Open mike 17/11/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, November 17th, 2021 - 150 comments
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For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

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150 comments on “Open mike 17/11/2021 ”

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  1. GreenBus 1
    17 November 2021 at 7:22 am

    If the AV mob are at higher risk of getting infected by Covid, which is just about a given, and we can see that the rule breakers are also the same AV mob, then how good is the home isolating of these same people going to work out? My guess they won't be keen on following the rules and who and how can the MoH or local GP's keep them at home and not just do whatever they want. They look likely to be a significant proportion of the forthcoming sick people and contact tracing is already falling apart.

    • Gezza 1.1
      17 November 2021 at 7:57 am

      Yes, you’re right, & this is a very real & very scary prospect.

      It means we all need to get our booster shots and avoid known anti-vaxers like the plage many of them will be carrying.

      Also means continual handwashing / hand sanitising & mask-wearing will continue to be needed by everyone, really.

  2. pat 2
    17 November 2021 at 7:31 am

    "That's only compounded by the fact that Renwick's optimistic view of the future still entails a certain level of disaster. He told the Nature survey that 2 degrees of warming was most likely – more optimistic than most of his colleagues, but a prediction that would still have dire implications for human civilisation."

    https://www.newsroom.co.nz/grappling-with-dread-on-the-frontlines-of-the-climate-fight

    Best case scenario and its still grim.

    • tc 2.1
      17 November 2021 at 8:10 am

      Optimism not shared by experts at COP26. They got together all the blah blah assurances, targets etc at the completion and came up with……2.4deg.

    • Gezza 2.2
      17 November 2021 at 8:20 am

      Now’s the time for the inventors & engineers & venture capitalists & govts to all be pulling their fingers out & coming up with varioys forms of mechanical carbon scrubbers & to be sequestering huge amounts in rocks n stuff.

      The ever-short-sighted, arrogant & selfish human ape is still too busy with making money & creature comforts for no other creature than itself to see its own extinction or significant reduction in numbers becoming a real prospect on the compartively near horizon.

      It’s almost like Nature has started coming up with its own solutions to the problem of so many humans outcompeting them & being so dangerous to other life forms. 😐

      • Gezza 2.2.1
        17 November 2021 at 8:23 am

        😡 My kingdom for a good pre-Submit Comment proof- reader! 😰
        My current one’s fking useless! 😠

        • alwyn 2.2.1.1
          17 November 2021 at 10:51 am

          I suggest you follow the advice in the ad.

          "You should have gone to Specsavers"

        • Patricia Bremner 2.2.1.2
          17 November 2021 at 3:36 pm

          No Gezza "my Kingdom for a horse" Richard the 111 ended up in a carpark.

          We guessed what happened All been there lately.

      • RedLogix 2.2.2
        17 November 2021 at 8:30 am

        Now’s the time for the inventors & engineers & venture capitalists & govts to all be pulling their fingers out & coming up with varioys forms of mechanical carbon scrubbers & to be sequestering huge amounts in rocks n stuff.

        And in the below-deck engineering spaces all these things, and more, are being worked on. Out of sight.

        Meanwhile up on deck the performative sabre rattling, flag waving and siren wailing continue to serve an entirely different purpose.

        • Gezza 2.2.2.1
          17 November 2021 at 8:43 am

          “Meanwhile up on deck the performative sabre rattling, flag waving and siren wailing continue to serve an entirely different purpose.”
          ……………………………..

          Being, in your opinion, what, exactly, Red? o_O

          • RedLogix 2.2.2.1.1
            17 November 2021 at 8:58 am

            Years ago I noticed that if I wrote something on the alarmist, fearmongering side of CC there was lots of noisy engagement. If I write to the solution side – /crickets

            • Gezza 2.2.2.1.1.1
              17 November 2021 at 9:17 am

              Understood, I think.

              How about just put it in a nutshell, pour moi? And don’t engage with your usual critics? I’m just curious.

              • RedLogix …
                17 November 2021 at 10:04 am

                My starting point is these five pre-conditions:

                • That human population will peak out at around 10b by the end of this century
                • That human development will continue to shift us from a short lived, many children to a longer lived, fewer children species
                • That we have no right to tell the 6b odd people who live in the developing world they must remain poor
                • That carbon neutral is not enough, we need carbon negative (the CO2 scrubber idea that you first mentioned).
                • Electricity explains the world.

                While no-one can predict the future in detail, it's reasonable to project by 2100 that most people will live in high energy, high tech urban centres. We already have a lot of knowledge and experience in building far more liveable, human centred habitats. All of humanity will be able to access what we currently regard in the developed world as an ‘upper middle class’ standard of living in many senses, but likely different in others.

                High intensity industrial zones will exploit advances in materials and processes to deliver the totally decarbonised energy and closed loop resource use needed to sustain modernity. The trend will be toward an accelerated de-coupling of human demands on the natural world.

                Surrounding them will be layered zones of agricultural and managed landscapes serving a range of purposes. A sophisticated permaculture plan but on a regional scale.

                At least half of the ice-free planet will revert to wilderness in some form.

                To achieve this we need around 5 – 10 times more electricity and process heat than we currently consume.

                The only technological pathway that delivers on this is the next generation of advanced nuclear fission reactors that are on a fast path toward being delivered this decade. /nutshell

                • swordfish …
                  17 November 2021 at 2:35 pm

                  .

                  Read it … always impressed by your honesty, realism, intellectual courage & intellectual rigour.

                  Don't always agree with you, RL … but far more often than not I do.

                • roblogic …
                  17 November 2021 at 2:47 pm

                  Would also help if humans could greatly reduce their love affair with the automobile. Not just increasing supply of electricity, but reducing the current massive demand for devices that eat the future with their insatiable demand. Personal transport is costed all wrong. The prevalence of huge SUV's on NZ roads is a completely avoidable and unnecessary environmental crime that only serves to bolster the egos of the rich.

                  • RedLogix …
                    17 November 2021 at 2:58 pm

                    That's pretty much going to happen as the convergence of EV and AI will shift us towards a 'mobility as a service' model of transport.

                  • Gezza …
                    17 November 2021 at 3:37 pm

                    God yes. Just one look at my local Suzuki & Mitsubishi dealer’s front lot is enuf. The vehicles just keep getting bigger & bigger every freakin year. Backing out of an angle park in the local main drag shopping area is a nerve-wracking ‘stick your car’s arse out into the traffic’ exercise because half the time you can’t see thru the high up smoky windows of the bloody swanky “truck” parked next to you.

                    Average cars have now got to ridiculous sizes.

              • RedLogix …
                17 November 2021 at 12:32 pm

                /crickets

                As I said – I came to the conclusion a while back that many people who make a lot of noise about CC have no real interest whatsoever in solving it.

                What they really want to achieve is something else.

                • Gezza …
                  17 November 2021 at 12:58 pm

                  Not crickets here, avec moi. Just disappeared becos I had an appointment at Welly Hospital at 11 am, & just got home.

                  I find your above comments very interesting.

                  But it was the “something else” you refer to that I really wanted put in a nutshell. Apologies for not making myself clearer.

                  • RedLogix …
                    17 November 2021 at 1:01 pm

                    I should have made it clearer that my comment above was not directed to you.

                    But still this is pretty much how it goes.

                • gsays …
                  17 November 2021 at 2:27 pm

                  Rest assured there is another one who reads what you write, not always agreeing with it.

                  The crickets observation is reflected down thread with wekas comment that folk basically don't care about the environment, or at least not enough to act.

                  • RedLogix …
                    17 November 2021 at 2:33 pm

                    Yes – oddly enough weka and I both agree on this point, even though we come at it from completely opposite directions.

                    But I'd suggest it's wrong to think people 'don't care about the environment'. They do – but they understandably care about themselves and their family more.

