The news media uses emotive language and quotation marks to take a side in a story, as opposed to reporting the news..
This is how they report action by animal activists to highlight animal welfare issues at a sea park in Australia.
“Distressed parents were forced to take their children from theme park shows after protesters refused to leave and labelled them “disgusting”.
Fun family days out across the weekend have turned ugly as “peaceful” protesters storm Gold Coast theme parks.
Demonstrators who targeted several amusement parks held their hands up in peace signs, despite the situation becoming quite violent.
Dozens of children were forced to watch distressing situations at Sea World on Saturday after the group, Justice for Captives, refused to get out of the water until its famous dolphin show was stopped.”
The vocabulary used sets the scene ….’distressed parents’ , ‘disgusting protesters’,
Speech marks are used to describe the protesters are peaceful to undermine that claim, reinforced by the used of verbs like ‘storm’, ‘forced’ and adjectives like ‘ugly and voilent’
The reporter should continue. Make it really clear whose side you take.
Just another example brought to you to prove the corporate media sucks.
In my younger days, I worked for several weeks on Hamilton Island, and one of the jobs there was at the Dolphin Restaurant. A restaurant near the sea, surrounded by a concrete pool that held three dolphins.
It was sad to see those animals in such a artificial, enclosed environment, even though their keepers treated them with affection that ‘seemed’ to be returned. While I was there, one of the females just became listless and died.
After I left – I heard the dolphins pool was closed down, but that memory of those huge mammals kept in such a confined area to provide a living, backdrop for the restaurant patrons has stayed with me.
The journalist who wrote this piece is one Stephanie Bedo, a senior journalist, who, apparently..
“..has won awards for her health reporting and admits to being a bit of a science nerd, particularly when it comes to animal stories that often only she is excited about.”
She is “good” at making a clear “distinction” between “animal abuse” (bad) and “animal abuse” in the name of “entertainment” (good).
She is also a “chronic” uses of “inverted” commas.
Bit like this twit, really:
“His views are backed up by some eyewitnesses to the parade. One parent told Newshub the Māori Santa left children stunned and in tears.
“All these kids were dumbstruck really, you could hear the ‘that’s not Santa’,” she told Newshub.
“Our six-year-old son burst into tears after the video finished. We had to explain to him that Santa was running late.”
Garner blamed some “PC wally” and “woolly woofter” for the “stupid decision by Nelson”.
“A conservation group is calling for a total fishing ban for crayfish in the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty as the population “collapses towards extinction”.
Forest & Bird is calling for the wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty crayfishing area (known as CRA2) to be closed for three years to allow the species to start recovering.
“The wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty crayfish population has undergone a significant decline,” Forest & Bird marine conservation advocate Katrina Goddard said.
“Without an urgent end to fishing pressure, crayfish could become functionally extinct throughout the entire area within a few years.” ….”
In our rebuttal to the original article, we point out that fish stocks are nowhere near as healthy as suggested. There is a lack of scientific data to correctly run the QMS. Three quarters of fish stocks have no formal or detailed assessment, and very few have independent research surveys.
we should probably be considering either an outright ban on all fishing for 20 years or at least a serious decrease on commercial fishing by only allowing fish caught in NZ controlled waters to be sold in NZ.
if we go down that path could we first have words with the like of Ngati Kahungunu who insist on allowing the D’Esposito Brothers fishing rights?? I’m not sure of the total charges the D’Esposito’s and their various companies have attracted over the years, but it’s well over the hundreds. Infact Ngati Kahungunu (and Waikato Tainui) only concern seems to be the possible loss of jobs.
Then again, who can blame them for not taking overfishing seriously. The D’Espositos simply turn up in court, year after year, facing the same charges, paying the fines with their ill gotten gains, and continue on their merry way.
Restricting to NZ fishing companies only makes sense if we create bigger penalties for repeat, flagrant, breaking of the law. Otherwise we are kidding ourselves.
Restricting to NZ fishing companies only makes sense if we create bigger penalties for repeat, flagrant, breaking of the law. Otherwise we are kidding ourselves.
