Apprento is engaged by a company to assist not only in recruitment, but in training, and motivating frontline sales staff throughout their time in their new job.
…
Candidates complete a virtual assessment to identify their potential, before being matched with companies to employ them directly.
“We then stick around for 12-months to provide training and education to these sales and customer focused stuff. This includes ongoing online modules, interactive 'peer-to-peer support' sessions and access to experienced mentors,” says Freeman.
Freeman partnered with B2B sales specialist Alex McNaughten in 2020 to build the office-based apprenticeship, which is similar to models that have proved successful in the UK, USA, and Australia.
Very concerned about how the ministry of arts and culture have run roughshod over the locals, residents and other users of the Parnell Rose Gardens with their decision to erect a memorial to flight Te 901 in the middle of this haven. There is no pathway to understand how this decision was and who by. The plan showss a ghastly concrete and stainless steel monstrosity imposed upon a gentle and peaceful haven for no good reason except the bawling of some relatives of the boozers and junketeers who want more recognition than a busload of weekend boozers who bought the farm. This ghastly imposition is no more than a childish demand in the usual kiwi mawkish way to have the rest of the country involv ed in what should be a private matter. Phill Goff needs his head read for allowing this.
[I’ve changed your user name back to the one the system has stored]
the boozers and junketeers who want more recognition than a busload of weekend boozers who bought the farm.
Jesus that's ugly. In one short phrase you've convinced me you're not worth listening to and now I'm perfectly happy to see this monument built. (And yes I know the Rose Garden well, it's the perfect spot in my view.)
It's said that virtually every family in NZ knew someone on that plane – in our case my brother had just gotten some work done on his car by a panelbeater who he knew quite well. My brother said they'd talked about the flight and how much he was looking forward to something completely different and unique from his usual workday routine.
In short – fuck off. The bigger and flashier the monument the better in my book.
It sits quietly at one side of the reserve allowing the families, friends of those killed to reflect on their loss while looking over the beautiful harbour and inner gulf. It's the perfect place for such a memorial and will ensure the tragedy and its shameful aftermath is never forgotten.
Not only did 257 crew and passengers die in terrible circumstances but those who were left behind – and their supporters – had to endure a vendetta led by a former prime minister and some of his Air NZ lackeys.
The rose bedding out the front of the garden is rather ugly – too many modern hybrid teas in harsh colours planted en masse. Looks very dated actually. The use of old roses in the Nancy Steen garden behind the path is really wonderful, worth visiting for its own sake through spring/early summer. Sneak in the side gate to avoid having to avert your eyes from the ugly bedding roses – save your retinas. The grass slope down to the water is nice too, and I'm sure the monument will be sympathetically implemented and accepted over time. Hell, we Orks have even come to quite like an absurdity like the Sky Tower. And insulting dead people doesn't usually advance an argument.
to: R.P Mcmurphy…
Firstly–Thats not very nice. My friendly neighbour when I was a school kid was one on the ill fated flight, wife of a hard working builder who got her a special present.
Secondly–due process has been held. The memorial is tasteful and fits well, going by the artwork, in its proposed site in Dove Myer Robinson Park. I know the area personally and it is the city’s, not just Parnell residents territory.
Dr John Campbell has been a relentlessly calm and reasoned voice throughout the entire COVID debacle and was talking about the potential role of Vitamin D 12 months ago.
Well finally a (Edit: Link updated) well powered RCD trial is in pre-publish and the results are unequivocal. Campbell does an executive summary in the first few minutes so there in no need to watch the whole thing. In short once you have landed in hospital the correct dose of calcifediol (the fast acting metabolite of Vitamin D) will reduce your chances of landing up in ICU and/or dying by around a factor of 3 – 4.
(And this study does not include the now well demonstrated fact that adequate levels of VitD will reduce your chance of arriving at hospital by at least another factor of 2 in the first place.)
Critically he states that a failure by govt and medical authorities to act now must amount to a "breach of duty of care".
Yes. It's been very interesting watching the increasing frustration of 'Dr. John' as he presents yet another scrupulously scrutinized piece of research. He's a very conventional and middle of the road type chappy who strives to present the technicalities in plain and unemotional tones.
Seen him get a little rattled on a couple of occasions. Over Vitamin D and the complete denial/dismissal/disregard of health authorities of the positive impact of high dose Vitamin D on Covid outcomes, and the day he presented the research regarding similar for Ivermectin.
….and this was well worth a listen to.
If the anti vaccine hesitant brigade(you know who you are) want to find one of the root causes of distrust in the very new and novel and largely untested (in any meaningful way) vaccines it is because a vaccine has from day one been presented as the ONLY hope for those vulnerable to this virus. There Is No Treatment!!! has been the constant and consistent narrative and anyone presenting any alternative view has been written off as an anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist.
My 'vulnerable' partner has been on the Vit D3 since this time last year (as an adjunct to his usual zinc and Vit C) as chemo 10 years ago left him very prone to sunburn. I have been taking it for the past month or so since its been simply too hot to be out in the sun.
Been recommending same to dark skinned friends.
Damn to hell our Ministry of Health who persists in failing to recommend/fund supplements considering…
Around 5% of adults in New Zealand are deficient in vitamin D (Adult Nutrition Survey 2008/09). A further 27% are below the recommended blood level of vitamin D.
And the official recommended levels are usually pretty low. From my reading the desirable range is 30 – 80 ng/l. Anything less than 20 can be considered deficient and less than 30 suboptimal. This seems a well balanced article on the topic.
I got my levels checked a few weeks back after taking 4000 IU (the upper limit I'd regard as reasonable) for almost a year (and working outdoors a fair bit) and came back at 50ng/l. Because everyone does vary a fair bit I'd recommend to be on the safe side to ask for a VitD test to be included when you have the opportunity – it's free here in Aus, but I don't know about NZ.
One of the big factors I didn't realise until recently is that as we age the efficiency of the UVB/skin route drops quite a lot. And given that older people tend to avoid outdoor skin exposure for all sorts of reasons – it makes sense to start compensating with supplements at our age. (Then there are all the other good reasons around bone and muscle health that fully justify it.)
There Is No Treatment!!! has been the constant and consistent narrative and anyone presenting any alternative view has been written off as an anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist.
Yes. Personally I'll line up for my shot (I hope to be able to choose the J&J version) when the time comes – but I agree the official narrative that the vaccines were the only hope is not only wrong, but possibly unrealistic as well.
The number of MSM reports and articles on a wide range of potential treatments for the prevention and/or minimisation of Covid-19 symptoms must number in the thousands – actually probably more like tens of thousands.
The contention that information about potential Covid-19 treatments has been suppressed is incredible.
I’d be really interested in any evidence suggesting that there was/is an “official narrative that the vaccines were the only hope”. In the absence of evidence, such a suggestion is at best mischievous, and could actually undermine confidence in public health initiatives. Not what’s needed right now, imho.
I’d be really interested in any evidence suggesting that there was/is an “official narrative that the vaccines were the only hope”.
Well if nothing else it's the only narrative you seem to support – where did that come from do you think? You’ve certainly been very consistently taking the position that discussion of anything else other than vaccines is something you’re going to challenge. And I'm fairly sure you regard yourself as a defender of the conventional wisdom in this regard.
And here in Australia for example if there is any media discussion on treatment options, it's completely overwhelmed by the far greater attention given to the prospect of vaccine herd immunity.
And concerning that blood test I got a few weeks back, my doc thought 4000IU per day a bit high at the first appointment so I asked him what he'd consider the right dose. He said around 2 – 3000 per day is what he is taking – and then he said "but I'm not allowed to officially recommend that".
So far COVID has claimed around 2.4m lives globally – even in the worst case interpretation of the data we've seen so far – if universal and effective VitD supplementation could have reduced that death toll by even just 10 – 20% that would have amounted to a hell of lot of lives saved.
It's not like any of this is complicated, yet for some reason you think even discussing this is mischievous.
I’d be really interested in any evidence suggesting that there was/is an “official narrative that the vaccines were the only hope”.
Well if nothing else it's the only narrative you seem to support – where did that come from do you think?