                    And interestingly it's the wealthy countries where people actively care for the environment the most.

                    And no – I really do not necessarily want people to ‘agree with me’. More than anything the value I get from being here comes with seeing people learn to speak their own minds clearly and honestly.

                    • Blazer …
                      17 November 2021 at 5:38 pm

                      Its comforting to know all will be well in another 80 years.

                      A brave new world indeed….meanwhile..

                    • Gezza …
                      17 November 2021 at 6:00 pm

                      @B

                      Meanwhile … what ? Any suggestions?

                      Hard for me to envisage any significant, lasting changes happening to the way societies operate globally, tbh.

                      Problem is with the nature of the human ape. Too many too easily led & manipulated by the equivalents of the gorillas’ Silverbacks.

                • AB …
                  17 November 2021 at 3:03 pm

                  "I came to the conclusion a while back that many people who make a lot of noise about CC have no real interest whatsoever in solving it. What they really want to achieve is something else."

                  OK. So the accusation here is of a hidden agenda to 'end capitalism' or whatever. But hidden agenda accusations are easy to make, and because they are essentially inventions, they can always be made against whatever target is the enemy du jour.

                  Here's a different one for example – and it's nonsense too: I came to the conclusion a while back that many people who are very focused only on technology solutions to CC have no real interest in solving it. What they really want to achieve is something else – no change to an economic system that encourages infinite growth and has turbocharged CO2 emissions by pursuing profit at all costs.

                  Best to steer clear of intellectually questionable styles of argument imo. The politicisation of the climate change response is gong to be a disaster, so best not to add to it.

      • Bearded Git 2.2.3
        17 November 2021 at 9:39 am

        Gezza….much easier to stop using fossil fuels in the first place.

        Solar is now massively cheaper and than it used to be and methods of storing solar power are being developed rapidly. That is the technology we need to concentrate on.

        Carbon scrubbers etc. are ambulances at the bottom of the cliff.

        • Tricledrown 2.2.3.1
          17 November 2021 at 10:04 am

          Carbon scrubbers are very inefficient .People can all use less Carbon .Changing people's behaviour is the most logical way to reduce Carbon. When purchasing if everyone bought low carbon emissions product,reduced unnecessary travel,over indulgences to much food(we are an obese society) reduced our clothes purchases ,stop buying junk that falls to bits it would be easier to recycle. Plastic is every where ,only recyclable plastic should be allowed. It will cost more in some cases but using less will actually save money. Plastic bottles in Europe are much lighter thinner and the likes of Germany pay a deposit 20c € refundable on the thinner Plastic bottles.Also Europe limits the amount of sugar in soft drinks and juices they taste much nicer too.

          • Tricledrow 2.2.3.1.1
            17 November 2021 at 10:39 am

            Oh I forgot the richest 1% are responsible for 35% of all global carbon emissions.So they or we need to some how reduce their massive carbon footprint. Super yacht,private jet.taxes ,mansion ,luxury taxes.food and clothing waste taxes.

            • Tricledrown 2.2.3.1.1.1
              17 November 2021 at 10:40 am

              Friggen he'll that box is hyper sensitive.

            • weka 2.2.3.1.1.2
              17 November 2021 at 10:42 am

              user name.

              • left for dead …
                17 November 2021 at 11:58 am

                Morning Weka,any chance this problem will get sorted,it been sometime now.

                • Nic the NZer …
                  17 November 2021 at 12:20 pm

                  More problematic is the mobile paste box, which works well enough to pop up but not well enough to accept pasted text via mobile controls.

                  Without checking it looks like the javascript which tries to do something sophisticated with the contents of a paste also throws an unhandled exception.

                  Alternatively it might be detecting a paste in the paste control and popping up again ready to accept a paste (to which it will popup again).

                  I don't think the javascript paste control which prevents the built in browser function of pasting is the best use of javascript I have seen.

                • weka …
                  17 November 2021 at 12:22 pm

                  afaik, Lynn sees it as a user end issue (in the software at the user end), not something he can change, but I will ask again.

          • RedLogix 2.2.3.1.2
            17 November 2021 at 2:36 pm

            Carbon scrubbers are very inefficient .

            Efficiency doesn't matter if the energy source is both cheap and carbon free. And especially not if the end product – in this case reduced CO2 – is of existential value.

        • Patricia Bremner 2.2.3.2
          17 November 2021 at 4:08 pm

          Added to that Bearded Git, is a need to develop regenerative farming, limit nitrates and work with nature using her well developed and balanced systems instead of industrialized mono systems which destroy the very soil we depend on.

          Like our fight against covid, many intertwined approaches, methods and systems used together will be what we have, as sadly agreeing a safety margin is still not achieved. 1.5 is very bad 2.4 pushing disaster.sad

          The most useful advances have been in applied biology, so far. imo.

          Looking back, we are sickened by the excesses of Rome, but we do not live very differently. We wonder at cities and even civilizations lost. The answer usually loss of water, depleted resources, or religious wars. We are in some ways slow to learn. So the pot gets hotter.

    • pat 2.3
      17 November 2021 at 7:20 pm

      Does Renwick (or the other climate scientists contributing) have a fag waving, sabre rattling agenda?…are they spending their working lives on a false mission?…somehow I dont think so.

  4. GreenBus 4
    17 November 2021 at 8:46 am

    I can envision a whole industry of house raising contractors and business springing up in the near future. Lift housing off the ground and put them up on piles. Let the water go underneath without damaging the house and drainage specialists to get rid of the sea water.

    A near certainty nothing will be done to change the world away from it's current trajectory. Like the Housing crisis nobody wants to change, we will have to adapt.

  5. Chris T 5
    17 November 2021 at 9:12 am

    I have made a conscious effort to not get involved in the is the govt handling covid well arguments.

    I realise as a govt it is a shit hand to be dealt.

    I saw an interview this morning with Hipkins about vax cert validity and expiration and needing boosters to renew and it seems they haven't even thought about it.

    Apologies. But my patience is running thin.

    This may be a stupid question. But does anyone know why our govt can't just talk to aus and copy their template?

    • Bearded Git 5.1
      17 November 2021 at 9:45 am

      Because Oz has handled Covid so well ChrisT?

      Australia 73 deaths/million. NZ 7 deaths/million.

      • Chris T 5.1.1
        17 November 2021 at 9:50 am

        Yes they did handle it badly.

        Now some states have a working vax certs app

        Working together is better than fart arsing around with no clue like Hipkins interview came across

        • Tricledrown 5.1.1.1
          17 November 2021 at 10:10 am

          Australians pay more taxes have a better funded health system have both Federal and State bearaucracy to run better responses maybe you can volunteer by paying 45% of your income in federal tax then pay your state taxes as well as higher local body rates .

          • Chris T 5.1.1.1.1
            17 November 2021 at 10:30 am

            Fair enough. But all the more reason to borrow/nick their more well funded tech.

            She ain't like they will say no.

            They want the trans tas bubble back as much as we do.

            • bwaghorn 5.1.1.1.1.1
              17 November 2021 at 1:08 pm

              Is it at all possible that the kings of underarm ,sandpaper, and 501s dont like us and wont share??

    • Craig Hall 5.2
      17 November 2021 at 9:53 am

      The passes are valid for 6 months to allow for boosters being mandatory if that's where cabinet lands.

      My guess as to whether a booster will be required will depend on factors like spread, medical advice, overseas practice, and particularly if the vaccine course recommendation changes from 2 doses at least 3 weeks apart with an extra dose for immunocompromised folk 8 weeks after dose 2 (as currently) to 3 doses with dose 2 after 3-12 weeks and dose 3 at least 6 months after dose 2 for most people and an extra dose for the immunocompromised folk 8 weeks after dose 2.

      • Chris T 5.2.1
        17 November 2021 at 10:02 am

        You see I read those numbers and get it.

