'A well-connected school is often a golden ticket to a place at Oxbridge. Of the seven (including Gyimah) privately educated candidates McVey is the only one not to have gone to Oxford.'
Was just about to put this up myself….I see that The Guardian and The Washington Post have both finally changed their tune and realized that they have been on the wrong side of history on this one.
We are at war with East Asia, we have always been at war with East Asia
New Zealand media and the Ministry of Truth (Minitru)
Yesterday TVNZ news reported the US version of the attack on a Japanese oil tanker in the Gulf of Hormuz, verbatim. TVNZ deliberately omitted the Japanese version of events.
The US claimed that the Japanese ship was damaged with limpet mines attached to the ship and that this was proof that the attack was planned and carried out by the Iranians.
The Japanese claimed that their ship had been hit by "flying objects". The Japanese report was deliberately left out of the TVNZ, coverage.
This morning Stuff.co.nz decided to omit all coverage of this attack.
You can scour the popular NZ online News site for news of this unfolding story, all you like, all mention of this contentious attack and the embarrassing counter claims are completely missing.
George Orwell in his novel 1984 wrote of a fictitious news organisation, that kept what he called a 'memory hole'. Stories embarrassing to the establishment authorities were placed in this memory hole never to be recalled.
Yes will are living in a time when what should be our trusted media sources are now trying to tell us up is down and black is white…and unfortunately it seems to be getting worse all the time.
After the hysterical news coverage and saber rattling that spilled out of pretty much all western press following the chemical attack in Douma, they seem very quiet when it is revealed that all is not as it seemed….no follow up stories on RNZ that I have heard either.
New Evidence Suggests 2018 Chemical Attack in Douma, Syria Was Staged
Last night TVNZ News at 6 reported the attack on the Japanese oil tanker in the Gulf of Hormuz, which TVNZ reporters loyally followed the pro-war US narrative squarely putting the blame on the Iranians. TVNZ refused to report the Japanese version of the attack which contradicted the pro-war US narrative.
Stuff.co.nz took a different path and censored this story and its embarassing contradictions completely.
It is almost 6pm again.
Will TVNZ give a more balanced report of this attack tonight?
Or will TVNZ follow the Stuff.co.nz direction on this story with its embarrassing contradictions and bury it in the memory hole.
And a religious service conducted in hardhats at the Notre Dame Cathedral in France.
No correction or coverage of the shockingly biased one sided pro-war reporting of the attack on the Japanese oil tanker in the Gulf of Hormuz last night, that gave only the US side of the story and completely censored the Japanese crew version of the attack on their ship.
If NZ is dragged into another US bloodbath, TVNZ shameful one sided pro-war propaganda will be partly responsible.
New Zealanders should be rightly sickened at this example of lying by omission in the service of mass murder by TVNZ.
Less creepily pro-war, The Sydney Morning Herald
Japanese ship owner contradicts US account of how tanker was attacked
By Simon Denyer August 24, 2003 — 10.00am
Tokyo: The owner of a Japanese tanker attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday has offered a different account of the nature of the attack than that provided by the United States.
Yutaka Katada, president of Kokuka Sangyo, said the Filipino crew of the Kokuka Courageous thought their vessel had been hit by flying objects rather than a mine.
Yutaka Katada, president of Kokuka Sangyo, the Japanese company operating one of two oil tankers attacked near the Strait of Hormuz.CREDIT:AP
"The crew are saying it was hit with a flying object. They say something came flying towards them, then there was an explosion, then there was a hole in the vessel," he told reporters. "Then some crew witnessed a second shot."
Notice all the right wing supporters of 'free speech' for fascists, have nothing to say about mainstream media censorship, especially if it is in the service of inciting a war.
Shane Jones said "It was a great day for HB/Gisborne" – thanks for your support to the many fighting for this day.
Question now is; – when do we reopen the Gisborne line as Gisborne is the most isolated City of its size in NZ today without a rail service? Dear rail stakeholders.
We have a picture of the first train that leaves Gisborne in June 1942 for Napier while 10 000 people wave them off, as the ‘Minister of rail’ (Robert Semple) says it was justified to spend over 6 million pounds to complete the rail service to Gisborne as it was an “isolated” region with few other transport choices.
KiwiRail celebrates re-opening of Napier to Wairoa line Andre Chumko and Bethany Reitsma16:03, Jun 14 2019
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones discusses what will happen to truck drivers as a result of the Napier-Wairoa rail line re-opening.
Mervyn Smiley, an Eskdale resident of 25 years, has longed for the day when trains returned to the mothballed Napier to Wairoa line.
On Friday, that dream became reality as a brass band and haka welcomed Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones to KiwiRail's depot in Ahuriri, near Napier Port.
After a short series of speeches, the minister and various other politicians including Napier MP Stuart Nash, Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri and National's Lawrence Yule, joined the region's mayors in boarding the carriages of the first train to make the first full trip between Napier and Wairoa since 2012. Among the politicians present were Napier MP Stuart Nash and Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. On the train,
Jones held a press conference, where he described the day as a great one for Hawke's Bay. Jones said KiwiRail had had "so little for so long", and the $6.2 million investment so far was a big deal, especially in relation to moving trucks off the roads.It would also allow businesses to grow their logistics capacity, and boost exports.
The train stationed at Ahuriri before departing for Wairoa. "If we're in for the KiwiRail journey, it's a long-term journey.
It's about a nation building infrastructure at a time when there's a lot of uncertainty about weather." And the "fiscal love" would continue to flow post 2020's election, he said, forecasting "substantial amounts" being injected into KiwiRail. On whether there was a possibility of extending the line to Gisborne, Jones said any business case would be pushing on an open door.
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said it was a significant day. KiwiRail chief executive Greg Miller said with work on the line finished, its next focus was on establishing a log-hub in Wairoa so it could begin running trains as soon as August.
"The amount of timber flowing from forests in the region is expected to quadruple in the next four years and to get all those logs to market will require all transport networks working efficiently together."
He forecast up to six trains travelling the line per week, meaning about 5000 fewer truck journeys initially, and more than 15,000 as services increased.
The Deco Bay Brass group performed for Shane Jones upon his arrival. Jones said local civic leaders – mayors, council chairs and MPs – who had lobbied him were to credit for the re-opening.
"This will substantially reduce their roading bill if they can move more heavy freight onto rail." Transport advocacy groups NZ Transport 2050 and the Public Transport Users Association said in a statement the previous Government underfunded the line.
Locals were waving at the train the whole trip, happy to see the line back in action. "The loss of 20 fulltime jobs in Wairoa was a big hit for a small community.
With the railway re-opening today it opens up opportunities for wood processors to again re-establish in the town," Paul Miller, chair of NZ Transport 2050 said.
Green Party MP Gareth Hughes said regional rail should be the backbone of the transport system for people and freight, and his party would like to see the line extended from Wairoa to Gisborne. Hukarere Girls' College students performed a waiata for ministers and MPs upon their arrival to Eskdale, north of Napier. The train then departed for Wairoa.
Gareth Hughes is wrong. Rail will never be the "backbone of the transport system for people." Even for freight, it will only be the case for bulk cargoes and containers.
Now, I happen to believe that more needs to be done in rail. Electrification from Auckland to Wellington, reopening to Gisborne and Rotorua, decent passenger service to Hamilton, and of course Northport.
But in New Zealand rail will always by a minority/specialist form of transport. Roads are invariably faster and vastly more flexible. Which is why they need substantial investment.
Unfortunately, yes really. It's way, way easier to put a road somewhere than a railway line, which is one reason we're still on narrow-gauge rail and it's mostly single-tracked. Rail infrastructure is expensive. A government with an eye to the long term and protection of the environment would bite the bullet and prioritise the more expensive option, but the three-year electoral cycle and voters' love of cars argue very strongly for taking the quick-and-cheap option instead.
Care to clarify? What do you think is the more expensive option – short to medium term? I'm assuming you think it is rail because of the 3rd dimension (the up and down bits).
It really needn't be however if you consider corridor widths necessary for the roading option versus those necessary to carry freight (and passenger for that matter) over a more 'levelled out' narrower corridor,
And I'm not sure why Indians and Chinese can construct/reconstruct railways over 100km or more in the space of 18 or so months, whereas lil 'ole Nu Zull struggles.
(I'm thinking maybe things like Fulton and Hogan monopolies on tar seal/bitumen, traffic management – STMS – and a heap of other bullshit that's been allowed to prevail over the past several years. Oh, and not to mention lobbyists; owner drivers and their investments and whose livelihoods are dependent on it all continuing, and a few other bits and pieces. YES IT REALLY 'IS')
Pretty close to my view, main change I'd make would be "usually" rather than "invariably". But a big change I think needs to happen is rebalancing how roads are funded so that users pay in proportion to the expense they cause.
For out-of town roads highways, the engineering evidence seems very clear that trucks cause a much higher proportion of the damage and maintenance and even initial road building expense than they pay for, while cars and other light vehicles pay substantially more than their fair share.
Rebalancing the road user charges and fuel excise tax systems so trucking pays a fair share, rather than getting a hidden subsidy, would be a good first step. Then rail might be slightly closer to being competitive for moving freight on an even footing.
For most cities, it's sheer numbers of vehicles at peak times that cause big expenses. So some sort of demand or congestion charging only seems fair.
Hell, both those steps would be worth doing just to watch the ensuing histrionics and special pleading that would ensue , let alone the actual real resulting benefits.
A consequence like that isn't an argument against doing the right thing. But if the effects actually turn out to be big enough, then it is a good reason to include other adjustments at the same time, such as increases in benefit rates and/or minimum wage and/or tax rate and threshold adjustments at the bottom end of the scale.
In the case of rebalancing how roads are paid for, chances are pretty good the reduction in tax on petrol and reduced road user charges for small diesel vehicles will help the poor more than increased transport costs will hurt them.
If we stopped subsidising road freight via petrol excise, general taxation, importing of cheap third-world labour and the off-loading of environmental costs onto future generations, many goods would be more expensive, yes. That's not a reason to continue doing those things.
……in New Zealand rail will always by a minority/specialist form of transport. Roads are invariably faster and vastly more flexible. Which is why they need substantial investment.
Not so Japan.
4 Major Means Of Transportation In Japan
BULLET TRAIN/SHINKANSEN
The Bullet train/Shinkansen links the major cities on the island of Honshu and Kyushu as well as Hokadate located on northern island of Hokkaido….
CONVENTIONAL LINES
This is the major means of passenger transport in Japan.
Yep. If NZ had 120 million people in it like Japan does, I expect we'd have an excellent railway network because the alternative would be all-gridlock, all the time. But we don't, so we don't.
Certainly New Zealand is highly unlikely to ever see true high speed rail like Shinkansen, or commuter rail like major Japanese cities. But most of the Japanese rail network is rural 1067mm gauge lines very similar to New Zealand. Their loading gauge is slightly larger, but less than Kiwi Rail's aspirational standard.
Passenger services running at 100 – 130 kmh are the norm and a situation like Whangarei – Auckland – Hamilton – Tauranga would have a regular and highly patronised service.
It's ironic that those speeds, 100 -130 kmh, were common for our express passenger services in the steam days. I remember being a passenger in a car on SH1 around Rakaia when we were passed by the SI Limited going in the same direction like we were standing still.
They're a great idea – though the KTX is more modern and was adopted by China as the standard for its network. The Wellington/Auckland run, if replaced, would greatly reduce the use of aircraft for domestic travel. Roomier, cheaper, and a better prospect for working in transit, the modernity is far beyond that imaginable to the paleoGnats, though the smarter Greens and younger Labour folk might get it.
Unhappily, roads are much more carbon negative than rail. The heavy longhaul truck model was broken when frankly stupid governments like yours brought it in Wayne – much moreso as the push to contain carbon release moves from the systematic frauds perpetrated under National, to real albeit slow reform.
Surprising when an ex Government minister knows so little about how freight works in New Zealand.
Trucking is both inefficient and expensive, compared with rail and shipping.
Hidden by the huge subsidies motorists, rate payers and general tax payers are forced to give to trucking. And all they pay for it is some National party funding and employment for some ex MP's. An excellent investment. For trucking firms!
The only way Rail would become the backbone of NZ Transport scene again, would be if NZ's Sea Lanes Of Communication were cut or degraded to a point that it reduces NZ's import of its POL products/ production where rationing has to introduce.
But since NZ Rail at levels during before its sell off by all Governments, under Private ownership and after it was re-nationalise that it needs a level of state involvement and investment since the 1930's under the first NZ Labour Government.
Its last major rail workshop that built wagons and Locomotives closed, this decision by the "No Mates Party" now causing delays for the new Inter- City train Auckland- Hamilton passenger train as KiwiRail no longer makes stuff aka bogies for the rebuilt passenger carriages. WTF!!!!
The Way and Works Dept was ran into the ground under private ownership which has effected the speed on some lines the Canterbury Plains lines the Ka, Kb's and the old Vulcan Railcars were doing a 100kph plus and the current loco’s s etc are now restricted to 90kph or less WTF!!!.
The loading gauge has been impacted as a result of running down of the Way and Works Dept, to a point the old Standard Railcars under private ownership are restricted on some Nth Island rail lines (Note: The Standard Railcars were Nth Island base only and the Vulcans Sth Island Base). Apart from the NIMT between Plamy and Frankston has seen any major realignment's, major rebuilds apart from the recent earthquake's in the Sth Island or Otaki rebuilds at still dated back when Rail and Stream were Kings. The last Rail Observer mention that KiwiRail was refuse funds to build a major Rail Hub at Rollie Sth of CHCH which has increase cost to producers in the Mid Canterbury Regional, but the Palmy one got the Ok and then we have the saga of the Gizzy line, Northland Rail lines and other mothball lines.
Land was sold off by Government's in the mid 80's and under Private ownership without any thought to the future use for freight and passenger services. A good example of this the CHCH Station and the removal of the turnout towards the site of the old Station, land around the New Market Junction and that's before we even start talking the Britomart Station only being restricted to 4 roads or the Wellington Station issues as well.
