I know we've been speculating a bit on Luxon's future as leader of the Nats, but surely his disasterous performance this past few days has added extra piquancy to proceedings. The whole taxpayer receipt thing as a marquee policy is just wild. You've had the right leaning journos bending over backwards to make excuses for the guy, which is a terrible sign. Then yesterday and his ridiculous, insincere, and thoughtless Americanesque "Thoughts and prayers" comment on the Wellington hostel fire… I mean FFS. Unforced errors day after day.
I thought it was terrible judgment for him to turn up at the scene of the fire. What is this fire about, other than a failure of regulation and a failure of a housing market inflated by speculation? And Luxon and the Nats oppose regulation as a cost to business – and are dead keen to re-inflate the housing market (and therefore increase their personal wealth) by scrapping the brightline test, getting foreign buyers back, etc.
Having Luxon standing in front of a scene of the tragic incineration of poor people was just a reminder that he and his cronies will make all such problems worse. Then he compounds it with meaningless, repetitive, dull and unoriginal babbling. Perhaps he got bad advice suggesting that putting in an appearance would show his human side and help people "get to know" him? God forbid – I already know him too much.
Meanwhile, when considering the polls on preferred PM at five months out from an election the current incumbent has the lowest ratings of any PM since MMP was introduced.
Luxon is behind 2 of the Opposition leaders but ahead of the other 5 in the 8 elections for which numbers are available.
However keep up with your dreams of how popular Chippie is and how everybody hates Luxon.
Luxon is the only thing the left have going for it, why on earth would you actually be hoping he gets rolled?
The incumbent prime minister is polling at low 20s and has the charisma of a telemarketer.
God forbid they roll Luxon, if they roll Luxon, you're looking at Nicola Willis or god forbid, Erica Stanford
Regardless of whether the left sees it or not, both of those women would be extremely popular as leaders and drain middle class female votes from Labour.
It's neck and neck in party polls because of Luxons unrelatability, if you put Stanford or Willis up against Hipkins and we're looking at a 2008 or 2011 result for National.
The people who liked Key but then voted for Ardern in 2017 and 2020 will rush back to the National party with open arms for Nationals.
Luxon is probably quite safe at the moment, his caucus are too busy writing their acceptance speeches and trying to quietly cut the throats of their fellow tory MPs to pay much attention to what he is doing.
My understanding is Chlorine has been used intermittently in the Chch water supply? Back in 2018(??) Chch were talking about using UV and ozone treatments to avoid the use of Chlorine. What happened to that?
Yes it has, if required. But only as long as necessary.
The council has spent a fortune upgrading our infrastructure to meet what they understood to be the standard for an exemption. But, they have now found the goal-posts have moved.
People in Christchurch will be hopping mad over this. I don't think the government realises how bigger deal this is for Christchurch.
Contaminated drinking water was the source of the campylobacteriosis outbreak in Havelock North in August 2016, with sheep faeces the likely source of the campylobacter. It is highly likely that the heavy rain that inundated paddocks neighbouring Brookvale Road caused contaminated water to flow into a pond about 90 metres from Brookvale Road bore 1.
As far as tsmithfield (@3.1.1) is aware, ChCh has "never had an outbreak of sickness due to water quality". Was that also the case in HN, prior to 2016?
The Havelock North drinking water inquiry: A wake-up call to rebuild public health in New Zealand [19 December 2017] The second report of the Havelock North Drinking Water Inquiry describes a long list of failings that contributed to the outbreak. In this blog we argue that the failings are much broader than the safety of drinking water supplies and represent a serious erosion and fragmentation of NZ’s national public health institutions. What is needed now is a major stocktake and rebuilding of our country’s national public health capacity.
Alas, many Kiwis remain wilfully deaf to some 'inconvenient' wake-up calls.
In 2016, the water supply in Havelock North was contaminated with campylobacter. Four people died and around 5000 people fell ill.
Following this incident, the Government carried out an inquiry and established the Three Waters Review to look at how to improve the regulation and delivery of drinking water, wastewater and stormwater – the three waters.
We responded to the review by evaluating the condition of our below-ground well heads (the source of contamination in Havelock North) and began an extensive improvement programme.
An independent assessment found the well heads did not meet standards and the Drinking Water Assessor advised the Christchurch water supply was no longer provisionally secure.
The resulting loss of the secure status for our water supply, forced us to make the decision in early 2018 to temporarily chlorinate our water supplies.
If we had not made that decision, the Medical Officer of Health would have required us to chlorinate. Temporary chlorination of much of the city’s water supply began in March 2018.
The Government continued work to review and make changes to three waters across New Zealand and in late 2021 new legislation – the Water Services Act 2021 – was passed. This established Taumata Arowai – the new water regulator.
Progress to date
Since 2018 we have upgraded most of our well heads, installed ultra-violet disinfection at six wells, decommissioned a number of shallow wells and drilled ten new ones, but there is still further work being done.
One of the biggest ongoing risks to our water supply relates to the condition of some of the reservoirs and suction tanks used to store drinking water. There are risks such as cracks in the roofs or in below-ground walls of the reservoirs which could allow contaminated water to get in.
…
Inspecting and repairing reservoirs can only take place during the winter months when a small number of reservoirs can be taken out of service as they aren’t needed to supply water. The inspections inform the scope of repair work so it is difficult to know exactly when the work will be complete, but we estimate the programme will take about five years to complete.
And people don't realise if you take a bacterium like Campylobacter, some get no illness, some mild, minority will be hospitalised and even die from the complications.
Put those proportions into a city of 400,000 and you get significant number of serious illness and death for a slip up like Havelock North.
The water regulator has told Chch to chlorinate its water against it's wishes.
I’m picking up on TSimithfields point that the Council ” spent a fortune upgrading our infrastructure to meet what they understood to be the standard for an exemption. But, they have now found the goal-posts have moved.” https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17-05-2023/#comment-1950187
What 'past failures' in Christchurch are you referring to?
Was noting the common perception that regulators/regulations are "a bit heavy handed" at times – see "optimism followed by disappointment".
Best Practice Regulation: Setting Targets and Detecting Vulnerabilities [August 2011; PDF]
Regulatory regimes as experiments We often have an idealised or optimistic view of regulation based on what we believe it will deliver by way of outcomes, be they economic, social or both. It is generally articulated, at least by the proponents of a particular regulatory approach, at the time that approach is being developed and implemented.
However, the reality can fall short of the ideal, so much so on some occasions that the regulatory approach is considered to have failed and a new ideal is articulated. This pattern of optimism followed by disappointment followed by optimism can be observed over time and across different regulatory areas. It can also be observed in pendulum swings between different regulatory approaches, which often take the form of slogans – such as ‘light-handed’ versus ‘heavy-handed’, ‘prescriptive’ versus ‘principles’ or ‘more’ versus ‘less’ government.
Re ChCh and regulatory failures, leaky buildings 'spring' to mind.
In February 2010, New Zealand's Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson, National, warned that the size of the issue, at least $11 billion, was so gianormous [sic] that even a government with budget surpluses would struggle. He noted that: "…a Government who's [sic] running deficits – and has a forecast track of deficits for many years out – has to just sit there with its head in its hands, saying, 'Well, I just don't how to do this'."
He also warned that it was necessary to come up with a solution so money could be spent on fixing houses, rather than paying lawyers, and that there was a risk of significant rates rises in the major centres like Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch, of a scale that would "make eyes water". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_homes_crisis#Financial_liabilities
I'm sure you can think of examples if you put your mind to it – regulatory failures can occur for a number of reasons.
The CTV building collapse may have been due in part to inadequate regulations – the ChCh (and later Kaikōura) earthquakes prompted a regulatory rethink about what is considered acceptable earthquake risk in Aotearoa NZ – and some might say 'not before time'.
"The collapse of the CTV Building in the 2011 Christchurch earthquake highlighted the risks of inexperienced engineers working in high-risk engineering fields and the difficulty in holding substandard or unprofessional engineers to account," a Cabinet paper from earlier this year said.
Both the Kaikōura and Christchurch earthquakes have led to a seismic shift in how engineers understand building performance, the regulatory effects of which are still emerging.
Hopefully, regulatory organisations all over NZ are currently re-evaluating the risks associated with flooding, and revising their recommendations, regulations and standards accordingly.
And then there's water fluoridation – there's always fluoridation!
"The Christchurch City Council has been very difficult to engage with. We have never, for example, managed to engage with the mayor over the past two decades," he said.
Nearly 7 years after the tragic consequences of Campylobacter contamination in Havelock North's water supply, it seems odd (to me) that some (many?) Cantabrians are so vehemently opposed to the chlorination of Christchurch's water supply. What's the story?
But his contract was terminated after he publicly gave his view that fixing the faulty well heads is unlikely to prevent the city's water supply having to be chlorinated permanently.