        Fine.

        Are they expecting the whole of nz with aged population. And no smart phone. Disabled people. Low education to do the same?

        As again acknoeding the govt has had a a tough thing to be dealt is bloody stupid

        • Tricledrown 5.2.1.1
          17 November 2021 at 10:16 am

          Chris snowflake was the right whingers go to put down of socialists looks like its bounced off a come home to roost.

      • Chris T 5.2.2
        17 November 2021 at 10:14 am

        Honestly

        (sorry to be naggy)

        It was a pin in the arse trying to get the country 90% vaxed.

        Now we have to do it all over again for people having to have a booster to renew their vax cert that runs out in a time frame Hipkins couldn't name

        • Tricledrown 5.2.2.1
          17 November 2021 at 10:23 am

          Chri T Well if we want our economy to flourish and our underfunded health system to function these are the sacrifices we need to make.Better vaccines are on the way better antiviral treatments are on the way.

          Provided Covid does outsmart out pace our scientist's.

          It sound like you would like lockdown to continue or open the floodgates and damage our health system and economy at the same time. Or maybe your just channeling Brian Tamaki.

          • Chris T 5.2.2.1.1
            17 November 2021 at 10:37 am

            The country is basically 90% vaxed.

            I'm vaxed.

            Everyone I know is vaxed.

            I don't care if some weirdo standing 2 meters away isn't vaxed. Because I'm vaxed. Delta is here to stay.

            Just open the door. You can't live hiding under rocks for ever.

            • Chris T 5.2.2.1.1.1
              17 November 2021 at 10:41 am

              Sorry

              Just suddenly realised I have now got involved in things I was purposefully avoiding.

              Lol

              If I was annoying I apologise!

            • Tricledrown 5.2.2.1.1.2
              17 November 2021 at 12:41 pm

              You may be vaxxed children and people with underlying health conditions the hesitant etc.

              We need to be careful and not reckless.

    • weka 5.3
      17 November 2021 at 10:43 am

      a link would help. Or even just where you heard it. Vague questions get vague answers.

      • Chris T 5.3.1
        17 November 2021 at 11:03 am

        Sorry

        Hoskings show..And AM

        Google newstalkzb week on demand. Think 10 past 7. But might have got timings wrong. Haven't time now but will try to find a proper link to audio later. End of day. Was on national media. I also appreciate my interpretation of interview is obviously not going to match other people's. Especially on here.

      • Matiri 5.3.2
        17 November 2021 at 2:13 pm

        Just downloaded our vaccine passports – easy process but we were already set up in Real Me/My Covid Record. PDF which can be saved on your phone, printed, valid for 6 months.

        • Chris T 5.3.2.1
          17 November 2021 at 4:20 pm

          And after the 6 months then what happens.

          What do you need for another.

          How long does that one last

          Who isuppossed to use it to screen people and how does it work

  6. Gezza 6
    17 November 2021 at 9:25 am

    .

    After maybe 6 hours of steady, near horizontal rain, driven by a howling Southerly of the kind that only Wellington seems to deliver.

    • Patricia Bremner 6.1
      17 November 2021 at 4:17 pm

      Where do your pals shelter in that Gezza?

      • Gezza 6.1.1
        17 November 2021 at 5:33 pm

        A question I sometimes ask myself, Patricia. Both the ducks & the pukekos tendvto just "disappear" when the weather gets foul. It's tempting to think of them huddled up & shivering in the foliage somewhere but all the waterbirds keep themselves groomed daily & thus their feathers are waterproof & dry, & probably keep them warm as they just hunker down wherever their sleeping nests are.

        Once the rain stops, or lets off a little, the birds soon appear on either side of the stream, or swimming in the middle of it. Neither ducks nor pooks seem much bothered by inclement weather.

  7. Adrian 7
    17 November 2021 at 9:35 am

    Stuffs story “Covid 19: freedoms shrinking “ this morning has a very succinct sum up of how vulnerable the antis are to getting Covid. At the 90% vaccination rate, of 10,000 people , the 9000 vaccinated will have 675 Cases of whom 23 will be hospitalised but of the 1000 unvaccinated, 500 will get Covid and 50 will be hospitalised. That is why we cannot have teachers etc anywhere near us or our tamariki because 50% of them will be carriers at some time. Even then the the hospitalisation numbers are a bit scary meaning for every 10,000 people there will be 73 cases, 23 for the vacced 50 for the unvaxxed , albeit not all at the same time but still a lot of people for small DHBs of say 150,000 people that’s 1095 patients of whom about 10 will die, maybe less as the vacced have a lower rate of mortality. That is pretty bloody scary.
    That is why the unvaccinated must be ring-fenced and not allowed to mingle.

    • Craig Hall 7.1
      17 November 2021 at 9:58 am

      To add to that, children are disease vectors at the best of times, and with education being compulsory for children so having to attend school classes at some point, even if Cabinet did nothing about mandates, many schools would end up mandating vaccinations anyway as a health and safety measure for teachers following a risk assessment. At least a mandate means schools don't have to work it out for themselves or deal with the legal fallout so much.

  8. Adrian 8
    17 November 2021 at 9:43 am

    Why please is the edit function not working, and on my iPad it does not allow me to directly reply to another reply? Is it my ineptitude or is it just that my first shot of 5G is internally fighting with my second one of the Anti-Christ venom.

    • weka 8.1
      17 November 2021 at 9:55 am

      on an iphone there is a choice of Mobile or Desktop versions of the site. One has functional reply buttons, the other doesn't. I switch back and forth between the two (readability, commenting). You could see if that works on an ipad, switching buttons at the bottom of every page.

      Don't know about the edit function sorry, but see if the other version works better for that too.

      • Craig Hall 8.1.1
        17 November 2021 at 9:59 am

        I get the impression that the edit function has been disabled? Not present on Chrome desktop.

  9. Stephen D 9
    17 November 2021 at 10:02 am

    For all the Sinophiles and Sinophobes out there.

    https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/taiwan-china-wargames/

    A whole lot of what ifs.

  10. Jimmy 10
    17 November 2021 at 10:04 am

    Why the heck don't they charge people at the time they leave MIQ like a hotel does then we wouldn't need to have the costs of the debt collectors? The chance of collecting the old overdue amounts is getting slimmer and slimmer. It really does show up their lack of business experience as I can foresee a large amount of bad debts being written off in the future.

    'Incomplete, inaccurate data' behind 14,000 returnees not invoiced for MIQ stay, $36m not collected (msn.com)

    • Tricledrown 10.1
      17 November 2021 at 10:31 am

      Jimmy who gives your just pathetically nit picking .In the overall Covid response $100 billion plus its very small brickies and nit picking time wasting chasing a small amount . Those bearaucracy could spend their time much better elsewhere.When you look at govt money being wasted South Cantrbury Finance $ 1.6 billion Auckland conference Centre $400 million Clyde Dam $2 billion probably $4 billion in today's money its chicken feed it would take a bird brain to figure $30 million is worth worrying about.

      • Sabine 10.1.1
        17 November 2021 at 10:45 am

        Well, why don't we make the service free again. After all we have money to spend and waste, and surely every one knows that 30 million is peanuts, its after all only taxpayers money that gets wasted. Right?

      • Nic the NZer 10.1.2
        17 November 2021 at 12:05 pm

        Are you not constantly complaining about the easy ride given to tax cheats and the frenzy at any hint if benefit cheating. Jimmy just seems to be applying that principal to people with the means to go overseas (who mostly aren't beneficiaries). Its hard to see the need of selective interpretation, though I would note applying it as a tax which gets handed on might send a few MIQ hotels bankrupt when they can't collect that 3 grand bill off the same. Of course the govt will easily collect whats due, paid on leaving or not.