To those that the current Rail gauge of 3ft 6in restricts NZ Rail services is a bloody load of Bollocks. We only need to have a look at the Tilt Trains in Qld both Electric and Diesel power trains or the Train Systems in the Perth/ Lower to Mid WA.
To those out there that want to understand the current issues facing NZ Rail and other aspects of NZ Rail from the pass and to the future? Grab the latest edition of the NZ Rail Observer and sign up to the NZ Rail Society.
Cleangreen: I absolutely upport a strong rail base for freight and commuters, but the Gisborne line has always been a problem.
Major erosion issues have meant this line has frequently been closed for very long periods. It would always have been like that, and that line was never going to be essential to the rail system as a whole, being a dead end as such.
Better to bite the bullet and keep it closed, and spend the money elsewhere in the rail system. Which I guess is what the current government has decided.
It's ironic you say that Peter, our local example of road/rail/slips has the road closed, the Manawatu Gorge, and across the river the trains keep on trucking.
Apparently the difference between the terra firma of the Ruahines (rail) and the Tararuas is profound. Consequence is all the road freight grinds it's way up, over and down the Ruahines.
For the sake of a couple of tunnels being widened we could have the trucks trained through the gorge, Woodville to Ashhurst or Palmy….
"Jeremy Hunt has demanded broadcasters “grow up” and stop mistakenly referring to him by the C-word when trying to pronounce his surname."
"On Tuesday, BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire followed a host of TV and radio personalities by accidentally referring to the foreign secretary as “Jeremy C***” live on-air. Addressing Conservative MP Steve Brine, Derbyshire said: “You say the man you are backing, Jeremy C***…”
“I’m so sorry, Jeremy Hunt. I’ve never said that before in my life. It’s normally men who say that so I really, really want to apologise.”
"Others who have made the gaffe include Sky News reporter Thomas Moore, BBC journalists Justin Webb and James Naughtie, as well as presenter Nicky Campbell just last week."
Jeremy Hunt is the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. For the British media to vilify him thus seems a new behavioural low, which has become contagious. Not an appropriate way to treat a leading govt minister!
Notice how he asks them to grow up, yet refers to their utterances as mistakes. Adults make mistakes too. Surely he knows they do! Really accidental?? Or juvenile? Perhaps it would be better for offenders to agree that the trend is Freudian slippage…
This is the enormous virtue of Reid’s and Newsroom’s investigative journalism. It digs below the superficial stereotypes that allow so many of us to dismiss the anguish of “these people” as the inevitable outcome of their irresponsible lifestyles. That they are brown and say “yous”, instead of “you”, only makes it easier for middle-class Pakeha to ignore their pain. Oranga Tamariki, the Family Court, the DHBs and the Police have made it possible for those Kiwis who have made their peace with race-based social injustice to go about their lives without the slightest awareness of the tragedies unfolding, every night, in suburbs they will never visit.
First of all the "State"- aided and abetted by successive governments – created the climate of poverty that exists among Maori communities in particular, and then they remove their babies on the pretext they are nor living in safe and secure environments.
There will of course be valid reasons why some children have to be removed from their Whanau, but it is looks to me like the agencies involved have created a social apartheid system based on their prejudices and… not a little desire for power and control.
True Gabby, but they might also be basing their judgement on past behaviour not taking into account that the circumstances of the mother and her whanau may have changed.
That is terrible design. The type looks awful at that size and its a text body font anyway. Even worse is the horrible contrast between the oblique shapes and the type.
Any what does the pink represent? There seems to have been no design brief, and even less design ability.
Like ACT itself a clumsy, poorly thought out wish mash of not fit for purpose ideas…
…on second thoughts that logo is a perfect description of the 0.4% party.
If you think for one minute the old money establishment give a rats about you and yours, think again… In the following spot the similarity with dirty politics that Donkey pulled.
Replacement for Sarah Sanders Disqualified After Telling Truth on Job Application
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—A leading candidate to replace the White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, was disqualified after telling the truth repeatedly on his job application, the White House has confirmed.
According to the White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, the candidate got high marks in his job interview by demonstrating “utter disregard and contempt for press freedoms.”
“We then had him do a practice press briefing in which he was relentlessly abusive, obnoxious, and insulting,” Mulvaney said. “We were all, like, ‘This is our guy.’ ”
But after a thorough examination of the candidate’s job application, “a troubling series of truthhoods emerged,” Mulvaney said.
“It turned out that he was telling the truth about his education and previous employment,” the chief of staff said. “It was a pattern of honesty that we found deeply disturbing.”
Mulvaney said that the “inexcusably veracious” answers had eliminated the candidate from further consideration. “We all feel like we just dodged a bullet,” he said. “This whole episode just demonstrates how tough it is to replace Sarah Huckabee Sanders.”
OMG! I did used to fly out of Hood way back. In fact did my first solo there and my PPL.
I remember my first solo – not only because it was my first solo, but for a very similar reason. On your down wind leg apart from doing the normal pre landing checks on the aircraft you are also looking out for other aircraft . Naturally you are looking out for aircraft to the right and to the left and above and behind. On the approach as you descend you are watching airspeed height and timing your turn to line up with the runway. Well I landed safely and came to a stop turning to the left to clear the runway before heading back to the club house when I saw almost directly behind me a DC3 from James Aviation, used for top dressing, landing just behind me! It had come in on a direct approach low down – no standard circuit at 1000ft as one is supposed to do on an uncontrolled airfield like Hood. Gave me one hell of a fright!
It's been a bad weekend for aircraft crashes. There was one earlier on up by Coromandel as well.
Trump's got a Twitter page—though nearly all of it is written by the sinister fanatic Stephen Miller. Obama's got a Twitter page. Blair's got one. Bill Clinton's got one. So has Crooked Hillary.
Compared to that horrific quintet, O.J. Simpson is a choirboy.
The act the goat for freedom party proposes a $185,000 parent's fund for each child to spend on whichever school they want for the length of the child's education.
I'm trying to imagine the landscape were a policy like this enacted.
One immediate outcome would be that each school would charge according to popularity. Supply and demand and all that.
Therefore, as night follows day, there would be immediate elitism injected into the education system. Prices for "good" schools would skyrocket, wealthier parents able to top up thousands of dollars to get little Cinnamon in, and they'd then pay their teachers more, hoarding all the 'best' ones.
Then of course low income communities would be left with all the 'poorer' teachers and facilities, unable to raise extra funds out of already disadvantaged communities.
This is just one aspect of what is to me a completely bizarre education policy. It would lead to massive widening of inequality for generations to come.
I remember the criticism over the proposed CGT was it'll be too hard & unwieldy to manage, all the variables, to me this education policy seems insanely complicated, more money for ticket clippers I guess, which is apt from the rentier party.
Pompeo's "freedom loving nations" is as dishonest and ridiculous a phrase as "Democratic Republic of North Korea"
The "freedom loving nations" that this poisonous slug refers to are: the rogue U.S. regime of Donald Trump, and its vile, violent vassals Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and Israel.
A report yesterday of a woman, 86, moving because of a 73 percent rent hike illustrates the crisis created by Housing Minister Phil Twyford, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today….
The main justification for Mr Twyford’s standards was to prevent the hospitalisation each year of 6000 children for housing-sensitive illnesses.
As a one-bedroom flat, the flat under discussion would be unsuitable for children; this illustrates the short-sightedness of setting requirements for 588,700 properties for the supposed benefit of 6000, Mr Butler said.
This is reality our environmental the Papatuanuku weather stabilizer the Antarctica and Arctic Polar Ice caps all that billions of tons of Ice stabilizes our Papatuanuku weather. It's not hard to figure that out they are melting fast this is going to ramp up sea level rising and the EXTREME WEATHER events. The poor people from 3 world nations are going to hit hardest by Climate Change hence wealth nations have a duty to help them survive this big man made mess.
The Arctic Ocean and Greenland ice sheet have seen record June ice loss
In recent days, observations have revealed a record-challenging melt event over the Greenland ice sheet while the extent of ice over the Arctic Ocean has never been this low in mid-June during the age of weather satellites.
Greenland saw temperatures soar up to 40 degrees above normal Wednesday while open water exists in places north of Alaska where it seldom, if ever, has in recent times.
It's "another series of extreme events consistent with the long-term trend of a warming, changing Arctic," said Zachary Labe, a climate researcher at the University of California-Irvine Ka kite ano link below.
shonky is to sly to get caught the way he forces his stare shows Eco Maori he is false he should step down to he is just chucking the ANZ CEO under the bus to save his ASS.
I thank the government for legislating banks to negotiate with farmers before receivership is started. That is well needed farmers work there asss off only to have a down turn in the price of their produce next minute the receiver are banging their doors down. I know that happened to one big farming family it cost the banks many millions and who instigated their downfall well non other than shonky muppet.
Thank to Our Government for increasing the marine Reservation in the North and South Island to protect our Maui and Hector dolphin KA PAI Yar Cool.
That end of life bill is a bit tricky for Eco Maori it could leave the door open for deceitful people to manipulate the system for their own gain if people were not deceitful I would back it we Know that not the CASE.
Peter Smith I say you are correct that the health system is treating prisoners as lower class people you are there seeing it .But bro you have to look after you health first for you mokopuna.
It good that $138 million for rehabilitation of Drug addicts that PEE shit is ruining te tangata whenua O Aotearoa thanks very much I won't say anymore because I will start ranting against you know who.
That's cool our Government giving $9.8 million to keep tamariki in schools they need a good education the extra funding will help give the tamariki that leave school with no education a interest in there future wellbeing.
The forestry industry has not delivered the promises that they made to Nagti Porou the only people making good money from east coast forestry is the forestry company's I know of one farm spent $1 million for the harvest and only made $90.000 WTF there was heaps of good farming land planted in pines what a waste farming provides more work per hectare than forestry.
Chris Climate Change is affecting our weather I can see the effects all around te Papatuanuku.
The Government farm finance bill is well over due we have to look after our farmers they are the backbone of Aotearoa.
Don't focus on the numbers what the numbers tell the TRUTH of the story you have to focus on the numbers .
Some Pepi and Tamariki need to be uplifted for their safety Very good that Our Iwis are working with Oranga tamariki to find solutions to the problems that they have.
I don't think that the authorities should treat the people who are homeless like that making them move with know were to go putting them in worst circumstances than before they moved.
There might be a bit of inconvenience for the fishermen with new marine protection Reserve for our endangered Maui and Hector dolphin. But in the future the Reserves will be a nursery the fish's they will multiply quite quickly and flow into other areas of Tangaroa any Marine Reservation is good for the preservation of Tangaroa mokopuna.
I agree that our churches should open their doors to help the homeless people in South Auckland I bet that there will be old buildings not being used in Auckland to house the homeless people look at Rotorua council they found a solution to the homeless people in Rotorua if there's a will there's a way.
Eco Maori thanks all the reporters who are not intimidated by big oil barons money thanks for all the skin you put on the line to get the TRUTH about our environmental issues out there that the Papatuanuku has at the minute.
We must protect our world reporters with good legislation so the people who intimidated our reporters will think twice before doing bad stuff to our reporters governments of the world must protect our reporters its their duty.
Environment reporters facing harassment and murder, study finds
Tally of deaths makes it one of most dangerous fields for journalists after war reporting
Thirteen journalists who were investigating damage to the environment have been killed in recent years and many more are suffering violence, harassment, intimidation and lawsuits, according to a study.
The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ), which produced the tally, is investigating a further 16 deaths over the last decade. It says the number of murders may be as high as 29, making this field of journalism one of the most dangerous after war reporting
Environmental issues involve some of the greatest abuses of power in the world and some of the greatest of concentrations of power in the world,” said Bruce Shapiro, the director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.
“I’m hard put to think of a category of investigative reporters who are routinely dealing with more dangerous actors. Investigative reporting on the environment can be as dangerous a beat as reporting on narco smuggling.”
The CPJ executive director, Joel Simon, added: “Reporting such stories for national and international media often involves travelling to remote communities and confronting powerful interests. This makes it inherently dangerous ka kite ano link below.
Te Ego is huge shonky that is when you make enemies they have long memories and as soon as they get the chance they bit you on the ASS .
The smiling assassin strikes: John Key pushes out David Hisco as ANZ CEO
ANZ CEO David Hisco felt entitled to claim around $50,000 worth of personal chauffeur and wine storage costs as business costs. So John Key pushed out his friend and NZ's most successful banker to protect ANZ's position and try to avoid a Royal Commission here. Bernard Hickey analyses Key's biggest hit yet
David Hisco just joined a long list of loyal and often friendly colleagues of John Key who exited their jobs in often surprisingly quick and career-ending ways. It could be said Hisco's exit is Key's biggest yet.
The Former Prime Minister and now ANZ New Zealand chairman became known in his corporate life before politics as the 'smiling assassin
Hisco successfully managed the merger with barely a blip in customer service and market share. He also quietly presided over a reduction in ANZ's exposure to dangerous dairy loans, flicking on some of the weakest lenders to other banks. For example, ANZ let Allan Crafar move his more than $200 million of loans to Westpac before the poorly managed farming group collapsed under a welter of animal mistreatment allegations and effluent treatment fines. Westpac suffered heavy losses in the subsequent receivership and sale of Crafar Farms Ka kite ano link below.
Condolences to the Whanau of Wanna Davies she was a good Wahine Maori leader.
I'm am not commenting on Oranga tamariki to much .I think the good reforms will come soon.
30 years ago the ruling class were still in denial mode what gives Eco Maori a sore face in now they are listening and can see that institutionalized racism is a reality for te tangata whenua O Aotearoa. NOW
I think traditional ronga Maori healing needs to be revived bad to its rightful place in Maoridom it's sad that we losted some of the knowledge on traditional Maori healing.
I say bottled water needs to be banned we need to stop doing dumb shit all the plastic waste and the carbon footprint of bottled water out weighs the positives of bottled water
Big 6.8 Earthquake in Japan let's hope not to many people are harmed .
That guy and his dog who got lost in a cave found their way out cool.
The SHOW must go on in America.
Mark the American polls tell a difference STORY .
That form of accommodation is good for young people shared accommodation in a whare in Auckland rent $320 a week for one room and every else is shared.