Dear RL – so you've got nothingother than your fabrication that the only narrative I seem to support is that Covid-19 vaccines are/were the only hope.
What you forget (rather conveniently imho) is that not so long ago we were on the same page in questioning just how effective Covid-19 vaccination initiatives might be.
Your response ("Well if nothing else…") also dodges my query, so I'll ask one more time, without any real expectation of a straight answer.
I’d be really interested in any evidence suggesting that there was/is an “official narrative that the vaccines were the only hope”.
In touting various potential treatments for Covid-19 infections/symptoms, the very least you could do would be to acknowledge that these treatments are all well known to frontline medical professionals treating Covid-19 patients, rather than insinuating some sort of conspiracy to deprive patients of effective treatments – a silly stance, ihmo.
Looks promising, but one study is very small and the other does not appear to be blind in any way whatsoever (while still being fairly small).
And this "vitamin D and the immune system" also sounds a lot like "vitamin C and the immune system" – a certain level of truth taken well beyond any experimental or boilogically-plausible extent.
Might it work? Might it work as well as advertisied? Sure.
Do we have the evidence for it as a standard treatment, let alone a prophylactic? Nope. And youtube videos should not bypass medical assessment boards.
Looks promising, but one study is very small and the other does not appear to be blind in any way whatsoever (while still being fairly small).
The first pilot study with 76 participants has been published for months, and the p values were so extraordinarily strong there was every justification to commit to larger and more powerful trials.
Now we have the outcome of at least one these larger trials – and with 930 participants it has more than enough statistical power to safely draw strong conclusions. I think we can safely assume that if Campbell has looked at the paper and says it's "well designed" then I'd need more than your reckons to change my mind.
If the paper passes peer review – again Campbell thinks this is highly likely – then I think we can safely assume your question is answered.
Medical science works within a framework of differing levels of evidence. For example the connection between smoking and lung cancer was not established by a gold standard RCT double blind trial.
You don't get to arbitrarily require the very highest level of evidence to be the only threshold you will accept.
I think we can safely assume that even though you have linked to the paper and can therefore read it in its entirety, the answer to my question was not immediately obvious to you. So that's one revision a reviewerr might request.
Funny you bring up lung cancer and smoking. The first big link was demonstrated in a study of 40,000 participants. Since then many longitudinal studies have repeated the observation. Experimental studies with animal models have replicated the resulsts at an individual level. Biochemistry has established a reasonable theory for biological plausibility.
If vitamin D and covid has that level of robust examination, you wouldn't be getting your advice for it off youtube.
The first big link was demonstrated in a study of 40,000 participants. Since then many longitudinal studies have repeated the observation.
Exactly – but absolutely not RCT double blind studies, which is the level of methodology you are demanding here.
In fact there have already been quite a number of metastudies on the relationship between COVID and VitD – some with very large numbers – and the vast majority of them confirm a positive role.
There is copious evidence that vitamin D3 dampens overactive immune responses and also protects brain cells, particularly for people like me with MS. High doses are becoming the standard of care for PwMS based on many research studies.
Same applies to other auto immune diseases, and there are more and more research studies into the effect vitamin D levels have on recovery/survival of covid-19 infections. In short, the higher the vit D, the better your chances are!
Not even saying that it won't eventually be a treatment for covid-type conditions.
Just saying that a few small studies are nowhere near enough to accuse governments across the world of a "breach of duty of care".
Also, according to his channel blurb, he's not actually a medical doctor. He's in the medical sector, sure, but as he puts it "My PhD focused on the development of open learning resources for nurses nationally and internationally."
FFS now you're reduced to smearing the messenger. His almost daily output on COVID this past year arguably makes him one of the more highly informed people on the planet.
Yet you want to quibble his paper qualifications as a medical educator – well my response who the fuck do you think trains all the doctors and nurses?
If output equalled expertise, trump would be a fucking genius.
It wasn't a smear, just pointing out that this doctor is not a specialist in the field about which he is producing youtube videos. So I wouldn't go accusing people of negligence on his say-so, no matter how awesome you might think a single study might be.
It's not one study – first we had the pilot study and now this larger follow up. These two alone strongly confirm each other – and that's before any consideration of the numerous other studies of various standards which already point in the same direction.
Besides it's not as if I'm proposing a dangerous, high risk, untested treatment – this is boring old Vitamin D that our own bodies manufacture and has been safely taken as a supplement by millions of people for decades. Exactly what are you objecting to here?
The waste in resources if popscience fools actually manage to affect the purchasing decisions of medical systems that are already under extreme stress, for one thing.
The fixation upon a few small studies as some sort of magic bullet.
The confirmation bias inherent in picking a youtube channel one agrees with, rather than also actively looking for studies that might not match one's preferred result.
I mean, you can't even say how or whether the less small study was double-blind, but you're obssessed with defending it and the youtube guy who introduced you to it. And you think I'm the one with the problem because I’m unconvinced by two studies and your reckons.
If you think calling a guy on you-tube a "you-tube guy" is denigration, you don't want to know my opinion of fools who think governments and medics should be accused of a "breach of a duty of care" on the basis of a small study that didn't even fully describe its methodology.
If you're going to persist in characterising an RCT study with 930 patients and extremely strong p-values as 'small' – then I think there is no point is discussing this with you further.
That linked study is 76 patients. First published online in August last year. All patients were given hydroxychloroquine (which is now known to actually increase the risk of negative outcomes) and azithromycin. Some also got viamin D.
76 patients is orders of magnitude too small a sample for meaningful conclusions.
That all patients were given hydroxychloroquine, which is now known to be harmful, interferes with the outcomes to such an extent that it would be foolish to take any conclusions from this.
There are good reasons to believe that vitamin D levels are much more a marker of lifestyle, diet, genetic, and general factors that affect risk of negative covid outcomes, as opposed to the idea that vitamin D levels in isolation are a key factor. If that is the case, then supplementing with vitamin D will achieve nothing except a false sense of security with respect to covid risk.
Plenty of published articles point to this view, as well as hearing privately the views if my cousin and her husband that are doctors desperately trying to help covid patients and keeping closely on top of all the available information.
But in reasonable doses, there's no evidence to suggest vitamin D supplements may be harmful (unlike, say, hydroxychloroquine), so there hasn't been a pushback against vitamin D misinformation. It won't harm, there's a very small chance it might help with covid, and there's a good chance it will help reduce/prevent other illnesses.
Given the known benefits for other conditions, and the off chance it may help with covid, apparently the UK government has been making vitamin D supplements available free to vulnerable populations.
You got the wrong study – the one Campbell is highlighting is much more recent and involves 930 participants.
Try watching the first 4 minutes of the video and this will be clear.
That all patients were given hydroxychloroquine, which is now known to be harmful, interferes with the outcomes to such an extent that it would be foolish to take any conclusions from this.
HCQ is a drug that has been administered for decades to treat malaria in vast numbers with absolutely minimal concerns around harm. (Hell I was required to carry some with me when working in Latin America and my travel doctor dished it out like aspirin.) Why it suddenly became a 'harmful' when used in the context of COVID seems quite bizzaro to me.
The entire HCQ debate was poisoned right at the outset by rank political considerations that I think have no useful place in a science question.
I'm really not interested in watching a clickbait artist on youtube. The way youtube has given an income stream to anyone with the ability to sucker a following, while applying zero quality control, means as an information source anyone that is only on youtube has less than zero credibility as far as I'm concerned.
If anyone has a link to a written article on the actual study, I'm interested. But I'm not interested in watching someone who has a history of promoting misinformation (ivermectin anyone?) who is likely trying to monetise my eyeball time by at best cherry-picking factoids out of context.
Thanks. From the link in the short summary to a fuller report, there's:
Clinical samples for SARS-CoV-2 testing were obtained and analysed according to WHO guidelines [Laboratory testing for 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in suspected human cases: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/10665-331501 (Interim guidance 17th January 2020)]. All hospitalized patients received the same standard therapy, consisting in hydroxychloroquine 400 mg/24h first day and 200 mg/24h 4 days with azithromycin 500 mg/24h 3 days, plus ceftriaxone 1 or 2 g/24h 7 days when there was bacterial superinfection. Patients with severe or critical conditions of pulmonary inflammation or clinical suspicion of cytokine storm were additionally treated with dexamethasone bolus (20 mg/day x 4 days) according to hospital guidelines.
