We've been doing the Flutracking survey each week for a few years, they also ask Covid questions now too. There was a distinct lack of flu during lockdown too.
The main reason is the lack of inwards air travel who dont go through the 2 week isolation -quarantine. It peters out by time people with flu leave.
But the other things are important too, I use the supermarket sanitiser on way out, and the reduction of air spreading by ill people using sick leave – which was increased recently
I use the supermarket sanitiser on the way in so that I don't add my bacteria to the things I touch, trolley, goods looked at and replaced etc. I thought that was best. Yet you use it going out?
I tend to wear gloves all the time when out and about anyway. Bloody doorknobs. Not latex, just normal gloves. Bung sanitiser on them regularly, but the hands themselves less often.
National completely agrees with you about EV's. We should expect to see strong pushback against Labour Ministers and MPs at the National Agricultural Fieldays which start tomorrow. Not sure if any of the Greens are fronting.
Last night Toyota made a public statement that it won't be bringing in electric utes in the foreseeable future.
Of course that's just a competitive gift to Ford and Volkswagen, but also means Toyota will be supporting a very long second hand and parts market here for the Hilux.
Anyone working in the farming or rural community or indeed the construction and tradie sectors knows that it is pretty pathetic to call utes a status symbol. It's the thing you need to do your work, and it's not replaceable. That's one reason why nearly every vehicle manufacturer has stopped making sedans.
So there's no need to worry, National will repeal the scheme you are worried about, and will of course also get rid of all that cycleway investment.
You may also find that rural communities will need to organise their own collective responses to transport solutions, since their regional and local councils are dominated by National Party people. That I suspect will be up to a few charismatic individuals.
[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.]
They don't agree with me, I support the feebate scheme and think it's not going nearly far or fast enough. If you can't be bothered to read a post and make an effort to understand it, then don't bother using it to derail to your own agenda.
Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you. You put out a set of fact-free rhetorical questions, doing exactly what I said you did.
You agreed at length with the GenZero commentary against utes. So I commented on that.
You questioned the focus on cities rather than on isolated communities. So I commented on that.
You wondered whether rural communities could organise themselves with their own solution. So I commented on that.
"Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you."
Why though? You flat out lied about National agreeing with me, why should I let something like that stay under my post?
The points you are making about rural communities would work if you related them to the post. You've got useful perspectives to bring for sure, from a range of experiences, but the rhetoric you use is just too problematic. Stop blocking your own engagement.
Kirk Serpes – Another master of the sweeping assertion which limits opportunity to discuss possible moves to fit the future.
'Everyone did pretty fine 20 years ago' – meaning nothing – pub talk! 'without a massive ……vehicle' – ditto, emotional language. 'Nobody needs' – personal opinion based on ? | 'grotesque luxury item' – emotional language and opinion again | 'Taxed much much higher than proposed' – Could be sound idea but lacking factual information to assist judgment of idea.
Weka, thank you for your post here and thread. As a townie only once removed from farming stock I think we need to work on ways to influence uptake of ideas and transport in the rural sector.
We need to get away from BAU. I will be thinking about your post as I go about my day and will comment later.
Your argument that utes are not a status symbol is not valid I think. I remember the Queen Street farmers going in for deer and venison with their Range Rovers in da city.
Also utes look like a manly vehicle, driven by a bloke for all seasons and reasons, salt of the earth. People don't necessarily sift through their thinking for the emotional base.
Late in my teaching career I bought a secondhand ute. I joked with my colleagues about finally becoming a 'real bloke'. It was useful for carrying horse manure to the plot, gravel for the driveway, political hoardings, bikes, pine cones and firewood- all sorts.
But the reaction from the boys was interesting. There was a group, I suspect rural lads, who approved the ute. It was 'blokey', practical, functional, cheap to buy.
You're right, greywarshark, we have to recognise the 'emotional base' for it informs what we buy, how we vote, and more.
Wise politicians respect this. Adsters know it. Con men use it.
We have a Toyota Ractis ..it fits in with emissions, has huge room in the rear when you lay the two back seats down. It easily carried a wheel chair/ walker/ toiletting chair two suitcases and sundry bags. At times two cubic m of pine, or rubbish and trimmings for the dump etc. So we are amused when people say they "need" a ute.
