And the due date for the report would be no surprise and would have been known for a long time,"how convenient" that Collins just happens, coincidentally, to be overseas?
Any New Zealander with the intelligence to look at what is happening in China – the incarceration of over 1 million Uyghurs in "re-education" camps, the ongoing persecution of the Tibetans and Christians, and now the pressure (and probable invasion) of Hong Kong, – and imagine that China, with its aim of world domination, won't do the same here when they take over, is dreaming.
Trump may be a complete f-wit, and he may be dangerous, but Xi Jingping is sinister.
Too much of the purist race thing from China – and stories of Falun Gong being allocated status of bad and so dispensable. What have we here; a country admired principally because it 'has the trains running on time' as was said of Mussolini's Italy.
Me, myself, I always see democracy as the end. Don't know how close Japan has got yet. Is that 'dogma' or over-idealisation? I'm proud of it, rather than the 'freedom' of WW 2 which lead to our present plutocracy. And the US Supreme Court refusing to defend 'democracy'. Makes you laugh your guts out.
It will be interesting to see if today Bennett persists with her line of questioning at QT. Even more interesting if Winston answers on behalf of the PM.
Newsroom Laura Walters has published in full the Simon Mitchell report on his declaration of the non appearance of Sarah's complaint.
The legal letter, and an accompanying statement from Mitchell, claims the woman – referred to in an article by The Spinoff as ‘Sarah’ – never raised allegations of sexual assault in her meetings or email correspondence with Mitchell or the panel.
Thanks Sacha for the link to Spinoff. Simon and Sarah cannot both be right. Maybe the emails did not arrive at their destination but Sarah also says she discussed the details with Simon and the Committee. Weird!
Seems to me they possess proof that the complainants are telling the truth, but it hinges on each email destination computer address – and if it reliably identitifies the owner/operator. To helpfully inform the public, they ought to publish each email as a photo so we can see the evidence for ourselves.
One can send an email but forget attachments but Sarah says she discussed the detail with the committee who say no she didn't. It would be very sad if Sarah has bigger problems of recall.
Dunno. That's another facet of the controversy that bothers me. Unidentifiable people can seem hypothetical! We assume they are actually real because Labour party sources say they are. Blind faith can work – the christians achieved hegemony for millennia using it – but I'd prefer politics to be based on real humans, their actual experience and evidence.
Mitchell writes he advised Sarah to email the assistant Labour gen sec rather than himself, and doesn't say that person provided the panel with copies, so Sarah could have been under a false impression. If deliberate, seems bad faith to me…
This interesting Correction in stuff Monday 16/9/19 P2 :
Richard Griffin's column published in The Nelson Mail on Saturday incorrectly stated that the alleged offender in the Labour scandal worked in the prime minster's office in the Beehive, and that he was a member of her "hand-picked staff". It also incorrectly stated that the role would require "daily, sometimes hourly, interaction with the prime minister".
[] The alleged offender worked in the Labour leader's office, a unit that helps MPs deal with the day-to-day business of Parliament. It is based in the Bowen House office block and is separate from the prime minister's office, on the ninth floor of the Beehive.
Stuff has printed the correction which reins in Richard Griffin's reckons to actual reality. ('There are things that you know, you don't know', and things you don't know that you don't know, etc. Refer to Donald Rumsfeld, USA Secretary of Defense speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiPe1OiKQuk)
A feature of newspaper presentation of content to the reader that stuff displays shows disrespect for prime people in our polity and their positions of authority. Notice how, in the item copied above, buildings such as Beehive and Bowen House begin with a capital letter. However 'prime minister' is in lower case! I think that says something about the lack of respect of the media barons for the people and our elected representatives and government itself. (I inserted a space to create a second paragraph in the correction piece which made its meaning clearer I thought.)
Who knew Ardern has two offices?? Hardly anyone, I suspect. I wonder if she uses both. Can't really blame the Dick for being confused.
Re capitalisation, could be the journo is caught between two worlds: that of those trained in traditional grammar & those not. Result is random capitalisation, to serve both audiences…
Yeah but using that logic you'd have to count a third office for the PM in her electorate. The two she seems to have in parliament do reflect her twin hats, of course. If they are staffed by folk performing different functions – those required by the twin processes of democracy & governance – then nobody can claim it's a waste of space & resources.
Just me. I blame my deceased father, who drummed it into me during childhood. That generation grew up in the depression, so `waste not, want not' permanently shaped their mind-set.
…in the item copied above, buildings such as Beehive and Bowen House begin with a capital letter. However 'prime minister' is in lower case!
It's actually a bit of a grey area. If you're thinking about it generically, ie as the office that's used by prime ministers of New Zealand, it's the prime minster's office. If you're thinking about it as the office of Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, it's the Prime Minister's office. Either is fine in the context it was used in.
Don't blame me for it PM. Or that other commenter who calls themself Grey Area.
There are various rationalisations for changing capitalisation such as this one from The Guardian. The writer sounds as if he is Up Himself (to use a less formal style).
Most readers seem comfortable with a less formal style. A grand total of two people complained about our coverage of the pope's, rather than the Pope's, recent visit to the UK. We did receive a letter last week complaining that calling David Cameron the prime minister, not the Prime Minister (a style we have been following for more than a decade) reflected a "lowering of standards", but such complaints are few.
This is what Canterbury Uni says. But they don't make it clear about titles and honorifics. It appears that one could refer to the chancellor of The University of Canterbury, even though they would be of equal importance, one needing the other, I would think.
We are having great discussions about the lack of respect for complaints about bullying of people, and the casual acceptance of sexual urges being displayed and acted on. Perhaps we are all too bloody casual about what consideration good humans must have for others, respecting their bright and brief life on this earth, similar to our own beacon with an inestimable cornucopia of abundant gifts, so often unrecognised.
Rather despise Richard Griffin. Instrument. He has a column in Nelson? One of those doves freed by social democracy who doesn't come back to perform devotion like my polio uncle for CCS. Hard to like these freed fools as much as they obviously like themselves.