So they were still actively harming their patients by giving all of them hydroxychloroquine, and then giving some of them vitamin D as well. It may be just that the vitamin D was countering the harm of the hydroxychloroquine.
The study tells us nothing about the effects of vitamin D alone, or in combination with other therapies known to actually be beneficial.
So they were still actively harming their patients by giving all of them hydroxychloroquine,
Nonsense. HCQ has been used for decades to treat malaria with very well understood side effects – are you suggesting that it's now so dangerous that it should be withdrawn from that use?
Besides if your premise was true – it in no manner explains the differences in outcome between the treatment and control groups.
You're just resorting to smear by association – which is not an argument.
Very well understood side effects including high risk of cardiac problems and other serious issues, it was used because just letting malaria run its course was much worse.
On covid patients, the effects of hydroxychloroquine include:
July 1, 2020 Update: A summary of the FDA review of safety issues with the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to treat hospitalized patients with COVID-19 is now available. This includes reports of serious heart rhythm problems and other safety issues, including blood and lymph system disorders, kidney injuries, and liver problems and failure.
it was used because just letting malaria run its course was much worse.
So why does the same logic not apply to COVID?
And quit hyping the side effects – almost no-one is 'actively harmed' by HCQ. The worst of the serious effects are heart arrythmia's which are generally not a dangerous problem. Or may not even be a problem at all.
Hydroxychloroquine is a relatively well tolerated medicine. The most common adverse reactions reported are stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, and headache. These side effects can often be lessened by taking hydroxychloroquine with food. Hydroxychloroquine may also cause itching in some people
…
CDC has no limits on the use of hydroxychloroquine for the prevention of malaria. When hydroxychloroquine is used at higher doses for many years, a rare eye condition called retinopathy has occurred. People who take hydroxychloroquine for more than five years should get regular eye exams.
However my original comment in this thread makes absolutely no reference to HCQ – despite the huge amount of controversy on this drug – much of it motivated by rank politics in my view – and many contradictory studies, I've never highlighted it as a potential treatment and remain agnostic on it.
Yup, they are dissecting that study and it raises so many questions. I think there’s more to it than ‘lost in translation’. I’d call this positivist peer review 😉
I read the entire thread and was reminded of the climate denial movement – opinionated critics loudly demanding perfect evidence when the real world rarely delivers such.
The distinguishing characteristic of such people is they rarely, if ever, do research or hands-on field work themselves.
I read the other link (i.e. the previous one in your comment @ 3) this morning but I did not have time to comment. It also raised all sorts of issues with me. Now this ‘RCT’ by the same investigators is raising many concerns too with others. Something doesn’t add up here.
Campbell is no clickbait artist – and you demean yourself if that's the low standard of argument you have. If you cannot be bothered watching a few minutes of video to address the point accurately – then you really don't have any business commenting on this thread do you?
Besides I'm pretty sure YT demonitised all COVID related videos ages ago.
If anyone has a link to a written article on the actual study, I'm interested.
Campbell promoted ivermectin, tapping into the same false idea that there's some cheap widely available treatment already out there that is effective against covid, but nefarious actors (government and/or Big Pharma) are ignoring or suppressing it. Ivermectin has been trialled in a number of places, and it doesn't do shit against covid. Campbell was just plain wrong, but hoo boy he got loads of clicks and eyeball time from it.
Generating outrage is great for clickbait, but it's crap for actual information.
You want to check your assertion about covid videos being de-monetised? As far as I can tell, that lasted about a week as a blanket policy. Now, there are some topics that will cause a video to get demonetised, and those videos will get flagged with little yellow icons. But as far as I can tell, Campbell is currently getting the full wodge of moolah from all the eyeball time he can sucker attract.
Because if you actually dig a little deeper you'll find he is roundly criticised by some for not using his popular and stable platform to promote this drug.
Vitamin D3 otoh he shamelessly promotes. In fact, he considers it an ethical duty to inform and educate.
Searches for John Campbell ivermectin has plenty of hits. The thumbnails and blurbs for the vids suggest Campbell had a positive view of ivermectin for treating covid, and I sat through a couple minutes each of a couple of the vids (all I could stomach), and he seemed to be talking it up. If he's presented nuance and caveats that require sitting through a whole twenty minutes of a video, then that just further illustrates the failings of video as a medium for transferring information.
If he's presented nuance and caveats that require sitting through a whole twenty minutes of a video, then that just further illustrates the failings of video as a medium for transferring information.
So what – just because you cannot be bothered doesn't mean shit for anyone else. And it certainly doesn't speak to the content especially when you've just admitted you haven’t seen it.
And that you get a visceral reaction – 'all I could stomach' – well it's called 'cognitive dissonance'.
The thumbnails and blurbs for the vids suggest Campbell had a positive view of ivermectin for treating covid, and I sat through a couple minutes each of a couple of the vids (all I could stomach), and he seemed to be talking it up.
Links please. And time stamps where he is actually "talking it up."
Ivermectin has been trialled in a number of places, and it doesn't do shit against covid.
Really? It may not be a very strong treatment – but it was certainly worth investigating and again it's a well understood and highly tolerated drug.
Campbell promoted ivermectin …
Interesting – suddenly you know lots more about this 'youtube clickbait artist' you've been pretending was beneath your attention. Well here is the actual video – note that I've been linking to all my claims so far – and anyone else can see for themselves that what Campbell is doing is giving careful and measured reviews of published studies as he almost always does.
But as far as I can tell, Campbell is currently getting the full wodge of moolah …
God forbid someone might make a living from producing educational material that converts medical and statistical jargon into plain language. And incidentally, Campbell has been doing these videos since well before Covid was a thing.
Andre, pray tell how you feel about Pfizer's profit forecast? They are frantically pushing aside the piles in their coffers to make room for the expected $4billion profit from the vaccine.
Nice to think of Australia in terms other than its extra squirrily politicians !.For anyone needing some comedic relief from the madness id recommend Rake on netflix first episodes a bit slow but definitely worth persevering in my view .
Yup we watched the entire series on ABC a few years back. Absolute gold – there's a scene at a pedestrian crossing we still act out for the sheer fun of it
I've just been looking at the hook (sorry meant to put book, but hook is applicable!) The Third Way by Anthony Giddens. He seems to have been prolific throughout his career, and has arrived at our present pig's muddle of incompatible ideas in this book of his.
He seems to have thought that by having achieved welfare provisions that we have balanced the negativities that unbridled capitalism brings, and so abandoned intervention along practical straightforward means to assist citizens cope in the fevered world of commerce that we have.
…[Giddens] accepts the conception of socialism as conceived of by Anthony Crosland as an ethical doctrine that views social-democratic governments as having achieved a viable ethical socialism by removing the unjust elements of capitalism by providing social welfare and other policies and that contemporary socialism has outgrown the Marxist claim for the need of the abolition of capitalism as a mode of production. In 2009, Blair publicly declared support for a "new capitalism"…
The Third Way supports the pursuit of greater egalitarianism in society through action to increase the distribution of skills, capacities and productive endowments
while rejecting income redistribution as the means to achieve this. It emphasises commitment to –
1 balanced budgets,
2 providing equal opportunity which is combined with
3 an emphasis on personal responsibility,
4 the decentralisation of government power to the lowest level possible,
5 encouragement and promotion of public–private partnerships,
6 improving labour supply,
7 investment in human development,
8 preserving of social capital and
9 protection of the environment.
(The Wikipedia page has numerous links explaining terms – very informative). The above points seem to encompass what we have seen brought about here in NZ. Each of these above points can bring about a small revolution in society, together they have been a tsunami. This guy deserves to have his trousers pulled down and have to run around naked for a day finding out just what it is like to be a vulnerable human in a society with fading compassion and lack of empathy for others that he erected a signpost to. He can keep his erections, the smart-alec. It seems macro overview in its objectives with little if any thought from bottom up, the micro view, of where people are in their lives and in this era, and what is needed for an informed, engaged, busy, contented, sustainable, morally attuned, positively active society.