Agreed. If a company breaks the law it should be nationalised and then sold. The previous owners should keep the debt that the company had built up as well as being fined in the millions of dollars. Limited liability should not exist.
That said, I didn’t actually say that the fishing be restricted to NZ companies. I said that the fish caught could only be sold in NZ. I suspect that foreign companies wouldn’t bother.
And, yes, I’m quite aware that many Iwi are standing in the way of what we need to do to protect the environment. Just have to look at their whinging about the Kermadec fish sanctuary to see that.
“And, yes, I’m quite aware that many Iwi are standing in the way of what we need to do to protect the environment. Just have to look at their whinging about the Kermadec fish sanctuary to see that.”
If the Iwi (or any other group) conflict with what we need to do to protect the environment than they need to change.
Hard for Kahungungu to complain when some of them were apparently travelling with the brothers to Greece during the court case. Family over there also wonder about who was benefitting from the back door sales over the years this was going on. Would have been much more interesting if the court case proceeded.
Still they did conveniently have a track to get upset about to take attention away.
“we should probably be considering either an outright ban on all fishing for 20 years ”
Do you mean just in NZ or worldwide? If you mean worldwide then you’ll run into problems because in some developing nations (and other western nations but it isn’t really a problem for Western Nations) fish make up a huge percentage of their protein. You’d need to introduce an alternative…Soylent Green?
That said, considering that fish stocks are collapsing worldwide I suspect that those nations, which does include Developed Nations, that are dependent upon fish to feed themselves are in for a world of hurt.
The report found that fishing fleets each year harvest more than 170 billion pounds (78 million metric tonnes) of wild fish and shellfish – from the oceans, and that this so-called “world catch” is essentially unfair and becoming increasingly difficult to sustain without risking a future global collapse in fishing stocks.
It’s not that far off either….I have a young daughter and I am saddened by the idea she might grow up in a world where there are no tigers or Rhinos or….everything
The website features an atlas showing some large sites and locations in countries around the world …. these locations are where exploitation, corruption, pollution and environmental destruction … and various other bad things are taking place.
A couple of examples missing from the New zealand would be the 80% non compliant swamp Kauri smash and grab industry … with Judith collins connections providing the gps google earth location.
There is still loads of ‘slash’ from forestry that was washed down the Motueka valley during Gita. They cleared the roads, but crikey there’s a heap of wood in the dry parts of the river bed.
Fustrating to see it still sitting there. So I loaded up some logs, took them home, whipped out the chainsaw and hello free firewood.
Not sure if it’s legal or not, pretty legal maybe? It’s been almost a year now, maybe they were waiting for the locals to pick it up for fire wood as it’s not on private property?
“I’m going to write up and submit The swamp kauri looting …. with a special mention for Judith Collins … who hates wetlands .”
Pucky!
Was Judith on your list of Blue-Green Environmental Champions?
You better fly to her defence!
Paul Goldsmith’s car crash interview on RNZ.
Just a tiny bit of preparation by Guyon had Goldsmith talking utter garbage.
Amazing how many politicians who can’t cope when they are forced off their mantra.
As one who travels to Whangarei quite a bit (work related), it is a tricky road. It has way more traffic than 10 years ago. It would be hugely safer if it was 4 lane. Same with Katikati to Tauranga.
But this govt hates the idea of 4 lanes, so we get band aid solutions.
Now obviously not all of dangerous roads have enough traffic to justify 4 lanning but the two I mentioned certainly do.
So yes, some parts of the Labour/Green plan are sensible, but their complete opposition to any new 4 lanes roads is foolish.
Personally I thought Paul did quite ok, though he did get sidetracked at one point.
Doubt it especially when I take into account that you’re talking anecdotes and are ideologically in favour of more cars despite the evidence showing that we can’t afford the ones that we have.
But this govt hates the idea of 4 lanes, so we get band aid solutions.
It’s not the government that hates it – it’s reality.
Now obviously not all of dangerous roads have enough traffic to justify 4 lanning but the two I mentioned certainly do.