      • Jimmy 10.1.3
        17 November 2021 at 12:08 pm

        That's the attitude…it's only a small amount of someone else's (tax payers as Sabine says) money, plenty more where that came from. You missed the point that they would not need to bother chasing the debts if they applied a bit of normal business sense and billed them at the time to a credit card.

        • McFlock 10.1.3.1
          17 November 2021 at 3:25 pm

          Maybe they weren't focused on running it as a business.

          Shocking thought, I know. Everything exists only for profit. To prioritise anything else is cray-cray…

          • Herodotus 10.1.3.1.1
            17 November 2021 at 3:50 pm

            The PM from this link doesn't agree with you, & believes that those using MIQ should pay, and compared this cost to student loans. So if it wasn't worth the effort why did the government implement the policy and then increase the fee ?

            https://www.1news.co.nz/2021/03/11/miq-debt-collection-regime-similar-to-student-loan-pm-says-as-people-able-to-leave-nz-without-paying/

            "The aim of the charges is to share the costs in a way that fairly reflects the benefits to both the New Zealand public of having a robust system, and those who leave and enter the country."

            https://www.miq.govt.nz/being-in-managed-isolation/charges-for-managed-isolation/

            • McFlock 10.1.3.1.1.1
              17 November 2021 at 4:25 pm

              Are student loans a business?

              MIQ was initially started with the objective of isolating returnees. They tacked on a cost recovery system after that.

              Sure, cost recovery is "important" to greater or lesser degrees, but it's not like "oh, we need this money to come in otherwise the staff don't get paid", like an actual business.

              It's not a business. It's not even full cost recovery. Sure, implementing the new charging system had some issues. But you change the requirements on a large project, shit's going to go wrong.

              • Herodotus …
                17 November 2021 at 4:52 pm

                My response was centred around why the govt placed so much effort into setting up and announcing this policy, and now we see that it has been left to rust away without any intentions of living up to the announce policy.

                I am only quoting the pm in her response re student loans, her words to support the charge.

                • McFlock …
                  17 November 2021 at 4:57 pm

                  What your replies have to do with my comments about MIQ not being run as a business, I don't know.

                  I mean, hell, they wiped off $135mil in student loans last year.

                  • Herodotus …
                    17 November 2021 at 5:26 pm

                    My initial response was directed to comment 10.1, not to your response, my mistake.

                    But as we have engaged in conservation. It was not rocket science to setup a system in recovery/collect the costs that the government was seeking. It is IMO an issue of fairness and trust, to those who have paid or were charged. The govt was going to charge those entering the country under certain conditions as per their announced policy. It there was no intention for this to be carried out, then why bother in the policy ?

                    • Herodotus …
                      17 November 2021 at 5:29 pm

                      And I see we have no ability to edit a comment, or change our response to the correct comment, which can lead to confusion or mis communication ☹️

                    • McFlock …
                      17 November 2021 at 8:31 pm

                      Of course there was an intention to collect. Just as every pilot intends to give their passengers a smooth and speedy flight. But sometimes these priorities take a back seat to not crashing the plane.

                      The priority of MIQ was to keep covid out. It failed at that, possibly because we didn't send new arrivals to actual internment camps instead of hotels, but it did a good effort. Money, schmoney.

          • Jimmy 10.1.3.1.2
            17 November 2021 at 5:00 pm

            They don't have to run it as a business making a profit, but just as a "user pays" where the burden doesn't fall on the poor old tax payer yet again would be nice.

            • McFlock 10.1.3.1.2.1
              17 November 2021 at 8:33 pm

              Would have been nicer if it had worked at keeping covid out a few more months.

            • Nic the NZer 10.1.3.1.2.2
              18 November 2021 at 9:02 am

              What I don't get about this is your 'user pays' is actually going to turn MIQ into govt debt collectors. If it passes on the cost its going to be easier to collect the fee off MIQ than the users, so handing on default risk. Why would anybody think thats a good idea?

              • Jimmy …
                18 November 2021 at 9:05 am

                I don't understand your comment. I'm simply saying if they charged people as they arrive or leave MIQ there would be no debts to collect so problem solved….simple.

                • Nic the NZer …
                  18 November 2021 at 9:40 am

                  Have a think about who is owed the debt and who is collecting it. I don't think we want to turn MIQ facilities into debt collectors, they should be focused on protecting the border.

                  • Jimmy …
                    18 November 2021 at 11:18 am

                    So are you saying MIQ stays should be free? ie. basically paid for by tax payers? As many of these people travelling can certainly afford overseas trips and MIQ.

                    • Nic the NZer …
                      18 November 2021 at 11:29 am

                      No, I'm just saying the govt should be happy to collect its own debts. Responsibility for debt collection is not something MIQ facilities need on their hands right now either.

  11. Molly 11
    17 November 2021 at 10:59 am

    Good article in the Australian The Age, regarding the August position statement from Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP):

    Recognising and addressing the mental health needs of people experiencing Gender Dysphoria / Gender Incongruence

    Written by Dr Sandra Pertot: "Now I'm hopeful we can talk about teens and gender"

    My clinical training is to assess and treat each client as an individual, and it is not appropriate to have any preconceived beliefs about a diagnosis until a thorough assessment has been undertaken. I would never try to talk a client out of their beliefs, but I do try to give them permission to explore what pathway is right for them. It is a client-affirming approach. Unfortunately, this approach clashes with the gender-affirming approach that now dominates the socio-political discourse about transgender people, and many health services worldwide.It

    The article talks about the rise in FTM patients, and receiving her first formal complaint after making this podcast.

  13. gsays 13
    17 November 2021 at 11:56 am

    It occurs to me, there are two very conflicting, diametrically opposed desires operating amongst most of us.

    Page after page of desires to get back to enjoying hospitality, the 'economy' to get going again, BAU.

    And, we must reduce out carbon footprint/stop ruining the planet.

    I called in on a previous employer yesty and sat while a few had lunch.

    Vege burgers and fries. The fries are from the U.S., packaged in 2 kg lots in a single use plastic bag. 5 x bag in a waxed cardboard box. Moved to Auckland, trucked to a distribution hub, trucked to Palmy food wholesaler, trucked to site.

    Burger buns, made in Auckland, each layer seperated by a thin, single use plastic bag, ditto the distribution.

    The greens, in this case a slaw, made in Auckland, 2kgs in a heavy wall, single use vac-pac bag, ditto distribution.

    The aioli was made in house, but with eggs from Auckland, and canola oil made goodness knows where, garlic processed in Auckland….

    The point is we need a radical shift in our consumer behaviour, basically far less of it. Trigger warning- this includes our coffees.

    Despite 35 years of neo liberal thinking, we can't just sub-contract our way out of destroying the planet.

    Rant over.

    • Foreign Waka 13.1
      17 November 2021 at 12:29 pm

      That would be great, just sometimes not practical. Not everybody lives near a vege pad of a size that feeds a family all year round.

      Also many companies are making bulk deals that include minimum delivery so that they get a better price and everybody out there can afford their product. Health and Safety law and regulation will demand the overuse of packaging (my all time pet hate). The trading of food returns taxes and GST….there is admittingly no need to import unless our cows are being part of an export deal in exchange….perhaps..

      The taxes taken to pay back those 16 Billion dollars will not create an environment of fast paced self-sufficiency and funds to improve waste water etc. In fact I have a bet that after the next election GST will go up by 2%.

      We could go hundreds of years back but this means the deal between ordinary folks and the government is off. The exchange was land for convenience of mass distribution and access to food and goods. After the royalty was killed off. Most will choose convenience. If we are to go back we need the land to support ourselves. Provided we have the skills to work it and the land is arable.

      So where is the middle? And why are we building houses on the best land in NZ to grow food? Why are we allowing waste water to go into the waterways and sea?