He also suggested that while 103 vulnerable bores are being fixed in Christchurch, about 1850 other unmonitored bores could potentially pollute supplies.
Authorities want the city's famously pure water to be regarded as a "special case", but Rabbitts said he believes there is much more work needed for it to be exempt from any mandatory permanent chlorination.
Following the story's publication, Rabbitts – a water specialist with engineering consultancy Harrison Grierson who was an expert adviser to the Havelock North inquiry – and his employer were told by the council his contract was being terminated.
Sometimes, giving pesky experts the brush-off is for the best.
He's [Joy's] one academic and, like lawyers, I could provide you others who would give a counter view, he [Key] said.
Noting the common perception that regulators/regulations (in general, not only in ChCh) can be "a bit heavy handed" at times, and particularly when you're on the receiving end…
DMK to LB @3:41 pm
1. Leaky buildings…
2. ECan to move over 'explicit and continuous breaches'
3. The CTV building collapse…
4. Water fluoridation…
LB to DMK @4:27 pm
These aren't examples of "Regulators are often viewed as "being a bit heavy handed" prior to a failure." Quite the opposite.
Sorry LB, I missed out a step. Do you recall examples of 'interested parties', feeling constrained by ‘heavy-handed’ regulation, lobbying successfully for light-handed regulation prior to a failure and/or other negative outcomes?
2.The Central Plains Water enhancement scheme has had a small but influential group of supporters… the advancement of the scheme appears to have coincided with career moves and business interests of some of these supporters.
In March 2010, following an investigation and report by Wyatt Creech, the National Government sacked the Environment Canterbury councillors and replaced them with commissioners.
In June 2010, Environment Canterbury issue a press release stating that the hearing panel had granted 31 consents and the notice of requirement for the revised scheme without the storage dam.
3. The commission's findings were released on 10 December 2012. The report found the [CTV] building's design was deficient and should not have been approved.
No obvious prior lobbying for less restrictive regulations in that case – 'just' multiple failures to meet the building design, permitting and construction standards/regulations of the day.
4.The costs and benefits of water fluoridation in NZ
[28 November 2017]
Over 20 years, the net discounted saving from adding fluoride to reticulated water supplies supplying populations over 500 would be NZ$1401 million, a nine times pay-off. Between 8800 and 13,700 quality-adjusted life years would be gained.
But children aren't ratepayers, and dentistry is 'free' for under 18s.
Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill — First Reading [25 Hōngo 2006] Hon TONY RYALL (National—Bay of Plenty): This bill, the Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill, is a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It is a heavy-handed, overkill approach to address concerns about water quality in New Zealand. … And what about the cost?
Ryall was a member of the Health select committee at the time. Same ol' National – delay repeal delay – unless it's tax cuts for the rich, and flogging off public assets.
"Nearly 7 years after the tragic consequences of Campylobacter contamination in Havelock North's water supply, it seems odd (to me) that some (many?) Cantabrians are so vehemently opposed to the chlorination of Christchurch's water supply. What's the story?"
I'm not sure why Chch are so opposed, and why they have resisted Fluoridation in the past. Both seem a no brainer to me.
"In 1979, the president of the New Zealand Master Builders’ Federation condemned the “ever-increasing burden of new standards and regulations” imposed on his members."
I'm not sure I understand that one. Houses built in NZ prior to that statement were solid and sound. The CCTV building was built in 1986, long after the 1979 statement. What is your point? That harsher regulations made buildings less safe?
"This bill, the Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill, is a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It is a heavy-handed, overkill approach to address concerns about water quality in New Zealand. … And what about the cost?"
Without reading through the link, what was the purpose of that bill? NZ has been fluoridating water since the 1960's.
Just FTR, chlorination has no effect on campylobacter until concentrations reach over 5 ppm.
Are you sure about that? You seem to be comparing broiler chickens to municipal water networks – apples and oranges?
From what I've read, the generally accepted expert consensus is that free chlorine concentrations around 0.6 – 1 ppm at point of treatment, to maintain a chlorine concentration of least 0.1 ppm (and up to 0.5 ppm) throughout a water distribution network (water treatment station to tap), is effective for controlling Campylobacter in public water supplies.
Inactivation of Campylobacter jejuni by chlorine and monochloramine [February 1986; PDF]
Under virtually every condition tested, each of the three C. jejuni strains was more susceptible than the E. coli control strain, with greater than 99% inactivation after 15 min of contact with 1.0 mg of monochloramine per liter or 5 min of contact with 0.1 mg of free chlorine per liter.
…
These results suggest that disinfection procedures commonly used for treatment of drinking water to remove coliform bacteria are adequate to eliminate C. jejuni and further correlate with the absence of outbreaks associated with properly treated water.
What's in your [Wellington] water
For supplies from unsecure water sources, Taumata Arowai’s Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules require that there be a minimum of 0.2 milligrams of chlorine per litre of water available everywhere within a distribution system, to provide effective disinfection. One milligram per litre is one part per million parts of water.
Chlorine breaks down when it comes into contact with the organic matter that it neutralises, so the level of free available chlorine at any point within a distribution system isn't constant over time. Our dosing levels are based on maintaining a minimum chlorine residual (free available chlorine) of around 0.4 mg/L throughout the distribution network.
We typically add 0.6 to 0.8 mg/L of chlorine at our treatment plants to achieve the necessary chlorine residual in the distribution system.
What is your point? That harsher regulations made buildings less safe?
The point is that regulatory regimes can swing from perceived heavy-handedness ("harsh" and burdensome, or appropriately cautious – depending on your PoV) to (more relaxed and/or less safe) light-handed approaches (due to lobbying by interested parties, e.g. builders, farmers, and (potentially unwarranted) optimism), and back again (due to 'disappointment'.) The leaky homes debacle, and unsafe levels of nitrate in drinking water, are examples of the disappointment phase.
Ideally, regulations should be formulated according to expert evidence-based assessments of risk and opportunity – the appropriate balance of (pre)caution and optimism. In the cases of leaky homes, and the expansion of dairy farming on the Canterbury plains, perhaps the regulators were 'encouraged' to err a little too much on the side of optimism? C'est la vie.
However, the reality can fall short of the ideal, so much so on some occasions that the regulatory approach is considered to have failed and a new ideal is articulated. This pattern of optimism followed by disappointment followed by optimism can be observed over time and across different regulatory areas. It can also be observed in pendulum swings between different regulatory approaches, which often take the form of slogans – such as ‘light-handed’ versus ‘heavy-handed’, ‘prescriptive’ versus ‘principles’ or ‘more’ versus ‘less’ government.
No, it was a completely weird comparison. Covid brain, for my sins.
"The point is that regulatory regimes can swing from perceived heavy-handedness ("harsh" and burdensome, or appropriately cautious – depending on your PoV) to (more relaxed and/or less safe) light-handed approaches (due to lobbying by interested parties, e.g. builders, farmers, and (potentially unwarranted) optimism), and back again (due to 'disappointment'.) "
Yep, totally agree. So it's about finding a balance. I'm not opposed to chemical water treatment, but I am pro local solutions. I'm doing some more reading on why Chch is so opposed to chlorination. According to this article, opposition to chlorination at a council level is such that they had a "target for completely removing chlorine from Christchurch's drinking water", and have spent millions on water safety plans to achieve that.
You say quite rightly that ChCh values its water purity. I'm an old ChCh boy and remember its artesian water. Where I live now is the same.
But the goal posts have shifted. The posts are now in a park that was once a rubbish dump, next to a dairy farm and with century old sewage and waste water pipes running alongside.
It shouldn't be a political issue. Water is common to us all, but as the article cited above states- "earthquake damage, climate change, disused landfill sites – as many as 1000 – and deteriorating infrastructure", "inept", "negligent" and 'complacency"- all mean the goal posts have shifted into a different ball park.
The MoH wore some severe criticism, perhaps why the overview of water quality now sits in the vision of a different and more critical set of eyes.
Several cases of gastrointestinal illness have been reported in Christchurch, where many people have been put at risk of infection by earthquake damage to the water supply and sewage-disposal systems.
You challenged anyone to produce documented cases of sickness in Christchurch due to water quality. I provided some. That you are now changing the specifics of your challenge after the fact isn't my problem.
Fair enough. But it doesn't really prove anything. I probably should have qualified the statement a bit better.
After a major earthquake a chlorination plant could be taken out. So, under those extreme circumstances, nothing could really be guaranteed so far as water quality is concerned.
Despite the hate it gets from elitist and idpol "lefty's" Christchurch is about as safe Labour as it gets the only times it hasn't been has been the two post earthquake elections of 2011 and 2014.
It's not called the peoples socialist republic of chch for nothing
Ilam is the only safe National party electorate in the city and even that electorate isn't the safest anymore.
Chch has been down this road time and time again with chlorine and chch voters blame this stuff on council and environment Canterbury.
