a romantic hero. We’ve been through a lot this year, and instead ...
As Aucklanders reluctantly adjust to the inconvenient practice of water conservation, a drought-savvy Northlander shares the tips and temperament needed to get through the dry times.Auckland’s water shortage was recently reported on The Project, and viewers were earnestly exhorted to fill their dishwashers completely before turning them on. My husband ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk A request by the Philippines’ biggest radio and TV network for a new franchise has been rejected by a congressional committee in a vote that will go down in history as a flagrant violation of the country’s constitution, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The Paris-based media ...
Hamish Walker's privacy leak debacle dominated the news this week, but it's not the first time a southern MP has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, writes Daisy Hudson. ...
Let’s not allow the focus on big-budget infrastructure projects to detract from the vital role public transport will play in revitalising our cities in a post-Covid world, says Greg Pollock.The recent match between the Blues and the Hurricanes was one of the world’s first major post-lockdown sporting fixtures. It was ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
In the heart of Christchurch is a Designated Character high school. What makes it unique? And should there be more like it? Frank Film visits Hagley College Paddy Grant was a 27-year-old truck driver when he rocked up to Christchurch’s Hagley High School, as it was then known. It was ...
"After he calms down we share the pie and talk about how hard the years since the show have been for him": a short story by Wellington writer Jordan Hamel. Every morning it’s the same. Cling wrap on the toilet seat, a pop up snake in my can of breakfast ...
Childcare centre closures have left families and staff out in the cold. In some cases, they were given just three days’ notice, Laura Walters reports Staff and families of Auckland’s Discoveries Educare branches feel blindsided by the sudden closure of the early childhood education centres. The Ministry of Education has ...
Controversy and the America's Cup go hand-in-hand and the latest edition is no different with Emirates Team New Zealand at the centre of financial mismanagement allegations. Extra Time unpicks the debate and ponders what does the latest Cup drama mean? And should we care? A study has revealed racial bias ...
Over the decades, Mike Fox has witnessed the housing market progressively tilt towards larger, more expensive homes. Without a major overhaul of the current regulatory processes, he says, things will never change.It’s one of the biggest problems our country faces – we cannot produce the affordable housing that’s so desperately ...
So-called dirty deals have been roundly denounced over the years. Hayden Donnell argues that they need to be normalised, and even embraced, in September’s election.Just before the 2011 general election, Patrick Gower was confronted with a political act so stomach-churning, it forced him to abandon his trademark reserve. John Key ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victoria has recorded 288 new COVID-19 cases since yesterday, the largest daily increase we’ve seen so far. This big jump must have the Victorian government and health authorities very concerned, especially since nearly ...
The controversial 101 East episode Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown on 3 July 2020. Video: Al JazeeraPacific Media Watch Newsdesk Malaysian police summoned six Al Jazeera media workers today for questioning relating to an investigation for defamation and violation of Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA), reports IFJ Asia-Pacific. ...
Analysis - A National MP destroys his career, the government explains how someone with Covid-19 could walk around a supermarket and the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is announced. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, Epidemiologist, UNSW Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly today recommended people in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire wear masks when leaving the house: […] If people have symptoms and they need to go for a test, for example, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rochelle Wynne, Director, Western Sydney Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre, Western Sydney University Over the past week, we’ve seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 infections among health-care workers in Victoria. This includes a doctor at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, one ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paddy Nixon and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including the return to lockdown in Victoria, National Cabinet setting to slow the flow of Australian’s ...
We prefer our heroes untarnished. And few match the heroism of Winston Churchill. But a recent report in the Times reminds us of the inevitability of human frailty and the consequences of keeping it under wraps.During the second world war, Britain’s greatest single loss of life at sea was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ou Yang, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Donald Trump has ordered US federal agencies to bypass environmental protection laws and fast-track pipeline, highway and other infrastructure projects. Signing the executive order last month, the US president declared regulatory delays would hinder “our ...
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton says "The NZDIA has done the right thing, and we’re glad to see Bertram has been held to account over his actions. He should take this as an opportunity to right his wrongs and show that he takes animal welfare seriously." ...
Takuta Ferris, Te Tai Tonga candidate for the Māori Party, is urging government to place whānau first in the wake of announcements around Tiwai Point. “The declaration that one of the region's major employers the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is closing ...
