Clearly Heather du Plessis Allen is a vile racist.
She has no role in journalism in New Zealand in 2018.
Boycott Newstalk ZB.
During a Wellington broadcast of Newstalk ZB, the host discussed Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decision to visit Nauru.
Du Plessis Allan referred to the island as a “hell hole”, and said it was not worth attending the Forum anyway because the Pacific Islands “don’t matter.”
“They are nothing but leeches on us. The Pacific Islands wants money from us,” she told listeners.
Oscar Kightley wrote.
“Does Newstalk ZB in Wellington not think it has any Pacific Island listeners? Or do they think their listeners are all bigots who want to hear this stuff or they’ll change
Tens of thousands of New Zealand citizens spend massive amounts of their wages in “remittances”; simply sending cash back to relatives in Pacific Islands. In many Pacific states, “remittances” form a majority of the entire income of the state, and in others it’s close.
Further tens of thousands of New Zealand citizens go to secure enclaves of Pacific islands for luxury holidays.
The two worlds rarely meet, either in New Zealand or in the Pacific Islands.
I suspect reporters are familiar with the latter, not with the former.
Nauru’s government, apart from being corrupt to its eyeballs and having a fully politicized judiciary and Police force, has made a pact with the Devil in the form of Australia’s prison and immigration system. Instead of being the phosphate hole of the Pacific, it is now the jail hole. And that pact with the devil will extend as far into the future as there are immigrants coming by boat. So yes, I can see her point calling it a “hell hole”.
Nauru blew their money is the real problem.
The steady cash flow ( even if it was under paid) has been a curse for the lifestyle of imported western food and junk and mismanagement of their sovereign wealth fund means they are virtually bankrupt.
Barry Soper’s hideous other half (significantly, she’s a white South African) has been an embarrassment ever since she first opened her mouth. Never, until this moronic apartheid-era outburst against Pacific Islanders, was she worse than when she fronted the ill-fated Story on TV3….
“As someone who has lived and worked in the region for nearly 30 years I have nothing but contempt for the sheer ignorance I have been reading from those whose idea of the Pacific is lying poolside at Denarau with a pina colada.”
Our Provost-Depute here in Kihipini is a South African. Next in line after Mayor Meng Foon. Last I heard Gisborne is the poorest district in NZ. Difficult to imagine voting for her. And the fact they’re all still right-wingers perhaps establishes the heart of the matter re both capitalism and South Africans.
And the Pacific Islands are central to our hearts.
Good on the government for attacking fast food’s involvement in sponsorship of children’s food.
And thumbs down to Katherine Rich, head of the euphemistically named ‘Food and Grocery Council’ which is just a pressure group for big food companies like Coca Cola.
She know her real role would be derided , so, if you look at the photograph in the article, she has posed in front of fruit and vegetables.
Poor journalism by Stuff to allow her to pull that stunt.
Overall a very weak patsy article.
Journalists know where their advertising revenue comes from too.
Industrial dairy farming is destroying the environment.
“New Zealand diary has become an enthusiastic user of synthetic nitrogen. We used around 6000t of nitrogen fertilisers every year in the 1960s; that increased to around 50,000t by 1990; Today, we use 500,000t, an increase of 1000 per cent within three decades. It has been matched by similar increases in dairy exports and dairy cow numbers.
While synthetic nitrogen has allowed farming to expand into new areas, and increased the productivity of our primary export industry, it has come at a cost.
Right now, there is 187,000t of nitrogen flowing through New Zealand’s waterways, heading towards the sea.
Freshwater ecologist Dr Mike Joy calls this cycle our “deadly nitrogen addiction”, and says the massive growth in the use of nitrogen fertiliser has unleashed many environmental problems, particularly with our freshwater.
Let me help, James. Standing up for one’s female partner, is not misogynistic, it’s the opposite. I wonder too, do you understand what the word “wife” means and the process required to become one?
Misoyginy is not the issue and James was wrong to make it so. Basically it is whether spouses of politicians start making political points. The PM has a whole office with media experts to deal with these issues. Basically I have never seen a spouse get so involved in the political debate as Clarke Gayford. He is not the one who is elected. Being supportive and being present at all sorts of events does not mean he also has to get politically involved.
You’ve never seen it, Wayne? But you’ve also never seen a PM like Jacinda, with a newborn baby and a high-profile partner; it’s a whole new world, Wayne; be prepared for things to be done differently!
Indeed it is a new generation, in fact on both sides of the House. Basically that is good for NZ. People like PM’s charm and good nature.
Whether Clarke being directly engaged in political debate is also good is rather more debatable. And in fact his role in that regards is being debated. How does that help the PM?
Oh dear – what is happening? Seriously, I actually agree with both you and Wayne on this one. Much as I have a lot of time for Clarke, he really does need to step back from any hint of political comment, even if his intent is to support Jacinda, as his love and partner.
That comment by Wayne starts with a moronic spelling error and gets worse from there. His (unintentionally hilarious) obsession with Clarke Gayford is clearly a reflection of the anger and bewilderment felt by the rest of his cronies in the National Party.
Robert, please be aware that James supported a prime minister who would not even stand up for his own bodyguard from Iraq after he was targeted by the Australian police. To his mind, the idea of actually standing up for anyone, especially a woman, is just not something to be admired.
James thinks that if a woman is following him through a doorway he should let the door shut in her face, because holding it open for her would be sexist.
Yes, discussing industrial dairy farming, brilliant political animations, fast food corporations advertising to children and racism in our media is trolling.
While contributing only contributing barbed insults is the height of intelligence.
She has planned a big speech. This afternoon at 1 pm. Funny elements of the media and the right keep attacking her for failing to go public when the opposite is true.
Doing an interview having to answer questions is a lot different from a stage managed speech (I’m assuming labour manage it – but given this lot who knows)
Still dosnt address the conflicting stories on her diary.
I’m really looking forward to Jacinda’s speech and the caterwauling from the likes of James afterwards. Do you think James might be a misogynist?
“Misogyny (/mɪˈsɒdʒɪni/) is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls.”
James certainly appears to be a racist.
He criticised me for suggesting a boycott of ZB after one of their presenters spouts vile racism against Pacific Islanders.
He condoned the racism.
You slur too easily. He didn’t condone the racism –
he took the piss out of your idiotic attempt at relevancy when you suggested a boycott. It was funny, the cats bit.
Play the ball not the person ed and please don’t suggest i go to a war zone and die – that’s not nice is it.
Soltka , apart from barbed comments, what have you added to the discussion this morning?
I have introduced 4 varied and interesting topics.
The impact of industrial dairying and nitrogen levels on our water.
Racism from a media presenter with a suggestion of how we deal with this.
A reference to the brilliant artist Steve Cutts.
The government’s attempts to tackle obesity amongst children and the media’s handling of the story.
James posted a right wing attack line on Jacinda. This was clear trolling.
And you and marty mars have just made unpleasant and unnecessary negative comments.
If you have nothing to add about the 4 issues I highlighted- all of which could engender an interesting sharing of views – please scroll past.
Apart from unpleasant comments directed at others, what have you contributed today?
I have introduced 4 varied and interesting topics.
The impact of industrial dairying and nitrogen levels on our water.
Racism from a media presenter with a suggestion of how we deal with this.
A reference to the brilliant artist Steve Cutts.
The government’s attempts to tackle obesity amongst children and the media’s handling of the story.
I havent asked another human to go and die in a war whilst proclaiming a vegan sainthood and laughingly comparing myself to jeremy corbyn like you ed – stalk someone else war mongrel-ed
All you have done today is make negative comments.
You have nothing to add to anyone’s talking points on Open Mike.
Please stop stalking me.
It is creepy.
I skipped most of your initial comments. But the responses to you going apeshit again are pretty funny, I like those. Keep up providing the material for smarter people to riff on.
While I definitely don’t align with some of your more radical views Ed, I have to agree with what you are saying at 9:26am (4.2.2.1.2.2).
If you have nothing to add about the 4 issues I highlighted- all of which could engender an interesting sharing of views – please scroll past.
Because you do make positive contributions and generally hold back on the personal attacks I do read what you say … I take the view that there is something to be learned pretty much everywhere you look. Cheers.
They are flailing around looking to work out attack lines on Jacinda. They operate on the basis that if you say something often enough it becomes reality.
It is what happens when you are really deficient at the issues.
Bierce described what they are looking for rather well:
(under OLEAGINOUS, adj. Oily, smooth, sleek.) Disraeli once described the manner of Bishop Wilberforce as “unctuous, oleaginous, saponaceous.” And the good prelate was ever afterward known as Soapy Sam. For every man there is something in the vocabulary that would stick to him like a second skin. His enemies have only to find it.
Being functionally illiterate as well as completely unprincipled of course the Gnats are obliged to try to find it empirically. They’ve tested ‘evasive’, and ‘weak’, and ‘not a leader’ and are trying ‘too nice’.
They forget that others may be prompted by this to find a fitting political epitaph for much more readily caricatured Bridges.
“The big fertiliser companies are accused of quashing a more environmentally friendly way of applying nitrogen”
Quote from TOM LEE/STUFF.
A new fertiliser system
Bert Quin talks about the new fertiliser spreading system he has created.
The two big fertiliser companies are accused of quashing a more environmentally friendly method of applying nitrogen, in order to protect profits. Tony Wall investigates for ‘Growing Pain’ a Stuff series examining New Zealand’s dangerous addiction to fertiliser.
Taupo helicopter operator Mark Williams thought he’d hit on the holy grail – a system of applying nitrogen that meant up to three times the grass growth and less leaching.
It was a simple method that had been around for years – instead of applying fertiliser such as urea in a solid, granular form, the product is ground up, water is added to create a slurry, and it’s sprayed on pasture from the air or ground.
Known as fine particle application, proponents of the system say it’s a far more efficient way of applying fertiliser because more nutrients are taken up by the plant and less is lost to the atmosphere and through leaching.
Advocates of fine particle application say the mixture can be sprayed right up to the edge of streams and rivers, without leaching into the water.
But scientists working for the big-two farmer-owned co-operatives, Ballance Agri-Nutrients and Ravensdown, rubbish the claims and say there’s no science to back it up.
Williams has given up, and sold his machine to another helicopter operator.
“I’m sick of banging my head against the wall. If they want to keep pouring [granular] urea on their ground, so be it – let them do what they want, not what they should be doing.”
“Because New Zealand doesn’t have direct competition it has allowed the industry to price products to allow them to maximise tonnage rather than perhaps benefit [the environment].”
Harold claims that during his time, sales reps were trained to dissuade farmers from trying alternatives.
A contract milker from Taupo, who asked that his name not be published for fear of repercussions, says he saw first hand the “outstanding” results of a fine particle application trial on his farm.
But fertiliser company reps convinced the owner the system wouldn’t work.
“It’s an uphill battle for a lot of us managers. Farm owners are fairly traditionalist – they do everything by the book and do as these fert companies tell them to do.
“The fert companies are in it for the money obviously – they have a lot of influence over the farmers.”
End.
We are now seeing the hollowing out of our environmental regulations in NZ by large overseas corporations and now even Ravens down fertilizer Co, which is a farmers co-operative!!!!!!!! all now are getting around Government controls.
So what will happen under TPPA??????
Our government has truly been nobbled at making water quality and climate change able to be effectively acted upon sadly.
This is not a new idea, Brett Emeny as been offering this method of application with his helicopter company for years.
Personally I think it’s the helicopter guys that are being disingenuous not the fertiliser companies.
They are just trying to sell Helicopter time to benefit their own businesses.
When you have to pay for Helicopters, to spray a product that is mostly water on pasture the costs are much greater than applying solid urea granules by truck.
And having tried both methods I’m using Trucks and solid fertiliser, just as effective and much cheaper.
Sure, I just don’t believe it works.
Grinding up solid fertiliser adding water, spraying it on pasture and then claiming you only need a third of what you would normally use, yeah right.
There is no Magic.
A 2/3 Less is still 2/3 less.
Try it with your dinner tonight take 1/3 of what’s on your plate process to a slurry drink it down and tell yourself you have had the same nutrients as if you had eaten the full meal.
I was talking about Helicopters because it was invented by a helicopter pilot, for use from helicopters, but yes can be sprayed be tractors etc.
Instead of overseeing a modern economy and a vibrant, outward looking state, Erdogan seems to be determined to re-make the Ottoman Empire, cast himself as Caliph, and fit right in with the authoritarian Middle East.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed himself chairman of Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund and got rid of the entire management staff that had presided over two years of inaction.
Zafer Sonmez, head of Turkey and Africa for Malaysia’s government investment vehicle Khazanah Nasional Bhd, was named general manager. Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law, will also sit on the board, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette.
The overhaul comes two years after the government formed the fund to capitalize on $200 billion of state assets and put a lid on market turmoil in the wake of a failed coup attempt. But the organization’s goals and strategy were never clearly defined and internal strife led to the firing of its first chief executive officer after Erdogan publicly expressed his disappointment.
Don’t agree with everything this commentator says, because I think he falls into the trap of thinking neoliberalism is about race whereas I think neoliberalism doesn’t care what colour, culture or ethnicity the successor is, (I’m more an Animal farm believer aka power corrupts no matter what species and that is what society needs to protect itself from) but he has some interesting points…
Three Hard Truths About American Collapse
America Probably Isn’t Going to Make It. Will You?
“I’m going to keep this short and bittersweet.
America’s probably not going to recover in our lifetimes, if ever (even if the good guys win the next election.) Let me start with some alarming and necessary factoids. America’s a country whose three main indicators are all blinking nine-alarm red — they’re what “collapse” really means. Life expectancy’s falling. Real incomes are shrinking. And 80% of people live paycheck to paycheck. ”
“That’s because these megatrends of collapse are the culmination of decades of self-destructive choices, trickle-down economics, neoliberalism, market fundamentalism, a total lack of investment in people, a culture of cruelty, a modern day caste society, Walmart capitalism, all of which added up to Weimar republic style ruin — letting middle classes implode, leaving the poor to die in the streets, because a predatory elite was allowed to capture more than 100% of society’s gains, and worse still, Americans were told to believe, by wise men, that all that was noble, righteous, and true: only the strong should survive.”
“Singers have long queried the cryptic call to “guard Pacific’s triple star”. But New Zealand folk music expert John Archer argues it was a reference to the three stars on Te Kooti’s flag of Māori independence. “Bracken was a committed Irish nationalist,” Archer says. “He was squarely on the side of the Māori from when he first arrived in New Zealand in 1869, during the middle of Te Kooti’s battles with colonial troops, in his campaign for independence for Tūhoe Māori.” That is reinforced by the cover of the 1878 music score, featuring a drawing of the Royal Standard alongside the flag of the independent tribes.”
