Edited highlights from The Surge: wheeler/dealer Bernie @ #1
"Sanders reached a deal with Budget Committee moderates on a $3.5 trillion framework for a party-line reconciliation bill they intend to pass this fall. It would create a host of climate initiatives that Democrats claim would meet the president’s goal of halving emissions by 2030; add dental, vision, and hearing aid benefits to Medicare; extend the generously expanded child tax credit and improvements Democrats made to the Affordable Care Act earlier this year; allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices; and fund universal pre-K and paid family and medical leave. “The legislation that the president and I are supporting will go further to improve the lives of working people than any legislation since the 1930s,” Sanders told reporters once the deal was reached." https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/07/the-surge-bernie-sanders-budget-infrastructure-manchin-schumer.html
Legal weed @ #5: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Sens. Ron Wyden and Cory Booker, introduced the first draft of their bill, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, to remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, is extremely weirdly still not in favor of marijuana legalization."
Stroppy servant @ #7: "Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, got into it with congressional Republicans when he defended studying “white rage” and took offense at accusations over the military going “woke.” Conservatives like Tucker Carlson and Matt Gaetz, both privileged brats, called him “stupid,” a “pig,” and the reason why we lose so many wars. Milley is now likely in for another round of prep school Republicans calling him a wussy war-losing scumbag, as a new book documents some of the insults Milley lobbed Trump’s way when he was actively trying to prevent Trump from launching a coup. In a statement Thursday, Trump—who says he only picked Milley because Jim Mattis didn’t like Milley, and Trump didn’t like Jim Mattis—kicked things off by saying that “if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley.” So there!"
While most of the farmers out yesterday were just sheep who probably didn't even really know why they were protesting, government needs to remember that its up to them to ease the pain of their policies, what's gone on down in otago and Canterbury (which is the main target of many of the policies) was all done legally in most cases and aided and abetted government national and local.
Youre right about local government support in the provinces, though public support will be far more divided (and opposition largely silent)…and its not surprising as in most cases the Ag sector is the main source of both revenue and employment in theses areas….and the method of protest was far from popular if what I hear being expressed is anything to go by.
and buried in 'Lifestyle' – funny and fitting imo – a write up on the casualness on which cis gendered girls experience sexual violence at the hand of their male peers and older male.
Girls, its called a rite of passage. I am waiting on the Minister for Women to have a say on that, and to do something about the 'right to a safe space and environment in which to grow up for human beings with natural vaginas. I am however not holding my breath, cause i'd be dead before anyone in any government really gives a flying fudge.
Of the 724 students who responded (aged 12 to 18), 60 per cent said they had been sexually harassed, many of them multiple times — out on the street, around town, at social gatherings or online. In most cases, their harassers were teenage boys of a similar age, or older men.
The impact of even what might be considered low-level harassment was often distressing. Relentless cat-calls and sexual comments had led some students to change their route to and from school, or to avoid travelling by bus altogether. Some of the verbal abuse that was reported, including rape threats, was truly vile. A girl on her way home from school says she attracted a volley of abuse when she walked past a group of teenage boys, with one of them shouting, "I'll f*** you until your back breaks."
Other students told of being groped, followed, filmed without permission or sent unwanted "dick pics". One was offered money to allow herself to be touched. Several of the reported rapes involved multiple offenders taking turns with a girl who'd had too much to drink or been subdued with drugs. More than once, a supposedly supportive boyfriend had helped her into a bedroom to lie down, then brought in his mates.
I'll deem you Minister for Women for the day. What would you do? Real solutions.
(Not real solutions are the seeming National style solution for gangs, to wit: "Gangs do bad things, put all gang members in jail." So with girls being assaulted, "Males do bad things, lock up all teenage and adult males."
make rape and sexual assault part of the hate crime bill.
– Min. sentencing 3 years plus 50.000 in damages.
– Advertise that in Schools, specifically boys school. Send police to boys schools and tell them what happens if you rape anyone (as boys also get raped).
Anyone cought raping anyone should get at least that for every charge of rape.
So this guy here who assaulted three women during a Navy trip should get at the minimum 3 years for each instance, plus 50.000 to each victim. No parole, no early release, madatory listing on sexual offenders list, no name suppression. – but he got two years. Cause boys will be boys. Right?
Cause clearly girls should know that when they are out and about, trying to live their life that they will inspire men and boys (and some women, althought no women ever told me to smile, never told me to get a breast augmention surgery lest i be considered a boy, or told that my ass is fuckable, nor has ever any women with a vagina raped me, that was always done by weaponsied penises).
So now Pete , that i told you what i would do, what would you do to keep girls as young as 13 save from having a train run over them organised by their supposed 'boyfriends'.
And please remember that the Roastbusters were not even charged with 'supplying alcohol to minors'. They went scot free, and the girls get to pick up what ever is left of them and continue on. Mind i guess they are not Rainbow Youth, so sucks to be a person with a natural vagina.
And do feel free to tell me just how unfair it is that Girls stand up for themselves and demand to not be reduced to a piece of meat by their peers and older male.
Tbh, Sabine I had no real inkling that this shit had got so bad for our young women. I was reading that article very early this morning and thinking we really need to get boys off the fucking porn sites and into some sound and solid consciousness-raising and mindfulness. They also need to learn that women do not exist for their use and entertainment. That women and girls are actually human.
"We're so desensitised to it, and so are the guys. They don't see themselves as 'offenders' whose behaviour is hurting or breaking someone. Men are trained not to respect women. And if you challenge it, they're the ones who feel they've been targeted unfairly."
This has gone way beyond a rank sense of entitlement…and we in the west have the audacity to challenge third world countries on the way they treat women and girls.
Should we start lessons in the earliest classes in schools, or preschools, telling boys what will happen to them if they treat other people badly? Should we have exemplar lists of what constitutes that unacceptable behaviour?
Why don't you answer me this? Do YOU think that girls and women should have a right to NOT be assaulted, insulted and raped by THEIR MALE peers? or is that just boys being boys and rape is a rite of passage for men to commit and for women/girls to suffer through?
A couple of times lately I have been questioned on NOT putting stuff as if something not being there means I accept it or approve of it. As if I have to preface everything I say with a pepeha which includes everything I believe in, anything not being there implying I don't care.
Like an implication that because I didn't lambaste mongrels who assault other people I might think that it's okay for girls and women to be assaulted, insulted and raped by male peers? Or thinking that rape is a reasonable rite of passage for men to commit and for women/girls to suffer through.
I'm going to a public occasion this afternoon. If someone doesn't tell me directly that they think that girls and women should have a right to NOT be assaulted, insulted and raped by THEIR MALE peers and that just boys being boys and rape is a rite of passage for men to commit and for women/girls to suffer through, do I assume the worst about them and their attitudes?
i don't know what you believe, you could answer me my question. Something like, Yes, i believe that, would suffice actually.
But let me tell you…….that
I do believe that women and girls SHOULD have that right, and i am waiting with baited breath for the Minister of Women to state something to that extend, because this is just ONE school, and we can expect this to happen pretty much anywhere in the country.
"I'm going to a public occasion this afternoon. If someone doesn't tell me directly that they think that girls and women should have a right to NOT be assaulted, insulted and raped by THEIR MALE peers and that just boys being boys and rape is a rite of passage for men to commit and for women/girls to suffer through, do I assume the worst about them and their attitudes?"
You are commenting around the topic of sexual harassment as reported by the Christchurch school girls, without actually addressing the impact this harassment has on not only their lives, but the lives of those conducting that harassment (and those around them) if it is not addressed.
Listen to what Sabine is saying, instead of getting all #NotAllMen.
Because the reality is, most women have experienced what is reported to varying degrees of harm.
So, there is a better approach than just pretending there is nothing to address, such as you seem to be doing.
It is necessary for us ALL to address it, as opposed to only those who are participating in harmful behaviour, unless you honestly believe that it is not worth finding a solution for.
(BTW, lessons are learned in cultures and societies, not just schools. The answer does not rely on educational institutions solely, we collectively carry that responsibility.)
Surely you're not telling me what I should be addressing?
And if I haven't addressed what you think I should be addressing I'm pretending there is nothing to address?
Not worth finding a solution for? I asked about specific responses. Sabine has suggested punishment and advertising. You say, "The answer does not rely on educational institutions solely, we collectively carry that responsibility" without saying what can specifically be done.
It's all right saying there is a massive problem, it's obvious there is. Thing is, what specifically should be done about it?
“Surely you’re not telling me what I should be addressing?”
God forbid. Just all those who are concerned about the current environment of harm. Else the involvement of those not caring, gets in the way of discussion and possible solutions by redirecting into dead ends of discussion.
