Policy.nz summarises every single policy released by the major parties, making it easy for voters to compare. More than 410,000 people have now visited the site and picked their favourites from among the nearly 2,000 policies we’ve published.
But is the statue of Colin Meads in Te Kuiti historic?? He's still alive, so I reckon not. Road signs with capital letters as big as a hand-span alert drivers heading north & south to where it can be found, and such civic care & attention to worshippers is indeed heart-warming, but I wonder how long it will take for woke activists to get there & do their eliminating…
is that I don't like the wording, good intention though. 'Less create, get a plan to provide' and actually have the word 'DO' in it. No paralysis by analysis. My guru Yoda says 'No try – just Do'. Obviously there has to be a plan, and that could be – Utilise all the present programs that are suitable and have been monitored and show good effect, and if they are keen have them put forward method and priorities and amalgamate them all, and have them carry out training, then compare their success rate, and include the trainees in the process for their opinion as to their success or note, and rejig things.
Get started, refine the practice with the trainees understanding that they are part of the study, and they will feel proud and put their best in. Only a year would see a huge change in attitudes throughout the actual working people at the coalface (new word needed for that). The workers are carrying the country forward and supporting the oldies, the young ones deserve our respect and support.
So Do That, Greens and prove your wokeness where it is crucial. (And to keep our irony level up for mental health, here is a collection of random opinions about what 'woke' means from the Urban Dictionary.) https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=woke
Ah hah. Well I register my vote for Do and make it fit for purpose, and include the trainers and trainees and listen to them and work out quickly a practical way forward that they will all trial, and report on. Then they will all Own the project, which means that they will all feel that it includes their own ideas and wishes, and that they have 'Skin in the game'.
Kate Raworth, the British economist who invented "doughnut economics", spoke via Zoom to a candidates' debate in Freemans Bay last week.
Raworth's doughnut is a ring that describes the relationship between our standards of living and our use of the world's resources. Inside the ring – in the doughnut hole – it is not possible to live well; outside the ring, we squander resources and ruin the planet.
We prosper and are in balance with the world when we live within the inner and outer limits of the doughnut. The aim of economics in the 21st century, said Raworth, must be to find a way to get there and stay there. But the Covid crisis has made inequalities worse. "We see it in gender and race, in class and in power." Doughnut economics, said Raworth, offers "a compass for humanity".
She says she doesn't have all the answers. No one does. Reducing our use of resources means reducing growth, and in conventional terms that creates poverty. But Raworth is not put off. "It's never been done before, but we have to work out how to do it. This is a new science, it's not even 10 years old." In fact, Raworth does have some answers. She's consulting to the city of Amsterdam on its post-Covid rebuild, and several other cities, including Los Angeles and Berlin, have also been inspired by her thinking as they plan their rebuild. I'll write more on this soon.
I hope he elucidates. Is her framing just a superficial rehash of sustainability? Or does it actually go beyond that, to provide strategic policy frameworks??
So you haven't noticed Rod Oram doing it recently? You do realise that the academic discipline economists are trained in was originally defined as political economy?? Before they attempted to emulate the divorce from the real world that physicists succeeded in accomplishing.
Not all economists prefer abstract irrelevance. Some are motivated to make the discipline useful. That means outlining political implementation strategies…
Not sure what the relevance is of the history of economics as a discipline other than showing off your expert knowledge of said topic in order to establish your intellectual superiority in this thread. I’m impressed.
Of course, an ascetic of Praxis would describe economic theory as “abstract irrelevance”; you failed to apply both/and logic, again.
"Is there any room to move in Ardern's point-blank rejection of both the Greens' wealth tax and a capital gains tax?"
Good article in other ways, but pity Wilson didn't answer that question. Is there a way now that Labour can agree to some kind of capital gains taxation? Or have they locked themselves, and us, out?
Ditto any kind of wealth tax, let alone the Green's.
"Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has moved to try to kill off National's claims she would bow to the Green Party's wish for a wealth tax by saying she would not implement a wealth tax as long as she is Prime Minister.
It is a step further than she has gone before – her previous comments on it related to the next term."
There’s very little wriggle room here, which is a pity because I doubt that the wider NZ political scene will be better disposed to the introduction of a significantly more progressive tax system again in my lifetime. A lost opportunity, IMHO.
Faith is like melting snow on rocks forming a little trickle that turns into a mountain stream, small, chaotic, disappearing between and underneath rocks. But it gains volume and strength and becomes a steady flow and then a giant river that can transport ships when it nears the sea. Have faith 🙂
Internal polling must say that the contested chunk of 'centre' voters with mortgages don't like it. And I bet the finance industry has been leaning on pollies too.
Could be strategy – clear point of difference between the Green and Labour parties? Hopefully the Greens will be in parliament and continue to advocate for a wealth tax. Careful fine-tuning may get the number of NZers in favour up to a clear majority – in this poll 53% of decided voters were is favour of a larger increase in tax paid by wealthy NZers than Labour is proposing.
Uncertainties include whether the climate for change will be any more favourable in three years' time, and whether Labour will continue to act as a handbrake in order to secure a third term.
"But perhaps the Greens have actually hit the jackpot.
The Newshub-Reid Research poll asked voters if Labour should have gone further in taxing the wealthiest New Zealanders.
Opinion was split, but more voters – 48.7 percent – said yes while 43 percent said no and 8 percent didn't know.
A majority of Labour's own voters – nearly 60 percent – wanted them to go further, while a third of National voters think so too."
Probably polling (going for the "govern alone" target), but it might also be a caucus/party-stalwart issue as well. Stamping hard on the idea certainly made JuCo's obseesion with it look stupid.
DTB's idea of a referendum to clear the way is a good 'un, but I also wonder if there are similar tax moves that haven't been ruled out, e.g. shifting the bright line on home investments and suchlike. Greens can leverage them in negotiations, circumstances permitting.
But Tova's announcement of the Reid Research poll this morning shows a widening gap and the fear-mongering has obviously become contagious amongst the hitherto undecided. Gangsters will be delighted that the nation’s conservatives still want to preserve their monopoly of the market…
Thinking about change needed re cannabis et al. 50 shades of grey!
Oh, oh we are being asked what we think. (We don't, we just react.)
It's so hard to read through all the stuff about cannabis – it's so dangerous, and it will have so many consequences if we agree to a change. (We mustn't have change.)
If we agree to change, who knows where this thinking business will end. Having done it once, government will be asking us about everything next. (What do we have gummint for and pay them all that money – how dare they ask us to do their jobs.)
We might get drug-deranged people come and live nextdoor, and that would be horrible. (We know how bad that can be from reports from one Standardista about what his elderly parents are suffering.)
Everything will get worse if people aren't under prohibition; it's not good now, so 'they' will get totally out of control. That's what all of us who try to live good lives think, and we don't want to hear any more about differing opinions, it's all greenwash! So there!
"Gangsters will be delighted that the nation’s conservatives still want to preserve their monopoly of the market… " You need to get out more Dennis, P is where the gangs are focused and have been for many years now.
Cannabis isn’t the business it used to be anymore as it's everywhere and anyone can grow it whereas P gives them repeat business.
Police would likely welcome a refocus of scarce resources to combat P so if it doesn’t pass then it’s job done scaremongers, NZMA, Key etc
From the article, "Before legalisation in 2002, the Netherlands had some of the lowest suicide rates in Europe. For a period of 4-5 years after legalisation, that rate continued to fall, in line with what had previously been happening. However, from 2007, the rates started increasing dramatically and, over the next 10 years, increased by a staggering total of 33 per cent."
I found this news chilling, the Netherlands is looking at extending euthanasia to 1-12 year olds. How long until we are considering this?
Can you please make a comparison between NZ and the Netherlands and qualify how long it will take? I think it would be asking too much ask if I were also to ask for your figures showing that euthanasia of 1-12 year olds is cheaper than hospice care but this is a separate issue anyway.
That's a flip, throwaway comment about the very young rates Morrissey. Please don't treat this important issue as an opportunity for a quip, not in a public discourse. How you talk to your friends and family can be a comment in passing, but on here it 'sticks in the throat'.
Then make your case on how the Netherlands compares to NZ. So far, all you have done is a throwaway comment that lacks context and nuance, no critical analysis or any thought from you.
If you think this debate is important and if you want to contribute, you’d better sharpen up!
"In 2018, altogether 1,829 people in the Netherlands took their own lives, which is 88 fewer than in 2017. The number of suicides declined among young people aged 10 to 19 years, from 81 in 2017 to 51 in 2018. The number went up slightly among persons aged 20 to 39 years and among female residents." https://www.cbs.nl/en-gb/news/2019/26/fewer-suicide-deaths-in-2018
From 1995 to 2006 the the Netherland’s suicide rate was between 9.5 and 10.7 per 100,000. In 2018 (the most recent year for which data is given in the link), the rate was 10.6 per 100,000.
The decrease in 2018 means the suicide rate is back at the 2012 level of 10.6 per 100,000. In the 1980s the rate was as high as 14.6 per 100,000 (for 1984).
There is a fundamental difference between suicide and euthanasia, which commenters here have completely ignored so far, for some reason. I think it is misleading to put the two in one sentence as if they are somehow similar or equal.
I wasn't trying to conflate the two issues. One can have an impact on another though.
In the article by Dion Howard he says "In the early stages of the End of Life Choice debate in Parliament, I noticed something shocking: the young people I was working with were rehearsing the very-same arguments used by those supporting euthanasia – autonomy, dignity and compassion – and applying them to their own situations."