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we’re joined by The Spinoff’s managing editor, mall rat and self-confessed food philistine Duncan Greive.On this month’s Dietary Requirements, the gang’s back in the studio, and ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart 1: United States and Australia rising. Chart by Keith Rankin. These charts look at Covid19 incidence in China (the most important first-wave country, with a limited second wave), Italy (the lead second-wave country), and USA and Australia (second-wave countries – drawing their caseload from Europe ...
The Government must listen to the Muslim community to rectify its failure to act in the past, says the Human Rights Commission. The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) submission to the Royal Commission of Inquiry was released this week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, President, Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics. Senior Research Fellow, Moral philosophy, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Law Futures Centre., Griffith University Earlier this week, 150 high-profile authors, commentators and scholars signed an open letter in Harper’s magazine ...
You can’t keep a good woman down and Helen Clark is no exception. Her new appointment, as co-chair of a review of how the World Health Organisation handled the coronavirus pandemic, will test her formidable political skills. Sitting with her is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president, who handled the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Connor, Lecturer, James Cook University While many people may enjoy a game of backyard cricket, only a few go on to become elite professional batsmen in Australia. Cricket batting is example of what human skills can achieve. The fastest bowling delivery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Baumgartner, Professor of Fisheries and River Management, Institute for Land, Water, and Society, Charles Sturt University This article is a preview of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native ...
CEAC review of pre-election National’s “outline plan” just sent to us by Todd Muller 9/7/20 was actually his speech about his plan and was described as ‘an outline’. So in our review of National Party response to A Greener, Smarter Future; climate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Podger, Honorary Professor of Public Policy, Australian National University In Hidden Hand, China scholars Clive Hamilton and Marieke Ohlberg examine the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in Europe and North America in a similar way to how Hamilton dissected the CCP’s influence ...
“I can see why people are fed up, many are wondering how to clothe and feed their kids, or how they are going to pay their rent next week and still others are wondering what has happened to our beautiful Kiwi Way of Life. Well no party in parliament ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Sixty press freedom groups and civil society organisations, journalism institutions, filmmakers, and other supporters have formed a coalition in support of Maria Ressa and independent media in the Philippines, united around the call to #HoldTheLine. Today the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Center for ...
National MP Michael Woodhouse also received Covid-19 patient emails from Michelle Boag, and deleted them when he realised she was implicated in a separate email scandal. National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also ...
The government is extending border exceptions to allow overseas victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks and their support people to attend the shooter's sentencing. ...
Ever wanted to be Iron Man? Sam Brooks prefers Pepper Potts, but he had a great time stepping into the iron suit anyway.The first few moments of Iron Man VR are where it plays its hand, confidently and assuredly. You hold your palms out in front of you, and Iron ...
SAP has released to the public a policy paper, “Helping Kiwis get back to work: How data and technology can drive a bigger, better, faster economic recovery.” ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel.Mermaids When you lose grip and start to drift.The first thing you’re supposed to do issteer into it or steer away? Not all mermaids are royaltysomeone needs to audit the oceanprovide cashflow projectionssome mermaids are actuallymiddle-aged accountants named Stephendreaming of a land-view holiday home. I saw a ...
Want to work for The Spinoff? We’re looking for someone to fill an exciting new role based in our Auckland office. We’re looking for a video and podcast content manager: an experienced writer or sub-editor with a strong understanding of social media to manage our video and podcast content across various channels. ...
National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also received four unsolicited emails. ...
By RNZ News Opposition National list MP Dr Jian Yang has announced his retirement from New Zealand politics and says he will not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. He said politics was “demanding” and he wanted to spend more time with his ...
Bayer-Monsanto's June 24 announcement of a US$10.9 billion pay out (1) to people who have been harmed by Glyphosate, is effectively an admission of guilt. Spokesperson for The People’s Inquiry 2020 Asha Andersen says, “The Ministry of Health, The ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has filed a complaint with the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office over Lawrence Yule’s new taxpayer funded billboards promoting Mr Yule as the ‘Voice in Tukituki’. Union spokesman, Louis Houlbrooke ...
Ten points, two plans. Which points are whose? With an election within spitting distance, Aotearoa’s two biggest political parties are all about the plans. “You don’t have a plan!” says one party to the other. “Yes we have a plan, or certainly a plan to have a plan, or a plan ...
Four months after he announced his re-selection, a National Party MP whose links to Chinese spy agencies attracted the interest of New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service has announced he will not stand in the next election A three-term National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to ...
National list MP Dr Jian Yang announced his retirement from politics and said he would not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. ...