Chch and Dunedin are safe for labour. They'll do about what they did in 2017 in those cities.
The city labour is going to struggle in, is Auckland and it's going to be a blood bath there.
But they would gain a lot of national voters who are scared of the raving loons in act…
And any left/green people thinking of voting for top need to think on..
They could be helping vote in a right-wing govt
.
And if your really upset about it, they have these really cool things called water filters.
So vote TMP or Greens or labour for better wages and a health system OR the mixed Tory boiler slag and get lower wages mixed with hard user pays – your choice.
Am assuming that comment is highlighting the fact that chlorine has no impact on nitrate levels….and that the current NZ nitrate level (limit?) is magnitudes above international best practice.
I skim read that but could not find any mention of fluoridation or chlorination.
But does say this:
Taumata Arowai was established following the inquiry into a 2016 outbreak of waterborne disease in Havelock North’s drinking water supply. It is the first key pou, or pillar, of the Government’s Three Waters Reform Programme.
“The Government’s Havelock North Inquiry and subsequent Three Waters Reform Programme has turned the spotlight on the quality and delivery of drinking water, stormwater, and wastewater services. The sector has asked for the creation of a three waters regulator, and it has come in the form of Taumata Arowai,” said Dame Karen.
Consumption of contaminated drinking water in Havelock North resulted in up to 8,320 campylobacteriosis illnesses. Of these, 953 cases were physician-reported, 42 were hospitalised, three people developed Guillain-Barrè syndrome, and four people died.
“Our tamariki, elderly, pregnant women, and people with chronic illness are particularly vulnerable.”
So you can see the establishment of Taumata Arowai was in response to a Public Health imperative, is says so at the top of this quote from your link.
The health directive enabled the political directive.
It's driven by a health necessity where local councils have failed to protect the public because they are easily lobbied by, and in some cases actively collude with, cranks and farmers. Dairy interests and anti-fluoride groups have too much influence which has resulted in the delivery of poor and sometimes dangerous quality drinking water (bacteria+nitrates) and water which does uphold maximum health benefits (un-fluoridated).
This is why the Fluoridation bill and Three Waters exist, but they are political directives which didn't come out of nowhere. They are required for Public Health.
Something I am picking up with Chris Luxon's media appearances – apart from grinning, he shows no feeling or emotion or expression – robotic in other words. His visit to the tragic fire site yesterday a case in point. Jacinda and Chris Hipkins on the other hand always visibly show they are affected by a particular situation.
Diesel here in the upper south around $1.70 a litre today, with discounts. So if "transport costs "i.e price of diesel was blamed for the large component of price rises since Covid/Ukraine, when are the money grabbing bastards who used that as a reason to raise prices far in excess of the real input, going to lower their prices to reflect the lowest actual cost of transport fuels in years ? Don't hold your breath.
Last year, after the breakdown of a giant fire fighting ladder truck, FENZ assistant national commander and Wellington region manager Bruce Stubbs told RNZ: "There are no concerns for public safety.”
When asked by Morning Report today if having this second truck at Loafers Lodge would have helped the rescue, Stubbs said: "I don't know."
While on the site, I watched The Working Group. The bit of gossip I picked up is that Taine Randell is going to be standing in East Coast Bays for Labour.
Well, I'm told that all the world loves an optimist.
If Erica Stanford can get 20,466 votes and a majority of 8,764 over a Labour Party candidate who got 11,702 in the 2020 election I wouldn't think he has a snowball's chance in Hell in 2023. Stanford would look like going back to a more typical majority of 15,000 or so.
Have they offered Randell a list place in the top dozen or so and is he running in the way that Finlayson used to pretend to run in Rongatai?
True. An ex-All Black captain is always going to have name recognition.
New Zealand must be the only country in the world where there will be obituaries in every paper in the country for someone who played, even if only in a single game and 50 years ago, for the All Blacks. To go onto the field wearing that black jersey is to become instantly immortal.
I think Taine is still a non-starter though. Now, if they could get Richie McCaw as a candidate they might have a chance.
True about that black jersey and the silver fern. (… the Addidas and Altrad logo, but that is another story.)
Without wanting to defame him, or jeopardise this site, my recollection is that McCaw would bat for the 'other side'. No evidence or anything, just a hunch.
Astonishing to hear Luxon offer "Thoughts and Prayers" to the Loafers Lodge victims. Obviously doesn't realise that those worthless sentiments (trotted out by right-wing US politicians after every mass shooting) are social media code for "I couldn't give a damn". Or maybe he does realise.
I doubt he does give a damn in this case – his concern is for the landlord class and not the likes of Loafers Lodge residents.
Chlöe Swarbrick's pre-budget piece highlights the bold moves that are needed and the decisions that keep us in the 'middle-of-the-road':
This Thursday, the Government could end poverty. It could boost teachers and nurses and midwives and emergency service workers’ wages and conditions to rival Australia. It could knuckle down and commit to the scientifically necessary actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture, transport and manufacturing. It could put more conservation rangers in our native forests, restore wetlands and daylight streams across our cities.
It could pay for these things like the First Labour Government did, with taxes on those who profited handsomely during an extremely difficult period of time for everyone else.
…
Covid-19 exposed that the things we’ve been told are impossible are simply a matter of political willpower. Direct payments to people who need it, flexible working arrangements and rent freezes were issued at lightning speed. The needs of everyday people were prioritised.
Government Budgets, like laws, aren’t passed down from the gods. They aren’t written in scripture. They are the product of decisions. Those decisions reflect the values and priorities of decision-makers.
…
He and the Minister of Finance have spent the past few weeks tempering any expectation of real change, let alone transformation, in Thursday’s Budget. They’re talking down spending, talking up trade-offs and trademarking “bread and butter”.
These are their decisions. Tinker or transform. Choose an admittedly unfair status quo or choose the change empowered by a historical majority.
The problem is (always) how those who finance our persistent deficit view such….and you never find out until its too late.
The greater our reliance on offshore supply of necessities the greater our need to consider such…and we are almost totally dependent on offshore supply.
Would I lie to you? (oh yeah)Would I lie to you honey? (oh, no, no no)Now would I say something that wasn't true?I'm asking you sugar, would I lie to you?Writer(s): David Allan Stewart, Annie Lennox.Opinions issue forth from car radios or the daily news…They demand a bluer National, with ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Do the 31,000 signatures of the OISM Petition Project invalidate the scientific consensus on climate change? Climatologists made up only 0.1% of signatories ...
In the 1980s and early 1990s when I wrote about Argentine and South American authoritarianism, I borrowed the phrase “cultura del miedo” (culture of fear) from Juan Corradi, Guillermo O’Donnell, Norberto Lechner and others to characterise the social anomaly that exists in a country ruled by a state terror regime ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
Chris Bishop has unveiled plans for new roads in Tauranga, Auckland and Northland that will cost up to a combined $10 billion. Photo: Lynn GrievesonLong stories short from Aotearoa political economy around housing, poverty and climate in the week to Saturday, April 26:Chris Bishop ploughed ahead this week with spending ...
Unless you've been living under a rock, you would have noticed that New Zealand’s government, under the guise of economic stewardship, is tightening the screws on its citizens, and using debt as a tool of control. This isn’t just a conspiracy theory whispered in pub corners...it’s backed by hard data ...
The budget runup is far from easy.Budget 2025 day is Thursday 22 May. About a month earlier in a normal year, the macroeconomic forecasts would be completed (the fiscal ones would still be tidying up) and the main policy decisions would have been made (but there would still be a ...
On 25 April 2021, I published an internal all-staff Anzac Day message. I did so as the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, which is responsible for Australia’s civil defence, and its resilience in ...
You’ve likely noticed that the disgraced blogger of Whale Oil Beef Hooked infamy, Cameron Slater, is still slithering around the internet, peddling his bile on a shiny new blogsite calling itself The Good Oil. If you thought bankruptcy, defamation rulings, and a near-fatal health scare would teach this idiot a ...
The Atlas Network, a sprawling web of libertarian think tanks funded by fossil fuel barons and corporate elites, has sunk its claws into New Zealand’s political landscape. At the forefront of this insidious influence is David Seymour, the ACT Party leader, whose ties to Atlas run deep.With the National Party’s ...
Nicola Willis, National’s supposed Finance Minister, has delivered another policy failure with the Family Boost scheme, a childcare rebate that was big on promises but has been very small on delivery. Only 56,000 families have signed up, a far cry from the 130,000 Willis personally championed in National’s campaign. This ...
This article was first published on 7 February 2025. In January, I crossed the milestone of 24 years of service in two militaries—the British and Australian armies. It is fair to say that I am ...
He shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.At the going down of the sun and in the morningI will remember him.My mate Keith died yesterday, peacefully in the early hours. My dear friend in Rotorua, whom I’ve been ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on news New Zealand abstained from a vote on a global shipping levy on climate emissions and downgraded the importance ...