Then "In my mind, I understand that assisted dying and suicide can, in principle, be distinguished from each other. That point is often made. But my real-life experience, and that of others in the field of mental health support, is that there is a huge potential for what the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention has called “overlap cases”.
All good, nothing personal. Although there is, of course, overlap and points of connection, I personally think we’ll have a better chance at constructive and positive debate if we keep the two separate, at least at the outset.
“I found this news chilling, the Netherlands is looking at extending euthanasia to 1-12 year olds.”
“How long until we are considering this? ”
Well considering under the rules ..those poor children are suffering unbearable pain and are terminally ill…
I hope we are considering it as soon as possible.
But then I don’t form opinions based on listening to my imaginary friend.
It would be good if we could live a life as fully as possible but people have to learn how to appreciate what they have to do that. We had a good life with opportunities for social mobility and advancement but for various reasons we gave up on that.
People can feel they have had a full life and choose to die at an early age if matters deterioratel for them. In fact when someone has gone through a process of personal and family/friends resignation and legal organisation, they are often happier without care for the future. Enjoy the life you have is the answer, and put some money aside to give to refugees in foreign countries – whether economic or fleeing violence.
That helps to give perspective about one's own situation.
I would rather, we as a society, were talking about what a life lived as fully as possible looks like and how to achieve it.
How would someone who is either drugged out of their mind so that they can't do anything or in so much pain that they can't do anything going to live their life fully?
Ideally the pursuit of a meaningful life has begun before being stupified with drugs or in chronic pain.
As a start, learning mastery of the monkey mind. Putting the mind to task and being able to still or calm the mind. Instead of following it on one of its loops on high rotation.
Artificially prolonging a life by hooking someone up to a respirator—yes, it is reasonable to call that torture. Of course nature should be allowed to take its course in those cases. But to kill someone is something else entirely. And why are doctors expected to have to do the killing?
You’re like a bull in a China shop. What do you know about the Hippocratic Oath and euthanasia? Very little, by the sounds of it. Are you familiar with medical ethics? It doesn’t look that way.
A one year old has to do less work than we do, it is only just starting to have an idea of self. Far less of an ego to overcome, still mostly a universal being.
"Or how about if, even if 12 years old, has a mind of a 4 month old and its never going to get any better?"
Better? As good as you are?
"Or has a disease so debilitating that they cannot move by themselves?
Do you think these people are going to be learning simple breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, tai chi? To live a more full life?"
If they do, they will be able to able to discern between pain and suffering.
The police are breeding specially for the genes with the chase impulse in their recruits. It is a closely guarded secret. It is planned that it will be as innate in the traffic police, as it is in dogs chasing cats. (I have heard this through the grapevine.)
How's this for mature, responsible response in transport control!
Hermione McKeich says she was driving in a 100km/h zone between Melling and Petone, north of Wellington city, when the terrifying experience happened without warning.
She told RNZ's David Reid that four men in a small truck laughed as they crashed into her small Mazda, using their vehicle as a weapon against her.
I have had a small experience of reporting bad behaviour and it being belittled. My complaint was followed up, but the perp had some excuse and the matter was just dismissed.
Well, yes. I'm a Driver and Cyclist. Some of the fwits on our roads are mind boggling. Biking…Ive had them come so close the Campervan side mirror nearly hit me, cars "purposely" similar…Anyway it certainly makes you Situationally Aware. Re reporting…was it *555?
And an FYI (for The Interested) I support our NZ Police. They have an, at times difficult/hazardous job. I honestly feel that some of the pursuit chases they have engaged in were unnecessary/dangerous.
A kind and thoughtful man in Nelson developed a springy device that a cyclist could fit on the hub or the seat, can't remember. It stuck out to the legal width of spacing for cyclist's safety. I think it had a little yellow flag drawing attention to that outer line. They didn't sell, it was withdrawn. But maybe it needs to be recalled as judging distance is hard for drivers.
Ah yea that would work. But sadly, maybe only for the kind and thoughtful Driver? I was talking to some German/Swiss/Dutch Cyclists (pre Covid) and they said they had never struck so many seemingly angry/aggressive Drivers. They had the Hi Vis gear and Vis flags on upright flexi poles. One of the guys , sick of being passed so close, did like you said and mounted it off to right. He said some morons were actually going past trying to grab it !?
Oh and re your link with lady being rammed? Far out…they were prob P'd up. She def shouldnt been chasin them. Slack Police, aye..
We have always had hoons but I think a prolonged period of teaching not to be concerned about others, just be an individual and go for it, has meant many young males (and females) in NZ have become anti-social and angry 'white trash'. There isn't a better term for them. These people come from families where there isn't a lot of philosophical thought! Nor religion, of a kind that promotes kind thought and good sharing community. And when there are insufficient jobs that go on a regular basis, there is opportunity to get drugged or liquored up and amuse themselves. And then when there is testing for drugs before you can get a job, there is a really vicious circle.
The Vicious Cycle: Why the Poor Get Poorer
A vicious cycle (also known as a vicious circle) is when a chain of negative events reinforce themselves. The situation spirals in a downward loop, becoming increasingly worse with time.
Yea I would agree re hoons….they were probably racing horses back from the pub in the day….
And re "a prolonged period of teaching not to be concerned about others"? Could we call that the neolib nineties?
Gonna take a LONG time to heal us. Hope our New Govt takes on it board.
Re the Cycle thing…talking to Dutch (born on a bike : ) and other Euro/Scandinavian Cyclists, its just a whole different mindset. In Holland if a car has an incident with a cyclist the onus is on the Driver to prove they weren't in the wrong. Aside from that they look more…
"The authority believes that the circumstances of this pursuit highlight the assistance pursuit controllers would gain from the greater use of technology to give access to accurate and comprehensive "real time" location and speed data," it said.
More cameras and RADAR connected to an AI to estimate route and best place to apprehend the criminals would be the only way for this to work. Such will, inevitably, result in people whinging about the excessive use of surveillance by the police.
The IPCA has come out with a statement about the use of more technology so as to help prevent these kinds of pursuit and death happening again.
But, as we've seen time and time again on here, almost everyone complains about the use of technology by the police to catch criminals. Calling it Orwellian and excessive and that the police shouldn't be able to watch everyone's every move despite the fact that its public information.
Thing is, I suspect that the statement by the IPCA is actually propaganda to help sell the idea of the police having more cameras and RADAR.
Yea I wasnt focusing too much on the IPCA…as they are well known for "nothing to see here,move along".
It probably is more to do with Andrew Becroft calling it…
Commissioner Becroft said if it's known young people are more likely to be killed or harm others as a result of a police pursuit, then the policy of chasing them should change.
He referenced a previous report from NZ Police which showed that between 2014 and 2017, police pursuits resulted in 22 deaths, five of which were of children under the age of 18.
"It's good that Police have been working on a culture change and training recruits in the dangers involved with chasing young drivers," he said on Friday.
I used to be on "another political site" where the majority were in favour of chasing and indeed if it led to the young kids death then "good". Even when the poor buggers were burnt to death….Fuck those kind of ghouls…..
The Show Trial of Julian Assange carries on, virtually ignored by New Zealand's government and media
The Israeli-American human rights activist Miko Peled says early in this video: "What I find terribly troubling is the fact that so few journalists are actually standing up for him."
Hopefully, after the election, Jacinda Ardern will find the courage to speak out about this obscene persecution.
True. But does Andrew Little have to be so craven as he was the other day when backing the Trump regime's demand to make phone data available to the likes of Mike Pompeo and his cronies?
…The Department of Internal Affairs requested information from the council in August following rising tensions between elected members, and at times, with staff…
It followed feedback from many of the 450 businesses the chamber represents and concerns also raised by the Department that several high profile capital projects – including the multi-million dollar city block development – were testing the capacity of the council to provide strong, unified leadership.
The Chamber believed there was a vacuum in leadership around the council table and many councillors didn't understand their governance role, he said…
How does the Department of Internal Affairs itself shape up? I can't remember what recent reports on their behaviour and usefulness have shown.
But it is inevitable that there will be disputes up and down the country as government entities bow to private interests. Bureaucracy has a lot of power and publicly elected councillors may say something is an 'operational matter' or be neutered by other interests, apart from any ineptness they show themselves. The civil servants/bureaucracy may just concentrate on efficiencies and projects that local governments in similar areas have introduced as modern, whatever those at the receiving end think. Then there is the high level of salary to the CEO and top managers and recruitment of overseas or neo-lib-soaked 'change agents' ushering in new approaches like weather bombs before moving away to their next target.
The Newshub-Reid Research poll asked voters if Labour should have gone further in taxing the wealthiest New Zealanders. Opinion was split, but more voters – 48.7 percent – said yes while 43 percent said no and 8 percent didn't know.
A majority of Labour's own voters – nearly 60 percent – wanted them to go further, while a third of National voters think so too.
But here's a surprise: a quarter of the Greens' supporters think the wealthy should not be taxed further.
I'm not one. I'd like to see a journo interview the Greens co-leaders about that though. See how they handle the news that a quarter of the Greens support base disagrees with the principle underlying the wealth tax policy. My guess is that they would carefully explain that GP policy research didn't discover that fact. They may then add that some deep thought may be required post-election…
Yep. All good pc-drones know minorities must be included in democratic process. Why oh why did they make the elementary mistake of not discovering such a huge minority before designing the policy?? That's what they'll be bemoaning now. Shock horror, reach for the smelling salts…
Relax Dennis – don't have a binary! The key follow-up question for that 25% minority is: "Would you swallow this 'progressive wealth tax rat' and party vote Green anyway?" Maybe the Green party drones did their research after all, but forgot to inform you of the results you – can't think why
There's a big difference between agreeing that the wealthy should bear a greater taxation burden and agreeing with the proposed wealth tax.