Because of my experience developing new ways to image the lungs and seeing the impact of inhaled smoke and gases on lung health, I have been disturbed that governments and regulators have taken a hands-off approach to the risk of e-cigarettes.
I am alarmed that e-cigarette marketing has become pervasive, persuasive and widespread in the US and Canada, especially when this marketing targets children and teenagers in whom lung growth and development has not yet completed.
seems a no brainer to me: regulate in the same way as tobacco (including in pubic spaces). Better yet, also make it a med that has to be bought from a pharmacy.
It's fucking ridiculous that people are saying inhaling chemical-carrying vapour multiple times a day deep into your lungs won't have harmful effects.
I mentioned in my responses about vaping a few days ago how Doctors don't advocate anyone start vaping, for the same reasons noted above about smoking tobacco or cannabis – Putting anything your lungs apart from clean fresh air is a bad decision. However, smokers are advised to switch, because it is deemed the safer option.
Ignoring the recent cluster of u.s cases, likely to be caused by contaminants, their bottom line is "Perhaps vaping should be viewed as a “lesser of evils” for current cigarette smokers." which is what the medics have told us.
For those smoking cannabis, the outlook is not so good.
People can make choices about which they want to do based on their own health, no problem with that. My concern is the people saying that vaping is benign for the vaper and those around them. It's not and it's daft to say that. We should be regulating this around advertising, public space and so on. The push for it to be trendy and everywhere is capitalist, hipster bullshit.
I would apply that to cannabis too. Same regs on public spaces (and enclosed spaces like cars), don't allow advertising. The capitalists are going to be all over cannabis too if they get the chance. Hoping we can legalise without making the mistakes the US has.
I know I've never bough a vape product, or been influenced to by a tobacco company, though of course that doesn't mean some haven't since they've entered the local market.
They're trying to get market share where they have historically had none, and with the big money comes big advertising and promotion, but that's not all going there way.
There are indications vapers feel the same. According to a survey of US and Canadian vapers conducted by Dr Tanusree Jain of Trinity College Dublin, a large proportion of vapers blame Big Tobacco for their past addiction to cigarettes and hold negative views of Big Tobacco owned e-cigarette brands.
I've never met someone or seen any advocate for vaping say they aren't without risk, which I suppose is why they are an r18 product, even the non nicotine e liquids.
Not being either I don't know if it's capitalist hipster bs, remembering how cigarettes use to be 'cool' too and they were/are really gross, but if more regulation is needed then so be it. Advertising should probably run along the lines of tobacco ie None, and public spaces like smoking should be off limits, if people aren't already considerate with their habit, which I know, some aren't.
I don't agree that flavours should be banned for consenting adults, but if they are, what will be etc… we can always add our own, though of course that makes a bit of an ass out of the law where nicotine is permitted but a flavour draws the foul and gets a red card.
I vape it got me off 2 packs a day. With the cases in the USA most of them are with CBD oils not normal juice, and i do agree juices need to be treated like smokes .
Vaping is to Labour as Cigarettes are to National.
The lesser of two evils is correct. I guess it's the marketing why some vapers think they're doing themselves no harm. As an ex-smoker and vaper I'm trying to keep my head out of the clouds, and looking to stop the vape in time – but addiction has its hooks deep. Other substances have been by comparison easy to give up while nicotine will mess with me psychologically for years after a quit event.
When you add mental health issues like depression into the mix, a malady known for exacerbating self destructive behavior, it is no surprise so many still partake.
Promoting it seems criminal, except as an alternate to smoking. The underlying causes of mental stress and depression range considerably, but much might be placed squarely at the feet of a society that competes rather than cooperates and places money before man; with governments and media that exacerbate division and derision of fairer human characteristics.
The opportunists aka capitalists with no moral compass have an awful lot to answer for. Opiate epidemic in US = money money money.
Promoting it seems criminal, except as an alternate to smoking.
I originally read this and was preparing to strongly disagree, until I noticed 'except'. lol
As an alternative to smoking, even without long term data to support it, it's a common refrain from those who have made the switch. I've said before I recommend it to every smoker I meet, not only for the real up change in lifestyle, but especially financially.
True weka 100% That vaping chemicals together in combinations that have never been toxicology analysed as together in a combined synergistic insult may be far more harmful than each component used separately.
Even more than that one must also consider the combined effects sitting in a room with several others vaping with other chemicals added into their vapor will be added to the air all are breathing and even add a more toxic soup to human health damage, so we need to stop vaping as it is just like playing Russian roulette.
Interesting to learn that the university is such a hot bed of smokers desperate to get off the cigs that the benevolent producers of vapes have taken to sponsoring slots on the student radio to help these students get the help they need.
In my post-grad classes there was maybe 1:30 smokers. Typically the only person out for a smoke break with me was staff. Undergrad probably twice that. Can only speak for the biological sciences…
Ngāti Kahu chief executive, Anahera Herbert-Graves, said the Ministry of Culture and Heritage did not consult with the iwi before including the Mangonui area in the list of destinations for the voyage.
"They never approached Ngāti Kahu, they were approached by a local tauiwi organisation and were invited to come into our rohe. I don't think it occurred to them to contact Ngāti Kahu.
"About four or five months ago we saw the programme come out.
"They were going to land in Mangonui, inside Tokerau, and we put it back to the mana whenua hapū. The three hapū were very strong in their opposition, they said no-way jose.
and the response is, well, an absolute joke and shameful imo
The deputy chief executive for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Tamsin Evans, said Mangonui was earmarked as a destination for the voyage because it was the home of the Waka Hourua expert, Sir Hector Busby.
She said the ministry thought it had sufficient iwi support, following talks with a single iwi representitive.
"I think the ministry engaged with a small community organisation, called the Doubtless Bay Promotions Trust, on which there was somebody in an iwi liaison role.
"It was felt sufficient that through the promotions trust we had a wider engagement with the community, which included someone we believed was liaising with iwi."