A new political party, the New Zealand TEA Party, with headquarters in Auckland, has been established. The party aims to contest the queen- or kingmaker position to form a coalition with the largest parliamentary party as part of the general elections ...
A review has determined fish oils are non-hazardous and no longer require oversight by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). We regulate pesticides, household chemicals and other dangerous goods and substances under the Hazardous Substances ...
New Conservative calls on the government to join with our Five Eyes allies and add New Zealand's signature to a joint statement condemning the continued removal of freedoms in Hong Kong. New Conservative also calls on the government to give safe-haven ...
Latest from the Beehive – Hard on the heels of the government promising help for the Southland economy in the wake of Rio Tinto’s decision to close the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, it was announcing the delivery of more money to the North, at the other end of the country. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luciano Beheregaray, Professor in Biodiversity Genomics, Flinders University As the global climate shifts, it’s important to know which species have adaptations to survive. Our research published today in PNAS found it largely depends on where they evolved. We looked at the capacity ...
From eggplant emojis and twerking llamas to sweaty anthropomorphic butts, we present some of the most fascinating, hilarious and outrageous complaints dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from 2019 to now.Avocadon’t (January 2019)The ad: In this ad from Specsavers, a man gets ready to join a cricket match, but ...
They might sound like the same thing, but light rail is quite different from light metro – the system that transport minister Phil Twyford now favours for Auckland. Katy Wakefield and Jessica Rose of Women in Urbanism explain why the metro option is a poor substitute for LRT. Transport is ...
Why isn't the Government spending $30m to extend Tiwai Point's 2,600 jobs until after the Covid-19 recession, after Manapouri's power can be transmitted elsewhere, and after there's a hydrogen plan for the smelter site, Bernard Hickey asks. The sense of shock and foreboding about the future was clear in Invercargill Mayor ...
An intensive care doctor is outraged health officials are giving helicopter rescue trusts a daily list of Covid-19 patients, saying it's completely unnecessary. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Seth Lazar, Professor, Australian National University In the US, tireless opposition to state use of facial recognition algorithms has recently won some victories. Some progressive cities have banned some uses of the technology. Threetechcompanies have pulled facial recognition products from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia Facial recognition technology is increasingly being trialled and deployed around Australia. Queensland and Western Australia are reportedly already using real-time facial recognition through CCTV cameras. 7-Eleven Australia is also ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor of Human Resource Management, University of South Australia The coronavirus pandemic has forced many of us to work from home, often in less than ideal circumstances. Many employees had little choice in the decision, limited time to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katja Hogendoorn, University of Adelaide This article is a preview of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and animals after last summer’s bushfire tragedy. Sign up to The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By SriPallavi Nadimpalli, PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne Women manage many overlapping responsibilities in both public and private spheres. Their busy routines leave them with just a little time to take a break or a pause in their activity. These pauses are a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naoise McDonagh, Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Adelaide The pandemic has changed the way we think about supply chains, in particular the chains that feed our need for food, medical supplies, and defence equipment. It has led Prime Minister Scott Morrison ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW As Victoria grapples with a second-wave outbreak of COVID-19, the importance of large-scale testing has again been highlighted. Without its “testing blitz” aiming at 10,000 tests a day, the extent of the outbreak would have been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jean Burgess, Professor and Director, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology Perhaps no single character has been as iconic a symbol of Twitter as the now-ubiquitous hashtag. The syntax of the hashtag has a few simple rules: it consists of ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Open mike 15/06/2016 
Open mike is your post.
Todd Muller - Dishonest National Party leaderIt seems that dishonest Todd Muller is, like many right-wing politicians, entirely morally bankrupt. I mean just look at the National Party’s leaking omni-shambles over the last week or so. They’ve imploded in a spectacular display of backfiring dirty politics, the likes of which ...4 hours ago
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Simon Bridges must be the unluckiest person in New Zealand politics. When he was elected as leader of the National party, he also became Leader of the Opposition – a position, he was entitled to assume, that would require him to “oppose”. But the government he set out to oppose ...6 hours ago
...17 hours ago
Check out Speak Up For Women’s new podcasts: Episode 3 In this episode Speak Up For Women spokeswoman Ani O’Brien (@aniobrien) is joined by Beth Johnson (@beth_nosnhoj) to discuss the proposal from Statistics NZ to change standard data collection policy to “gender by default” rather than sex. They discuss why the ...20 hours ago
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Transcript: National Party policy announcement on roads – 8 July, 2020 Muller: Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for coming. Reporter 1: Is Hamish Walker a racist? Muller: Hang on… you haven’t even said good afternoon to me yet. Reporter 1: Good afternoon Mr Muller. Is Hamish Walker a racist? ...1 day ago
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Why isn't the Government spending $30m to extend Tiwai Point's 2,600 jobs until after the Covid-19 recession, after Manapouri's power can be transmitted elsewhere, and after there's a hydrogen plan for the smelter site, Bernard Hickey asks. The sense of shock and foreboding about the future was clear in Invercargill Mayor ...1 day ago
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Douglas Rushkoff on How Growth Became the Enemy of Prosperity – and How To Fix It
Some interesting points about how the old capitalist business forms are proving even more destructive in the new digital age.