I'd like to know how much, if any, focus group work was done on the wealth tax policy outside their own circle. A lot of un-necessary discussion has happened that shouldn't have happened in the last week of a campaign. Although the Green Party's polling went up in the final polls, whether that was because of the tax policy or despite it probably can't be answered.
I don't think the poll was on the WT, but Labour taxing wealthy people more.
That we're having this conversation at all is a credit to the Greens, no matter what kind of solutions we end up with for social security, and the housing crisis. Now we can have a wide ranging public conversation about fairness and how to create it.
Desperate headline from Tova. The only knife edge is Labour getting a majority of seats – 61. The Greens are on 6.3% and 8 seats, so Labour has mates. No path to victory for National and ACT. Labour clearly the winner.
Now a trust to preserve and maintain this is something I could contribute to. Does make me wonder though how many writers retreats there are around New Zealand?
I'd rather a trust own it than the state because future governments can't be "trust"ed to not sell it off for a later profit – just like Waikato University is doing so.
Chancellor Neil Quigley told Stuff it would be selling the home, used by many creatives and academics as a holiday home and a writers’ retreat.
The only thing stopping it from going on the open market, would be if the King family bought the house back.
But the property’s price tag is now in the millions and serious maintenance is required. Daughter Rachael King said she needs some assistance to preserve the site.
Headline still on site as having been put there an hour ago. Page missing, so been pulled. Sounds to me like the filthy yarn has been doing the rounds again. Also the accompanying photo of Jacinda looks suspicious. Think its been tampered with or it isn’t Jacinda.
I loved Newshub's description of the final poll tonight as a 'nailbiter'. The only nailbiting thing was whether Labour can govern alone (which the Reid Research Newhub poll suggests they could, just, with 61 seats) or whether it's an arrangement with the Greens. Labour 46, Nat 31, Act 7, Green 6 is very consistent with CB's last couple of polls. Tova says tomorrow night is going to be incredibly exciting – but it won't be really, at least not in the sense of a cliffhanger. Just a few stories around the edges of the main narrative. Obviously she wants viewers to tune in.
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Happy New Year! No, experts are not concerned that “…one of New Zealand’s COIVD-1( vaccines will fail to protect the country” Here is why. But first I wish to issue an expletive about this journalism (First in Australia and then in NZ). It exhibits utter failure to actually truly consult ...
All nations have shadows; some acknowledge them. For others they shape their image in uncomfortable ways.The staunch Labour supporter was in despair at what her Rogernomics Government was doing. But she finished ‘at least, we got rid of Muldoon’, a response which tells us that then, and today, one’s views ...
Grigori GuitchountsIn November, Springer Nature, one of the world’s largest publishers of scientific journals, made an attention-grabbing announcement: More than 30 of its most prestigious journals, including the flagship Nature, will now allow authors to pay a fee of US$11,390 to make their papers freely available for anyone to read ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gary Yohe, Henry Jacoby, Richard Richels, and Benjamin Santer Imagine a major climate change law passing the U.S. Congress unanimously? Don’t bother. It turns out that you don’t need to imagine it. Get this: The Global Change Research Act of 1990 was passed ...
“They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”WHO CAN FORGET the penultimate scene of the 1956 movie classic, Invasion of the Body Snatchers? The wild-eyed doctor, stumbling down the highway, trying desperately to warn his fellow citizens: “They’re here already! You’re next! You’re next! You’re next!”Ostensibly science-fiction, the movie ...
TheOneRing.Net has got its paws on the official synopsis of the upcoming Amazon Tolkien TV series. It’s a development that brings to mind the line about Sauron deliberately releasing Gollum from the dungeons of Barad-dûr. Amazon knew exactly what they were doing here, in terms of drumming up publicity: ...
Since Dwight Eisenhower’s inauguration in 1953, US presidents have joined an informal club intended to provide support - and occasionally rivalry - between those few who have been ‘leaders of the free world’. Donald Trump, elected on a promise to ‘drain the swamp’ and a constant mocker of his predecessors, ...
For over a decade commentators have noted the rise of a new brand of explicitly ideological politics throughout the world. By this they usually refer to the re-emergence of national populism and avowedly illiberal approaches to governance throughout the “advanced” democratic community, but they also extend the thought to the ...
The US House of Representatives has just impeached Donald Trump, giving him the dubious honour of being the only US President to be impeached twice. Ten Republicans voted for impeachement, making it the most bipartisan impeachment ever. The question now is whether the Senate will rise to the occasion, and ...
Kieren Mitchell; Alice Mouton, Université de Liège; Angela Perri, Durham University, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of MunichThanks to the hit television series Game of Thrones, the dire wolf has gained a near-mythical status. But it was a real animal that roamed the Americas for at least 250,000 ...
Tide of tidal data rises Having cast our own fate to include rising sea level, there's a degree of urgency in learning the history of mean sea level in any given spot, beyond idle curiosity. Sea level rise (SLR) isn't equal from one place to another and even at a particular ...
Well, some of those chickens sure came home bigly, didn’t they… and proceeded to shit all over the nice carpet in the Capitol. What we were seeing here are societal forces that have long had difficulty trying to reconcile people to the “idea” of America and the reality of ...
In the wake of Donald Trump's incitement of an assault on the US capitol, Twitter finally enforced its terms of service and suspended his account. They've since followed that up with action against prominent QAnon accounts and Trumpers, including in New Zealand. I'm not unhappy with this: Trump regularly violated ...
Peter S. Ross, University of British ColumbiaThe Arctic has long proven to be a barometer of the health of our planet. This remote part of the world faces unprecedented environmental assaults, as climate change and industrial chemicals threaten a way of life for Inuit and other Indigenous and northern ...
Susan St John makes the case for taxing a deemed rate of return on excessive real estate holdings (after a family home exemption), to redirect scarce housing resources to where they are needed most. Read the full article here ...
I’m less than convinced by arguments that platforms like Twitter should be subject to common carrier regulation preventing them from being able to decide who to keep on as clients of their free services, and who they would not like to serve. It’s much easier to create competition for the ...
The hypocritical actions of political leaders throughout the global Covid pandemic have damaged public faith in institutions and governance. Liam Hehir chronicles the way in which contemporary politicians have let down the public, and explains how real leadership means walking the talk. During the Blitz, when German bombs were ...
Over the years, we've published many rebuttals, blog posts and graphics which came about due to direct interactions with the scientists actually carrying out the underlying research or being knowledgable about a topic in general. We'll highlight some of these interactions in this blog post. We'll start with two memorable ...
Yesterday we had the unseemly sight of a landleech threatening to keep his houses empty in response to better tenancy laws. Meanwhile in Catalonia they have a solution for that: nationalisation: Barcelona is deploying a new weapon in its quest to increase the city’s available rental housing: the power ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters, PhD The 2020 global wildfire season brought extreme fire activity to the western U.S., Australia, the Arctic, and Brazil, making it the fifth most expensive year for wildfire losses on record. The year began with an unprecedented fire event ...
NOTE: This is an excerpt from a digital story – read the full story here.Tess TuxfordKo te Kauri Ko Au, Ko te Au ko Kauri I am the kauri, the kauri is me Te Roroa proverb In Waipoua Forest, at the top of the North Island, New ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Coming attraction: IPCC's upcoming major climate assessmentLook for more emphasis on 'solutions,' efforts by cities, climate equity ... and outlook for emissions cuts in ...
Ringing A Clear Historical Bell: The extraordinary images captured in and around the US Capitol Building on 6 January 2021 mirror some of the worst images of America's past.THERE IS A SCENE in the 1982 movie Missing which has remained with me for nearly 40 years. Directed by the Greek-French ...
To impact or not to impeach? I understand why some of those who are justifiably aghast at Trump’s behaviour over recent days might still counsel against impeaching him for a second time. To impeach him, they argue, would run the risk of making him a martyr in the eyes of ...
The Capitol Building, Washington DC, Wednesday, 6 January 2021. Oh come, my little one, come.The day is almost done.Be at my side, behold the sightOf evening on the land.The life, my love, is hardAnd heavy is my heart.How should I live if you should leaveAnd we should be apart?Come, let me ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Jan 3, 2021 through Sat, Jan 9, 2021Editor's ChoiceAfter the Insurrection: Accountability, Reform, and the Science of Democracy The poisonous lies and enablers of sedition--including Senator Hawley, pictured ...
This article, guest authored by Prof. Angela Gallego-Sala & Dr. Julie Loisel, was originally published on the Carbon Brief website on Dec 21, 2020. It is reposted below in its entirety. Click here to access the original article and comments. Peatlands Peatlands are ecosystems unlike any other. Perpetually saturated, their ...
The assault on the US Capitol and constitutional crisis that it has caused was telegraphed, predictable and yet unexpected and confusing. There are several subplots involved: whether the occupation of the Michigan State House in May was a trial run for the attacks on Congress; whether people involved in the ...
On Christmas Eve, child number 1 spotted a crack in a window. It’s a double-glazed window, and inspection showed that the small, horizontal crack was in the outermost pane. It was perpendicular to the frame, about three-quarters of the way up one side. The origins are a mystery. It MIGHT ...
Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)Will the COVID-19 pandemic prompt a shift to healthier cities that focus on wellness rather than functional and economic concerns? This is a hypothesis that seems to be supported by several researchers around the world. In many ways, containment and physical distancing ...
A growing public housing waiting list and continued increase of house prices must be urgently addressed by Government, Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson said today. ...
[Opening comments, welcome and thank you to Auckland University etc] It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. This is a moment many feared would never come, but ...
The Government is providing $3 million in one-off seed funding to help disabled people around New Zealand stay connected and access support in their communities, Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni announced today. The funding will allow disability service providers to develop digital and community-based solutions over the next two ...
Border workers in quarantine facilities will be offered voluntary daily COVID-19 saliva tests in addition to their regular weekly testing, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. This additional option will be rolled out at the Jet Park Quarantine facility in Auckland starting on Monday 25 January, and then to ...
The next steps in the Government’s ambitious firearms reform programme to include a three-month buy-back have been announced by Police Minister Poto Williams today. “The last buy-back and amnesty was unprecedented for New Zealand and was successful in collecting 60,297 firearms, modifying a further 5,630 firearms, and collecting 299,837 prohibited ...
The Government has released its Public Housing Plan 2021-2024 which outlines the intention of where 8,000 additional public and transitional housing places announced in Budget 2020, will go. “The Government is committed to continuing its public house build programme at pace and scale. The extra 8,000 homes – 6000 public ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has congratulated President Joe Biden on his inauguration as the 46th President of the United States of America. “I look forward to building a close relationship with President Biden and working with him on issues that matter to both our countries,” Jacinda Ardern said. “New Zealand ...
A major investment to tackle wilding pines in Mt Richmond will create jobs and help protect the area’s unique ecosystems, Biosecurity Minister Damien O’Connor says. The Mt Richmond Forest Park has unique ecosystems developed on mineral-rich geology, including taonga plant species found nowhere else in the country. “These special plant ...
To further protect New Zealand from COVID-19, the Government is extending pre-departure testing to all passengers to New Zealand except from Australia, Antarctica and most Pacific Islands, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The change will come into force for all flights arriving in New Zealand after 11:59pm (NZT) on Monday ...
Bay Conservation Cadets launched with first intake Supported with $3.5 million grant Part of $1.245b Jobs for Nature programme to accelerate recover from Covid Cadets will learn skills to protect and enhance environment Environment Minister David Parker today welcomed the first intake of cadets at the launch of the Bay ...
The Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and the Prime Minister of the Cook Islands Mark Brown have announced passengers from the Cook Islands can resume quarantine-free travel into New Zealand from 21 January, enabling access to essential services such as health. “Following confirmation of the Cook Islands’ COVID ...
Jobs for Nature funding is being made available to conservation groups and landowners to employ staff and contractors in a move aimed at boosting local biodiversity-focused projects, Conservation Minister Kiritapu Allan has announced. It is estimated some 400-plus jobs will be created with employment opportunities in ecology, restoration, trapping, ...
The Government has approved an exception class for 1000 international tertiary students, degree level and above, who began their study in New Zealand but were caught offshore when border restrictions began. The exception will allow students to return to New Zealand in stages from April 2021. “Our top priority continues ...
Today’s deal between Meridian and Rio Tinto for the Tiwai smelter to remain open another four years provides time for a managed transition for Southland. “The deal provides welcome certainty to the Southland community by protecting jobs and incomes as the region plans for the future. The Government is committed ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has appointed Anna Curzon to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). The leader of each APEC economy appoints three private sector representatives to ABAC. ABAC provides advice to leaders annually on business priorities. “ABAC helps ensure that APEC’s work programme is informed by business community perspectives ...
The Government’s prudent fiscal management and strong policy programme in the face of the COVID-19 global pandemic have been acknowledged by the credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch has today affirmed New Zealand’s local currency rating at AA+ with a stable outlook and foreign currency rating at AA with a positive ...
The Government is putting in place a suite of additional actions to protect New Zealand from COVID-19, including new emerging variants, COVID-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “Given the high rates of infection in many countries and evidence of the global spread of more transmissible variants, it’s clear that ...
$36 million of Government funding alongside councils and others for 19 projects Investment will clean up and protect waterways and create local jobs Boots on the ground expected in Q2 of 2021 Funding part of the Jobs for Nature policy package A package of 19 projects will help clean up ...
The commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Battle of Ruapekapeka represents an opportunity for all New Zealanders to reflect on the role these conflicts have had in creating our modern nation, says Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Kiri Allan. “The Battle at Te Ruapekapeka Pā, which took ...
Babies born with tongue-tie will be assessed and treated consistently under new guidelines released by the Ministry of Health, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Around 5% to 10% of babies are born with a tongue-tie, or ankyloglossia, in New Zealand each year. At least half can ...
At an antagonistic hearing yesterday, the internet giant laid out the ‘worst case scenario’. And Facebook is also considering an ‘amputation’. Hal Crawford was watching.Google is poised to hit self-destruct in Australia according to a fractious Senate hearing into an unprecedented law that will force digital giants to pay money ...
It’s great to hear Phil Twyford celebrating a success. Not a personal ministerial success, it’s fair to say, but a success nevertheless related to arms control. The arms on which Twyford is focused, it should be noted, will make quite a mess if they are triggered. They tend to be ...
Duncan Greive and Leonie Hayden were young hip hop heads and music journalists during the era captured in a new documentary about the rise and fall of South Auckland hip hop label Dawn Raid. Here they discuss the film and their memories (what’s left of them) of that time. Warning: contains ...
Houses might be the most popular and inflated purchases in New Zealand, but there are plenty of other products that are seeing soaring demand and prices over the past few months. Here’s a list of what New Zealanders are spending their money on with international travel out of the picture.Used ...
"The young boy leaps, the muscles in his thighs tensing and twisting as he lifts from the handrail": the noble art of bombing, by Pātea writer Airana Ngarewa A beautifully muscled boy is posted on the side of a pool, his feet fixed to the top of a pair of ...
How Waiwera Hot Pools went from New Zealand’s most visited water park to dereliction and decay. Many who grew up in Auckland likely have fond memories of Waiwera Hot Pools. Like me, they remember summer days spent racing down the slides and playing in the naturally hot pools. But how did ...
A government contract for a P rehab programme was canned after half a million dollars of taxpayer money was given out. Aaron Smale investigates. The Ministry of Health spent over half a million dollars on a P Rehab contract before pulling the pin because there were no results or progress reports. ...
Kia Koropp and her husband John Daubeny have been cruising the Pacific, Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean over the past decade with their two children onboard their 50ft yacht, Atea. Starting in 2011 from Auckland, New Zealand, they have sailed more than 64,000 kilometres and just completed their longest ...
We are drowning out the natural world with synthetic sounds, and it’s getting worse, writes Michelle Langstone.It used to be quiet once. Remember that? Remember the hush that settled over the cities like the silence that comes down in a snowstorm? It’s less than a year since Aotearoa first locked ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey and Leonie Hayden in the latest episode of On the Rag as they examine the topic of boobs from every possible angle. First published November 16, 2020.Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its ...
Seventy-five years after the US detonated the first nuclear tests in the Pacific, New Zealand pledges its support to Joe Biden's first tentative step towards disarmament. Today, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons comes into effect, making it illegal for New Zealand and the 50 other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Terry, Professor of Psychology, University of Southern Queensland The challenge of bringing the world’s best tennis players and support staff, about 1,200 people in all, from COVID-ravaged parts of the world to our almost pandemic-free shores was always going to be ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoffrey Browne, Research Fellow in International Urban Development, University of Melbourne The Victorian government has committed to removing 75 road/rail level crossings across Melbourne by 2025. That’s the fastest rate of removal in the city’s history. The scale of the investment — ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW In an age of hyperpartisan politics, the Biden presidency offers a welcome centrism that might help bridge the divides. But it is also Biden’s economic centrism that offers a chance to cut through what has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Stevens, Lecturer in History, University of Waikato In a year of surprises, one of the more pleasant was the recent runaway viral popularity of 19th century sea shanties on TikTok. A collaborative global response to pandemic isolation, it saw singers and ...
The sudden departure of Graine Moss from her Chief Executive role at Oranga Tamariki is a vital first step in a sequence of changes that must take place at the Ministry according to a group of wahine Māori leaders. Dame Naida Glavish, Dame Tariana Turia, ...
A new poem from Dunedin poet Jenny Powell.Her uncle’s eyeShe introduced us to her uncle’s eye floating in a jar.Lost in an accident, he hadn’t wanted to lose it again. He left it to her in his will.We must have looked shocked. ‘Don’t worry,’ she said. ‘I turn him to ...
The chief executive of Oranga Tamariki is quitting, leaving behind an agency she’s admitted suffers from structural racism. Justin Giovannetti looks at the future of Oranga Tamariki.Grainne Moss’s tenure as head of Oranga Tamariki has been untenable since November when the government’s senior Māori minister wouldn’t express any confidence in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Sainsbury, Senior Lecturer Composition, Australian National University Despite having different cultural backgrounds and experiences — Indigenous composers with an Indigenous mentor, and a pianist descended from Anglo-colonial history — it is nevertheless possible to create a project that can serve as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Plank, Professor in Applied Mathematics, University of Canterbury With new, more infectious variants of COVID-19 detected around the world, and at New Zealand’s border, the risk of further level 3 or 4 lockdowns is increased if those viruses get into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Hogg, Lecturer in Psychology, Charles Sturt University Horse racing is an ethical hotbed in Australia. The Melbourne Cup alone has seen seven horses die after racing since 2013, and animal cruelty protesters have become a common feature at carnivals. The latest ...