"It's all right saying there is a massive problem, it's obvious there is. Thing is, what specifically should be done about it?"
Well, it was not apparent that you thought this from your previous comments on this thread.
Instead of asking others for solutions, or providing facile tongue-in-cheek proposals, – do you have any real solutions to propose? I'll wait.
And something about consent having to be proved. Along the lines of the accused having to demonstrated reasonable grounds for believing each act (which would take in removing condoms) was desired by the other party.
Seems like debunked Guardian hack Luck Harding is still not yet ready to abandon his wet dream fantasy that Russia helped Trump into the Whitehouse in 2016, a narrative that most thinking humans have now accepted was some sort of smoke screen to protect Clinton and the establishment Dems from taking any kind of responsibility for their embarrassing defeat during that election..a narrative now only mentioned in polite company by hardcore fantasists (like Harding and enabled by The Guardian)…..
Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put Trump in White House
The headline warns the Prime Minister to, "dismiss protesting farmers as rednecks at (her) peril."
I could not find any reference to where the PM had done such a thing. Would anyone with a Hurled subscription be able to tell us where the PM said or implied 'protesting farmers are rednecks'?
Harris says he saw some tenants living in “absolutely awful conditions”.
''There are some landlords who are just 100 per cent scumlords, and they should never ever be allowed to own property to rent out.''
Harris' firm, TradeTech, has inspected and assessed 3756 Christchurch homes over the last 18 months. A small percentage of landlords went to extraordinary lengths to avoid fixing their poor quality rentals, he says.
''We have been asked to pass houses without seeing them and been offered money to do so.
‘’Owners are trying to tape insulation around the manhole or scatter [pink] batts around, so it looks like it has been done, or they put new lino over holes in the floor. For draught-stopping, rather than fix windows, some just nail them shut.''
I'd really like to see inspectors have the ability to force sales of rental properties and a ban from being associated in any way (including as a property manager or investor) with residential tenancies. Don't think a licence to landlord is worth anything imho cause scum LL's need more than some certificate of completion. They need repercussions, and serious ones at that. God knows the rest of us are paying via the health and welfare systems for their shoddy treatment of tenants.
I suggest that the landlord needs to put the tenant up in a motel until the repairs or legal installation is carried out or not be paid rent until the work is carried out.
And
That the landlord needs to live in the rental if the work is not carried out and pay for a motel for the tenants.
My elderly parents had their first Pfizer vaccine yesterday, no side effects yet. I'm in Group 3 due to a health condition and have booked my first vaccine for this Thursday. My sister in-law works at Waikato Hospital and is fully vaccinated, as is my brother. All good.
Sore arms and tiredness seem to be the most common side effects. Had my first dose on Thursday and that night the jab site was quite painful. By morning it had receded to a mild irritation. Been feeling a bit tired but don't know if it is due to injection.
Whatever: for anyone feeling a bit unsure of the jab… the side effects are minor and only last a day or so.
Always use my OPPO A53s, ColorOS 7.2 with Android 10. Chrome browser with Adgurd private dns.
I use the Mobile version of The Standard, but the Desktop version also currently works. No issues with functionality at the moment, but I don't comment very often.
Okay, I think I have worked it out now. You have to use the link button (looks like a chain link with a diagonal dash above the bullet point buttons), rather than just pasting the link into the text body. No idea what the flag or 3 horizontal lines buttons mean.
Conversely, I found the scaling didn't work at all with image button, but copy-pasting did on laptop.
At least the link from NRT seems to be working again – that's been out for months.
I like desktop because of the Replies list, and the aesthetics, but can't comment from there so am continually switching back and forth between mobile and desktop.
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and use mobile Chrome version 91.0.4472.120 (the latest version for my phone). I can post using mobile view but not desktop view. I also have mobile Firefox version 90.1.1 (Build #2015820747), also the latest version, and report the same thing. I also have Samsung Internet (Samsung's mobile browser based on Chrome) version 14.2.1.69 (the latest version), and it didn't load this page beyond the title. When checking on my Samsung Tab S5E (tablet), Samsung Internet allows posting in mobile but not desktop.
By post, I mean that when I press the reply button on the page, I can type in the comments editor in mobile view, but not desktop view.
For all the talk about high-density housing, and its importance in addressing the failure of decades of NZ planning, the reality is that good transitional housing requires great design and location and considerations. Despite the accumulated capital gains that has delighted some of the property owners across the country from land-use changes to high-density, this delight does not necessarily result in a change from existing building designs, or better living experiences for those who end up residing in resulting houses.
As far as Auckland Council is involved past the zoning change, their ability to influence resulting builds has been hampered by their failure to connect the Auckland Design Manual to the Unitary Plan, and developers are businesses who develop to increase their profit margins, not to provide long-term homes that take into account affordability, long-term residents well-being and transition considerations over and above the current inadequate regulatory requirements. This is not a treatise against property developers, just a statement of fact.
Given the current cost of emergency housing at $1million a day, and the more accepted cost of Accommodation Supplement at $30 million a week it is apparent to more than a few of us that current mechanisms to address housing, including Kiwibuild are treating housing as a commodity rather than a human need, and despite all protestations to the contrary are propping up an overheated market. Of course, politically, the cost of depressing house prices are not to be considered, even though many NZers are paying the price of the economic benefit enjoyed by a few that have the ability to financially invest and benefit from this commodification of a human need.
I am one of those that firmly believe the solution to actually access to healthy housing to all NZers, requires a dedicated commitment to vast amounts of state housing, where tenure is stabilised and the building of state housing must consider the wellbeing of residents and connection to community AS WELL AS utilising the investment of government and the judicious use of resources and design to transition these dwellings in terms of climate change. Once all NZers have access to affordable, secure, fit-for-purpose housing as can be provided by the state, then the developers and housing investors can continue with their business model without interference. We should not expect businesses to provide the necessities of living if the government shows little interest in the same. Once again, I believe this disinterest is a result of a lack of political will, the voters that they care about are those that are benefitting from rising housing costs, or are appeased by policies that seem to allow them to get on the property ladder (Kiwibuild).
As at 31 March 2021, the number of those on the State Housing list was 23,688. There has been a marked increase, after a Covid year, but the fact is that this is the number of people awaiting state housing after meeting all requirements.
The Kainga Ora December 2020 Report states that in the previous three years they have built 3500 state houses (without specifying whether this provides 3500 houses in addition to existing available housing stock, or does not include the demolition of previous state houses. This is an important distinction. If the net gain of state houses is minimal, or not meeting demand, NZ will continue to fail to address the inequity that results in many households because of the high cost of a fundamental need.
Apparently, the current government declined to invest in speeding up the glacially slow process of providing state housing, and looking in detail at current project gives a strong impression of rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. From their current state housing builds, that is reported on Page 34:
Northcote The Northcote Development replaces about 300 existing state houses with approximately 1,500 new homes, including approximately 470 new state houses, 580 KiwiBuild/affordable homes and the rest as market houses … (Net increase in state homes -170)
Mount Roskill The Mount Roskill Development will deliver approximately 11,000 new high-quality, healthy homes over the next 20 years. The new development will be comprised of approximately 4,400 state homes, 3,300 KiwiBuild/affordable homes and 3,300 market homes. These replace 2,732 existing state houses that have an average age of 48 years. … (Net increase in state homes -1,668 in 20 years)
Māngere The Māngere Development will deliver approximately 10,000 new warm, dry, healthy homes over 20 to 25 years, including around 5,000 state homes, 2,500 KiwiBuild/affordable homes and 2,500 market homes replacing 2,700 existing state houses…((Net increase in state homes -7,300 in 20-25 years)
Delivery is underway in the Māngere West neighbourhood where over 900 homes will be built, of which 342 will be state homes. … The Tāmaki development will deliver around 10,500 new homes over the next 25 years. The development will be comprised of approximately 3,500 state homes, 3,500 affordable homes (including KiwiBuild) and 3,500 market homes replacing 2,800 existing state dwellings. … (Net increase in state homes -700 in 25 years)
North West Glen Innes will deliver more than 1,200 homes, has also commenced. Oranga The Oranga Development replaces around 400 state houses with over 1,100 new homes, including 440 new state homes, over eight years…. (Net increase in state homes -700 in eight years)
Te Kauwhata In June this year, we also entered into a land supply partnership agreement with Winton to deliver 1,300 homes over the next seven to eight years at its greenfield Lakeside development at Te Kauwhata, North Waikato. Kāinga Ora is engaging build partners to construct a wide range of housing choices in a fully consented master-planned community, located in a strategic Southern Corridor location…
In the introduction Kainga Ora states:
Over the next four years, Kāinga Ora plans to invest $11.2 billion in its housing stock, resulting in a net increase of approximately 8,250 additional state homes.