Remember when Google was on a bender about digitizing books, and being some information depository, it aint anymore.
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Cruel, uncaring
If put your head up and show ‘the government that it has holes in its social housing policy and that Paula Bennett has not been doing her job in terms of fixing these problems”, expect trouble.
Marae has fears of ‘smear campaign’
The Auckland-based marae which opened its doors to the homeless is worried it is the victim of a smear campaign by the staff of the Social Housing Minister.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/306393/marae-has-fears-of-'smear-campaign‘
Maybe they can get the Maori party to sort it out being besties with national and voting to sell state houses. /sarc
How did the staffer know about the police investigation, who told her or did she dig it up.
Bennet was told by Hurimoana Dennis.
Then the staffer told the media.
i wonder how the staffer got to know?
Implausible deniability has been de rigueur for this government for most of its term.
Hasn’t Bennett more or less acknowledged that in her debriefing with her staff she imparted the knowledge Mr Dennis had very honourably given her ? If that’s the story the trashy thing is as guilty as sin, if one step removed. As someone said she has “form”.
That effete fuck Key then comes on and says – “Paula wears her heart on her sleeve……she wouldn’t lie to me”.
FFS ! There’s no such thing as a lie in the culture of their fetid, corrupt world so what’s that assurance worth ?
Thanks for the link, Paul.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/florida-nightclub-shooting/81076654/obama-clinton-lay-into-trump-for-proposed-muslim-ban
Donald Trump and his supporters are mimicking H1tler.
100%
The USA is today in about the place late 1920’s Germany was in just before they elected H1tler, with all his rhetoric blaming the muslims, I mean the jews, for everything
There is no difference
Trump is exactly like H1tler
100%
scary
ignorant
just scary
why did 25% of Germans vote for Hitler? Because they were sick of seeing their country and their lives being humiliated and broken by the powerful and the rich.
Agreed … Trump is only succeeding because the left has been put out of business, mainly by the elites imposing their self-serving zombie ideologies, and partly by our own divisiveness and failures.
The spectacle of the Democrats closing out the only authentically left-wing and popular candidate for generations, in favour of their own insider … will not be lost on many US voters. The message is loud and clear “this way lies no hope”.
I don;t disagree at all and those factors are very real..
still scary though as to where such rhetoric leads…… it is this which is scary…. and i dont think Trump even understands any of that… or perhaps he does …
Then to have Winston Peters come out the last two days with all of his rhetoric trying to out-pimp Trump – well, say no more…. Peters is again becoming populist with no care for the truth of his mutterances or positions and the effect those could have on encouraging hate and divisiveness ..
.. Peters claiming “we have it here too”… what a load of complete bullshit. If this carries on then Peters will be back to his previous Clark-years form of lies and bullshit, the wanker
Like what is happening in our country under National
placing NATO forces, including German military units FFS, right on the borders of Russia is not only assanine of the west, it is damn provocative and dangerous. Russia has already announced that it now has to add targets in Romania and Poland to their standard military plans.
Imagine Russia stationing 30,000 troops, missile batteries and fighter bomber squadrons in Cuba under the guise of a training exercise.
Dont they have troops on the wests borders?
Yes Russia has been aggressively placing its country closer and closer to increasing numbers of NATO bases
Anyone know what are the likely voting preferences of immigrants arriving since the last election. Would it be the same makeup as the population at large? If they are mostly low skilled is that a euphemism for Labour voters? If however they are ambitious and hard working is that a euphemism for National voters? I wonder how those with Chinese sounding names will vote? Perhaps a clue is that Asian membership of the National Party has doubled in the last two years.