Very cool that our Government is investing $26 million into Artic research they Polar Ice caps are the Papatuanuku environment stabilization.
trump is spending big time manipulating the Papatuanuku media I can hear it in your words duncan I have read stories about them moving federal funds to manipulate the reality of what trump has done he is creating a tsunami of broke America's it will take years for the Democrats to clean up trump's MESS. His tariff are harming the whole Papatuanuku everyone in the world will end up paying and worse off because of his tariffs.
Nice Jersey I agree trump's personal ratings are low .
Its very funny the story's about new technology device use causing bone growth in your neck the internet of things and the hard wear devices and social media is changing who rules the world the oil barons trumps masters are losing control fast time for the next generation to rule the Papatuanuku the next generation has to focus on a good future for all.
Vadim Chausov New Zealand needs to speak out against allegations of mass torture and brutality in Belarus following the Eastern European country’s recent elections, a Belarusian national living in New Zealand says. Last Sunday’s election – which saw strongman Alexander Lukashenko claim 80% of the vote in a result ...
The old ways of thinking about the macroeconomy have been found wanting, but the alternative is not clear. Macroeconomics – understanding how the economy as a whole works – appears to be going through a time of exceptionally great turbulence. There is always a robust debate, but today ...
by Daphna Whitmore The outbreak of Covid-19 in the community is getting people to starting to thinking about the elimination strategy. Initially the government said ‘flatten the curve’ in order to avoid hospitals being overloaded with a sudden influx of Covid-19 cases. This made sense, but there were some experts, most ...
How corrupt is Queensland? Yesterday they actually tried to ban journalists from exposing political corruption during election campaigns. Fortunately, today they changed their minds: A day after introducing laws that would ban journalists from reporting corruption allegations during elections, the State Government has withdrawn the proposal in a spectacular ...
A Heavy Burden: At times such as these, our prime minister could be forgiven for wondering whether some malign political spirit has laid a curse upon her. As if everything that she is, and everything of which she is capable, can only ever be revealed fully at moments of harm ...
Fire-Starter? The claims advanced by BillyTe Kahika are false. The matter to be determined, therefore, is whether or not they are likely to cause panic. In ordinary times, the answer would be “No.” In ordinary times, the opinions of conspiracy theorists may be safely ignored. Indeed, in ordinary times, the ...
It's In Their DNA:“The naïve, the almost childish brutality, with which the chiefs of the National Party fell upon power [in 1949] may seem quite surprising, until one remembers how famished for power they were, and with what an innocency of experience they faced the world about them.” - Dr J. C. ...
All That Remains: But, just imagine if the workers in the Hi-Viz vests refused to sink their chainsaws into the flesh of these miraculous trees and their mysterious networks of sentience. Imagine if ordinary working men and women stopped leaving all the decisions to the architects, engineers and accountants. Imagine ...
Will Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern go down in history alongside Richard Seddon and Michael Joseph Savage as a transformative prime minister? Utilising leadership theory, Josh Van Veen argues that Ardern will need to soon seize the historic moment that we are in, to make the country resilient against future disruptions. ...
As New Zealand holds its breath waiting to find out the extent of the latest cases of COVID-19 community transmission, it’s hard to avoid the growing amount of mis- and dis-information online. It’s a very natural instinct to want to debunk this misinformation, but unfortunately, science communication theory shows that ...
Campaigns suspended just as they began. Election day in doubt. And - following the 'words beginning with C' theme from last week's Caucus podcast - heated debate over conspiracies and constitutional conventions as Covid returns to the community. This week in politics is has been a disaster for Election 2020; you ...
And sooner or later, the National Party will simply have to own up to the fact that the reason she was never chosen as Leader prior to her rolling Todd Muller a little less than a month ago was for very solid ones: the display of some truly ugly behaviour ...
The Waikato Regional Council is actually enforcing the RMA for once: Three Waikato farmers have been fined a total of $116,100 for illegally discharging farm effluent. [...] Gerard Wolvers from South Waikato, who has farmed for nearly 50 years, was convicted on three charges after an unknown amount of ...
The return of COVID-19 community transmission, with Auckland back in a level 3 lockdown and the rest of New Zealand at level 2, raises real questions about New Zealand’s upcoming general election.Polling day is scheduled for September 19 but the planned election process would actually start far earlier. All candidates were to be ...
Conspiracy theorist - Gerry BrownleeWhat on earth is going on with the National Party? Now that Crusher Collins is in charge, it seems like it’s their policy to say really dumb things just to get attention. Unfortunately it’s working, with most of the mainstream media bending over backwards to provide ...
A corrupt public sector manager abuses their office to funnel public money to companies set up by himself and a friend. America? Australia? No, its New Zealand: Consultancy firm Deloitte has delivered a damning report on the New Zealand Transport Agency that says it failed to follow its own ...
The novel coronavirus mutates as it travels between people and around the world. By sequencing the genome, we can try to work out which case is linked with another. As Aotearoa confronted its first cases of Covid-19 community transmission in more than 100 days, the director general of health, Ashley ...
INT: ILAM ELECTORATE OFFICES – TUESDAY GERRY: Morning everybody. ADVISORS 1, 2, AND 3: Morning Gerry. GERRY: Now… this is a bit of a crisis meeting. Several rogue polls have come out putting the National Party on or around 40% ADVISOR 2: 26? ADVISOR 1: 12? ADVISOR 3: 29? GERRY: ...
What's National's first move under lockdown? Call for elections to be delayed: National leader Judith Collins is demanding Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delay the September election after the discovery of Covid-19 community transmission cases in Auckland. A clearly frustrated Collins on Wednesday afternoon said she was directly asking Ardern ...
Respecting the journal editorial process Each week we scan between 450 and 650 articles for relevance to Skeptical Science's remit: communication of the science of climate change itself the many affected branches of scientific inquiry by climate change. The 100+ journals we cover encompass a galaxy of expertise we cannot ...
You may have heard that there were queues at the supermarket last night, and again this morning. This will probably carry on for a while, even though it’s clear that supermarkets and other essential outlets and services will remain open and stocked throughout Alert Level 3 (and Alert Level 4, ...
Russia are deploying a COVID-19 vaccine to its people without knowing if it works or if it is safe. They also appear to be taking advance orders for doses from other countries. It is almost hard to know where to start with why this is so wrong. Reckless, unethical, and ...
Another rural business is complaining about being unable to find staff, despite offering "high" pay. So what do they want people to do? “There’s also a perception that contractors work from sunrise to sunset but that’s not accurate, either,” Hawker said. “Health and safety is our biggest concern – ...
By Aleksandra Pawlik, Ngoni Faya, Joseph Guhlin, Megan Guidry, Tom Harrop, Dinindu SenanayakeRapid development of computational bioinformatics tools mean we can more easily push research boundaries. However, it comes at a cost. The complexity of the software chain that needs to be installed and configured to run advanced ...
So, the inevitable has happened and we have Covid in the community again. So now we have to do it all again to try and get it back under control. And already the usual suspects are whining, pretending that they don't know what the plan is when really they simply ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzGeothermal electricity produces emissions but is categorised with wind and ...
Aotearoa surpassed 100 days without a case of community transmission of Covid-19. Last night that virus-free streak ended and we’re moving back up the alert levels. For months now, we’ve been intercepting cases of Covid-19 at the border. But just as has happened in many other countries, somehow the sneaky ...
Today the National Party have annouced plans to get tough on gangs. Again. We at MyThinks thought it was important to identify a list of gangs the National Party were planning on getting tough on. National have said if they are elected their new “The Gang Unit” gang unit will ...
In the musical Wicked, a re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz, the hit song Defying Gravity comes at the end of the first act and talks of how one woman (who would become the Wicked Witch of the West) breaks from what’s expected to strike off on her own path. ...
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Daisy Dunne Human-caused climate change has “intensified” patterns of extreme rainfall and drought across the globe, a new study finds. There is a detectable “human fingerprint” on decreasing rainfall over the US, central Asia and southern Africa, according to the results. It is ...
Back in June, Newsroom published a well-investigated piece about how the Department of Conservation had waived rehabilitation requirements for a mining company. Now, one of the company's directors - specifically David Wong-Tung, who just happens to be Judith Collins' husband and the director of environmental pillagers Oravida - is threatening ...
This year’s election campaign in New Zealand has attracted a number of “fringe” parties, at least some of whose supporters seem to have a fairly tenuous hold on reality and a highly flexible approach to the truth. I mean, how else could one describe some of those affiliated with the ...
Accused - Jami-Lee RossNobody would think poorly of you if you wrote former National Party MP Jami-Lee Ross off as just another crackpot! After all, now that he’s hitched his Advance NZ wagon to Billy Te Kahika’s crazy Public Party, there’s little chance of him ever redeeming himself or recovering ...
Students will be striking for the climate again on Friday, September 4: Students in Wellington are gearing up to strike from school this September 4th, to protest inaction on climate change. Their demands? That Government invests in a green COVID-19 response; that there is a just transition provided for ...
There’s no Covid on the Cook Islands. But isolation-free travel into New Zealand from the Cooks looks to be a long way off. The Prime Minister confirmed on Monday that Cabinet had considered draft text being worked on via officials which will become the basis of an agreement for quarantine-free travel ...
We should all know by now that Judith Collins, who has openly said she simply doesn’t care if wetlands are destroyed in the pursuit of swamp Kauri, isn’t exactly an environmentalist.In fact she has promised to roll back most of the small gains made by the Green Party in Government, ...
If you drive an electric car more than trivial distances between charges, you likely appreciate a state-of-charge meter (that is, what would be called a fuel-gauge in a petrol car) that is accurate. When it reports a range of 30 km, you do want to be sure it will actually ...
What to do to improve the public perception of the newly elected National party leader, when her performance so far has no doubt disappointed the expectations of her supporters? The answer is to get a National-supporting newspaper (the Herald) to organise a poll that could be guaranteed to provide an ...
Campaigns. Culture. Character. And perhaps most of all, Covid. Now the House has risen and politicians are hitting the road to pitch their woo to voters, those will be front of mind for the candidates.They were also where the new season of politics podcast Caucus began on Thursday. This year ...
There are only a few days left to make a submission on Statistics New Zealand's consultation on sex and gender identity statistical standards. This represents a really important step for recognising the very real diversity of gender, including people with no gender, and ensuring everyone has the option to see ...
Since finishing the Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change book, I’ve frequently dipped into that 176-page clip-art library, reshaping the cartoons to fit the 1920 x 1080 pixel format for Powerpoint presentations. I’ve also adapted many of the cartoons for the Cranky Uncle video series. Over the last few weeks, a few people ...
NewsHub Nation has launched a new podcast, "Supplementary Question". Their inaugural episode is about the OIA, and asks "is our most important transparency law fit for purpose?" While they interviewed Justice Minister Andrew Little and Ombudsman Peter Boshier for this, there's not actually a lot of them in there, and ...
Remember the Ruataniwha dam? The Hawke's Bay Regional Council wasted $14 million trying to push this environmental disaster through before the Supreme Court ruled that the land swap it relied on with DoC was illegal. At the end of it, they wrote off the money and sold the existing consents ...
For years we've had a housing crisis in New Zealand, driven by immigration-driven population growth and the market refusing to build enough houses (and enough of the right sort of houses) to meet it. As a result, people can't get homes, while Boomer landlords leech away their income and parasitical ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Drawdown Review 2020: How To Address Global Warming In A Responsible Manner Source: Project Drawdown Project Drawdown is a non-profit organization that relies ...
Dr Tim Chambers, Prof Nick Wilson, Jayne Richards, A/Prof Simon Hales, Dr Mike Joy, Prof Michael Baker (author affiliations*)Increasing water-related health threats, notably the waterborne campylobacter outbreak in Havelock North, have highlighted failings in NZ’s regulatory system for drinking water. In this blog we consider how the new Water ...
Yes, an election is in the offing – and we all know that elections can be polarising, as parties of the left and right square off against each other. But we should not allow our party and political allegiances to obscure the fact that, in a properly functioning democracy like ...
Dr Sommer Kapitan, Auckland University of Technology, and Dr Patrick van Esch, Auckland University of TechnologyThe Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill will limit vape sales at dairies and service stations to only three flavours, and make vaping illegal in smokefree areas. Vaping laws will be more ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Aug 2, 2020 through Sat, Aug 8, 2020Editor's ChoiceFive Years After Speaking Out on Climate Change, Pope Francis Sounds an Urgent AlarmThe encyclical ‘Laudato Si’ motivated many people ...
From some quarters, incessant scaremongering. From others, it’s a full-on tilt into touching the alarmist buttons a little too readily (uncertain times make for very captive audiences with this angle of attack). The (so-called) Opposition (and merely regarding them as that seems to be a far looser term now ...
National Party leader - Judith CollinsElections often bring out the best and worst in politicians. Some rise to the occasion and provide us with a clear vision for the future. While others wallow in resentment and controversy, over-relying on attack politics to try to attain the interest of voters.That’s been ...
The attempts to sabotage Corbyn's leadership seems likely to do more damage than Corbyn supposedly ever could have done, even if all the stories about him were true:I was reluctant to say anything but this is too important, the full story needs to be told.Don’t let anyone ever tell ...
Good day to everyone. I’ve been asked by Mr Thinks to come here and talk to you all about my concerns regarding the government response to Covid-19. We’ve been living through this pandemic for, what seems like, years. Years and years and years. Why else would the National Party have ...
‘Good Economics for Hard Times’ should be on your reading list. New Zealand does not have a Minister of Labour. It has Ministers of Immigration and Workplace Relations and Safety but there is no minister with responsibility for the labour market. That responsibility was abolished in 2012 when ...
Back in the Kyoto era, the international climate change regime included a Clean Development Mechanism to fund emissions reduction projects in developing nations. Essentially someone would certify that a project - e.g. building a windfarm, or installing energy-efficient lightbulbs - would reduce emissions over and above "business-as-usual". The project would ...
Claire Breen, University of WaikatoWith COVID-19 vaccine developers reporting promising results, it is probable we will one day face a major public health question: can the government compel New Zealanders to be vaccinated? Just as inevitably, some people will refuse a vaccine. As we have seen overseas with debates ...