If Kainga Ora was purely investing in state houses, that would be a build price per household unit of $1.3 million. However, they are both providing state housing AND contributing/relying on housing inflation by also providing houses for market and Kiwibuild. I believe there is a disconnect going on here, that is enshrined in the current interpretation of their objective:
Our objective is to contribute to sustainable, inclusive, and thriving communities that provide people with good quality, affordable housing choices that meet diverse needs; support good access to jobs, amenities, and services; and otherwise sustain or enhance the overall economic, social, environmental, and cultural well-being of current and future generations.
The belief that the market is working as it should, allows them to participate in being property developers themselves, and also working in PPP with other developers in order to create a profit.
However, they could, if politically supported do better. Their request to increase the rate of state housing builds was denied by the current Labour government. But they do have the ability to identify development opportunities that exist within their Crown Entity roles.
For a thought experiment, could they look at purchasing Ellerslie racecourse? Six hectares in a location well positioned for walkable community and transport, and if developed with good design by Kainga Ora might provide more household units for state housing than they currently have planned to meet demand.
There is high-density housing, and there is well-designed high density housing. I don't think we are currently doing well at the second.
Kainga Ora could be investing in developments like 8 House in Copenhagen on approx 2-2.5 hectares, which was conceived in 2006 and delivered around 2010.
The cost of €92,000,000 provided 61,000 sqm of building, including 10,000 retail/commercial space, 500 sqm of community space and 476 household units (of which over 300 are unique in design). 1700 sqm of green roof. All household units have access to outside space – balcony or front garden, and many have dual aspect windows. There is also a 1 km walkway ramp that connects all residents to each other, and to the open courtyards.
It is worth taking a look at the other projects that BIG studio has been involved in. I investigated their work after my son expressed interest in the Lego House which was one of their projects. I have also read a couple of interviews with developers that are using the architectural studio because their innovative design reduces build costs on multi-story developments.
I'm not really wanting to start another round of the ivermectin shitfight. But following on the heels of the discrediting and withdrawal of the egyptian study that ivermectin boosters heavily relied on, a new study has just been published where those running the study have taken reasonable care around controls, randomisation etc, and found that ivermectin did not have any benefit.
Oddly enough, I did read them before posting. Do you think I might have missed something important?
Maybe the researcher's conclusion?
Conclusion
Ivermectin had no significant effect on preventing hospitalization of patients with COVID-19. Patients who received ivermectin required invasive MVS earlier in their treatment. No significant differences were observed in any of the other secondary outcomes.
Or perhaps this nugget?
All-cause mortality was 7 cases (1.40%) in the 501 patients, of which 4 were patients (1.60%) in the ivermectin group and 3 were patients (1.20%) in the placebo group,
Or perhaps this little wrinkle pointing to ivermectin being ineffective as prophylaxis?
Incredibly it was extremely hard to find patients for the trial. Why? Too many Argentinians it seems were already taking ivermectin.
Of 15 968 people who tested positive for Covid and were excluded from taking part in the trial, 12 356 could not participate because they were already taking ivermectin. (We are also hearing anecdotal reports of South Africans using ivermectin.)
Or perhaps you could point to what led you to suggest I should read my sources?
Secondly, the mean dose of ivermectin was 192.37 μg/kg/day (SD ± 24.56), which is below the doses proposed as probably effective [20, 33].
They used a low dose of Ivermectin in the study, and they only did a short dose of 2 consecutive days. From what I gather this is not the recommended dosage to treat with this drug.
What is the recommended dose, who made the recommendation, and on what basis was the recommendation made?
There's two links in that quote you found, what do they say? (hint: neither of them have any recommendation on actual dosages to try against covid, let alone having any kind of evidentiary basis)
When it comes to the proposal that some specified substance treats some specified ailment, the default assumption has to be that it doesn't do shit in real life, no matter what happens in test tubes when the concentration is cranked way up. It's up to those claiming it actually does something useful to prove that, to a high standard.
Nobody has come anywhere close to showing ivermectin does anything useful against covid to even a mediocre standard. Even with absolute garbage studies, the claimed improvements are really small by the time the probable outright frauds are weeded out. It's significant that as the quality of study improves, less actual beneficial effect is found.
The two links were from the erroneous study you posted, so I doubt they will be much help re dosage.
In the real world.. when conducting a scientific experiment it's often best to use the same dosage as what doctors say work in the real world… to you know test the hypothesis!
So back to the question above, which you ghosted as you usually do for inconvenient questions:
What is the recommended dose, who made the recommendation, and on what basis was the recommendation made?
A key point of all these studies showing zero effectiveness is that the dosage used was the best guess by the doctors conducting the trial at what would be the most effective dose regime. Those that have had the honesty and integrity to set up reasonably robust trials of what they think is most likely to give positive outcomes have found – nothing, zip, nada. Those who let their hopes and motivated reasoning lead them into conducting badly designed and badly analysed trials with high risk of bias have found – at best very small effects, which haven't been replicated elsewhere.
Johnson also took aim at Tinetti, saying “her silence has created this vast void under which all of this animosity has poured”, and called on the minister to “show leadership and say that … women have the right to speak about women’s rights”.
Tinetti said she sent letters to several groups including Speak Up for Women, encouraging them to make a submission to select committee later this year.
As always, there are multiple sides to a story/narrative and I refuse to be shoehorned into one or the other. It will be interesting to see how many submissions will be received this time and whether public opinion has changed much; opinion and debate certainly seem to be more polarised, which is never a good sign.
As always, there are multiple sides to a story/narrative and I refuse to be shoehorned into one or the other.
Indeed. I'm so tempted to put up a thread title "Man's Day" and exclude all women and any pro-feminist viewpoints from it. But that would be … provocative. Still given that feminists have spent two generations systematically dismantling all the traditional male-only spaces where men might have talked without the distraction of the female perspective – I can't help but note the delicious irony icing on this particular little cupcake.
But as I stated yesterday, all of this was a more or less predictable outcome of the left elevating the post-modernist cult of Identity Politics to the loudest voice in our ideological narrative. Did it never occur to those who promoted it with such fervour, that the day might come when others would learn to play it as well?
Heh! It wouldn’t surprise me if some here would try to counter that by saying that some (most?) of TS could be considered ‘Man’s Day’. However, I understand the desire for a safe harbour to talk with like-minded people but this too easily leads to pseudo-debate and echo chamber stuff, IMO. I don’t think it fits well with the kaupapa of this site, but I stress that this is my personal opinion and I have to and (thus) will respect the opinions of others if/when they make a strong case for it.
Regarding the merit of the loudest voice leading/ruling, this also happens to be one of allegations raised in regard to the self-destruction of the Auckland chapter of SS4C (see my other comment in OM). Indeed, it is highly predictable, especially in hindsight 😉
Like you I'm not particularly against the idea of the thread. It seems largely populated by women who collectively burned their bridges with the male half of humanity a long time ago – and if they need an exclusive space to talk then well and good. But it's also obvious this is not a privilege they would extend to men.
I have a strong egalitarian streak and react to exclusive zones, spaces, meetings, communications, et cetera, and to hierarchical structures as well – a personal problem, obviously 😉 This is also one of the reasons why I have a major issue with the current state of the OIA in particular and with Government and State transparency and accountability in general.
I believe strongly in fair and inclusive debate, which is one reason why I’m on this site and put considerable time and effort into it. Good robust debate is key; it is also lacking, not just here on The Standard but everywhere – people seem to have lost or never learned how to debate each other effectively. It is not about winning or losing, about being right or wrong, about power – all the power is in the coming together in and of mind & spirit; polarisation, division, separation, and exclusion always remove collective power and therefore individual power and mana as well.
I see this reflected in the smoke & mirrors surrounding the so-called hate speech laws as well as He Puapua, for example – all symptomatic of the same problem. This this does not bode well for tackling global issues that affect all humanity and the planet for that matter. Sometimes, it feels we’re still stuck in day-care …
I hear you. We don't always agree but I can sincerely respect the motives you express here.
If I might add an optimistic note, while the standard of debate does fall short of what we might imagine as ideal, but honestly I think in some respects it has gotten better over the years. A quick glance at many social media comment threads shows that we could be a lot worse.
Affirmative, you and I don’t always agree but that’s ok with me; what matters is how we disagree and, for the record, I don’t have any major personal complaints 🙂
As far as your optimistic note is concerned, I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry 😉
Interesting discussion….after talking to female members of my circle re trans rights and 'womens space' I've come to the conclusion that like any group of people the viewpoints will vary tremendously though with one underlying theme…its all good for for men.