Incidentally there is a book called A Third Way – Decolonizing the Laws of Indigenous Cultural Protection which could be of even greater effect than The Third Way.
In A Third Way, Hillary Hoffmann and Monte Mills detail the history, context, and future of the ongoing legal fight to protect indigenous cultures. At the federal level, this fight is shaped by the assumptions that led to current federal cultural protection laws, which many tribes and their allies are now reframing to better meet their cultural and sovereign priorities. At the state level, centuries of antipathy toward tribes are beginning to give way to collaborative and cooperative efforts that better reflect indigenous interests. Most critically, tribes themselves are building laws and legal structures that reflect and invigorate their own cultural values. Taken together, and evidenced by the recent worldwide support for indigenous cultural movements, events of the last decade signal a new era for indigenous cultural protection. This important work should be read by anyone interested in the legal reforms that will guide progress toward that future. Zookal Textbooks – NZ.
The first figures of 2021 don't bode well for those who talk up the affordability of homes and the prevalence of homeownership:
House prices show no sign of slowing at the start of the year.
Real Estate Institute New Zealand (REINZ) figures for January showed the median price rose a seasonally adjusted 2 percent on the month before.
REINZ's house price index hit a record high, with the annual gain more than 19 percent, the biggest annual rise since mid-2004.
…
REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell said prices typically eased in January as the residential property market slowed over the holiday season.
"The first month of 2021 was anything but normal as house prices across the country have continued to rise, with January seeing four regions reach new record median house prices and one region equal its December record."
The four regions to hit records were Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki, and Nelson, while Manawatū/Wanganui matched its December record.
"The Auckland market saw a slight cooling off in prices when compared to the record high we saw in December 2020, which is what we would expect at this time of the year," said REINZ chief executive Bindi Norwell.
"Interestingly, when we look at the data from a seasonally adjusted perspective, house prices were actually higher than we would normally expect at this time of the year" Norwell said, referring to price rises on the North Shore and Rodney.
"There is still strong competition for good properties in the region," she said.
This story is based on the same interview with REINZ but with a specific focus on Auckland, it doesn't refute anything from the RNZ article, nor does it demonstrate a reversal of the trends.
I realise this refers specifically to Auckland, but that market is by far the largest in NZ.
A decreasing sales volume, in any market, is usually a forerunner of falling sales prices. That's how I would read the future based on the facts. And as we slide into Autumn and winter, prices historically tend to drop (in real terms at the very least).
Probably yes. In general, RE agents are poorly educated and their experience is usually limited only to selling. They have a vested interest in spinning a story.
I have spent my working life as a chartered accountant in Public practice, company accountanting from small to huge, auditing, lecturing, running my own business both in NZ and overseas. I would consider my experience and expertise in economics and markets and business far in excess of that of most people.
Moral of the story? Ask and learn, before you make comments and judgements that betray your abysmal and negative attitudes Arkie.
Will have to delve into that one a bit deeper myself – seems rather optimistic given the proportion of disabled people who are unemployed or underemployed.
I wonder how they include all the disabled people being supported by their spouses, with nary a smidgen of support – no benefit or tax abatement , no support for Kiwisaver – one income means that it isn't affordable for either.
It's interesting how as the move to individualism has occurred that there are specific remnants of being treated as a couple remain that seem purely political.
It easy to simply say this is about government but it isn't – it is about society. When I first started working banks for instance would pay an allowance for married men who had a partner who wasn't working until their salary reached a certain level. They knew the cost of a couple, and children, on one income wasn't sufficient and recognised this. The state also recognised this in allowing you to claim rebates on your tax for a non-working spouse.
What the removal of such supports by both the private and public sector meant was a further disadvantage for women and those with disabilities. Add to that the other group of predominantly women that care for disabled children who also didn't work due to needing to care for and be available for their children with disabilities you start to see quite a large group with little economic security.
The non-working , non-benefit disabled group are quite invisible in research. I wonder how large this group actually is.
Currently, a person on Jobseeker Support can earn up to $90 a week before their benefit starts to reduce with sole parents and people on Supported Living Payment being able to earn up to $115 a week.
The changes mean people can earn up to $160 a week before their benefit starts to be affected.
Wow, Jacinda has flexed her international star power to give Hosking's hero Scomo an absolute serve – has an NZ PM ever spoken to the Aussies in such strong terms publicly before?
"…Ardern said she was most concerned for the two small children. the woman was detained with.
"I think New Zealand, frankly, is tired of having Australia export its problems. But now there are two children involved so we have to resolve this issue with those two children in mind."
Legally the woman's citizenship sits with New Zealand currently but Ardern said she would continue to raise the issue with Australia.
Ardern warned Morrison when he told her Australia had revoked the woman's passport that she would "speak very strongly on New Zealand's view" publicly.
"He has been forewarned of that continuously. So this morning I did the same, I reminded him that I would be raising this issue very strongly."
Ardern said she wanted to work through the issues bilaterally with Australia.
"I never think that the right response was to simply have a race to revoke people's citizenships – that is just not the right thing to do.
"We will put our hands up when we need to own a situation – we would expect the same from Australia. They did not act in good faith…"
NZ is clearly growing very tired of the 504 deportees and now this. I wonder what we can do next? I’d charge airlines NZ$1,000,000 for every 504 deportee they transport here. See how long they’ll keep carrying them.
Perhaps in future, Ardern won't be quite so quick to take a stand for Morrison when he gets dorked by another lowly Chinese official and loses his s**t. The new mantra should be, 'Don't come crying to me Scotty!'
As for Brownlee, it looks as though the last syllable of his name should be 'nose'.
Would there be any legal impediment to sending the Australian citizen who committed the mosque murders back to Australia? The cost of his imprisonment should be met by Australia. Fanciful maybe, but charter a private plane, fly the Tasman, land, unload him and say, "here he is, he's yours", fly back across the Tasman.
We've done that once before with the Rainbow Warrior bombers and had their home country (France) release them astoundingly early. Based on the ‘mickey mousing’ they have done with some of the 504s and the recent arrested former Aus/NZ dual citizen in Syria I would not trust the Aussie Govt to keep this guy in prison for the length of his NZ prison sentence.
there was / is a difference between the Rainbow Warrior terrorists and the shooter of CHCH. The first lot were employed by the French government and thus released early. The latter is a white supremacist wanna be fuckwit whom not even OZ would want to roam freely about the land.
Charter a private plane, fly the Tasman, land, unload him and say, "here he is, he's yours"?
They wouldn't let you land. You might have to open the door and drop him in on them. Have a Givealittle to raise money for the flight? And a parachute?
I can't remember where I read this but as I recall a New Zealand lawyer commented on this as being that if we deported him Australia would have to release him as he hadn't committed, or been found guilty of any crime in Australia.
Ah here it is Bill Hodge from the Auckland Law School
"He told First Up a new law would be required here – but more importantly, a new law would be needed in Australia.
"Because if he's deported now, gets on a plane and goes over to Sydney, he can just walk free because there is no statutory authority, no power to enforce the New Zealand sentence in Australia at the moment."
The lass has stepped outside CV/ focus group land for the first time. Not for the silently screaming in our rich-favouring political regime, rather Oz stepped on her toes one too many times. Anyway , this is a good I encourage.
Now looking up at the comments, thanks for/criticise the footnotery. Fusty self-immergence. The queen has broke out of the 'rulebook for success and personal happiness'.
The only happiness is rooted in 1935 social democracy, or a strong people's party who the strong have to deal with. Nowt about.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 July appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Fresh approach to supporting new customer service and sales workers. https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/prosper/your-stories/300220781/sales-and-service-apprenticeships-on-the-way-for-nz
Very concerned about how the ministry of arts and culture have run roughshod over the locals, residents and other users of the Parnell Rose Gardens with their decision to erect a memorial to flight Te 901 in the middle of this haven. There is no pathway to understand how this decision was and who by. The plan showss a ghastly concrete and stainless steel monstrosity imposed upon a gentle and peaceful haven for no good reason except the bawling of some relatives of the boozers and junketeers who want more recognition than a busload of weekend boozers who bought the farm. This ghastly imposition is no more than a childish demand in the usual kiwi mawkish way to have the rest of the country involv ed in what should be a private matter. Phill Goff needs his head read for allowing this.