As the classic MMP cartoon goes, just look at who is against it. Yesterday, the Hamilton City Council voted to use STV for its next two local body elections. The move was initially opposed by deputy mayor Geoff Taylor. The reason? Because a voting system which provided accurate representation and ...
On Wednesday evening (which in Parliament’s weird world technically was still Tuesday because urgency had been taken and so time stood still), MPs united to remove a pretty terrible piece of law from our statute books. No real fanfare or fireworks accompanied this action. Indeed, I didn’t even know about it ...
By Geoffrey Miller Prominent refugee advocate Murdoch Stephens says he is disappointed by Judith Collins’ reaction to Immigration New Zealand’s decision to grant refugee status to Kurdish-Iranian writer Behrouz Boochani. Judith Collins told media last month that “there’s a lot of concern in New Zealand about what they see as ...
Hello all. Judith here to talk about how National are going to take the election in September. The National Party prides itself its unity and cohesion. We are working together to deliver for New Zealanders. First of all, ee are a strong team. We are a very strong team. Our ...
Parliament has just begun the adjournment debate, signalling the effective end of this Parliament. So it seems like an appropriate time to assess Labour's term in office. Unfortunately, its a pretty dismal assessment. Labour campaigned on one thing: change. Not just a change in who got the top jobs and ...
Our climate change policies are insufficient to achieve our goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, according to independent assessor Climate Action Tracker: New Zealand won’t be carbon neutral by 2050 without much stronger policies, says an independent analysis by Climate Action Tracker. The non-profit highlighted a lack of active ...
That was clearly a huge explosion. Just after the explosion, we see a cloud of ‘fog’ moving outwards at high speed. This is a shockwave, rather similar to that which causes a sonic boom. The ‘fog’ is caused by water condensing from the atmosphere in areas of intense low pressure ...
Can we postpone this year’s election? Quite frankly, the political parties don’t seem ready for it, and aren’t about to offer voters the necessary policy choices for the unprecedented times we’re in. We’ve ended up with a campaign focused on scandal, personality and leadership, with a policy void that’s worse ...
It is the last sitting day of Parliament, and the last question time before the House is dissolved. So, are there any questions about the damning findings of the Hit and Run inquiry, and how the government plans to bring the military back under democratic control? Of course not. ...
Property speculator - John KeyThe National Party must be in dire straits to have to rely on John Key to campaign on their behalf. Not only has the former PM been in the news claiming the recently released unemployment figures aren’t accurate, the fool has also been promoting the opening ...
Green Party Co-leader James Shaw is awaiting the result of a precautionary COVID-19 test after travelling to the South Auckland area over the weekend. ...
The Auckland region moved to Alert Level 3 on 12 noon on Wednesday 12 August. The rest of New Zealand moved to Alert Level 2. Visit covid19.govt.nz for the latest information on alert levels, including an overview of restrictions in your area. ...
It's campaign time! The official countdown to Election Day is underway, with Labour supporters crowding into Auckland's Town Hall for our 2020 Campaign Launch. We recap some of the highlights below ...
It's campaign time! The official countdown to Election Day is underway, with Labour supporters crowding into Auckland's Town Hall for our 2020 Campaign Launch. We recap some of the highlights below ...
We've announced that we will expand the Flexi-wage programme to support up to 40,000 more people into work, or to help them start their own business. It's yet another way we're helping keep our economy moving by getting people into work and training. Read on to find out more ...
Business subsidy of on average $7500, and up to $22,000, to hire unemployed New ZealandersUp to 40,000 jobs to be supported by $311 million investment in keeping New Zealanders off the unemployment benefitRing-fenced fund to help unemployed start their own business ...
This week was the last of the 52nd Parliament: a major milestone for our Government and a great opportunity to look back at all the progress we've made for New Zealanders. This week, we increased support for businesses to take on apprentices, improved access to hospital care in Northland, and ...
Kia orana and kia ora koutou katoa. It is a privilege to be able to speak in this adjournment debate and to mark and acknowledge the fact that we are now two years and 10 months into the conclusion of a parliamentary term that has been extraordinary in so many ...
On 1 August, we marked the anniversary of Jacinda Ardern becoming the Leader of the Labour Party. On that day in 2017, Leader Andrew Little nominated Jacinda Ardern to succeed him and lead the party to victory.Now, three years on, we look back at some of the key moments ...
With the June 2020 quarter showing underemployment increasing, the Green Party is calling for a Guaranteed Minimum Income and an increase to the abatement threshold to ensure everyone has a dignified income. ...
We went hard and we went early in our health response to COVID-19, and we did everything we could to cushion the economic impact too. In fact, we can fill every letter of the alphabet with the steps we took to fight COVID-19 and ensure we were in a position ...
Investing in our people, backing businesses, and upgrading infrastructure and housing throughout the country - it's been another week of progress for New Zealanders as we deliver our plan to recover and rebuild. ...
July was another busy month, packed with key investments aimed at progressing our economic recovery as we rebuild New Zealand. We extended support for businesses, helped create jobs through local infrastructure projects, and kept working to clean up our waterways so Kiwis can access safe clean water. Check out the ...
The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failures within the Defence Force led to ‘a series of incorrect statements in briefings to ministers and public releases’ regarding alleged breaches of international torture prevention ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
The Government is stepping up action to deal with environmentally harmful products – including plastic packaging, tyres and e-waste – before they become waste. ...
The Green Party are ensuring that New Zealanders who were overseas when COVID-19 hit will not be charged for the cost of isolation or quarantine if they return home to live. ...
In-principle decision to extend wage subsidy to support businesses and protect jobs Support will be nationwide in recognition of Auckland’s position in NZ economy and the impact of Level 2 Mortgage deferral scheme to be extended to support households The Government is taking action to support businesses and protect jobs ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters today called for National Party and Opposition leader Judith Collins to stop undermining democracy. “New Zealanders are sadly being fed a steady stream of misinformation about the pre-election period from the National Party,” said Mr Peters. “Its effect is to sow doubt about the legitimacy ...
Graduation of Wing 340 2pm, 13 August 2020, The Royal New Zealand Police College [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Introduction Ladies and gentlemen, it is a privilege to be here today to celebrate the graduation of Wing 340. Let us begin by acknowledging the presence of Coalition Government colleague, Police Minister the ...
More Police are being deployed to the frontline to help manage the COVID response, after the graduation today of 56 new officers. “The ceremonies for the graduation of Wing 340 at the Royal New Zealand Police College were trimmed to take account of new Alert Level 2 restrictions in Wellington,” ...
Transitional housing provides much needed support for Taumarunui whānau New emergency and transitional homes will help ease a housing shortage in Taumarunui and provide whānau with much needed support, say Māori Development Minister, Nanaia Mahuta and Whānau Ora Minister, Peeni Henare. The Ministers officially opened five two-bedroom units ...
Following the success of the phase out of single-use plastic shopping bags, the Government now has plans to phase out more single-use and problem plastics to reduce waste and protect the environment announced Associate Minister for the Environment Eugenie Sage. The proposals are to phase-out: some hard-to-recycle PVC and polystyrene ...
A commercial and industrial site in Thames-Coromandel will receive $8.2 million to revamp its marine-servicing infrastructure and create new economic development opportunities, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. This project is being supported from the $3 billion ‘shovel ready’ fund set aside in Budget 2020 to kick-start the post COVID-19 ...
After 102 days we have our first cases of Covid-19 outside of a Managed Isolation or Quarantine facility in New Zealand. Shortly I will ask Dr Bloomfield to set out the details of the case. While we have all worked incredibly hard to prevent this scenario, we have also planned ...
An iwi-Crown approach programme to restore the Raukūmara forest on the East Coast of the North Island and boost employment opportunities for whānau, particularly rangatahi/young people, will receive $34 million funding, Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has announced. “Raukūmara Pae Maunga is a partnership with Te Whānau-ā-Apanui, Ngāti Porou, and ...
Government agencies and partners are working closer together to provide more Māori Housing through the Te MAIHI o te Whare Māori – the Māori and Iwi Housing Innovation Framework for Action (MAIHI). MAIHI is a kaupapa Māori approach that drives a system change to give effect and impact on Māori ...
Site work is soon to begin on Te Ahu a Turanga: Manawatū Tararua Highway, the project to replace the former SH3 route through the Manawatū Gorge, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. Phil Twyford was today in Woodville at the signing of a formal agreement by members of the Alliance ...
The Pacific Islands Forum Economic Ministers Meeting (FEMM) begins today and will focus on the major economic and social impacts of COVID-19 on the Pacific. FEMM is an important congregation of Economic Ministers and senior officials from around the region, and for the first time, the annual meeting will be ...
Cabinet has approved a formal apology and ex gratia payment to former soldier George Nepata, announced Defence Minister Ron Mark. This payment is to recognise the New Zealand Defence Force’s failure to provide Mr Nepata with a safe system of work in April 1989 when, as a result of an ...
A report undertaken by Ministerial Services into Iain Lees-Galloway’s ministerial expenditure has found no evidence of any inappropriate transactions or spending. Ministerial Services undertook a line by line review of all his expenditure, including staff and spouse expenses for the period 1 January 2019 to 30 June 2020. “I commissioned ...
Managed isolation charges for returnees will come into force from 12.01am Tuesday 11th August, after they passed their last cabinet milestone today, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. “The new charging system balances the rights of New Zealanders to return home and helps reduce pressure on the managed isolation and quarantine ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Henry Puna have welcomed the completion of phase one in the establishment of a travel bubble between New Zealand and the Cook Island. Negotiations on the text of an ‘Arrangement to Facilitate Quarantine-Free Travel ...
The Government has launched a new online, phone and onsite service to help New Zealanders connect to a range of employment support and products for workers and businesses affected by COVID-19, announced Minister of Education Chris Hipkins and Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. Connected.govt.nz is a one-stop-shop for jobseekers, ...
Security guards contracted to the Ministry of Social Development will be paid at least the Living Wage from next month supporting the Government’s commitment towards fair pay and employment conditions, announced Minister for Social Development Carmel Sepuloni. “MSD was among the first government agencies to pay its employees the living ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today launched Te Mana o te Taiao, the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy - a way forward that envisions Aotearoa New Zealand as a place where ecosystems are healthy and resilient, and people embrace the natural world. “Many of New Zealand’s plants and wildlife species ...
“Pacific languages, cultures and identity are essential to the health, wellbeing and lifetime success of our Pacific peoples and their communities in Aotearoa. The strength and resilience of Pacific Aotearoa is not only vital to their own prosperity but integral to the prosperity of all New Zealanders, and is particularly ...
· $38 million to help schools cover unexpected costs related to COVID-19 · $69 million upgrade for online learning · $107 million contingency funding to support school construction suppliers facing additional costs due to the lockdown. The Government is releasing $214 million from the COVID-19 response and recovery fund to ...
Despite the Government installing safety upgrades around the country, people should still take care around rail crossings, said Transport Minister Phil Twyford launching Rail Safety Week. Phil Twyford said installing safety infrastructure is crucial, but we are encouraging people to be more careful around trains too. “We’re making good progress ...
The Government is providing a cash injection to help Palmerston North City Council complete a programme to provide 78 social housing units for vulnerable tenants. The $4.7 million to build 28 units in the Papaioea Place redevelopment comes from the $3 billion set aside for infrastructure in the Government’s COVID-19 ...
A pest free Banks Peninsula/Te Pātaka o Rākaihautū is one step closer with a $5.11 million boost to accelerate this project and create jobs, announced Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage in Canterbury today. “This is a game changer for this ambitious project to restore the native wildlife and plants on Ōtautahi/Christchurch’s doorstep ...
A Government grant of $6.4 million will expand the Pettigrew Arena in Taradale with new indoor courts of national standard. “The project is likely to take 18 months with approximately 300 people employed through the process,” Grant Robertson said. “The expansion will increase the indoor court space up to 11 ...
The Far North tourist destination of Mangonui is to receive Government funding to improve waterfront infrastructure, open up access to the harbour and improve water quality, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. A total of $6.5 million from the $3 billion set aside in the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund ...
The Government has re-affirmed its commitment to supporting the hosting of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, which the ICC has delayed from 2021 to 2022. “This is obviously a disappointing decision for cricket players and fans around the world and for the White Ferns and their supporters here at ...
Cyclists and walkers will now have a safer way to get around Taupō, Tūrangi, and between Hamilton and Cambridge, with funding for shared paths and Te Awa River Ride, Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. “The Te Awa River Ride is the latest part of massive growth ...
Six major cycle routes will be completed in Christchurch thanks to funding from the Government’s investment in shovel-ready infrastructure as part of the COVID-19 recovery Associate Minister of Transport Julie Anne Genter announced today. $125 million will be invested to kick-start construction and fund the completion of the following cycleway ...
Plans are underway for a brand new state-of-the-art hub for Whanganui’s justice and social agencies, following confirmation the ageing Whanganui Central Police Station is to be replaced. Police Minister Stuart Nash has announced $25 million in new infrastructure spending to improve facilities for the wider community, and for staff who ...
An adjustment payment has been made to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu under the relativity mechanisms in their 1995 and 1997 Treaty of Waitangi settlements, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little announced today. The latest payments to Waikato-Tainui and Ngāi Tahu are $2,700,000 and $2,600,000 respectively to ensure the ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Transport Minister Phil Twyford today kicked off the start of the Auckland NZ Upgrade Programme rail projects which will support over 400 jobs and help unlock our biggest city. Both ministers marked the start of enabling works on the third main rail line project ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investment of $3.78 million in Wairoa will create much needed economic stimulus and jobs, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. PGF projects announced today include: $200,000 loan to Nuhaka Kiwifruit Holdings Ltd (operated by Pine Valley Orchard Ltd) to increase the productivity ...
Tenants in public and Māori housing may be benefiting from their own affordable renewable energy in future – a fund to trial renewable energy technology for public and Māori housing has today been announced by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods and Associate Minister for Housing (Māori Housing) Nanaia Mahuta. ...
Hokianga will receive $2.7 million to redevelop four of its wharves and upgrade its water supply, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. Far North District Council will receive $1.8 million from the Provincial Growth Fund for the work on the wharves. “The work will include the construction of ...