It just seems to my eye Ad, that your comments are nay-saying and not made on the basis of how to find a way forward using this new technology. Seems focused on BAU.
Sure we all need to know the status quo, known by all policy analysts of status quo or do nothing. It is always put in but we are a progressive people & there is always a better way than the status quo, no matter how minor the tweak.
You get bouquets rather then brickbats if you focus your doubts on saying:
'What if' or 'what will happen' or 'have we thought about'
From that people will be able to pick out the possible things that might not work and be able to work on them. Being able to see all sides means we will be able to design systems and policies without undue negativity hiding or clouding them.
thanks for that. It's my reading of Ad's position that he is green tech BAU and anti-powerdown, and thus the middle ground and most useful pathways is lost. I suspect this underlies his hard man entry into commenting under my posts. That I also have little time for.
Completely agree about the importance of being able to see all sides in designing our best responses.
I'll stop polluting with my old banger when the militaries of the world denounce all military activity and embrace peace and a moneyless one world political system. Cough cough.
Who on earth is advising Labour for FFS. Shouldn't they mean "only home" for the peeps who wind up moving from Napier to Auckland sell and buy again and pay an increaed price? If you can't afford a mortgage then you are unlikely to be able to afford the rent either.
I'm dipping into Slavoj Zizek's In Defense of Lost Causes. Interesting. Have to use the little gray cells. One para in chapter on revolutionary terror:
There is thus, beyond all cheap jibes and superficial analogies, a profound structural homology* between Maoist permanent self-revolutionising, the continuous struggle against the ossification of state structures, and the inherent dynamics of capitalism.
Definition of homology for those of us who don't use it in daily language.
Under – 'What is homology in simple words'! –
The similarity of a structure or function of parts of different origins based on their descent from a common evolutionary ancestor is homology. Analogy, by contrast, is a functional similarity of structure that is based on mere similarity of use. merriam-webster.com
He goes on to look at China's 'true' Cultural Revolution, beyond the 'violent …outbursts of a Red Guardist' which is – 'the permanent dissolution of all life-forms necessitated by capitalist reproduction? Today, the tragedy of the Great Leap Forward itself, is the repeating itself as the farce of the capitalist Great Leap Forward into modernisation, with the old slogan "an iron foundry in every village" re-emerging as "a skyscraper in every street."
It is the reign of contemporary global capitalism which is the true Lord of Misrule…p198
One National MP told Newsroom she “sailed her own waka’’ and seemed to think the party should be honoured she had agreed to join, rather than being grateful for the opportunity to be in Parliament.
This is the grasping, self interested Harete for I've known for years. To a fucking T.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said Aucklanders would be disappointed Team NZ was looking to move the next regatta overseas.
Team NZ wanted twice what was on offer, Goff said.
"That clearly was not sustainable in the post-Covid environment.
"While I understand Team New Zealand have to think about their commercial interests, I share Aucklanders' disappointment that the Cup is looking like it is going overseas.
"Council invested $113 million in infrastructure for this year's successful America's Cup and made a huge effort to deliver it on time and on budget.
These are the people who concentrate on their mahi – making money and enjoying themselves. They have taken NZ for a ride which started before 1984 but has intensified since then. They are the wealthy and self-centred, who have been robbing the world for the things they want since the major colonial times.
The yachties are too big for their NZ boots. Let them put on their 7 league boots then and stride the world. And don't come back in the future asking for more largesse. Climate change poverty will be on our shoulders then, and a burden that the ordinary people won't be able to sail away from. And we don't want it made worse by wealthy people darting here and there like butterflies sipping at any good thing till it is used up, (with nothing left for young moth-ers, to which future we are on our way right now).
We should all be grateful that Phil hasn't, apparently, got the chance to throw another $99 million into the great gaping hole that is America's Cup racing. What he should be doing now isn't complaining that they want to go elsewhere. He should be apologising to the Auckland Ratepayers for the $113 million that he wasted last year.
Standing there on the dais of shame should be the Prime Minister stepping up and asking forgiveness for the $140 million that the New Zealand taxpayer also wasted on the stupid idea.