[I’ve changed your user name back to the one the system has stored]
Please read my Moderation note.
the boozers and junketeers who want more recognition than a busload of weekend boozers who bought the farm.
Jesus that's ugly. In one short phrase you've convinced me you're not worth listening to and now I'm perfectly happy to see this monument built. (And yes I know the Rose Garden well, it's the perfect spot in my view.)
It's said that virtually every family in NZ knew someone on that plane – in our case my brother had just gotten some work done on his car by a panelbeater who he knew quite well. My brother said they'd talked about the flight and how much he was looking forward to something completely different and unique from his usual workday routine.
In short – fuck off. The bigger and flashier the monument the better in my book.
You piece of sociopathic shit!
https://mch.govt.nz/Erebus-Memorial
It sits quietly at one side of the reserve allowing the families, friends of those killed to reflect on their loss while looking over the beautiful harbour and inner gulf. It's the perfect place for such a memorial and will ensure the tragedy and its shameful aftermath is never forgotten.
Not only did 257 crew and passengers die in terrible circumstances but those who were left behind – and their supporters – had to endure a vendetta led by a former prime minister and some of his Air NZ lackeys.
Shame that a I’m more important mentality exists through the location of a monument.
The rose bedding out the front of the garden is rather ugly – too many modern hybrid teas in harsh colours planted en masse. Looks very dated actually. The use of old roses in the Nancy Steen garden behind the path is really wonderful, worth visiting for its own sake through spring/early summer. Sneak in the side gate to avoid having to avert your eyes from the ugly bedding roses – save your retinas. The grass slope down to the water is nice too, and I'm sure the monument will be sympathetically implemented and accepted over time. Hell, we Orks have even come to quite like an absurdity like the Sky Tower. And insulting dead people doesn't usually advance an argument.
It's a wonderful memorial, and very fitting.
Thank you to all who contributed to this.
to: R.P Mcmurphy…
Firstly–Thats not very nice. My friendly neighbour when I was a school kid was one on the ill fated flight, wife of a hard working builder who got her a special present.
Secondly–due process has been held. The memorial is tasteful and fits well, going by the artwork, in its proposed site in Dove Myer Robinson Park. I know the area personally and it is the city’s, not just Parnell residents territory.
Take your damn Vitamin D.
Dr John Campbell has been a relentlessly calm and reasoned voice throughout the entire COVID debacle and was talking about the potential role of Vitamin D 12 months ago.
Well finally a (Edit: Link updated) well powered RCD trial is in pre-publish and the results are unequivocal. Campbell does an executive summary in the first few minutes so there in no need to watch the whole thing. In short once you have landed in hospital the correct dose of calcifediol (the fast acting metabolite of Vitamin D) will reduce your chances of landing up in ICU and/or dying by around a factor of 3 – 4.
(And this study does not include the now well demonstrated fact that adequate levels of VitD will reduce your chance of arriving at hospital by at least another factor of 2 in the first place.)
Critically he states that a failure by govt and medical authorities to act now must amount to a "breach of duty of care".
Yes. It's been very interesting watching the increasing frustration of 'Dr. John' as he presents yet another scrupulously scrutinized piece of research. He's a very conventional and middle of the road type chappy who strives to present the technicalities in plain and unemotional tones.
Seen him get a little rattled on a couple of occasions. Over Vitamin D and the complete denial/dismissal/disregard of health authorities of the positive impact of high dose Vitamin D on Covid outcomes, and the day he presented the research regarding similar for Ivermectin.
….and this was well worth a listen to.
If the anti vaccine hesitant brigade(you know who you are) want to find one of the root causes of distrust in the very new and novel and largely untested (in any meaningful way) vaccines it is because a vaccine has from day one been presented as the ONLY hope for those vulnerable to this virus. There Is No Treatment!!! has been the constant and consistent narrative and anyone presenting any alternative view has been written off as an anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist.
My 'vulnerable' partner has been on the Vit D3 since this time last year (as an adjunct to his usual zinc and Vit C) as chemo 10 years ago left him very prone to sunburn. I have been taking it for the past month or so since its been simply too hot to be out in the sun.
Been recommending same to dark skinned friends.
Damn to hell our Ministry of Health who persists in failing to recommend/fund supplements considering…
Around 5% of adults in New Zealand are deficient in vitamin D (Adult Nutrition Survey 2008/09). A further 27% are below the recommended blood level of vitamin D.
https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/healthy-living/food-activity-and-sleep/healthy-eating/vitamin-d
And the official recommended levels are usually pretty low. From my reading the desirable range is 30 – 80 ng/l. Anything less than 20 can be considered deficient and less than 30 suboptimal. This seems a well balanced article on the topic.
I got my levels checked a few weeks back after taking 4000 IU (the upper limit I'd regard as reasonable) for almost a year (and working outdoors a fair bit) and came back at 50ng/l. Because everyone does vary a fair bit I'd recommend to be on the safe side to ask for a VitD test to be included when you have the opportunity – it's free here in Aus, but I don't know about NZ.
One of the big factors I didn't realise until recently is that as we age the efficiency of the UVB/skin route drops quite a lot. And given that older people tend to avoid outdoor skin exposure for all sorts of reasons – it makes sense to start compensating with supplements at our age. (Then there are all the other good reasons around bone and muscle health that fully justify it.)
There Is No Treatment!!! has been the constant and consistent narrative and anyone presenting any alternative view has been written off as an anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist.
Yes. Personally I'll line up for my shot (I hope to be able to choose the J&J version) when the time comes – but I agree the official narrative that the vaccines were the only hope is not only wrong, but possibly unrealistic as well.
The number of MSM reports and articles on a wide range of potential treatments for the prevention and/or minimisation of Covid-19 symptoms must number in the thousands – actually probably more like tens of thousands.
The contention that information about potential Covid-19 treatments has been suppressed is incredible.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/treatments-for-covid-19
I’d be really interested in any evidence suggesting that there was/is an “official narrative that the vaccines were the only hope”. In the absence of evidence, such a suggestion is at best mischievous, and could actually undermine confidence in public health initiatives. Not what’s needed right now, imho.
I’d be really interested in any evidence suggesting that there was/is an “official narrative that the vaccines were the only hope”.
Well if nothing else it's the only narrative you seem to support – where did that come from do you think? You’ve certainly been very consistently taking the position that discussion of anything else other than vaccines is something you’re going to challenge. And I'm fairly sure you regard yourself as a defender of the conventional wisdom in this regard.
And here in Australia for example if there is any media discussion on treatment options, it's completely overwhelmed by the far greater attention given to the prospect of vaccine herd immunity.
And concerning that blood test I got a few weeks back, my doc thought 4000IU per day a bit high at the first appointment so I asked him what he'd consider the right dose. He said around 2 – 3000 per day is what he is taking – and then he said "but I'm not allowed to officially recommend that".
So far COVID has claimed around 2.4m lives globally – even in the worst case interpretation of the data we've seen so far – if universal and effective VitD supplementation could have reduced that death toll by even just 10 – 20% that would have amounted to a hell of lot of lives saved.
It's not like any of this is complicated, yet for some reason you think even discussing this is mischievous.
Dear RL – so you've got nothing other than your fabrication that the only narrative I seem to support is that Covid-19 vaccines are/were the only hope.
What you forget (rather conveniently imho) is that not so long ago we were on the same page in questioning just how effective Covid-19 vaccination initiatives might be.
Your response ("Well if nothing else…") also dodges my query, so I'll ask one more time, without any real expectation of a straight answer.
In touting various potential treatments for Covid-19 infections/symptoms, the very least you could do would be to acknowledge that these treatments are all well known to frontline medical professionals treating Covid-19 patients, rather than insinuating some sort of conspiracy to deprive patients of effective treatments – a silly stance, ihmo.
meh.
Looks promising, but one study is very small and the other does not appear to be blind in any way whatsoever (while still being fairly small).