A $350 million Residential Development Response Fund is being established to support the residential construction sector and to minimise the economic impact from COVID-19, the Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods has announced. “The Residential Development Response Fund will help to progress stalled or at-risk developments that support our broader housing ...
As part of a broader plan to divert waste from landfill, the Government today announced $10.67 million for new infrastructure as part of the Resource Recovery Network across the Auckland region. “This key investment in Auckland’s community recycling network is part of the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group ‘shovel ready’ projects ...
The Government is investing $45 million in the first stage of an ambitious urban development project for Tauranga that will employ up to 250 people and help the region grow, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the funding has been allocated out of the $3 billion ...
The Government is investing more than $1.6 million from the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) for a wide range of community and environmental projects in Hawke’s Bay, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. These announcements today are part of the Government’s commitment to supporting regional economies in the ...
Getting low-emission trucks on the road is a step closer with investment in infrastructure to support hydrogen vehicles, the Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods has announced. The Infrastructure Reference Group has provisionally approved $20 million for New Plymouth company Hiringa Energy to establish a nationwide network of hydrogen-fuelling stations. ...
The simple rules for wearing face masks during levels two and three – and how they can effectively limit the spread of Covid-19Lots of people might be wondering why we’re now being asked to wear face masks when we didn’t use them the first time we were stamping out Covid-19 ...
In Christchurch there’s a tiny shop with a big mantra - buy New Zealand made. Frank Film meets the passionate retailer and the clever Kiwis she’s helping. In Tessa Peach’s tightly crammed shop, you’ll find everything from drill bits and garden spades, to preserved fruits, frying pans, shoes and shoe ...
For now, New Zealand seems to have dodged a Covid-shaped bullet - but there are plenty of hard questions to be asked in the coming weeks, Sam Sachdeva writes You could almost hear five million sets of lungs exhaling in unison. A week ago, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement that Auckland ...
In this week's Extra Time, Barry Guy speaks to New Zealand canoe sprinter Alice Hoskin on the heart problem that threatened her career, and her life. Gisborne paddler Alicia Hoskin would have expected to have competed in her first-ever Olympics by now, but she isn't too concerned. She doesn't get upset ...
Tasked with scrutinising the agencies of state, Peter Boshier says being chief ombudsman is all about fairness and empathy. Michelle Langstone finds outf how life has prepared him for the role.Portraits by Edith Amituanai.Peter Boshier was robbed at knifepoint in a home invasion in Suva in 2002, had his eye ...
Jacinda Ardern and her cabinet yesterday chose the middle and least bad option. The next week will be critical in assessing whether the right choice was made, writes Justin Giovannetti from parliament.The sense of relief in the basement of the Beehive was unspoken but plain yesterday as Jacinda Ardern and ...
By RNZ News Auckland will remain in alert level three for a full two weeks, with the New Zealand government announcing that the country will remain at current covid-19 alert levels for 12 more days. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield have announced the decision ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The inquiry commissioned by the Berejiklian government into the Ruby Princess COVID-19 disaster has laid blame on NSW health officials, who made “inexcusable” and “inexplicable” mistakes. It also exonerated the Australian Border Force. In the ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson says he's looking at every support scheme on the Government's books to help cushion the blow of extended Level 3 restrictions in Auckland Wage subsidies will be extended nationwide as the effects of Auckland's Level 3 restrictions ripple across the country. However, questions are being asked ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Today’s chart compares this week’s Covid-19 outbreak in New Zealand with the latest case-data from other comparable countries. Note that the data plots new daily cases, smoothed using seven-day averages. However, the ‘black square’ represents New Zealand’s most recent daily total of new cases, at 260 ...
Safer Future trustees, from left, Richard Martin, Henoch Kloosterboer and Gael Goulter The Covid-19 extended restrictions will limit public discussion and education about the important issues involved in the End of Life Choice Act referendum. For that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Janak Rogers, Associate Lecturer, Broadcast Journalism, RMIT University A Johannes Leak cartoon published in The Australian today, in which US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is depicted calling his vice-presidential running mate Kamala Harris a “little brown girl”, has drawn widespread condemnation. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Security guards at Melbourne’s quarantine hotels have been widely blamed for Victoria’s current outbreak of COVID-19. Reports have suggested they mixed inappropriately with people under quarantine, and did not properly follow instructions around ...
This Sunday on Q+A with Jack Tame Can New Zealand beat COVID-19 again? On Sunday, Jack interviews Health Minister Chris Hipkins and National leader Judith Collins. The Australian state of Victoria has been battling its own second wave. Melbourne ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Walker, Adjunct Professor, School of Communications, La Trobe University The normalisation of diplomatic ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates has variously been described as a “breakthrough” and an important staging moment towards a comprehensive Middle East peace. These conclusions ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Auckland will remain at Level 3 and the rest of New Zealand at Level 2 for 12 days Auckland's lockdown will continue until 11.59pm on Wednesday August 26. Cabinet has come to a decision on the next steps for managing a cluster of community ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Claire Hooker, Senior Lecturer and Coordinator, Health and Medical Humanities, University of Sydney It could be a brother or sister. It could be a neighbour. It could be a person you work with. We probably all know someone who doesn’t wear a ...
The Save the Maitai campaigners have postponed their address to the Nelson City Council this week due to Covid 19 restrictions. About 100 people were to attend Council’s Thursday meeting to support their representatives due to advise the Council that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Graham, Senior Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology At midday on August 12 2020, the hashtag #DanLiedPeopleDied started trending on Twitter. By evening it had attracted over 10,000 tweets. The hashtag appeared to reflect widespread public distrust in Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews’ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne With massive fronds creating a luxuriously green canopy in the understory of Australian forests, tree ferns are a familiar sight on many long drives or bushwalks. But how much do you really know about ...
Government minister James Shaw is in the clear after being tested for coronavirus as a precaution Green Party co-leader James Shaw has tested negative for Covid-19 after undergoing a precautionary test following a campaign trip to South Auckland last weekend. Shaw announced on Thursday he was self-isolating at home and awaiting ...
The Government is scrambling to ramp up the testing of border workers and the Health Minister has conceded he would have liked to have seen more of it earlier Health Minister Chris Hipkins is about to sign an order making it compulsory to test staff working at the border and in managed ...
The Public Service Association is strongly in favour of border control, managed isolation and quarantine workers getting a Covid-19 test as soon as possible, and supports the tests being mandatory and regular. PSA members from multiple government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan and University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paddy Nixon discuss the week in politics. This week Michelle and Paddy discuss the week of hearings before the Royal ...
A senior National party figure accused of attempting to derail a candidate for the Auckland Central seat with a late-night call to talkback radio has stood down. ...
We waste $1.6b in food in NZ every year. With more people struggling to put food on the table thanks to Covid-19, Two Cents' Worth looks at what we can do to change our habits. ...
Theatre owners are up in arms that potential blockbuster Mulan – filmed in New Zealand and directed by hometown hero Niki Caro – is to be premiered not in cinemas, but on Disney’s streaming platform, Disney+.On an office wall somewhere hangs a picture of Disney CEO Bob Chapek – target ...
A Wellington restaurateur was told by health officials that one of his venues had been visited by a Covid-positive person. So why did the health minister and director general of health not know anything? Stewart Sowman-Lund reports.You’d think the possibility that Covid-19 was in capital would be big news. Big ...
Whatever new arrangements may be put in place in response to Covid 19 for the General Election 2020, the Electoral Commission have been questioned as to what changes they have made to ensure the multiple problems experienced by Māori voters in the last ...
The Covid resurgence cluster is now at 29 confirmed cases, with one further unlinked case. Chris McDowall presents the latest information in visual form.With thanks to the Science Media Centre.Information about the resurgence of confirmed and probable cases of Covid-19 in New Zealand is changing rapidly. These posts collate the ...
Analysis - Judith Collins pushes for the election to be delayed due to the Covid-19 outbreak and Gerry Brownlee is accused of undermining efforts to control the virus. ...
Senior doctors at the Canterbury DHB are calling on the Board to front up to staff and to the people of Canterbury. More than 100 members of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists and the Canterbury Hospitals’ Medical Staff Association met ...
By RNZ News New Zealand has announced there are 12 new cases and one probable case of covid-19 in Auckland and Waikato today. Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield revealed at today’s daily briefing there were now a total of 48 active cases, with 30 linked to the community outbreak. ...
Some Cook Islanders are expressing anger at the failure to implement stronger border control public health measures in response to 17 new community-transmitted covid-19 cases in New Zealand – and a further 13 today. Social media is abuzz with comments from some concerned locals. The island’s 10 volunteer puna cannot ...
New Zealanders are being encouraged to look at nature through new eyes during Conservation Week 2020, which this year is from 15 to 23 August. Conservation Week is an annual event led by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and this year’s focus is on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adele Marum, PhD Candidate in English, University of Melbourne Review: Little Birds, Sky Atlantic, released on Stan August 5 2020Little Birds adapts a 1979 collection of French-born diarist Anaïs Nin’s unsettling erotic short stories published two years after her death. Nin ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lorraine Finlay, Lecturer in Law, Murdoch University The events of the past few days in Western Australia have been extraordinary as the protracted conflict between the government and mining billionaire Clive Palmer reached a fever pitch. Premier Mark McGowan declared the state ...
Responding to National Party Leader Judith Collins's comments this morning , the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union is criticising the National Party for softening its stance on reducing debt. Spokesperson Islay Aitchison says, "Reducing public ...
New Zealand's first cluster of community cases of Covid-19 in months has now spread to the Waikato, Marc Daalder reports Two new cases of Covid-19 associated with the community transmission cases identified on Tuesday have been found in the Waikato, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said on Friday. Previously, all active ...
'Go hard, go early' has undoubtedly been a successful medical strategy. However, unpredictable, on-again off-again stringent lockdowns may produce so much uncertainty that other outcomes start to deteriorate, writes Robert MacCulloch. New Zealand's approach to keeping Coronavirus away from our shores, or at least stuck in our quarantine facilities, has been ...
Before we get to the top 10s, a note from the good folk at Unity Auckland: Wednesday, first thing, we found people knocking on the shop door before we had a chance to flick the lights on. This time around folk were not going to be without their reading materials. There ...
By Barbara Dreaver, 1 NEWS Pacific correspondent Pasifika family or just an Auckland family? There has been much debate over whether it was wrong to identify the family at the centre of New Zealand’s covid-cluster as a “Pasifika family”. As Pacific correspondent let me make this clear – it would ...
A new poem from Christchurch poet and environmental activist E Wen Wong.passport to the seasonsleaves f a l l crisp like coconut husks, fraying threads of winter’s snow. the hairs of the pōhutukawa stand on their necks doused in a chilli seeds they hang ...
Māori must move to Level 4 Lockdown and the borders must be closed for the next 14 days - even to overseas whānau wanting to return home – to ensure proper border control. That’s the call from the Māori Party who are calling on Māori to unite ...
Opinion: Why is JK Rowling so mad about periods, and why are so many people mad at JK Rowling? Alice Snedden waded into the volatile waters of Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminism for the latest episode of Bad News.After the horrible year we’ve had, the last thing anybody needed was for ...
By RNZ News The lack of testing of staff at New Zealand’s border is extraordinary, a prominent epidemiologist says. Health officials are frantically trying to trace the origin of the covid-19 cluster in Auckland, which could have come from the border. Otago University professor Sir David Skegg told RNZ Morning ...
Federated Farmers says the government needs to reconsider and let small business fresh food sellers stay open under level 3 and, if necessary, at level 4. "Let the little guys stay open, and sell fresh food, because it’s safer, fairer and ...
Latest from the Beehive Cabinet’s preoccupation with the re-emergence of Covid-19 in the community – we suppose – explains why there has been a lack of pronouncements from the Beehive over the past day or two. We found only three new posts on the Beehive website since we last reported. ...
Auckland is at alert level three, and the rest of the country level two, until midnight tonight. At 5.30pm this evening, we’ll find out what happens next. These are the factors cabinet is likely to consider in making the decision.During the first wave, the announcement we were moving into lockdown ...
By Grant Duncan, Massey University If New Zealand can do grocery shopping under lockdown, we can vote under lockdown too. As much as supermarkets and pharmacies, the general election is an essential service and it must continue. There are ways and means to safely exercise our democratic rights during lockdown. ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Finance Minister to refuse a bailout for Auckland Council until it manages to rein in, or at least stop increasing, its operating spending. Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says, “ On ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk French authorities say 50 gendarmes who had been deployed in French Polynesia have tested positive to covid-19 after their return to France, reports Tahiti’s Radio One. The police were part of a group of 82 from Tarbes who had just returned home, the prefecture in the ...
Whether it’s a grant or a wage subsidy, industry leaders say Auckland businesses need government support.With the mending glue barely having dried, some Auckland businesses will be cracking again under the pressure of the new level three lockdown. Now they are calling on the government to help.Finance minster Grant Robertson ...
NZ Ministry of Health/Minister do not have adequate data to understand ‘how and why’ the latest community Covid cluster has emerged this week, so they are concentrating at the cold store site where containers are transported by trucks, CEAC assume all ...
New Zealanders are still reeling from the shock they didn’t succeed in suppressing Covid-19, let alone eliminate it. Having convinced themselves after 100 days without community transmission that economic recovery, too, was moving ahead, the stern reality is the country faces new challenges. These challenges may not be overcome until ...
On Tuesday morning I had a very difficult conversation with my staff. With tears in my eyes I told them that due to the likely renewed lockdown there was a good likelihood I would eventually have to let some of them go. These are young people with responsibilities ...
By RNZ News New Zealand Health Minister Chris Hipkins says there are more covid-19 cases related to the Auckland cluster which will be revealed at 1pm today. He says for New Zealand to move to alert level 4 there would need to be a number of clusters and unconnected cases. ...