Hi,In case you missed it, New Zealand icon Lorde has a new single out. It’s called “What Was That”, and has a very low key music video that was filmed around her impromptu performance in New York’s Washington Square Park. When police shut down the initial popup, one of my ...
A strategy of denial is now the cornerstone concept for Australia’s National Defence Strategy. The term’s use as an overarching guide to defence policy, however, has led to some confusion on what it actually means ...
The IMF’s twice-yearly World Economic Outlook and Fiscal Monitor publications have come out in the last couple of days. If there is gloom in the GDP numbers (eg this chart for the advanced countries, and we don’t score a lot better on the comparable one for the 2019 to ...
For a while, it looked like the government had unfucked the ETS, at least insofar as unit settings were concerned. They had to be forced into it by a court case, but at least it got done, and when National came to power, it learned the lesson (and then fucked ...
The argument over US officials’ misuse of secure but non-governmental messaging platform Signal falls into two camps. Either it is a gross error that undermines national security, or it is a bit of a blunder ...
Cost of living ~1/3 of Kiwis needed help with food as cost of living pressures continue to increase - turning to friends, family, food banks or Work and Income in the past year, to find food. 40% of Kiwis also said they felt schemes offered little or no benefit, according ...
Hi,Perhaps in 2025 it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the CEO and owner of Voyager Internet — the major sponsor of the New Zealand Media Awards — has taken to sharing a variety of Anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish conspiracy theories to his 1.2 million followers.This included sharing a post from ...
In the sprint to deepen Australia-India defence cooperation, navy links have shot ahead of ties between the two countries’ air forces and armies. That’s largely a good thing: maritime security is at the heart of ...
'Cause you and me, were meant to be,Walking free, in harmony,One fine day, we'll fly away,Don't you know that Rome wasn't built in a day?Songwriters: Paul David Godfrey / Ross Godfrey / Skye Edwards.I was half expecting to see photos this morning of National Party supporters with wads of cotton ...
The PSA says a settlement with Health New Zealand over the agency’s proposed restructure of its Data and Digital and Pacific Health teams has saved around 200 roles from being cut. A third of New Zealanders have needed help accessing food in the past year, according to Consumer NZ, and ...
John Campbell’s Under His Command, a five-part TVNZ+ investigation series starting today, rips the veil off Destiny Church, exposing the rot festering under Brian Tamaki’s self-proclaimed apostolic throne. This isn’t just a church; it’s a fiefdom, built on fear, manipulation, and a trail of scandals that make your stomach churn. ...
Some argue we still have time, since quantum computing capable of breaking today’s encryption is a decade or more away. But breakthrough capabilities, especially in domains tied to strategic advantage, rarely follow predictable timelines. Just ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Pearl Marvell(Photo credit: Pearl Marvell. Image credit: Samantha Harrington. Dollar bill vector image: by pch.vector on Freepik) Igrew up knowing that when you had extra money, you put it under a bed, stashed it in a book or a clock, or, ...
The political petrified piece of wood, Winston Peters, who refuses to retire gracefully, has had an eventful couple of weeks peddling transphobia, pushing bigoted policies, undertaking his unrelenting war on wokeness and slinging vile accusations like calling Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick a “groomer”.At 80, the hypocritical NZ First leader’s latest ...
It's raining in Cockermouth and we're following our host up the stairs. We’re telling her it’s a lovely building and she’s explaining that it used to be a pub and a nightclub and a backpackers, but no more.There were floods in 2009 and 2015 along the main street, huge floods, ...
A recurring aspect of the Trump tariff coverage is that it normalises – or even sanctifies – a status quo that in many respects has been a disaster for working class families. No doubt, Donald Trump is an uncertainty machine that is tanking the stock market and the growth prospects ...
The National Party’s Minister of Police, Corrections, and Ethnic Communities (irony alert) has stumbled into yet another racist quagmire, proving that when it comes to bigotry, the right wing’s playbook is as predictable as it is vile. This time, Mitchell’s office reposted an Instagram reel falsely claiming that Te Pāti ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
In a world crying out for empathy, J.K. Rowling has once again proven she’s more interested in stoking division than building bridges. The once-beloved author of Harry Potter has cemented her place as this week’s Arsehole of the Week, a title earned through her relentless, tone-deaf crusade against transgender rights. ...
Health security is often seen as a peripheral security domain, and as a problem that is difficult to address. These perceptions weaken our capacity to respond to borderless threats. With the wind back of Covid-19 ...
Would our political parties pass muster under the Fair Trading Act?WHAT IF OUR POLITICAL PARTIES were subject to the Fair Trading Act? What if they, like the nation’s businesses, were prohibited from misleading their consumers – i.e. the voters – about the nature, characteristics, suitability, or quantity of the products ...
Rod EmmersonThank you to my subscribers and readers - you make it all possible. Tui.Subscribe nowSix updates today from around the world and locally here in Aoteaora New Zealand -1. RFK Jnr’s Autism CrusadeAmerica plans to create a registry of people with autism in the United States. RFK Jr’s department ...
We see it often enough. A democracy deals with an authoritarian state, and those who oppose concessions cite the lesson of Munich 1938: make none to dictators; take a firm stand. And so we hear ...
370 perioperative nurses working at Auckland City Hospital, Starship Hospital and Greenlane Clinical Centre will strike for two hours on 1 May – the same day senior doctors are striking. This is part of nationwide events to mark May Day on 1 May, including rallies outside public hospitals, organised by ...
Character protections for Auckland’s villas have stymied past development. Now moves afoot to strip character protection from a bunch of inner-city villas. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories shortest from our political economy on Wednesday, April 23:Special Character Areas designed to protect villas are stopping 20,000 sites near Auckland’s ...
Artificial intelligence is poised to significantly transform the Indo-Pacific maritime security landscape. It offers unprecedented situational awareness, decision-making speed and operational flexibility. But without clear rules, shared norms and mechanisms for risk reduction, AI could ...
For what is a man, what has he got?If not himself, then he has naughtTo say the things he truly feelsAnd not the words of one who kneelsThe record showsI took the blowsAnd did it my wayLyrics: Paul Anka.Morena folks, before we discuss Winston’s latest salvo in NZ First’s War ...
Britain once risked a reputation as the weak link in the trilateral AUKUS partnership. But now the appointment of an empowered senior official to drive the project forward and a new burst of British parliamentary ...
Australia’s ability to produce basic metals, including copper, lead, zinc, nickel and construction steel, is in jeopardy, with ageing plants struggling against Chinese competition. The multinational commodities company Trafigura has put its Australian operations under ...
There have been recent PPP debacles, both in New Zealand (think Transmission Gully) and globally, with numerous examples across both Australia and Britain of failed projects and extensive litigation by government agencies seeking redress for the failures.Rob Campbell is one of New Zealand’s sharpest critics of PPPs noting that; "There ...
On Twitter on Saturday I indicated that there had been a mistake in my post from last Thursday in which I attempted to step through the Reserve Bank Funding Agreement issues. Making mistakes (there are two) is annoying and I don’t fully understand how I did it (probably too much ...
Indonesia’s armed forces still have a lot of work to do in making proper use of drones. Two major challenges are pilot training and achieving interoperability between the services. Another is overcoming a predilection for ...
The StrategistBy Sandy Juda Pratama, Curie Maharani and Gautama Adi Kusuma
As a living breathing human being, you’ve likely seen the heart-wrenching images from Gaza...homes reduced to rubble, children burnt to cinders, families displaced, and a death toll that’s beyond comprehension. What is going on in Gaza is most definitely a genocide, the suffering is real, and it’s easy to feel ...
Donald Trump, who has called the Chair of the Federal Reserve “a major loser”. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories shortest from our political economy on Tuesday, April 22:US markets slump after Donald Trump threatens the Fed’s independence. China warns its trading partners not to side with the US. Trump says some ...
Last night, the news came through that Pope Francis had passed away at 7:35 am in Rome on Monday, the 21st of April, following a reported stroke and heart failure. Pope Francis. Photo: AP.Despite his obvious ill health, it still came as a shock, following so soon after the Easter ...
The 2024 Independent Intelligence Review found the NIC to be highly capable and performing well. So, it is not a surprise that most of the 67 recommendations are incremental adjustments and small but nevertheless important ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkThe world has made real progress toward tacking climate change in recent years, with spending on clean energy technologies skyrocketing from hundreds of billions to trillions of dollars globally over the past decade, and global CO2 emissions plateauing.This has contributed to a reassessment of ...
Hi,I’ve been having a peaceful month of what I’d call “existential dread”, even more aware than usual that — at some point — this all ends.It was very specifically triggered by watching Pantheon, an animated sci-fi show that I’m filing away with all-time greats like Six Feet Under, Watchmen and ...