“I went down to Salisbury
To listen to the choir,
A pair of Russian tourists
They were staring up the spire,
Staring up the spire, they were,
Silent and aghast,
Against the sky, hurtling by,
A piggy flying past.”
MI6 took six months
To stitch up two chumps
The Great Game still raging
Pick a side and start waging
Who cares who right
Pick a side, and fight
Critical thinking down the drain
We run out of using our brain
Tough love? They made lotsa mistakes & Barrett forgot how to convert tries. They need another goal-kicker as plan B. Well, at least two others in the team but they decided against trying them!
Inept captaincy and coaching more like it . Keep barrett if they must but find another kicker to play at 15 or 12 ffs. And change plans if you are losing
Did enjoy the match though much better than a runaway win to watch .
I love Hugh Hamilton such a thoughtful journalist. Glad he the one asking Chris Hedges the questions in this shameless self promotion (tongue firmly in cheek there – just in case you want to be a spiteful literalist.) Video is 26 minutes long, and at 13:50 min in Hugh throws a great question at Chris which was well researched and wonderfully put.
Be warned from RT america, so all the wallflowers who can’t handle anything outside the official narrative might want to avoid.
Doesnt make sense .
“Swiss publication Tages Anzeiger and Dutch paper NRC have reported that the two men, who have yet to be identified, were arrested back in March and detained in The Hague before being extradited back to Russia.”
You dont get extradited back to your own country, its called deported. Why would this be a ‘secret’ and only revealed now ?
Arrested back in March ? Where was that if they were ‘detained in the Hague’
And if they were facing charges in the Netherlands, an extradition request for something trumped up to be more serious might be a way for Russia to get them back. Not to mention other deals that might have happened.
You would do well to take your own advice you lying piece of shit.
I’ve read a bit of Chomsky in my time – even his largely discredited linguistic work.
But I haven’t run across evidence that England funds ISIS as you claim.
It is for you to produce such evidence, having made the fatuous claim.
Pretending to scholastic values you do not meet does not absolve you of this responsibility.
Pony up real evidence Morrissey, or retract your lie.
And all the crazy edifice you’ve built upon it.
[I realize that as a fundamentally dishonest person you rely on misrepresenting others – but the flake news to which I refer on this occasion is this buffoon Jimmy Dore – who seems to offer more in the way of emoting than reporting, suitable for a gossip show perhaps, but not meeting the basic requirements of his much repeated “journalism 101”]
When does it get to the stage where the above and below ‘prove’ that one of youse fellas has a considerably, considerably, CONSIDERABLY larger cock than the other, whilst that other is able to posit that they are considerably, considerably, CONSIDERABLY more well-read than yea?
I’m not sure which of youse fellas is witch
Is it provable anyway?
Please, EXPOSE yourselves. We’ll all be impressed in a Kardashian kind of way
Whoar eh?
I ‘spose it’s all a bit entertaining in a sadistic sort of way. I’m certainly amused but at the same time ready to opt-the-fuck-out of it all as soon as my nanna nap is next due
Massive South African racist and child bride, Heather Duplicity Allan, doubles down on her appalling comments.
This woman is now pretending she wasn’t talking about Pacific Islanders themselves, rather their representatives. This sort of desperate and false backtrack reminds me of Jordan Peterson’s work. Peterson will say something school-boyish and outrageous and be called on it, only for his white, pimply defenders to claim he’s been misinterpreted.
Duplicity-Allan is on a tightrope right now and I for one hope she falls off it.
It’s common knowledge.
It adds to the portrait of her and Soper as a RW political hit squad.
There’s something weird about the relationship so it follows there something weird about her thinking.
Is your wife a lot younger than you, or something? If so I don’t mean any offence to you personally, just Duplicity.
Dude, it is irrelevant to the specifics of my personal life. It just smacks of the panty-sniffing puritans who think that what goes on in other people’s bedrooms is their business.
You know what’s weird about HDPA’s thinking? The way she called the Pacific Islands “leeches” that “don’t matter”. Isn’t that enough?
Personal is personal until it impinges on the public.
A fundy conservative politician privately contradicting the policies they support in public? Fair game. Because the hypocrisy is of public interest.
And yeah, dolt-45 with women by itself is of no public interest. But breaking campaign laws to pay off said women? It’s the breaking of campaign laws that was interesting. Dolt-45 with hookers pissing on a bed Obama slept in? One could stretch that it goes to the motives behind some of the Orange One’s policies, but it’s titillation only – until it becomes possible material that’s being used to blackmail him. Then it’s a US security issue.
None of that applies to HDPA.
It’s not “ammo”. It’s just you cheapening a good point with irrelevant panty-sniffing. If that’s the biggest way a NZ reporter/columnist is “weird”, we’re bloody lucky.
Edit: unfortunately, it’s not, because HDPA’s comments were bloody weird.
She uses her unorthodox marriage to Soper as a promotional tool and there are several articles on it. There’s a case the marriage itself is part of her campaign given the wedding was in parliament. How weird is that?
Given her naked ambition to be a RW shock jock I’d say her unorthodox marriage is fair game.
Two colleagues met, hooked up, and got married where they work, because where they work is an interesting place. Hell, they might even have sold stories to the weekly rags. None of this is actually a negative or a vulnerability to target, and all of it is irrelevant to the objectionable shit she actually said.
I’m getting the distinct impression that somehow you think “weird” and “unorthodox” are bad things that makes racist comments even worse.
In addition, I believe Duplicity Allan is carefully constructing her image as a Mark Richardson type. A peddler of controversy for the sake of it. For clicks, ears, attention, and dollars.
We don’t need any more of this type of divisive tabloid behaviour in this country, there’s enough of it already.
So I’ll fight her and her type whenever I see it with whatever ammo I can lay my hands on.
If I was rating Tova O’Brien as a political reporter she wouldn’t even get on the board. Very bad disrespectful questioning of Jacinda A. Interrupting answers and all but calling her a liar. Simon is looking and sounding even more desperate. Even if there is a bit of dissension in the Coalition it’s not going to stop them getting the job done.
“Italy is right. If Sarkozy, along with Cameron, Obama and Hillary, didn’t bomb and destroy Libya, handing it to jihadists who now sell human beings in open slave markets, there wouldn’t be a refugee crisis destabilizing Europe today.”
All for the outside bombing of Gaddafi’s forces in Libya. No argument against. The off-loading of a rider is everyone’s cause. What happens after is at least progression.
Mark Curtis, British historian, exposes the lies of the corporate media.
“Guardian agit-prop to stop Corbyn and reimpose militarist neoliberalism is now relentless. I count around 40 anti-Corbyn ‘anti-semitism’ stories on Guardian website in past 4 weeks alone. The paper’s top story. Its agenda could hardly be clearer.”
Kia ora Te am show Well its good to hear a unbiased option on The Labour lead Coalition Governments show of Mana yesterday . YEA RIGHT .When The am show was touring around Aotearoa you changed your views like you changed your undies one minute red next blue with no idea of your real opinion the cash from the capitalist flowing into your pockets dictates your opinion
You’s don’t give a toss about your mokopuna’s or OUR mokopunas future thinking about that phenomenon is way out of there intellectual capability’s.
.simon what have you got 2 people cutting holes in your canoe no WOW factor national has run all our state sector’s to near bankruptcy if they were not state organizations they will have all ended up broke .
I can not see one person in national being able to stand up and deliver a society that has a wealthy healthy happy and equal sustainable future. Your crew only look after the wealthy everyone else are sheep we have seen this with our own eyes 2 of your biggest fan cashed in there capital gains got a new whare with $7.5 million left to take all there luggage on holiday .
Thats cool under our new Government Leader’s Alcohol consumption has dropped crime is dropping and % 90 of people are happy Te Tangata Whenua are getting the Mana and respect we deserve for OUR Te reo and culture.
With te sport on the weekend Eco Maori knows how the western system works enough said .
Duncan is that all you can dredge up diarydack dune he is a pro national flag waver
who’s toilet sunk yesterday. Discount his old fossil views for he is directly responsible for the mess that our new government has to clean up.
Ka pai Phil Goff the home less need to be housed some people think its OK just part of there ideal capitalist system wealthy first and foremost.
The way the system is set up now poor people can not get a hire education like we could before student loans ie free education was scrapped why because the poor educated tangata were holding the powers that be to account speaking out taking them to court ect the wealthy could not have that so they scrapped a free education
Ka kite ano P.S remember Eco Maori can sink any toilet
It is social media that is leveling out the political field in Aotearoa its has been used to peddle lies in other country’s we were lucky we are down under I’E it took 5 years for Cambridge analytica to get here now we can counter there pro alt right neo liberal capitalist 00.1 % proper-gander money distorting our fair just Democratic society of Aotearoa . Ka kite ano
Eco Maori is sure our scientist predicted this snow in Te Wai Pounmu & sunbathing in Te Ika a Maui ka kite ano P.S we will have a mean skiing season tourism will be pumping.
Eco Maori can not get a job because every-time I go for employment the sandflys play a atua’s role and interfere with my potential employers reality on Eco Maori its hard enough being middle-aged and Maori as well as having the muppets for 17 years interfear in ones life. Kia Kaha to all Kiwis of Aotearoa. ka kite an .
P.S I have a job keeping all the capitalist neo liberal Human caused Climate Change deniers/ spinners in check
Many thanks to Stuff for this which proves what I have been saying about a corrupt
JUSTICE SYSTEM’S IN Aotearoa link is below thanks national now you know why I will sink shonkys toilet ana to kai ka kite ano
The way Eco Maori see this is Japan does not need the whale meat or the industry to have cause to be justifiable to carry on Killing Tangaroa’s beautiful Creatures .
What’s there motive ITS A SHOW OF POWER JAPAN CAN DO WHAT IT WAN’TS.
But know the rest of Papatuanuku is going to stop them these creatures are endangered Ana to kai ka kite ano link is below.
Here’s a good yarn on how x national PM treat’s there voters lose play poker with hundred of kiwi money and lives LINK IS BELOW I first seen the story on the national party proper-gander machine the herald FROM NOW ON ECO MAORI IS boycotting there website no more links to that and 2 of there writers have pushed there bullshit to far so Eco Maori will sink there toilets with no shame. Ka kite ano P.S sheep we are in there eyes
willie shaw is a lieing puppet for the national party I would take what he has to sell about weed control as bull teko he will be trying to push products such as Round up or Glyphosate based weed killing products . he is the type of person who will let te mokopunas applie these killer chemicals and not blink a eye I.E that he knows that the effects will be bad for them link below ka kite ano
Here you go the wealthy getting more than there fair share of Aotearoa they should pay more in tax’s to fix up the mess there national m8 made in there efforts to hand them our money link below ka kite ano
My opinion on the subject of Wahine Equality in all aspects of employment and management is a inbuilt prejudice of the systems as well as old men blocking the pathway up for wahine I have a good link below Ka kite ano
Kia ora Newshub its snowing hard in Queens Town it would really beneficial for people to install solar power with a backup battrie $9 k and no more power cuts no more big power bills SouthIsland people .
It’s cool that we are seeing a big group of volunteers counting the homeless these poor people are a effect of our society many thanks to you all kia kaha .
Cat’s are companion but if they are not well cared for the soon turn into predators and they are deadly hunters mic chips a bell and spading is a good thing a lot of our unique native birds are endangered its cool that we are working with Papatuanuku.
There you go you can not trust many studies of anything you have to trace the links the researcher has to the product’s manufacture to see if there is cheating going on in the name of proffets
Those power polls in Otago don’t look very safe company’s milking the consumer is a culture that needs to be changed in Aotearoa.
The Lion’s jellie fish looks beautiful but it has hundred’s of sting’s I remember the days when I was first stung by a electric ray I was 12 first time I had seen one and of course I was told to grab it next minute I was jumping up and down while they laughing at me lol its just a shock like a electric fence . Ka kite ano P.S Ingrid your te reo was ka pai last week
The Crowd Goes Wild James and Mulls I did not realize that David was going to give one of our favorite sports a serve.
That’s a good win for the young fella in the cars that’s a huge cup he could have a swim in that one.
I would not enter your studio at the minute why because I would get wet from all the tears.
James my baby son is the same weight as you loves the jim to but I cannot get into sweating unless I make money for my efforts may be soon tho.
There is some thing unusual for OUR other watersports stars maybe the hoste are not treating them with respect we know that some countrys wealthy take that soprts very seriously .
Ka kite ano P.S 5 days to get a new test team up to form is a hard task and ask Mulls hows the Rock best rock song run comp going kia kaha guy;s
Todd Muller - Dishonest National Party leaderIt seems that dishonest Todd Muller is, like many right-wing politicians, entirely morally bankrupt. I mean just look at the National Party’s leaking omni-shambles over the last week or so. They’ve imploded in a spectacular display of backfiring dirty politics, the likes of which ...
TUESDAY JULY 14Yorkshire Airport (Prime, 7.30pm). Bloomin’ ’eck, behind the scenes at Leeds Bradford Airport. Apparently, there is plenty of “northern charm”, although reaction in the UK ranged from “brilliant” to “patronising”. It is narrated by Hugh Dennis, whose middle name might be “Arch”.WEDNESDAY JULY 15Queen: Live at Wembley (Prime, ...
Simon Bridges must be the unluckiest person in New Zealand politics. When he was elected as leader of the National party, he also became Leader of the Opposition – a position, he was entitled to assume, that would require him to “oppose”. But the government he set out to oppose ...
Check out Speak Up For Women’s new podcasts: Episode 3 In this episode Speak Up For Women spokeswoman Ani O’Brien (@aniobrien) is joined by Beth Johnson (@beth_nosnhoj) to discuss the proposal from Statistics NZ to change standard data collection policy to “gender by default” rather than sex. They discuss why the ...
During a recent public consultation on the future of Archives New Zealand, a key report was suppressed. The Ombudsman has ruled that the refusal was unjustified. Sadly, the consultation was over by the time of the the decision has been made. However, the law on the use of the ...
National MP - Michael WoodhouseUnbelievable! Michelle Boag also sent National’s Michael Woodhouse confidential emails about COVD-19 patients, and he continued to publicly attack the Government over these very same breaches of privacy.This is the biggest political self-own since the Act Party’s David Garrett admitted in Parliament that he used a ...