They’ve been through it all before, so how are Auckland students and teachers coping with the second move into level three? And how are other schools preparing for the possibility they’ll soon be doing the same? Last time the country went into level three lockdown, on March 24, schools had ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Finkel, Australia’s Chief Scientist, Office of the Chief Scientist Following the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, many people throughout Australia, and across the world, wanted to know how they could help in response to the environmental disaster. Hundreds contacted the Australian ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Greg Barton, Chair in Global Islamic Politics, Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University Have we flattened the curve of global terrorism? In our COVID-19-obsessed news cycle stories about terrorism and terrorist attacks have largely disappeared. We now, though, understand ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hall, Senior Researcher in Politics, Auckland University of Technology It isn’t easy being a political opposition in the midst of a crisis. The volatility within New Zealand’s National Party – which has had three leaders in as many months – is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Elshaug, Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, Professor of Health Policy and Co-Director, Menzies Centre for Health Policy, University of Sydney This is one of our occasional Essays on Health, this time from an Australian visiting fellow in Washington, DC. Adam ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick D. Nunn, Professor of Geography, School of Social Sciences, University of the Sunshine Coast Sea level rise is a serious threat to the low-lying islands of the Republic of Kiribati in the central Pacific Ocean. To fight it, their president recently ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Somayeh Parvazian, Survey Methodologist, National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) The Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) unpack the lives of young Australians as they leave school, enter further study or the workforce and make the transition into adulthood. The latest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW In the early 1930s a 21-year-old undergraduate at the London School of Economics asked a great question during his summer research project: “if my economics professors are right that markets are an efficient way to allocate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Linden, Sessional Lecturer, PhD (Management) Candidate, School of Management, RMIT University In this recession, unlike in previous ones, governments have chosen to help pay salaries to keep workers in work rather than pay unemployment benefits when they laid off. It means ...
Open mike 16/06/2019 
The old ways of thinking about the macroeconomy have been found wanting, but the alternative is not clear. Macroeconomics – understanding how the economy as a whole works – appears to be going through a time of exceptionally great turbulence. There is always a robust debate, but today ...12 hours ago
by Daphna Whitmore The outbreak of Covid-19 in the community is getting people to starting to thinking about the elimination strategy. Initially the government said ‘flatten the curve’ in order to avoid hospitals being overloaded with a sudden influx of Covid-19 cases. This made sense, but there were some experts, most ...14 hours ago
How corrupt is Queensland? Yesterday they actually tried to ban journalists from exposing political corruption during election campaigns. Fortunately, today they changed their minds: A day after introducing laws that would ban journalists from reporting corruption allegations during elections, the State Government has withdrawn the proposal in a spectacular ...14 hours ago
19 hours ago
As New Zealand holds its breath waiting to find out the extent of the latest cases of COVID-19 community transmission, it’s hard to avoid the growing amount of mis- and dis-information online. It’s a very natural instinct to want to debunk this misinformation, but unfortunately, science communication theory shows that ...2 days ago
Campaigns suspended just as they began. Election day in doubt. And - following the 'words beginning with C' theme from last week's Caucus podcast - heated debate over conspiracies and constitutional conventions as Covid returns to the community. This week in politics is has been a disaster for Election 2020; you ...2 days ago
And sooner or later, the National Party will simply have to own up to the fact that the reason she was never chosen as Leader prior to her rolling Todd Muller a little less than a month ago was for very solid ones: the display of some truly ugly behaviour ...2 days ago
Conspiracy theorist - Gerry BrownleeWhat on earth is going on with the National Party? Now that Crusher Collins is in charge, it seems like it’s their policy to say really dumb things just to get attention. Unfortunately it’s working, with most of the mainstream media bending over backwards to provide ...2 days ago
INT: ILAM ELECTORATE OFFICES – TUESDAY GERRY: Morning everybody. ADVISORS 1, 2, AND 3: Morning Gerry. GERRY: Now… this is a bit of a crisis meeting. Several rogue polls have come out putting the National Party on or around 40% ADVISOR 2: 26? ADVISOR 1: 12? ADVISOR 3: 29? GERRY: ...3 days ago
Respecting the journal editorial process Each week we scan between 450 and 650 articles for relevance to Skeptical Science's remit: communication of the science of climate change itself the many affected branches of scientific inquiry by climate change. The 100+ journals we cover encompass a galaxy of expertise we cannot ...3 days ago
What to do to improve the public perception of the newly elected National party leader, when her performance so far has no doubt disappointed the expectations of her supporters? The answer is to get a National-supporting newspaper (the Herald) to organise a poll that could be guaranteed to provide an ...4 days ago
There are only a few days left to make a submission on Statistics New Zealand's consultation on sex and gender identity statistical standards. This represents a really important step for recognising the very real diversity of gender, including people with no gender, and ensuring everyone has the option to see ...4 days ago
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From some quarters, incessant scaremongering. From others, it’s a full-on tilt into touching the alarmist buttons a little too readily (uncertain times make for very captive audiences with this angle of attack). The (so-called) Opposition (and merely regarding them as that seems to be a far looser term now ...7 days ago
The attempts to sabotage Corbyn's leadership seems likely to do more damage than Corbyn supposedly ever could have done, even if all the stories about him were true: I was reluctant to say anything but this is too important, the full story needs to be told.Don’t let anyone ever tell ...7 days ago
Green Party Co-leader James Shaw is awaiting the result of a precautionary COVID-19 test after travelling to the South Auckland area over the weekend. ...2 days ago
The Auckland region moved to Alert Level 3 on 12 noon on Wednesday 12 August. The rest of New Zealand moved to Alert Level 2. Visit covid19.govt.nz for the latest information on alert levels, including an overview of restrictions in your area. ...3 days ago
In-principle decision to extend wage subsidy to support businesses and protect jobs Support will be nationwide in recognition of Auckland’s position in NZ economy and the impact of Level 2 Mortgage deferral scheme to be extended to support households The Government is taking action to support businesses and protect jobs ...12 hours ago
The simple rules for wearing face masks during levels two and three – and how they can effectively limit the spread of Covid-19Lots of people might be wondering why we’re now being asked to wear face masks when we didn’t use them the first time we were stamping out Covid-19 ...17 mins ago
In Christchurch there’s a tiny shop with a big mantra - buy New Zealand made. Frank Film meets the passionate retailer and the clever Kiwis she’s helping. In Tessa Peach’s tightly crammed shop, you’ll find everything from drill bits and garden spades, to preserved fruits, frying pans, shoes and shoe ...18 mins ago
For now, New Zealand seems to have dodged a Covid-shaped bullet - but there are plenty of hard questions to be asked in the coming weeks, Sam Sachdeva writes You could almost hear five million sets of lungs exhaling in unison. A week ago, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement that Auckland ...18 mins ago
In this week's Extra Time, Barry Guy speaks to New Zealand canoe sprinter Alice Hoskin on the heart problem that threatened her career, and her life. Gisborne paddler Alicia Hoskin would have expected to have competed in her first-ever Olympics by now, but she isn't too concerned. She doesn't get upset ...18 mins ago
By RNZ News Auckland will remain in alert level three for a full two weeks, with the New Zealand government announcing that the country will remain at current covid-19 alert levels for 12 more days. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield have announced the decision ...7 hours ago
Finance Minister Grant Robertson says he's looking at every support scheme on the Government's books to help cushion the blow of extended Level 3 restrictions in Auckland Wage subsidies will be extended nationwide as the effects of Auckland's Level 3 restrictions ripple across the country. However, questions are being asked ...9 hours ago
Green Party co-leader James Shaw has tested negative for Covid-19 following a trip to Auckland. ...10 hours ago
Safer Future trustees, from left, Richard Martin, Henoch Kloosterboer and Gael Goulter The Covid-19 extended restrictions will limit public discussion and education about the important issues involved in the End of Life Choice Act referendum. For that ...11 hours ago
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Auckland will remain at Level 3 and the rest of New Zealand at Level 2 for 12 days Auckland's lockdown will continue until 11.59pm on Wednesday August 26. Cabinet has come to a decision on the next steps for managing a cluster of community ...12 hours ago
Government minister James Shaw is in the clear after being tested for coronavirus as a precaution Green Party co-leader James Shaw has tested negative for Covid-19 after undergoing a precautionary test following a campaign trip to South Auckland last weekend. Shaw announced on Thursday he was self-isolating at home and awaiting ...13 hours ago
The Government is scrambling to ramp up the testing of border workers and the Health Minister has conceded he would have liked to have seen more of it earlier Health Minister Chris Hipkins is about to sign an order making it compulsory to test staff working at the border and in managed ...13 hours ago
We waste $1.6b in food in NZ every year. With more people struggling to put food on the table thanks to Covid-19, Two Cents' Worth looks at what we can do to change our habits. ...14 hours ago
New Zealand's first cluster of community cases of Covid-19 in months has now spread to the Waikato, Marc Daalder reports Two new cases of Covid-19 associated with the community transmission cases identified on Tuesday have been found in the Waikato, Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield said on Friday. Previously, all active ...16 hours ago
'Go hard, go early' has undoubtedly been a successful medical strategy. However, unpredictable, on-again off-again stringent lockdowns may produce so much uncertainty that other outcomes start to deteriorate, writes Robert MacCulloch. New Zealand's approach to keeping Coronavirus away from our shores, or at least stuck in our quarantine facilities, has been ...16 hours ago
Latest from the Beehive Cabinet’s preoccupation with the re-emergence of Covid-19 in the community – we suppose – explains why there has been a lack of pronouncements from the Beehive over the past day or two. We found only three new posts on the Beehive website since we last reported. ...18 hours ago
New Zealanders are still reeling from the shock they didn’t succeed in suppressing Covid-19, let alone eliminate it. Having convinced themselves after 100 days without community transmission that economic recovery, too, was moving ahead, the stern reality is the country faces new challenges. These challenges may not be overcome until ...20 hours ago
Anyone want some Brit fudge?
'But a senior Boris Johnson backer yesterday admitted he may have to delay Brexit by a few weeks…'
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9300327/britain-not-leave-eu-this-year/
'A well-connected school is often a golden ticket to a place at Oxbridge. Of the seven (including Gyimah) privately educated candidates McVey is the only one not to have gone to Oxford.'
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/comment/boris-johnson-rory-stewart-eton-balliol-tory-leadership-contenders-oxford-social-mobility/
'Theresa May backs Lorraine Kelly over 'complete cow' Esther Mcvey in TV fued'
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/theresa-backs-lorraine-kelly-over-16520677
At last: a Scandinavian politician with integrity
Was just about to put this up myself….I see that The Guardian and The Washington Post have both finally changed their tune and realized that they have been on the wrong side of history on this one.
NZ Media: Toeing the pro war propaganda line
We are at war with East Asia, we have always been at war with East Asia
New Zealand media and the Ministry of Truth (Minitru)
Yesterday TVNZ news reported the US version of the attack on a Japanese oil tanker in the Gulf of Hormuz, verbatim. TVNZ deliberately omitted the Japanese version of events.
The US claimed that the Japanese ship was damaged with limpet mines attached to the ship and that this was proof that the attack was planned and carried out by the Iranians.
The Japanese claimed that their ship had been hit by "flying objects". The Japanese report was deliberately left out of the TVNZ, coverage.
This morning Stuff.co.nz decided to omit all coverage of this attack.
You can scour the popular NZ online News site for news of this unfolding story, all you like, all mention of this contentious attack and the embarrassing counter claims are completely missing.
George Orwell in his novel 1984 wrote of a fictitious news organisation, that kept what he called a 'memory hole'. Stories embarrassing to the establishment authorities were placed in this memory hole never to be recalled.
Stuff.co.nz realising Orwell's nightmare
https://www.stuff.co.nz/
Yes will are living in a time when what should be our trusted media sources are now trying to tell us up is down and black is white…and unfortunately it seems to be getting worse all the time.
After the hysterical news coverage and saber rattling that spilled out of pretty much all western press following the chemical attack in Douma, they seem very quiet when it is revealed that all is not as it seemed….no follow up stories on RNZ that I have heard either.
New Evidence Suggests 2018 Chemical Attack in Douma, Syria Was Staged
https://therealnews.com/stories/new-evidence-suggests-2018-syria-chemical-attack-in-douma-was-staged
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/23/leaked_opcw_report_raises_new_questions
Here is a little history of the US bullshitting itself into violence around the world…and still out news sources parrot their lies again and again..
Last night TVNZ News at 6 reported the attack on the Japanese oil tanker in the Gulf of Hormuz, which TVNZ reporters loyally followed the pro-war US narrative squarely putting the blame on the Iranians. TVNZ refused to report the Japanese version of the attack which contradicted the pro-war US narrative.
Stuff.co.nz took a different path and censored this story and its embarassing contradictions completely.
It is almost 6pm again.
Will TVNZ give a more balanced report of this attack tonight?
Or will TVNZ follow the Stuff.co.nz direction on this story with its embarrassing contradictions and bury it in the memory hole.
TVNZ News at 6 the two international news stories
A hobby horse competition in Norway.
And a religious service conducted in hardhats at the Notre Dame Cathedral in France.
No correction or coverage of the shockingly biased one sided pro-war reporting of the attack on the Japanese oil tanker in the Gulf of Hormuz last night, that gave only the US side of the story and completely censored the Japanese crew version of the attack on their ship.
If NZ is dragged into another US bloodbath, TVNZ shameful one sided pro-war propaganda will be partly responsible.
New Zealanders should be rightly sickened at this example of lying by omission in the service of mass murder by TVNZ.
Less creepily pro-war, The Sydney Morning Herald
Notice all the right wing supporters of 'free speech' for fascists, have nothing to say about mainstream media censorship, especially if it is in the service of inciting a war.
"Restoring Regional rail" 16th June 2019.
Shane Jones said "It was a great day for HB/Gisborne" – thanks for your support to the many fighting for this day.
Question now is; – when do we reopen the Gisborne line as Gisborne is the most isolated City of its size in NZ today without a rail service? Dear rail stakeholders.
We have a picture of the first train that leaves Gisborne in June 1942 for Napier while 10 000 people wave them off, as the ‘Minister of rail’ (Robert Semple) says it was justified to spend over 6 million pounds to complete the rail service to Gisborne as it was an “isolated” region with few other transport choices.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/113480664/kiwirail-to-celebrate-reopening-of-napier-to-wairoa-line
KiwiRail celebrates re-opening of Napier to Wairoa line Andre Chumko and Bethany Reitsma16:03, Jun 14 2019
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones discusses what will happen to truck drivers as a result of the Napier-Wairoa rail line re-opening.