That would be at least as appropriate an apology as would one for the dawn raids of the 1970s. This one, unlike the 1970s event still has available the prime perpetrators of the fiasco. They are not, unlike Kirk, Rowling and Muldoon, long dead.
Grate! Marvellous image. He's saying – You must understand our POV.'
And she is thinking 'Hey up, don't crowd me. I'm not a soft touch. It's the country's money you are talking about. We have different sort of priorities and prestige to consider',
"massive tax take and ongoing benefit to NZ" neither of those claims has ever really stood up. a good sound bite but nobody has ever told us HOW MUCH benefit.
Was there a link between the brutal attacks on conservationists Sir Peter Blake and Captain Pete Bethune in Brazil?
In his new documentary, The Garden of Evil, Larry Keating investigates the possibility that the attacks, both of which happened in the Amazon but 16 years apart, might have been the work of powerful criminal organisations with involvement in illegal logging, drug trafficking, and the export of endangered animals.
And looking at the viciousness of rampaging men corrupt and out of the control of subduing law enforcement in Brazil, we can imagine how they might have behaved in NZ in the early days. If you were Maori then, you would probably have signed up with the Brit authorities so they could get control of these unprincipled b…ards that had landed like locusts destroying the cultural rules and Maori societies.
Here is a quote from The Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garimara about the way that the same villainous sailors behaved in Australia early on:
The aboriginal camp was going about its daily life and then there was a loud boom. They immediately thought of an incident when relatives were shot as the men tried to prevent the white raiders from kidnapping the women.
'Kundilla and his family had heard how their brothers and uncles were killed by ruthless white pirates, desperados and escaped convicts. Those cruel and murderous men came ashore and stole Aboriginal women and kept them on board their ships as sexual slaves, then murdered them and tossed their bodies into the ocean when their services were no longer required. These renegades made up the crews of the American whaling ships which hunted for whales and seals on the southern coast of Western Australia.' p.4
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The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
I was initially resistant to the idea often suggested to me that the Government should deliver an arts strategy. The whole point of the arts and creativity is that people should do whatever the hell they want, unbound by the dictates of politicians in Wellington. Peter Jackson, Kiri Te Kanawa, Eleanor ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
Pōneke based peace activists staged a silent protest at the ANZAC day service to highlight New Zealand’s complicity in war and genocide, and urge the government to take concrete steps to stop the genocide in Palestine. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Magdalena M.E. Bunbury, Postdoctoral Researcher, James Cook University Burial with a horse at the Rákóczifalva site, Hungary (8th century AD).Sándor Hegedűs, Hungarian National Museum, CC BY How do we understand past societies? For centuries, our main sources of information have been ...
Amanda Thompson doesn’t really do Anzac Day. But what she does do is remember the people she knew who had a lifetime to remember stuff they didn’t really want to, because of a war they didn’t ask for. And she does make Anzac biscuits.First published in 2021.All my ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kathryn Willis, Postdoctoral Researcher, CSIRO Xavier Boulenger/Shutterstock In the two decades to 2019, global plastic production doubled. By 2040, plastic manufacturing and processing could consume as much as 20% of global oil production and use up 15% of the annual carbon ...
With our collective remembrance, and steadfast belief in our common humanity, we strengthen our hope and resolve to do what we can to foster dialogue and understanding, and to heal divisions in our pursuit of peace. ...
Principal reasons for the opposition is the loss of the public’s democratic right to have “a fair say” and the vital need for a government free from corruption, said Casey Cravens of Dunedin, president of the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater ...
Never mind the scoreboard – in the 2000 Bledisloe Cup decider, the real trans-Tasman battle was won before kickoff.First published in 2016. The dawn of the new millennium was a dark time for the All Blacks. Their final game pre-Y2K was a 22-18 loss to South Africa in the ...
I’m on the wrong side of 40, I never pursued creative work and now my job is killing my soul. Help! Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,May I start with the least original conversation opener you’re likely to hear around the motu at the moment, particularly in Wellington: ...
“Never again - No AUKUS” was the message of the wreath laid at this morning’s national ANZAC Day commemorative service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park this morning by the Stop AUKUS group. ...
“It's extraordinary. I've never seen anything like this in my 20 years work in the flu surveillance area,” ESR virologist and flu expert Dr Sue Huang said."