Like you I'm not particularly against the idea of the thread. It seems largely populated by women who collectively burned their bridges with the male half of humanity a long time ago – and if they need an exclusive space to talk then well and good. But it's also obvious this is not a privilege they would extend to men.
I haven't seen a comment like this about women since the 1970s when we were all dried up prunes and men haters for thinking as we did.
And I can readily find equivalent ghettos on the internet of men who have similarly 'burned their bridges with women'. You call it misogyny.
That both sexes are in a very real sense sundering their ancient connection and literally 'going their own separate ways' is in my view a totally predictable consequence that I was in my own fumbling way attempting to outline years ago. Watching it all unfold in real-time gives me no pleasure, trust me.
I'm not hurt by the "dismantling of traditional male-only spaces", because those spaces harboured and legitimised the very misogynistic oppression and abuse which is in the process of being addressed today.
As always, those against identity politics are those against the questioning of their traditional power.
Why some men feel the need to insert themselves into every discussion, mansplaining the righteousness of the status quo is beyond me.
No. As I said above, they're welcome to talk among themselves. I've refrained from commenting on almost anything gender related for almost four years now and contrary to what you imagine, I'm not at all keen on 'inserting myself into that conversation'.
I'm merely observing the the endless 'gender critical' threads of recent months and noting it as a predictable outcome of the entire post-modernist project, of which 'identity politics' was a large component. Which is pretty much all I have to say for the moment.
If you would like to 'learn by reading' on the Women's Day thread TeWhareWhero's summation (post 7.1) of the move from Womens' Studies to Gender issues/Studies is instructive.
I heard about that elsewhere, good to have a verifiable source for the story, Incognito. This from the SUFW spokeswoman was also good (not often I type that phrase!):
“We are calling for respectful, considered public dialogue. This is the last thing we want. We don’t know the validity of that [slapping] claim … but I absolutely condemn physical violence and abuse,” Johnson said.
After the Wi Spa violence, it is good to know that the local branch of that trans averse franchise are not gearing up for literal, rather than figurative war. Though trusting that many trans folk believe a word she says at this point seems a bit of a forlorn hope. Really hoping people don't start going to protests armed with protective gear that could become weapons at the wrong moment.
And just so you know, I had a quick look at the link from the other thread re Wi Spa and I'm not finding any credible evidence that the video was a hoax. I'm seeing speculation that it was, which is fine, but that's a different thing.
It also looks like the stabbings were by far right activists. This was in a conflict with antifa. I'm not seeing how women are involved in this at all.
I don't want to spend much time on this tonight, so I'm giving you a warning in comment rather than stepping into moderator mode. You will have to up your game in this debate. If you want to argue that women in NZ present a violent threat to trans people at protest actions, you will need to make an actual argument and back it up if making claims. Dropping in slur comments and using trans activist opinion based websites as evidence fails the requirements here for robust debate.
My suggestion is read the Policy. I want strong debate on sex/gender from all sides because I belief that NZ will be better for an open and honest examination of the issues. You bring in important perspectives, but you are going to have to learn how to present them directly. If you don't know what I am getting at here, please ask.
In the end my moderation response will come down to how much of my time gets sucked up chasing up useless links or asking for back up for claims or explanations of arguments poorly made. This isn't specific to you, or the topic, it's how it's been for a long time on site.
Because this isn't the first time I've had to explain how things work here, next time I have to think about this as a moderator I'll be putting boundaries in place. I suggest you get into the habit of linking well every time, and also cut and pasting the bits from the link that support what you are saying. This is so others don't have to do the work to find what your actual argument is. The onus is on you to state your argument clearly.
If you want to argue that women in NZ present a violent threat to trans people at protest actions, you will need to make an actual argument and back it up if making claims.
Imho some cis NZers are a threat to trans NZers, and NZ is pretty typical in this regard. If it's too much to expect acceptance, or even tolerance, then at least a little more understanding on all 'sides' wouldn't go amiss.
STELLAR PRITCHARD | HERE WE ARE [18 Nov. 2020] Moe: For me motherhood means like it's, it's creating, so it's like kinda help, helping create worlds, for, say, Stellar, creating a world of safety, where she's able to live her authentic self and be unapologetic and, um, having support from us, as well as myself, to guide her through this thing called trans-queer life.
Stellar: All of us weren't necessarily born into womanhood. We had to fight to get accepted, we have to fight to get understood. And we have to find who we are especially, and we have to find ourselves through our communities, and we have to find ourselves through… events, the best and the hardest events of our lives. Yeah, and I feel like all of us have to fight for the womanhood that we have, because there's so many people that will try and doubt our womanhood, and there's so many people that won't understand our womanhood. I may have been treated like that, but I'm not going to fall – yeah.
Gender Violence
Transgender Experiences with Violence and Discrimination
[2002; cited 1088 times] There is a pervasive pattern of discrimination and prejudice against transgendered people within society. Both economic discrimination and experiencing violence could be the result of a larger social climate that severely sanctions people for not conforming to society's norms concerning gender; as such, both would be strongly associated with each other. Questionnaires were distributed to people either through events or through volunteers, and made available upon the World Wide Web. A sample of 402 cases was collected over the span of 12 months (April 1996-April 1997). We found that over half the people within this sample experienced some form of harassment or violence within their lifetime, with a quarter experiencing a violent incident. Further investigation found that experiencing economic discrimination because one is transgendered had the strongest association with experiencing a transgender related violent incident. Economic discrimination was related to transgendered people's experience with violence. Therefore, both hate crimes legislation and employment protections are needed for transgendered individuals.
Can't help wondering if those who identify as trans NZers today are that much better off than 25 years ago when data were collected for the above study.
Factors associated with suicide attempts among Australian transgender adults [2021] Transgender, including gender diverse and non-binary people, henceforth referred to collectively as trans people, are a highly marginalised population with alarming rates of suicidal ideation, attempted suicide and self-harm. We aimed to understand the risk and protective factors of a lifetime history of attempted suicide in a community sample of Australian trans adults to guide better mental health support and suicide prevention strategies.
Experiences and factors associated with transphobic hate crimes among transgender women in the San Francisco Bay Area: comparisons across race [2021] Trans women experience high rates of gender-based violence (GBV)—a risk factor for adverse health outcomes. Transphobic hate crimes are one such form of GBV that affect trans women. However, little is understood about factors that shape transphobic hate crimes and racial/ethnic variation in these experiences. To contextualize GBV risk and police reporting, we examined self-reported types and correlates of transphobic hate crimes by racial/ethnic group of trans women in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Many, possibly a majority, of cis and trans women continue to face many challenges, but it's not a competition (or at least it shouldn't be, imho.) NZ can look to other countries to identify progressive strategies that might minimise real and perceived violence and discrimination against all women.
States Must Push Back Against Harmful Anti-Gender Narratives – UN Expert [26 June 2021]
“Gender theory is a powerful tool to address the oppression of female or non-normative identities,” the report says. “Feminist struggle and the fight to live free from violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity are deeply intertwined, and they reinforce each other.”
This comes after RNZ revealed trans woman Kristine Ablinger's landlord gave her three hours to move out of her home because she found her 'offensive'.
Ablinger laid a complaint with the Commission, but was shocked to learn an exception to the Human Rights Act meant the discrimination she faced was not unlawful, and the Commission was unable to take action.
Why 1 in 5 transgender people experience homelessness
"So, my mum hates me. She doesn't hate me per se, but she just doesn't agree with, in her words, 'my lifestyle'. Whatever that means. So, yeah."
* Almost one in five trans and non-binary New Zealanders have been homeless, according to 2018 survey Counting Ourselves. The proportion is even higher for non-European survey participants (a quarter), while 16 percent of European participants have experienced homelessness, the study found.
Another survey, by Gender Minorities Aotearoa, found of 43 trans homeless people in Wellington, 79 percent had a mental health condition, and 47 percent had a disability. The survey, which is yet to be released publicly, also found that for three quarters of participants, homelessness had been experienced more than once.
For some gender diverse people, intersecting identities – like ethnicity, disability, religion or sexuality – can compound to make life even more difficult. The cumulative effects of these minority stresses can result in mental health difficulties and stable housing is a key ingredient in the maintenance of good mental health.
An interesting PoV from an insider into the implosion of the Auckland chapter of SS4C. Self-appointed leadership and the lack of structure are mentioned as a possible contributing reasons. Hopefully, it was a learning curve for some, at least.
This is too soon and insensitive. I do wonder how many of the farmers who drove their tractors into town one day, have their hand out for govt help following floods the next.