Transcript: National Party policy announcement on roads – 8 July, 2020 Muller: Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for coming. Reporter 1: Is Hamish Walker a racist? Muller: Hang on… you haven’t even said good afternoon to me yet. Reporter 1: Good afternoon Mr Muller. Is Hamish Walker a racist? ...
Back in April, I wrote about trials in Iran of a fixed-dose combination of two existing anti-viral drugs used to treat hepatitis C – sofosbuvir and daclatasvir – that could point to an effective treatment for Covid-19 symptoms.At the time, data from those trials was not available outside the hospitals ...
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Anja Mizdrak, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael BakerThe pandemic-related lockdown is possibly the most dramatic public health intervention in NZ history. It helped achieve the elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 virus in NZ. But it was also associated with 548 fewer total ...
Reprehensible: There is much that could be said about Michael Woodhouse, but what would be the point? Any man who willingly involves himself in a situation as reprehensible as the one depicted in the above photograph has already vouchsafed all that decent people need to know about his character. That there have ...
As the debate over assisted dying rages in the run-up to the referendum at the election on September 19, a persistent problem continues to dog the discussions. That is to say, a prominent spokesperson for a particular group takes a strong public stand in opposition without acknowledging that they don’t ...
No Other Suspects? The mainstream news media was willing to print and broadcast harsh Opposition criticism of the Government, even though they knew that the source of the leaked information was a National Party MP. Even though, by pushing the story up towards the top of every news bulletin they were ...
Sacrificial Lamb: If the stories about Mr Taogaga and the unauthorised release of confidential medical data had been deliberately orchestrated by Labour’s political opponents, their deflection of the news media’s attention away from the Prime Minister’s address to the Labour Party Congress could hardly have been more successful.THE LABOUR PARTY ...
The East is Rent: The consequences of unleashing the young against the old; of elevating ideological rigor above reasoned debate; and of setting the present against the past; was a decade of unprecedented social stress and tension, interspersed with explosions of murderous mob violence and tragic material destruction. More than ...
The Green Party of Aotearoa-New Zealand could go from helping Jacinda Ardern run the country, to being turfed out of Parliament altogether in ten weeks. And that could see the end of Labour in government. Without them, Labour would likely have to do what no party has done since the ...
Remember the government's tyrannicalTerrorism Suppression (Control Orders) Bill? Remember how it was rammed through Parliament, with a four-day submission period and a select committee process that was a democratic fraud? At the time, the government gave the impression that there was an urgent need for this legislation, that a ...
Attack journalist - Tova O'BrienWe all know that much of the mainstream media in New Zealand is terribly biased. They are in effect another branch of the National Party, and can often be even more prejudiced than their right wing bosses.In fact many right wing politicians moonlight as journalists and ...
Former National Party President - Michelle BoagAfter the complete botch job Hamish Walker made of leaking the private details of COVID-19 patients to the mainstream media last week, the best-case scenario for Todd Muller and the National Party would be if the news cycle went quiet about their involvement.But unfortunately ...
One of the challenges of working on illegal wildlife markets, is you don’t really have scope to talk about your research into illegal wildlife markets. There is some stuff though that willbe coming out on Asiatic black bears in China, and before Covid19, I was delving more into rhinos. Which ...
Some are surprised at this sudden brain implosion on the part of both Michelle Boag, former National Party President, and the National Party in general, in exposing the private, confidential details of COVID patients. Others…? Let’s be blunt: not so much. Too many of that Party have long operated with ...
Michelle Boag - Former National Party PresidentWhen Todd Muller decided not to discipline Hamish Walker for his horribly racist press release last week, you had to wonder if his lack of proper leadership had something to do with a shared belief system? After all, the whiteness of the blue “team” ...
On Twitter today, lawyer Felix Geiringer asked a good question: why are MP's exempt from the Privacy Act? The Act imposes its obligations on "agencies", and s8 of the 2020 Act states that this term does not include... a member of Parliament in their official capacity The 1993 Act, ...
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.nzWhat was the climate and sea level like at times ...
So now we know, beyond all doubt. The National party has no interest in joining the “team of five million” in our fight against the pandemic but its priority is to take every opportunity it can to damage the government. The cynicism is breathtaking. It was prepared to leak the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters The massive dust storm that formed over the Sahara Desert in mid-June invaded the southeastern U.S. June 25-28, bringing dangerous levels of air pollution, low visibility, and colorful sunsets. The air pollution event over parts of Texas and the Gulf ...
In 1987, as a British Labour MP, I was elected to the Shadow Cabinet by my colleagues and was asked by the party leader to direct Labour’s campaign in the general election of that year. The election was to take place at the height of Mrs Thatcher’s dominance and we ...
National MP Nicola WillisHousing, which I would argue is a fundamental human right, has long been a problem in New Zealand. Not only do we have some of the most overpriced houses in the entire world, much of the housing stock is substandard and therefore affects not just people’s health ...
If the government has not lined up behind a "Yes" vote in this year's cannabis referendum the way some reformers would have liked, one entirely laudable thing it did do was commission some science around the public's choice.That science landed today, in the form of the report from an expert ...
Associate Professor Sara WaltonAt the heart of the discussion on opening up our borders is the dichotomy of health and the economy – both of which are actually intertwined, like many things with our economy, as this epidemic has shown.If we think about our country as a system, ...
This is a re-post from Carbon Brief by Josh Gabbatiss This year will see the largest ever drop globally in both investment and consumer spending on energy as the coronavirus pandemic hits every major sector, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The crisis is accelerating the shutdown of older fossil-fuelled ...
A short opinion piece – Friday 26th June 2020 Whilst our Government has treated many financial victims of the current Covid-19 virus with appropriate generosity, the same cannot be said for those of the two earlier “epidemics” in NZ. The “Covid-84” virus (also called “Rogernomics”) spread systemic greed, with the ...
Everyone deserves a a decent life. We know this is possible with a fairer approach to income support and tax Read the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Poverty Action Plan here ...
After a long break, the government is back inserting secrecy clauses in legislation. This time its the Overseas Investment Amendment Bill (No 3), which in its clause allowing Ministers to exempt purchasers of farm land from the usual rules also allows them to exempt an exemption from the publication requirement: ...
Over the past two years the government has repeatedly delayed a scheme to put cameras on boats to monitor Mew Zealand's pervasively criminal fishing industry. But it turns out that the industry actually wants cameras: Three of the country's biggest seafood companies have broken ranks with the rest of the ...
Louise Delany (public health lawyer)Health and emergency laws have played a critical role in this country’s successful elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 pandemic. This blog details key aspects of the legislation and comments on issues around testing, payments by incoming travellers for quarantine costs, and mask use. ...
I like Andrew Curry’s succinct and insightful futures blog The Next Wave. His most recent post is about social change. In particular, the decadal-long periods usually required for changes in values. He highlights a 2016 paper by Inglehart and Norris, who examined whether economic insecurity or a “cultural backlash” ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Stop making sense: why it's time to get emotional about climate changeThe science has been settled to the highest degree, so now ...
MONDAY JULY 6Washington (History, Sky 073, 7.30pm). The brilliant Doris Kearns Goodwin is the executive producer of this six-part series about America's first president. It combines interviews with live action and is narrated by Jeff Daniels. It's engaging, said Salon.TUESDAY JULY 7The ABC Murders (Prime, 8.30pm). Sarah Phelps has done incredible things with ...
I think we can all agree that the mainstream media in New Zealand has a very different set of rules for the right wing compared to the left. While Labour and Green Party politicians don’t seem to be able to fart without it becoming a sackable offence, National and Act ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, June 28 through Sat, July 4, 2020Editor's Choice'2040': A funny, entertaining, upbeat climate documentaryA timely Australian documentary takes a 'solutions' approach, with the filmmaker inspired by visions of ...
Racist National MP Hamish WalkerEven before Todd Muller's coup ousted Simon Bridges by a single vote, it was patently obvious that the National Party promotes and stands for white privilege. In fact they’ve always worked to ensure the discriminatory status quo in New Zealand doesn’t change.So it’s no surprise that ...
Dave HeatleyZero community transmission. Just a handful of active cases, all in quarantine. New Zealand is in an attractive situation, at least compared to much of the world. The situation could be robust and enduring – or it might be fragile, just one border incursion away from a “second ...
Is the consequence of the Simpson Report proposals for restructuring the health system poorer accountability to people? When in doubt, centralise‘ has been a persistent theme in New Zealand public policy throughout our history. The current government is no exception. Here are some examples. - The regional polytechs have been ...
I wrote earlier in the week about the Scientology front organisations Drug Free World and Drug Free Ambassadors and their quite prominent role in anti-cannabis reform "coalition" assembled by Family First and a newloca branch of the American prohibitionist organisation SAM.It turns out Family First aren't the only ones helping ...
Nik GreenMuch of the public debate about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has focused on the extent to which government regulations have restricted personal and business activity.Oxford University Blavatnik School of Government Here in New Zealand, the question of when to change Alert Levels dominated the ...
James Higham, University of OtagoUnprecedented border closures and the domestic lockdown have paralysed New Zealand’s $40.9 billion a year tourism industry. In the process, the vulnerability of the sector to external shocks and the tenuous nature of tourism employment have been exposed. While New Zealand’s handling of the pandemic ...
Raising The Bar: Would that the Prime Minister and her colleagues would listen as intently to what the people – as opposed to the power elites – are saying as the Greens. Were they so disposed, the popular clamour for a transformational post-Covid reset would be loud in their ears. ...
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.nzDo you think the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown will slow or ...
A bit like a letter home. I have now been full-time at the University of Melbourne since 2019. Before that, I was 20 years at the University of Otago, Wellington. Indeed, I set up this very Public Health Expert Blog with Nick Wilson ten years ago. Now I am your ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections House Democrats have released a comprehensive report showing how – if they control the White House and both the Senate and the House of Representatives – they might move forward on climate change. Their “Climate Crisis Action Plan,” released June 30 by the ...
A ballot for three Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Electoral (Integrity Repeal) Amendment Bill (David Carter) Harmful Digital Communications (Unauthorised Posting of Intimate Visual Recording) Amendment Bill (Louisa wall) Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Bill (Judith ...
Not Ready: Todd Muller’s lack-lustre and self-contradictory performances offer conclusive proof that a political leader cannot be managed into competence. National’s new boss has Janet Wilson handling his media and Matthew Hooton writing his speeches. Both are highly professional political and public relations specialists, and Muller is lucky to have ...
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...
It started as a family story, about a step-father who went out one night to break into an embassy in Wadestown, Wellington. John Daniell wanted to understand what his family had been part of when his mother and then step-father work for New Zealand’s Security Intelligence. He wanted to know ...
The Greens have shaken up the election campaign with the announcement of their radical poverty and action plan to reform welfare provision and introduce a new wealth tax for millionaires. It’s a big-thinking, controversial policy and has generated a lot of disagreement over how radical it is, whether it could ...
My house is currently supplied electricity by Meridian. As soon as I can change I will because Meridian spilled water to hike electricity prices. They got consumers to spend an extra $80 million on power unnecessarily. Clever them. The Electricity Authority has called their behaviour an “undesirable trading situation”, or ...
When Jacinda Ardern unexpectedly became the Labour Party leader shortly before the 2017 general election, she promised to lead a government of transformation. After nearly three years occupying the Treasury benches, health professionals working in public hospitals have been keenly waiting for transformational progress, including in the capacity and quality ...
Last night, One News ran a follow-up story to its Colmar Brunton poll results on the cannabis referendum, headed here as Government accuses big American anti-cannabis group of interfering in NZ politics.In truth it wasn't just the government: Justice minister Andrew Little, National's Shane Reti and the Greens' Chloe Swarbrick ...
When the government refused to put cameras on fishing boats to ensure fishers obeyed the law, Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash claimed that coalition partner NZ First (which has received large donations from the fishing industry) was not responsible for the decision. He has repeated that claim repeatedly since then. But ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First leader Winston Peters today scoffed at suggestions that a team of six political operatives have been dispatched to New Zealand to assist his campaign. ‘As President Ronald Reagan once said, ‘there they go again.’ ‘The clickbait journos can’t ...
New Zealand First is pleased to announce Jenny Marcroft as the party’s election 2020 candidate for the Auckland Central electorate. Jenny spent years working in Auckland Central, having spent a vast proportion of her broadcasting career there. She says she, "knows the place and knows the people." Ms Marcroft says ...
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...
This week we moved into the second half of 2020 - and our Government delivered another week of big changes and major progress for New Zealanders. Read below for a wrap of the key things moments from the week - from extending paid parental leave, to making major investments in ...
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Regional Economic Development A regional freight hub for the lower North Island will be built just northeast of Palmerston North, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones has announced. The Government is investing $40 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to designate and buy land and design ...
Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson is calling for the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Income to lift hundreds of thousands of people out of poverty and prevent more families entering into further debt with the Ministry of Social Development. ...
There has been renewed focus on New Zealand First acting as a handbrake on the Government after our decision to not support Auckland light rail. We are a handbrake for bad ideas, that istrue, but our track record since 2017 has seen New Zealand First constructively also serve as an ...
Mark Patterson MP, New Zealand First List MP New Zealand First’s Fair Residency for Superannuation Bill passed its First Reading in Parliament today. The Bill makes a significant change to NZ Super by raising the minimum residency requirement from 10 to 20 years, after age 20. “Currently, a migrant of ...
Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Law and Order A New Zealand First member’s bill in the name of Darroch Ball introducing a six-month minimum prison sentence for assaults on first responders has passed its second reading in Parliament. The new offence of "injuring a first responder or corrections officer with ...
Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Deputy Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First welcomes the launch of the new Criminal Cases Review Commission, gifted with the name from Waikato-Tainui - Te Kāhui Tātari Ture, announced in Hamilton today by Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealand First has long believed in and ...
The Green Party is celebrating over $800m in new funding for green projects, which will get people into jobs while solving New Zealand’s long-term challenges. ...
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First is appalled that Meridian seems to have been unnecessarily spilling water from its dams to drive up its profits."While New Zealanders have been coming together in some of our darkest hours, we don’t expect power gentailers to waste water and ...
We wrapped up the first half of 2020 with a busy month, taking additional steps to support New Zealanders as we continue with our economic recovery. We rolled out targeted packages to support key industries like tourism and construction, helped create jobs in the environmental and agriculture sectors, and set ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Infrastructure Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has welcomed the appointment of Maurice Davis and his deep infrastructure and construction experience to the board of the Infrastructure Commission. Mr Davis (Ngāti Maniapoto), is the seventh and final appointment to the board led by former Reserve Bank Governor ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand’s click bait journalism is taking a turn for the worse, with yet another example of sensationalist, wilful-misrepresentation of the facts. “New Zealand First has worked constructively with its Coalition partner on hundreds of pieces of legislation and policy, and ...