      • gsays 13.1.1
        17 November 2021 at 2:07 pm

        No problems with anything you say.

        What I am getting at is the business model is broken, no longer fit for purpose.

        The chips are a prime example. Buy spuds from a localish producer, delivery in reusable 20kg hessian sacks. Process and add value in-house. Money stays in local economy and school age person can get good knife skills.

        Food outlets can specialize rather than the 50 item menu that is commonplace now.

        • Sabine 13.1.1.1
          17 November 2021 at 2:25 pm

          School aged person will cost you 20 NZD per hour, plus kiwi saver, plus holiday pay, plus sick pay, will need training and will need another person at the ready to replace the school aged person while they are on leave or on holiday.

          • gsays 13.1.1.1.1
            17 November 2021 at 2:41 pm

            Excellent! Win win.

            That is also funding work ethic, more disposable income locally and contributing to a youngsters self worth.

            Far better that than more trucks, more plastic, more carbon more returns to foreign owned companies.

    • weka 13.2
      17 November 2021 at 12:50 pm

      well said gsays. I've been wanting to write a post about this for a long time. At the moment I'm tending towards thinking that most New Zealanders don't actually give a shit about the climate or ecology. They say they do but when it comes down to it, most are not willing to change or act in ways that will make a difference. Covid has made this very obvious. Hard to write about the issue given that.

      • gsays 13.2.1
        17 November 2021 at 2:15 pm

        Hard to disagree with you weka. Lip service comes to mind.

        I was feeling curmudgeonly when I wrote it. As much as a reminder that we can't have it both ways- the return of an industry that is poorly paid and relies on ignoring externalities while doing our bit facing CC.

        Not wanting to tell you how to suck eggs but maybe framed in the context of our most popular PM's 'nuclear moment'?

        We do need reminding.

        • weka 13.2.1.1
          17 November 2021 at 2:57 pm

          the problem for me with centering Labour is that atm I always want to use the headling "fuck Labour" (when writing about climate, or water, or poverty, or housing…)

      • RedLogix 13.2.2
        17 November 2021 at 2:15 pm

        They say they do but when it comes down to it, most are not willing to change or act in ways that will make a difference.

        Given a choice between climate and poverty guess which wins every time.

        • gsays 13.2.2.1
          17 November 2021 at 2:36 pm

          Is it fair to describe a far less carbon intensive lifestyle as poverty?

          Sure, we may be less 'rich' but that is coming down from a very high bar.

          Plus the unintended consequences of pivoting to a localised economy means the same $ are shared among more people nearer the bottom end of the scale.

          Or less for shareholders and other rentiers.

          • RedLogix 13.2.2.1.1
            17 November 2021 at 3:10 pm

            Is it fair to describe a far less carbon intensive lifestyle as poverty?

            It's accurate to say that a lifestyle without electricity is poverty. The question is how carbon intensive is that electricity? Two related but different things.

            The point being made is that in all the developing countries – when it comes to a choice between no electricity and dirty coal generated electricity – the coal wins every time. And that's the crux of the climate change debate.

            The only technical pathway forward is carbon free, reliable electricity that is cheaper than coal.

            (I will add that making coal more expensive by stopping subsidies and adding a carbon price really would help a lot in the developed world – but then again you cannot blame countries like say Indonesia looking at this as a very poor deal indeed.)

    • roblogic 13.3
      17 November 2021 at 2:23 pm

      well considering that global supply chains are all turning to custard due to Covid and other factors we are all gonna be buying local a lot more, I suspect.

  14. swordfish 14
    17 November 2021 at 12:32 pm

    More from the NZ arm of a recent international Lord Ashcroft Poll:

    .

    As Graham Adams recently asked:

    is the Prime Minister trapped between electoral disaster and the relentless ambitions of her Māori caucus?

    .

    Lord Ashcroft Poll:

    Q: Best way to ensure all New Zealanders are treated fairly is to have:

    1. Laws, institutions & public services that apply to everyone no matter what their background:

    2. Some laws, institutions & public services dedicated to Māori and indigenous people:

    ……………… 1. Everyone % …….. 2. Māori-Indigenous %

    All ……………….. 77 ………………….. 22

    Male ………..…….. 79 ………………….. 20

    Female …………….. 74 ………………….. 24

    Age

    18-24 ……………… 64 …………………. 34

    25-34 …………..….. 71 …………………. 29

    35-44 …………..….. 76 …………………. 23

    45-54 ……………….. 78 …………………. 21

    55-64 ……………….. 83 …………………. 16

    65 + ……………….… 85 …………………. 14

    Party Support

    Māori …………..…… 52 …………………. 48

    Green …………..….. 53 …………………. 46

    Labour ……………… 74 …………………. 25

    NZF ……………..…. 81 …………………. 18

    National ………….…. 86 …………………. 13

    ACT ……………..…. 90 …………………. 10

    Ethnicity

    Māori …………….… 56 …………………. 43

    Mixed Māori ………… 65 …………………. 35

    Pasikika …………….. 69 …………………. 29

    Other Mixed …………. 74 …………………. 24

    Asian …………….… 77 …………………. 22

    White/Euro ……….… 79 …………………. 20

    Other Ethnicity …….… 86 …………………. 13

    • RedLogix 14.1
      17 November 2021 at 12:34 pm

      I think the older you get the more likely you recall the phrase "full and final settlement".

      • lprent 14.1.1
        17 November 2021 at 1:34 pm

        The one from the 1940s? That was when I believe it was first used. For instance this "full settlement" that was arbitrarily imposed Taranaki iwi in the mid-1940s by the self-interested beneficiaries of outright land theft in the Taranaki.

        https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/8/11/162/pdf

        For the 143,870 acres confiscated from Te Whakatohea, which included ‘all the flat and useful ¯ land’, the Commission recommended an annual payment of £300.

        A subsequent petition from the people of Te Whakatohea summed up the tribe’s view of the Crown’s ‘generosity’: ¯ What generous gentlemen those Commissioners were! What magnanimity! What liberality! 143,870 acres of the flat, fertile and alluvial lands in and around the township of Opotiki politically and scientifically filched from the Natives by the early administrators of this country—and the said liberal gentlemen recommended £300! What lavish prodigal generosity . . . It was political robbery from people who were defenceless; it was spoliation of a Native race [61].

        ‘Final Settlement’ of claims relating to the confiscation of Maori land was reached in the ¯ mid-1940s when legislation was enacted giving effect to the recommendations of the Sim Commission. Taranaki Maori received their £5000 annuity and an additional £300 for the ‘loss and destruction’ of ¯ certain ‘goods and chattels’ during the Crown’s invasion of the pacifist settlement of Parihaka [62]. The Crown would later concede that during the invasion of Parihaka in 1881, Crown troops committed a number of rapes, residents were wrongly and indefinitely detained, others were forcibly evicted, their homes and sacred buildings destroyed or desecrated, their heirlooms stolen, and their crops and livestock systematically destroyed [63]. By way of ‘Final Settlement’ for the loss of 1.2 million acres, Waikato-Tainui and Ngati Maniapoto received an annuity of £5000, an additional one-o ¯ ff payment of £5000 and a further £1000 annuity for a duration of 45 years [64]. Having rejected the £300 initially offered, Whakatohea received a one-o ¯ ff payment of £20,000 in final settlement for the confiscation of 143,870 acres [65].

        5. The Waitangi Tribunal and the Contemporary Treaty Settlement Process

        With such paltry compensation, it is hardly surprising that Maori continued to call for the return ¯ of their lands—the centrality of land to Maori identity and social, economic and spiritual wellbeing ¯ cannot be overstated [66]. During the 1960s and 1970s, and in an international context of increasingly vociferous protest against war and imperialism and for, among other things, indigenous rights, women’s rights, and queer rights, Maori were involved in a number of high-profile protest actions aimed at ¯ the return of their ancestral lands [26] (pp 21–24, 25), [67–69]

        Note that "the return of their ancestral lands" means getting a income in perpetuity rather then getting a gratuity that gets eroded by inflation and has final dates. For some reason that wasn’t offered for a act of theft – instead there was this arbitrarily imposed “full settlement”.

