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Open Mike 16/04/2017

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, April 16th, 2017 - 63 comments
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63 comments on “Open Mike 16/04/2017 ”

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  1. Cinny 1
    16 April 2017 at 8:00 am

    Congratulations to the ICIJ who have won the Pultizer Prize for Explanatory Reporting for their Panama Papers investigation.

    Nicky Hagar is the only NZ member of the ICIJ (International Consortium of Investigate Journalists).

    “The Pulitzer Prize Board lauded the year-long investigation for “using a collaboration of more than 300 reporters on six continents to expose the hidden infrastructure and global scale of offshore tax havens.”

    This news is five days old, but I’ve seen nada about it in NZ Media, has anyone else please?

    I found out via this weeks episode of The Listening Post on Al Jazeera

    • saveNZ 1.1
      16 April 2017 at 9:43 am

      +1 – someone posted a link on TS a few days ago, just shows you’re more up to date with news by reading blogs these days, than MSM in this country!

      From Granny, we can all learn about
      The science behind Married at First Sight,
      Gone in 7min: Speed eater’s choc bunny

      What a quality rag:)

    • saveNZ 1.2
      16 April 2017 at 10:05 am

      Telling the truth instead of propaganda might be a ‘new’ vision to consider for the MSM.

      How the BBC’s truth offensive beat Hitler’s propaganda machine

      https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/15/bbc-truth-offensive-beat-hitler-propaganda-machine

      • Cinny 1.2.1
        17 April 2017 at 8:42 am

        That was an interesting article, thanks for the link saveNZ. And big ups to the person whom posted the news re ICIJ Pulitzer win earlier in the week on TS.

        I guess anything that adds more weight to Hagars obvious credibility as an investigative journalist would be frowned upon by some mainstream media.

  2. joe90 2
    16 April 2017 at 9:47 am

    Thuggery.

    This is when Trump supporters, the alt-right, nazis, Proud Boys, militia, etc. pushed through and took downtown Berkeley. pic.twitter.com/21IPF3iBlW— Shane Bauer (@shane_bauer) April 15, 2017

    https://twitter.com/shane_bauer/status/853353232151609344

  3. red-blooded 3
    16 April 2017 at 10:50 am

    A fascinating interview on Radio NZ – Wallace chapman with Susan Bordo – a Pulitzer Prize nominated US professor of Women’s Studies on a book she’s published called The Destruction of Hillary Clinton. I know a lot of people on this site are really critical of Clinton, but personally I see things through a similar lens to the one explored in this interview. Clinton wasn’t perfect (no-one is) , but she was a perfectly reasonable candidate caught up in and taken down by a firestorm fed at least in part by misogyny. Before firing off replies, I really urge people to listen to the interview.
    http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/201840530/susan-bordo-the-destruction-of-hillary-clinton

    • Xanthe 3.1
      16 April 2017 at 2:15 pm

      I made it thru the first 10 minutes, unmitigated, revisionist, crap. IMHO

      Just for starters hillary did not lose because all the media were out to get her!

      As wallice posits at the beginning (i paraphrase) Howcome she was seen as an agent of the establishment, dishonest, and an ineffective politicion, ? Indeed! Because that was certainly not the media line! Just maby americans worked that out for themselves.

      • red-blooded 3.1.1
        16 April 2017 at 5:25 pm

        I guess it depends on what media people were listening to, Xanthe. It was certainly the message spread by Fox and by those breathlessly reporting Trump’s atrocious Twitter tirade, day by day. And when you say that Americans worked that out, let’s remember that 3 million more of them voted for her than for Trump.

        Anyway, if you only listened to 10 minutes, then I don’t think you gave that interview the attention it deserved. It wasn’t only about Clinton, it was about the misogyny that female politicians continue to face, and not just in America.

        • LivinInTheBay 3.1.1.1
          16 April 2017 at 5:29 pm

          That 3 million were almost certainly in California. And that was the whole reason the founding fathers came up with the electoral college system. They didn’t want one large state controlling the outcome for all of the states.

  4. The Chairman 4
    16 April 2017 at 11:43 am

    Over in Higgins on National’s shit creek thread BM asked:

    “Yet, Labour hasn’t even come up with clean water policy, really? do labour mps just turn up to parliament to eat lunch?”

    Labour won two by-elections with limited policy announced, which has probably led them to believe they can also pull it off in a general election.

    • saveNZ 4.1
      16 April 2017 at 12:00 pm

      Well i hope it’s positive policy to help NZ citizens not just punishment policy to make NZ citizens pay for the clean up of their failed privitisation policies and help large offshore polluters (aka oil) like National.

  5. red-blooded 5
    16 April 2017 at 12:07 pm

    Labour is concentrating on 3 core areas this election: housing, education and health. That doesn’t mean there is no other policy; just that they’re trying to stick with a focused message.

    Let’s remember that there was so much policy out last time that people didn’t digest it all and there was no clear picture. Also, when Labour releases policy early, National tend to water it down and release an “us too, but more slowly and much less meaningfully” version as a way to spike their guns.

    There’s plenty of policy available from Labour (check the website). If you’re looking for fresh new policy, wait until the election campaign kicks off properly.

    • The Chairman 5.1
      16 April 2017 at 12:30 pm

      Their policy page on their site is rather thin.

      As for the argument that voters were unable to digest all of their policies last time, then shouldn’t they be putting them out now, giving voters time to digest them?

      I think it was more a case of voters not liking them as opposed to not understanding them. Hence the limited approach taken now. It suggests they don’t want to scare voters off again.

      National can decide to adopt Labour’s policy at any given time, thus the keeping their powder dry argument doesn’t wash with me.