Right now, our most fiery national debate is over whether New Zealanders were nice to the singer Amanda Palmer in a café. Desperate to restore peace in our nation, Hayden Donnell went in search of the truth.Joe Biden had barely finished calling for unity when Amanda Palmer posted a tweet ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut (Pushkin Press, $37)Maths, cyanide, suicide, gardening; ye ...
Wellington artist Estère isn’t just breaking boundaries, she’s dissecting them. Maddi Rowe spoke to her about her new album, Archetypes.“That’s the story of pelicans, they’ll stab themselves in the heart to feed their young.”Despite the somewhat dark subject matter, Estère Dalton’s eyes sparkle with fascination. We’ve met to discuss Archetypes, ...
Cycling advocates are welcoming new advice from the Transport Agency on safe cycling. "Cyclists hate it when drivers pass too close. That's scary and dangerous," said Patrick Morgan from Cycling Action Network. "So it's encouraging to see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tilman Ruff, Honorary Principal Fellow, School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne Today, many around the world will celebrate the first multilateral nuclear disarmament treaty to enter into force in 50 years. The UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear ...
The Public Service Association welcomes the creation of a Chief Executive role to lead the public service’s pay equity work, and the appointment of Grainne Moss to this position. "Unions and public service employers are currently working ...
The Council of Trade Unions is warning that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures out today illustrate that the cost of living is increasing disproportionately for those on lower incomes; resulting in the poor getting poorer. CTU Economist Craig ...
Why are there so many offensive comments on the New Zealand Police Facebook page and are they breaking the law? Janaye Henry investigates. New Zealand Police Facebook pages – there are a number of them, for different regional police districts around the country – are an interesting place to spend ...
Our guide to stopping procrastinating and actually (finally) getting on top of investing. Because there’s a good chance that if you’re reading this, you don’t know a single thing about it.In part one, we covered some of the basic things you need to know about investing – why do it? ...
Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft acknowledges the huge effort and commitment of departing Oranga Tamariki Chief Executive Grainne Moss and says her decision to resign today was principled. “The issues facing Oranga Tamariki are beyond individual ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Two Large Waves versus One Tsunami. Chart by Keith Rankin. Two Large Waves versus One Tsunami. Chart by Keith Rankin. With Covid19, Italy shows the classic European pattern, with its early outbreak, substantial recovery thanks to lockdowns and other public health measures, and resurgence thanks to complacency ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabrielle Appleby, Professor, UNSW Law School, UNSW This year has already seen significant progress in the government’s commitment to establish a body – a “Voice” – that would allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have a say when the government ...
Northland farmer Derek Robinson was sentenced earlier today by the District Court in Whangarei for two offences of ill-treating animals at rodeo events. Mr Robinson was found guilty in November last year, following a defended hearing. The charges ...
Under fire Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss has announced she will resign, effective February 28, Marc Daalder reports After four and a half years at the helm of child protection agency Oranga Tamariki, chief executive Grainne Moss has announced she will be leaving the position at the end of ...
The Department of Internal Affairs and New Zealand Police acknowledge the sentencing of 36-year-old Aaron Joseph Hutton on charges relating to the possession of child sexual exploitation material, and entering into a dealing involving the sexual exploitation ...
Ngā Tāngata Microfinance (NTM) is calling for tougher penalties for those caught promoting pyramid schemes. Such business models are illegal under the Fair Trading Act 1986. This call comes after the Commerce Commission issued a ‘stop now’ notice ...
British High Commissioner to New Zealand Laura Clarke is calling on young women aged 17 to 25 to apply for the annual ‘Be British High Commissioner for the Day’ competition. The winner will have the opportunity to become an ‘honorary High Commissioner’, ...
The Māori Party is welcoming the resignation of Oranga Tamariki chief executive Grainne Moss after sustained pressure from leading figures within the Māori Party. This resignation is the result of the continued strong pressure of the Māori Party ...
In a historic corner of Dunedin, startup culture is thriving. Catherine McGregor visited the city’s Warehouse Precinct to meet the people driving the movement. When Jason and Kate Lindsey bought the four storey building now known as Petridish, it was an absolute wreck. Once home to a thriving hat and textiles ...
Summer reissue: The Fold’s very first guest is back to tell Duncan Greive how she pulled off the media deal of the year.The chaotic couple of weeks which finally saw the end of the Stuff-NZME saga were riveting and strange, replete with stock exchange announcements, legal challenges and finally the ...
Chris Liddell has dropped his candidacy to become director-general of the Paris-based OECD. Without support from the Ardern government and vilified in the media as somehow being involved in the encouragement by Donald Trump of the Washington riots, he plainly saw he had little chance of crowning his stellar career ...
Tara Ward hands out her first impression roses as she dives deep into the sea of single men vying to win The Bachelorette NZ’s heart. While the world burns in a searing fireball of unpredictability, we can take comfort in the fact that some things never change. The heart still yearns, ...
People from all around New Zealand will be converging on the super-secret Waihopai satellite interception spybase, in Marlborough, on Saturday January 30th. ...
In its Thursday editorial the NZ Herald speaks an important truth: “Investment important to stay on track”. This won’t have startled its more literate readers but in its text it notes the strong result in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, which prompted Westpac to raise its forecast for dairy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Mark, Professor, Faculty of International Studies, Kyoritsu Women’s University With the spread of COVID-19 steadily worsening in Japan since the onset of winter — daily records for infections and deaths continue to be broken — the fate of the Tokyo Summer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adam Taylor, Early Career Research Leader, Emerging Viruses, Inflammation and Therapeutics Group, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University All eyes are on COVID-19 vaccines, with Australia’s first expected to be approved for use shortly. But their development in record time, without compromising ...
Yesterday’s government announcement on new state housing is a pathetic response to the biggest housing crisis in New Zealand since the 1940s. At a time when the country needs an industrial-scale state house building programme, the government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Obadiah Mulder, PhD Candidate in Computational Biology, University of Southern California Australia is in the midst of tropical cyclone season. As we write, a cyclone is forming off Western Australia’s Pilbara coast, and earlier in the week Queenslanders were bracing for a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lynette Vernon, School of Education – VC Research Fellow, Edith Cowan University When the holidays end, barring a fresh outbreak of COVID-19, teenagers across Australia will head back to school. Some will bounce out of bed well before the alarm goes off, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW In an age of hyperpartisan politics, the Biden presidency offers a welcome centrism that might help bridge the divides. But it is also Biden’s economic centrism that offers a chance to cut through what has become ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour, Queensland University of Technology Twenty years ago, on January 25 2001, a virtually unknown German supermarket chain quietly opened its first stores in Australia. The two stores – one in Sydney’s inner-west suburb of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liz Giuffre, Senior Lecturer in Communication, University of Technology Sydney Bluey is easily the most successful Australian television show of the last decade. A record-breaking success for its local broadcaster the ABC, as well as production partners BBC Studios and Screen Australia, ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permissionIt will take $3 million to clean up 1 million litres of abandoned toxic waste from a property in Ruakaka - three times more than the last big chemical clean-up undertaken by government agencies A two-year mission to clean up 1 million ...
*This article first appeared on RNZ and is republished with permission. The action Biden took on just his first afternoon in office demonstrates a radical shift in priority for the US when it comes to its efforts to combat the climate crisis. It could put more pressure on New Zealand to step up. ...
Ban Bomb Day event at the New Brighton Pier, 9am, on January 22nd, 2021 January 22nd, 2021, marks the first day the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) Enters into Force and becomes international law. Aotearoa NZ is one of the ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan New Zealand bestseller list and described by Steve BrauniasFICTION 1 Tell Me Lies by J.P. Pomare (Hachette, $29.99) Every January, there's a new best-selling crime thriller by the New Zealand-born author who lives in Melbourne. Pomare is ...
Our approach so far in trying to end what Dr Collin Tukuitonga describes as a 'racist' disease - rheumatic fever - has not worked. It's time we try something new, he writes. Acute rheumatic fever and the rheumatic heart disease it causes, long-known as a disease of poverty, is a blight on ...
New Zealand triple-code star, Anna Harrison, can't stop returning to the courts - whether it's netball or beach volleyball. She tells Ashley Stanley what keeps drawing her back. The day before Anna Harrison leaps back into netball, she will have one more hit-out at another of her favourite old sports ...
The lights are burning into the night at the New York Yacht Club's America's Cup base as they race to fix their damaged boat. And Suzanne McFadden discovers something surprising may emerge. Out of American Magic’s calamity may come opportunity - for even more speed. While the lights burn bright ...
New to sailing? With the Prada Cup resuming this weekend, here’s how to bluff your way into sounding like a pro. When I was 10, my mum made my brother and I join the local sailing club. It was a favourite pastime of families in Kerikeri, and my brother was actually ...
A formal complaint to the UN, signed by a NZ Muslim group, says France’s Islamophobic laws and policies are entrenching discrimination and breaching human rights laws. The Khadija Leadership Network has joined a global coalition of Muslim organisations to formally complain about the French government’s systemic entrenchment of Islamophobia and discrimination against ...