The Green Party is today unveiling its Poverty Action Plan, which includes a Guaranteed Minimum Income to ensure people have enough to live with dignity. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Rotorua Museum redevelopment and Whakarewarewa and Tokorangi Forest projects will be accelerated thanks to a $2.09 million Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) boost, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
This week, we rolled out the next steps of our recovery plan, with new infrastructure investment, extra support for tourism operators, and a new programme to get Kiwis into agriculture careers. The global economic consequences of COVID-19 will continue to be a challenge, but we have a detailed plan to ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its final reading in Parliament today fulfilling a coalition agreement commitment. “This is an important step in saving the lives of New Zealanders and delivers a key coalition commitment ...
Whakatāne has been given a $2.5 million boost to speed up previously funded projects and create more than 450 jobs in the next decade. Of those, the equivalent of 160 full-time jobs could be delivered in the next six weeks. Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters is in town to make ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $2.5 million to accelerate three infrastructure projects in Whakatāne, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “This package is about ...
Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones is throwing his weight behind a bid by the Auckland Council to fast-track the more than doubling of the city's water allowance from the Waikato River. And he's coming out strongly against anyone who plans on getting in the way of this campaign. "It is my ...
The Green Party is thrilled to see changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that mean consents for large projects can be declined if they will have significant climate change implications that are inconsistent with the Zero Carbon Act and Aotearoa New Zealand’s Paris Agreement obligations. ...
Hon Ron Mark, Minister of Defence The Royal New Zealand Navy’s new ship, Aotearoa, set sail for New Zealand on 10 June from the Republic of Korea, and is due to arrive in Auckland tomorrow, announced Minister of Defence Ron Mark. “Aotearoa is the Royal New Zealand Navy’s new fleet ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Racing Racing Minister Winston Peters has today welcomed the Racing Industry Bill passing its third reading, creating the legislative framework for revitalising the racing industry while limiting the need for future government intervention. “For too long our domestic racing industry has ...
The Green Party has today put forward an amendment to the Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill to ensure all people in prisons can vote in general elections. ...
The Green Party welcomes the decision to not proceed with Public Public Investment (PPI) delivery of Auckland’s light rail project and to instead run the process through the public service. ...
Hon Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in the Wairarapa New Zealand First List MP Hon Ron Mark welcomes the announcement of Provincial Growth Funding investment of $1.4 million to help secure the Wairarapa’s water supply. The funding boost will allow the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC), and ...
New Zealand First list MP Mark Patterson has been selected to represent the party in the newly formed Taieri electorate at the upcoming election. Mr Patterson, his wife Jude and two daughters farm sheep and beef at Lawrence and Waitahuna. He previously stood in the Clutha-Southland electorate however boundary changes ...
Hon Shane Jones, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises A new ‘super depot’ to be built for NZ Post in Wellington will create around 350 jobs during construction, Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprises Shane Jones says. Shane Jones today attended a ground-breaking and blessing ceremony for the parcel-processing depot ...
Our strong economic management prior to COVID-19 - with surpluses, low debt and near-record-low unemployment - put us in a good position to weather the impact of the virus and start to rebuild our economy much earlier than many other countries.Now we're putting our plan to recover and rebuild ...
Darroch Ball MP, New Zealand First Spokesperson for Law and Order Recently released Police fleeing driver statistics have shown yet another increase in incidents with another record-high in the latest quarter. “This new quarterly record-high is the latest in a string of record-high numbers since 2014. The data shows incidents ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio is pleased to announce the inaugural launch of Kiribati Language Week as part of the 2020 Pacific language Weeks programme. “I am so pleased that this year we are able to provide resourcing support to the Kiribati community in Aotearoa which will ...
Wildlife institutions affected by a loss of visitor revenue during the COVID-19 lockdown are set to receive government support with nearly $15 million of funding available announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “Eco-sanctuaries, zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, and wildlife rescue, hospital and rehabilitation facilities provide crucial support for the recovery ...
The Government is expanding and accelerating frontline mental health and wellbeing services at tertiary education institutes (TEI) to help students manage ongoing stresses related to COVID-19. “The lockdown has been hugely disruptive for students. Many of them have had to relocate and move to online learning, isolating them from their ...
The Minister of Police says a major operation against the Mongrel Mob in Waikato will make a big dent in drug harm and violent offending linked to organised crime networks. “Senior leadership of the Waikato Mongrel Mob has been taken out as a result of Operation Kingsville, which resulted in ...
The Government is extending the border exception criteria to enable some offshore victims and support people of the Christchurch mosque attacks to attend the sentencing of the accused beginning on 24 August2020, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. “We want to support our valued Muslim brothers and sisters who were directly ...
A project to support volunteer efforts to look after streams and rivers is getting a boost thanks to support from DOC’s Community Conservation Fund announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today. “The government is backing efforts to look after waterways with $199,400 for the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust from ...
Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter today announced that funding for the COVID-19 Community Fund for women and girls will be doubled, as the first successful funding applications for the initial $1million were revealed. “Women and girls across the country have suffered because of the effects of COVID-19, and I ...
The Government’s books were better than forecast with a higher GST take as the economy got moving again after lockdown, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Crown Accounts for the 11 months to the end of May indicate the year end results for tax revenue will be stronger than forecast. ...
A plan to revitalise New Zealand’s strong wool sector and set it on a new, more sustainable and profitable path was unveiled today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. The newly-released report - Vision and Action for New Zealand’s Wool Sector - was developed by the Wool Industry Project Action Group ...
Community efforts to create a Predator Free Whangārei will receive a $6 million boost, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. The new funding, through Government company Predator Free 2050 Ltd, will create around 12 jobs while enabling the complete removal of possums over ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced that the New Zealand Government is reviewing the settings of its relationship with Hong Kong. “China’s decision to pass a new national security law for Hong Kong has fundamentally changed the environment for international engagement there,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand remains deeply ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has announced details of a multimillion-dollar investment in Whangārei for infrastructure projects that will help it recover from the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200 jobs are expected to be created through the $26 million investment from the Government’s rejuvenation package ...
Following a second incident in which a person escaped from a managed isolation facility, security is being enhanced, including more police presence onsite, Minister Megan Woods said. “The actions of some individuals who choose to break the very clear rules to stay within the facilities means that more resourcing is ...
Waste reduction and recycling programmes in Kaipara are set to get a boost with Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage today announcing a $361,447 grant from the Ministry for the Environment’s Waste Minimisation Fund (WMF) Sustainable Kaipara. “The new funding will allow Sustainable Kaipara to partner with local schools, kura, community ...
The Government will support the Southland economy in the wake of multinational mining company Rio Tinto’s decision to follow through with its long signalled closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter. “This day has unfortunately been on the cards for some time now, but nevertheless the final decision is a ...
New tools being developed to help boost Aotearoa’s Predator Free 2050 effort were unveiled today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau. A new rat poison, a camera with predator recognition software to detect and report predators, a new predator lure and a ...
The Coalition Government has approved the purchase of a fleet of Bushmaster vehicles to replace the New Zealand Army’s armoured Pinzgauers, Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced today. The new fleet of 43 Australian-designed and built Bushmaster NZ5.5 will provide better protection for personnel and improved carrying capacity. “The age ...
The Government’s three prevention frameworks to reduce family violence in Aotearoa were launched this week by Associate Minister for Social Development Poto Williams. The frameworks were developed in partnership with communities around New Zealand, and build on the work the Government has already begun with its new family violence prevention ...
The Government is pleased to confirm funding for improvements to radiology and surgical services at Hawke's Bay DHB, Health Minister Chris Hipkins says. "The Minister of Finance the Hon Grant Robertson and former Health Minister Dr David Clark approved funding for Hawke's Bay DHB’s redevelopment of their radiology facilities ...
• New funding for four beds at Napier’s Springhill Residential Addiction Centre • A new managed withdrawal home and community service, and peer support before and after residential care at Tairāwhiti DHB • A co-ordinated network of withdrawal management services throughout the South Island • Peer support in Rotorua and ...
Introduction, seafarers and POAL Good morning everyone, I am delighted to be online with you all today. Before I begin, I have to acknowledge that COVID-19 has disrupted the maritime sector on an unprecedented scale. The work of seafarers and the maritime industry is keeping many economies around the world ...
A $13 million investment from Government will create jobs and improve the resilience of the rail connection between Christchurch and the West Coast, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones and Regional Economic Development Under-Secretary Fletcher Tabuteau say. The funding comes from the tagged contingency set aside in Budget 2020 for infrastructure projects ...
The Government is investing $761 million to assist local government upgrade under-pressure water services across the country, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The announcement was made at the site of the water bore that was found to be the source of the fatal ...
Recognised Seasonal Employers and migrant seasonal workers stranded in New Zealand will be able to continue working and supporting themselves with more flexible hours and roles, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The time-limited visa changes are: Stranded RSE workers will be able to work part-time (a minimum of 15 hours ...
The Government is making immediate short-term changes to visa settings to support temporary migrants already onshore in New Zealand and their employers, while also ensuring New Zealanders needing work are prioritised, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. We are: Extending temporary work visas due to expire by the end of 2020 ...
Professor Peter Skelton CNZM has been appointed as Chief Freshwater Commissioner and Alternate Environment Court Judge Craig James Thompson as Deputy Chief Freshwater Commissioner for the newly established Freshwater Planning Process (FPP). Environment Minister David Parker today also announced the appointment of Chief Environment Court Judge Laurie Newhook as the ...
Auckland Queen’s Counsel Neil Campbell has been appointed a Judge of the High Court, Attorney‑General David Parker announced today. Justice Campbell graduated with a BCom and LLB (Hons) from the University of Auckland in 1992. He spent two years with Bell Gully Buddle Weir in Auckland before travelling to the United ...
The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Poto Williams, is seeking feedback on a proposal to better enable the development and operation of commercial film and video facilities in Christchurch. The Proposal, developed by Regenerate Christchurch in response to a request from Christchurch City Council, asks that powers under section ...
The Government has launched a bold plan to boost primary sector export earnings by $44 billion over the next decade, while protecting the environment and growing jobs. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today released Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Potential, a 10-year roadmap to unlock greater value ...
A new approach to prevent family harm that encourages greater collaboration across government and community groups is being celebrated at the opening of a new facility in Auckland. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today opened the Multi-Disciplinary Family Harm Prevention Hub Te Taanga Manawa in Lambie Road in Manukau. The facility ...
The Government has released a major new report on the options for relocating the Port of Auckland’s freight operations while deferring any decision on the issue. “That decision needs to be informed by policy analysis that is still to be completed. As a result it will be up to a ...
The history of Rāpaki is being restored through the inclusion of te reo in thirteen official place names on Te Pātaka-o-Rākaihautū / Banks Peninsula and around Lyttelton Harbour/Whakaraupō, the Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage, announced today. “I am pleased to approve the proposals from Te Hapū o Ngāti ...
Bookings for seats on Air New Zealand flights into New Zealand will be managed in the short term to ensure the Government is able to safely place New Zealanders arriving home into a managed isolation or quarantine facility, says Housing Minister Megan Woods. “Last week Air Commodore Darryn Webb and I ...
Grant Robertson has today announced the first major release of funding from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced at Budget 2020. “Today we’re setting out how $80 million will be invested, with $54 million of that over the 2020/2021 financial year for organisations from community level through to elite ...
The Government is maintaining current levy rates for the next 2 years, as part of a set of changes to help ease the financial pressures of COVID-19 providing certainty for businesses and New Zealanders, ACC Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “New Zealanders and businesses are facing unprecedented financial pressures as a ...
Small businesses are getting greater certainty about access to finance with an extension to the interest-free cashflow loan scheme to the end of the year. The Small Business Cashflow Loan Scheme has already been extended once, to 24 July. Revenue and Small Business Minister Stuart Nash says it will be ...
A package of 23 projects across the country will clean up waterways and deliver over 2000 jobs Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Environment Minister David Parker announced today. The $162 million dollar package will see 22 water clean-up projects put forward by local councils receiving $62 million and the Kaipara ...
Tena koutou katoa Nga tangata whenua o tenei rohe o Pōneke, tena koutou Nau mai, haere mai ki te hui a tau mo te roopu reipa Ko tatou! Ko to tatou mana! Ko to tatou kaupapa kei te kokiri whakamua Tena koutou, tena koutou, tena tatou katoa Welcome. I ...
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $1.5 million to ensure QE Health in Rotorua can proceed with its world class health service and save 75 existing jobs, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF funding announced today is in addition to the $8 million ...
A new programme, which sets a firm course for the Building and Construction sector to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, has been announced by the Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. “A significant amount of New Zealand’s carbon emissions come from the building and construction sector. If we’re serious ...
The government is revitalising the wool sector, splashing out on freshwater restoration projects, relieving student stress and showing kindness to Muslims by extending the border exception criteria. It is also increasing its support (in announcements from two separate Green Party Ministers) for women and for wildlife institutions. And it is ...
People have called it for it be pulled from the service, but the escapist fantasy of 365 Days is nothing new, writes Alie Benge.To every generation, a bullish alpha-male psychopath is born, and is for someone reason considered a romantic hero. We’ve been through a lot this year, and instead ...
As Aucklanders reluctantly adjust to the inconvenient practice of water conservation, a drought-savvy Northlander shares the tips and temperament needed to get through the dry times.Auckland’s water shortage was recently reported on The Project, and viewers were earnestly exhorted to fill their dishwashers completely before turning them on. My husband ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk A request by the Philippines’ biggest radio and TV network for a new franchise has been rejected by a congressional committee in a vote that will go down in history as a flagrant violation of the country’s constitution, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The Paris-based media ...
Hamish Walker's privacy leak debacle dominated the news this week, but it's not the first time a southern MP has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, writes Daisy Hudson. ...
Let’s not allow the focus on big-budget infrastructure projects to detract from the vital role public transport will play in revitalising our cities in a post-Covid world, says Greg Pollock.The recent match between the Blues and the Hurricanes was one of the world’s first major post-lockdown sporting fixtures. It was ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
In the heart of Christchurch is a Designated Character high school. What makes it unique? And should there be more like it? Frank Film visits Hagley College Paddy Grant was a 27-year-old truck driver when he rocked up to Christchurch’s Hagley High School, as it was then known. It was ...