      • Ad 5.1.1
        16 April 2017 at 2:57 pm

        No.
        Elections are won on emotions not policies.
        Jacinta’s smile and James’s hair will get more votes than 22 filing cabinets of paper.

        • The Chairman 5.1.1.1
          16 April 2017 at 3:02 pm

          It seems that’s what Labour are gaming on.

        • adam 5.1.1.2
          16 April 2017 at 3:05 pm

          Then if they fear the people after the election, they will do the right thing. If not, they will buckle to the donors, like every other political party on the planet.

          • Ad 5.1.1.2.1
            16 April 2017 at 3:52 pm

            Labour? Donors?
            The Greens raised almost as much last time.

            And National won’t be beaten with meatpack raffles.

            • adam 5.1.1.2.1.1
              16 April 2017 at 3:58 pm

              The point is money decides not people. And if we carry on down this path, people will never vote again.

              That said, are you OK with taking money from corporations?

        • Rightly or Wrongly 5.1.1.3
          16 April 2017 at 4:00 pm

          Don’t forget the Green’s ‘Charlies Angels.’

          It appears both Labour and the Greens have decided that ‘young and pretty’ is going to get them across the line this year.

          At what point did identity politics and minority issues get sidelined?

  6. Incognito 6
    16 April 2017 at 12:19 pm

    If people become resistant to antibiotics by using them too often, it could result in a doomsday scenario, where one in three human being die, researchers say.

    Sigh! It is so easy to get it right and it is so easy to get it wrong. It is the bugs that become resistant, not the people themselves. You know, super bugs.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/91449031/microbiologist-warns-of-preantibiotic-era-and-urges-action-on-resistance

    • McFlock 6.1
      16 April 2017 at 3:13 pm

      and currently 100% of human beings die lol

      Serious issue, not insurmountable, but cheapened by shit editing.

  7. Bill 7
    16 April 2017 at 12:35 pm

    I’m not sure if the ideological blinkers got in the way of some Guardian reporting today, but they are reporting on the evacuees buses outside Aleppo being bombed in these terms – The bomber targeted buses full of evacuees from government-held towns as they waited in a rebel-held area on the outskirts of Aleppo.

    Now that might lead some to knee-jerk conclusion that the Syrian government was gratuitously killing Syrian citizens…y’know, ‘yesterday’ a chemical attack, today a bomb targeting those who wished to leave government controlled areas.. Maybe I’m being too cynical and it’s just a straightforward case of fucking woeful reporting, but regardless, simple and quick conclusions from ‘headlines’ or leading comments happen all of the time and are employed all of the time.

    Anyway, the evacuees were from rebel held towns heading towards government controlled areas.

    • Bill 7.1
      16 April 2017 at 1:33 pm

      Some reasonable reporting from ‘that’ news source. (Still can’t access their site which is beginning to piss me off…it’s been weeks and weeks.)

      • adam 7.1.1
        16 April 2017 at 2:21 pm

        How can they be call themselves moderate when they chose to suicide bomb women and children.

        • Bill 7.1.1.1
          16 April 2017 at 2:46 pm

          No banner headlines expressing outrage. The Guardian article still not corrected.

          Doesn’t fit the preferred narrative, innit? 👿

          • adam 7.1.1.1.1
            16 April 2017 at 3:00 pm

            Peoples heads might explode if they think the corporate media is lying to them.

            • shakingstick 7.1.1.1.1.1
              16 April 2017 at 9:55 pm

              what’s the evidence they are lying? No real need to correct info that is already correct eh. from the offending article

              About 7,000 people and fighters were being evacuated this weekend in a complex humanitarian deal that took months to agree.

              Under it, 5,000 people were offered safe passage from the government-held towns of Foua and Kefriya, which are surrounded by rebels, and 2,000 left the rebel-held towns of Madaya and Zabadani near Damascus, which are besieged by government forces.

              the deal was a swap, getting pro-govt people out of govt held towns currently besieged by rebels, and swapping them for rebels from rebel held towns currently besieged by govt forces.

              looks like just maybe the ideological blinkers getting in the way of the actual story might by on the other head this time

    • tinfoilhat 7.2
      16 April 2017 at 1:48 pm

      I don’t believe there is any doubt that the Assad government has been gratuitously killing Syrian citizens for many years whether they did in this instance is unknown.

      • Bill 7.2.1
        16 April 2017 at 2:13 pm

        Written like the spoken word of a truly swivel eyed disciple there tinfoilhat…

      • adam 7.2.2
        16 April 2017 at 2:25 pm

        What does that have to do with this tinfoilhat, apart from trying to score points off dead people?

        • tinfoilhat 7.2.2.1
          16 April 2017 at 2:49 pm

          Bill made the comment ..

          “.. that might lead some to knee-jerk conclusion that the Syrian government was gratuitously killing Syrian citizens…y’know, ‘yesterday’ a chemical attack, today a bomb targeting those who wished to leave government controlled areas.. ”

          I was pointing out that whether or not Assad and his government had anything to do with this violence , there is no doubt that he has been responsible for many outrages perpetuated against his own people over many years much as his father did.

          It is all a very very great shame for the people of Syria.

          • adam 7.2.2.1.1
            16 April 2017 at 2:57 pm

            Still trying to score points I see.

          • Bill 7.2.2.1.2
            16 April 2017 at 3:08 pm

            What’s with claiming that you said “there is no doubt that he (Assad) has been responsible for many outrages” ?

            When what you actually said (wrote) was “the Assad government has been gratuitously killing Syrian citizens for many years”

            Big fucking difference there tinfoilhat. Big difference.

  8. joe90 8
    16 April 2017 at 12:47 pm

    Meanwhile, off the Korean peninsula…..