Summer reissue: Join Michèle A’Court, Alex Casey, Leonie Hayden and a lineup of incredibly successful New Zealand women as they confront their imposter syndrome once and for all. First published 20 October, 2020. Independent journalism depends on you. Help us stay curious in 2021. The Spinoff’s journalism is funded by its members ...
With criticism from National piling on over the property market, the prime minister has detailed when the government will make housing announcements. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marco Rizzi, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Western Australia Some Australians could be receiving a COVID-19 vaccine within weeks. Amid the continued spread of the virus and emergence of highly contagious variants, the federal government has accelerated the start of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Euan Ritchie, Professor in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life & Environmental Sciences, Deakin University Australia’s Threatened Species Strategy — a five-year plan for protecting our imperilled species and ecosystems — fizzled to an end last year. ...
But is the statue of Colin Meads in Te Kuiti historic?? He's still alive, so I reckon not. Road signs with capital letters as big as a hand-span alert drivers heading north & south to where it can be found, and such civic care & attention to worshippers is indeed heart-warming, but I wonder how long it will take for woke activists to get there & do their eliminating…
"But is the statue of Colin Meads in Te Kuiti historic?? He's still alive, so I reckon not
'
Colin Meads died 3 years ago – sheesh
Oops, obviously I missed that news!
Brilliant self-elimination!
Shoelaces a challenge.
Watch out for those bold assertions Dennis – too many wrong ones and we will stop paying attention to you!
My comment on the Greens favoured policy:
Create a plan to provide training for new clean energy jobs.
is that I don't like the wording, good intention though. 'Less create, get a plan to provide' and actually have the word 'DO' in it. No paralysis by analysis. My guru Yoda says 'No try – just Do'. Obviously there has to be a plan, and that could be – Utilise all the present programs that are suitable and have been monitored and show good effect, and if they are keen have them put forward method and priorities and amalgamate them all, and have them carry out training, then compare their success rate, and include the trainees in the process for their opinion as to their success or note, and rejig things.
Get started, refine the practice with the trainees understanding that they are part of the study, and they will feel proud and put their best in. Only a year would see a huge change in attitudes throughout the actual working people at the coalface (new word needed for that). The workers are carrying the country forward and supporting the oldies, the young ones deserve our respect and support.
So Do That, Greens and prove your wokeness where it is crucial. (And to keep our irony level up for mental health, here is a collection of random opinions about what 'woke' means from the Urban Dictionary.) https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=woke
actually have the word 'DO' in it. No paralysis by analysis
I wrote Greens policy on exactly that basis. I saw standard leftist language as defective, so set out to declare intent for exactly that reason.
Needless to say, subsequent Green policy writers reverted to type. Not quite as blatant with the weasel words as Labour, mind you!
Ah hah. Well I register my vote for Do and make it fit for purpose, and include the trainers and trainees and listen to them and work out quickly a practical way forward that they will all trial, and report on. Then they will all Own the project, which means that they will all feel that it includes their own ideas and wishes, and that they have 'Skin in the game'.
Simon Wilson asks
I hope he elucidates. Is her framing just a superficial rehash of sustainability? Or does it actually go beyond that, to provide strategic policy frameworks??
Both/and logic applies!
And most people have heard of her work by now, rendering such basic questions stale and pointless.
They haven't been answered in this forum, have they? You could prove that you're not just full of hot air if you provided the answers, eh?
Sealion away, good man.
Never heard of that, but found a few insights here:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/marshallshepherd/2019/03/07/sealioning-is-a-common-trolling-tactic-on-social-media-what-is-it/#197a2d467a41
Couldn't discern any from those competing meanings that applied to me, so I guess you're one of them people who misreads others on social media…
Has been deployed here more than a few times – sound familiar? http://wondermark.com/1k62/
No-one has all the answers Dennis, but the concept is attractive. "Mmm, donuts."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughnut_(economic_model)
She’s an economist and you’re demanding her to provide “strategic policy frameworks” for whom? For the doughnut-loving National Party of New Zealand?
Has she considered fashioning a donut from mackerel? Ocean-faring mammals need to know.
So you haven't noticed Rod Oram doing it recently? You do realise that the academic discipline economists are trained in was originally defined as political economy?? Before they attempted to emulate the divorce from the real world that physicists succeeded in accomplishing.
Not all economists prefer abstract irrelevance. Some are motivated to make the discipline useful. That means outlining political implementation strategies…
From Drowsy M. Kram’s link @ 2.1.1.1.2:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doughnut_(economic_model)#Real_World_Economies_in_the_Doughnut_Perspective
Not sure what the relevance is of the history of economics as a discipline other than showing off your expert knowledge of said topic in order to establish your intellectual superiority in this thread. I’m impressed.
Of course, an ascetic of Praxis would describe economic theory as “abstract irrelevance”; you failed to apply both/and logic, again.
So many bigly words, so little meaning.
"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man."
Yeah, sorry about that. When in Rome, eat pizza.
"Is there any room to move in Ardern's point-blank rejection of both the Greens' wealth tax and a capital gains tax?"
Good article in other ways, but pity Wilson didn't answer that question. Is there a way now that Labour can agree to some kind of capital gains taxation? Or have they locked themselves, and us, out?
Ardern has locked the Labour party out of supporting a CGT while she's leader:
Ditto any kind of wealth tax, let alone the Green's.
There’s very little wriggle room here, which is a pity because I doubt that the wider NZ political scene will be better disposed to the introduction of a significantly more progressive tax system again in my lifetime. A lost opportunity, IMHO.
Don’t look down on detail, look up at the bigger picture and the endless sky. Don’t lose faith.
My faith is weak – I'm clinging to hope and a misquote.
Faith is like melting snow on rocks forming a little trickle that turns into a mountain stream, small, chaotic, disappearing between and underneath rocks. But it gains volume and strength and becomes a steady flow and then a giant river that can transport ships when it nears the sea. Have faith 🙂
But has the public spoken on a CGT or just the rich?
I don't seem to recall a referendum on it and that would be the only way to know.
Internal polling must say that the contested chunk of 'centre' voters with mortgages don't like it. And I bet the finance industry has been leaning on pollies too.
That's what I'm thinking but that's just a small portion of the country and not everyone.
Perhaps the Greens, after the election, should push for a referendum on it at the next election. Then we'd have the public speaking on it.
"Internal polling must say that the contested chunk of 'centre' voters with mortgages don't like it."
Would be interesting to see how much that changes if the tax was explained properly, both who it would affect and what it would fund.
There was a poll out today saying that 50% of NZers were in favour of a wealth tax.
Labour know which side their bread is buttered on though. For now at least.
A well-led public conversation would help, yes.
yep. She's ruled out a "GCT" and a "wealth tax", but is there any way that Labour can come back from this?
Don't know why she went that step further on the WT. Maybe their internal polling had them worried?
Could be strategy – clear point of difference between the Green and Labour parties? Hopefully the Greens will be in parliament and continue to advocate for a wealth tax. Careful fine-tuning may get the number of NZers in favour up to a clear majority – in this poll 53% of decided voters were is favour of a larger increase in tax paid by wealthy NZers than Labour is proposing.
Uncertainties include whether the climate for change will be any more favourable in three years' time, and whether Labour will continue to act as a handbrake in order to secure a third term.
Probably polling (going for the "govern alone" target), but it might also be a caucus/party-stalwart issue as well. Stamping hard on the idea certainly made JuCo's obseesion with it look stupid.
DTB's idea of a referendum to clear the way is a good 'un, but I also wonder if there are similar tax moves that haven't been ruled out, e.g. shifting the bright line on home investments and suchlike. Greens can leverage them in negotiations, circumstances permitting.
huge amount of wriggle room. its done all the time. very similar policy, with a couple of tweaks, call it something else and tadah!.
Chris Trotter's advocacy for yes in the cannabis referendum comes out of a fictional tv character – used to provide plausible deniability, no doubt.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2020/10/fitz-on-cannabis.html
But Tova's announcement of the Reid Research poll this morning shows a widening gap and the fear-mongering has obviously become contagious amongst the hitherto undecided. Gangsters will be delighted that the nation’s conservatives still want to preserve their monopoly of the market…
"bugger"
Thinking about change needed re cannabis et al. 50 shades of grey!
Oh, oh we are being asked what we think. (We don't, we just react.)
It's so hard to read through all the stuff about cannabis – it's so dangerous, and it will have so many consequences if we agree to a change. (We mustn't have change.)
If we agree to change, who knows where this thinking business will end. Having done it once, government will be asking us about everything next. (What do we have gummint for and pay them all that money – how dare they ask us to do their jobs.)
We might get drug-deranged people come and live nextdoor, and that would be horrible. (We know how bad that can be from reports from one Standardista about what his elderly parents are suffering.)
Everything will get worse if people aren't under prohibition; it's not good now, so 'they' will get totally out of control. That's what all of us who try to live good lives think, and we don't want to hear any more about differing opinions, it's all greenwash! So there!
"Gangsters will be delighted that the nation’s conservatives still want to preserve their monopoly of the market… " You need to get out more Dennis, P is where the gangs are focused and have been for many years now.
Cannabis isn’t the business it used to be anymore as it's everywhere and anyone can grow it whereas P gives them repeat business.
Police would likely welcome a refocus of scarce resources to combat P so if it doesn’t pass then it’s job done scaremongers, NZMA, Key etc
Dennis what was the Reid Research poll released by Tova this morning?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/10/nz-election-2020-new-poll-shows-increased-support-for-no-vote-in-cannabis-referendum.html
I'm expecting the main poll to headline their news tonight…
that's very disappointing.