History eh – just make it up – now this is some history
Ms Herbert-Graves said Captain Cook never actually landed in the Ngāti Kahu rohe.
"Cook never came into our rohe, he sailed by, and apparently cast his eye to the port and said, 'oh, that's Doubtless Bay.' It's a fiction for him to 're-visit' us because he never came.
"He was a barbarian. Wherever he went, like most people of the time of imperial expansion, there were murders, there were abductions, there were rapes, and just a lot of bad outcomes for the indigenous people.
"He didn't discover anything down here, and we object to Tuia 250 using euphemisms like 'encounters' and 'meetings' to disguise what were actually invasions."
It's the one that isnt totally bias. Gives all sides a platform . This week is quiet a feature on how much pressure is supposedly being heaped on farmers from the governments massive reform programmes.
I put supposedly as it could be true but being just a lowly shepherd it’s all above me . ( just the way I like it)
I see a Herald headline today: Mike Hosking: 'Now I'm not so sure we are being fleeced on petrol prices." Was he a tobacco salesman and lobbyist in a previous life?
We actually have a disability parking permit – but seldom use it because the boy is doing well and he feels that the space can be left for someone who needs it more. I have always thought that society is able to function only because of a myriad of such small acts of virtue – far more so than merely obeying the law. But it looks like such good nature just provides an 'opportunity' for the Siggis of the world.
She was obviously in a hurry – pulled up and jumped out and was snapped in that second. She may have been busting to go to the loo, that is very disabling. We can give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes i think.
"This spring Target Malaria ran a carefully controlled experimental release in Burkina Faso. The test followed years of research and similar successful releases in Latin America and the Caribbean. None of that mattered to the coalition of 40 leading environmental and “civil society” organizations demanding the project be shut down immediately."
People are getting sick and tired of Boorish. I bet he would never sit and eat his meals nicely when his parents had him around. Now the EU feels like spanking him, but of course they are too civilised, and instead are developing a new nuke that personalises by going after your smell and DNA with cells that they have grown from a swab of a dog's nose. (No animals would have been hurt in the experiment except Boorish. They probably have got Eion Musk interested in it.) /sarc
It was the day BoJo went No Show. Boris Johnson, in Luxembourg for talks with EU officials, abruptly pulled out of a joint press conference with the country's prime minister Xavier Bettel, amid noisy anti-Brexit protests opposite the podiums. Mr Bettel, who heads one of Europe's smallest countries, promptly upstaged Mr Johnson by going ahead without him, describing Brexit as a "nightmare" for EU citizens. You can't hold people hostage for party political reasons, he said, and don't blame us for the mess you made. Mr Johnson is still insisting there is time to agree a Brexit deal.
The Charge of the Light Brigade I
HALF a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
II
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
That's the spirit, forward, follow me say the doughty warriors, and be remembered for being heroes who overcame rationality, rode forth trying to take the high ground and fell on your noses.
Boorish as the Black Night, (come on ya pansy) the EU is with the King of the Britons in this debacle.
The media can't help itself even while it pats itself on the back for being a virtuous outlet. Take note how they will reach into records of your past and will stick you at will with sad events you wanted to let lie. This in the Otago Daily Times which I thought had standards.
Paula Bennet can get up Parliament and under privilege mention the name of someone alleged to have done something but Winston Peters can't get up and mention Judith Collins as a person connected to Oravida?
Certainly a bit odd Peter. Mallard did refer to Ruling 23 as to why, but we amateurs may not reason why. Must be pretty compelling but of course most would know the Collins connection.
I agree with the idiot (/savant): http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/09/contempt.html – I hadn't noticed that the British legal establishment had decided to pull the plug on British arms manufacturers. Is there a whiff of revolution in the air over there??
Will the minister who broke the law get punished? Seems a real test of the traditional expectation of `rule of law' only applying to the wealthy & powerful when standard evasion strategies fail.
"The president of New Zealand's criminal lawyers' society supports legalising cannabis for personal use", reports Stuff. "The association said its membership comprised 700 practicing criminal lawyers across New Zealand… "I think most members would support legalisation of cannabis for personal use," Andersen said." https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/115818154/legalise-weed-criminal-lawyer-group-president-says
Seems significant, inasmuch as parts of the establishment making progress hardly ever happens. Sadly, the 80% of Aotearoans who have voluntarily embarked on the outlaw lifestyle are now threatened with the establishment seal of approval. I wonder, when the mystique evaporates, what other form of rebellion they will seek.
Listening to the 4pm RNZ news, I thought I heard Winston accusing Jacinda of issuing fake news. Apparently she told the media he was having a month off due to knee surgery, or something, so when he returned & media asked him about it he said no, that was fake news. Well, he could have said she misunderstood, eh?
So if there's headlines screaming `Deputy PM accuses PM of fake news' it will mean journos took it like I did. I doubt Winston had that intent. Just shows the fine line between perception & reality, eh? 🙄
The inquiry report published on Tuesday said a digger operated by a "contractor" suspected of damaging the fuel pipeline in 2014, setting in motion its later failure, was owned by Auckland company Oravida Kauri, which was renamed Kauri Ruakaka the following year
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National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Eric Stokan, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Maryland, Baltimore County If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. ...
Wansolwara The news media’s crucial role in climate change and environment journalism was the focus of The University of the South Pacific’s Journalism Programme 2024 World Press Freedom Day celebrations. The European Union Ambassador to the Pacific, Barbara Plinkert, and Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General Henry Puna were the chief ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Adams, Professor of Corporate Law & Academic Director of UNE Sydney campus, University of New England Last August, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched legal proceedings against Qantas. The consumer watchdog accused the airline of selling thousands of tickets ...
This episode of A View From Afar was recorded LIVE on May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, May 5, 2024 at 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alison Taylor, Assistant Professor, Bond University Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures At the crux of the critical response to Luca Guadagnino’s new movie Challengers is one word: “sexy”. The film charts a love triangle between three up-and-coming tennis players: Tashi (Zendaya), ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Stewart, Professor of Public Policy, ADFA Canberra, UNSW Sydney For years, First Nations people have been telling governments they want to be listened to. In particular, they want more ownership of the programs and services that are supposed to help them. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Why do trees have bark? Julien, age 6, Melbourne. This is a great question, Julien. We are so familiar with bark on trees, that most of us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anthony Nasser, Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy, University of Technology Sydney PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important ligament in the knee. It runs from the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) and helps stabilise ...