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C9TDZrwUwAITe6V.jpg

  9. Ad 9
    16 April 2017 at 1:14 pm

    Judge Wendell Griffin is the Arkansas judge that stopped that state executing seven people.

    Yesterday he took part in a protest, having himself strapped to a gurney like a person prepared for execution.

    He’s getting grief for it.

    Defying death: a perfect Easter story.
    From a judge.

  10. Marco 10
    16 April 2017 at 1:50 pm

    This is why HNZ should not be involved in “social housing” We need private organisations that are not riddled with PC crippled burocrats too scared to act in case of Human Rights or TOW “breaches” Community in fear as gang members move in to quiet Auckland street | Newshub
    Edit linking failed I’m on my phone

  11. adam 11
    16 April 2017 at 2:17 pm

    Just in case you are disabled, and play video games. Here is an interesting venture, getting disabled people into eSports.

    https://techable.org.nz/disabled-esports/

  12. joe90 12
    16 April 2017 at 2:37 pm

    Ouch.

    Does @realDonaldTrump have syphilis? "Dr." Chelsea investigates. pic.twitter.com/Xx3NtDGaWW— Chelsea (@Chelseashow) April 13, 2017

    https://twitter.com/Chelseashow/status/852633113519837184

  13. One Two 13
    16 April 2017 at 4:57 pm

    French elections….’computer error’

    Standard Operating Procedure

    Ce la vie

  14. greywarshark 14
    16 April 2017 at 5:25 pm

    Philosopher Slavoj Žižek settles the “Is it OK to punch a Nazi?” question once and for all

    In other words, leftists should “go high?”
    I remember when [Greek leftist party] Syriza was still competing for power in Greece. A representative of [far-right political party] Golden Dawn threw glasses full of water at his Syriza opponent at a TV round table. A couple of times, Syriza members of parliament were attacked in parliament, and so on. Today it’s these new alt-right people who are acting physically violent.

    They represent the decay of common morality and decency. And I use here the the very precise term, Hegel calls it Sittlichkeit. It’s not simple morality, it’s a set of thick unwritten rules which makes our social life bearable. And, paradoxically, I think that progressives should become the voice of common decency, politeness, good manners and so on.

    Here I see also the failure of political correctness, because political correctness is, for me, a desperate reaction to this disintegration. But they are doing it in a suicidal way, by precise regulations, saying this word is forbidden and so on. If it has to proceed like this, the left has already lost.
    https://qz.com/896463/is-it-ok-to-punch-a-nazi-philosopher-slavoj-zizek-talks-richard-spencer-nazis-and-donald-trump/

    • Incognito 14.1
      17 April 2017 at 1:28 pm

      Thank you for the link; it is provoking stuff.

      Although I love paradoxes (because) they tend to challenge my thinking I’d also like to keep it simple:

      C’est le ton qui fait la chanson

      • greywarshark 14.1.1
        19 April 2017 at 8:50 pm

        Incognito
        You are so cultured.
        Vraiment vous as ete’ cachant votre lumière sous un canon.

        • Incognito 14.1.1.1
          19 April 2017 at 11:41 pm

          Nah, I like to pretend I am; I’m a fake which is one reason why I use this alias. I am not kidding!

          That said, I do hope that some of what I write here has some merit some of the time; I do mean what I write and try to write what I mean, which is slightly more difficult 😉

          • greywarshark 14.1.1.1.1
            20 April 2017 at 10:12 am

            That’s what I come to The Standard to read – what you said!

            • Incognito 14.1.1.1.1.1
              20 April 2017 at 11:22 pm

              TS is my FB!

              It is so addictive and therapeutic at the same time.

              I might stick around till the general election at least.

              • greywarshark …
                21 April 2017 at 12:19 pm

                Go on you can’t give it up – no way to go cold turkey and miss out on the latest revelations. Though of course there is Scoop and Bernard Hickey as shining venues along with other solid bloggers. But TS is like a thousand small torches shining on narrow footpaths in the dark which will hopefully keep us from falling into big holes.

                • Incognito …
                  21 April 2017 at 11:48 pm

                  I spent some time overseas recently and got withdrawal symptoms. Lurking made me already feel heaps better! OMG, what’s happening to me? The only thing that will cure me is to out myself.

                  Loved your Bertrand Russell quote; almost did a QFT but I resisted (the) temptation.

  15. Takere 15
    16 April 2017 at 5:32 pm

    Need your help comrades! Was just on D Farrars nutcase site and posted this. Its been held up in “awaiting moderation?” For about 30 minutes so far.

    Maybe you guys could tell me why?

    This Pt England Development Enabling Bill of Nick Smiths’, allows the Crown to exercise its Executive Power(s) to Confiscate any local park, reserve,DoC managed land as well as National park land and private property too, to then onsell to the highest bidder!
    This is what the Crown is doing with the negotiators from a interim PSGE, the Ngati Paoa iwi Trust Board(which has only 2 members as well as 2 other boards and associated Deeds & Mandates) & its interim negotiators Eugene & Antony as a private commercial deal masquerading as a Treaty Settlement of which it is not!
    It is a precedent setting Bill! No one’s private property is or public property is safe from been confiscated throughout the whole of NZ in the “name” of “Housing!” It’s what you might call a “FireSale!”
    Nick Smith & Chris Finlayson are in cahoots!
    APRIL 16, 2017 4:58PM

    Is it too real?

    • weka 15.1
      16 April 2017 at 7:57 pm

      Looks alright to me. If they do premoderation over there I’d guess the delay is because it’s Easter Sunday.

    • greywarshark 15.2
      17 April 2017 at 9:42 am

      The above Empowering Bill is disgraceful and must not be allowed to proceed.
      Gnashional have no shame and no scruples or principles, just deal brokers for those who have wealth.