Ian, they use different topics from the same poll (yesterday's) to seed multiple stories.
Sorry, I stand corrected. Poll from overnight, not yesterday.
In regards the euthanasia referendum this article touched on an issue that adds to the reservations I have with what is proposed:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/euthanasia-debate/123070527/would-legal-assisted-dying-add-to-our-dire-suicide-figures
From the article, "Before legalisation in 2002, the Netherlands had some of the lowest suicide rates in Europe. For a period of 4-5 years after legalisation, that rate continued to fall, in line with what had previously been happening. However, from 2007, the rates started increasing dramatically and, over the next 10 years, increased by a staggering total of 33 per cent."
I found this news chilling, the Netherlands is looking at extending euthanasia to 1-12 year olds. How long until we are considering this?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54538288
the Netherlands is looking at extending euthanasia to 1-12 year olds. How long until we are considering this?
It won't be long. It's cheaper than actually providing hospice care.
Can you please make a comparison between NZ and the Netherlands and qualify how long it will take? I think it would be asking too much ask if I were also to ask for your figures showing that euthanasia of 1-12 year olds is cheaper than hospice care but this is a separate issue anyway.
That's a flip, throwaway comment about the very young rates Morrissey. Please don't treat this important issue as an opportunity for a quip, not in a public discourse. How you talk to your friends and family can be a comment in passing, but on here it 'sticks in the throat'.
Actually, I take with extreme seriousness the issue of people advocating for the "euthanising" of anyone, including young people.
Or do you trust the assurances about "safeguards" by that renowned moral philosopher David Seymour?
Then make your case on how the Netherlands compares to NZ. So far, all you have done is a throwaway comment that lacks context and nuance, no critical analysis or any thought from you.
If you think this debate is important and if you want to contribute, you’d better sharpen up!
From 1995 to 2006 the the Netherland’s suicide rate was between 9.5 and 10.7 per 100,000. In 2018 (the most recent year for which data is given in the link), the rate was 10.6 per 100,000.
The decrease in 2018 means the suicide rate is back at the 2012 level of 10.6 per 100,000. In the 1980s the rate was as high as 14.6 per 100,000 (for 1984).
Thank you.
There is a fundamental difference between suicide and euthanasia, which commenters here have completely ignored so far, for some reason. I think it is misleading to put the two in one sentence as if they are somehow similar or equal.
I wasn't trying to conflate the two issues. One can have an impact on another though.
In the article by Dion Howard he says "In the early stages of the End of Life Choice debate in Parliament, I noticed something shocking: the young people I was working with were rehearsing the very-same arguments used by those supporting euthanasia – autonomy, dignity and compassion – and applying them to their own situations."
Then "In my mind, I understand that assisted dying and suicide can, in principle, be distinguished from each other. That point is often made. But my real-life experience, and that of others in the field of mental health support, is that there is a huge potential for what the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention has called “overlap cases”.
All good, nothing personal. Although there is, of course, overlap and points of connection, I personally think we’ll have a better chance at constructive and positive debate if we keep the two separate, at least at the outset.
“I found this news chilling, the Netherlands is looking at extending euthanasia to 1-12 year olds.”
“How long until we are considering this? ”
Well considering under the rules ..those poor children are suffering unbearable pain and are terminally ill…
I hope we are considering it as soon as possible.
But then I don’t form opinions based on listening to my imaginary friend.
Imaginary friend? Big assumptions there, outofbed.
The line between suicide and euthanasia isn't blurred for you at all?
I would rather, we as a society, were talking about what a life lived as fully as possible looks like and how to achieve it.
It would be good if we could live a life as fully as possible but people have to learn how to appreciate what they have to do that. We had a good life with opportunities for social mobility and advancement but for various reasons we gave up on that.
People can feel they have had a full life and choose to die at an early age if matters deterioratel for them. In fact when someone has gone through a process of personal and family/friends resignation and legal organisation, they are often happier without care for the future. Enjoy the life you have is the answer, and put some money aside to give to refugees in foreign countries – whether economic or fleeing violence.
That helps to give perspective about one's own situation.
"It would be good if we could live a life as fully as possible but people have to learn how to appreciate what they have to do that. "
Showing gratitude is a great step in the right direction.
How would someone who is either drugged out of their mind so that they can't do anything or in so much pain that they can't do anything going to live their life fully?
Ideally the pursuit of a meaningful life has begun before being stupified with drugs or in chronic pain.
As a start, learning mastery of the monkey mind. Putting the mind to task and being able to still or calm the mind. Instead of following it on one of its loops on high rotation.
Sorry, missed the how part- simple breathing excercises, meditation, yoga, tai chi.
And if that person is less than a year old?
Or how about if, even if 12 years old, has a mind of a 4 month old and its never going to get any better?
Or has a disease so debilitating that they cannot move by themselves?
Do you think these people are going to be learning simple breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, tai chi? To live a more full life?
At what point do we call keeping them alive torture?
Artificially prolonging a life by hooking someone up to a respirator—yes, it is reasonable to call that torture. Of course nature should be allowed to take its course in those cases. But to kill someone is something else entirely. And why are doctors expected to have to do the killing?
Under the conditions I listed – no its not. Keeping them alive is enacting torture upon them.
Because they're the ones qualified to diagnose and to properly use the drugs needed to enact a painless death.
Allowing someone to die is very different to "enacting a painless death", which is a euphemism for killing that person.
And, as I am sure you know, doctors take the Hippocratic Oath, which forbids them killing a patient.
You’re like a bull in a China shop. What do you know about the Hippocratic Oath and euthanasia? Very little, by the sounds of it. Are you familiar with medical ethics? It doesn’t look that way.
A one year old has to do less work than we do, it is only just starting to have an idea of self. Far less of an ego to overcome, still mostly a universal being.
"Or how about if, even if 12 years old, has a mind of a 4 month old and its never going to get any better?"
Better? As good as you are?
"Or has a disease so debilitating that they cannot move by themselves?
Do you think these people are going to be learning simple breathing exercises, meditation, yoga, tai chi? To live a more full life?"
If they do, they will be able to able to discern between pain and suffering.
/facepalm
You really don't get it do you?
The ones I describe are never, ever going to have a fulfilling life because their life is torture.
And you want to continue torturing them.
I reckon I get it ok.
If you believe that having impaired thinking or movement is "torture", you are closer to eugenics attitudes than you may be comfortable acknowledging.
Please own your own idea of what fulfilment is rather than projecting it onto others.
I hope we are considering it as soon as possible.
???? What would you use? Poison? Gas?
Until you’re able to lift your game beyond your current puerile level, I think it might be better if you refrain from commenting and just listen.
"Fatal police pursuit should not have been started: IPCA"
https://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/fatal-police-pursuit-should-not-have-been-started-ipca
Well theres a first. How many of these Police pursuits (often through busy streets) are necessary/safe? Some think otherwise…
The police are breeding specially for the genes with the chase impulse in their recruits. It is a closely guarded secret. It is planned that it will be as innate in the traffic police, as it is in dogs chasing cats. (I have heard this through the grapevine.)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/428474/woman-rammed-repeatedly-on-motorway-shocked-by-police-response
How's this for mature, responsible response in transport control!
Hermione McKeich says she was driving in a 100km/h zone between Melling and Petone, north of Wellington city, when the terrifying experience happened without warning.
She told RNZ's David Reid that four men in a small truck laughed as they crashed into her small Mazda, using their vehicle as a weapon against her.
I have had a small experience of reporting bad behaviour and it being belittled. My complaint was followed up, but the perp had some excuse and the matter was just dismissed.
Well, yes. I'm a Driver and Cyclist. Some of the fwits on our roads are mind boggling. Biking…Ive had them come so close the Campervan side mirror nearly hit me, cars "purposely" similar…Anyway it certainly makes you Situationally Aware. Re reporting…was it *555?
And an FYI (for The Interested) I support our NZ Police. They have an, at times difficult/hazardous job. I honestly feel that some of the pursuit chases they have engaged in were unnecessary/dangerous.
A kind and thoughtful man in Nelson developed a springy device that a cyclist could fit on the hub or the seat, can't remember. It stuck out to the legal width of spacing for cyclist's safety. I think it had a little yellow flag drawing attention to that outer line. They didn't sell, it was withdrawn. But maybe it needs to be recalled as judging distance is hard for drivers.
Ah yea that would work. But sadly, maybe only for the kind and thoughtful Driver? I was talking to some German/Swiss/Dutch Cyclists (pre Covid) and they said they had never struck so many seemingly angry/aggressive Drivers. They had the Hi Vis gear and Vis flags on upright flexi poles. One of the guys , sick of being passed so close, did like you said and mounted it off to right. He said some morons were actually going past trying to grab it !?
Oh and re your link with lady being rammed? Far out…they were prob P'd up. She def shouldnt been chasin them. Slack Police, aye..
We have always had hoons but I think a prolonged period of teaching not to be concerned about others, just be an individual and go for it, has meant many young males (and females) in NZ have become anti-social and angry 'white trash'. There isn't a better term for them. These people come from families where there isn't a lot of philosophical thought! Nor religion, of a kind that promotes kind thought and good sharing community. And when there are insufficient jobs that go on a regular basis, there is opportunity to get drugged or liquored up and amuse themselves. And then when there is testing for drugs before you can get a job, there is a really vicious circle.