Mervyn Smiley, an Eskdale resident of 25 years, has longed for the day when trains returned to the mothballed Napier to Wairoa line.
On Friday, that dream became reality as a brass band and haka welcomed Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones to KiwiRail's depot in Ahuriri, near Napier Port.
After a short series of speeches, the minister and various other politicians including Napier MP Stuart Nash, Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri and National's Lawrence Yule, joined the region's mayors in boarding the carriages of the first train to make the first full trip between Napier and Wairoa since 2012. Among the politicians present were Napier MP Stuart Nash and Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP Meka Whaitiri. On the train,
Jones held a press conference, where he described the day as a great one for Hawke's Bay. Jones said KiwiRail had had "so little for so long", and the $6.2 million investment so far was a big deal, especially in relation to moving trucks off the roads.It would also allow businesses to grow their logistics capacity, and boost exports.
The train stationed at Ahuriri before departing for Wairoa. "If we're in for the KiwiRail journey, it's a long-term journey.
It's about a nation building infrastructure at a time when there's a lot of uncertainty about weather." And the "fiscal love" would continue to flow post 2020's election, he said, forecasting "substantial amounts" being injected into KiwiRail. On whether there was a possibility of extending the line to Gisborne, Jones said any business case would be pushing on an open door.
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said it was a significant day. KiwiRail chief executive Greg Miller said with work on the line finished, its next focus was on establishing a log-hub in Wairoa so it could begin running trains as soon as August.
"The amount of timber flowing from forests in the region is expected to quadruple in the next four years and to get all those logs to market will require all transport networks working efficiently together."
He forecast up to six trains travelling the line per week, meaning about 5000 fewer truck journeys initially, and more than 15,000 as services increased.
The Deco Bay Brass group performed for Shane Jones upon his arrival. Jones said local civic leaders – mayors, council chairs and MPs – who had lobbied him were to credit for the re-opening.
"This will substantially reduce their roading bill if they can move more heavy freight onto rail." Transport advocacy groups NZ Transport 2050 and the Public Transport Users Association said in a statement the previous Government underfunded the line.
Locals were waving at the train the whole trip, happy to see the line back in action. "The loss of 20 fulltime jobs in Wairoa was a big hit for a small community.
With the railway re-opening today it opens up opportunities for wood processors to again re-establish in the town," Paul Miller, chair of NZ Transport 2050 said.
Green Party MP Gareth Hughes said regional rail should be the backbone of the transport system for people and freight, and his party would like to see the line extended from Wairoa to Gisborne. Hukarere Girls' College students performed a waiata for ministers and MPs upon their arrival to Eskdale, north of Napier. The train then departed for Wairoa.
Gareth Hughes is wrong. Rail will never be the "backbone of the transport system for people." Even for freight, it will only be the case for bulk cargoes and containers.
Now, I happen to believe that more needs to be done in rail. Electrification from Auckland to Wellington, reopening to Gisborne and Rotorua, decent passenger service to Hamilton, and of course Northport.
But in New Zealand rail will always by a minority/specialist form of transport. Roads are invariably faster and vastly more flexible. Which is why they need substantial investment.
….and vastly more flexible.
Really?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/111065215/kpiti-expressway-needs-25-million-worth-of-repairs-just-two-years-after-opening
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10395289
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/100847641/christchurch-the-pothole-capital-of-new-zealand
Unfortunately, yes really. It's way, way easier to put a road somewhere than a railway line, which is one reason we're still on narrow-gauge rail and it's mostly single-tracked. Rail infrastructure is expensive. A government with an eye to the long term and protection of the environment would bite the bullet and prioritise the more expensive option, but the three-year electoral cycle and voters' love of cars argue very strongly for taking the quick-and-cheap option instead.
Care to clarify? What do you think is the more expensive option – short to medium term? I'm assuming you think it is rail because of the 3rd dimension (the up and down bits).
It really needn't be however if you consider corridor widths necessary for the roading option versus those necessary to carry freight (and passenger for that matter) over a more 'levelled out' narrower corridor,
And I'm not sure why Indians and Chinese can construct/reconstruct railways over 100km or more in the space of 18 or so months, whereas lil 'ole Nu Zull struggles.
(I'm thinking maybe things like Fulton and Hogan monopolies on tar seal/bitumen, traffic management – STMS – and a heap of other bullshit that's been allowed to prevail over the past several years. Oh, and not to mention lobbyists; owner drivers and their investments and whose livelihoods are dependent on it all continuing, and a few other bits and pieces. YES IT REALLY 'IS')
Pretty close to my view, main change I'd make would be "usually" rather than "invariably". But a big change I think needs to happen is rebalancing how roads are funded so that users pay in proportion to the expense they cause.
For out-of town roads highways, the engineering evidence seems very clear that trucks cause a much higher proportion of the damage and maintenance and even initial road building expense than they pay for, while cars and other light vehicles pay substantially more than their fair share.
Rebalancing the road user charges and fuel excise tax systems so trucking pays a fair share, rather than getting a hidden subsidy, would be a good first step. Then rail might be slightly closer to being competitive for moving freight on an even footing.
For most cities, it's sheer numbers of vehicles at peak times that cause big expenses. So some sort of demand or congestion charging only seems fair.
Hell, both those steps would be worth doing just to watch the ensuing histrionics and special pleading that would ensue
, let alone the actual real resulting benefits.
If trucks were forced to pay the full price of the damage they do it would force up the price of every thing that is carried by trucks .
The poor would suffer the most as usual.
Let the special pleading begin …
A consequence like that isn't an argument against doing the right thing. But if the effects actually turn out to be big enough, then it is a good reason to include other adjustments at the same time, such as increases in benefit rates and/or minimum wage and/or tax rate and threshold adjustments at the bottom end of the scale.
In the case of rebalancing how roads are paid for, chances are pretty good the reduction in tax on petrol and reduced road user charges for small diesel vehicles will help the poor more than increased transport costs will hurt them.
If we stopped subsidising road freight via petrol excise, general taxation, importing of cheap third-world labour and the off-loading of environmental costs onto future generations, many goods would be more expensive, yes. That's not a reason to continue doing those things.
Not so Japan.
4 Major Means Of Transportation In Japan
BULLET TRAIN/SHINKANSEN
The Bullet train/Shinkansen links the major cities on the island of Honshu and Kyushu as well as Hokadate located on northern island of Hokkaido….
CONVENTIONAL LINES
This is the major means of passenger transport in Japan.
https://fastjapan.com/en/p125853
The more motorways and fossil fuel lobby, God bless 'em, are doing their damnedness to ensure that doesn't happen here.
Public transport not more roading is where the real investment needs to happen.
How do we compare vis a vis population density jensy?
Yep. If NZ had 120 million people in it like Japan does, I expect we'd have an excellent railway network because the alternative would be all-gridlock, all the time. But we don't, so we don't.
Certainly New Zealand is highly unlikely to ever see true high speed rail like Shinkansen, or commuter rail like major Japanese cities. But most of the Japanese rail network is rural 1067mm gauge lines very similar to New Zealand. Their loading gauge is slightly larger, but less than Kiwi Rail's aspirational standard.
Passenger services running at 100 – 130 kmh are the norm and a situation like Whangarei – Auckland – Hamilton – Tauranga would have a regular and highly patronised service.
It's ironic that those speeds, 100 -130 kmh, were common for our express passenger services in the steam days. I remember being a passenger in a car on SH1 around Rakaia when we were passed by the SI Limited going in the same direction like we were standing still.
Interesting – I always assumed our trains are so slow due to the narrow gauge track.
They're a great idea – though the KTX is more modern and was adopted by China as the standard for its network. The Wellington/Auckland run, if replaced, would greatly reduce the use of aircraft for domestic travel. Roomier, cheaper, and a better prospect for working in transit, the modernity is far beyond that imaginable to the paleoGnats, though the smarter Greens and younger Labour folk might get it.
Unhappily, roads are much more carbon negative than rail. The heavy longhaul truck model was broken when frankly stupid governments like yours brought it in Wayne – much moreso as the push to contain carbon release moves from the systematic frauds perpetrated under National, to real albeit slow reform.
Surprising when an ex Government minister knows so little about how freight works in New Zealand.
Trucking is both inefficient and expensive, compared with rail and shipping.
Hidden by the huge subsidies motorists, rate payers and general tax payers are forced to give to trucking. And all they pay for it is some National party funding and employment for some ex MP's. An excellent investment. For trucking firms!
The only way Rail would become the backbone of NZ Transport scene again, would be if NZ's Sea Lanes Of Communication were cut or degraded to a point that it reduces NZ's import of its POL products/ production where rationing has to introduce.
But since NZ Rail at levels during before its sell off by all Governments, under Private ownership and after it was re-nationalise that it needs a level of state involvement and investment since the 1930's under the first NZ Labour Government.
Its last major rail workshop that built wagons and Locomotives closed, this decision by the "No Mates Party" now causing delays for the new Inter- City train Auckland- Hamilton passenger train as KiwiRail no longer makes stuff aka bogies for the rebuilt passenger carriages. WTF!!!!
The Way and Works Dept was ran into the ground under private ownership which has effected the speed on some lines the Canterbury Plains lines the Ka, Kb's and the old Vulcan Railcars were doing a 100kph plus and the current loco’s s etc are now restricted to 90kph or less WTF!!!.
The loading gauge has been impacted as a result of running down of the Way and Works Dept, to a point the old Standard Railcars under private ownership are restricted on some Nth Island rail lines (Note: The Standard Railcars were Nth Island base only and the Vulcans Sth Island Base). Apart from the NIMT between Plamy and Frankston has seen any major realignment's, major rebuilds apart from the recent earthquake's in the Sth Island or Otaki rebuilds at still dated back when Rail and Stream were Kings. The last Rail Observer mention that KiwiRail was refuse funds to build a major Rail Hub at Rollie Sth of CHCH which has increase cost to producers in the Mid Canterbury Regional, but the Palmy one got the Ok and then we have the saga of the Gizzy line, Northland Rail lines and other mothball lines.
Land was sold off by Government's in the mid 80's and under Private ownership without any thought to the future use for freight and passenger services. A good example of this the CHCH Station and the removal of the turnout towards the site of the old Station, land around the New Market Junction and that's before we even start talking the Britomart Station only being restricted to 4 roads or the Wellington Station issues as well.
To those that the current Rail gauge of 3ft 6in restricts NZ Rail services is a bloody load of Bollocks. We only need to have a look at the Tilt Trains in Qld both Electric and Diesel power trains or the Train Systems in the Perth/ Lower to Mid WA.
To those out there that want to understand the current issues facing NZ Rail and other aspects of NZ Rail from the pass and to the future? Grab the latest edition of the NZ Rail Observer and sign up to the NZ Rail Society.
Sorry for the plug for the NZ Rail Society.
Cleangreen: I absolutely upport a strong rail base for freight and commuters, but the Gisborne line has always been a problem.
Major erosion issues have meant this line has frequently been closed for very long periods. It would always have been like that, and that line was never going to be essential to the rail system as a whole, being a dead end as such.
Better to bite the bullet and keep it closed, and spend the money elsewhere in the rail system. Which I guess is what the current government has decided.
It's ironic you say that Peter, our local example of road/rail/slips has the road closed, the Manawatu Gorge, and across the river the trains keep on trucking.
Apparently the difference between the terra firma of the Ruahines (rail) and the Tararuas is profound. Consequence is all the road freight grinds it's way up, over and down the Ruahines.
For the sake of a couple of tunnels being widened we could have the trucks trained through the gorge, Woodville to Ashhurst or Palmy….
I thought of you clean when I heard the Napier-Wairoa announcement.
Toasted your efforts with a lovely hopped chilli home brew cider.
tRump's 'Murica.
I wonder what the reaction would be, if the same criteria were included in a job ad. for any other kind of child care facility?
who would have predicted that.
I was surprised to notice that Marama seems to have gotten belated traction in her campaign to liberate the C word – in the most unlikeliest of places. Britain, where the stuff upper lip is no longer merely quivering. It seems to have gone feral. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/jeremy-hunt-c-word-victoria-derbyshire-tory-leadership-race-contest-a8958426.html
"Jeremy Hunt has demanded broadcasters “grow up” and stop mistakenly referring to him by the C-word when trying to pronounce his surname."
"On Tuesday, BBC presenter Victoria Derbyshire followed a host of TV and radio personalities by accidentally referring to the foreign secretary as “Jeremy C***” live on-air. Addressing Conservative MP Steve Brine, Derbyshire said: “You say the man you are backing, Jeremy C***…”
“I’m so sorry, Jeremy Hunt. I’ve never said that before in my life. It’s normally men who say that so I really, really want to apologise.”
"Others who have made the gaffe include Sky News reporter Thomas Moore, BBC journalists Justin Webb and James Naughtie, as well as presenter Nicky Campbell just last week."
Jeremy Hunt is the British Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. For the British media to vilify him thus seems a new behavioural low, which has become contagious. Not an appropriate way to treat a leading govt minister!
Notice how he asks them to grow up, yet refers to their utterances as mistakes. Adults make mistakes too. Surely he knows they do! Really accidental?? Or juvenile? Perhaps it would be better for offenders to agree that the trend is Freudian slippage…
To be fair, Jeremy Hunt's personality and behaviour must make it very hard for journalists to remember to say "Hunt" when referring to him.
If he'd just stop being such a hunt it might happen less often.
It's in the feed section but needs to be highlighted:
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2019/06/ripped-away-from-their-parents.html
First of all the "State"- aided and abetted by successive governments – created the climate of poverty that exists among Maori communities in particular, and then they remove their babies on the pretext they are nor living in safe and secure environments.
There will of course be valid reasons why some children have to be removed from their Whanau, but it is looks to me like the agencies involved have created a social apartheid system based on their prejudices and… not a little desire for power and control.