  16. Muttonbird 16
    17 April 2017 at 12:21 am

    Where does terrifying incidents like this leave the argument for US backed ‘moderate’ rebels in Syria by commenters like Psycho Milt?

    These savages just killed 100+ refugees in a suicide attack. If it were Israel, entire cities in the West Bank, Gaza, or Lebanon would be wiped off the map within a week with zero sanction, yet the elected Syrian government is for some reason not allowed to do the same?

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/328887/death-toll-from-bomb-in-syria-rises-to-more-than-100

    • lprent 16.1
      17 April 2017 at 9:27 am

      Depends which group did the bombing doesn’t it. The ‘rebel’ forces in Syria range from ISIL to previous members of the Syrian government. Just as the ‘government’ forces range from the Russians to the arseholes running the Saydnaya prison who have killed thousands since 2011 (and before).

      I’d note that no group has claimed responsibility, nor are there any particularly good suspects. But I’d also note that there are clearly suspicions about the involvement of the Syrian government. The local BBC correspondent for instance..

      It happened when a vehicle loaded with food arrived and started distributing crisps, attracting many children, before exploding, the BBC’s Middle East correspondent Lina Sinjab said.

      She said it was not clear how the vehicle could have reached the area without government permission.

      But there is also no evidence that rebels were involved in the attack, as the government claims.

      It would not be in the rebels’ interest, our correspondent says, as they were waiting for their own supporters to be evacuated from the other towns.

      That last isn’t a particularly useful statement in this conflict as it has been rather overused by the Russians and Syrian government in the past.

      However I’d point out a few basics that make me suspicious.

      The Alawite sect running the government and the armed forces really aren’t much more sympathetic to Shiites (and in reverse) than they are to Sunnis. You don’t have to read too far into the accounts of their Syrian government’s population demographics to discover that. From the regime viewpoint, bombing few children probably wouldn’t be too extreme if it relieved some of the international pressure.

      Exactly how a bomb vehicle got into a government controlled area to do this is a more than a little bit odd. It hasn’t exactly been common in this war simply because the conflict has been incredibly secterian and each area and even each neighbourhood runs extreme security on its edges, and the Syrians didn’t have to learn this the way that the Iraqis did. It was pretty obvious to everyone after some of the horrendous bombing that went on during the Lebanon civil war and the respective Israeli and Syrian occupations there.

      Basically if you are a selective myopic and choose to ignore the reality of this kind of religious, tribal and sectarian civil war then you can fool yourself into believing anything you want to.

      Personally I suspect that this war is entering a particularly ugly phase. The government has gained the military upper hand from the extensive Russian military help. However the group running the government have a problem. They somehow have to control the rebel held areas once they capture them, and they are clearly not interested in a diplomatic solution. So they can expect a long-running guerilla conflict in most of what are currently rebel held territories.

      My gut feel is that they are trying to start a refugee exodus to do a religious cleansing to deprive the guerillas a support base. The characteristic of that from a government is that they start doing deniable atrocities.

      But hey, if you want to be selectively myopic and not to bother to understand the conflict enough to sort propaganda from reality – then I won’t stop you being a fool.

      • Muttonbird 16.1.1
        17 April 2017 at 5:00 pm

        I don’t understand this conflict much at all but I don’t think you do either. It is very complex and the details of it are violent, and inscrutable. The information is unreliable and contradictory too. And the players range from tortured Syrian child soldiers right up to Putin and the new kid on the block, reality TV star, Donald Trump.

        As far as I understand the BBC and yourself are suggesting that no claim of responsibility in any non-military action in Syria (including this one) is evidence of government involvement. Certainly the position of the US and all its hangers-on is that all the violence is clearly the responsibility of the Syrian government and their proxies.

        For my sins I take a wider view of the current state of the region and so can be accused of not being interested or informed on the details. Along these lines I wonder what the US particularly thinks it’s going to achieve by going back to the well again and again with direct intervention when clearly the policy has made life far worse for the citizens of those countries over the last 17 years.

        Further, is it not apparent that US economic expansion in several places over the globe is causing tension? I get that the US isn’t concerned with actual territorial global hegemony but they certainly are interested in economic global hegemony. Their political and cultural push into Eastern Europe, and the military regime change policy in the Middle East is less about stability and security for the people of those countries than it is about the security of US business interests in those countries.

        As for the refugee/militant swap being religious cleansing in this instance, well the deal was brokered internationally by Iran and Qatar and I’m struggling to think of a better way to peacefully move these warring peoples apart than by refugee exchanges.

        But back to the most recent incident; the RNZ (BBC/Reuters) article I read said the targets were Shia evacuees from rebel held towns:

        Syrian rescue workers said that they had carted away at least 100 bodies from the site of the blast, which hit buses carrying Shi’ite residents as they waited to cross from rebel into government territory in an evacuation deal between warring sides.

        but your BBC article says the opposite, that the evacuees were from government held towns:

        The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said at least 109 evacuees from government-held towns were killed, along with aid workers and rebel soldiers.

        If you can tell me which is correct without calling me a fool I’d appreciate it.

  17. Poission 17
    17 April 2017 at 12:36 am

    Mean while in aleppo.