I think it is perfectly ok when farmers ask and receive help and government assistance when there’s a natural disaster. It would be totally wrong to try and link that to democratic protest or to giving one party more leverage over the other – the power balance is almost never equal/symmetrical anyway. Similarly, should nurses, for example, have more negotiating leverage because of what they’re doing as part of the Covid elimination strategy? There’s a calculating and neo-liberal aspect to this, if you ask me, as with the farmers who claim that they feed us, et cetera. The unrealistic and unjustified elevation of people rather than functions has led to over-paid managers, Directors, and CEOs, IMO. The question is: where do you draw the line and how?
When will government be able to take control over the country again, and ensure that their policies are being carried out well, in a timely fashion, and wield some stick?
This business of contracting out of the job is getting to be a farce. Government departments contract out to others, they contract out to associated suppliers, operatives, and now to computer machines and algorithms. These are not doing the job properly, and our economy is built on people doing jobs, it gets leaner paradoxically when people aren't receiving pay to do stuff that machines can do faster and more efficiently. Though it is cheaper, which looks good on one financial statement, it does people out of a job which lowers the money flow and small local business suffers.
Exporters’ trying to sustain essential trade and supply chains are in no man’s land, able to travel offshore but not return, blocked by the MIQ booking system which randomly throws up spots, gobbled up within seconds by gamers or people paid to sit hitting refresh round the clock despite assurances that 10 per cent of the 4,000 available rooms are allocated for critical business.
A group of dissident doctors have joined the ranks of those seeking to undermine confidence in New Zealand's vaccine campaign by spreading misinformation. What are they saying and do they pose a real threat to our Covid-19 response? CATE BROUGHTON reports.
On June 14, talkback radio host Peter Williams welcomed Wellington GP Matt Shelton onto his show to discuss the Covid-19 vaccine.
Shelton was from the little-known group New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out on Science (NZDSOS), Williams said.
When Williams pointed out the decrease in Covid-19 cases and deaths since the rollout of vaccination programmes overseas, Shelton claimed it was the result of widespread falsification of test results. Again, he provided no evidence.
Well, if they're at the level of claiming that global death rates have been faked to make vaccines appear effective, I'd strongly suspect they're either having problems with reality or there's cash in it somewhere for them.
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 ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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 Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr Rachael Potter, Research Associate and Lecturer in Work and Organisational Psychology, University of South Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Pregnant women and workers with children are often unfairly treated by their bosses and colleagues, despite laws to protect against workplace discrimination ...
Reacting to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s refusal to rule out introducing new taxes at the budget, Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said: “Today’s refusal to rule out new taxes suggests the Government is nothing more ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne Aila Images/Shutterstock Aged-care workers will receive a significant pay increase after the Fair Work Commission ruled they ...
Edited highlights from The Surge: wheeler/dealer Bernie @ #1
"Sanders reached a deal with Budget Committee moderates on a $3.5 trillion framework for a party-line reconciliation bill they intend to pass this fall. It would create a host of climate initiatives that Democrats claim would meet the president’s goal of halving emissions by 2030; add dental, vision, and hearing aid benefits to Medicare; extend the generously expanded child tax credit and improvements Democrats made to the Affordable Care Act earlier this year; allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices; and fund universal pre-K and paid family and medical leave. “The legislation that the president and I are supporting will go further to improve the lives of working people than any legislation since the 1930s,” Sanders told reporters once the deal was reached." https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/07/the-surge-bernie-sanders-budget-infrastructure-manchin-schumer.html
Legal weed @ #5: "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, along with Sens. Ron Wyden and Cory Booker, introduced the first draft of their bill, the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act, to remove marijuana from the federal list of controlled substances. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, is extremely weirdly still not in favor of marijuana legalization."
Stroppy servant @ #7: "Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, got into it with congressional Republicans when he defended studying “white rage” and took offense at accusations over the military going “woke.” Conservatives like Tucker Carlson and Matt Gaetz, both privileged brats, called him “stupid,” a “pig,” and the reason why we lose so many wars. Milley is now likely in for another round of prep school Republicans calling him a wussy war-losing scumbag, as a new book documents some of the insults Milley lobbed Trump’s way when he was actively trying to prevent Trump from launching a coup. In a statement Thursday, Trump—who says he only picked Milley because Jim Mattis didn’t like Milley, and Trump didn’t like Jim Mattis—kicked things off by saying that “if I was going to do a coup, one of the last people I would want to do it with is General Mark Milley.” So there!"
While most of the farmers out yesterday were just sheep who probably didn't even really know why they were protesting, government needs to remember that its up to them to ease the pain of their policies, what's gone on down in otago and Canterbury (which is the main target of many of the policies) was all done legally in most cases and aided and abetted government national and local.
Youre right about local government support in the provinces, though public support will be far more divided (and opposition largely silent)…and its not surprising as in most cases the Ag sector is the main source of both revenue and employment in theses areas….and the method of protest was far from popular if what I hear being expressed is anything to go by.
and buried in 'Lifestyle' – funny and fitting imo – a write up on the casualness on which cis gendered girls experience sexual violence at the hand of their male peers and older male.
Girls, its called a rite of passage. I am waiting on the Minister for Women to have a say on that, and to do something about the 'right to a safe space and environment in which to grow up for human beings with natural vaginas. I am however not holding my breath, cause i'd be dead before anyone in any government really gives a flying fudge.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/christchurch-girls-high-schools-sexual-harassment-survey-breaking-the-code-of-silence/EAU74JF2AROUEF77FHV2FCRLYQ/
I'll deem you Minister for Women for the day. What would you do? Real solutions.
(Not real solutions are the seeming National style solution for gangs, to wit: "Gangs do bad things, put all gang members in jail." So with girls being assaulted, "Males do bad things, lock up all teenage and adult males."
For a start, it might help to acknowledge there is a problem, instead of indulging in whataboutism.
– Min. sentencing 3 years plus 50.000 in damages.
– Advertise that in Schools, specifically boys school. Send police to boys schools and tell them what happens if you rape anyone (as boys also get raped).
Anyone cought raping anyone should get at least that for every charge of rape.
So this guy here who assaulted three women during a Navy trip should get at the minimum 3 years for each instance, plus 50.000 to each victim. No parole, no early release, madatory listing on sexual offenders list, no name suppression. – but he got two years. Cause boys will be boys. Right?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/royal-new-zealand-navy-sailor-sentenced-over-sex-attacks-on-colleagues/2MFYQ7TSMFZ3QMJO4TBVE3HVNY/
How bout that? Would that work for you?
And what would you do?
Apologize for boys being boys? https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/89110814/willie-jackson-embroiled-in-roast-busters-controversey-just-hours-after-joining-labour-party
Like some people did for the Roast busters?
Cause clearly girls should know that when they are out and about, trying to live their life that they will inspire men and boys (and some women, althought no women ever told me to smile, never told me to get a breast augmention surgery lest i be considered a boy, or told that my ass is fuckable, nor has ever any women with a vagina raped me, that was always done by weaponsied penises).
So now Pete , that i told you what i would do, what would you do to keep girls as young as 13 save from having a train run over them organised by their supposed 'boyfriends'.
And please remember that the Roastbusters were not even charged with 'supplying alcohol to minors'. They went scot free, and the girls get to pick up what ever is left of them and continue on. Mind i guess they are not Rainbow Youth, so sucks to be a person with a natural vagina.
And do feel free to tell me just how unfair it is that Girls stand up for themselves and demand to not be reduced to a piece of meat by their peers and older male.
Tbh, Sabine I had no real inkling that this shit had got so bad for our young women. I was reading that article very early this morning and thinking we really need to get boys off the fucking porn sites and into some sound and solid consciousness-raising and mindfulness. They also need to learn that women do not exist for their use and entertainment. That women and girls are actually human.
"We're so desensitised to it, and so are the guys. They don't see themselves as 'offenders' whose behaviour is hurting or breaking someone. Men are trained not to respect women. And if you challenge it, they're the ones who feel they've been targeted unfairly."
This has gone way beyond a rank sense of entitlement…and we in the west have the audacity to challenge third world countries on the way they treat women and girls.
Thank you. In the cause of robust debate:
Should we start lessons in the earliest classes in schools, or preschools, telling boys what will happen to them if they treat other people badly? Should we have exemplar lists of what constitutes that unacceptable behaviour?
Why don't you answer me this? Do YOU think that girls and women should have a right to NOT be assaulted, insulted and raped by THEIR MALE peers? or is that just boys being boys and rape is a rite of passage for men to commit and for women/girls to suffer through?
🙂
A couple of times lately I have been questioned on NOT putting stuff as if something not being there means I accept it or approve of it. As if I have to preface everything I say with a pepeha which includes everything I believe in, anything not being there implying I don't care.
Like an implication that because I didn't lambaste mongrels who assault other people I might think that it's okay for girls and women to be assaulted, insulted and raped by male peers? Or thinking that rape is a reasonable rite of passage for men to commit and for women/girls to suffer through.