I predicted here on TS that this would happen 🙂
'Extraordinary' lack of seasonal flu in New Zealand, ESR virologist says
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/125442512/extraordinary-lack-of-seasonal-flu-in-new-zealand-esr-virologist-says
We've been doing the Flutracking survey each week for a few years, they also ask Covid questions now too. There was a distinct lack of flu during lockdown too.
https://info.flutracking.net
we really should use this as an opportunity to cement into society the behaviours that limit cold and flu spreading. Better sick leave would help.
The main reason is the lack of inwards air travel who dont go through the 2 week isolation -quarantine. It peters out by time people with flu leave.
But the other things are important too, I use the supermarket sanitiser on way out, and the reduction of air spreading by ill people using sick leave – which was increased recently
I don't udnerstand your first paragraph, can you please say that in a different way?
Quarantine system prevents flu from spreading after arriving from overseas, which is also what experts are saying
I use the supermarket sanitiser on the way in so that I don't add my bacteria to the things I touch, trolley, goods looked at and replaced etc. I thought that was best. Yet you use it going out?
Use it on the way in and on the way out…………….problem solved.
That's not what I was asking. Don't state the obvious eh.
The obvious sometimes needs to be stated to some people.
bit harsh on the hands, no?
I tend to wear gloves all the time when out and about anyway. Bloody doorknobs. Not latex, just normal gloves. Bung sanitiser on them regularly, but the hands themselves less often.
10 days sick leave is more than enough.
Bwaghorn, Yet there are many infectious conditions requiring longer quarantine than a fortnight.
Glandular Fever/Epstein barr virus, Shingles, Rheumatic Fever, and many operations require a longer recovery.
Not to mention sick dependants, parents or a significant other.
National completely agrees with you about EV's. We should expect to see strong pushback against Labour Ministers and MPs at the National Agricultural Fieldays which start tomorrow. Not sure if any of the Greens are fronting.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2106/S00102/biting-the-hand.htm
Last night Toyota made a public statement that it won't be bringing in electric utes in the foreseeable future.
Of course that's just a competitive gift to Ford and Volkswagen, but also means Toyota will be supporting a very long second hand and parts market here for the Hilux.
Anyone working in the farming or rural community or indeed the construction and tradie sectors knows that it is pretty pathetic to call utes a status symbol. It's the thing you need to do your work, and it's not replaceable. That's one reason why nearly every vehicle manufacturer has stopped making sedans.
So there's no need to worry, National will repeal the scheme you are worried about, and will of course also get rid of all that cycleway investment.
You may also find that rural communities will need to organise their own collective responses to transport solutions, since their regional and local councils are dominated by National Party people. That I suspect will be up to a few charismatic individuals.
[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.]
They don't agree with me, I support the feebate scheme and think it's not going nearly far or fast enough. If you can't be bothered to read a post and make an effort to understand it, then don't bother using it to derail to your own agenda.
Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you. You put out a set of fact-free rhetorical questions, doing exactly what I said you did.
You agreed at length with the GenZero commentary against utes. So I commented on that.
You questioned the focus on cities rather than on isolated communities. So I commented on that.
You wondered whether rural communities could organise themselves with their own solution. So I commented on that.
Stop driving engagement away.
"Weka at some point you are going to have to grow a skin rather than moderating anyone who says Boo to you."
Why though? You flat out lied about National agreeing with me, why should I let something like that stay under my post?
The points you are making about rural communities would work if you related them to the post. You've got useful perspectives to bring for sure, from a range of experiences, but the rhetoric you use is just too problematic. Stop blocking your own engagement.
Btw, I disagreed with Gen Zero dude,
https://twitter.com/wekatweets/status/1404265443464945668
Kirk Serpes – Another master of the sweeping assertion which limits opportunity to discuss possible moves to fit the future.
'Everyone did pretty fine 20 years ago' – meaning nothing – pub talk! 'without a massive ……vehicle' – ditto, emotional language. 'Nobody needs' – personal opinion based on ? | 'grotesque luxury item' – emotional language and opinion again | 'Taxed much much higher than proposed' – Could be sound idea but lacking factual information to assist judgment of idea.