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    Sometimes you see your friends making the case so well on social media you think: just copy and share.On acceptance and decency, from Michèle A’CourtA notable thing about anti-trans people is they way they talk about transgender women and men as though they are strangers “over there” when in fact ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Climate Change: More Labour sabotage
    Not that long ago, things were looking pretty good for climate change policy in Aotearoa. We finally had an ETS, and while it was full of pork and subsidies, it was delivering high and ever-rising carbon prices, sending a clear message to polluters to clean up or shut down. And ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Is bundling restricting electricity competition?
    Comparing (and switching) electricity providers has become easier, but bundling power up with broadband and/or gas makes it more challenging. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā TL;DR: The new Consumer Advocacy Council set up as a result of the Labour Government’s Electricity Price Review in 2019 has called on either ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Westland Milk puts heat on competitors as global dairy demand  remains softer for longer
    Hokitika-based Westland Milk Products  has  put the heat on dairy giant Fonterra with  a $120m profit turnaround in 2022, driven by record sales. Westland paid its suppliers a 10c premium above the forecast Fonterra price per kilo, contributing $535m to the West Coast and Canterbury economies. The dairy ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    2 days ago

  • BRYCE EDWARDS’ Political Roundup:  The Beehive’s revolving door and corporate mateship
    * Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: The Beehive’s revolving door and corporate mateship
    New Zealanders are uncomfortable with the high level of influence corporate lobbyists have in New Zealand politics, and demands are growing for greater regulation. A recent poll shows 62 per cent of the public support having a two-year cooling off period between ministers leaving public office and becoming lobbyists and ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • A miracle pill for our transport ills
    This is a guest post by accessibility and sustainable transport advocate Tim Adriaansen It originally appeared here.   A friend calls you and asks for your help. They tell you that while out and about nearby, they slipped over and landed arms-first. Now their wrist is swollen, hurting like ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    2 days ago

  • The Surprising Power of Floating Wind Turbines
    Floating offshore wind turbines offer incredible opportunities to capture powerful winds far out at sea. By unlocking this wind energy potential, they could be a key weapon in our arsenal in the fight against climate change. But how developed are these climate fighting clean energy giants? And why do I ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • The next Maori challenge
    Over the past two or three weeks, a procession of Maori iwi and hapu in a series of little-noticed appearances before two Select Committees have been asking for more say for Maori over resource management decisions along the co-governance lines of Three Waters. Their submissions and appearances run counter ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • Secret “war-crime” warrants by International Criminal Court is mischief-making
    The decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue war crimes arrest warrants for the Russian President and the Russia Children Ombudsman may have been welcomed by the ideologically committed but otherwise seems to have been greeted with widespread cynicism (see Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    3 days ago

  • How to answer Drunk Uncle Kevin's Climate Crisis reckons
    Let’s say you’re clasping your drink at a wedding, or a 40th, or a King’s Birthday Weekend family reunion and Drunk Uncle Kevin has just got going.He’s in an expansive frame of mind because we’re finally rid of that silly girl. But he wants to ask an honest question about ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • National’s Luxon may be glum about his poll ratings but has he found a winner in promising to rai...
    National Party leader Christopher Luxon may  be feeling glum about his poll ratings, but  he could be tapping  into  a rich political vein in  describing the current state of education as “alarming”. Luxon said educational achievement has been declining,  with a recent NCEA pilot exposing just how far it has ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    3 days ago

  • Climate Change: More Labour foot-dragging
    Yesterday the IPCC released the final part of its Sixth Assessment Report, warning us that we have very little time left in which to act to prevent catastrophic climate change, but pointing out that it is a problem that we can solve, with existing technology, and that anything we do ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • Te Pāti Māori Are Revolutionaries – Not Reformists.
    Way Beyond Reform: Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer have no more interest in remaining permanent members of “New Zealand’s” House of Representatives than did Lenin and Trotsky in remaining permanent members of Tsar Nicolas II’s “democratically-elected” Duma. Like the Bolsheviks, Te Pāti Māori is a party of revolutionaries – not reformists.THE CROWN ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • When does history become “ancient”, on Tinetti’s watch as Minister of Education – and what o...
    Buzz from the Beehive Auckland was wiped off the map, when Education Minister Jan Tinetti delivered her speech of welcome as host of the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers “here in Tāmaki Makaurau”. But – fair to say – a reference was made later in the speech to a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • Climate Catastrophe, but first rugby.
    Morning mate, how you going?Well, I was watching the news last night and they announced this scientific report on Climate Change. But before they got to it they had a story about the new All Blacks coach.Sounds like important news. It’s a bit of a worry really.Yeah, they were talking ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • What the US and European bank rescues mean for us
    Always a bailout: US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the Government would fully guarantee all savers in all smaller US banks if needed. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: No wonder an entire generation of investors are used to ‘buying the dip’ and ‘holding on for dear life’. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Who will drain Wellington’s lobbying swamp?
    Wealthy vested interests have an oversized influence on political decisions in New Zealand. Partly that’s due to their use of corporate lobbyists. Fortunately, the influence lobbyists can have on decisions made by politicians is currently under scrutiny in Guyon Espiner’s in-depth series published by RNZ. Two of Espiner’s research exposés ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • It’s Raining Congestion
    Yesterday afternoon it rained and traffic around the region ground to a halt, once again highlighting why it is so important that our city gets on with improving the alternatives to driving. For additional irony, this happened on the same day the IPCC synthesis report landed, putting the focus on ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Checking The Left: The Dreadful Logic Of Fascism.
    The Beginning: Anti-Co-Governance agitator, Julian Batchelor, addresses the Dargaville stop of his travelling roadshow across New Zealand . Fascism almost always starts small. Sadly, it doesn’t always stay that way. Especially when the Left helps it to grow.THERE IS A DREADFUL LOGIC to the growth of fascism. To begin with, it ...
    Bowalley Road
    3 days ago

  • Good Friends and Terrible Food
    Hi,From an incredibly rainy day in Los Angeles, I just wanted to check in. I guess this is the day Trump may or may not end up in cuffs? I’m attempting a somewhat slower, less frenzied week. I’ve had Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s new record on non-stop, and it’s been a ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 days ago