And this "vitamin D and the immune system" also sounds a lot like "vitamin C and the immune system" – a certain level of truth taken well beyond any experimental or boilogically-plausible extent.
Might it work? Might it work as well as advertisied? Sure.
Do we have the evidence for it as a standard treatment, let alone a prophylactic? Nope. And youtube videos should not bypass medical assessment boards.
Looks promising, but one study is very small and the other does not appear to be blind in any way whatsoever (while still being fairly small).
The first pilot study with 76 participants has been published for months, and the p values were so extraordinarily strong there was every justification to commit to larger and more powerful trials.
Now we have the outcome of at least one these larger trials – and with 930 participants it has more than enough statistical power to safely draw strong conclusions. I think we can safely assume that if Campbell has looked at the paper and says it's "well designed" then I'd need more than your reckons to change my mind.
Ok.
How did they assign treatment regimes to specific wards while keeping it double-blind?
If the paper passes peer review – again Campbell thinks this is highly likely – then I think we can safely assume your question is answered.
Medical science works within a framework of differing levels of evidence. For example the connection between smoking and lung cancer was not established by a gold standard RCT double blind trial.
You don't get to arbitrarily require the very highest level of evidence to be the only threshold you will accept.
I think we can safely assume that even though you have linked to the paper and can therefore read it in its entirety, the answer to my question was not immediately obvious to you. So that's one revision a reviewerr might request.
Funny you bring up lung cancer and smoking. The first big link was demonstrated in a study of 40,000 participants. Since then many longitudinal studies have repeated the observation. Experimental studies with animal models have replicated the resulsts at an individual level. Biochemistry has established a reasonable theory for biological plausibility.
If vitamin D and covid has that level of robust examination, you wouldn't be getting your advice for it off youtube.
The first big link was demonstrated in a study of 40,000 participants. Since then many longitudinal studies have repeated the observation.
Exactly – but absolutely not RCT double blind studies, which is the level of methodology you are demanding here.
In fact there have already been quite a number of metastudies on the relationship between COVID and VitD – some with very large numbers – and the vast majority of them confirm a positive role.
Dude, the pilot study you accidentally linked to managed it.
No McFlock.
There is copious evidence that vitamin D3 dampens overactive immune responses and also protects brain cells, particularly for people like me with MS. High doses are becoming the standard of care for PwMS based on many research studies.
Same applies to other auto immune diseases, and there are more and more research studies into the effect vitamin D levels have on recovery/survival of covid-19 infections. In short, the higher the vit D, the better your chances are!
Not saying it's not a treatment for other things.
Not even saying that it won't eventually be a treatment for covid-type conditions.
Just saying that a few small studies are nowhere near enough to accuse governments across the world of a "breach of duty of care".
Also, according to his channel blurb, he's not actually a medical doctor. He's in the medical sector, sure, but as he puts it "My PhD focused on the development of open learning resources for nurses nationally and internationally."
FFS now you're reduced to smearing the messenger. His almost daily output on COVID this past year arguably makes him one of the more highly informed people on the planet.
Yet you want to quibble his paper qualifications as a medical educator – well my response who the fuck do you think trains all the doctors and nurses?
If output equalled expertise, trump would be a fucking genius.
It wasn't a smear, just pointing out that this doctor is not a specialist in the field about which he is producing youtube videos. So I wouldn't go accusing people of negligence on his say-so, no matter how awesome you might think a single study might be.
If output equalled expertise, trump would be a fucking genius.
Irrelevant logical propositional fallacy.
It's not one study – first we had the pilot study and now this larger follow up. These two alone strongly confirm each other – and that's before any consideration of the numerous other studies of various standards which already point in the same direction.
Besides it's not as if I'm proposing a dangerous, high risk, untested treatment – this is boring old Vitamin D that our own bodies manufacture and has been safely taken as a supplement by millions of people for decades. Exactly what are you objecting to here?
What am I objecting to?
The waste in resources if popscience fools actually manage to affect the purchasing decisions of medical systems that are already under extreme stress, for one thing.
The fixation upon a few small studies as some sort of magic bullet.
The confirmation bias inherent in picking a youtube channel one agrees with, rather than also actively looking for studies that might not match one's preferred result.
I mean, you can't even say how or whether the less small study was double-blind, but you're obssessed with defending it and the youtube guy who introduced you to it. And you think I'm the one with the problem because I’m unconvinced by two studies and your reckons.
Vitamin D is cheap and highly available. Exactly why do you think it's a stretch to simply make it a strong recommendation?
As for denigrating someone as a 'youtube guy' just because they're on the internet – well the same logic applies to you or anyone else.
Congratulations you've just cancelled the entire internet. Must be proud of yourself.
"Cancelled"? Nah. Just can't-sell to me.
If you think calling a guy on you-tube a "you-tube guy" is denigration, you don't want to know my opinion of fools who think governments and medics should be accused of a "breach of a duty of care" on the basis of a small study that didn't even fully describe its methodology.
If you're going to persist in characterising an RCT study with 930 patients and extremely strong p-values as 'small' – then I think there is no point is discussing this with you further.
40 times smaller than the british doctors study, at any rate.
Sigh
That linked study is 76 patients. First published online in August last year. All patients were given hydroxychloroquine (which is now known to actually increase the risk of negative outcomes) and azithromycin. Some also got viamin D.
76 patients is orders of magnitude too small a sample for meaningful conclusions.
That all patients were given hydroxychloroquine, which is now known to be harmful, interferes with the outcomes to such an extent that it would be foolish to take any conclusions from this.
There are good reasons to believe that vitamin D levels are much more a marker of lifestyle, diet, genetic, and general factors that affect risk of negative covid outcomes, as opposed to the idea that vitamin D levels in isolation are a key factor. If that is the case, then supplementing with vitamin D will achieve nothing except a false sense of security with respect to covid risk.
Plenty of published articles point to this view, as well as hearing privately the views if my cousin and her husband that are doctors desperately trying to help covid patients and keeping closely on top of all the available information.
But in reasonable doses, there's no evidence to suggest vitamin D supplements may be harmful (unlike, say, hydroxychloroquine), so there hasn't been a pushback against vitamin D misinformation. It won't harm, there's a very small chance it might help with covid, and there's a good chance it will help reduce/prevent other illnesses.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/landia/article/PIIS2213-8587(21)00003-6/fulltext#articleInformation
https://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/research-varies-on-whether-vitamin-d-could-provide-benefits-during-covid-19-pandemic
Given the known benefits for other conditions, and the off chance it may help with covid, apparently the UK government has been making vitamin D supplements available free to vulnerable populations.
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-55108613
You got the wrong study – the one Campbell is highlighting is much more recent and involves 930 participants.
Try watching the first 4 minutes of the video and this will be clear.
That all patients were given hydroxychloroquine, which is now known to be harmful, interferes with the outcomes to such an extent that it would be foolish to take any conclusions from this.
HCQ is a drug that has been administered for decades to treat malaria in vast numbers with absolutely minimal concerns around harm. (Hell I was required to carry some with me when working in Latin America and my travel doctor dished it out like aspirin.) Why it suddenly became a 'harmful' when used in the context of COVID seems quite bizzaro to me.
The entire HCQ debate was poisoned right at the outset by rank political considerations that I think have no useful place in a science question.
you linked to "the wrong study".
The two studies mentioned in the video are linked in the blurb of the vid, the pilot you linked to and the <1k one you are touting.
Also, HCQ has had known severe side effects for decades, but it’s effects were still an improvement over the malaria it effectively treats.
I'm really not interested in watching a clickbait artist on youtube. The way youtube has given an income stream to anyone with the ability to sucker a following, while applying zero quality control, means as an information source anyone that is only on youtube has less than zero credibility as far as I'm concerned.
If anyone has a link to a written article on the actual study, I'm interested. But I'm not interested in watching someone who has a history of promoting misinformation (ivermectin anyone?) who is likely trying to monetise my eyeball time by at best cherry-picking factoids out of context.
This should be the 930 one.
It's interesting, but there are methodological issues.
Be interesting to see if other studies get similar results.
Thanks. From the link in the short summary to a fuller report, there's:
So they were still actively harming their patients by giving all of them hydroxychloroquine, and then giving some of them vitamin D as well. It may be just that the vitamin D was countering the harm of the hydroxychloroquine.