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 I covered the May 2 United Kingdom local government elections for The Poll Bludger. The Blackpool South parliamentary byelection was also held, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deanna Grant-Smith, Professor of Management, University of the Sunshine Coast The federal government has announced a “Commonwealth Prac Payment” to support selected groups of students doing mandatory work placements. Those who are studying to be a teacher, nurse, midwife or social ...
We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+. If you love a dark comedy: Bodkin (Netflix, May 9)An English podcaster, an Irish podcaster and American podcaster walk into a pub and…make a TV show? ...
By Eleisha Foon, RNZ Pacific senior journalist A Pacific regionalism academic has called out New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters for withholding information from the public on AUKUS and says the security deal “raises serious questions for the Pacific region”. Auckland University of Technology academic Dr Marco de Jong ...
How worried should we be about the cloud? This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. I currently have a few thousand unread emails languishing in my inbox, mostly old marketing newsletters and piles of unread science journal press releases. I have a similar number ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nuurrianti Jalli, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies College of Arts and Sciences Department of Languages, Literature, and Communication Studies, Northern State University Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Southeast Asian governments not only have to deal with the virus but also with the false ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Murakami Wood, Professor of Critical Surveillance and Securities Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa The skyline of Riyadh, the capital and largest city of the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.(Shutterstock) There is a long history of planned city building by both governments ...
The LIVE Recording of A View from Afar podcast will begin today at 12:45pm May 6, 2024 (NZST) which is Sunday evening, 8:30pm (USEST). In an analytical essay titled ‘A moment of friction’ political scientist Dr Paul Buchanan wrote how we are living within a decisive moment of ...
The Boil Up’s Lucinda Bennett considers the oyster – from freshness to pearls to the joy of shucking your own. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. In Carmen Maria Machado’s short story ‘Eight Bites’, a woman begins her last supper before bariatric surgery with “a cavalcade ...
Asia Pacific Report A group of 65 Auckland University academics have written an open letter to vice-chancellor Dawn Freshwater criticising the institution’s stance over students protesting in solidarity with Palestine. They have called on her administration to “support” the students who were denied permission to establish an “overnight encampment” by ...
The Student Volunteer Army is on the march, generating approximately 1.6 million hours of volunteering from roughly 35,000 secondary school students in just five years. For Rebekah Brown, the pathway to volunteering started with her singing coach. With a passion for the arts, the suggestion to volunteer at Acting Antics, ...
Keeping up with online communication can be exhausting, so Fran Barclay enlisted the help of Meta’s new ‘intelligent assistant’ to respond to all her messages. Could her mates tell the difference? For centuries, technology has ruled the ways in which we communicate. From the dawn of written language, to the ...
Jamie Arbuckle, a councillor who has become an member of parliament, says he has settled into having two roles so comfortably he's going to keep both pay cheques. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong Fifty years ago, Australian feminist Anne Summers denounced “the ideology of sexism” governing over so many women’s lives. Unfortunately, sexism is as lethal today as it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jose Antonio Lara-Hernandez, Senior Researcher in Architecture, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images The COVID-19 pandemic and the hybrid work patterns it fostered have changed the way we think about office space, and central business districts in general. While fears ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dale Boccabella, Associate Professor of Taxation Law, UNSW Sydney There’s a good reason your local volunteer-run netball club doesn’t pay tax. In Australia, various nonprofit organisations are exempt from paying income tax, including those that do charitable work, such as churches. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marina Deller, Casual Academic, Creative Writing and English Literature, Flinders University NetflixComedy is opening up spaces for silences to be broken and trauma stories to be told. In 2018, Hannah Gadsby started a revolution with Nanette, asking audiences to rethink ...
The workplace can be a minefield of bad comms and passive aggression. Kinksters can help you navigate it. A friend and colleague recently gave me a compliment I loved. They told me I’d always been good at emotional communication and making people feel comfortable. “But I feel like it’s really ...
Even if some students are now just texting on their laptops. Stewart Sowman-Lund writes in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Councils from Horowhenua, Kāpiti, Wairarapa, the Hutt Valley, Porirua and Wellington City will meet this Friday to work together on a plan for a Greater Wellington region water deal. ...
Renowned musician, advocate, and proud born and raised daughter of Tauranga, Ria Hall, is announcing her candidacy for Mayor of Tauranga and Pāpāmoa Ward for the upcoming election on July 20th. ...
The new Aotearoa histories curriculum is rich with potential. There’s still work to be done, but the education minister’s criticisms about ‘balance’ miss the mark, argues primary school teacher Jessie Moss. In 2015, Ōtorohanga College students presented to parliament a petition signed by more than 10,000 people calling for a ...
For too long our so-called national bird has maintained its stranglehold on the economy of regional New Zealand. Thanks to the fast track legislation, we will have our revenge. Theories abound on what ails New Zealand’s economy. National leader Chris Luxon has posited that we’re negative, wet, whiny, and inward-looking; ...
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For the past 12 years, Georgia-Rose Brown has balanced on the brink of making an Olympic Games – but always landed gracefully on the wrong side. Reaching the Olympics is a dream the gymnast has harboured since she was a six-year-old; a dream that would dwindle every four years, yet ...
Late one afternoon in March 1860 a man in a thin green velveteen jacket and a wide-awake hat arrived on foot at a sheep station named Glenmark, about 65 kilometres north of Christchurch. The man was in his mid-fifties but he looked older. Several people who met him that day ...
If building one of Auckland’s possible waterfront stadiums was funded privately, it would need to hold a sold-out Ed Sherran concert every weekday for 25 years. That’s Rob Hamlin’s finding – he’s a senior marketing lecturer at the University of Otago. “It’s not going to happen; forget about it,” he ...