  • At a glance – What evidence is there for the hockey stick?
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Carry right on up there, Corporal Espiner
    RNZ has been shining their torch into corners where lobbyists lurk and asking such questions as: Do we like the look of this?and Is this as democratic as it could be?These are most certainly questions worth asking, and every bit as valid as, say:Are we shortchanged democratically by the way ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • This smells
    RNZ has continued its look at the role of lobbyists by taking a closer look at the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Andrew Kirton. He used to work for liquor companies, opposing (among other things) a container refund scheme which would have required them to take responsibility for their own ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago

  • Major issues on the table in Mahuta’s  talks in Beijing with China’s new Foreign Minister
    Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta has left for Beijing for the first ministerial visit to China since 2019. Mahuta is  to  meet China’s new foreign minister Qin Gang  where she  might have to call on all the  diplomatic skills  at  her  command. Almost certainly she  will  face  questions  on what  role ...
    Point of OrderBy tutere44
    4 days ago

  • Inside TOP's Teal Card and political strategy
    TL;DR: The Opportunities Party’s Leader Raf Manji is hopeful the party’s new Teal Card, a type of Gold card for under 30s, will be popular with students, and not just in his Ilam electorate where students make up more than a quarter of the voters and where Manji is confident ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago

  • Make Your Empties Go Another Round.
    When I was a kid New Zealand was actually pretty green. We didn’t really have plastic. The fruit and veges came in a cardboard box, the meat was wrapped in paper, milk came in a glass bottle, and even rubbish sacks were made of paper. Today if you sit down ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on how similar Vladimir Putin is to George W. Bush
    Looking back through the names of our Police Ministers down the years, the job has either been done by once or future party Bigfoots – Syd Holland, Richard Prebble, Juduth Collins, Chris Hipkins – or by far lesser lights like Keith Allen, Frank Gill, Ben Couch, Allen McCready, Clem Simich, ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    4 days ago

  • CHRIS TROTTER:  Te Pāti Māori’s uncompromising threat to the status quo
    Chris Trotter writes – The Crown is a fickle friend. Any political movement deemed to be colourful but inconsequential is generally permitted to go about its business unmolested. The Crown’s media, RNZ and TVNZ, may even “celebrate” its existence (presumably as proof of Democracy’s broad-minded acceptance of diversity). ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Shining a bright light on lobbyists in politics
    Four out of the five people who have held the top role of Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff since 2017 have been lobbyists. That’s a fact that should worry anyone who believes vested interests shouldn’t have a place at the centre of decision making. Chris Hipkins’ newly appointed Chief of ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    4 days ago

  • Auckland Council Draft Budget – an unnecessary backwards step
    Feedback on Auckland Council’s draft 2023/24 budget closes on March 28th. You can read the consultation document here, and provide feedback here. Auckland Council is currently consulting on what is one of its most important ever Annual Plans – the ‘budget’ of what it will spend money on between July ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    4 days ago

  • Talking’ Posey Parker Blues
    by Molten Moira from Motueka If you want to be a woman let me tell you what to do Get a piece of paper and a biro tooWrite down your new identification And boom! You’re now a woman of this nationSpelled W O M A Na real trans woman that isAs opposed ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    4 days ago

  • More Māori words make it into the OED, and polytech boss (with rules on words like “students”) ...
    Buzz from the Beehive   New Zealand Education Minister Jan Tinetti is hosting the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers for three days from today, welcoming Education Ministers and senior officials from 18 Pacific Island countries and territories, and from Australia. Here’s hoping they have brought translators with them – or ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago

  • Social intercourse with haters and Nazis: an etiquette guide
    Let’s say you’ve come all the way from His Majesty’s United Kingdom to share with the folk of Australia and New Zealand your antipathy towards certain other human beings. And let’s say you call yourself a women’s rights activist.And let’s say 99 out of 100 people who listen to you ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • The Greens, Labour, and coalition enforcement
    James Shaw gave the Green party's annual "state of the planet" address over the weekend, in which he expressed frustration with Labour for not doing enough on climate change. His solution is to elect more Green MPs, so they have more power within any government arrangement, and can hold Labour ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • This sounds familiar…
    RNZ this morning has the first story another investigative series by Guyon Espiner, this time into political lobbying. The first story focuses on lobbying by government agencies, specifically transpower, Pharmac, and assorted universities, and how they use lobbyists to manipulate public opinion and gather intelligence on the Ministers who oversee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago

  • Letter to the NZ Herald: NCEA pseudoscience – “Mauri is present in all matter”
    Nick Matzke writes –   Dear NZ Herald, I am a Senior Lecturer in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland. I teach evolutionary biology, but I also have long experience in science education and (especially) political attempts to insert pseudoscience into science curricula in ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • So what would be the point of a Green vote again?
    James Shaw has again said the Greens would be better ‘in the tent’ with Labour than out, despite Labour’s policy bonfire last week torching much of what the Government was doing to reduce emissions. File Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The Green Party has never been more popular than in some ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago

  • Gas stoves pose health risks. Are gas furnaces and other appliances safe to use?
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah Wesseler Poor air quality is a long-standing problem in Los Angeles, where the first major outbreak of smog during World War II was so intense that some residents thought the city had been attacked by chemical weapons. Cars were eventually discovered ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Genetic Heritage and Co Governance
    Yesterday I was reading an excellent newsletter from David Slack, and I started writing a comment “Sounds like some excellent genetic heritage…” and then I stopped.There was something about the phrase genetic heritage that stopped me in tracks. Is that a phrase I want to be saying? It’s kind of ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • BRIAN EASTON: Radical Uncertainty
    Brian Easton writes – Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Geoffrey Miller: New Zealand’s Middle East strategy, 20 years after the Iraq War
    This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Iraq War. While it strongly opposed the US-led invasion, New Zealand’s then Labour-led government led by Prime Minister Helen Clark did deploy military engineers to try to help rebuild Iraq in mid-2003. With violence soaring, their 12-month deployment ended without being renewed ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago

  • The motorways are finished
    After seventy years, Auckland’s motorway network is finally finished. In July 1953 the first section of motorway in Auckland was opened between Ellerslie-Panmure Highway and Mt Wellington Highway. The final stage opens to traffic this week with the completion of the motorway part of the Northern Corridor Improvements project. Aucklanders ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    5 days ago

  • Kicking National’s tyres
    National’s appointment of Todd McClay as Agriculture spokesperson clearly signals that the party is in trouble with the farming vote. McClay was not an obvious choice, but he does have a record as a political scrapper. The party needs that because sources say it has been shedding farming votes ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    5 days ago

  • As long as there is cricket, the world is somehow okay.
    Rays of white light come flooding into my lounge, into my face from over the top of my neighbour’s hedge. I have to look away as the window of the conservatory is awash in light, as if you were driving towards the sun after a rain shower and suddenly blinded. ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    6 days ago

  • So much of what was there remains
    The columnists in Private Eye take pen names, so I have not the least idea who any of them are. But I greatly appreciate their expert insight, especially MD, who writes the medical column, offering informed and often damning critique of the UK health system and the politicians who keep ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • 2023 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #11
    A chronological listing of news articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Mar 12, 2023 thru Sat, Mar 18, 2023. Story of the Week Guest post: What 13,500 citations reveal about the IPCC’s climate science report   IPCC WG1 AR6 SPM Report Cover - Changing ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago

  • Financial capability services are being bucked up, but Stuart Nash shouldn’t have to see if they c...
    Buzz from the Beehive  The building of financial capability was brought into our considerations when Social Development and Employment Minister Carmel Sepuloni announced she had dipped into the government’s coffers for $3 million for “providers” to help people and families access community-based Building Financial Capability services. That wording suggests some ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Things that make you go Hmmmm.
    Do you ever come across something that makes you go Hmmmm?You mean like the song?No, I wasn’t thinking of the song, but I am now - thanks for that. I was thinking of things you read or hear that make you stop and go Hmmmm.Yeah, I know what you mean, ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    7 days ago

  • The hoon for the week that was to March 19
    By the end of the week, the dramas over Stuart Nash overshadowed Hipkins’ policy bonfire. File photo: Lynn GrieveasonTLDR: This week’s news in geopolitics and the political economy covered on The Kākā included:PM Chris Hipkins’ announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but ...
    The KakaBy Peter Bale
    1 week ago

  • Saving Stuart Nash: Explaining Chris Hipkins' unexpected political calculation
    When word went out that Prime Minister Chris Hipkins would be making an announcement about Stuart Nash on the tiles at parliament at 2:45pm yesterday, the assumption was that it was over. That we had reached tipping point for Nash’s time as minister. But by 3pm - when, coincidentally, the ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    1 week ago

  • Radical Uncertainty
    Two senior economists challenge some of the foundations of current economics. It is easy to criticise economic science by misrepresenting it, by selective quotations, and by ignoring that it progresses, like all sciences, by improving and abandoning old theories. The critics may go on to attack physics by citing Newton.So ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago

  • Jump onto the weekly hoon on Riverside at 5pm
    Photo by Walker Fenton on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week again when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kaka for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on Riverside (we’ve moved from Zoom) for our chat about the week’s news with ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • The Dream of Florian Neame: Accepted
    In a nice bit of news, my 2550-word deindustrial science-fiction piece, The Dream of Florian Neame, has been accepted for publication at New Maps Magazine (https://www.new-maps.com/). I have published there before, of course, with Of Tin and Tintagel coming out last year. While I still await the ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago

  • Snakes and leaders
    And so this is Friday, and what have we learned?It was a week with all the usual luggage: minister brags and then he quits, Hollywood red carpet is full of twits. And all the while, hanging over the trivial stuff: existential dread, and portents of doom.Depending on who you read ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    1 week ago

  • This station is Karanga-a-Hape, Chur!
    When I changed the name of this newsletter from The Daily Read to Nick’s Kōrero I was a bit worried whether people would know what Kōrero meant or not. I added a definition when I announced the change and kind of assumed people who weren’t familiar with it would get ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • Greens don’t shy from promoting a candidate’s queerness but are quiet about govt announcement on...
    There was a time when a political party’s publicity people would counsel against promoting a candidate as queer. No matter which of two dictionary meanings the voting public might choose to apply – the old meaning of odd, strange, weird, or aberrant, or the more recent meaning of gay, homosexual ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • Ask Me Anything about the week to March 17
    Photo by Joakim Honkasalo on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for the next hour, including:PM Chris Hipkins announcement of the rest of a policy bonfire to save a combined $1.7 billion, but which blew up ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Slow consenting could create $16b climate liability by 2050
    Even though concern over the climate change threat is becoming more mainstream, our governments continue to opt out of the difficult decisions at the expense of time, and cost for future generations. Photo: Lynn Grieveson/Getty ImagesTLDR: Now we have a climate liability number to measure the potential failure of the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • THOMAS CRANMER: Challenging progressivism in New Zealand’s culture wars
    Thomas Cranmer writes  Like it or not, the culture wars have entered New Zealand politics and look set to broaden and intensify. The culture wars are often viewed as an exclusively American phenomenon, but the reality is that they are becoming increasingly prominent in countries around the world, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    1 week ago