Childcare centre closures have left families and staff out in the cold. In some cases, they were given just three days’ notice, Laura Walters reports Staff and families of Auckland’s Discoveries Educare branches feel blindsided by the sudden closure of the early childhood education centres. The Ministry of Education has ...
"After he calms down we share the pie and talk about how hard the years since the show have been for him": a short story by Wellington writer Jordan Hamel. Every morning it’s the same. Cling wrap on the toilet seat, a pop up snake in my can of breakfast ...
Controversy and the America's Cup go hand-in-hand and the latest edition is no different with Emirates Team New Zealand at the centre of financial mismanagement allegations. Extra Time unpicks the debate and ponders what does the latest Cup drama mean? And should we care? A study has revealed racial bias ...
Over the decades, Mike Fox has witnessed the housing market progressively tilt towards larger, more expensive homes. Without a major overhaul of the current regulatory processes, he says, things will never change.It’s one of the biggest problems our country faces – we cannot produce the affordable housing that’s so desperately ...
So-called dirty deals have been roundly denounced over the years. Hayden Donnell argues that they need to be normalised, and even embraced, in September’s election.Just before the 2011 general election, Patrick Gower was confronted with a political act so stomach-churning, it forced him to abandon his trademark reserve. John Key ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Esterman, Professor of Biostatistics, University of South Australia Victoria has recorded 288 new COVID-19 cases since yesterday, the largest daily increase we’ve seen so far. This big jump must have the Victorian government and health authorities very concerned, especially since nearly ...
The controversial 101 East episode Locked Up in Malaysia’s Lockdown on 3 July 2020. Video: Al JazeeraPacific Media Watch Newsdesk Malaysian police summoned six Al Jazeera media workers today for questioning relating to an investigation for defamation and violation of Malaysia’s Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA), reports IFJ Asia-Pacific. ...
Analysis - A National MP destroys his career, the government explains how someone with Covid-19 could walk around a supermarket and the closure of Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is announced. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Abrar Ahmad Chughtai, Epidemiologist, UNSW Australia’s chief medical officer Paul Kelly today recommended people in Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire wear masks when leaving the house: […] If people have symptoms and they need to go for a test, for example, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rochelle Wynne, Director, Western Sydney Nursing & Midwifery Research Centre, Western Sydney University Over the past week, we’ve seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 infections among health-care workers in Victoria. This includes a doctor at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, one ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Paddy Nixon and Professorial Fellow Michelle Grattan discuss the week in politics including the return to lockdown in Victoria, National Cabinet setting to slow the flow of Australian’s ...
We prefer our heroes untarnished. And few match the heroism of Winston Churchill. But a recent report in the Times reminds us of the inevitability of human frailty and the consequences of keeping it under wraps.During the second world war, Britain’s greatest single loss of life at sea was the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ou Yang, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Donald Trump has ordered US federal agencies to bypass environmental protection laws and fast-track pipeline, highway and other infrastructure projects. Signing the executive order last month, the US president declared regulatory delays would hinder “our ...
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton says "The NZDIA has done the right thing, and we’re glad to see Bertram has been held to account over his actions. He should take this as an opportunity to right his wrongs and show that he takes animal welfare seriously." ...
Takuta Ferris, Te Tai Tonga candidate for the Māori Party, is urging government to place whānau first in the wake of announcements around Tiwai Point. “The declaration that one of the region's major employers the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter is closing ...
Dietary Requirements is The Spinoff’s monthly podcast in which we eat, drink and talk about it too, with special thanks to Freedom Farms. This month, we’re joined by The Spinoff’s managing editor, mall rat and self-confessed food philistine Duncan Greive.On this month’s Dietary Requirements, the gang’s back in the studio, and ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Chart 1: United States and Australia rising. Chart by Keith Rankin. These charts look at Covid19 incidence in China (the most important first-wave country, with a limited second wave), Italy (the lead second-wave country), and USA and Australia (second-wave countries – drawing their caseload from Europe ...
The Government must listen to the Muslim community to rectify its failure to act in the past, says the Human Rights Commission. The Islamic Women’s Council of New Zealand (IWCNZ) submission to the Royal Commission of Inquiry was released this week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, President, Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics. Senior Research Fellow, Moral philosophy, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Law Futures Centre., Griffith University Earlier this week, 150 high-profile authors, commentators and scholars signed an open letter in Harper’s magazine ...
You can’t keep a good woman down and Helen Clark is no exception. Her new appointment, as co-chair of a review of how the World Health Organisation handled the coronavirus pandemic, will test her formidable political skills. Sitting with her is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president, who handled the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Connor, Lecturer, James Cook University While many people may enjoy a game of backyard cricket, only a few go on to become elite professional batsmen in Australia. Cricket batting is example of what human skills can achieve. The fastest bowling delivery ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee Baumgartner, Professor of Fisheries and River Management, Institute for Land, Water, and Society, Charles Sturt University This article is a preview of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native ...
CEAC review of pre-election National’s “outline plan” just sent to us by Todd Muller 9/7/20 was actually his speech about his plan and was described as ‘an outline’. So in our review of National Party response to A Greener, Smarter Future; climate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Podger, Honorary Professor of Public Policy, Australian National University In Hidden Hand, China scholars Clive Hamilton and Marieke Ohlberg examine the Chinese Communist Party’s influence in Europe and North America in a similar way to how Hamilton dissected the CCP’s influence ...
“I can see why people are fed up, many are wondering how to clothe and feed their kids, or how they are going to pay their rent next week and still others are wondering what has happened to our beautiful Kiwi Way of Life. Well no party in parliament ...
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk Sixty press freedom groups and civil society organisations, journalism institutions, filmmakers, and other supporters have formed a coalition in support of Maria Ressa and independent media in the Philippines, united around the call to #HoldTheLine. Today the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the International Center for ...
National MP Michael Woodhouse also received Covid-19 patient emails from Michelle Boag, and deleted them when he realised she was implicated in a separate email scandal. National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also ...
The government is extending border exceptions to allow overseas victims of the Christchurch mosque attacks and their support people to attend the shooter's sentencing. ...
Ever wanted to be Iron Man? Sam Brooks prefers Pepper Potts, but he had a great time stepping into the iron suit anyway.The first few moments of Iron Man VR are where it plays its hand, confidently and assuredly. You hold your palms out in front of you, and Iron ...
SAP has released to the public a policy paper, “Helping Kiwis get back to work: How data and technology can drive a bigger, better, faster economic recovery.” ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel.Mermaids When you lose grip and start to drift.The first thing you’re supposed to do issteer into it or steer away? Not all mermaids are royaltysomeone needs to audit the oceanprovide cashflow projectionssome mermaids are actuallymiddle-aged accountants named Stephendreaming of a land-view holiday home. I saw a ...
Want to work for The Spinoff? We’re looking for someone to fill an exciting new role based in our Auckland office. We’re looking for a video and podcast content manager: an experienced writer or sub-editor with a strong understanding of social media to manage our video and podcast content across various channels. ...
National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also received four unsolicited emails. ...
By RNZ News Opposition National list MP Dr Jian Yang has announced his retirement from New Zealand politics and says he will not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. He said politics was “demanding” and he wanted to spend more time with his ...
Bayer-Monsanto's June 24 announcement of a US$10.9 billion pay out (1) to people who have been harmed by Glyphosate, is effectively an admission of guilt. Spokesperson for The People’s Inquiry 2020 Asha Andersen says, “The Ministry of Health, The ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has filed a complaint with the Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Speaker’s Office over Lawrence Yule’s new taxpayer funded billboards promoting Mr Yule as the ‘Voice in Tukituki’. Union spokesman, Louis Houlbrooke ...
Ten points, two plans. Which points are whose? With an election within spitting distance, Aotearoa’s two biggest political parties are all about the plans. “You don’t have a plan!” says one party to the other. “Yes we have a plan, or certainly a plan to have a plan, or a plan ...
Four months after he announced his re-selection, a National Party MP whose links to Chinese spy agencies attracted the interest of New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service has announced he will not stand in the next election A three-term National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to ...
National list MP Dr Jian Yang announced his retirement from politics and said he would not stand in the 2020 general election after three terms in the party caucus. ...
A new political party, the New Zealand TEA Party, with headquarters in Auckland, has been established. The party aims to contest the queen- or kingmaker position to form a coalition with the largest parliamentary party as part of the general elections ...
A review has determined fish oils are non-hazardous and no longer require oversight by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). We regulate pesticides, household chemicals and other dangerous goods and substances under the Hazardous Substances ...
New Conservative calls on the government to join with our Five Eyes allies and add New Zealand's signature to a joint statement condemning the continued removal of freedoms in Hong Kong. New Conservative also calls on the government to give safe-haven ...
Latest from the Beehive – Hard on the heels of the government promising help for the Southland economy in the wake of Rio Tinto’s decision to close the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, it was announcing the delivery of more money to the North, at the other end of the country. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luciano Beheregaray, Professor in Biodiversity Genomics, Flinders University As the global climate shifts, it’s important to know which species have adaptations to survive. Our research published today in PNAS found it largely depends on where they evolved. We looked at the capacity ...
From eggplant emojis and twerking llamas to sweaty anthropomorphic butts, we present some of the most fascinating, hilarious and outrageous complaints dismissed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) from 2019 to now.Avocadon’t (January 2019)The ad: In this ad from Specsavers, a man gets ready to join a cricket match, but ...
They might sound like the same thing, but light rail is quite different from light metro – the system that transport minister Phil Twyford now favours for Auckland. Katy Wakefield and Jessica Rose of Women in Urbanism explain why the metro option is a poor substitute for LRT. Transport is ...
Why isn't the Government spending $30m to extend Tiwai Point's 2,600 jobs until after the Covid-19 recession, after Manapouri's power can be transmitted elsewhere, and after there's a hydrogen plan for the smelter site, Bernard Hickey asks. The sense of shock and foreboding about the future was clear in Invercargill Mayor ...
An intensive care doctor is outraged health officials are giving helicopter rescue trusts a daily list of Covid-19 patients, saying it's completely unnecessary. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Seth Lazar, Professor, Australian National University In the US, tireless opposition to state use of facial recognition algorithms has recently won some victories. Some progressive cities have banned some uses of the technology. Threetechcompanies have pulled facial recognition products from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rick Sarre, Adjunct Professor of Law and Criminal Justice, University of South Australia Facial recognition technology is increasingly being trialled and deployed around Australia. Queensland and Western Australia are reportedly already using real-time facial recognition through CCTV cameras. 7-Eleven Australia is also ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor of Human Resource Management, University of South Australia The coronavirus pandemic has forced many of us to work from home, often in less than ideal circumstances. Many employees had little choice in the decision, limited time to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katja Hogendoorn, University of Adelaide This article is a preview of Flora, Fauna, Fire, a multimedia project launching on Monday July 13. The project tracks the recovery of Australia’s native plants and animals after last summer’s bushfire tragedy. Sign up to The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By SriPallavi Nadimpalli, PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne Women manage many overlapping responsibilities in both public and private spheres. Their busy routines leave them with just a little time to take a break or a pause in their activity. These pauses are a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naoise McDonagh, Lecturer in Political Economy, University of Adelaide The pandemic has changed the way we think about supply chains, in particular the chains that feed our need for food, medical supplies, and defence equipment. It has led Prime Minister Scott Morrison ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW As Victoria grapples with a second-wave outbreak of COVID-19, the importance of large-scale testing has again been highlighted. Without its “testing blitz” aiming at 10,000 tests a day, the extent of the outbreak would have been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jean Burgess, Professor and Director, Digital Media Research Centre, Queensland University of Technology Perhaps no single character has been as iconic a symbol of Twitter as the now-ubiquitous hashtag. The syntax of the hashtag has a few simple rules: it consists of ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level one – read about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. To support this ...