I'm going to a public occasion this afternoon. If someone doesn't tell me directly that they think that girls and women should have a right to NOT be assaulted, insulted and raped by THEIR MALE peers and that just boys being boys and rape is a rite of passage for men to commit and for women/girls to suffer through, do I assume the worst about them and their attitudes?
i don't know what you believe, you could answer me my question. Something like, Yes, i believe that, would suffice actually.
But let me tell you…….that
I do believe that women and girls SHOULD have that right, and i am waiting with baited breath for the Minister of Women to state something to that extend, because this is just ONE school, and we can expect this to happen pretty much anywhere in the country.
"I'm going to a public occasion this afternoon. If someone doesn't tell me directly that they think that girls and women should have a right to NOT be assaulted, insulted and raped by THEIR MALE peers and that just boys being boys and rape is a rite of passage for men to commit and for women/girls to suffer through, do I assume the worst about them and their attitudes?"
You are commenting around the topic of sexual harassment as reported by the Christchurch school girls, without actually addressing the impact this harassment has on not only their lives, but the lives of those conducting that harassment (and those around them) if it is not addressed.
Listen to what Sabine is saying, instead of getting all #NotAllMen.
Because the reality is, most women have experienced what is reported to varying degrees of harm.
So, there is a better approach than just pretending there is nothing to address, such as you seem to be doing.
It is necessary for us ALL to address it, as opposed to only those who are participating in harmful behaviour, unless you honestly believe that it is not worth finding a solution for.
(BTW, lessons are learned in cultures and societies, not just schools. The answer does not rely on educational institutions solely, we collectively carry that responsibility.)
Surely you're not telling me what I should be addressing?
And if I haven't addressed what you think I should be addressing I'm pretending there is nothing to address?
Not worth finding a solution for? I asked about specific responses. Sabine has suggested punishment and advertising. You say, "The answer does not rely on educational institutions solely, we collectively carry that responsibility" without saying what can specifically be done.
It's all right saying there is a massive problem, it's obvious there is. Thing is, what specifically should be done about it?
“Surely you’re not telling me what I should be addressing?”
God forbid. Just all those who are concerned about the current environment of harm. Else the involvement of those not caring, gets in the way of discussion and possible solutions by redirecting into dead ends of discussion.
"It's all right saying there is a massive problem, it's obvious there is. Thing is, what specifically should be done about it?"
Well, it was not apparent that you thought this from your previous comments on this thread.
Instead of asking others for solutions, or providing facile tongue-in-cheek proposals, – do you have any real solutions to propose? I'll wait.
Your comment again suggests that because I didn't condemn scummy attacks on women there was an inference I somehow didn't mind such.
I ask for answers when I see complaints with implications that "something should be done" with no suggestion of what that could be.
Prosecuting some of the pricks would be a start. Barring the 'what were you wearing' defence would be helpful.
And something about consent having to be proved. Along the lines of the accused having to demonstrated reasonable grounds for believing each act (which would take in removing condoms) was desired by the other party.
Flogging a Dead Horse #1…
Seems like debunked Guardian hack Luck Harding is still not yet ready to abandon his wet dream fantasy that Russia helped Trump into the Whitehouse in 2016, a narrative that most thinking humans have now accepted was some sort of smoke screen to protect Clinton and the establishment Dems from taking any kind of responsibility for their embarrassing defeat during that election..a narrative now only mentioned in polite company by hardcore fantasists (like Harding and enabled by The Guardian)…..
Kremlin papers appear to show Putin’s plot to put Trump in White House
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/15/kremlin-papers-appear-to-show-putins-plot-to-put-trump-in-white-house
RUSSIAGATE: Luke Harding’s Hard Sell
https://consortiumnews.com/2021/07/16/luke-hardings-hard-sell/
debunked Guardian hack Luck Harding…
As in "bad luck", I suppose, Adrian? Or, in his case, rotten luck.
I don't know how that sniveling drip has the hide to show himself after his toe-curlingly embarrassing exposure at the hands of Aaron Maté…
https://twitter.com/aaronjmate/status/1070324381396684802?lang=en
The headline warns the Prime Minister to, "dismiss protesting farmers as rednecks at (her) peril."
I could not find any reference to where the PM had done such a thing. Would anyone with a Hurled subscription be able to tell us where the PM said or implied 'protesting farmers are rednecks'?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/claire-trevett-dismiss-protesting-farmers-as-rednecks-at-your-peril-prime-minister/ZVYHGYGEVDLLSP2AL3435HGEFY/
This headline tells it as it is…Bribery, filth and 'scumlords'…
Appalling conditions compounded by weak legislation with the usual crap enforcement.
The obvious scumlords…and they're easily identified…should have their slums confiscated by the Crown with zero compensation.
FFS…make the punishment fit the crime.
I'd really like to see inspectors have the ability to force sales of rental properties and a ban from being associated in any way (including as a property manager or investor) with residential tenancies. Don't think a licence to landlord is worth anything imho cause scum LL's need more than some certificate of completion. They need repercussions, and serious ones at that. God knows the rest of us are paying via the health and welfare systems for their shoddy treatment of tenants.
FFS…make the punishment fit the crime.
I suggest that the landlord needs to put the tenant up in a motel until the repairs or legal installation is carried out or not be paid rent until the work is carried out.
And
That the landlord needs to live in the rental if the work is not carried out and pay for a motel for the tenants.
My elderly parents had their first Pfizer vaccine yesterday, no side effects yet. I'm in Group 3 due to a health condition and have booked my first vaccine for this Thursday. My sister in-law works at Waikato Hospital and is fully vaccinated, as is my brother. All good.
Smooth sailing for us too, both Group 3, both fully vaccinated, only side effect was slightly sore arms at injection site.
Sore arms and tiredness seem to be the most common side effects. Had my first dose on Thursday and that night the jab site was quite painful. By morning it had receded to a mild irritation. Been feeling a bit tired but don't know if it is due to injection.
Whatever: for anyone feeling a bit unsure of the jab… the side effects are minor and only last a day or so.
I'm wanting feedback from people who use a mobile phone to comment on TS.
Trying to gauge how many people are having problems and the nature of the problems. Details is good. Cheers.
Always use my OPPO A53s, ColorOS 7.2 with Android 10. Chrome browser with Adgurd private dns.
I use the Mobile version of The Standard, but the Desktop version also currently works. No issues with functionality at the moment, but I don't comment very often.
Okay, I think I have worked it out now. You have to use the link button (looks like a chain link with a diagonal dash above the bullet point buttons), rather than just pasting the link into the text body. No idea what the flag or 3 horizontal lines buttons mean.
Conversely, I found the scaling didn't work at all with image button, but copy-pasting did on laptop.
At least the link from NRT seems to be working again – that's been out for months.
no idea what all that means because you didn't say what you are referring to.
If you want to link into a comment from a mobile phone, click in the URL of the browser, and cut and paste from there (just like in a computer).
I use an android Samsung x4 I prefer desktop but have to switch to mobile to comment most of the time.
Same on an iphone iOS 14.6
I like desktop because of the Replies list, and the aesthetics, but can't comment from there so am continually switching back and forth between mobile and desktop.
Currently on an HP laptop with windows 7, chrome or firefox and no probs.
Otherwise an Oppo bat fone. I use the mobile version as the desktop doesn't show any replies. More to do with my end I would imagine…
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 9 and use mobile Chrome version 91.0.4472.120 (the latest version for my phone). I can post using mobile view but not desktop view. I also have mobile Firefox version 90.1.1 (Build #2015820747), also the latest version, and report the same thing. I also have Samsung Internet (Samsung's mobile browser based on Chrome) version 14.2.1.69 (the latest version), and it didn't load this page beyond the title. When checking on my Samsung Tab S5E (tablet), Samsung Internet allows posting in mobile but not desktop.
By post, I mean that when I press the reply button on the page, I can type in the comments editor in mobile view, but not desktop view.
For all the talk about high-density housing, and its importance in addressing the failure of decades of NZ planning, the reality is that good transitional housing requires great design and location and considerations. Despite the accumulated capital gains that has delighted some of the property owners across the country from land-use changes to high-density, this delight does not necessarily result in a change from existing building designs, or better living experiences for those who end up residing in resulting houses.
As far as Auckland Council is involved past the zoning change, their ability to influence resulting builds has been hampered by their failure to connect the Auckland Design Manual to the Unitary Plan, and developers are businesses who develop to increase their profit margins, not to provide long-term homes that take into account affordability, long-term residents well-being and transition considerations over and above the current inadequate regulatory requirements. This is not a treatise against property developers, just a statement of fact.