If they parasite and leech off society, is that a euphemism for National voters? If they want to fight for basic employment rights in their jobs, is that a euphemism for Labour voters?
Take off the blinkers. National have increased benefits, extended free GP care and prescriptions to children, assisted beneficiaries into employment. increased operations, doctors, nurses and funded more medications. Sometimes the visceral venom of the Left defies credulity. In every portfolio there has been progress. Would a new immigrant want to support a winning succesful team or take a punt on a dispirite bunch of economically illiterate whingers.
fisiani, Nztional have been in power for eight ‘long’ years. So all of these should have increased- it’s called reacting, and properly so, to inflation.
Well, if they vote National then they do both, so I don’t really know what the point of your little false dichotomy is.
Hey Zealot read what this guy has to say about this shower of shit running the country
http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/82115/kerry-mcdonald-analyses-many-challenges-country-faces-and-concludes-we-need-effective
Good News Stories this morning
Cameron and Carrick finally getting called out on their lies, perfect timing, someone’s using their head and timing it to keep him out of the election.
http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/health/health-advocates-accuse-whale-oil-of-defamation-2016061507#axzz4BWVpjCuN
Microbes discovered that eat and poo electricity, microbes that could revolutionize energy and at the same time clean up the planets pollution. Good to see their is a glimmer of hope for this planet.
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160613-there-are-microbes-that-eat-and-poo-nothing-but-electricity
A shocking development 🙂
Christ on a stick. An author at the standard has proposed a viable, inter connected, well reasoned alternative to current practises rather than just blindly criticising then coming up with an ill-thought through, impractical ideological alternative with no connection to reality. Well done Weka.
Nice post too
[moved to OM for being off topic and looks like an old argument too. You are all welcome back in the sustainable fishing thread if you can put your comments in context of the post. Nessalt, thanks for the ups but it would have been better without slagging off other authors – weka]
+1
Actually, there’s been several workable solutions posted on here. You just refuse to accept them because of your own failed ideology.
I think I can remember two other plausible, workable, alternatives presented on the standard.
One by Lprent in relation to something computer / network related and how it could be used to further societal cohesion.
Then something by Bill, also on mitigating harm to the environment while sustaining society in all it’s functions. including the bits you don’t like. That pay for you to sit around on a computer. which was developed and nurtured by capitalism and free market ideology. And without which no one would listen to you.
Capitalism has always been against the welfare state and democracy. Just need to look at the actions of this government to see that.
Also, it wasn’t capitalism that developed the computer but heavy state intervention. Apple and its products would not exist without government funding and research.
Capitalism destroys. Always has done, always will do.
Just remember that large, upfront and early Federal Gov investment was what made the transistor and computer networking possible. Private companies have been leveraging off that for many years now, but they never had to take the initial risk or expense of doing the early investment themselves.
And the government never would have made any grants if it wasn’t perfectly suited for growing the economy and improve the access of millions to information and capitalism in a short space of time. capitalist imperatives have nurtured more societal improvements than any other form of ism has. look how globalism combined with capitalism have raised more than 90% of the worlds population out of actual poverty. not the relative poverty that is an ephemeral concept and is routinely trotted out as a “valid” argument.
you’re retrospectively assigning motivation half a century after the fact.
Bell Labs for instance, was funded as a non profit research centre, within an entity that was entirely government owned.
It’s a bit contrived of you to start giving capitalism credit for socialist tax payer funded activities.
Back in the 1950s I really doubt any one was dreaming of the WWW or even individuals having computers.
Nope. It always destroys them because the capitalists take all the wealth for themselves. That’s what cutting government spending and taxes is about.
I’m pretty sure if you went to the people before capitalism introduced them to poverty and asked if they were in poverty they’d say no. And you probably wouldn’t find any either as those societies worked together to ensure that everyone lived well.
Now you know that public money was used in the development of much of the computer industry and internet, will you simply go on telling the same lies as before? I think so, because it suits your personal belief system, too much of which is based on lies for you to change.
You can’t even acknowledge the successes of social-democratic mixed economies, ffs.
what lies? it’s all true. capitalistic imperatives to provide a free market are essential to a government performing it’s duty to society. Government can never provide the kind of planning and distribution to make some thing like the uptake of personal computers work. and they certainly can’t bludgeon anyone into making a sustainable fishing farm like the one proposed. it’s success will be judged by the notion that it’s owners can make a profit based off low barriers to entry. boom- free market.
understand this, government intervention is successful when it’s propagating just causes like free market capitalism is a once off. it’s only when they guarantee bank and finance company deposits etc that it becomes a problem. purely because the government is now involved and markets are distorted.