Once the formalities of honouring the late Pope wrap up in two to three weeks time, the conclave of Cardinals will go into seclusion. Some 253 of the current College of Cardinals can take part in the debate over choosing the next Pope, but only 138 of them are below ...
The National Party government is doubling down on a grim, regressive vision for the future: more prisons, more prisoners, and a society fractured by policies that punish rather than heal. This isn’t just a misstep; it’s a deliberate lurch toward a dystopian future where incarceration is the answer to every ...
The audacity of Don Brash never ceases to amaze. The former National Party and Hobson’s Pledge mouthpiece has now sunk his claws into NZME, the media giant behind the New Zealand Herald and half of our commercial radio stations. Don Brash has snapped up shares in NZME, aligning himself with ...
A listing of 28 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 13, 2025 thru Sat, April 19, 2025. This week's roundup is again published by category and sorted by number of articles included in each. The formatting is a ...
“What I’d say to you is…” our Prime Minister might typically begin a sentence, when he’s about to obfuscate and attempt to derail the question you really, really want him to answer properly (even once would be okay, Christopher). Questions such as “Why is a literal election promise over ...
Ruth IrwinExponential Economic growth is the driver of Ecological degradation. It is driven by CO2 greenhouse gas emissions through fossil fuel extraction and burning for the plethora of polluting industries. Extreme weather disasters and Climate change will continue to get worse because governments subscribe to the current global economic system, ...
A man on telly tries to tell me what is realBut it's alright, I like the way that feelsAnd everybody singsWe are evolving from night to morningAnd I wanna believe in somethingWriter: Adam Duritz.The world is changing rapidly, over the last year or so, it has been out with the ...
MFB Co-Founder Cecilia Robinson runs Tend HealthcareSummary:Kieran McAnulty calls out National on healthcare lies and says Health Minister Simeon Brown is “dishonest and disingenuous”(video below)McAnulty says negotiation with doctors is standard practice, but this level of disrespect is not, especially when we need and want our valued doctors.National’s $20bn ...
Chris Luxon’s tenure as New Zealand’s Prime Minister has been a masterclass in incompetence, marked by coalition chaos, economic lethargy, verbal gaffes, and a moral compass that seems to point wherever political expediency lies. The former Air New Zealand CEO (how could we forget?) was sold as a steady hand, ...
Has anybody else noticed Cameron Slater still obsessing over Jacinda Ardern? The disgraced Whale Oil blogger seems to have made it his life’s mission to shadow the former Prime Minister of New Zealand like some unhinged stalker lurking in the digital bushes.The man’s obsession with Ardern isn't just unhealthy...it’s downright ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is climate change a net benefit for society? Human-caused climate change has been a net detriment to society as measured by loss of ...
When the National Party hastily announced its “Local Water Done Well” policy, they touted it as the great saviour of New Zealand’s crumbling water infrastructure. But as time goes by it's looking more and more like a planning and fiscal lame duck...and one that’s going to cost ratepayers far more ...
Donald Trump, the orange-hued oligarch, is back at it again, wielding tariffs like a mob boss swinging a lead pipe. His latest economic edict; slapping hefty tariffs on imports from China, Mexico, and Canada, has the stench of a protectionist shakedown, cooked up in the fevered minds of his sycophantic ...
In the week of Australia’s 3 May election, ASPI will release Agenda for Change 2025: preparedness and resilience in an uncertain world, a report promoting public debate and understanding on issues of strategic importance to ...
One pill makes you largerAnd one pill makes you smallAnd the ones that mother gives youDon't do anything at allGo ask AliceWhen she's ten feet tallSongwriter: Grace Wing Slick.Morena, all, and a happy Bicycle Day to you.Today is an unofficial celebration of the dawning of the psychedelic era, commemorating the ...
It’s only been a few months since the Hollywood fires tore through Los Angeles, leaving a trail of devastation, numerous deaths, over 10,000 homes reduced to rubble, and a once glorious film industry on its knees. The Palisades and Eaton fires, fueled by climate-driven dry winds, didn’t just burn houses; ...
Four eighty-year-old books which are still vitally relevant today. Between 1942 and 1945, four refugees from Vienna each published a ground-breaking – seminal – book.* They left their country after Austria was taken over by fascists in 1934 and by Nazi Germany in 1938. Previously they had lived in ‘Red ...
Good Friday, 18th April, 2025: I can at last unveil the Secret Non-Fiction Project. The first complete Latin-to-English translation of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola’s twelve-book Disputationes adversus astrologiam divinatricem (Disputations Against Divinatory Astrology). Amounting to some 174,000 words, total. Some context is probably in order. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) ...
National MP Hamish Campbell's pathetic attempt to downplay his deep ties to and involvement in the Two by Twos...a secretive religious sect under FBI and NZ Police investigation for child sexual abuse...isn’t just a misstep; it’s a calculated lie that insults the intelligence of every Kiwi voter.Campbell’s claim of being ...
New Zealand First’s Shane Jones has long styled himself as the “Prince of the Provinces,” a champion of regional development and economic growth. But beneath the bluster lies a troubling pattern of behaviour that reeks of cronyism and corruption, undermining the very democracy he claims to serve. Recent revelations and ...
Te Pāti Māori are appalled by Cabinet's decision to agree to 15 recommendations to the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector following the regulatory review by the Ministry of Regulation. We emphasise the need to prioritise tamariki Māori in Early Childhood Education, conducted by education experts- not economists. “Our mokopuna deserve ...
The Government must support Northland hapū who have resorted to rakes and buckets to try to control a devastating invasive seaweed that threatens the local economy and environment. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill that would ensure the biological definition of a woman and man are defined in law. “This is not about being anti-anyone or anti-anything. This is about ensuring we as a country focus on the facts of biology and protect the ...
After stonewalling requests for information on boot camps, the Government has now offered up a blog post right before Easter weekend rather than provide clarity on the pilot. ...
More people could be harmed if Minister for Mental Health Matt Doocey does not guarantee to protect patients and workers as the Police withdraw from supporting mental health call outs. ...
The Green Party recognises the extension of visa allowances for our Pacific whānau as a step in the right direction but continues to call for a Pacific Visa Waiver. ...
The Government yesterday released its annual child poverty statistics, and by its own admission, more tamariki across Aotearoa are now living in material hardship. ...
Today, Te Pāti Māori join the motu in celebration as the Treaty Principles Bill is voted down at its second reading. “From the beginning, this Bill was never welcome in this House,” said Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader, Rawiri Waititi. “Our response to the first reading was one of protest: protesting ...
The Green Party is proud to have voted down the Coalition Government’s Treaty Principles Bill, an archaic piece of legislation that sought to attack the nation’s founding agreement. ...
A Member’s Bill in the name of Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter which aims to stop coal mining, the Crown Minerals (Prohibition of Mining) Amendment Bill, has been pulled from Parliament’s ‘biscuit tin’ today. ...
Labour MP Kieran McAnulty’s Members Bill to make the law simpler and fairer for businesses operating on Easter, Anzac and Christmas Days has passed its first reading after a conscience vote in Parliament. ...
Nicola Willis continues to sit on her hands amid a global economic crisis, leaving the Reserve Bank to act for New Zealanders who are worried about their jobs, mortgages, and KiwiSaver. ...
To sleep, perchance to dreamIn the shadowy chambers of Lord Winston,The great clock strikes thirteen.All remains untouched, covered with dust,As it has done since the 1970s,In a simple world where boys were boys,Ladies were mini-skirted and compliant ladies,And Italian law students ruled the streetsIn their wide lapel zoot suits.King Lux ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will launch another push on health on Sunday, announcing a re-elected Labor government would set up a free around-the-clock 1800MEDICARE advice line and afterhours GP telehealth service. The service would ...
Asia Pacific Report Activists for Palestine paid homage to Pope Francis in Aotearoa New Zealand today for his humility, care for marginalised in the world, and his courageous solidarity with the besieged people of Gaza at a street theatre rally just hours before his funeral in Rome. He was remembered ...
By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific presenter The doors of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican have now been closed and the coffin sealed, ahead of preparations for tonight’s funeral of Pope Francis. The Vatican says a quarter of a million people have paid respects to Pope Francis in the last ...
By Susana Suisuiki, RNZ Pacific presenter The doors of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican have now been closed and the coffin sealed, ahead of preparations for tonight’s funeral of Pope Francis. The Vatican says a quarter of a million people have paid respects to Pope Francis in the last ...
Once or twice a week, Dr Margaret Henley rolls up the door on a windowless storage locker in central Auckland, pulls her plastic chair up to a picnic table and sifts through the history of netball in New Zealand.She works alongside netball archivist and statistician Todd Miller, together trawling through ...