        That is why if you look at the best run iwi organisations, they tend to focus on acquiring land and then leasing it as market rentals (where they aren't putting up their own housing).

        There is a reason why Maori, especially the elderly, are so distrustful of "full and final settlements" imposed or extorted from them by people who are using their theft 'rights' to put them over barrel.

        They are also entirely aware that the medical system that works for others seem to leave their population with distressingly low life expectancy, education systems that seem to only prepare their kids for jail, settlers who seem to like spending their time using rivers and waterway like the sewers that they left in Europe in the 19th century, etc.

        They rightfully say that those systems alien to their culture are clearly not working for them – and say that they should be changed so that they do. I have a great deal of sympathy for that point of view.

        I found the Kiwi education system to be a pile of crap myself – more of a daycare for working parents rather than a education system – I managed to educate myself despite its clear deficiencies with the support of my family and a huge stockpile of books from university.

        • RedLogix 14.1.1.1
          17 November 2021 at 1:52 pm

          Your comment implicitly rejects any possibility of the the Treaty process ever being finalised. And that's because as framed it cannot be.

          In one sense the only way to resolve it finally is for everything that happened in NZ after 1840 to be erased – everything removed or destroyed if it could not be – and then given back to the iwi chiefs as found and in a form no longer ‘alien to their culture’. That would return precisely what was taken – full and final.

          The problem is that the modernity and progress that the vile, thieving colonials brought with them – keeps on adding to the value of everything. Settlement one decade will always be 'paltry' the next.

          I concluded back in the 80's that the process was designed by both sides to never achieve finality.

          • Tricledrown 14.1.1.1.1
            17 November 2021 at 8:27 pm

            It's always been paltry the wellington settlement for $170 million plus some land was all the govt could give under the $2 billion overall cap.The land stolen and confiscated was estimated at the time to be worth $17 billion.

            Yet Maori gave some of this land in the paltry settlement back as a National Park. To show how generous they are.You would not get that from those who have profited out of that stolen land.

          • lprent 14.1.1.1.2
            18 November 2021 at 9:10 am

            I concluded back in the 80's that the process was designed by both sides to never achieve finality.

            I would say that you were just impatient and clearly didn't understand the complexity of the task.

            We are talking about claims running back to 1840, and concentrated in the 1860-1890 era. My direct family tree were here for much of that period – the first of whom arrived in the early 1820s and the last in the 1880s.

            I couldn't give you a genealogy running much past 1930 or a land history of property running much past the 40 years. That is despite the best efforts of some of my deceased elders who got interested in things like that in their retirement. I'm someone who is strongly interested in history – just not particularly of DNA breeding patterns or the tales of my ancestors. In this I'm pretty typical of Europeans culture outside of some self-appointed aristocracy who lean on their ancestors achievements rather than their own.

            Maori have a very different culture. They still have a tradition of carrying a verbal history as a iwi, hapu or just a family clan. Sometimes, like all verbal histories that aren't taken down from the living, these are frequently blurred by time and embellishments.

            That Waitangi Treaty was envisaged as a process – at least in part because was going to be bloody difficult dealing with century old claims.

            The problem with finality is the sheer number of land cases where land was confiscated unlawfully or where the laws were made without a legal justification. Each of which has to be documented as evidence and then negotiated. This was always going to take decades. Just doing the historical research when virtually everyone involved in the original deeds was dead was immense.

            It was also what the lazy 'full and final settlement' morons running the processes for the crown back in the 1940s neglected to do at all. So there wasn't even a record from that, let alone from when the expropriations were made. Quite simply the crown didn't hold sufficient records to refute claims and they had to work like crazy digging back into the remaining records to verify or refute claims.

            Maori were never going to get all of their land back – their only prospect of that was to claim back land that the state had grabbed from them and still held, or compensatory assets (typically of less value). The money paid out was generally targeted by iwi towards buying other revenue generating assets.

            A key part of the negotiation was putting place forward agreements so that when certain types of crown held property became available that iwi often got first refusal and an acceptable purchase process. That process is ongoing.

            But as far as I am aware each land settlement that has been achieved has been final, subject to any outstanding claims outside of the agreement. And once the appeals from competing hapu and competing iwi were dealt with.

            In one sense the only way to resolve it finally is for everything that happened in NZ after 1840 to be erased – everything removed or destroyed if it could not be – and then given back to the iwi chiefs as found and in a form no longer ‘alien to their culture’. That would return precisely what was taken – full and final.

            You could also ask for the dead killed by European diseases to arise from the grave too along with the families that they never had. However none of those things were in the Waitangi Tribunal enabling legislation.

            The land claims are slowly coming to an end because new claims were closed off in 2008 and while the remaining historical claims (before September 1992) are large – they are few.

            There are a number of non-assets claims still proceeding related to the principles in the Treaty. The most important of those (in my view) have to do with despoliation of water. Something that I have a great deal of sympathy about because the crown has traditionally screwed this up really badly. We will be spending another century cleaning them up because we have to (and that is the earth sciences and history student in me talking).

            But the other major problem that remains is the 180 years odd violations of the treaty provisions social effects on the Maori population. I usually boil this down to one set of statistics – the percentage of Maori in prisons is obscene and clearly points to the failure of kiwi society and the crown at all levels.

            As at 2018 about 1 in 142 Maori males will spend time in prison in their lifetime compared to 1 in 880 kiwis of euro ancestry. Our male prisons usually hold about 50% or more Maori population at any one time, and about 68% in female prisons.

            Maori are about 15% of our total population. Those prison figure haven't budged much in my lifetime. And they probably won't until Maori feel more comfortable in our common society.

            That is just dead weight on our common society. Clearly the opportunities must be limited to force so many down that unproductive path (even if there wasn't the filtering effect of the justice system – see this Stuff interactive)

            In the tech areas that I have been working in for the last 30 years, I can't recall ever working with any Maori colleagues at all – despite most of those organisations having some pretty diverse hires from both local born and immigration. Somehow I don't think that having 15% of our population effectively excluded from some of the highest paying professional jobs is a good sign.

            The only place that I have ever seen over the last 45 years in my jobs where Maori employment at comparable or better levels was when I was in in the army.

            The regular force enlisted were close to 50% of their intake. The TF intake I was was ridiculously European for a kid coming from Mt Albert Grammar with its diversity of population back in 1977. That spoke to me as being a systematic poverty problem. I suspect that it might be a bit better today

            Until those kinds of inequities subside to an acceptable, the Waitangi Tribunal needs to continue their work – because it is clear that the promises in any version of our founding treaty haven't been fulfilled.

            Plus having a disaffected population who doesn't trust the crown or the state and isn't able to work to their capabilities through lack of opportunities is just unproductive. You only have to look at the Maori vaccination rates to see consequences of that.

            • RedLogix 14.1.1.1.2.1
              18 November 2021 at 9:51 am

              I read that and find myself nodding at most points. You touch on two main themes – the ToW process itself and the obvious alienation of many – but certainly not all – Maori.

              Stepping back I'd argue that we've both made the case, from differing directions, that the idea of the ToW process bringing any kind of finality to the table was always wrong. Both parties were always going to be disappointed because the land itself – important as it is in some ways – was never really the issue.

              The real issue is one that has repeated itself uncountable times over millennia – what happens when one society that has progressed to a wider stage of evolution encounters one that has not. Essentially Maori – like so many similar peoples elsewhere – were a tribal society that were never going to remain unchanged when modernity arrived.