Comment: The debate over the future relationship between news and social media is bringing us closer to a long-overdue reckoning. Social media isn’t trying to kill journalism, because social media has never really cared about journalism. Social media is resolutely in the attention business. News propels some attention — perhaps ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A new Commonwealth Prac Payment will provide students with $319.50 a week when they are on clinical and professional placements. The payment will be means tested and start from July 1 next year, which ...
Asia Pacific Report About 500 people honoured Palestinian journalists in the heart of the New Zealand city of Auckland today for their brave coverage of Israel’s War on Gaza, now in its seventh month with almost 35,000 people killed, mostly women and children. Marking the annual May 3 World Press ...
The Government Communications Security Bureau denies hosting a foreign spying capability flagged by the watchdog, differentiating it from the system recently criticised. ...
RNZ News A group of academic staff at New Zealand’s largest university have expressed concern at the administration’s move to block a protest encampment that was planned to take place on campus calling for support for the rights of Palestinians. This week, the University of Auckland warned that while it ...
Genterwocky After a hard days marching, Sir Doocey calls in at the Village Tavern For a pint of ale and a pork pie. The grim villagers stare at him. “Do not be travelling on the forest road,” warns a crusty old beak. “And why is that, antique peasant?” Grins Sir ...
Political conferences after a party returns to power are usually a chance for some healthy, even unhealthy backslapping. Yet National Party president Sylvia Wood’s address to its mainland representatives on Saturday hardly contained the unalloyed delight that one might have expected following National’s escape from the wilderness of opposition. Yes, ...
Comment: Almost half the world is voting in national elections this year and artificial intelligence is the elephant in the room. There are genuine fears AI-generated or AI-edited deepfakes will potentially manipulate election outcomes not just in the US and UK, but critically in countries such as India. For that ...
Ahead of the reality franchise’s return to New Zealand, allow us to introduce the eight brides and grooms. Chuck on a veil and tie back your man bun, because it’s time to say “I do” to a new season of Married at First Sight NZ. The reality TV “social experiment” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Norton, Professor in the Practice of Higher Education Policy, Australian National University Every year on June 1, student debt in Australia is indexed to inflation. In 2023, high inflation pushed the indexation rate to 7.1%, the highest since 1990. This ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Changes in the May 14 budget will cut the student debt of more than three million people, wiping more than $3 billion from what people owe. The government will cap the HELP indexation rate ...
Asia Pacific Report The prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has appealed for an end to what it calls intimidation of its staff, saying such threats could constitute an offence against the “administration of justice” by the world’s permanent war crimes court. The Hague-based office of ICC Prosecutor ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk A women’s union in New Caledonia has staged a sit-in protest this week to support senior Kanak indigenous journalist Thérèse Waia, who works for public broadcaster Nouvelle-Calédonie la Première, after a smear attack by critics. The peaceful demonstration was held on ...
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By Stephen Wright and Stefan Armbruster of BenarNews Fiji’s ranking in a global press freedom index has jumped into the top tier of countries with free or mostly free media after its government last year repealed a draconian law that threatened journalists with prison for doing their jobs. Fiji’s improvement ...
We might be in Invercargill but all anyone can talk about is Gore. Specifically, Salford Street. That’s where three-year-old Lachlan Jones lived, south of the centre of town, between the A&P Showgrounds and the Mataura River. Roughly 1.2 km away from the single level home he lived in with his ...
Inquiry confirms Marsden pipeline damager was connected with Oravida: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115811300/fuel-firms-told-to-invest-at-auckland-airport-by-june-or-government-should-step-in
And the due date for the report would be no surprise and would have been known for a long time,"how convenient" that Collins just happens, coincidentally, to be overseas?
Bless her. All that kauri won't sell itself.. 🙂
incredibly shameless behaviour from the Nats, and it almost worked.
https://twitter.com/LewSOS/status/1173676394544414720?s=20
another scandal that the media have forgotten about
https://twitter.com/publicaddress/status/1173683740318588928?s=20
Any New Zealander with the intelligence to look at what is happening in China – the incarceration of over 1 million Uyghurs in "re-education" camps, the ongoing persecution of the Tibetans and Christians, and now the pressure (and probable invasion) of Hong Kong, – and imagine that China, with its aim of world domination, won't do the same here when they take over, is dreaming.
Trump may be a complete f-wit, and he may be dangerous, but Xi Jingping is sinister.
Too much of the purist race thing from China – and stories of Falun Gong being allocated status of bad and so dispensable. What have we here; a country admired principally because it 'has the trains running on time' as was said of Mussolini's Italy.
Me, myself, I always see democracy as the end. Don't know how close Japan has got yet. Is that 'dogma' or over-idealisation? I'm proud of it, rather than the 'freedom' of WW 2 which lead to our present plutocracy. And the US Supreme Court refusing to defend 'democracy'. Makes you laugh your guts out.
It will be interesting to see if today Bennett persists with her line of questioning at QT. Even more interesting if Winston answers on behalf of the PM.
Newsroom Laura Walters has published in full the Simon Mitchell report on his declaration of the non appearance of Sarah's complaint.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2019/09/16/811922/labour-party-doubles-down-on-its-version-of-events
Te Spinoff has the lawyer's statement and a response from the complainant: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/16-09-2019/two-statements-on-the-labour-party-inquiry/
Isn't it great to see real journalism from new media organisations.
I'm relieved that Spinoff and Newsroom are on the scene.
Thanks Sacha for the link to Spinoff. Simon and Sarah cannot both be right. Maybe the emails did not arrive at their destination but Sarah also says she discussed the details with Simon and the Committee. Weird!
2+2= a twisted piece of string.
2+2/(sexual assault trauma+rape culture) = a twisted piece of string sticking out of a Gordian knot ball of string.