Given the current cost of emergency housing at $1million a day, and the more accepted cost of Accommodation Supplement at $30 million a week it is apparent to more than a few of us that current mechanisms to address housing, including Kiwibuild are treating housing as a commodity rather than a human need, and despite all protestations to the contrary are propping up an overheated market. Of course, politically, the cost of depressing house prices are not to be considered, even though many NZers are paying the price of the economic benefit enjoyed by a few that have the ability to financially invest and benefit from this commodification of a human need.
I am one of those that firmly believe the solution to actually access to healthy housing to all NZers, requires a dedicated commitment to vast amounts of state housing, where tenure is stabilised and the building of state housing must consider the wellbeing of residents and connection to community AS WELL AS utilising the investment of government and the judicious use of resources and design to transition these dwellings in terms of climate change. Once all NZers have access to affordable, secure, fit-for-purpose housing as can be provided by the state, then the developers and housing investors can continue with their business model without interference. We should not expect businesses to provide the necessities of living if the government shows little interest in the same. Once again, I believe this disinterest is a result of a lack of political will, the voters that they care about are those that are benefitting from rising housing costs, or are appeased by policies that seem to allow them to get on the property ladder (Kiwibuild).
As at 31 March 2021, the number of those on the State Housing list was 23,688. There has been a marked increase, after a Covid year, but the fact is that this is the number of people awaiting state housing after meeting all requirements.
In the introduction Kainga Ora states:
If Kainga Ora was purely investing in state houses, that would be a build price per household unit of $1.3 million. However, they are both providing state housing AND contributing/relying on housing inflation by also providing houses for market and Kiwibuild. I believe there is a disconnect going on here, that is enshrined in the current interpretation of their objective:
The belief that the market is working as it should, allows them to participate in being property developers themselves, and also working in PPP with other developers in order to create a profit.
However, they could, if politically supported do better. Their request to increase the rate of state housing builds was denied by the current Labour government. But they do have the ability to identify development opportunities that exist within their Crown Entity roles.
For a thought experiment, could they look at purchasing Ellerslie racecourse? Six hectares in a location well positioned for walkable community and transport, and if developed with good design by Kainga Ora might provide more household units for state housing than they currently have planned to meet demand.
There is high-density housing, and there is well-designed high density housing. I don't think we are currently doing well at the second.
Kainga Ora could be investing in developments like 8 House in Copenhagen on approx 2-2.5 hectares, which was conceived in 2006 and delivered around 2010.
The cost of €92,000,000 provided 61,000 sqm of building, including 10,000 retail/commercial space, 500 sqm of community space and 476 household units (of which over 300 are unique in design). 1700 sqm of green roof. All household units have access to outside space – balcony or front garden, and many have dual aspect windows. There is also a 1 km walkway ramp that connects all residents to each other, and to the open courtyards.
It is worth taking a look at the other projects that BIG studio has been involved in. I investigated their work after my son expressed interest in the Lego House which was one of their projects. I have also read a couple of interviews with developers that are using the architectural studio because their innovative design reduces build costs on multi-story developments.
You can see how they developed the design concept in a short video on Vimeo, but more importantly, you can also see how residents experience living in such as development – regarded as a village in the sky:
https://youtu.be/uoR_LMi8Lx8
I'm not really wanting to start another round of the ivermectin shitfight. But following on the heels of the discrediting and withdrawal of the egyptian study that ivermectin boosters heavily relied on, a new study has just been published where those running the study have taken reasonable care around controls, randomisation etc, and found that ivermectin did not have any benefit.
https://www.news24.com/health24/medical/infectious-diseases/coronavirus/ivermectin-balance-of-evidence-shows-no-benefit-against-covid-19-20210705
primary source: https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-021-06348-5
Try reading your sources.
Oddly enough, I did read them before posting. Do you think I might have missed something important?
Maybe the researcher's conclusion?
Or perhaps this nugget?
Or perhaps this little wrinkle pointing to ivermectin being ineffective as prophylaxis?
Or perhaps you could point to what led you to suggest I should read my sources?
They used a low dose of Ivermectin in the study, and they only did a short dose of 2 consecutive days. From what I gather this is not the recommended dosage to treat with this drug.
What is the recommended dose, who made the recommendation, and on what basis was the recommendation made?
There's two links in that quote you found, what do they say? (hint: neither of them have any recommendation on actual dosages to try against covid, let alone having any kind of evidentiary basis)
When it comes to the proposal that some specified substance treats some specified ailment, the default assumption has to be that it doesn't do shit in real life, no matter what happens in test tubes when the concentration is cranked way up. It's up to those claiming it actually does something useful to prove that, to a high standard.
Nobody has come anywhere close to showing ivermectin does anything useful against covid to even a mediocre standard. Even with absolute garbage studies, the claimed improvements are really small by the time the probable outright frauds are weeded out. It's significant that as the quality of study improves, less actual beneficial effect is found.
https://respectfulinsolence.com/2021/07/16/ivermectin-is-the-new-hydroxychloroquine-take-4/
The two links were from the erroneous study you posted, so I doubt they will be much help re dosage.
In the real world.. when conducting a scientific experiment it's often best to use the same dosage as what doctors say work in the real world… to you know test the hypothesis!
So back to the question above, which you ghosted as you usually do for inconvenient questions:
What is the recommended dose, who made the recommendation, and on what basis was the recommendation made?
A key point of all these studies showing zero effectiveness is that the dosage used was the best guess by the doctors conducting the trial at what would be the most effective dose regime. Those that have had the honesty and integrity to set up reasonably robust trials of what they think is most likely to give positive outcomes have found – nothing, zip, nada. Those who let their hopes and motivated reasoning lead them into conducting badly designed and badly analysed trials with high risk of bias have found – at best very small effects, which haven't been replicated elsewhere.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/wellington/125772143/speak-up-for-women-group-shocked-by-reported-slapping-of-protrans-rights-rally-organiser
As always, there are multiple sides to a story/narrative and I refuse to be shoehorned into one or the other. It will be interesting to see how many submissions will be received this time and whether public opinion has changed much; opinion and debate certainly seem to be more polarised, which is never a good sign.
As always, there are multiple sides to a story/narrative and I refuse to be shoehorned into one or the other.
Indeed. I'm so tempted to put up a thread title "Man's Day" and exclude all women and any pro-feminist viewpoints from it. But that would be … provocative. Still given that feminists have spent two generations systematically dismantling all the traditional male-only spaces where men might have talked without the distraction of the female perspective – I can't help but note the delicious irony icing on this particular little cupcake.
But as I stated yesterday, all of this was a more or less predictable outcome of the left elevating the post-modernist cult of Identity Politics to the loudest voice in our ideological narrative. Did it never occur to those who promoted it with such fervour, that the day might come when others would learn to play it as well?
Heh! It wouldn’t surprise me if some here would try to counter that by saying that some (most?) of TS could be considered ‘Man’s Day’. However, I understand the desire for a safe harbour to talk with like-minded people but this too easily leads to pseudo-debate and echo chamber stuff, IMO. I don’t think it fits well with the kaupapa of this site, but I stress that this is my personal opinion and I have to and (thus) will respect the opinions of others if/when they make a strong case for it.
Regarding the merit of the loudest voice leading/ruling, this also happens to be one of allegations raised in regard to the self-destruction of the Auckland chapter of SS4C (see my other comment in OM). Indeed, it is highly predictable, especially in hindsight 😉
Like you I'm not particularly against the idea of the thread. It seems largely populated by women who collectively burned their bridges with the male half of humanity a long time ago – and if they need an exclusive space to talk then well and good. But it's also obvious this is not a privilege they would extend to men.
I have a strong egalitarian streak and react to exclusive zones, spaces, meetings, communications, et cetera, and to hierarchical structures as well – a personal problem, obviously 😉 This is also one of the reasons why I have a major issue with the current state of the OIA in particular and with Government and State transparency and accountability in general.
I believe strongly in fair and inclusive debate, which is one reason why I’m on this site and put considerable time and effort into it. Good robust debate is key; it is also lacking, not just here on The Standard but everywhere – people seem to have lost or never learned how to debate each other effectively. It is not about winning or losing, about being right or wrong, about power – all the power is in the coming together in and of mind & spirit; polarisation, division, separation, and exclusion always remove collective power and therefore individual power and mana as well.
I see this reflected in the smoke & mirrors surrounding the so-called hate speech laws as well as He Puapua, for example – all symptomatic of the same problem. This this does not bode well for tackling global issues that affect all humanity and the planet for that matter. Sometimes, it feels we’re still stuck in day-care …
I hear you. We don't always agree but I can sincerely respect the motives you express here.