Minister, Tracy Martin has announced an inquiry into the case. I have trust in her to ensure the inquiry is fair and the outcome reasonable.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/inquiry-announced-into-handling-attempted-uplift-baby-in-hawkes-bay-last-month-oranga-tamariki
They might know more about the whanau and their associates than they're allowed to say.
True Gabby, but they might also be basing their judgement on past behaviour not taking into account that the circumstances of the mother and her whanau may have changed.
Trivial comment.
If my weight goes up because I'm fat, why does the fatty cream float on top of the milk? Perhaps i should eat more cream.
Or drink more milk? Force those fat deposits to the surface GWS!
And how does balsa get away with being a hardwood greysy?
If they're all scrunched up together, how come they're called apartments?
Drink buttermilk, That allows the fat to be suspended in water (blood) and carried away.
"Fuck the Government and Fuck Boris"
The Act Party's new branding is blue, yellow and hot pink.
I feel a migraine coming on.
https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/actnz/sites/1002/meta_images/original/output-onlinepngtools.png?1560642422
Once upon a time, I had ski gear in just those colours!
That is terrible design. The type looks awful at that size and its a text body font anyway. Even worse is the horrible contrast between the oblique shapes and the type.
Any what does the pink represent? There seems to have been no design brief, and even less design ability.
Like ACT itself a clumsy, poorly thought out wish mash of not fit for purpose ideas…
…on second thoughts that logo is a perfect description of the 0.4% party.
Maybe it's a trend
Maybe Seymour got the idea after he went to…
https://www.peachesandcream.co.nz/catalog/view/theme/custom/image/2014/pc-logo-white.png
If you think for one minute the old money establishment give a rats about you and yours, think again… In the following spot the similarity with dirty politics that Donkey pulled.
https://theintercept.com/2019/06/09/brazil-archive-operation-car-wash/
With Sarah Huckabooboo Slanders heading off to spend more time lying to her family, Samantha Bee has a couple of farewell remembrance messages.
She's horrible, but she's not the first, and she's not the worst.
She is irreplacable!
My thoughts and prayers to those affected by the plane collision over Hood Aerodrome, Masterton.
OMG! I did used to fly out of Hood way back. In fact did my first solo there and my PPL.
I remember my first solo – not only because it was my first solo, but for a very similar reason. On your down wind leg apart from doing the normal pre landing checks on the aircraft you are also looking out for other aircraft . Naturally you are looking out for aircraft to the right and to the left and above and behind. On the approach as you descend you are watching airspeed height and timing your turn to line up with the runway. Well I landed safely and came to a stop turning to the left to clear the runway before heading back to the club house when I saw almost directly behind me a DC3 from James Aviation, used for top dressing, landing just behind me! It had come in on a direct approach low down – no standard circuit at 1000ft as one is supposed to do on an uncontrolled airfield like Hood. Gave me one hell of a fright!
It's been a bad weekend for aircraft crashes. There was one earlier on up by Coromandel as well.
She expressed shock that Trump spoke crudely about women, but apparently she was not shocked that her own husband had a kill list.
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2018/01/its-michelle-obamas-marie-antoinette.html
World Famous, except in NZ
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Just what the world needs.
Trump's got a Twitter page—though nearly all of it is written by the sinister fanatic Stephen Miller. Obama's got a Twitter page. Blair's got one. Bill Clinton's got one. So has Crooked Hillary.
Compared to that horrific quintet, O.J. Simpson is a choirboy.
The act
the goatfor freedom party proposes a $185,000 parent's fund for each child to spend on whichever school they want for the length of the child's education.I'm trying to imagine the landscape were a policy like this enacted.
One immediate outcome would be that each school would charge according to popularity. Supply and demand and all that.
Therefore, as night follows day, there would be immediate elitism injected into the education system. Prices for "good" schools would skyrocket, wealthier parents able to top up thousands of dollars to get little Cinnamon in, and they'd then pay their teachers more, hoarding all the 'best' ones.
Then of course low income communities would be left with all the 'poorer' teachers and facilities, unable to raise extra funds out of already disadvantaged communities.
This is just one aspect of what is to me a completely bizarre education policy. It would lead to massive widening of inequality for generations to come.
I remember the criticism over the proposed CGT was it'll be too hard & unwieldy to manage, all the variables, to me this education policy seems insanely complicated, more money for ticket clippers I guess, which is apt from the rentier party.
Indeed. There'd be an entire new industry of advisors pop up to manage the new complexities of educating your kids.
There are volumes and volumes of negatives in this bizarre, 19th century policy.
Pompeo's "freedom loving nations" is as dishonest and ridiculous a phrase as "Democratic Republic of North Korea"
The "freedom loving nations" that this poisonous slug refers to are: the rogue U.S. regime of Donald Trump, and its vile, violent vassals Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, and Israel.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1906/S00182/the-crisis-the-housing-minister-created.htm
A report yesterday of a woman, 86, moving because of a 73 percent rent hike illustrates the crisis created by Housing Minister Phil Twyford, Tenancies War spokesman Mike Butler said today….
The main justification for Mr Twyford’s standards was to prevent the hospitalisation each year of 6000 children for housing-sensitive illnesses.
As a one-bedroom flat, the flat under discussion would be unsuitable for children; this illustrates the short-sightedness of setting requirements for 588,700 properties for the supposed benefit of 6000, Mr Butler said.
$150/week is under-rented. Insulation requirements were nothing to do with Labour, sadly, so Mr Butler can't 'blame' Twyford for that.
And bringing up to healthy homes standard which I believe is mostly about a heating source in the main room doesn't require a $110/week rent hike.
I think Mr Butler has used this story to push a pro-amateur landlord/property investor agenda.
It's tiresome.
This is reality our environmental the Papatuanuku weather stabilizer the Antarctica and Arctic Polar Ice caps all that billions of tons of Ice stabilizes our Papatuanuku weather. It's not hard to figure that out they are melting fast this is going to ramp up sea level rising and the EXTREME WEATHER events. The poor people from 3 world nations are going to hit hardest by Climate Change hence wealth nations have a duty to help them survive this big man made mess.
The Arctic Ocean and Greenland ice sheet have seen record June ice loss
Ice is melting in unprecedented waysas summer approaches in the Arctic.
In recent days, observations have revealed a record-challenging melt event over the Greenland ice sheet while the extent of ice over the Arctic Ocean has never been this low in mid-June during the age of weather satellites.
Greenland saw temperatures soar up to 40 degrees above normal Wednesday while open water exists in places north of Alaska where it seldom, if ever, has in recent times.
It's "another series of extreme events consistent with the long-term trend of a warming, changing Arctic," said Zachary Labe, a climate researcher at the University of California-Irvine Ka kite ano link below.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/environment/climate-news/113516824/the-arctic-ocean-and-greenland-ice-sheet-have-seen-record-june-ice-loss
Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
Kia ora Newshub.
shonky is to sly to get caught the way he forces his stare shows Eco Maori he is false he should step down to he is just chucking the ANZ CEO under the bus to save his ASS.
I thank the government for legislating banks to negotiate with farmers before receivership is started. That is well needed farmers work there asss off only to have a down turn in the price of their produce next minute the receiver are banging their doors down. I know that happened to one big farming family it cost the banks many millions and who instigated their downfall well non other than shonky muppet.
Thank to Our Government for increasing the marine Reservation in the North and South Island to protect our Maui and Hector dolphin KA PAI Yar Cool.
That end of life bill is a bit tricky for Eco Maori it could leave the door open for deceitful people to manipulate the system for their own gain if people were not deceitful I would back it we Know that not the CASE.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora te ao Maori news.
Peter Smith I say you are correct that the health system is treating prisoners as lower class people you are there seeing it .But bro you have to look after you health first for you mokopuna.
It good that $138 million for rehabilitation of Drug addicts that PEE shit is ruining te tangata whenua O Aotearoa thanks very much I won't say anymore because I will start ranting against you know who.
That's cool our Government giving $9.8 million to keep tamariki in schools they need a good education the extra funding will help give the tamariki that leave school with no education a interest in there future wellbeing.
The forestry industry has not delivered the promises that they made to Nagti Porou the only people making good money from east coast forestry is the forestry company's I know of one farm spent $1 million for the harvest and only made $90.000 WTF there was heaps of good farming land planted in pines what a waste farming provides more work per hectare than forestry.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora The Am Show.
Chris Climate Change is affecting our weather I can see the effects all around te Papatuanuku.
The Government farm finance bill is well over due we have to look after our farmers they are the backbone of Aotearoa.
Don't focus on the numbers what the numbers tell the TRUTH of the story you have to focus on the numbers .
Some Pepi and Tamariki need to be uplifted for their safety Very good that Our Iwis are working with Oranga tamariki to find solutions to the problems that they have.
I don't think that the authorities should treat the people who are homeless like that making them move with know were to go putting them in worst circumstances than before they moved.
There might be a bit of inconvenience for the fishermen with new marine protection Reserve for our endangered Maui and Hector dolphin. But in the future the Reserves will be a nursery the fish's they will multiply quite quickly and flow into other areas of Tangaroa any Marine Reservation is good for the preservation of Tangaroa mokopuna.
I agree that our churches should open their doors to help the homeless people in South Auckland I bet that there will be old buildings not being used in Auckland to house the homeless people look at Rotorua council they found a solution to the homeless people in Rotorua if there's a will there's a way.
Ka kite ano
Eco Maori thanks all the reporters who are not intimidated by big oil barons money thanks for all the skin you put on the line to get the TRUTH about our environmental issues out there that the Papatuanuku has at the minute.
We must protect our world reporters with good legislation so the people who intimidated our reporters will think twice before doing bad stuff to our reporters governments of the world must protect our reporters its their duty.
Environment reporters facing harassment and murder, study finds
Tally of deaths makes it one of most dangerous fields for journalists after war reporting
Thirteen journalists who were investigating damage to the environment have been killed in recent years and many more are suffering violence, harassment, intimidation and lawsuits, according to a study.
The Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ), which produced the tally, is investigating a further 16 deaths over the last decade. It says the number of murders may be as high as 29, making this field of journalism one of the most dangerous after war reporting
Environmental issues involve some of the greatest abuses of power in the world and some of the greatest of concentrations of power in the world,” said Bruce Shapiro, the director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma.
“I’m hard put to think of a category of investigative reporters who are routinely dealing with more dangerous actors. Investigative reporting on the environment can be as dangerous a beat as reporting on narco smuggling.”
The CPJ executive director, Joel Simon, added: “Reporting such stories for national and international media often involves travelling to remote communities and confronting powerful interests. This makes it inherently dangerous ka kite ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/jun/17/environment-reporters-facing-harassment-murder-study
Some Eco Maori music for the minute.
Te Ego is huge shonky that is when you make enemies they have long memories and as soon as they get the chance they bit you on the ASS .
The smiling assassin strikes: John Key pushes out David Hisco as ANZ CEO
ANZ CEO David Hisco felt entitled to claim around $50,000 worth of personal chauffeur and wine storage costs as business costs. So John Key pushed out his friend and NZ's most successful banker to protect ANZ's position and try to avoid a Royal Commission here. Bernard Hickey analyses Key's biggest hit yet
David Hisco just joined a long list of loyal and often friendly colleagues of John Key who exited their jobs in often surprisingly quick and career-ending ways. It could be said Hisco's exit is Key's biggest yet.
The Former Prime Minister and now ANZ New Zealand chairman became known in his corporate life before politics as the 'smiling assassin
Hisco successfully managed the merger with barely a blip in customer service and market share. He also quietly presided over a reduction in ANZ's exposure to dangerous dairy loans, flicking on some of the weakest lenders to other banks. For example, ANZ let Allan Crafar move his more than $200 million of loans to Westpac before the poorly managed farming group collapsed under a welter of animal mistreatment allegations and effluent treatment fines. Westpac suffered heavy losses in the subsequent receivership and sale of Crafar Farms Ka kite ano link below.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/113576752/the-smiling-assassin-returns-for-his-biggest-hit
Kia ora Newshub.
I agree shonky scapegoats a junior staff we know that the buck stops with the boss not the boy.
I think it's good that the restriction on foreign houses buyers is working let KIWIs back into the Aotearoa housing markets.
Condolences to all the people affected by the earthquakes in China.
Mark the UBER flying taxis engineer very cool the flying electric cars are the way of the future KIWIs ingenuity ka pai.
Is sad how the police treated the African American people in America Mike.
Ka kite ano
Kia ora te ao Maori news.
Condolences to the Whanau of Wanna Davies she was a good Wahine Maori leader.
I'm am not commenting on Oranga tamariki to much .I think the good reforms will come soon.
30 years ago the ruling class were still in denial mode what gives Eco Maori a sore face in now they are listening and can see that institutionalized racism is a reality for te tangata whenua O Aotearoa. NOW
I think traditional ronga Maori healing needs to be revived bad to its rightful place in Maoridom it's sad that we losted some of the knowledge on traditional Maori healing.
I say bottled water needs to be banned we need to stop doing dumb shit all the plastic waste and the carbon footprint of bottled water out weighs the positives of bottled water
Ka kite ano
Kia ora The Am show .
Big 6.8 Earthquake in Japan let's hope not to many people are harmed .
That guy and his dog who got lost in a cave found their way out cool.
The SHOW must go on in America.
Mark the American polls tell a difference STORY .
That form of accommodation is good for young people shared accommodation in a whare in Auckland rent $320 a week for one room and every else is shared.
Very cool that our Government is investing $26 million into Artic research they Polar Ice caps are the Papatuanuku environment stabilization.
trump is spending big time manipulating the Papatuanuku media I can hear it in your words duncan I have read stories about them moving federal funds to manipulate the reality of what trump has done he is creating a tsunami of broke America's it will take years for the Democrats to clean up trump's MESS. His tariff are harming the whole Papatuanuku everyone in the world will end up paying and worse off because of his tariffs.
Nice Jersey I agree trump's personal ratings are low .
Its very funny the story's about new technology device use causing bone growth in your neck the internet of things and the hard wear devices and social media is changing who rules the world the oil barons trumps masters are losing control fast time for the next generation to rule the Papatuanuku the next generation has to focus on a good future for all.
Ka kite ano