The government has always done that far better when it wasn’t done through capitalism. In fact the last thirty years have shown a decrease in the ability of our government to do right by our people – as the increasing poverty and homelessness proves.
Actually, the PC you’re using is proof that they can. Read The Entrepreneurial State to get an idea of how the entire process was planned over decades by a small government office. An office that researched what was needed and then chose the research to fund to bring about that end. If that small government office hadn’t done that planning there’d be no way that we’d have the computers that we have today.
No. What they’d do is fund the research into producing such sustainable farms and then make that research publicly available. Just like the US government did and does with computers in fact.
Have you noted climate change and our polluted cities and water ways?
That’s the result of capitalism and the profit motive. Capitalism is unsustainable and always destroys the society that tries it as history proves.
What lies? You’re still telling them. Are you going to read The Entrepreneurial State as suggested, or are you happy to wallow in ignorance and dishonesty?
I bet you invent some strawman instead. Go on, pretend you’re arguing with a Communist, that’ll work 🙄
zerohedge
anyone read this? Not sure if the link will work, as I am link challenged, but it’s hiding away on zerohedge about guess what, our real estate boom
And this on Interest.co
http://www.interest.co.nz/opinion/82115/kerry-mcdonald-analyses-many-challenges-country-faces-and-concludes-we-need-effective
Here is a taster
In the US 136 Mass shootings in 164 days
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/06/13/health/mass-shootings-in-america-in-charts-and-graphs-trnd/
So how come in 9 hard years of Labour they never made huge increases in benefits, increased operations or doctors or nurses and refused to fund Herceptin. Take off the blinkers and come over to the Force.
Fisi had an epiphany last night woke at 3 am all sweaty, I finally found a good one to post on that bloody lefty standard, he thinks to himself.
the standard snores in shock.
“the standard snores in shock.”
Too true. fisiani bores me to tears so it’s always a scroll through when he’s around. Fastest scroll through ever in fact.
Have you heard of the RCEP?
It’s the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
It’s like the TPPA – but with China and without the USA.
But RCEP – like the TPPA is looking after BIG business and investor interests – under the cover of secrecy.
But there is a Public Meeting happening this Friday night, in Auckland, which YOU can attend, with expert speakers who will explain and enlighten you!
Please come if you can and SHARE this event?
https://m.facebook.com/events/1036071006486196?acontext=%7B%22ref%22%3A3%2C%22action_history%22%3A%22null%22%7D&aref=3
TPP + RCEP = Double Trouble – Auckland
Friday 17 June 2016 at 6:30 PM
St Matthew-in-the-City
(187 Federal St) (Corner of Wellesley and Hobson Sts)
Doors open at 6pm. LIMITED CAPACITY. $5 Koha. Thanks.
Public Meeting
Talks and discussion on the TPPA (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement) and the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership). These are two massive international treaties that spell Double Trouble.
Find out more!
The TPPA is being steamrolled through Parliament against the wishes of the majority of New Zealanders, but it is in deep trouble in the US and other countries. It may never be ratified and may never come into force. We need to keep up the pressure.
Meanwhile, the RCEP, led by China contains many of the same dangerous provisions as the TPPA. It is still in negotiation and the next round of talks is being held in Auckland on 12-18 June. If the TPPA doesn’t go through, it will be the RCEP that sets the rules for trade and investment, and for New Zealand’s laws and democratic rights.
Like the TPPA, the RCEP negotiations are shrouded in secrecy. We need to know what the New Zealand government is saying on our behalf. We need transparency.
Featured speakers:
Dr. Jomo Kwame Sundaram – former senior UN official, researcher on the TPPA
Dr. Jane Kelsey – Law Professor, University of Auckland
Sanya Reid Smith – Senior Researcher, Third World Network Malaysia
Dr. Joshua Freeman – Doctors for Healthy Trade
Barry Coates – Spokesperson, It’s Our Future
Dr. Sundaram is a prominent Malaysian economist, who has served as the United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) from 2005 until 2012. He was founder chair of International Development Economics Associates (IDEAs), and sat on the Board of the United Nations Research Institute For Social Development (UNRISD), Geneva. In 2007, he was awarded the Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.