Corin DannThe time is 7:36am on Wednesday, April 23, and you’re listening to Morning Report, New Zealand’s voice of the educated left on good incomes. I’m joined now by acting Prime Minister Winston Peters. Good morning Mr Peters.Winston PetersIt was, until I saw you. I much prefer your brother.Corin DannLiam ...
When Professor David Krofcheck got an email congratulating him on winning the Oscar of the science world, he dismissed it as a hoax.“I thought it was a scam, I thought it was a phishing email,” recalls Krofcheck, nuclear physicist at Auckland University.“Yeah right, I’ve won the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was.I’ve been re-watching Girls lately, the HBO classic that perfectly captures millennial women in the most painful way. I highly recommend it especially if you haven’t watched it before. Every character on the show is deeply flawed and frustrating in their own ...
With the double-header long weekend comes a welcome chance to escape streaming slop, writes Alex Casey. Over Easter I texted my husband Joe a sentence that perhaps nobody in human history has ever texted: “hurry up geostorm is starting”. No punctuation, no capitalisation, not because I was trying to ...
April 27 is Moehanga Day, the anniversary of the day in 1806 when Ngāpuhi warrior Moehanga became the first Māori to visit England. This is his story. The wooden ship sailed down the River Thames, past smoke stacks and brick factories, until it reached a wharf in industrial south London. ...
Heidi Thomson on how her husband’s illness and Daniel Kalderimis’s book Zest have enhanced her understanding of George Eliot’s great novel.Sometimes a book finds you at just the right time. In early December my husband John had a stroke. At the time we were both reading George Eliot’s Middlemarch, ...
The musician, actor and star of upcoming documentary Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds takes us through his life in television. Musician Marlon Williams has been on our My Life in TV wish list ever since he revealed during his My Boy tour that he wrote ‘Thinking ...
When she walked dripping into the lounge, hair wet from the shower, she took one look at Hamish and dropped her towel.He was holding her phone.—How long has it been going on for?His blue eyes blazed. She wanted to pluck them out and blow on them gently, cool them off. ...
A citizens’ assembly of 100 Porirua locals has provided the city council with more than a dozen recommendations about how to tackle climate change and make sure the region is resilient to worsening extreme weather events.Ranging from expanding access to renewable energy and incentivising the planting of native trees through ...
Comment: Democracy globally is in crisis. Around the world we are seeing the rise of nationalism and declining trust in democratic institutions. Politicians, even in Aotearoa, undermine the authority of core institutions like the media and the courts, which are critical for a functioning democracy. To live well together, in ...
Journalist Rod Oram, who died last year, would have been delighted to see the commitment to addressing climate change shown by the 23-year-old winner of a prize established in his memory.Mika Hervel, a student at Victoria University of Wellington, is today named winner of the Rod Oram Memorial Essay Prize, ...
COMMENTARY:By Nour Odeh There was faint hope that efforts to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza would succeed. That hope is now all but gone, offering 2.1 million tormented and starved Palestinians dismal prospects for the days and weeks ahead. Last Saturday, the Israeli Prime Minister once again affirmed ...
An ocean conservation non-profit has condemned the United States President’s latest executive order aimed at boosting the deep sea mining industry. President Donald Trump issued the “Unleashing America’s offshore critical minerals and resources” order on Thursday, directing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to allow deep sea mining. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In this election, voters are more distrustful than ever of politicians, and the political heroes of 2022 have fallen from grace, swept from favour by independent players. A Roy Morgan survey has found, for ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor The former head of BenarNews’ Pacific bureau says a United States court ruling this week ordering the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to release congressionally approved funding to Radio Free Asia and its subsidiaries “makes us very happy”. However, Stefan Armbruster, who has ...
ER Report: Here is a summary of significant articles published on EveningReport.nz on April 25, 2025. Labor takes large leads in YouGov and Morgan polls as surge continuesSource: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne With just eight days until the May 3 federal election, and with in-person early voting well under way, Labor has taken a ...
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 Butter by Asako Yuzuki (Fourth Estate, $35) Fictionalised true crime for foodies. 2 Sunrise on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Taneshka Kruger, UP ISMC: Project Manager and Coordinator, University of Pretoria Healthcare in Africa faces a perfect storm: high rates of infectious diseases like malaria and HIV, a rise in non-communicable diseases, and dwindling foreign aid. In 2021, nearly half of ...
Australia and New Zealand join forces once more to bring you the best films and TV shows to watch this weekend. This Anzac Day, our free-to-air TV channels will screen a variety of commemorative coverage. At 11am, TVNZ1 has live coverage of the Anzac Day National Commemorative Service in Wellington. ...
Our laws are leaving many veterans who served after 1974 out in the cold. I know, because I’m one of them.This Sunday Essay was made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.First published in 2024.As I write this story, I am in constant pain. My hands ...
An MP fighting for anti-trafficking legislation says it is hard for prosecutors to take cases to court - but he is hopeful his bill will turn the tide. ...
NONFICTION1 No Words for This by Ali Mau (HarperCollins, $39.99)2 Everyday Comfort Food by Vanya Insull (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)3 Three Wee Bookshops at the End of the World by Ruth Shaw (Allen & Unwin, $39.99)
This Anzac Day marks 110 years since the Gallipoli landings by soldiers in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps - the ANZACS. It signalled the beginning of a campaign that was to take the lives of so many of our young men - and would devastate the ...
The violent deportation of migrants is not new, and New Zealand forces had a hand in such a regime after World War II, writes historian Scott Hamilton. The world is watching the new Trump government wage a war against migrants it deems illegal. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials and ...
While Anzac Day has experienced a resurgence in recent years, our other day of remembrance has slowly faded from view.This Sunday Essay was made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand. Original illustrations by Hope McConnell.First published in 2022.The high school’s head girl and ...
A new poem by Aperahama Hurihanganui, about the name of Aperahama and Abby Hauraki’s three-year-old son, Te Hono ki Īhipa (which translates to ‘The Connection to Egypt’). Te Hono ki Īhipa what’s in a name? te hono – the connection to your tīpuna, valiant soldiers of the 28th Māori Battalion ...
I know we've been speculating a bit on Luxon's future as leader of the Nats, but surely his disasterous performance this past few days has added extra piquancy to proceedings. The whole taxpayer receipt thing as a marquee policy is just wild. You've had the right leaning journos bending over backwards to make excuses for the guy, which is a terrible sign. Then yesterday and his ridiculous, insincere, and thoughtless Americanesque "Thoughts and prayers" comment on the Wellington hostel fire… I mean FFS. Unforced errors day after day.
Take it easy on Luxon please Sanc. We don't want him replaced before the election
.
I thought it was terrible judgment for him to turn up at the scene of the fire. What is this fire about, other than a failure of regulation and a failure of a housing market inflated by speculation? And Luxon and the Nats oppose regulation as a cost to business – and are dead keen to re-inflate the housing market (and therefore increase their personal wealth) by scrapping the brightline test, getting foreign buyers back, etc.
Having Luxon standing in front of a scene of the tragic incineration of poor people was just a reminder that he and his cronies will make all such problems worse. Then he compounds it with meaningless, repetitive, dull and unoriginal babbling. Perhaps he got bad advice suggesting that putting in an appearance would show his human side and help people "get to know" him? God forbid – I already know him too much.
Meanwhile, when considering the polls on preferred PM at five months out from an election the current incumbent has the lowest ratings of any PM since MMP was introduced.
Luxon is behind 2 of the Opposition leaders but ahead of the other 5 in the 8 elections for which numbers are available.
However keep up with your dreams of how popular Chippie is and how everybody hates Luxon.
Luxon is the only thing the left have going for it, why on earth would you actually be hoping he gets rolled?
The incumbent prime minister is polling at low 20s and has the charisma of a telemarketer.
God forbid they roll Luxon, if they roll Luxon, you're looking at Nicola Willis or god forbid, Erica Stanford
Regardless of whether the left sees it or not, both of those women would be extremely popular as leaders and drain middle class female votes from Labour.
It's neck and neck in party polls because of Luxons unrelatability, if you put Stanford or Willis up against Hipkins and we're looking at a 2008 or 2011 result for National.
The people who liked Key but then voted for Ardern in 2017 and 2020 will rush back to the National party with open arms for Nationals.
Stanford imo is Nationals next pm.
Luxon is probably quite safe at the moment, his caucus are too busy writing their acceptance speeches and trying to quietly cut the throats of their fellow tory MPs to pay much attention to what he is doing.
I think Labour has just lost the Christchurch vote.
Christchurch voters will be pissed off with Labour every time they take a drink of disgusting chlorinated water.
All National has to do is to promise to restore unchlorinated water to Christchurch and there will be a landslide to National.