The Vicious Cycle: Why the Poor Get Poorer
A vicious cycle (also known as a vicious circle) is when a chain of negative events reinforce themselves. The situation spirals in a downward loop, becoming increasingly worse with time.
https://www.jumpstartyourdreamlife.com/vicious-and-virtuous-cycles/
Yea I would agree re hoons….they were probably racing horses back from the pub in the day….
And re "a prolonged period of teaching not to be concerned about others"? Could we call that the neolib nineties?
Gonna take a LONG time to heal us. Hope our New Govt takes on it board.
Re the Cycle thing…talking to Dutch (born on a bike : ) and other Euro/Scandinavian Cyclists, its just a whole different mindset. In Holland if a car has an incident with a cyclist the onus is on the Driver to prove they weren't in the wrong. Aside from that they look more…
Can't say that I've ever seen religion promoting that. War seems to be more of what religions cause instead.
It's just possible the vehicle owner has a 'glittering future' and is therefore immune to prosecution.
If a driver finds it hard to judge distance then they probably shouldn't be driving.
Thanks for the advice Mr Perfect.
Someone with such poor eyesight shouldn't be driving as it endangers others.
More cameras and RADAR connected to an AI to estimate route and best place to apprehend the criminals would be the only way for this to work. Such will, inevitably, result in people whinging about the excessive use of surveillance by the police.
Ah what? Is this a dig?
The IPCA has come out with a statement about the use of more technology so as to help prevent these kinds of pursuit and death happening again.
But, as we've seen time and time again on here, almost everyone complains about the use of technology by the police to catch criminals. Calling it Orwellian and excessive and that the police shouldn't be able to watch everyone's every move despite the fact that its public information.
Thing is, I suspect that the statement by the IPCA is actually propaganda to help sell the idea of the police having more cameras and RADAR.
Yea I wasnt focusing too much on the IPCA…as they are well known for "nothing to see here,move along".
It probably is more to do with Andrew Becroft calling it…
Commissioner Becroft said if it's known young people are more likely to be killed or harm others as a result of a police pursuit, then the policy of chasing them should change.
He referenced a previous report from NZ Police which showed that between 2014 and 2017, police pursuits resulted in 22 deaths, five of which were of children under the age of 18.
"It's good that Police have been working on a culture change and training recruits in the dangers involved with chasing young drivers," he said on Friday.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2020/10/children-s-commissioner-calls-for-police-pursuits-of-young-drivers-to-stop.html
I used to be on "another political site" where the majority were in favour of chasing and indeed if it led to the young kids death then "good". Even when the poor buggers were burnt to death….Fuck those kind of ghouls…..
Vox pop
The reasons for voting choice are many and often bizarre
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018768610/election-2020-any-regrets-from-people-voting-early
We really don't know how lucky we are.
The Show Trial of Julian Assange carries on, virtually ignored by New Zealand's government and media
The Israeli-American human rights activist Miko Peled says early in this video: "What I find terribly troubling is the fact that so few journalists are actually standing up for him."
Hopefully, after the election, Jacinda Ardern will find the courage to speak out about this obscene persecution.
You expect the NZ Government to comment on individual court cases overseas?
Of course. She's supposed to show leadership, and integrity.
Do you think New Zealand was wrong to speak out against the apartheid regime in South Africa?
Your man aint no Mandela.
Your man aint [sic] no Mandela.
There are of course many similarities. Mandela was also reviled, ridiculed, and labeled a "terrorist" by the U.S. and U.K. regimes.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36296551
Thank you.
I have no more questions.
Always a pleasure, Mr. Cognito.
Not while participating in 5-eyes.
Uncle Sam will sanction dissenters.
True. But does Andrew Little have to be so craven as he was the other day when backing the Trump regime's demand to make phone data available to the likes of Mike Pompeo and his cronies?
The NZ government often comments on international goings on , particularly if prompted by our 5Eyes partners
Its a human rights issue, and our govt has often issued "statements" on that matter though admittedly only when supporting US/UK stances
I thought my question was quite specific and clear. Obviously, my bad 🙁
There will always be more answers than questions..
Indeed, but very few answers to questions 🙁
It's what we get with international men of mystery.
The answer of course is "No"
None of us expects the government to comment on this individual overseas court case.
If it were to comment on this case, we know that such comment will have been dictated to it by the prosecuting country.
Your answer is almost correct except for the fact that some of us expect so, apparently 😉
Good move, good news.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/428477/success-of-rangatahi-courts-applauded-by-judges-and-minister
Critique of local Council not good, but may be good news if there is the right sort of improvement.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/428478/southland-businesses-concerned-about-invercargill-council
…The Department of Internal Affairs requested information from the council in August following rising tensions between elected members, and at times, with staff…
It followed feedback from many of the 450 businesses the chamber represents and concerns also raised by the Department that several high profile capital projects – including the multi-million dollar city block development – were testing the capacity of the council to provide strong, unified leadership.
The Chamber believed there was a vacuum in leadership around the council table and many councillors didn't understand their governance role, he said…
How does the Department of Internal Affairs itself shape up? I can't remember what recent reports on their behaviour and usefulness have shown.
But it is inevitable that there will be disputes up and down the country as government entities bow to private interests. Bureaucracy has a lot of power and publicly elected councillors may say something is an 'operational matter' or be neutered by other interests, apart from any ineptness they show themselves. The civil servants/bureaucracy may just concentrate on efficiencies and projects that local governments in similar areas have introduced as modern, whatever those at the receiving end think. Then there is the high level of salary to the CEO and top managers and recruitment of overseas or neo-lib-soaked 'change agents' ushering in new approaches like weather bombs before moving away to their next target.
Assange is just the last of a long line of heroes targeted by the U.K.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/margaret-thatcher-branded-anc-terrorist-while-urging-nelson-mandela-s-release-8994191.html
https://www.ellsberg.net/public-accuracy-press-release/
Looking like almost 2 million will have voted before the election day proper.
https://elections.nz/stats-and-research/2020-general-election-advance-voting-statistics/
National Party caucus on Monday?
Still laughing
Me too. That little pink thing is so purposeful, lol.
Her name is Nicola.
lol.
I'm not one. I'd like to see a journo interview the Greens co-leaders about that though. See how they handle the news that a quarter of the Greens support base disagrees with the principle underlying the wealth tax policy. My guess is that they would carefully explain that GP policy research didn't discover that fact. They may then add that some deep thought may be required post-election…
Oh noes, only three-quarters of Green supporters back the policy! That goose needs chasing..
Yep. All good pc-drones know minorities must be included in democratic process. Why oh why did they make the elementary mistake of not discovering such a huge minority before designing the policy?? That's what they'll be bemoaning now. Shock horror, reach for the smelling salts…
Relax Dennis – don't have a binary! The key follow-up question for that 25% minority is: "Would you swallow this 'progressive wealth tax rat' and party vote Green anyway?" Maybe the Green party drones did their research after all, but forgot to inform you of the results you – can't think why
😀
GP policy gets developed by active members. As I'm sure you know 😉
Out of the 60 people the poll spoke to who vote Green, 15 were oppose to taxing wealthy people more? What's the margin of error on that?
And what was the actual question?
So many people don't understand who the WT would affect and how. Betting the ratios change over time as it gets explained properly in the MSM.
There's a big difference between agreeing that the wealthy should bear a greater taxation burden and agreeing with the proposed wealth tax.
I'd like to know how much, if any, focus group work was done on the wealth tax policy outside their own circle. A lot of un-necessary discussion has happened that shouldn't have happened in the last week of a campaign. Although the Green Party's polling went up in the final polls, whether that was because of the tax policy or despite it probably can't be answered.
I don't think the poll was on the WT, but Labour taxing wealthy people more.
That we're having this conversation at all is a credit to the Greens, no matter what kind of solutions we end up with for social security, and the housing crisis. Now we can have a wide ranging public conversation about fairness and how to create it.
Please keep up, the poll question was quite specific.
This is another example of intellectual overreach.
”Nat-hub’s” Tova has been hawking a “nail biter” poll for 6pm tonight that “puts the election on a knife edge”…
Desperate headline from Tova. The only knife edge is Labour getting a majority of seats – 61. The Greens are on 6.3% and 8 seats, so Labour has mates. No path to victory for National and ACT. Labour clearly the winner.
Now a trust to preserve and maintain this is something I could contribute to. Does make me wonder though how many writers retreats there are around New Zealand?
I'd rather a trust own it than the state because future governments can't be "trust"ed to not sell it off for a later profit – just like Waikato University is doing so.
This is an interesting headline:
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/10/nz-election-2020-jacinda-ardern-addresses-nasty-nanny-rumours-like-a-pro.html\ (my bold)
Headline still on site as having been put there an hour ago. Page missing, so been pulled. Sounds to me like the filthy yarn has been doing the rounds again. Also the accompanying photo of Jacinda looks suspicious. Think its been tampered with or it isn’t Jacinda.
Dirty politics?
I loved Newshub's description of the final poll tonight as a 'nailbiter'. The only nailbiting thing was whether Labour can govern alone (which the Reid Research Newhub poll suggests they could, just, with 61 seats) or whether it's an arrangement with the Greens. Labour 46, Nat 31, Act 7, Green 6 is very consistent with CB's last couple of polls. Tova says tomorrow night is going to be incredibly exciting – but it won't be really, at least not in the sense of a cliffhanger. Just a few stories around the edges of the main narrative. Obviously she wants viewers to tune in.