Yesterday the Spinoff published that with a response from the complainants' lawyer. Have a look, Ian, see what you think when you compare both statements. Rare to see such a stark incompatibility in regard to the assertions of fact! https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/16-09-2019/two-statements-on-the-labour-party-inquiry/
Seems to me they possess proof that the complainants are telling the truth, but it hinges on each email destination computer address – and if it reliably identitifies the owner/operator. To helpfully inform the public, they ought to publish each email as a photo so we can see the evidence for ourselves.
One can send an email but forget attachments but Sarah says she discussed the detail with the committee who say no she didn't. It would be very sad if Sarah has bigger problems of recall.
Have Spinoff/Newsroom Bennett actually met Sarah?
Dunno. That's another facet of the controversy that bothers me. Unidentifiable people can seem hypothetical! We assume they are actually real because Labour party sources say they are. Blind faith can work – the christians achieved hegemony for millennia using it – but I'd prefer politics to be based on real humans, their actual experience and evidence.
Mitchell writes he advised Sarah to email the assistant Labour gen sec rather than himself, and doesn't say that person provided the panel with copies, so Sarah could have been under a false impression. If deliberate, seems bad faith to me…
This interesting Correction in stuff Monday 16/9/19 P2 :
Richard Griffin's column published in The Nelson Mail on Saturday incorrectly stated that the alleged offender in the Labour scandal worked in the prime minster's office in the Beehive, and that he was a member of her "hand-picked staff". It also incorrectly stated that the role would require "daily, sometimes hourly, interaction with the prime minister".
[]
The alleged offender worked in the Labour leader's office, a unit that helps MPs deal with the day-to-day business of Parliament. It is based in the Bowen House office block and is separate from the prime minister's office, on the ninth floor of the Beehive.
Stuff has printed the correction which reins in Richard Griffin's reckons to actual reality. ('There are things that you know, you don't know', and things you don't know that you don't know, etc. Refer to Donald Rumsfeld, USA Secretary of Defense speech. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiPe1OiKQuk)
A feature of newspaper presentation of content to the reader that stuff displays shows disrespect for prime people in our polity and their positions of authority. Notice how, in the item copied above, buildings such as Beehive and Bowen House begin with a capital letter. However 'prime minister' is in lower case! I think that says something about the lack of respect of the media barons for the people and our elected representatives and government itself. (I inserted a space to create a second paragraph in the correction piece which made its meaning clearer I thought.)
Who knew Ardern has two offices?? Hardly anyone, I suspect. I wonder if she uses both. Can't really blame the Dick for being confused.
Re capitalisation, could be the journo is caught between two worlds: that of those trained in traditional grammar & those not. Result is random capitalisation, to serve both audiences…
Electorate MPs also have electorate offices in their electorates. Who knew? John Key used to have many hats, remember?
Yeah but using that logic you'd have to count a third office for the PM in her electorate. The two she seems to have in parliament do reflect her twin hats, of course. If they are staffed by folk performing different functions – those required by the twin processes of democracy & governance – then nobody can claim it's a waste of space & resources.
??
Nobody’s talking about “a waste of space & resources”!?
Just me. I blame my deceased father, who drummed it into me during childhood. That generation grew up in the depression, so `waste not, want not' permanently shaped their mind-set.
I hear you.
No I think that the writing form or rules has been declared on capitalisation – its not up to personal preference.
…in the item copied above, buildings such as Beehive and Bowen House begin with a capital letter. However 'prime minister' is in lower case!
It's actually a bit of a grey area. If you're thinking about it generically, ie as the office that's used by prime ministers of New Zealand, it's the prime minster's office. If you're thinking about it as the office of Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister, it's the Prime Minister's office. Either is fine in the context it was used in.
Don't blame me for it PM. Or that other commenter who calls themself Grey Area.
There are various rationalisations for changing capitalisation such as this one from The Guardian. The writer sounds as if he is Up Himself (to use a less formal style).
https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language/2010/oct/04/new-york-street-signs-capitals
Most readers seem comfortable with a less formal style. A grand total of two people complained about our coverage of the pope's, rather than the Pope's, recent visit to the UK. We did receive a letter last week complaining that calling David Cameron the prime minister, not the Prime Minister (a style we have been following for more than a decade) reflected a "lowering of standards", but such complaints are few.
This is what Canterbury Uni says. But they don't make it clear about titles and honorifics. It appears that one could refer to the chancellor of The University of Canterbury, even though they would be of equal importance, one needing the other, I would think.
https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/webguide/uc-style-guide/writing-for-the-web/language-usage/
We are having great discussions about the lack of respect for complaints about bullying of people, and the casual acceptance of sexual urges being displayed and acted on. Perhaps we are all too bloody casual about what consideration good humans must have for others, respecting their bright and brief life on this earth, similar to our own beacon with an inestimable cornucopia of abundant gifts, so often unrecognised.
Rather despise Richard Griffin. Instrument. He has a column in Nelson? One of those doves freed by social democracy who doesn't come back to perform devotion like my polio uncle for CCS. Hard to like these freed fools as much as they obviously like themselves.
imagine what would happen if the labour party or the greens had as an mp – a former(?) chinese-spook/member of the chinese communist party..?
and j.ardern/shaw went with said mp to china…for a meeting with the head of chinas’ spooks….?
the media would have such a meltdown – they would need to be put on life-support…
hosking would implode….
hooton would have palpitations..
the tories do it..?…nedia/r.w-spinners/toadys – totally unruffled..
I worry about how vaping is being promoted – please pass onto the vapers in your life
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-16/im-horrified-by-the-damage-vaping-does-to-lungs/11516316
seems a no brainer to me: regulate in the same way as tobacco (including in pubic spaces). Better yet, also make it a med that has to be bought from a pharmacy.
It's fucking ridiculous that people are saying inhaling chemical-carrying vapour multiple times a day deep into your lungs won't have harmful effects.
I mentioned in my responses about vaping a few days ago how Doctors don't advocate anyone start vaping, for the same reasons noted above about smoking tobacco or cannabis – Putting anything your lungs apart from clean fresh air is a bad decision. However, smokers are advised to switch, because it is deemed the safer option.