A prominent critic of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Dr. Sundaram has co-authored a report, published by the Global Development and Environment Institute at Tufts University, entitled Trading Down: Unemployment, Inequality and Other Risks of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement. Dr Sundaram’s research indicates that the economic models used to legitimise such treaties do not take into account that they work to increase unemployment and inequality.
Dr. Jane Kelsey is one of New Zealand’s best-known critical commentators on issues of globalisation and neoliberalism. She is an active member of a number of international coalitions of academics, trade unionists, NGOs and social movements working for social justice.
Sanya Reid Smith is a Legal Advisor and Senior Researcher at the Third World Network, an international coalition specializing in North-South policy issues. Sanya travels the world in tireless advocacy for social justice, on topics including access to medicines, womens’ rights and environmental sustainability.
Dr. Josh Freeman is a Clinical Microbiologist at Auckland City Hospital and an honorary academic at the University of Auckland School of Molecular Medicine and Pathology.Doctors for the Protection of Health in Trade Agreements (known as Doctors for Healthy Trade) is a growing coalition of New Zealand doctors and colleagues in health in New Zealand and elsewhere, with a core group of predominantly full-time clinicians.
Barry Coates is spokesperson for It’s Our Future and former Executive Director of Oxfam New Zealand. He has played a prominent role in campaigning on trade and climate change internationally and in New Zealand, and is a passionate advocate for sustainability and social justice. It’s Our Future is the leading coalition in New Zealand opposing the TPPA and similar treaties.
Because I loves me some political scanda, is this the reason Bernie Saunders is still staying in the race and not conceding defeat:
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jun/12/wikileaks-to-publish-more-hillary-clinton-emails-julian-assange
When the race started Sandars did not get the press, well maybe in the US, but i have not heard him speak, let alone understand his platform. Now sure r you can argue that he was new and took time to catch Clinton incumbant establishment name recognition. Though Trump branding long ago has been drummed into us all.
But that just democracy when media hold the keys to who gets airtime.
Sandars is still in because hes got leverage to get Clinton concessions. No problem with that. Question is really for me, will Republicians vote for Trump and have him define their party, like George junior, in the hopes he is a Ronald, even though both are now historically patsy establishment Presidents who created the mire that is western democracy.
The first time I came across Saunders was on the John Oliver show, it wasn’t complimentary as I recall
I first saw Sanders many many years ago on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and it WAS complimentary.
You know what? Sanders went down so well he was given a huge round of applause and whistling by the audience. Jon Stewart was really impressed too and he said something along the lines of “Hey America, take a look at our future President!” Uncanny eh.
As for aerobubble’s question, I can’t reply to that. I’m barely following the American Presidential campaigns this time around. I’m just too tired.
SANDERS
Mr Teina Pora, wrongfully imprisoned for 21 years.
“awarded” $2,520,949.42 compensation?
$13.70 per hour…… Less than the minimum wage. Shameful.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11657075
Tax free?
I hope its put in trust for him, I’m guessing he’ll be making a lot of new “friends” right about now
I agree with you there Puckish. I am sure his lawyers are giving him good sound advice in that area.
Yep at current rates he should be able to get at least 60k pa, and have some walking around money.
Like any 2.5 mill’ Lotto winner. Of course it wouldn’t have anything to do with what I suspect to be your subliminal sense that he’s a lobotomised brown boy in a sea of equally unworthy brown people. Which sense was the problem right from the start of course.
I read somewhere there’s a still serving Auckland cop who was involved in his persecution from day one whom to this day still angrily maintains that Teina Pora’s as guilty as sin. May karma hunt that bastard cop down.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11657048
so fkn arrogant this Bennett. read the last line!
Paula Trash aye ? The staffer loses his/her job there could be some uncontrolled talking. Of course Paula Trash is gonna publicly decline the invented offer of resignation. Makes the trashy lying thing look the magnanimous non-bully she is not.
Government turned dictator – even the Fed farmers call Nationals proposed power grab on RMA excessive!!!
Kleptocracy Grab elert!
https://blog.greens.org.nz/2016/06/15/government-needs-to-start-again-with-rma-changes/
extract..
“Federated Farmers, for example, described the proposed Ministerial powers as “excessive” and the provisions which allow central Government to intervene directly in local council plans as “heavy handed”. Sir Geoffrey Palmer, presenting evidence for Fish and Game, described the powers as a “constitutional outrage”.