              This doesn't mean that tribal societies have no value, nor lack their own sophistication and history. It says nothing about the stature and mana of the people who lived in that world. But ultimately their tribal social technology had no answer to the nation state the Europeans brought with them.

              This is the very stuff of history – peoples who had adopted broader based social structures and wider moral horizons, displacing those who had yet to. Absent this process we would still be hunter-gatherers, numbering no more than a few 10's of millions across the whole planet. Neither of us would be here to type out this conversation.

              Your second theme on the alienation of some Maori within the wider NZ society is too complex to deal with concisely. I'll confine myself to noting that while the left has been spitting out phrases like 'structural racism' and 'white supremacy' for quite some time now – there is no evidence that any of this effort has reduced the Maori head count in our prisons by so much as one.

              • lprent …
                18 November 2021 at 11:11 am

                I'll confine myself to noting that while the left has been spitting out phrases like 'structural racism' and 'white supremacy' for quite some time now – there is no evidence that any of this effort has reduced the Maori head count in our prisons by so much as one.

                Sure – but that is more of an indictment of the tendency for the hand-wringers of the left to talk without doing anything productive when they don't feel the problem personally. They love talking about problems but recoil from looking for solutions. And they too bloody impatient looking for results. Social changes take many decades, and usually many generations.

                BTW: The conservatives have the opposite problem – they're always looking to stop talking and do stupid actions. Short-term actions that don't solve problems and tend to create even larger ones. Look at any policy driven by Judith Collins in her ministerial career for the definitive exemplars.

                But the problem you're talking about is exactly what the Maori activists that I took time to go and listen to back in the 80s and 90s said would happen. Attempts to do things the European way using crown entities on a Maori population that didn't trust those processes was doomed to fail.

                They have never worked in the past – but fools in politics, ministerial policies, and their departments keep trying to repeat the same failed approaches over and over again. I went back into the history and that is exactly what happened 150 years.

                The argument of the activists was that only way to lift Maori out of the vast hole that those failed policies had created was to get Maori to designed the policies and ideally to largely handle them (there are obvious issues with skill shortages).

                The only system that even looked like that was the attempt to rescue the Maori language from its impending oblivion. Started without state support in 1985, gained that in 1990. It has now been spreading up the education chain as you can see from the latest stats.

                As a person who knows roughly 90 computer languages, I really miss not having had the chance to learn Maori myself. I have absolutely no ear for Maori, and I find I keep needing it more and more as Maori spreads into daily life – especially in the names of government organisations. They all 'sound' the same to me. I have never used the spoken and written Latin, French, and German that I did to varying degrees at school.

                Outside of a few Iwi organisations starting in the later 90s, there weren't any other attempts to follow this singular and as far as I can tell only mature successful strategy example of Maori-led solutions for Maori until the 21st century. These were few even then and now.

                So I'd say – don't be so frigging impatient. These are generational changes not ones that turn on a historical dime.

                But at least as a society we're slowly getting out of the habit of trying to tailor generic solutions for problems that are specific to Maori and other groups.

                I tend to focus on Maori because of the usual Pareto analysis way of solving systematic issues. Identify the biggest problem first (ie like prison populations) and figure out based on the previous failed solutions and odd successful one on what to try next until you find things that keep working – then expand from that.

                Right now the only visible effect is the slow rise of a Maori middle income group, in a large part mostly working on Maori issues or organisations. That works for me – it was what I argued was the only useful path back in the 1980s and 1990s when the Waitangi Tribunal process started making decisions that eventually started to capitalise Iwi corporations. That Maori working for Maori was the only historically viable process.

                This is the very stuff of history – peoples who had adopted broader based social structures and wider moral horizons, displacing those who had yet to. Absent this process we would still be hunter-gatherers, numbering no more than a few 10's of millions across the whole planet. Neither of us would be here to type out this conversation.

                Yes and no. We don't exactly have a human monoculture world wide despite our massively generic similarity compared to any other species apart from cheetahs. I'd argue that historically you can identify the successful cultures by their very lack of a monoculture. They are the bastard mixes of cultures that learn to accommodate differences.

                In NZ, I really noticed this when I left the Ponsonby and Mt Albert environs of the 1970s and went working around the rest of the North and South island cities and towns in the 1980s. They felt class ridden and stagnant to me. Plus the food was terrible.

                • RedLogix …
                  18 November 2021 at 11:34 am

                  I'm short on time to do justice to this conversation but again – mostly in agreement. The nitpick that leapt out at me was this:

                  . I'd argue that historically you can identify the successful cultures by their very lack of a monoculture.

                  Tell that to much of Asia – but still I take the point. However what I had in mind was not so much 'culture' in the sense you are using it here, but 'social technology' in the sense of the staged progression from the small clan based nomadic hunter-gather, the territorial tribalists, the regional based city based empire, the rise of the civilisational empire and toward the modern nation state. The most important distinction at each stage is the scope of their 'moral horizon' – how many people are on the inside vs the outside.

                  This concept is really not the same as culture or ethnicity at all. And while the transition from one stage to the other is always turbulent, in the long run the society that has adopted the broader based social horizon dominates.

        • Descendant Of Smith 14.1.1.2
          17 November 2021 at 1:56 pm

          Particularly galling is the compensation paid to the farmers for losing their free land was more than that paid to the owners whose land it was. They also extended the leases further.

          Apparently Maori don't get the same property rights / compensation that white settlers do. Same as the compensation paid to slave owners for losing their slaves really!

          https://forms.justice.govt.nz/search/Documents/WT/wt_DOC_68188083/Taranaki%20Maori%20Dairy%20Industry%20Changes%20etc.pdf

      • Stuart Munro 14.1.2
        18 November 2021 at 11:25 am

        It's really a tool for hopeless debtors to avoid bankruptcy, it would never be a credible option for a government that is not utterly desperate.

    • swordfish 14.2
      17 November 2021 at 12:35 pm

      Sadly, no edit function … so can't tidy up table [no matter how neat & careful you are … it never ends up that way once posted angry]

      • roblogic 14.2.1
        17 November 2021 at 2:34 pm

        @swordfish:
        1. turn off javascript to get the plain comment box
        2. use the <pre> tag to print fixed width text
        3. construct your table like so.. (dunno if the html table tags are supported.. could test it out later)

        | Use a | fixed width | font perhaps? |
| Line1 | ..column2.. | .. column3 .. |
| dunno | if it will  | .. work??? .. |
      • Tricledrown 14.2.2
        17 November 2021 at 8:28 pm

        It's always been paltry the wellington settlement for $170 million plus some land was all the govt could give under the $2 billion overall cap.The land stolen and confiscated was estimated at the time to be worth $17 billion.

        Yet Maori gave some of this land in the paltry settlement back as a National Park. To show how generous they are.You would not get that from those who have profited out of that stolen land.

  15. Sabine 15
    17 November 2021 at 2:17 pm

    There is currently no way to drive between Vancouver and the rest of Canada.

    The Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley are now completely cut off from the rest of British Columbia and the country by road.

    https://www.kamloopsbcnow.com/watercooler/news/news/Provincial/Vancouver_is_now_completely_cut_off_to_the_rest_of_Canada_by_road/

    ouch.

  16. gsays 16
    17 November 2021 at 2:32 pm

    Great news. Police have announced they have discovered 2 bodies in the Pike River mine.

    Using boreholes and modern detection equipment, they have very clear images of the remains of two of the men.

    Too soon for police to say if prosecutions will follow as the investigation is on-going.

    https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/127014143/live-police-to-announce-remains-of-men-killed-in-pike-river-mine-disaster-found

  17. McFlock 17
    17 November 2021 at 4:52 pm

    So this isn't the first time someone has used their health credentials and then argued that they shouldn't be held responsible because they were doing so "in a personal capacity". a recently-departed Southern DHB board member did something similar.