If I might add an optimistic note, while the standard of debate does fall short of what we might imagine as ideal, but honestly I think in some respects it has gotten better over the years. A quick glance at many social media comment threads shows that we could be a lot worse.
Affirmative, you and I don’t always agree but that’s ok with me; what matters is how we disagree and, for the record, I don’t have any major personal complaints 🙂
As far as your optimistic note is concerned, I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry 😉
Interesting discussion….after talking to female members of my circle re trans rights and 'womens space' I've come to the conclusion that like any group of people the viewpoints will vary tremendously though with one underlying theme…its all good for for men.
Oh that it was.
Choice!
I haven't seen a comment like this about women since the 1970s when we were all dried up prunes and men haters for thinking as we did.
And I can readily find equivalent ghettos on the internet of men who have similarly 'burned their bridges with women'. You call it misogyny.
That both sexes are in a very real sense sundering their ancient connection and literally 'going their own separate ways' is in my view a totally predictable consequence that I was in my own fumbling way attempting to outline years ago. Watching it all unfold in real-time gives me no pleasure, trust me.
"… I don’t think it fits well with the kaupapa of this site…"
Do you feel that way about the Lefties on the Standard posts too?
Yes, and I have said as much in the past.
👍
I'm not hurt by the "dismantling of traditional male-only spaces", because those spaces harboured and legitimised the very misogynistic oppression and abuse which is in the process of being addressed today.
As always, those against identity politics are those against the questioning of their traditional power.
Why some men feel the need to insert themselves into every discussion, mansplaining the righteousness of the status quo is beyond me.
How very 80's of you.
Would you like me to make a plea on the Women's Day thread to let you in so you can tell them about all the mistakes they've made over the years?
No. As I said above, they're welcome to talk among themselves. I've refrained from commenting on almost anything gender related for almost four years now and contrary to what you imagine, I'm not at all keen on 'inserting myself into that conversation'.
I'm merely observing the the endless 'gender critical' threads of recent months and noting it as a predictable outcome of the entire post-modernist project, of which 'identity politics' was a large component. Which is pretty much all I have to say for the moment.
If you would like to 'learn by reading' on the Women's Day thread TeWhareWhero's summation (post 7.1) of the move from Womens' Studies to Gender issues/Studies is instructive.
Yes, that is indeed an interesting comment. Cheers.
November 19, you're welcome.
Can you wait that long before you comment here again? Please, thank you.
I heard about that elsewhere, good to have a verifiable source for the story, Incognito. This from the SUFW spokeswoman was also good (not often I type that phrase!):
After the Wi Spa violence, it is good to know that the local branch of that trans averse franchise are not gearing up for literal, rather than figurative war. Though trusting that many trans folk believe a word she says at this point seems a bit of a forlorn hope. Really hoping people don't start going to protests armed with protective gear that could become weapons at the wrong moment.
you seem to be running a line that GCF women are violent despite any evidence for that.
Meanwhile, https://terfisaslur.com/ documents the range of violent, often sexually violent imagery that's been targeted at GCFs by GAs online.
Almost like violence runs along gendered lines (by which I mean sex and gender, but we already knew that).
And just so you know, I had a quick look at the link from the other thread re Wi Spa and I'm not finding any credible evidence that the video was a hoax. I'm seeing speculation that it was, which is fine, but that's a different thing.
It also looks like the stabbings were by far right activists. This was in a conflict with antifa. I'm not seeing how women are involved in this at all.
I don't want to spend much time on this tonight, so I'm giving you a warning in comment rather than stepping into moderator mode. You will have to up your game in this debate. If you want to argue that women in NZ present a violent threat to trans people at protest actions, you will need to make an actual argument and back it up if making claims. Dropping in slur comments and using trans activist opinion based websites as evidence fails the requirements here for robust debate.
My suggestion is read the Policy. I want strong debate on sex/gender from all sides because I belief that NZ will be better for an open and honest examination of the issues. You bring in important perspectives, but you are going to have to learn how to present them directly. If you don't know what I am getting at here, please ask.
In the end my moderation response will come down to how much of my time gets sucked up chasing up useless links or asking for back up for claims or explanations of arguments poorly made. This isn't specific to you, or the topic, it's how it's been for a long time on site.
Because this isn't the first time I've had to explain how things work here, next time I have to think about this as a moderator I'll be putting boundaries in place. I suggest you get into the habit of linking well every time, and also cut and pasting the bits from the link that support what you are saying. This is so others don't have to do the work to find what your actual argument is. The onus is on you to state your argument clearly.
Warning read.
Imho some cis NZers are a threat to trans NZers, and NZ is pretty typical in this regard. If it's too much to expect acceptance, or even tolerance, then at least a little more understanding on all 'sides' wouldn't go amiss.
https://www.genderjustice.nz/why_this_matters
Can't help wondering if those who identify as trans NZers today are that much better off than 25 years ago when data were collected for the above study.
Many, possibly a majority, of cis and trans women continue to face many challenges, but it's not a competition (or at least it shouldn't be, imho.) NZ can look to other countries to identify progressive strategies that might minimise real and perceived violence and discrimination against all women.
https://www.hrc.org/ – "Breaking down barriers that divide us"
An interesting PoV from an insider into the implosion of the Auckland chapter of SS4C. Self-appointed leadership and the lack of structure are mentioned as a possible contributing reasons. Hopefully, it was a learning curve for some, at least.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2021/07/school-strike-4-climate-s-disbanded-auckland-chapter-was-marred-by-racism-lack-of-structure-former-member.html
Several tons of blowback—but will the dismal Daily Mail get the message?
What's the bet that a similar protest is on the way for the execrable NZ Herald one of these days?
https://extinctionrebellion.uk/2021/06/27/breaking-cut-the-crap-extinction-rebellion-dump-pile-of-bullshit-outside-daily-mail-offices/
This is too soon and insensitive. I do wonder how many of the farmers who drove their tractors into town one day, have their hand out for govt help following floods the next.
I think it is perfectly ok when farmers ask and receive help and government assistance when there’s a natural disaster. It would be totally wrong to try and link that to democratic protest or to giving one party more leverage over the other – the power balance is almost never equal/symmetrical anyway. Similarly, should nurses, for example, have more negotiating leverage because of what they’re doing as part of the Covid elimination strategy? There’s a calculating and neo-liberal aspect to this, if you ask me, as with the farmers who claim that they feed us, et cetera. The unrealistic and unjustified elevation of people rather than functions has led to over-paid managers, Directors, and CEOs, IMO. The question is: where do you draw the line and how?
I know, but my irony meter is in rampant Geiger Counter mode.
When will government be able to take control over the country again, and ensure that their policies are being carried out well, in a timely fashion, and wield some stick?
This business of contracting out of the job is getting to be a farce. Government departments contract out to others, they contract out to associated suppliers, operatives, and now to computer machines and algorithms. These are not doing the job properly, and our economy is built on people doing jobs, it gets leaner paradoxically when people aren't receiving pay to do stuff that machines can do faster and more efficiently. Though it is cheaper, which looks good on one financial statement, it does people out of a job which lowers the money flow and small local business suffers.
Here larger business is suffering from this devilish system. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2107/S00113/exporters-can-check-out-but-no-guarantee-they-can-return.htm
Exporters’ trying to sustain essential trade and supply chains are in no man’s land, able to travel offshore but not return, blocked by the MIQ booking system which randomly throws up spots, gobbled up within seconds by gamers or people paid to sit hitting refresh round the clock despite assurances that 10 per cent of the 4,000 available rooms are allocated for critical business.
Algorithms – What are these standards for government? https://www.zdnet.com/article/new-zealand-establishes-algorithm-charter-for-government-agencies/
The storm over parts of the country is largely over – Westport hit badly. Buller River was as high as a 1926 large flood.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/125785379/state-of-emergency-evacuations-and-daring-rescues-as-rain-batters-parts-of-nz
Why do we get this undermining after there has been much research and a decision has been carefully made for all of our benefits.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/125605155/the-doctors-trying-to-hijack-new-zealands-covid19-vaccination-rollout
A group of dissident doctors have joined the ranks of those seeking to undermine confidence in New Zealand's vaccine campaign by spreading misinformation. What are they saying and do they pose a real threat to our Covid-19 response? CATE BROUGHTON reports.
On June 14, talkback radio host Peter Williams welcomed Wellington GP Matt Shelton onto his show to discuss the Covid-19 vaccine.
Shelton was from the little-known group New Zealand Doctors Speaking Out on Science (NZDSOS), Williams said.
Well, if they're at the level of claiming that global death rates have been faked to make vaccines appear effective, I'd strongly suspect they're either having problems with reality or there's cash in it somewhere for them.