Harvard edu on vaping damage to lungs
Ignoring the recent cluster of u.s cases, likely to be caused by contaminants, their bottom line is "Perhaps vaping should be viewed as a “lesser of evils” for current cigarette smokers." which is what the medics have told us.
For those smoking cannabis, the outlook is not so good.
American lung Assoc on weed smoking damage to lungs
Vaping "may have similar respiratory health effects as e-cigarette use." but smokers have a far worse bottom line and projected end game.
Though obviously not as bad as tobacco smokers
https://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/health-effects-of-smoking.html
People can make choices about which they want to do based on their own health, no problem with that. My concern is the people saying that vaping is benign for the vaper and those around them. It's not and it's daft to say that. We should be regulating this around advertising, public space and so on. The push for it to be trendy and everywhere is capitalist, hipster bullshit.
I would apply that to cannabis too. Same regs on public spaces (and enclosed spaces like cars), don't allow advertising. The capitalists are going to be all over cannabis too if they get the chance. Hoping we can legalise without making the mistakes the US has.
The 'push for it to be everywhere' is funded by tobacco companies. Enough said.
yep.
I know I've never bough a vape product, or been influenced to by a tobacco company, though of course that doesn't mean some haven't since they've entered the local market.
The current saturation marketing push seems timed to get in before the product is regulated. How it has not been mystifies me.
They're trying to get market share where they have historically had none, and with the big money comes big advertising and promotion, but that's not all going there way.
Big tobacco in NZ – Stuff
I've never met someone or seen any advocate for vaping say they aren't without risk, which I suppose is why they are an r18 product, even the non nicotine e liquids.
Not being either I don't know if it's capitalist hipster bs, remembering how cigarettes use to be 'cool' too and they were/are really gross, but if more regulation is needed then so be it. Advertising should probably run along the lines of tobacco ie None, and public spaces like smoking should be off limits, if people aren't already considerate with their habit, which I know, some aren't.
I don't agree that flavours should be banned for consenting adults, but if they are, what will be etc… we can always add our own, though of course that makes a bit of an ass out of the law where nicotine is permitted but a flavour draws the foul and gets a red card.
I vape it got me off 2 packs a day. With the cases in the USA most of them are with CBD oils not normal juice, and i do agree juices need to be treated like smokes .
Good news story
Vaping is to Labour as Cigarettes are to National.
The lesser of two evils is correct. I guess it's the marketing why some vapers think they're doing themselves no harm. As an ex-smoker and vaper I'm trying to keep my head out of the clouds, and looking to stop the vape in time – but addiction has its hooks deep. Other substances have been by comparison easy to give up while nicotine will mess with me psychologically for years after a quit event.
When you add mental health issues like depression into the mix, a malady known for exacerbating self destructive behavior, it is no surprise so many still partake.
Promoting it seems criminal, except as an alternate to smoking. The underlying causes of mental stress and depression range considerably, but much might be placed squarely at the feet of a society that competes rather than cooperates and places money before man; with governments and media that exacerbate division and derision of fairer human characteristics.
The opportunists aka capitalists with no moral compass have an awful lot to answer for. Opiate epidemic in US = money money money.
I originally read this and was preparing to strongly disagree, until I noticed 'except'. lol
As an alternative to smoking, even without long term data to support it, it's a common refrain from those who have made the switch. I've said before I recommend it to every smoker I meet, not only for the real up change in lifestyle, but especially financially.
True weka 100% That vaping chemicals together in combinations that have never been toxicology analysed as together in a combined synergistic insult may be far more harmful than each component used separately.
Even more than that one must also consider the combined effects sitting in a room with several others vaping with other chemicals added into their vapor will be added to the air all are breathing and even add a more toxic soup to human health damage, so we need to stop vaping as it is just like playing Russian roulette.
What chemicals and in what untested combinations are being vaped?
No surprises here.
https://twitter.com/dgaytandzhieva/status/1173300452924039168?s=20
http://armswatch.com/
Interesting to learn that the university is such a hot bed of smokers desperate to get off the cigs that the benevolent producers of vapes have taken to sponsoring slots on the student radio to help these students get the help they need.
In my post-grad classes there was maybe 1:30 smokers. Typically the only person out for a smoke break with me was staff. Undergrad probably twice that. Can only speak for the biological sciences…
wtf?
and the response is, well, an absolute joke and shameful imo
History eh – just make it up – now this is some history
Can I ask what position in the tribe the "single iwi representative " holds.
Missionary. 🙂
Hey B, is it the Farmers Weekly that's the good rural newspaper?
It's the one that isnt totally bias. Gives all sides a platform . This week is quiet a feature on how much pressure is supposedly being heaped on farmers from the governments massive reform programmes.
I put supposedly as it could be true but being just a lowly shepherd it’s all above me . ( just the way I like it)
I see a Herald headline today: Mike Hosking: 'Now I'm not so sure we are being fleeced on petrol prices." Was he a tobacco salesman and lobbyist in a previous life?
ouch
https://twitter.com/adamkotsko/status/1173051399967596544
What a disgraceful idiot this person is
ummm yeah nah it is totally IN character for you imo
We actually have a disability parking permit – but seldom use it because the boy is doing well and he feels that the space can be left for someone who needs it more. I have always thought that society is able to function only because of a myriad of such small acts of virtue – far more so than merely obeying the law. But it looks like such good nature just provides an 'opportunity' for the Siggis of the world.
She was obviously in a hurry – pulled up and jumped out and was snapped in that second. She may have been busting to go to the loo, that is very disabling. We can give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes i think.
Why would you leap to shine the best light on her behaviour? She has a track record.
She can't even steal a mobility park properly. Clown.