Actually, rail would be better especially if it was electric. Increase freight and safety while being cheaper, faster and more ecologically sound.
So yes, some parts of the Labour/Green plan are sensible, but their complete opposition to any new 4 lanes roads is foolish.
No, it’s National’s desire to coat the entire country in roads that is foolish as it goes against all the evidence.
Draco,
You could not be more wrong even if you tried.
The 4 lane roads, especially the newer ones are by far the safest roads in the country. Not just anecdotal, actual fact.
As for 4 lanning well there is no doubt complete ideological opposition from the left, even for the blindingly obvious projects (Dome valley). Fortunately countered from the right. So at least when National is govt, they get built (though opened by Jacinda). Just as National will get to open the light rail-the northwest one is good, the Dominion Rd not so. Light rail should also go into the Southeast (Tamaki, Pakuranga, etc) and to North Shore.
So the next National govt will build the next set of motorways, to be opened by the Labour PM who follows Jacinda, who is possibly not yet in Parliament.
As for 4 lanning well there is no doubt complete ideological opposition from the left, even for the blindingly obvious projects (Dome valley).
It’s not ideology – it’s reality. The stuff that National ignores because it doesn’t conform with their beliefs. We really can’t afford cars and so we can’t afford four lane roads.
So the next National govt will build the next set of motorways
Of course they will as they’re fully opposed to reality.
Yes well any road is going to be safer with 2 lanes rather than one… Would the astronomical build cost meet any sort of sane business cost ratio like pretty much all of the Nats other Roads of National significance? I doubt it. Two laning doesn’t solve traffic jams either as they don’t eliminate choke points, in fact they’re likely to make them worse by bringing more traffic into them.
With fluctuating fuel prices and declining world oil reserves does it make any sense to build new roading infrastructure? Don’t think so. It is possible to make roads safer without having to double the road width. This is what the Government are actually doing right now.
For the next 100 years or more, (probably more like 200 years or more) roads will be the main transport system in NZ. Roads have been a key land transport system for literally thousands of years going back to Roman times. It will not remain with fossil fuel engines. Electric and hydrogen will be the main power source.
There is zero prospect that rail could ever be dense enough in NZ to replace the majority of land transport. Even if rail quadrupled in the next few years, it would still be moving way less freight than road.
It would take a fantastic new, energy dense system to replace roads (magnetic levitation or something similar). But that requires power at multiple levels of what we currently use.
When considering the maximum number of containers that can be transported by each transport mode (ie 550 for coastal shipping, 40 for rail, and 1 for road), the maritime mode is shown to be slightly more efficient in terms of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions than the rail mode, and markedly better than the road mode. In fact, both maritime and rail modes are about twice as efficient as the road mode.
The only reason why trucking freight by road even exists in this country is because of those perverse incentives that I mentioned.
Flat bed rail carriages , drive on enjoy the trip, a meal the view, drive off. Rail to the airport, allow tourist easy access to rural tourist hubs and hire their campers and cars from there. Travellers, sales and business, use rail and hire ev’s. In 200 yrs the northern motor way is under 20 mtr of water, so it will be barges and ferry.
It’s a shame then @ Wayne that the short-sighted, vision-less of planners over the years have chosen to close down, or mothball the network we once had.
Just imagine the commuter rail and freight forwarding capability we might have had.
(For example, by now):
-Dunedin could have had an earport ta ciddy rail transit system, and even an alternative means to the burbs along the way and further north
-Christ’s Church could have had a commuter system from Lyttleton to points north, and from the outliers like Rolleston to the city
-Gisborne wouldn’t be worrying about its limitations – by now it’d have had a link between Matawai and Opotiki and onward to Tearonga, or that “choice’ to go southward
Living in Stratford or Eltham and working in the Plym might be viable.