The study tells us nothing about the effects of vitamin D alone, or in combination with other therapies known to actually be beneficial.
So they were still actively harming their patients by giving all of them hydroxychloroquine,
Nonsense. HCQ has been used for decades to treat malaria with very well understood side effects – are you suggesting that it's now so dangerous that it should be withdrawn from that use?
Besides if your premise was true – it in no manner explains the differences in outcome between the treatment and control groups.
You're just resorting to smear by association – which is not an argument.
Very well understood side effects including high risk of cardiac problems and other serious issues, it was used because just letting malaria run its course was much worse.
On covid patients, the effects of hydroxychloroquine include:
it was used because just letting malaria run its course was much worse.
So why does the same logic not apply to COVID?
And quit hyping the side effects – almost no-one is 'actively harmed' by HCQ. The worst of the serious effects are heart arrythmia's which are generally not a dangerous problem. Or may not even be a problem at all.
Or here is the CDC's own recommendation on HCQ and malaria :
However my original comment in this thread makes absolutely no reference to HCQ – despite the huge amount of controversy on this drug – much of it motivated by rank politics in my view – and many contradictory studies, I've never highlighted it as a potential treatment and remain agnostic on it.
Actual experts discussing the methodological problems with the study:
https://pubpeer.com/publications/DAF3DFA9C4DE6D1B7047E91B1766F0
Yup, they are dissecting that study and it raises so many questions. I think there’s more to it than ‘lost in translation’. I’d call this positivist peer review 😉
It should not be published in its current state.
I read the entire thread and was reminded of the climate denial movement – opinionated critics loudly demanding perfect evidence when the real world rarely delivers such.
The distinguishing characteristic of such people is they rarely, if ever, do research or hands-on field work themselves.
If you’re referring to this thread, I think you may want to read it again:
https://pubpeer.com/publications/DAF3DFA9C4DE6D1B7047E91B1766F0
I read the other link (i.e. the previous one in your comment @ 3) this morning but I did not have time to comment. It also raised all sorts of issues with me. Now this ‘RCT’ by the same investigators is raising many concerns too with others. Something doesn’t add up here.
Campbell is no clickbait artist – and you demean yourself if that's the low standard of argument you have. If you cannot be bothered watching a few minutes of video to address the point accurately – then you really don't have any business commenting on this thread do you?
Besides I'm pretty sure YT demonitised all COVID related videos ages ago.
If anyone has a link to a written article on the actual study, I'm interested.
It was in the description of the linked video:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3771318
Campbell promoted ivermectin, tapping into the same false idea that there's some cheap widely available treatment already out there that is effective against covid, but nefarious actors (government and/or Big Pharma) are ignoring or suppressing it. Ivermectin has been trialled in a number of places, and it doesn't do shit against covid. Campbell was just plain wrong, but hoo boy he got loads of clicks and eyeball time from it.
Generating outrage is great for clickbait, but it's crap for actual information.
You want to check your assertion about covid videos being de-monetised? As far as I can tell, that lasted about a week as a blanket policy. Now, there are some topics that will cause a video to get demonetised, and those videos will get flagged with little yellow icons. But as far as I can tell, Campbell is currently getting the full wodge of moolah from all the eyeball time he can
suckerattract.https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9803260?hl=en
Update on when youtube re-monetised covid.
https://techcrunch.com/2020/03/11/youtube-will-now-allow-creators-to-monetize-videos-about-coronavirus-and-covid-19/
Campbell promoted ivermectin,
Where? Exactly where did he "promote" Ivermectin?
Because if you actually dig a little deeper you'll find he is roundly criticised by some for not using his popular and stable platform to promote this drug.
Vitamin D3 otoh he shamelessly promotes. In fact, he considers it an ethical duty to inform and educate.
Searches for John Campbell ivermectin has plenty of hits. The thumbnails and blurbs for the vids suggest Campbell had a positive view of ivermectin for treating covid, and I sat through a couple minutes each of a couple of the vids (all I could stomach), and he seemed to be talking it up. If he's presented nuance and caveats that require sitting through a whole twenty minutes of a video, then that just further illustrates the failings of video as a medium for transferring information.
If he's presented nuance and caveats that require sitting through a whole twenty minutes of a video, then that just further illustrates the failings of video as a medium for transferring information.
So what – just because you cannot be bothered doesn't mean shit for anyone else. And it certainly doesn't speak to the content especially when you've just admitted you haven’t seen it.
And that you get a visceral reaction – 'all I could stomach' – well it's called 'cognitive dissonance'.
The thumbnails and blurbs for the vids suggest Campbell had a positive view of ivermectin for treating covid, and I sat through a couple minutes each of a couple of the vids (all I could stomach), and he seemed to be talking it up.
Links please. And time stamps where he is actually "talking it up."
Ivermectin has been trialled in a number of places, and it doesn't do shit against covid.
Really? It may not be a very strong treatment – but it was certainly worth investigating and again it's a well understood and highly tolerated drug.
Campbell promoted ivermectin …
Interesting – suddenly you know lots more about this 'youtube clickbait artist' you've been pretending was beneath your attention. Well here is the actual video – note that I've been linking to all my claims so far – and anyone else can see for themselves that what Campbell is doing is giving careful and measured reviews of published studies as he almost always does.
But as far as I can tell, Campbell is currently getting the full wodge of moolah …
God forbid someone might make a living from producing educational material that converts medical and statistical jargon into plain language. And incidentally, Campbell has been doing these videos since well before Covid was a thing.
Andre, pray tell how you feel about Pfizer's profit forecast? They are frantically pushing aside the piles in their coffers to make room for the expected $4billion profit from the vaccine.
https://www.ft.com/content/0f1ab138-401d-40ff-824f-f6879704f10e
You have touched on a question I am interested in the answer to.
We are constantly being told the free vaccine is coming.
It is not free. How much are we paying for the vaccination roll out?
Edit: Someone who seems to care a lot more about money than I do is asking the same question and others.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300223064/noone-knows-how-much-the-nz-government-paid-for-our-vaccines-and-noone-seems-to-be-asking
Do you believe our govt should say: 'No, not worth it'?
No, I reckon should say how much they are paying for it.
Not how our meds-buying system works though, is it.
You may want to indicate that you corrected and edited that link.
Nice to think of Australia in terms other than its extra squirrily politicians !.For anyone needing some comedic relief from the madness id recommend Rake on netflix first episodes a bit slow but definitely worth persevering in my view .
Yup we watched the entire series on ABC a few years back. Absolute gold – there's a scene at a pedestrian crossing we still act out for the sheer fun of it![laugh laugh](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/teeth_smile.png)
Such smart writing, eh.
I've just been looking at the hook (sorry meant to put book, but hook is applicable!) The Third Way by Anthony Giddens. He seems to have been prolific throughout his career, and has arrived at our present pig's muddle of incompatible ideas in this book of his.
He seems to have thought that by having achieved welfare provisions that we have balanced the negativities that unbridled capitalism brings, and so abandoned intervention along practical straightforward means to assist citizens cope in the fevered world of commerce that we have.
…[Giddens] accepts the conception of socialism as conceived of by Anthony Crosland as an ethical doctrine that views social-democratic governments as having achieved a viable ethical socialism by removing the unjust elements of capitalism by providing social welfare and other policies and that contemporary socialism has outgrown the Marxist claim for the need of the abolition of capitalism as a mode of production. In 2009, Blair publicly declared support for a "new capitalism"…
The Third Way supports the pursuit of greater egalitarianism in society through action to increase the distribution of skills, capacities and productive endowments
while rejecting income redistribution as the means to achieve this. It emphasises commitment to –
1 balanced budgets,
2 providing equal opportunity which is combined with
3 an emphasis on personal responsibility,
4 the decentralisation of government power to the lowest level possible,
5 encouragement and promotion of public–private partnerships,
6 improving labour supply,
7 investment in human development,
8 preserving of social capital and
9 protection of the environment.