All Christchurch had to do in 2016 was to spend some $40 million to secure the water supply against contamination. There are 400,000 residents there- it would cost only 20 flat whites per person to remedy! https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/313670/christchurch-city-council-to-vote-on-chlorinating-water
The council has spent millions on upgrading our water supply in order to meet government requirements. But, the goal posts keep shifting.
https://www.chrislynchmedia.com/news-items/government-forces-chlorine-in-christchurchs-drinking-water-sparking-outrage-from-the-mayor
Our water is fantastically managed here, and we have never had an outbreak of sickness due to water quality that I am aware of.
My understanding is Chlorine has been used intermittently in the Chch water supply? Back in 2018(??) Chch were talking about using UV and ozone treatments to avoid the use of Chlorine. What happened to that?
Yes it has, if required. But only as long as necessary.
The council has spent a fortune upgrading our infrastructure to meet what they understood to be the standard for an exemption. But, they have now found the goal-posts have moved.
People in Christchurch will be hopping mad over this. I don't think the government realises how bigger deal this is for Christchurch.
Thanks.
Heavy rain eh – "Chance in a million!"
As far as tsmithfield (@3.1.1) is aware, ChCh has "never had an outbreak of sickness due to water quality". Was that also the case in HN, prior to 2016?
https://www.hastingsdc.govt.nz/services/water/drinking-water/havelock-north-supply/article/276/havelock-north-water-contamination
Alas, many Kiwis remain wilfully deaf to some 'inconvenient' wake-up calls.
Thanks Drowsy. I personally am in favour of local solutions. In this case it sems the regulator is being a bit heavy handed?
Good points.
And people don't realise if you take a bacterium like Campylobacter, some get no illness, some mild, minority will be hospitalised and even die from the complications.
Put those proportions into a city of 400,000 and you get significant number of serious illness and death for a slip up like Havelock North.
Absolutely. Although it seems that unless you get above 5ppm, Chlronation has little impact on Campylobacter. (PDF) Effect of Drinking Water Chlorination on Campylobacter spp. Colonization of Broilers (researchgate.net)
Can't see how you draw that conclusion.
The council got their own assessment done and established that things were below standard and it will take about 5 years to fix.
How is that not local?
It is local. It's the water regulator that isn't.
But the water regulator hasn't done anything according to above so how can they be heavy handed?
Christchurch told to chlorinate its drinking water after bid for exemption | RNZ News
The water regulator has told Chch to chlorinate its water against it's wishes.
I’m picking up on TSimithfields point that the Council ” spent a fortune upgrading our infrastructure to meet what they understood to be the standard for an exemption. But, they have now found the goal-posts have moved.” https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-17-05-2023/#comment-1950187
Maybe this, from the same article, had something to do with it.
In February 2021, a weeks-long boil notice water was issued for parts of Banks Peninsula after dead animals were found in the Akaroa water supply.
"Disinfection of drinking-water supplies with chlorine is widely regarded as one of the most significant
public health interventions, reducing the incidence of waterborne disease globally," a 2017 WHO report said.
Originally though it was clearly a council decision around 2018.
The council voted for chlorination in January because some of the city's 156 wells are at risk of contamination during flooding.
At the time, it promised chlorination would last only a year.
But a council report released last week said that was not long enough to upgrade some of the wells and stop the chlorine.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/363919/chch-water-council-recommits-to-chlorine-free-deadline
Regulators are often viewed as "being a bit heavy handed" prior to a failure.
Of greater ‘concern’ (to me, being somewhat risk-averse) are 'regulators' that don't learn from past failures:
Maybe the manifold problems we currently face locally and globally are crowding out lessons from the past?
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/02/nick-smith-defends-water-quality-targets.html
What 'past failures' in Christchurch are you referring to?
Was noting the common perception that regulators/regulations are "a bit heavy handed" at times – see "optimism followed by disappointment".
Re ChCh and regulatory failures, leaky buildings 'spring' to mind.
I'm sure you can think of examples if you put your mind to it – regulatory failures can occur for a number of reasons.
The CTV building collapse may have been due in part to inadequate regulations – the ChCh (and later Kaikōura) earthquakes prompted a regulatory rethink about what is considered acceptable earthquake risk in Aotearoa NZ – and some might say 'not before time'.
https://ccc.govt.nz/consents-and-licences
https://www.building.govt.nz/building-code-compliance/canterbury-rebuild/
Hopefully, regulatory organisations all over NZ are currently re-evaluating the risks associated with flooding, and revising their recommendations, regulations and standards accordingly.
And then there's water fluoridation – there's always fluoridation!
These aren't examples of "Regulators are often viewed as "being a bit heavy handed" prior to a failure." Quite the opposite.
Nearly 7 years after the tragic consequences of Campylobacter contamination in Havelock North's water supply, it seems odd (to me) that some (many?) Cantabrians are so vehemently opposed to the chlorination of Christchurch's water supply. What's the story?
Sometimes, giving pesky experts the brush-off is for the best.
Noting the common perception that regulators/regulations (in general, not only in ChCh) can be "a bit heavy handed" at times, and particularly when you're on the receiving end…
DMK to LB @3:41 pm
LB to DMK @4:27 pm
Sorry LB, I missed out a step. Do you recall examples of 'interested parties', feeling constrained by ‘heavy-handed’ regulation, lobbying successfully for light-handed regulation prior to a failure and/or other negative outcomes?
No obvious prior lobbying for less restrictive regulations in that case – 'just' multiple failures to meet the building design, permitting and construction standards/regulations of the day.
Won't someone please think of the children!
But children aren't ratepayers, and dentistry is 'free' for under 18s.
Ryall was a member of the Health select committee at the time. Same ol' National – delay repeal delay – unless it's tax cuts for the rich, and flogging off public assets.
"Nearly 7 years after the tragic consequences of Campylobacter contamination in Havelock North's water supply, it seems odd (to me) that some (many?) Cantabrians are so vehemently opposed to the chlorination of Christchurch's water supply. What's the story?"
Just FTR, chlorination has no effect on campylobacter until concentrations reach over 5ppm. ((PDF) Effect of Drinking Water Chlorination on Campylobacter spp. Colonization of Broilers (researchgate.net))
I'm not sure why Chch are so opposed, and why they have resisted Fluoridation in the past. Both seem a no brainer to me.
"In 1979, the president of the New Zealand Master Builders’ Federation condemned the “ever-increasing burden of new standards and regulations” imposed on his members."
I'm not sure I understand that one. Houses built in NZ prior to that statement were solid and sound. The CCTV building was built in 1986, long after the 1979 statement. What is your point? That harsher regulations made buildings less safe?
"This bill, the Health (Drinking Water) Amendment Bill, is a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It is a heavy-handed, overkill approach to address concerns about water quality in New Zealand. … And what about the cost?"
Without reading through the link, what was the purpose of that bill? NZ has been fluoridating water since the 1960's.
Are you sure about that? You seem to be comparing broiler chickens to municipal water networks – apples and oranges?
From what I've read, the generally accepted expert consensus is that free chlorine concentrations around 0.6 – 1 ppm at point of treatment, to maintain a chlorine concentration of least 0.1 ppm (and up to 0.5 ppm) throughout a water distribution network (water treatment station to tap), is effective for controlling Campylobacter in public water supplies.
The point is that regulatory regimes can swing from perceived heavy-handedness ("harsh" and burdensome, or appropriately cautious – depending on your PoV) to (more relaxed and/or less safe) light-handed approaches (due to lobbying by interested parties, e.g. builders, farmers, and (potentially unwarranted) optimism), and back again (due to 'disappointment'.) The leaky homes debacle, and unsafe levels of nitrate in drinking water, are examples of the disappointment phase.
Ideally, regulations should be formulated according to expert evidence-based assessments of risk and opportunity – the appropriate balance of (pre)caution and optimism. In the cases of leaky homes, and the expansion of dairy farming on the Canterbury plains, perhaps the regulators were 'encouraged' to err a little too much on the side of optimism? C'est la vie.
"Are you sure about that? "
No, it was a completely weird comparison. Covid brain, for my sins.
"The point is that regulatory regimes can swing from perceived heavy-handedness ("harsh" and burdensome, or appropriately cautious – depending on your PoV) to (more relaxed and/or less safe) light-handed approaches (due to lobbying by interested parties, e.g. builders, farmers, and (potentially unwarranted) optimism), and back again (due to 'disappointment'.) "
Yep, totally agree. So it's about finding a balance. I'm not opposed to chemical water treatment, but I am pro local solutions. I'm doing some more reading on why Chch is so opposed to chlorination. According to this article, opposition to chlorination at a council level is such that they had a "target for completely removing chlorine from Christchurch's drinking water", and have spent millions on water safety plans to achieve that.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/99591173/state-of-new-zealands-drinking-water-slammed
You say quite rightly that ChCh values its water purity. I'm an old ChCh boy and remember its artesian water. Where I live now is the same.
But the goal posts have shifted. The posts are now in a park that was once a rubbish dump, next to a dairy farm and with century old sewage and waste water pipes running alongside.