Instead, that Auckland/Hamilton/Tauranga triangle is now seen as some sort of HUGE deal in terms of being able to furnish it with commuter and freight rail – let alone a fucking commuter & freight system to the Auckland REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL Earport
And then there’s the south…..the system came close to linking the Queens town with Dunners
You do realise (I sincerely hope) that current transport arrangements are not sustainable long term ( and I don’t mean just because there might be some pretty bloody suspect truck/trailer linkages on the road, or because we can’t attract enough slaves to drive them before driver-less trucks become viable – probably not in my loiftoim)
Oh, and btw, you did another of your spray and walkaway acts the other day
You are assuming all future land transport will use fossil fuel engines. It won’t.
Electric and hydrogen will become the norm. But the vehicles still have to go over something. They are roads, just as horses and carts had to also use roads.
Most people in NZ need roads because they lack the skills to survive without them, forgetting that our ancestors travelled mainly on foot. You won’t be the only one driving out of town on business. We could organise our communities so we didn’t need to, but there’s no incentive because road transport is affordable and people are hooked on driving. Why not walk to your workplace, work from home, teleconference if necessary ?
but there’s no incentive because road transport is affordable
Climate change tells us that individual road transport is no longer affordable as it is.
The problem is that our entire economy has become based upon that unaffordable mode of transport. It’s what happens when externalities aren’t taken into account and become a massive subsidy to the manufacturers.
So, considering that we can’t actually afford cars/trucks then we must consider that we’re paid too much, that costs aren’t properly attributed or a combination of both.
Well, public transport is CaaS too, it’s just inconvenient. I have to get to where the vehicle is, at the time when the vehicle is there.
My dream: the electric autonomous vehicle turns up when and where I need it because Big Data knows that’s when I need it. Maybe shared with other passengers for efficiency.
Well, public transport is CaaS too, it’s just inconvenient. I have to get to where the vehicle is, at the time when the vehicle is there.
Does have the benefit of being economical and workable.
My dream: the electric autonomous vehicle turns up when and where I need it because Big Data knows that’s when I need it. Maybe shared with other passengers for efficiency.
Which is a dream that is both uneconomic and unworkable.
“But this govt hates the idea of 4 lanes” Comments like this remove any credibility to the rest of your comment. Perhaps this Government is just looking at get more Bang for it’s Buck (or less Bangs as the case may be) rather than spend more on your two favoured stretches of road.
However the reality is that they do hate 4 lane roads, especially the Green MPs. They have said so many, many times.
Just about the very first action of this government was to cancel every single 4 lane road that had not actually beeen started. Ideology was the reason.
However the reality is that they do hate 4 lane roads, especially the Green MPs. They have said so many, many times.
[citation needed]
Just about the very first action of this government was to cancel every single 4 lane road that had not actually beeen started. Ideology was the reason.
The reason why they were cancelled was because they were uneconomical.
You’re saying this to someone who has to drive across a One Lane bridge on SH1 cancelled by Simon Bridges after promising double lanes. Your feeble attack on this Government holds no validity.
4 lane roads aren’t safer because they’re 4 lanes.
In modern cars most people die because they hit something solid like a tree, lamp-post, collide with oncoming traffic or T-Bone someone. Motorways are safer because oncoming traffic and trees etc are on the other side of barriers. Colliding with a vehicle travelling the same way as us is rarely fatal.
We don’t need 4 lanes just safe merging, passing lanes where easy done and barriers both sides and middle of a largely 2-lane road.
When so many are dying on our roads each year, I think the right thing to do is to make them safer and put off the luxury of 4 lane Interstate stylings for the time being. 4 lanes through the Aussie interior, no worries cobber, punching them through our mountainous, ravine ridden landscape, jolly expensive.
Wayne Wayne Wayne possum. This government doesn’t hate the idea of 4 lanes.
It just realises that there has been an under-investment over many years and it’s trying to deal with the basics (based on research) before it goes for the luxuries you think you’re entitled to.
Your gorgeous spokesman couldn’t have made that more clear this morning on Moaning Report, however in doing so, he came across as a complete egg roll and showed exactly where he places human life over convenience.
Oh, and btw, hopefully they’ll realise that there are other alternatives before we get to the 4 lane option becoming necessary.