Open Mike 16/09/2018 
Todd Muller - Dishonest National Party leaderIt seems that dishonest Todd Muller is, like many right-wing politicians, entirely morally bankrupt. I mean just look at the National Party’s leaking omni-shambles over the last week or so. They’ve imploded in a spectacular display of backfiring dirty politics, the likes of which ...2 hours ago
TUESDAY JULY 14Yorkshire Airport (Prime, 7.30pm). Bloomin’ ’eck, behind the scenes at Leeds Bradford Airport. Apparently, there is plenty of “northern charm”, although reaction in the UK ranged from “brilliant” to “patronising”. It is narrated by Hugh Dennis, whose middle name might be “Arch”.WEDNESDAY JULY 15Queen: Live at Wembley (Prime, ...2 hours ago
Simon Bridges must be the unluckiest person in New Zealand politics. When he was elected as leader of the National party, he also became Leader of the Opposition – a position, he was entitled to assume, that would require him to “oppose”. But the government he set out to oppose ...4 hours ago
...15 hours ago
Check out Speak Up For Women’s new podcasts: Episode 3 In this episode Speak Up For Women spokeswoman Ani O’Brien (@aniobrien) is joined by Beth Johnson (@beth_nosnhoj) to discuss the proposal from Statistics NZ to change standard data collection policy to “gender by default” rather than sex. They discuss why the ...18 hours ago
During a recent public consultation on the future of Archives New Zealand, a key report was suppressed. The Ombudsman has ruled that the refusal was unjustified. Sadly, the consultation was over by the time of the the decision has been made. However, the law on the use of the ...20 hours ago
Everyone is paying attention today to the Supreme Court ruling that the President is not above the law and that Trump's tax returns can be given to a New York grand jury investigating him. But the Supreme Court decided another, far more important case yesterday, and effectively restored Native American ...1 day ago
Transcript: National Party policy announcement on roads – 8 July, 2020 Muller: Good afternoon everybody. Thank you for coming. Reporter 1: Is Hamish Walker a racist? Muller: Hang on… you haven’t even said good afternoon to me yet. Reporter 1: Good afternoon Mr Muller. Is Hamish Walker a racist? ...1 day ago
Today’s content Tiwai Point to close Hamish Rutherford (Herald): Government subsidising practically everything plays hardball with Rio Tinto (paywalled) Tom Pullar-Strecker (Stuff): Sudden closure of aluminium smelter worst outcome for jobs, consumers and the environment Brian Fallow (Herald): Tiwai closure sad news – and an opportunity for the environment (paywalled) Heather du Plessis-Allan (Newstalk ZB): Rio ...1 day ago
Prof Nick Wilson, Dr Anja Mizdrak, Dr Jennifer Summers, Prof Michael Baker The pandemic-related lockdown is possibly the most dramatic public health intervention in NZ history. It helped achieve the elimination of community transmission of the COVID-19 virus in NZ. But it was also associated with 548 fewer total ...1 day ago
Reprehensible: There is much that could be said about Michael Woodhouse, but what would be the point? Any man who willingly involves himself in a situation as reprehensible as the one depicted in the above photograph has already vouchsafed all that decent people need to know about his character. That there have ...1 day ago
79 Articles Observations & observational methods of global warming & effects Six hundred years of South American tree rings reveal an increase in severe hydroclimatic events since mid-20th century (open access) Late summer temperature variability for the Southern Rocky Mountains (USA) since 1735 CE: applying blue light intensity to low-latitude ...3 days ago
Some are surprised at this sudden brain implosion on the part of both Michelle Boag, former National Party President, and the National Party in general, in exposing the private, confidential details of COVID patients. Others…? Let’s be blunt: not so much. Too many of that Party have long operated with ...3 days ago
...5 days ago
Unfortunately, due to a medical emergency, I have landed in hospital so am not able to do a current update on the NZ blog statistics. Let’s hope I can get back to this in good time. ...1 week ago
Mark Patterson MP, Spokesperson for Primary Industry New Zealand First is supporting calls by hunters and the New Zealand Tahr Foundation (NZTF) to halt a large scale cull of Himalayan Tahr by the Department of Conservation in National Parks. The calls are supported by a 40,000 strong petition and the ...4 days ago
New Zealanders deserve healthy rivers and lakes that are safe to swim in - but they have been getting worse for decades. That's why, with our latest announcement, we're investing in projects that will help clean up our rivers and lakes and restore them to health, within a generation. ...6 days ago
The Green Party has opposed the COVID-19 Recovery Fast-track Consenting Bill which shortcuts normal consenting processes under the Resource Management Act (RMA), reduces public participation and narrows environmental considerations. ...1 week ago
The Minister for Pacific Peoples, Aupito William Sio is pleased to announce the inaugural launch of Kiribati Language Week as part of the 2020 Pacific language Weeks programme. “I am so pleased that this year we are able to provide resourcing support to the Kiribati community in Aotearoa which will ...3 hours ago
The government is revitalising the wool sector, splashing out on freshwater restoration projects, relieving student stress and showing kindness to Muslims by extending the border exception criteria. It is also increasing its support (in announcements from two separate Green Party Ministers) for women and for wildlife institutions. And it is ...22 mins ago
People have called it for it be pulled from the service, but the escapist fantasy of 365 Days is nothing new, writes Alie Benge.To every generation, a bullish alpha-male psychopath is born, and is for someone reason considered a romantic hero. We’ve been through a lot this year, and instead ...2 hours ago
Pacific Media Watch Newsdesk A request by the Philippines’ biggest radio and TV network for a new franchise has been rejected by a congressional committee in a vote that will go down in history as a flagrant violation of the country’s constitution, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF). The Paris-based media ...3 hours ago
Hamish Walker's privacy leak debacle dominated the news this week, but it's not the first time a southern MP has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons, writes Daisy Hudson. ...3 hours ago
In the heart of Christchurch is a Designated Character high school. What makes it unique? And should there be more like it? Frank Film visits Hagley College Paddy Grant was a 27-year-old truck driver when he rocked up to Christchurch’s Hagley High School, as it was then known. It was ...7 hours ago
Childcare centre closures have left families and staff out in the cold. In some cases, they were given just three days’ notice, Laura Walters reports Staff and families of Auckland’s Discoveries Educare branches feel blindsided by the sudden closure of the early childhood education centres. The Ministry of Education has ...8 hours ago
"After he calms down we share the pie and talk about how hard the years since the show have been for him": a short story by Wellington writer Jordan Hamel. Every morning it’s the same. Cling wrap on the toilet seat, a pop up snake in my can of breakfast ...8 hours ago
Controversy and the America's Cup go hand-in-hand and the latest edition is no different with Emirates Team New Zealand at the centre of financial mismanagement allegations. Extra Time unpicks the debate and ponders what does the latest Cup drama mean? And should we care? A study has revealed racial bias ...8 hours ago
We prefer our heroes untarnished. And few match the heroism of Winston Churchill. But a recent report in the Times reminds us of the inevitability of human frailty and the consequences of keeping it under wraps. During the second world war, Britain’s greatest single loss of life at sea was the ...19 hours ago
SAFE CEO Debra Ashton says "The NZDIA has done the right thing, and we’re glad to see Bertram has been held to account over his actions. He should take this as an opportunity to right his wrongs and show that he takes animal welfare seriously." ...20 hours ago
You can’t keep a good woman down and Helen Clark is no exception. Her new appointment, as co-chair of a review of how the World Health Organisation handled the coronavirus pandemic, will test her formidable political skills. Sitting with her is Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former Liberian president, who handled the ...22 hours ago
National MP Michael Woodhouse also received Covid-19 patient emails from Michelle Boag, and deleted them when he realised she was implicated in a separate email scandal. National Party leader Todd Muller says no further MPs in his party received confidential information from Michelle Boag, after revelations today that Michael Woodhouse also ...23 hours ago
Alan Brent looks at how NZ's solar resources can be used more effectively to address energy demand in our transitioning economy. ...1 day ago
Four months after he announced his re-selection, a National Party MP whose links to Chinese spy agencies attracted the interest of New Zealand’s Security Intelligence Service has announced he will not stand in the next election A three-term National Party MP who studied at an elite Chinese spy school before moving to ...1 day ago
Why isn't the Government spending $30m to extend Tiwai Point's 2,600 jobs until after the Covid-19 recession, after Manapouri's power can be transmitted elsewhere, and after there's a hydrogen plan for the smelter site, Bernard Hickey asks. The sense of shock and foreboding about the future was clear in Invercargill Mayor ...1 day ago
Tiwai Point closure decision hammers Meridian, Contact and Genesis shares on fears wholesale power prices could drop ...1 day ago
Experts say ECE staff ratios are not fit for purpose, and the ministry has no record of how they were set in the first place. ...1 day ago
Clearly Heather du Plessis Allen is a vile racist.
She has no role in journalism in New Zealand in 2018.
Boycott Newstalk ZB.
During a Wellington broadcast of Newstalk ZB, the host discussed Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s decision to visit Nauru.
Du Plessis Allan referred to the island as a “hell hole”, and said it was not worth attending the Forum anyway because the Pacific Islands “don’t matter.”
“They are nothing but leeches on us. The Pacific Islands wants money from us,” she told listeners.
Oscar Kightley wrote.
“Does Newstalk ZB in Wellington not think it has any Pacific Island listeners? Or do they think their listeners are all bigots who want to hear this stuff or they’ll change
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/107110016/heather-du-plessisallan-says-pacific-people-are-leeches-on-new-zealand
Yay another Ed boycott.
He’s down to listening to his cat and three twitter feeds.
Ed’s cat is better than listening to you james.
And smarter too.
Tens of thousands of New Zealand citizens spend massive amounts of their wages in “remittances”; simply sending cash back to relatives in Pacific Islands. In many Pacific states, “remittances” form a majority of the entire income of the state, and in others it’s close.
Further tens of thousands of New Zealand citizens go to secure enclaves of Pacific islands for luxury holidays.
The two worlds rarely meet, either in New Zealand or in the Pacific Islands.
I suspect reporters are familiar with the latter, not with the former.
Nauru’s government, apart from being corrupt to its eyeballs and having a fully politicized judiciary and Police force, has made a pact with the Devil in the form of Australia’s prison and immigration system. Instead of being the phosphate hole of the Pacific, it is now the jail hole. And that pact with the devil will extend as far into the future as there are immigrants coming by boat. So yes, I can see her point calling it a “hell hole”.
Nauru is the world’s totally carceral state.
And let me correct myself.
Nauru is different to Niue.
A hell hole caused by us in large part and our addiction to phosphates.
Us and Australia.
But the carceral devil-pact was chosen and is continued by the Nauru government.
Nauru blew their money is the real problem.
The steady cash flow ( even if it was under paid) has been a curse for the lifestyle of imported western food and junk and mismanagement of their sovereign wealth fund means they are virtually bankrupt.
Barry Soper’s hideous other half (significantly, she’s a white South African) has been an embarrassment ever since she first opened her mouth. Never, until this moronic apartheid-era outburst against Pacific Islanders, was she worse than when she fronted the ill-fated Story on TV3….
Barbara Dreaver’s thoughts.
“As someone who has lived and worked in the region for nearly 30 years I have nothing but contempt for the sheer ignorance I have been reading from those whose idea of the Pacific is lying poolside at Denarau with a pina colada.”
Did you hear that Heather?
Our Provost-Depute here in Kihipini is a South African. Next in line after Mayor Meng Foon. Last I heard Gisborne is the poorest district in NZ. Difficult to imagine voting for her. And the fact they’re all still right-wingers perhaps establishes the heart of the matter re both capitalism and South Africans.
And the Pacific Islands are central to our hearts.
Good on the government for attacking fast food’s involvement in sponsorship of children’s food.
And thumbs down to Katherine Rich, head of the euphemistically named ‘Food and Grocery Council’ which is just a pressure group for big food companies like Coca Cola.
She know her real role would be derided , so, if you look at the photograph in the article, she has posed in front of fruit and vegetables.
Poor journalism by Stuff to allow her to pull that stunt.
Overall a very weak patsy article.
Journalists know where their advertising revenue comes from too.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/health/107056112/government-puts-boot-into-fast-food
Food & Grocery Council only interested in selling sugar and gut rot ?
K*****INE R*CH? I think I knew her once….
https://morrisseybreen.blogspot.com/2017/12/national-party-emergency-caucus-meeting.html
Rich is exactly the sort of entitled creature who has risen out of the slime of neoliberal New Zealand.
Complete scum.
Industrial dairy farming is destroying the environment.
“New Zealand diary has become an enthusiastic user of synthetic nitrogen. We used around 6000t of nitrogen fertilisers every year in the 1960s; that increased to around 50,000t by 1990; Today, we use 500,000t, an increase of 1000 per cent within three decades. It has been matched by similar increases in dairy exports and dairy cow numbers.
While synthetic nitrogen has allowed farming to expand into new areas, and increased the productivity of our primary export industry, it has come at a cost.
Right now, there is 187,000t of nitrogen flowing through New Zealand’s waterways, heading towards the sea.
Freshwater ecologist Dr Mike Joy calls this cycle our “deadly nitrogen addiction”, and says the massive growth in the use of nitrogen fertiliser has unleashed many environmental problems, particularly with our freshwater.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/105864564/what-grows-the-grass-thick-can-turn-our-streams-toxic-and-green
Torva O’Brien says Prime Ministers office told them that this weekends cancelled media appointments were in Jacindas diary.
First fisherman goes on Twitter reply to state that they were never in her diary.
So now we have the PM’s hubby defending the PM to media contradicting her office.
What a shambles. And I wonder who’s telling the porkies – the PMs office or hubby?
Also isn’t it funny having Jacinda hubby speaking to the press about the PMs diary – never seen wife’s of male PMs do this. Such sexist behaviour.
James is a right wing troll on a left wing site.
Do not feed the troll.
Ed would prefer to ignore discussions that don’t fit under his tinfoil hat.
Also seems happy with the misogynistic behaviour of hubby having to stand up for his wife – looks like the stress is starting to show.
“the misogynistic behaviour of hubby having to stand up for his wife”
Ha ha ha ha ha!
There’s the level of James commentary, right there.
But that’s exactly what’s he’s done.
Let me help, James. Standing up for one’s female partner, is not misogynistic, it’s the opposite. I wonder too, do you understand what the word “wife” means and the process required to become one?
Yes Robert, James showing what a dino he is – bit Freudian slipping perhaps too.
Misoyginy is not the issue and James was wrong to make it so. Basically it is whether spouses of politicians start making political points. The PM has a whole office with media experts to deal with these issues. Basically I have never seen a spouse get so involved in the political debate as Clarke Gayford. He is not the one who is elected. Being supportive and being present at all sorts of events does not mean he also has to get politically involved.
Dino wayne – you really think it’s not a team effort? Wow the lonely. It is political and you know it. The days of yore are gone thank the gods.
You’ve never seen it, Wayne? But you’ve also never seen a PM like Jacinda, with a newborn baby and a high-profile partner; it’s a whole new world, Wayne; be prepared for things to be done differently!
Indeed it is a new generation, in fact on both sides of the House. Basically that is good for NZ. People like PM’s charm and good nature.
Whether Clarke being directly engaged in political debate is also good is rather more debatable. And in fact his role in that regards is being debated. How does that help the PM?
Agree.
Bad precedent.
Oh dear – what is happening? Seriously, I actually agree with both you and Wayne on this one. Much as I have a lot of time for Clarke, he really does need to step back from any hint of political comment, even if his intent is to support Jacinda, as his love and partner.
Sparkle Pony.
It’s all due to the spell that Sparkle Pony has put on us all today.
That comment by Wayne starts with a moronic spelling error and gets worse from there. His (unintentionally hilarious) obsession with Clarke Gayford is clearly a reflection of the anger and bewilderment felt by the rest of his cronies in the National Party.
To be fair, he kept out of the political eye until some folks started targeting him.
He didn’t start playing that role, but seeing as it was thrust upon him, he’s playing it pretty well.
Robert, please be aware that James supported a prime minister who would not even stand up for his own bodyguard from Iraq after he was targeted by the Australian police. To his mind, the idea of actually standing up for anyone, especially a woman, is just not something to be admired.
James thinks that if a woman is following him through a doorway he should let the door shut in her face, because holding it open for her would be sexist.
But he is not as crap a troll as James.
Ed is a left wing troll on a left wing site. Do not feed the troll.
Snap – you beat me today!
Yes, discussing industrial dairy farming, brilliant political animations, fast food corporations advertising to children and racism in our media is trolling.
While contributing only contributing barbed insults is the height of intelligence.
She has planned a big speech. This afternoon at 1 pm. Funny elements of the media and the right keep attacking her for failing to go public when the opposite is true.
Doing an interview having to answer questions is a lot different from a stage managed speech (I’m assuming labour manage it – but given this lot who knows)
Still dosnt address the conflicting stories on her diary.
Conflicting stories! Oh no! Who the …. cares. Probably find it was fake news from devious sources.
I’m really looking forward to Jacinda’s speech and the caterwauling from the likes of James afterwards. Do you think James might be a misogynist?