The law of unintended consequences and the genetically modified mosquito that has gone wild.
https://twitter.com/nntaleb/status/1172907395439312899
What;s that? Don't be enigmatic, be automatic to put your link so we can keep up with you, speedy.
click on photo show reference to SR
Just another culture war, don't get excited. Green fundies vs philanthropists & geneticists. https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2019/08/06/gmo-mosquitoes-could-save-millions-from-malaria-but-progressive-agroecologists-mobilize-against-gates-funded-project/
"This spring Target Malaria ran a carefully controlled experimental release in Burkina Faso. The test followed years of research and similar successful releases in Latin America and the Caribbean. None of that mattered to the coalition of 40 leading environmental and “civil society” organizations demanding the project be shut down immediately."
We should not forget that while there are plenty of philandering men out there,
there are also plenty of silly women.
[Please stick to one user name, thanks]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
What a terrible thing to say … being silly is irrelevant ..or having a drink or wearing what you please.
People are getting sick and tired of Boorish. I bet he would never sit and eat his meals nicely when his parents had him around. Now the EU feels like spanking him, but of course they are too civilised, and instead are developing a new nuke that personalises by going after your smell and DNA with cells that they have grown from a swab of a dog's nose. (No animals would have been hurt in the experiment except Boorish. They probably have got Eion Musk interested in it.) /sarc
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49715705 Brexit: Boris Johnson attacked by Luxembourg PM over 'nightmare'
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-europe-49695563/passports-and-nationality-the-brits-going-dutch-over-brexit
Channel 4 News 846K subscribers
It was the day BoJo went No Show. Boris Johnson, in Luxembourg for talks with EU officials, abruptly pulled out of a joint press conference with the country's prime minister Xavier Bettel, amid noisy anti-Brexit protests opposite the podiums. Mr Bettel, who heads one of Europe's smallest countries, promptly upstaged Mr Johnson by going ahead without him, describing Brexit as a "nightmare" for EU citizens. You can't hold people hostage for party political reasons, he said, and don't blame us for the mess you made. Mr Johnson is still insisting there is time to agree a Brexit deal.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1178721/Brexit-news-Boris-Johnson-Benn-no-deal-delay-today-live-BBC-backstop-UK-EU
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-no-deal-boris-johnson-leave-legal-loophole-a9107051.html 'Flaw' in legislation passed by MPs means opponents of no-deal will need to take 'counter measures' to ensure UK does not crash out of EU next month, barrister says
A thinkpiece for constitutional law watchers. https://ukconstitutionallaw.org/2019/09/13/oliver-garner-the-benn-burt-extension-act-a-roadblock-to-a-no-deal-brexit/
The Charge of the Light Brigade I
HALF a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
'Forward, the Light Brigade!
Charge for the guns!' he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
II
'Forward, the Light Brigade!'
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Some one had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
That's the spirit, forward, follow me say the doughty warriors, and be remembered for being heroes who overcame rationality, rode forth trying to take the high ground and fell on your noses.
Boorish as the Black Night, (come on ya pansy) the EU is with the King of the Britons in this debacle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=886hNDgwfMk
Paula Bennett in the House today all concerned about ethics.
Was she the one who released the personal information about Winston Peters before the last election?
The media can't help itself even while it pats itself on the back for being a virtuous outlet. Take note how they will reach into records of your past and will stick you at will with sad events you wanted to let lie. This in the Otago Daily Times which I thought had standards.
https://www.odt.co.nz/sport/cricket/ben-stokes-family-tragedy-half-brother-sister-shot-dead-children
Paula Bennet can get up Parliament and under privilege mention the name of someone alleged to have done something but Winston Peters can't get up and mention Judith Collins as a person connected to Oravida?
Certainly a bit odd Peter. Mallard did refer to Ruling 23 as to why, but we amateurs may not reason why. Must be pretty compelling but of course most would know the Collins connection.
I agree with the idiot (/savant): http://norightturn.blogspot.com/2019/09/contempt.html – I hadn't noticed that the British legal establishment had decided to pull the plug on British arms manufacturers. Is there a whiff of revolution in the air over there??
Will the minister who broke the law get punished? Seems a real test of the traditional expectation of `rule of law' only applying to the wealthy & powerful when standard evasion strategies fail.
"The president of New Zealand's criminal lawyers' society supports legalising cannabis for personal use", reports Stuff. "The association said its membership comprised 700 practicing criminal lawyers across New Zealand… "I think most members would support legalisation of cannabis for personal use," Andersen said." https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/115818154/legalise-weed-criminal-lawyer-group-president-says
Seems significant, inasmuch as parts of the establishment making progress hardly ever happens. Sadly, the 80% of Aotearoans who have voluntarily embarked on the outlaw lifestyle are now threatened with the establishment seal of approval. I wonder, when the mystique evaporates, what other form of rebellion they will seek.
Listening to the 4pm RNZ news, I thought I heard Winston accusing Jacinda of issuing fake news. Apparently she told the media he was having a month off due to knee surgery, or something, so when he returned & media asked him about it he said no, that was fake news. Well, he could have said she misunderstood, eh?
So if there's headlines screaming `Deputy PM accuses PM of fake news' it will mean journos took it like I did. I doubt Winston had that intent. Just shows the fine line between perception & reality, eh? 🙄
did he say why he was off if it wasn't due to knee surgery?
No, and the evening tv news just called it a health reason. Featured Winston's condemnation of PB instead.
"Ardern said the operation was related to an old rugby injury he received many years ago.
A spokesman for Peters would not go into any further detail on the operation, other than to say the way Ardern had described it was accurate"
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12264185
Judith Collins must be ready to come home now to face our accusers of the 'Oridiva demolition pipe company' scandal now?
Welcome home Judith.
Queen Judith Orivida Collins. Digger operations Manager of the Kauri Swamp log & Auckland Airport Energy pipeline destruction cover-up It’d. (2014).
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115811300/fuel-firms-told-to-invest-at-auckland-airport-by-june-or-government-should-step-in
The inquiry report published on Tuesday said a digger operated by a "contractor" suspected of damaging the fuel pipeline in 2014, setting in motion its later failure, was owned by Auckland company Oravida Kauri, which was renamed Kauri Ruakaka the following year
Shapiro's inerrant right wing logic at work here.
https://twitter.com/JasonSCampbell/status/1173628757221019651