Apparently you see no problem with placing emphasis on four lanes so that the world’s ‘best drivers’ – no doubt including yourself can text whilst driving, tailgate, merge like it is some sort of competition, put driving on auto, etc. with less risk
Just responding to a couple of articles about Grace Millane on open mike yesterday, one by Alison mau and one from Paul little. The Gus of these articles was that we care more about grace, because she was white, young and pretty. In Alison attempt to highlight this she quotes some studies (although no references given) which is useful information, then travels to south Auckland to a street where a woman was murdered, the day or so before. There is a blanket ban and name suppression around this case, but that didn’t stop Alison.
I found her article and indeed all comments about we only care about grace because she was pretty, in very poor taste at this time. I hope none of her extended family see them while they are grieving.
A crucial reason that people got so involved in grace tragic story, was initially a missing person. So we followed that story and hoped like hell she’d be found. And or course we experienced a roller coaster of emotion, right through to the bitter end. And it was a bit like the story of the Thai cave boys. Who would have clocked that story if the were missing foe a few hours then res used.
I am not denying what ms mau says about white pretty woman getting more publicity. That is not going to solve our problem though. I am going to pause now and will write about going to the vigil and my experience about that, and getting real about solving this problem ie what research tells us about these perpetrators and why slogans grandstanding isn’t going to change things
Hell week is this week for retail and service sector workers. Under appreciated and sometimes not understood, have a thought for the people who ensure you can get your Christmas shopping done. Not all do.
Wrightson’s has gone down hill since the majority owned overseas ownership with many delays to farmers getting their seeds this year and disorganisation. Any issues with being able to plant swiftly to the season (especially with climate change) from poor management from Wrightsons has the ability to bankrupt farmers relying on a decent service. There are not many major seed firms in NZ.
The Wrightson’s chairman sounds a dodgy as.
“In one of those egregious deals that are only too common in the regulatory sector, Lai has agreed to pay a US$400,000 ($583,000) penalty and be barred from acting as a director or officer of a public company for five years for manipulating prices in Agria’s NYSE-listed shares.
The settlement with the SEC followed claims that the agriculture investment firm hid losses from investors through fraudulent accounting and overstated the value of its New York-listed stock.”
Totally agree that seeds are a ‘strategic’ asset that need to be NZ owned and also WELL run for the benefits of NZ agriculture. Good call for it to be bought by a NZ consortium and made sure it is well run to the benefit of many small and medium business in NZ that rely on it. Food is strategic. It should be retained for NZ.
So crickets on the up and Kane Williamsons winning record is off the charts (at least for NZ cricket) so to add a bit of controversy to the day heres my all time NZ test team, since the advent of one day cricket (because I don’t want to add any names I haven’t seen play)
1. G Turner
2. M Richardson
3. K Williamson (C)
4. M Crowe
5. R Taylor
6. J Oram
7. BJ Watling (WK)
8. D Vettori
9. Sir R Hadlee
10. S Bond
11. T Boult
Unlucky mentions to J Wright, S Fleming and B McCullum
Number 6 was the most difficult position for me to choose as there were 3 candidates: Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram and J Coney
Cairns has a very good bowling average of under 30 but his batting is weaker than the other two (though certainly not bad) and of the three Coneys bowling is the weakest however I’m also looking at team players and how players would play under Williamsons captaincy
So Oram gets the nod because I’m banking on Hadlee, Bond and Boult to do the job
with the ball and Oram and Vettori to do the donkey work of tying up one end and building pressure plus Orams height adds to the variety of bowling
The bowling averages are quite similar though Vettori just shades Bracewell on all but Vettoris batting sees hims through however this selection is based on not knowing what the pitch will do…if its a spinning pitch then maybe Oram would get dropped for Bracewell (and then S Boock would get the apology 🙂 )
Bracewell bowed against far better players and was more of an attacking spin bowler.
You felt Bracewell could get wickets every time he bowled, while Vertori’s best hope was to just bore them out.