“Misogyny (/mɪˈsɒdʒɪni/) is the hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls.”
James certainly appears to be a racist.
He criticised me for suggesting a boycott of ZB after one of their presenters spouts vile racism against Pacific Islanders.
He condoned the racism.
You slur too easily. He didn’t condone the racism –
he took the piss out of your idiotic attempt at relevancy when you suggested a boycott. It was funny, the cats bit.
Play the ball not the person ed and please don’t suggest i go to a war zone and die – that’s not nice is it.
Nor is it nice to advocate war against other countries and their citizens.
What Marty said.
Get it through your head, Ed, that none of us (ie the people you keep suggesting are advocating war) are advocating war.
Your claims are nonsequiturs of our actual comments – thus showing your ignorance and attempts to divert from what we have actually said.
“Play the ball not the person ed ”
Laugh, damn near wet myself – that is just a little bit rich coming from you marty mars.
Yes I’m sure you wet yourself all the time – get some help creep.
And there it is.
Right on cue, playing the person.
Be nice if you followed your own advice.
Too soon?
It amuses me, just when James is looking like a total try hard you jump in and try and better his effort. Trolls will be trolls i guess.
Ed is not a troll, Ed is serious and honest. What a shame you haven’t picked that up yet.
Do you really think that Ed was being honest when he said “He condoned the racism”? Are your comprehension skills really that poor?
Soltka , apart from barbed comments, what have you added to the discussion this morning?
I have introduced 4 varied and interesting topics.
The impact of industrial dairying and nitrogen levels on our water.
Racism from a media presenter with a suggestion of how we deal with this.
A reference to the brilliant artist Steve Cutts.
The government’s attempts to tackle obesity amongst children and the media’s handling of the story.
James posted a right wing attack line on Jacinda. This was clear trolling.
And you and marty mars have just made unpleasant and unnecessary negative comments.
If you have nothing to add about the 4 issues I highlighted- all of which could engender an interesting sharing of views – please scroll past.
Thank you Ed for bringing some rationality back to the debate, and for dealing with these trolls who obviously prefer a closed mike.
Thank you for calling me a troll mauī – from you, a person who believes there actually are child crisis actors, i’ll take that as a bafge of honour.
Apart from unpleasant comments directed at others, what have you contributed today?
I have introduced 4 varied and interesting topics.
The impact of industrial dairying and nitrogen levels on our water.
Racism from a media presenter with a suggestion of how we deal with this.
A reference to the brilliant artist Steve Cutts.
The government’s attempts to tackle obesity amongst children and the media’s handling of the story.
I havent asked another human to go and die in a war whilst proclaiming a vegan sainthood and laughingly comparing myself to jeremy corbyn like you ed – stalk someone else war mongrel-ed
Edit – check the date and time ed
All you have done today is make negative comments.
You have nothing to add to anyone’s talking points on Open Mike.
Please stop stalking me.
It is creepy.
Lol people can read and you have no argument except the dim response of repeating lines back to people lol
You remind me of someone – hey wait a minute, are you? nah you ain’t Jeremy corbyn lol.
I skipped most of your initial comments. But the responses to you going apeshit again are pretty funny, I like those. Keep up providing the material for smarter people to riff on.
While I definitely don’t align with some of your more radical views Ed, I have to agree with what you are saying at 9:26am (4.2.2.1.2.2).
If you have nothing to add about the 4 issues I highlighted- all of which could engender an interesting sharing of views – please scroll past.
Because you do make positive contributions and generally hold back on the personal attacks I do read what you say … I take the view that there is something to be learned pretty much everywhere you look. Cheers.
They are flailing around looking to work out attack lines on Jacinda. They operate on the basis that if you say something often enough it becomes reality.
It is what happens when you are really deficient at the issues.
It’s just that this government gives us so much material.
No it doesn’t.
Bierce described what they are looking for rather well:
(under OLEAGINOUS, adj. Oily, smooth, sleek.) Disraeli once described the manner of Bishop Wilberforce as “unctuous, oleaginous, saponaceous.” And the good prelate was ever afterward known as Soapy Sam. For every man there is something in the vocabulary that would stick to him like a second skin. His enemies have only to find it.
Being functionally illiterate as well as completely unprincipled of course the Gnats are obliged to try to find it empirically. They’ve tested ‘evasive’, and ‘weak’, and ‘not a leader’ and are trying ‘too nice’.
They forget that others may be prompted by this to find a fitting political epitaph for much more readily caricatured Bridges.
Thats true.
You would never do a sit down media with open format before a big speech as you would be batting away leading questions about whats in the speech.
troll
Steve Cutts is a genius.
He is famous for this brilliant animation.
And his more recent production ‘Are you lost in the world like me?’ is also a searing critique of modern day society.
Chris Hedges on Jimmy Dore, live as of 9.30 this morning for any early birds
What are Forest & Bird doing about this?????.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/105093180/The-big-fertiliser-companies-are-accused-of-quashing-a-more-environmentally-friendly-way-of-applying-nitrogen
“The big fertiliser companies are accused of quashing a more environmentally friendly way of applying nitrogen”
Quote from TOM LEE/STUFF.
A new fertiliser system
Bert Quin talks about the new fertiliser spreading system he has created.
The two big fertiliser companies are accused of quashing a more environmentally friendly method of applying nitrogen, in order to protect profits. Tony Wall investigates for ‘Growing Pain’ a Stuff series examining New Zealand’s dangerous addiction to fertiliser.
Taupo helicopter operator Mark Williams thought he’d hit on the holy grail – a system of applying nitrogen that meant up to three times the grass growth and less leaching.
It was a simple method that had been around for years – instead of applying fertiliser such as urea in a solid, granular form, the product is ground up, water is added to create a slurry, and it’s sprayed on pasture from the air or ground.
Known as fine particle application, proponents of the system say it’s a far more efficient way of applying fertiliser because more nutrients are taken up by the plant and less is lost to the atmosphere and through leaching.
Advocates of fine particle application say the mixture can be sprayed right up to the edge of streams and rivers, without leaching into the water.
But scientists working for the big-two farmer-owned co-operatives, Ballance Agri-Nutrients and Ravensdown, rubbish the claims and say there’s no science to back it up.
Williams has given up, and sold his machine to another helicopter operator.
“I’m sick of banging my head against the wall. If they want to keep pouring [granular] urea on their ground, so be it – let them do what they want, not what they should be doing.”
“Because New Zealand doesn’t have direct competition it has allowed the industry to price products to allow them to maximise tonnage rather than perhaps benefit [the environment].”
Harold claims that during his time, sales reps were trained to dissuade farmers from trying alternatives.
A contract milker from Taupo, who asked that his name not be published for fear of repercussions, says he saw first hand the “outstanding” results of a fine particle application trial on his farm.
But fertiliser company reps convinced the owner the system wouldn’t work.
“It’s an uphill battle for a lot of us managers. Farm owners are fairly traditionalist – they do everything by the book and do as these fert companies tell them to do.
“The fert companies are in it for the money obviously – they have a lot of influence over the farmers.”
End.
We are now seeing the hollowing out of our environmental regulations in NZ by large overseas corporations and now even Ravens down fertilizer Co, which is a farmers co-operative!!!!!!!! all now are getting around Government controls.
So what will happen under TPPA??????
Our government has truly been nobbled at making water quality and climate change able to be effectively acted upon sadly.
We must now ask;;
How much is enough?
This is not a new idea, Brett Emeny as been offering this method of application with his helicopter company for years.
Personally I think it’s the helicopter guys that are being disingenuous not the fertiliser companies.
They are just trying to sell Helicopter time to benefit their own businesses.
When you have to pay for Helicopters, to spray a product that is mostly water on pasture the costs are much greater than applying solid urea granules by truck.
And having tried both methods I’m using Trucks and solid fertiliser, just as effective and much cheaper.
If you can get a truck there surely it could be sprayed on by a tractor or truck sprayer .
Sure, I just don’t believe it works.
Grinding up solid fertiliser adding water, spraying it on pasture and then claiming you only need a third of what you would normally use, yeah right.
There is no Magic.
A 2/3 Less is still 2/3 less.
Try it with your dinner tonight take 1/3 of what’s on your plate process to a slurry drink it down and tell yourself you have had the same nutrients as if you had eaten the full meal.
I was talking about Helicopters because it was invented by a helicopter pilot, for use from helicopters, but yes can be sprayed be tractors etc.
Instead of overseeing a modern economy and a vibrant, outward looking state, Erdogan seems to be determined to re-make the Ottoman Empire, cast himself as Caliph, and fit right in with the authoritarian Middle East.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed himself chairman of Turkey’s sovereign wealth fund and got rid of the entire management staff that had presided over two years of inaction.
Zafer Sonmez, head of Turkey and Africa for Malaysia’s government investment vehicle Khazanah Nasional Bhd, was named general manager. Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law, will also sit on the board, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette.
The overhaul comes two years after the government formed the fund to capitalize on $200 billion of state assets and put a lid on market turmoil in the wake of a failed coup attempt. But the organization’s goals and strategy were never clearly defined and internal strife led to the firing of its first chief executive officer after Erdogan publicly expressed his disappointment.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-12/erdogan-names-himself-chairman-of-turkey-wealth-fund-in-overhaul
Don’t agree with everything this commentator says, because I think he falls into the trap of thinking neoliberalism is about race whereas I think neoliberalism doesn’t care what colour, culture or ethnicity the successor is, (I’m more an Animal farm believer aka power corrupts no matter what species and that is what society needs to protect itself from) but he has some interesting points…
Three Hard Truths About American Collapse
America Probably Isn’t Going to Make It. Will You?
“I’m going to keep this short and bittersweet.
America’s probably not going to recover in our lifetimes, if ever (even if the good guys win the next election.) Let me start with some alarming and necessary factoids. America’s a country whose three main indicators are all blinking nine-alarm red — they’re what “collapse” really means. Life expectancy’s falling. Real incomes are shrinking. And 80% of people live paycheck to paycheck. ”
“That’s because these megatrends of collapse are the culmination of decades of self-destructive choices, trickle-down economics, neoliberalism, market fundamentalism, a total lack of investment in people, a culture of cruelty, a modern day caste society, Walmart capitalism, all of which added up to Weimar republic style ruin — letting middle classes implode, leaving the poor to die in the streets, because a predatory elite was allowed to capture more than 100% of society’s gains, and worse still, Americans were told to believe, by wise men, that all that was noble, righteous, and true: only the strong should survive.”
https://eand.co/three-hard-truths-about-american-collapse-cbf45295c198
Very interesting. Thank you.
Chris Hedges makes some interesting points on the US’s collapse.
https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-coming-collapse/
I’ve become puzzled in recent times every time I hear the national anthem sung prior to an All Blacks test, they ask god to “guard Pacific’s triple star”. Never heard of any such thing anywhere else & weird that I’ve been listening to it more than 60 years without noticing, but here’s an explanation: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/107108169/our-anthem-god-defend-new-zealand-is-a-radically-subversive-challenge-to-tradition
“Singers have long queried the cryptic call to “guard Pacific’s triple star”. But New Zealand folk music expert John Archer argues it was a reference to the three stars on Te Kooti’s flag of Māori independence. “Bracken was a committed Irish nationalist,” Archer says. “He was squarely on the side of the Māori from when he first arrived in New Zealand in 1869, during the middle of Te Kooti’s battles with colonial troops, in his campaign for independence for Tūhoe Māori.” That is reinforced by the cover of the 1878 music score, featuring a drawing of the Royal Standard alongside the flag of the independent tribes.”
Poet Pam Ayres delivers on bumbling agents: https://twitter.com/PamAyres/status/1041007196300107776
“I went down to Salisbury
To listen to the choir,
A pair of Russian tourists
They were staring up the spire,
Staring up the spire, they were,
Silent and aghast,
Against the sky, hurtling by,
A piggy flying past.”
MI6 took six months
To stitch up two chumps
The Great Game still raging
Pick a side and start waging
Who cares who right
Pick a side, and fight
Critical thinking down the drain
We run out of using our brain
She’s certainly a lot more convincing than the hapless British prime minister and her cronies.
A couple of these flatpack urban farms in all new housing estates would be the way to go.
https://insteading.com/blog/flatpack-urban-farm-grows-6-6-tons-of-food-in-538-square-feet/
Gutsy work by the All Blacks last night to lose in style by going for the try rather than the droppie.
I’ve been wanting them to lose for a while, and this was a grand way to do it.
Tough love? They made lotsa mistakes & Barrett forgot how to convert tries. They need another goal-kicker as plan B. Well, at least two others in the team but they decided against trying them!
Oops didn’t read yours before I commented .
Inept captaincy and coaching more like it . Keep barrett if they must but find another kicker to play at 15 or 12 ffs. And change plans if you are losing
Did enjoy the match though much better than a runaway win to watch .
The All Blacks don’t “lose in style.” Are you suggesting they deliberately chose to entertain rather than go for the win?
Clearly they walk and chew gum at the same time.
That is what they are paid for.
Chewing gum? Not advisable when playing football.
Neither is walking. I think Ad knew that…
I love Hugh Hamilton such a thoughtful journalist. Glad he the one asking Chris Hedges the questions in this shameless self promotion (tongue firmly in cheek there – just in case you want to be a spiteful literalist.) Video is 26 minutes long, and at 13:50 min in Hugh throws a great question at Chris which was well researched and wonderfully put.
Be warned from RT america, so all the wallflowers who can’t handle anything outside the official narrative might want to avoid.
Two further spies identified – and this time arrested – in relation to the Skirpal poisoning case.
Full minute-and-day breakdown of the events of the poisoning to date in this article:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12126103
They were probably on holiday. Again.
Doesnt make sense .
“Swiss publication Tages Anzeiger and Dutch paper NRC have reported that the two men, who have yet to be identified, were arrested back in March and detained in The Hague before being extradited back to Russia.”
You dont get extradited back to your own country, its called deported. Why would this be a ‘secret’ and only revealed now ?
Arrested back in March ? Where was that if they were ‘detained in the Hague’
Extradition involves a custody transfer.
And if they were facing charges in the Netherlands, an extradition request for something trumped up to be more serious might be a way for Russia to get them back. Not to mention other deals that might have happened.
Jimmy Dore: “Sixth graders know better than this.”
Glenn Greenwald schools a CNN dolt.
Funny. A guy who runs lies about England funding ISIS, that he cannot even begin to substantiate, larding the Standard with flake news.
?????
Idiot.
Liar, Morrissey.
Barefaced and unrepentant liar.