    Makes me wonder whether "personal capacity" is doing the rounds as an "absolve responsibility free" card, like "I don't recognise your authority" and "sovereign citizen". Seems to have about the same success rate.

    • joe90 17.1
      17 November 2021 at 6:10 pm

      Of course I had to look. Barking. Just short of it's the Joos but "Immortal" Hydra Vulgaris got a mention in the comments.

    • Gezza 17.2
      17 November 2021 at 10:27 pm

      Yep, I expect the same.

      The government (in the "person" of OSH) should teally ibe the first in the dock over the Pike River deaths

      Big day. Need to crash. Nite all

    • Blazer 17.3
      18 November 2021 at 11:28 am

      Its a subtle twist on the many hats defence popularised by a recent P.M.

  18. Foreign waka 18
    17 November 2021 at 8:10 pm

    A sign of things to come? "We care for people on both end of the leach"

    https://youtu.be/cdkvvafeMzk

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  • Brainwashed People Think Everyone Else is Brainwashed
    Hi,I am just going to state something very obvious: American police are fucking crazy.That was a photo gracing the New York Times this morning, showing New York City police “entering Columbia University last night after receiving a request from the school.”Apparently in America, protesting the deaths of tens of thousands ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    3 hours ago

  • Peters’ real foreign policy threat is Helen Clark
    Winston Peters’ much anticipated foreign policy speech last night was a work of two halves. Much of it was a standard “boilerplate” Foreign Ministry overview of the state of the world. There was some hardening up of rhetoric with talk of “benign” becoming “malign” and old truths giving way to ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 hours ago

  • NZ’s trans lobby is fighting a rearguard action
    Graham Adams assesses the fallout of the Cass Review — The press release last Thursday from the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls didn’t make the mainstream news in New Zealand but it really should have. The startling title of Reem Alsalem’s statement — “Implementation of ‘Cass ...
    Point of OrderBy gadams1000
    12 hours ago

  • Your mandate is imaginary
    This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    17 hours ago

  • 14,000 unemployed under National
    The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    19 hours ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Discontent and gloom dominate NZ’s political mood
    Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    20 hours ago

  • Taking Tea with 42 & 38.
    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 ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    20 hours ago

  • Beware political propaganda: statistics are pointing to Grant Robertson never protecting “Lives an...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    21 hours ago

  • Winding back the hands of history’s clock
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    21 hours ago

  • Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
     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 ...
    Point of OrderBy xtrdnry
    21 hours ago

  • Business confidence sliding into winter of discontent
    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 ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    23 hours ago

  • Gordon Campbell on the coalition’s awful, not good, very bad poll results
    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 ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    1 day ago

  • New HOP readers for future payment options
    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 ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    1 day ago

  • 2024 Reading Summary: April (+ Writing Update)
    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 ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    2 days ago

  • At a glance – Clearing up misconceptions regarding 'hide the decline'
    On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Road photos
    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 ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Paula Bennett’s political appointment will challenge public confidence
    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, ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    2 days ago

  • NZDF is still hostile to oversight
    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 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Winding Back The Hands Of History’s Clock.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Sweet Moderation? What Christopher Luxon Could Learn From The Germans.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • A clear warning
    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 ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 days ago

  • Poll results and Waitangi Tribunal report go unmentioned on the Beehive website – where racing tru...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    2 days ago

  • Listening To The Traffic.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Comity Be Damned! The State’s Legislative Arm Is Flexing Its Constitutional Muscles.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Ending The Quest.
    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 ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 days ago

  • Will political polarisation intensify to the point where ‘normal’ government becomes impossible,...
    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 ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Tuesday, April 30
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:30am on Tuesday, May 30:Scoop: NZ 'close to the tipping point' of measles epidemic, health experts warn NZ Herald Benjamin PlummerHealth: 'Absurd and totally unacceptable': Man has to wait a year for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    2 days ago

  • Worst poll result for a new Government in MMP history
    Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago

  • Pinning down climate change's role in extreme weather
    This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago

  • Serving at Seymour's pleasure.
    Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago

  • Webworm LA Pop-Up
    Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago

  • “Feel good” school is out
    Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    2 days ago

  • 6 Months in, surely our Report Card is “Ignored all warnings: recommend dismissal ASAP”?
    Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy. Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    2 days ago

  • Bread, and how it gets buttered
    Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: Why Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating in the country
    Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    3 days ago

  • Justice for Gaza?
    The New York Times reports that the International Criminal Court is about to issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, over their genocide in Gaza: Israeli officials increasingly believe that the International Criminal Court is preparing to issue arrest warrants for senior government officials on ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago

  • If there has been any fiddling with Pharmac’s funding, we can count on Paula to figure out the fis...
    Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    3 days ago

  • FastTrackWatch – The case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    3 days ago

  • Bernard’s pick 'n' mix for Monday, April 29
    TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Gordon Campbell on Iran killing its rappers, and searching for the invisible Dr. Reti
    span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
    Gordon CampbellBy lyndon
    3 days ago

  • Auckland Rail Electrification 10 years old
    Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
    Greater AucklandBy Matt L
    3 days ago

  • Coalition's dirge of austerity and uncertainty is driving the economy into a deeper recession
    Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago

  • Disability Funding or Tax Cuts.
    You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago

  • Of the Goodness of Tolkien’s Eru
    April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    3 days ago

  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #17
    A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago

  • Pastor Who Abused People, Blames People
    Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    4 days ago

  • Vic Uni shows how under threat free speech is
    The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago

  • Winston remembers Gettysburg.
    Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago

  • 25
    She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8.  The universe was ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    4 days ago

  • Fact Brief – Is Antarctica gaining land ice?
    Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Policing protests.
    Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    5 days ago

  • Open letter to Hon Paul Goldsmith
    Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Bryce Edwards: FastTrackWatch – The Case for the Government’s Fast Track Bill
    Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
    Democracy ProjectBy bryce.edwards
    5 days ago

  • Luxon gets out his butcher’s knife – briefly
    Peter Dunne writes –  The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • More tax for less
    Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago

  • Real News vs Fake News.
    We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago

  • Another way to roll
    Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.Share ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    5 days ago

  • Simon Clark: The climate lies you'll hear this year
    This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Cutting the Public Service
    It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s demoted ministers might take comfort from the British politician who bounced back after th...
    Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious:  we live in a troubled ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • This is how I roll over
    1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago

  • The Waitangi Tribunal is not “a roving Commission”…
    …it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisition   NOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes –  The High Court ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Is Oranga Tamariki guilty of neglect?
    Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same? Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago

  • Three Strikes saw lower reoffending
    David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • Luxon’s ruthless show of strength is perfect for our angry era
    Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago

  • 'Lacks attention to detail and is creating double-standards.'
    TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • One Night Only!
    Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago

  • What did Melissa Lee do?
    It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    6 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #17 2024
    Open access notables Ice acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment: In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Maori Party (with “disgust”) draws attention to Chhour’s race after the High Court rules on Wa...
    Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    7 days ago

  • Who’s Going Up The Media Mountain?
    Mr Bombastic: Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
    Bowalley Road
    7 days ago

  • “That's how I roll”
    It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago

  • “Comity” versus the rule of law
    In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Aotearoa: a live lab for failed Right-wing socio-economic zombie experiments once more…
    Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder. In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    1 week ago

  • Minister acknowledges passing of Sir Robert Martin (KNZM)
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    15 hours ago

  • Speech to New Zealand Institute of International Affairs, Parliament – Annual Lecture: Challenges ...
    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.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    16 hours ago

  • Accelerating airport security lines
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    18 hours ago

  • Community hui to talk about kina barrens
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago

  • Kiwi exporters win as NZ-EU FTA enters into force
    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. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    24 hours ago

  • Mining resurgence a welcome sign
    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 ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill passes first reading
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