Agree As …Weka jumping down people's throat's just a little too quickly….love the Standard tho.
Weka, thank you for your post here and thread. As a townie only once removed from farming stock I think we need to work on ways to influence uptake of ideas and transport in the rural sector.
We need to get away from BAU. I will be thinking about your post as I go about my day and will comment later.
Your argument that utes are not a status symbol is not valid I think. I remember the Queen Street farmers going in for deer and venison with their Range Rovers in da city.
Also utes look like a manly vehicle, driven by a bloke for all seasons and reasons, salt of the earth. People don't necessarily sift through their thinking for the emotional base.
Late in my teaching career I bought a secondhand ute. I joked with my colleagues about finally becoming a 'real bloke'. It was useful for carrying horse manure to the plot, gravel for the driveway, political hoardings, bikes, pine cones and firewood- all sorts.
But the reaction from the boys was interesting. There was a group, I suspect rural lads, who approved the ute. It was 'blokey', practical, functional, cheap to buy.
You're right, greywarshark, we have to recognise the 'emotional base' for it informs what we buy, how we vote, and more.
Wise politicians respect this. Adsters know it. Con men use it.
We have a Toyota Ractis ..it fits in with emissions, has huge room in the rear when you lay the two back seats down. It easily carried a wheel chair/ walker/ toiletting chair two suitcases and sundry bags. At times two cubic m of pine, or rubbish and trimmings for the dump etc. So we are amused when people say they "need" a ute.
It just seems to my eye Ad, that your comments are nay-saying and not made on the basis of how to find a way forward using this new technology. Seems focused on BAU.
Sure we all need to know the status quo, known by all policy analysts of status quo or do nothing. It is always put in but we are a progressive people & there is always a better way than the status quo, no matter how minor the tweak.
You get bouquets rather then brickbats if you focus your doubts on saying:
'What if' or 'what will happen' or 'have we thought about'
From that people will be able to pick out the possible things that might not work and be able to work on them. Being able to see all sides means we will be able to design systems and policies without undue negativity hiding or clouding them.
Weka’s thread
https://thestandard.org.nz/climate-transition-transport-and-the-rural-road-tumbleweeds/
thanks for that. It's my reading of Ad's position that he is green tech BAU and anti-powerdown, and thus the middle ground and most useful pathways is lost. I suspect this underlies his hard man entry into commenting under my posts. That I also have little time for.
Completely agree about the importance of being able to see all sides in designing our best responses.
Look forward to hearing your thoughts later.
I'll stop polluting with my old banger when the militaries of the world denounce all military activity and embrace peace and a moneyless one world political system. Cough cough.
RBNZ has been given conditional DTI tool.
https://www.interest.co.nz/news/110868/finance-minister-gives-rbnz-debt-income-tools-condition-it-avoids-impacting-first-home
Who on earth is advising Labour for FFS. Shouldn't they mean "only home" for the peeps who wind up moving from Napier to Auckland sell and buy again and pay an increaed price? If you can't afford a mortgage then you are unlikely to be able to afford the rent either.
I'm dipping into Slavoj Zizek's In Defense of Lost Causes. Interesting. Have to use the little gray cells. One para in chapter on revolutionary terror:
There is thus, beyond all cheap jibes and superficial analogies, a profound structural homology* between Maoist permanent self-revolutionising, the continuous struggle against the ossification of state structures, and the inherent dynamics of capitalism.
Under – 'What is homology in simple words'! –
The similarity of a structure or function of parts of different origins based on their descent from a common evolutionary ancestor is homology. Analogy, by contrast, is a functional similarity of structure that is based on mere similarity of use. merriam-webster.com
He goes on to look at China's 'true' Cultural Revolution, beyond the 'violent …outbursts of a Red Guardist' which is – 'the permanent dissolution of all life-forms necessitated by capitalist reproduction? Today, the tragedy of the Great Leap Forward itself, is the repeating itself as the farce of the capitalist Great Leap Forward into modernisation, with the old slogan "an iron foundry in every village" re-emerging as "a skyscraper in every street."
It is the reign of contemporary global capitalism which is the true Lord of Misrule…p198
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300334128/national-party-all-out-of-love-for-returning-mp
National are the gift that keeps giving!