It shouldn't be a political issue. Water is common to us all, but as the article cited above states- "earthquake damage, climate change, disused landfill sites – as many as 1000 – and deteriorating infrastructure", "inept", "negligent" and 'complacency"- all mean the goal posts have shifted into a different ball park.
The MoH wore some severe criticism, perhaps why the overview of water quality now sits in the vision of a different and more critical set of eyes.
Don't you think getting rid of a few more cows would help less bugs in your water?
To have it chlorinated is a safety measure, because dairy farming above the aquifer has caused this.
So health concerns are real… and politics over this is ill directed.
Our water is constantly monitored. If there is any sign of water quality deteriorating, then the specific areas of concern are chlorinated.
I challenge anyone here to produce any documented case of sickness in Christchurch due to water quality.
I don't think you realise how precious our beautiful water is to us here in Christchurch. This will be an election issue.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/christchurch-earthquake-broken-sewage-pipes-pose-danger-of-disease-outbreak/VQ6RFYOXMCFOD2VAWMBYYCSK7E/
What's my prize?
LOL. Broken sewage pipes after a major earthquake. Who would have thought?
Is that the best you can do?
You challenged anyone to produce documented cases of sickness in Christchurch due to water quality. I provided some. That you are now changing the specifics of your challenge after the fact isn't my problem.
Fair enough. But it doesn't really prove anything. I probably should have qualified the statement a bit better.
After a major earthquake a chlorination plant could be taken out. So, under those extreme circumstances, nothing could really be guaranteed so far as water quality is concerned.
Despite the hate it gets from elitist and idpol "lefty's" Christchurch is about as safe Labour as it gets the only times it hasn't been has been the two post earthquake elections of 2011 and 2014.
It's not called the peoples socialist republic of chch for nothing
Ilam is the only safe National party electorate in the city and even that electorate isn't the safest anymore.
Chch has been down this road time and time again with chlorine and chch voters blame this stuff on council and environment Canterbury.
Chch and Dunedin are safe for labour. They'll do about what they did in 2017 in those cities.
The city labour is going to struggle in, is Auckland and it's going to be a blood bath there.
So it would be relatively painless for national to do an act-in-epsom deal for the top leader in Christchurch..?
Ok
TOP wouldn't take such a deal because they'd lose their left wing and progressive voters.
But they would gain a lot of national voters who are scared of the raving loons in act…
And any left/green people thinking of voting for top need to think on..
They could be helping vote in a right-wing govt
.
And a coincidence the electorate the top leader is standing in is the only national one in Christchurch…illam…?
Who has ever died from chlorine in the water?
And if your really upset about it, they have these really cool things called water filters.
So vote TMP or Greens or labour for better wages and a health system OR the mixed Tory boiler slag and get lower wages mixed with hard user pays – your choice.
when we chlorinate water unnecessarily, we open the door for the source water to be more easily polluted.
All National has to do is to promise to restore unchlorinated water to Christchurch and there will be a landslide to National.
Or they could vote for TOP, and Ilam for Raf Manji.
Nitrates with that, with or without chlorine.
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=nitrates+in+aquifer+canterbury
Am assuming that comment is highlighting the fact that chlorine has no impact on nitrate levels….and that the current NZ nitrate level (limit?) is magnitudes above international best practice.
There's a lot wrong with Canterbury water by the looks of it (bacteria + nitrates) because of the powerful dairy industry.
As always with the profit/growth first political right, health/safety take a back seat.
There is indeed much wrong with nitrate levels…however the Christchurch water supply is as yet unimpacted …not so other catchments.
Like the Covid health response antivax shriekers, those people changing their vote would be confusing a Public Health directive with a political one.
It was initially a political directive that enabled the health directive
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300254800/water-fluoridation-powers-to-be-taken-off-councils-giving-control-to-dr-ashley-bloomfield
Chlorination and Fluoridation are not the same thing.
Still political.
https://www.taumataarowai.govt.nz/news/articles/taumata-arowai-now-new-water-services-regulator/
I skim read that but could not find any mention of fluoridation or chlorination.
But does say this:
So you can see the establishment of Taumata Arowai was in response to a Public Health imperative, is says so at the top of this quote from your link.
The health directive enabled the political directive.
It's still political.
The chlorination directive came from the Taumata Arowai, which was established by the Government.
Moreover, it was a pillar of the Government’s Three Waters Reform Programme.
It's driven by a health necessity where local councils have failed to protect the public because they are easily lobbied by, and in some cases actively collude with, cranks and farmers. Dairy interests and anti-fluoride groups have too much influence which has resulted in the delivery of poor and sometimes dangerous quality drinking water (bacteria+nitrates) and water which does uphold maximum health benefits (un-fluoridated).
This is why the Fluoridation bill and Three Waters exist, but they are political directives which didn't come out of nowhere. They are required for Public Health.
While Public Health is a necessity, the decision on how that is overseen and administered is political.
I suddenly remember why it is pointless engaging with you.
Something I am picking up with Chris Luxon's media appearances – apart from grinning, he shows no feeling or emotion or expression – robotic in other words. His visit to the tragic fire site yesterday a case in point. Jacinda and Chris Hipkins on the other hand always visibly show they are affected by a particular situation.
That is because he really doesn't care and worse (for a politician) he is a bad actor.
Diesel here in the upper south around $1.70 a litre today, with discounts. So if "transport costs "i.e price of diesel was blamed for the large component of price rises since Covid/Ukraine, when are the money grabbing bastards who used that as a reason to raise prices far in excess of the real input, going to lower their prices to reflect the lowest actual cost of transport fuels in years ? Don't hold your breath.
Wait till the govt takes the discounts off in the middle of winter on an election year. while the RB keeps going nuclear every quarter. Eeek.
Shits gonna hit the fan.
Last year, after the breakdown of a giant fire fighting ladder truck, FENZ assistant national commander and Wellington region manager Bruce Stubbs told RNZ: "There are no concerns for public safety.”
When asked by Morning Report today if having this second truck at Loafers Lodge would have helped the rescue, Stubbs said: "I don't know."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/490052/newtown-hostel-fire-firefighters-pretty-cut-up-they-couldn-t-rescue-more-people-as-second-ladder-truck-unavailable
Well done Martyn, sure as hell a better response than some commentators here.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/05/17/admit-it-we-are-all-responsible-for-loafers-lodge-tragedy/
Agree, I think he is bang on the money.
Thanks for the tip.
While on the site, I watched The Working Group. The bit of gossip I picked up is that Taine Randell is going to be standing in East Coast Bays for Labour.
Well, I'm told that all the world loves an optimist.
If Erica Stanford can get 20,466 votes and a majority of 8,764 over a Labour Party candidate who got 11,702 in the 2020 election I wouldn't think he has a snowball's chance in Hell in 2023. Stanford would look like going back to a more typical majority of 15,000 or so.
Have they offered Randell a list place in the top dozen or so and is he running in the way that Finlayson used to pretend to run in Rongatai?
My political analysis ends with Randell's name recognition,
True. An ex-All Black captain is always going to have name recognition.
New Zealand must be the only country in the world where there will be obituaries in every paper in the country for someone who played, even if only in a single game and 50 years ago, for the All Blacks. To go onto the field wearing that black jersey is to become instantly immortal.
I think Taine is still a non-starter though. Now, if they could get Richie McCaw as a candidate they might have a chance.
True about that black jersey and the silver fern. (… the Addidas and Altrad logo, but that is another story.)
Without wanting to defame him, or jeopardise this site, my recollection is that McCaw would bat for the 'other side'. No evidence or anything, just a hunch.
Astonishing to hear Luxon offer "Thoughts and Prayers" to the Loafers Lodge victims. Obviously doesn't realise that those worthless sentiments (trotted out by right-wing US politicians after every mass shooting) are social media code for "I couldn't give a damn". Or maybe he does realise.
I doubt he does give a damn in this case – his concern is for the landlord class and not the likes of Loafers Lodge residents.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/490060/national-party-leader-says-he-would-support-strengthening-fire-protection-regulations
But only, of course, after he has repealed two others!
As a orthodox Christian, I'd like to know what Prayers. And If he thinks we should shut the country down on Sunday to Morn the loss?
So much Death in Northland at the moment, we need a break.
Sorry about the links above being from the Troy press – the ODDITY and the Granny.
Chlöe Swarbrick's pre-budget piece highlights the bold moves that are needed and the decisions that keep us in the 'middle-of-the-road':
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/chloe-swarbrick-new-zealand-needs-govts-bread-and-butter-budget-to-be-bold-not-beige/3JMGVV6MBZASJFAIIOQKKY3HBU/
The problem is (always) how those who finance our persistent deficit view such….and you never find out until its too late.
The greater our reliance on offshore supply of necessities the greater our need to consider such…and we are almost totally dependent on offshore supply.
Wouldn't water filtering kits remove most of the chlorine?