(The Wikipedia page has numerous links explaining terms – very informative). The above points seem to encompass what we have seen brought about here in NZ. Each of these above points can bring about a small revolution in society, together they have been a tsunami. This guy deserves to have his trousers pulled down and have to run around naked for a day finding out just what it is like to be a vulnerable human in a society with fading compassion and lack of empathy for others that he erected a signpost to. He can keep his erections, the smart-alec. It seems macro overview in its objectives with little if any thought from bottom up, the micro view, of where people are in their lives and in this era, and what is needed for an informed, engaged, busy, contented, sustainable, morally attuned, positively active society.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Way https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Giddens
Incidentally there is a book called A Third Way – Decolonizing the Laws of Indigenous Cultural Protection which could be of even greater effect than The Third Way.
In A Third Way, Hillary Hoffmann and Monte Mills detail the history, context, and future of the ongoing legal fight to protect indigenous cultures. At the federal level, this fight is shaped by the assumptions that led to current federal cultural protection laws, which many tribes and their allies are now reframing to better meet their cultural and sovereign priorities. At the state level, centuries of antipathy toward tribes are beginning to give way to collaborative and cooperative efforts that better reflect indigenous interests. Most critically, tribes themselves are building laws and legal structures that reflect and invigorate their own cultural values. Taken together, and evidenced by the recent worldwide support for indigenous cultural movements, events of the last decade signal a new era for indigenous cultural protection. This important work should be read by anyone interested in the legal reforms that will guide progress toward that future. Zookal Textbooks – NZ.
The first figures of 2021 don't bode well for those who talk up the affordability of homes and the prevalence of homeownership:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/436496/median-house-price-goes-up-2-percent-reinz
And yet……
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/reinz-data-auckland-house-prices-drop-25000-sales-fall-46/Z5FKCEW3MJ2F2NFI42XR6QTW4Q/
Moralof the story? Never believe anything a real estate agent says. Somehow its always the ideal time to buy/sell/hold/rent.
This story is based on the same interview with REINZ but with a specific focus on Auckland, it doesn't refute anything from the RNZ article, nor does it demonstrate a reversal of the trends.
I realise this refers specifically to Auckland, but that market is by far the largest in NZ.
A decreasing sales volume, in any market, is usually a forerunner of falling sales prices. That's how I would read the future based on the facts. And as we slide into Autumn and winter, prices historically tend to drop (in real terms at the very least).
Moral of the story? We should believe your prognostications but not the REINZ's figures.
Probably yes. In general, RE agents are poorly educated and their experience is usually limited only to selling. They have a vested interest in spinning a story.
I have spent my working life as a chartered accountant in Public practice, company accountanting from small to huge, auditing, lecturing, running my own business both in NZ and overseas. I would consider my experience and expertise in economics and markets and business far in excess of that of most people.
Moral of the story? Ask and learn, before you make comments and judgements that betray your abysmal and negative attitudes Arkie.
Lol
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/124257882/household-income-was-up-but-so-were-housing-costs-before-covid19-stats-nz
Will have to delve into that one a bit deeper myself – seems rather optimistic given the proportion of disabled people who are unemployed or underemployed.
I wonder how they include all the disabled people being supported by their spouses, with nary a smidgen of support – no benefit or tax abatement , no support for Kiwisaver – one income means that it isn't affordable for either.
It's interesting how as the move to individualism has occurred that there are specific remnants of being treated as a couple remain that seem purely political.
It easy to simply say this is about government but it isn't – it is about society. When I first started working banks for instance would pay an allowance for married men who had a partner who wasn't working until their salary reached a certain level. They knew the cost of a couple, and children, on one income wasn't sufficient and recognised this. The state also recognised this in allowing you to claim rebates on your tax for a non-working spouse.
What the removal of such supports by both the private and public sector meant was a further disadvantage for women and those with disabilities. Add to that the other group of predominantly women that care for disabled children who also didn't work due to needing to care for and be available for their children with disabilities you start to see quite a large group with little economic security.
The non-working , non-benefit disabled group are quite invisible in research. I wonder how large this group actually is.
Yes, the way society quietly pushes the costs of ongoing support onto women and families is shocking.
Same story mentions benefit abatement threshholds changing from 1 April this year. Govt media release on that: https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2102/S00076/government-delivers-on-promise-to-working-low-income-families.htm
Wow, Jacinda has flexed her international star power to give Hosking's hero Scomo an absolute serve – has an NZ PM ever spoken to the Aussies in such strong terms publicly before?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/pm-responds-to-nz-aus-woman-arrested-at-syria-turkey-border/QJLYJQWBCPCVC5GA3XAVXDT22A/
"…Ardern said she was most concerned for the two small children. the woman was detained with.
"I think New Zealand, frankly, is tired of having Australia export its problems. But now there are two children involved so we have to resolve this issue with those two children in mind."
Legally the woman's citizenship sits with New Zealand currently but Ardern said she would continue to raise the issue with Australia.
Ardern warned Morrison when he told her Australia had revoked the woman's passport that she would "speak very strongly on New Zealand's view" publicly.
"He has been forewarned of that continuously. So this morning I did the same, I reminded him that I would be raising this issue very strongly."
Ardern said she wanted to work through the issues bilaterally with Australia.
"I never think that the right response was to simply have a race to revoke people's citizenships – that is just not the right thing to do.
"We will put our hands up when we need to own a situation – we would expect the same from Australia. They did not act in good faith…"
NZ is clearly growing very tired of the 504 deportees and now this. I wonder what we can do next? I’d charge airlines NZ$1,000,000 for every 504 deportee they transport here. See how long they’ll keep carrying them.
Perhaps in future, Ardern won't be quite so quick to take a stand for Morrison when he gets dorked by another lowly Chinese official and loses his s**t. The new mantra should be, 'Don't come crying to me Scotty!'
As for Brownlee, it looks as though the last syllable of his name should be 'nose'.
Would there be any legal impediment to sending the Australian citizen who committed the mosque murders back to Australia? The cost of his imprisonment should be met by Australia. Fanciful maybe, but charter a private plane, fly the Tasman, land, unload him and say, "here he is, he's yours", fly back across the Tasman.
We've done that once before with the Rainbow Warrior bombers and had their home country (France) release them astoundingly early. Based on the ‘mickey mousing’ they have done with some of the 504s and the recent arrested former Aus/NZ dual citizen in Syria I would not trust the Aussie Govt to keep this guy in prison for the length of his NZ prison sentence.
there was / is a difference between the Rainbow Warrior terrorists and the shooter of CHCH. The first lot were employed by the French government and thus released early. The latter is a white supremacist wanna be fuckwit whom not even OZ would want to roam freely about the land.
She is no longer an Australian citizen…and therein lies the problem
Charter a private plane, fly the Tasman, land, unload him and say, "here he is, he's yours"?
They wouldn't let you land. You might have to open the door and drop him in on them. Have a Givealittle to raise money for the flight? And a parachute?
I can't remember where I read this but as I recall a New Zealand lawyer commented on this as being that if we deported him Australia would have to release him as he hadn't committed, or been found guilty of any crime in Australia.
Ah here it is Bill Hodge from the Auckland Law School
"He told First Up a new law would be required here – but more importantly, a new law would be needed in Australia.
"Because if he's deported now, gets on a plane and goes over to Sydney, he can just walk free because there is no statutory authority, no power to enforce the New Zealand sentence in Australia at the moment."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/424677/no-guarantee-mass-killer-would-serve-full-jail-term-in-australia
An xkcd for everything.
https://explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2425:_mRNA_Vaccine
The lass has stepped outside CV/ focus group land for the first time. Not for the silently screaming in our rich-favouring political regime, rather Oz stepped on her toes one too many times. Anyway , this is a good I encourage.
Now looking up at the comments, thanks for/criticise the footnotery. Fusty self-immergence. The queen has broke out of the 'rulebook for success and personal happiness'.
The only happiness is rooted in 1935 social democracy, or a strong people's party who the strong have to deal with. Nowt about.
Thinking it is time for harsher penalties and a ongoing PR campaign
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/illegal-fishing-net-in-auckland-marine-reserve-caught-pied-shag-sharks-and-eagle-rays-doc-investigating/BDALRZUIGUHFNMYY57HSFTOXBQ/