I know a few whanganui nat voters who cant stand the woman, a assumed it was cause she was brown but maybe theres something to it.
This is the grasping, self interested Harete for I've known for years. To a fucking T.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/444836/america-s-cup-team-nz-rejects-government-auckland-council-s-hosting-offer
The offer involved cash and in-kind support worth about $99 million.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said Aucklanders would be disappointed Team NZ was looking to move the next regatta overseas.
Team NZ wanted twice what was on offer, Goff said.
"That clearly was not sustainable in the post-Covid environment.
"While I understand Team New Zealand have to think about their commercial interests, I share Aucklanders' disappointment that the Cup is looking like it is going overseas.
"Council invested $113 million in infrastructure for this year's successful America's Cup and made a huge effort to deliver it on time and on budget.
These are the people who concentrate on their mahi – making money and enjoying themselves. They have taken NZ for a ride which started before 1984 but has intensified since then. They are the wealthy and self-centred, who have been robbing the world for the things they want since the major colonial times.
The yachties are too big for their NZ boots. Let them put on their 7 league boots then and stride the world. And don't come back in the future asking for more largesse. Climate change poverty will be on our shoulders then, and a burden that the ordinary people won't be able to sail away from. And we don't want it made worse by wealthy people darting here and there like butterflies sipping at any good thing till it is used up, (with nothing left for young moth-ers, to which future we are on our way right now).
We should all be grateful that Phil hasn't, apparently, got the chance to throw another $99 million into the great gaping hole that is America's Cup racing. What he should be doing now isn't complaining that they want to go elsewhere. He should be apologising to the Auckland Ratepayers for the $113 million that he wasted last year.
Standing there on the dais of shame should be the Prime Minister stepping up and asking forgiveness for the $140 million that the New Zealand taxpayer also wasted on the stupid idea.
That would be at least as appropriate an apology as would one for the dawn raids of the 1970s. This one, unlike the 1970s event still has available the prime perpetrators of the fiasco. They are not, unlike Kirk, Rowling and Muldoon, long dead.
lol – Awesome photo. That look, and that guard of the purse
https://twitter.com/secondzeit/status/1404956799707488256
Grate! Marvellous image. He's saying – You must understand our POV.'
And she is thinking 'Hey up, don't crowd me. I'm not a soft touch. It's the country's money you are talking about. We have different sort of priorities and prestige to consider',
1000% Greywarshark. Love the "7 league boots". It is a hole of greed.
$685M for a bridge cycleway or 3 Americas Cup challenges @$200M ea. ?
Investment in the America’s Cup brings massive tax take and ongoing benefit to our country.
No virtue signalling petty envy either.
"massive tax take and ongoing benefit to NZ" neither of those claims has ever really stood up. a good sound bite but nobody has ever told us HOW MUCH benefit.
Who benefits?
And Rod Stewart supposedly got the best part if a a million bucks for an appalling rendition of his theme song.
Question to haunt us:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018799446/larry-keating-investigating-corruption-in-the-amazon
Was there a link between the brutal attacks on conservationists Sir Peter Blake and Captain Pete Bethune in Brazil?
And looking at the viciousness of rampaging men corrupt and out of the control of subduing law enforcement in Brazil, we can imagine how they might have behaved in NZ in the early days. If you were Maori then, you would probably have signed up with the Brit authorities so they could get control of these unprincipled b…ards that had landed like locusts destroying the cultural rules and Maori societies.
Here is a quote from The Rabbit Proof Fence by Doris Pilkington/Nugi Garimara about the way that the same villainous sailors behaved in Australia early on:
The aboriginal camp was going about its daily life and then there was a loud boom. They immediately thought of an incident when relatives were shot as the men tried to prevent the white raiders from kidnapping the women.
This is interesting for Hone Harawira's viewpoint to get Maori on the up and up.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/matangireia/story/2018791582/series-2-episode-4-hone-harawira-matangireia
Great news for the Progressive Socialist left…..
Pedro Castillo is declared the new President of Peru
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAgrM-bqQ2E
Hes got a good sort of Sorting Hat! Stylish.
I just saw this and it is interesting how similar the stories are to what we see in NZ.
https://youtu.be/7hn2b5-50go