Unless you actually have some evidence?
And you want to post stuff about journalism 101? When your source material is made up? Hypocrite.
The other day you ignorantly and crassly dismissed Noam Chomsky and Mark Curtis as “weird.” Now you’re calling Glenn Greenwald “flake news.”
It’s better to remain silent, etc.
You would do well to take your own advice you lying piece of shit.
I’ve read a bit of Chomsky in my time – even his largely discredited linguistic work.
But I haven’t run across evidence that England funds ISIS as you claim.
It is for you to produce such evidence, having made the fatuous claim.
Pretending to scholastic values you do not meet does not absolve you of this responsibility.
Pony up real evidence Morrissey, or retract your lie.
And all the crazy edifice you’ve built upon it.
[I realize that as a fundamentally dishonest person you rely on misrepresenting others – but the flake news to which I refer on this occasion is this buffoon Jimmy Dore – who seems to offer more in the way of emoting than reporting, suitable for a gossip show perhaps, but not meeting the basic requirements of his much repeated “journalism 101”]
This tick Munro makes a couple of enormous claims he probably can’t back up.
I’ve read a bit of Chomsky in my time –
One doubts that. Anyone who calls Chomsky “weird” has not read him.
even his largely discredited linguistic work.
Discredited? By whom? The late not so great Tom Wolfe?
https://tenor.com/view/youreanidiot-gif-9582575
Remember Mr Munro advocates for war in Syria and the Ukraine.
Despite no knowledge of the topic matter.
He would fit well on Slater’s site.
Actually Ed, I advocate peace in those countries.
But that gets in the way of Putin’s global ambitions.
Which you support uncritically.
Funny kind of Leftist you are – though your instincts nearer home are not so bad.
When does it get to the stage where the above and below ‘prove’ that one of youse fellas has a considerably, considerably, CONSIDERABLY larger cock than the other, whilst that other is able to posit that they are considerably, considerably, CONSIDERABLY more well-read than yea?
I’m not sure which of youse fellas is witch
Is it provable anyway?
Please, EXPOSE yourselves. We’ll all be impressed in a Kardashian kind of way
Whoar eh?
I ‘spose it’s all a bit entertaining in a sadistic sort of way. I’m certainly amused but at the same time ready to opt-the-fuck-out of it all as soon as my nanna nap is next due
Way to minimize a serious geopolitical issue.
Massive South African racist and child bride, Heather Duplicity Allan, doubles down on her appalling comments.
This woman is now pretending she wasn’t talking about Pacific Islanders themselves, rather their representatives. This sort of desperate and false backtrack reminds me of Jordan Peterson’s work. Peterson will say something school-boyish and outrageous and be called on it, only for his white, pimply defenders to claim he’s been misinterpreted.
Duplicity-Allan is on a tightrope right now and I for one hope she falls off it.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018662440/broadcaster-stands-by-pacific-islands-leeches-claim
“Child bride”? What drugs are you on?
I mean, I actually agree with the rest of your post pretty much, but the opening line cheapens it.
Meh. It’s descriptive of the 33 year age gap. She 25 and he 58 when they married. A bit odd.
She’s his third wife, btw.
Why do you even know that?
Why do you think it matters at all?
How is it relevant to her pretty awful comments about the Pacific Islands?
It’s common knowledge.
It adds to the portrait of her and Soper as a RW political hit squad.
There’s something weird about the relationship so it follows there something weird about her thinking.
Is your wife a lot younger than you, or something? If so I don’t mean any offence to you personally, just Duplicity.
Dude, it is irrelevant to the specifics of my personal life. It just smacks of the panty-sniffing puritans who think that what goes on in other people’s bedrooms is their business.
You know what’s weird about HDPA’s thinking? The way she called the Pacific Islands “leeches” that “don’t matter”. Isn’t that enough?
I think it’s relevant to know about the people ruling us and also the people delivering us opinion.
Perhaps you’d like Trump’s immoral attitude to women, and use of hookers to be off limits and sacrosanct?
Personal is personal until it impinges on the public.
A fundy conservative politician privately contradicting the policies they support in public? Fair game. Because the hypocrisy is of public interest.
And yeah, dolt-45 with women by itself is of no public interest. But breaking campaign laws to pay off said women? It’s the breaking of campaign laws that was interesting. Dolt-45 with hookers pissing on a bed Obama slept in? One could stretch that it goes to the motives behind some of the Orange One’s policies, but it’s titillation only – until it becomes possible material that’s being used to blackmail him. Then it’s a US security issue.
None of that applies to HDPA.
It’s not “ammo”. It’s just you cheapening a good point with irrelevant panty-sniffing. If that’s the biggest way a NZ reporter/columnist is “weird”, we’re bloody lucky.
Edit: unfortunately, it’s not, because HDPA’s comments were bloody weird.
She uses her unorthodox marriage to Soper as a promotional tool and there are several articles on it. There’s a case the marriage itself is part of her campaign given the wedding was in parliament. How weird is that?
Given her naked ambition to be a RW shock jock I’d say her unorthodox marriage is fair game.
What campaign?
Two colleagues met, hooked up, and got married where they work, because where they work is an interesting place. Hell, they might even have sold stories to the weekly rags. None of this is actually a negative or a vulnerability to target, and all of it is irrelevant to the objectionable shit she actually said.
I’m getting the distinct impression that somehow you think “weird” and “unorthodox” are bad things that makes racist comments even worse.
In addition, I believe Duplicity Allan is carefully constructing her image as a Mark Richardson type. A peddler of controversy for the sake of it. For clicks, ears, attention, and dollars.
We don’t need any more of this type of divisive tabloid behaviour in this country, there’s enough of it already.
So I’ll fight her and her type whenever I see it with whatever ammo I can lay my hands on.
Thank you.
Wow, so you have an issue with people who choose partners with age gaps and to boot may have more than one partner in their lifetime.
Maybe a little too personal in the insults department Muttonbird??
There’s age gaps and there’s age chasms.
And multiple marriages suggests poor judgement and poor commitment.
and of course there is that whole ‘daddy figure’ thing.
Probably the good thing is that one day she’ll probably wake up, and it’ll all become a NZonAIr funded, Julie Christie-produced TV show
ROFL!!!!!!!!!!! Naughty, naughty OWT.
If I was rating Tova O’Brien as a political reporter she wouldn’t even get on the board. Very bad disrespectful questioning of Jacinda A. Interrupting answers and all but calling her a liar. Simon is looking and sounding even more desperate. Even if there is a bit of dissension in the Coalition it’s not going to stop them getting the job done.
Sarah Abdallah nails it on Twitter.
“Italy is right. If Sarkozy, along with Cameron, Obama and Hillary, didn’t bomb and destroy Libya, handing it to jihadists who now sell human beings in open slave markets, there wouldn’t be a refugee crisis destabilizing Europe today.”
Hezbollah’s still looking for their sympathiser, who may or may not be who they say they are.
/
All for the outside bombing of Gaddafi’s forces in Libya. No argument against. The off-loading of a rider is everyone’s cause. What happens after is at least progression.
Mark Curtis, British historian, exposes the lies of the corporate media.
“Guardian agit-prop to stop Corbyn and reimpose militarist neoliberalism is now relentless. I count around 40 anti-Corbyn ‘anti-semitism’ stories on Guardian website in past 4 weeks alone. The paper’s top story. Its agenda could hardly be clearer.”
The Guardian?! Which we all expand to ‘of liberty’. Disgusting.
Putting a minor detail (and no, he’s not an anti-Semite) before a great matter (the rule of the people). Disgusting.
Kia ora Te am show Well its good to hear a unbiased option on The Labour lead Coalition Governments show of Mana yesterday . YEA RIGHT .When The am show was touring around Aotearoa you changed your views like you changed your undies one minute red next blue with no idea of your real opinion the cash from the capitalist flowing into your pockets dictates your opinion
You’s don’t give a toss about your mokopuna’s or OUR mokopunas future thinking about that phenomenon is way out of there intellectual capability’s.
.simon what have you got 2 people cutting holes in your canoe no WOW factor national has run all our state sector’s to near bankruptcy if they were not state organizations they will have all ended up broke .
I can not see one person in national being able to stand up and deliver a society that has a wealthy healthy happy and equal sustainable future. Your crew only look after the wealthy everyone else are sheep we have seen this with our own eyes 2 of your biggest fan cashed in there capital gains got a new whare with $7.5 million left to take all there luggage on holiday .
Thats cool under our new Government Leader’s Alcohol consumption has dropped crime is dropping and % 90 of people are happy Te Tangata Whenua are getting the Mana and respect we deserve for OUR Te reo and culture.
With te sport on the weekend Eco Maori knows how the western system works enough said .
Duncan is that all you can dredge up diarydack dune he is a pro national flag waver
who’s toilet sunk yesterday. Discount his old fossil views for he is directly responsible for the mess that our new government has to clean up.
Ka pai Phil Goff the home less need to be housed some people think its OK just part of there ideal capitalist system wealthy first and foremost.
The way the system is set up now poor people can not get a hire education like we could before student loans ie free education was scrapped why because the poor educated tangata were holding the powers that be to account speaking out taking them to court ect the wealthy could not have that so they scrapped a free education
Ka kite ano P.S remember Eco Maori can sink any toilet
Here the reality of what shonky & CO have done our free speech and media
link below
And stuffed OUR country it will take 10 years to clean up shonkys mess
Ana to kai ka kite ano
PU KANA Ana to kai ka kite ano
It is social media that is leveling out the political field in Aotearoa its has been used to peddle lies in other country’s we were lucky we are down under I’E it took 5 years for Cambridge analytica to get here now we can counter there pro alt right neo liberal capitalist 00.1 % proper-gander money distorting our fair just Democratic society of Aotearoa . Ka kite ano
Eco Maori is sure our scientist predicted this snow in Te Wai Pounmu & sunbathing in Te Ika a Maui ka kite ano P.S we will have a mean skiing season tourism will be pumping.
Eco Maori can not get a job because every-time I go for employment the sandflys play a atua’s role and interfere with my potential employers reality on Eco Maori its hard enough being middle-aged and Maori as well as having the muppets for 17 years interfear in ones life. Kia Kaha to all Kiwis of Aotearoa. ka kite an .
P.S I have a job keeping all the capitalist neo liberal Human caused Climate Change deniers/ spinners in check
Many thanks to Stuff for this which proves what I have been saying about a corrupt
JUSTICE SYSTEM’S IN Aotearoa link is below thanks national now you know why I will sink shonkys toilet ana to kai ka kite ano
https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/2018/09/unseen/
Another link below for the above story.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/107025400/call-for-inquiry-into-problematic-police-use-of-private-investigators
The way Eco Maori see this is Japan does not need the whale meat or the industry to have cause to be justifiable to carry on Killing Tangaroa’s beautiful Creatures .
What’s there motive ITS A SHOW OF POWER JAPAN CAN DO WHAT IT WAN’TS.
But know the rest of Papatuanuku is going to stop them these creatures are endangered Ana to kai ka kite ano link is below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/14/whaling-vote-australia-tells-japan-it-has-lost-argument-for-killings
Eco Maori did say that NIKE was not stupid link below ka kite ano.
http://www.euronews.com/2018/09/11/what-boycott-nike-sales-are-31-percent-kaepernick-campaign-n908251
Here is a good read words from the political party leader’s on the great election results.
Link is below Ka kite ano
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/09/16/237145/stardust-and-substance-the-2017-election-through-politicians-eyes-1
Here’s a good yarn on how x national PM treat’s there voters lose play poker with hundred of kiwi money and lives LINK IS BELOW I first seen the story on the national party proper-gander machine the herald FROM NOW ON ECO MAORI IS boycotting there website no more links to that and 2 of there writers have pushed there bullshit to far so Eco Maori will sink there toilets with no shame. Ka kite ano P.S sheep we are in there eyes
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/107130930/former-mainzeal-director-dame-jenny-shipley-defending-reckless-trading-allegations
willie shaw is a lieing puppet for the national party I would take what he has to sell about weed control as bull teko he will be trying to push products such as Round up or Glyphosate based weed killing products . he is the type of person who will let te mokopunas applie these killer chemicals and not blink a eye I.E that he knows that the effects will be bad for them link below ka kite ano
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/@environment/2018/09/09/226801/a-billion-trees-and-a-trillion-weeds
Here you go the wealthy getting more than there fair share of Aotearoa they should pay more in tax’s to fix up the mess there national m8 made in there efforts to hand them our money link below ka kite ano
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/107139617/richlisters-wealth-grows-sixfold-in-two-decades-much-faster-than-rest-of-economy
My opinion on the subject of Wahine Equality in all aspects of employment and management is a inbuilt prejudice of the systems as well as old men blocking the pathway up for wahine I have a good link below Ka kite ano
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/sep/29/women-better-off-far-from-equal-men
Kia ora Newshub its snowing hard in Queens Town it would really beneficial for people to install solar power with a backup battrie $9 k and no more power cuts no more big power bills SouthIsland people .
It’s cool that we are seeing a big group of volunteers counting the homeless these poor people are a effect of our society many thanks to you all kia kaha .
Cat’s are companion but if they are not well cared for the soon turn into predators and they are deadly hunters mic chips a bell and spading is a good thing a lot of our unique native birds are endangered its cool that we are working with Papatuanuku.
There you go you can not trust many studies of anything you have to trace the links the researcher has to the product’s manufacture to see if there is cheating going on in the name of proffets
Those power polls in Otago don’t look very safe company’s milking the consumer is a culture that needs to be changed in Aotearoa.
The Lion’s jellie fish looks beautiful but it has hundred’s of sting’s I remember the days when I was first stung by a electric ray I was 12 first time I had seen one and of course I was told to grab it next minute I was jumping up and down while they laughing at me lol its just a shock like a electric fence . Ka kite ano P.S Ingrid your te reo was ka pai last week
The Crowd Goes Wild James and Mulls I did not realize that David was going to give one of our favorite sports a serve.
That’s a good win for the young fella in the cars that’s a huge cup he could have a swim in that one.
I would not enter your studio at the minute why because I would get wet from all the tears.
James my baby son is the same weight as you loves the jim to but I cannot get into sweating unless I make money for my efforts may be soon tho.
There is some thing unusual for OUR other watersports stars maybe the hoste are not treating them with respect we know that some countrys wealthy take that soprts very seriously .
Ka kite ano P.S 5 days to get a new test team up to form is a hard task and ask Mulls hows the Rock best rock song run comp going kia kaha guy;s