  • District Court Judges appointed
    Attorney-General David Parker has announced the appointment of Christopher John Dellabarca of Wellington, Dr Katie Jane Elkin of Wellington, Caroline Mary Hickman of Napier, Ngaroma Tahana of Rotorua, Tania Rose Williams Blyth of Hamilton and Nicola Jan Wills of Wellington as District Court Judges.  Chris Dellabarca Mr Dellabarca commenced his ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • New project set to supercharge ocean economy in Nelson Tasman
    A new Government-backed project will help ocean-related businesses in the Nelson Tasman region to accelerate their growth and boost jobs. “The Nelson Tasman region is home to more than 400 blue economy businesses, accounting for more than 30 percent of New Zealand’s economic activity in fishing, aquaculture, and seafood processing,” ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • National’s education policy: where’s the funding?
    After three years of COVID-19 disruptions schools are finally settling down and National want to throw that all in the air with major disruption to learning and underinvestment.  “National’s education policy lacks the very thing teachers, parents and students need after a tough couple of years, certainty and stability,” Education ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Free programme to help older entrepreneurs and inventors
    People aged over 50 with innovative business ideas will now be able to receive support to advance their ideas to the next stage of development, Minister for Seniors Ginny Andersen said today. “Seniors have some great entrepreneurial ideas, and this programme will give them the support to take that next ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government target increased to keep powering up the Māori economy
    A cross government target for relevant government procurement contracts for goods and services to be awarded to Māori businesses annually will increase to 8%, after the initial 5% target was exceeded. The progressive procurement policy was introduced in 2020 to increase supplier diversity, starting with Māori businesses, for the estimated ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Continued progress on reducing poverty in challenging times
    77,000 fewer children living in low income households on the after-housing-costs primary measure since Labour took office Eight of the nine child poverty measures have seen a statistically significant reduction since 2018. All nine have reduced 28,700 fewer children experiencing material hardship since 2018 Measures taken by the Government during ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Speech at Fiji Investment and Trade Business Forum
    Deputy Prime Minister Kamikamica; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tēnā koutou katoa, ni sa bula vinaka saka, namaste. Deputy Prime Minister, a very warm welcome to Aotearoa. I trust you have been enjoying your time here and thank you for joining us here today. To all delegates who have travelled to be ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government investments boost and diversify local economies in lower South Island
    $2.9 million convertible loan for Scapegrace Distillery to meet growing national and international demand $4.5m underwrite to support Silverlight Studios’ project to establish a film studio in Wanaka Gore’s James Cumming Community Centre and Library to be official opened tomorrow with support of $3m from the COVID-19 Response and Recovery ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government future-proofs EV charging
    Transport Minister Michael Wood has today launched the first national EV (electric vehicle) charging strategy, Charging Our Future, which includes plans to provide EV charging stations in almost every town in New Zealand. “Our vision is for Aotearoa New Zealand to have world-class EV charging infrastructure that is accessible, affordable, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • World-leading family harm prevention campaign supports young NZers
    Associate Minister for Social Development and Employment Priyanca Radhakrishnan has today launched the Love Better campaign in a world-leading approach to family harm prevention. Love Better will initially support young people through their experience of break-ups, developing positive and life-long attitudes to dealing with hurt. “Over 1,200 young kiwis told ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • First Chief Clinical Advisor welcomed into Coroners Court
    Hon Rino Tirikatene, Minister for Courts, welcomes the Ministry of Justice’s appointment of Dr Garry Clearwater as New Zealand’s first Chief Clinical Advisor working with the Coroners Court. “This appointment is significant for the Coroners Court and New Zealand’s wider coronial system.” Minister Tirikatene said. Through Budget 2022, the Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Next steps for affected properties post Cyclone and floods
    The Government via the Cyclone Taskforce is working with local government and insurance companies to build a picture of high-risk areas following Cyclone Gabrielle and January floods. “The Taskforce, led by Sir Brian Roche, has been working with insurance companies to undertake an assessment of high-risk areas so we can ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New appointment to Māori Land Court bench
    E te huia kaimanawa, ko Ngāpuhi e whakahari ana i tau aupikinga ki te tihi o te maunga. Ko te Ao Māori hoki e whakanui ana i a koe te whakaihu waka o te reo Māori i roto i te Ao Ture. (To the prized treasure, it is Ngāpuhi who ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Government focus on jobs sees record number of New Zealanders move from Benefits into work
    113,400 exits into work in the year to June 2022 Young people are moving off Benefit faster than after the Global Financial Crisis Two reports released today by the Ministry of Social Development show the Government’s investment in the COVID-19 response helped drive record numbers of people off Benefits and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Vertical farming partnership has upward momentum
    The Government’s priority to keep New Zealand at the cutting edge of food production and lift our sustainability credentials continues by backing the next steps of a hi-tech vertical farming venture that uses up to 95 per cent less water, is climate resilient, and pesticide-free. Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor visited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Conference of Pacific Education Ministers – Keynote Address
    E nga mana, e nga iwi, e nga reo, e nga hau e wha, tena koutou, tena koutou, tena koutou kātoa. Warm Pacific greetings to all. It is an honour to host the inaugural Conference of Pacific Education Ministers here in Tāmaki Makaurau. Aotearoa is delighted to be hosting you ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New $13m renal unit supports Taranaki patients
    The new renal unit at Taranaki Base Hospital has been officially opened by the Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall this afternoon. Te Huhi Raupō received around $13 million in government funding as part of Project Maunga Stage 2, the redevelopment of the Taranaki Base Hospital campus. “It’s an honour ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Second Poseidon aircraft on home soil
    Defence Minister Andrew Little has marked the arrival of the country’s second P-8A Poseidon aircraft alongside personnel at the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Base at Ohakea today. “With two of the four P-8A Poseidons now on home soil this marks another significant milestone in the Government’s historic investment in ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Further humanitarian aid for Türkiye and Syria
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