Yeah those are good arguments and not all my decisions are based on numbers but in Vettoris case over 360 test wickets and six centuries are pretty compelling
The thing with Cairns is there’s quite a bit of…shall we say baggage…so I wouldn’t be comfortable having him in the team when he could break down with injury, possibly play through the injury but choose not to, fake an injury and then that stuff with Indian cricket and Lou Vincent and I’m happy to go with Orams better batting
Which the means the bowling line up of Hadlee, Bond, Boult, Vettori and Oram all have their strengths and differences
I mean you survive Bonds right arm 145kph plus in swingers and then you have Hadlees line and length (and under rated bouncer) or Boults left arm in swingers you get to the other end and now you have to try to score of Vettoris accuracy or Orams natural pitch of a 2 meter frame
He kind of had that winning mentality which I think many New Zealand cricketers have lacked over the years. In the age of Warne, Waughs and McGrath, he was possibly the only Kiwi who may have got a start in a hypothetical combined Trans-Team. Certainly he was the only one the Channel Nine team gave any respect to.
I would probably put McCullum ahead of Turner as well, based solely on his late career form (even though he did not open in Tests). They are polar opposites in style. McCullum was a fire cracker where anything could happen at any stage. Turner was a methodical bore-fest of a player.
Bert Sutcliffe instead of Richardson (by a mile)
JR Reid ahead of Oram as the all-rounder (Reid’s offspin gives another slow bowler) – or alternatively Jeremy Coney, who could also be captain.
Jack Cowie ahead of Boult (much as I like Trent’s bowling)
Boult as 12th man or Bruce Taylor (terrific seamer and explosive hitter)
Vettori would have to be the young version before his first back injury – a wonderful bowler then with a more open-chested delivery and more spin, but he was pretty average after his back injuries..
They are fantastic players (especially JR Reid) but I figure the cut off point had to be around the time I first started watching otherwise its simply a matter of inputting stats in only, stats are a good place to start (or as tie breaker) but they don’t tell the full story
Agreed with Vettori but in my game plan hes there to tie an end down and build pressure, along with the natural bounce of Oram, to let Hadlee and Bond do their thing also 6 centuries batting down the order isn’t anything to sniff at
Boult gets in purely for variety reasons as a left arm pace bowler , I mean hes not bad but being left arm it’d be just something else for the batsmen to have to adjust to
1. G Turner
2. S Dempster
3. K Williamson (C)
4. M Crowe
5. B Sutcliffe
6. J Reid
7. B McCullum (WK)
8. Sir R Hadlee
9. S Bond
10. C Grimmet
11. T Boult
You have the wrong Cairns.
Lance was much more fun to watch, particularly in the one day game.
Against Australia in 1983 he got 50 runs in about 12 minutes, including 6 sixes in 10 balls.
Put Lance Cairns in somewhere, anywhere.
Is there are NZ politician who mis-judges more than Simon Bridges??????? I don’t think so. What a completely inappropriate thing to say. I don’t want to know the leader of the opposition likes to watch sex on tv………………………more information than I need to know…..
“Expense controversy
On 10 June 2010 after the release of ministerial credit card records, Jones admitted to having used a Crown credit card for personal expenditure, but assured the public that he had reimbursed the Crown in full for the expenditure. Later that day Jones admitted that he had used the card to hire pornographic films at hotels while on ministerial business.[11] The credit card record showed that he chartered an executive jet for $1200, which he claimed was due to bad weather which forced a change in his schedule.[12]”
I think Shane watching porn was bloody awlful as well. Worse than Simon.
Jones didn’t win the Labour leadership battle, Cunliffe did and Robertson came second. A lot of feminist women in the Labour Party, and I don’t imagine many voting for Jonsie.
As for whether he’ll continue former leader John Key’s tradition of sending wine with his Christmas cards, Mr Bridges said he wasn’t “quite in that league”.
“You know, it’s lucky for some, isn’t it? Vineyards in the south.”
Now there’s the envy of the rich that National are always going on about.
I’d agree with “the envy of the rich that National are always going on about”. I don’t think it exists as much as those who are motivated by possessions would say.
Who really wants a vineyard in the south? Just as I didn’t detect envy in what Bridges said. I thought I heard instead a rather gentle jibe at John Key.
I did listen, rather than read the transcript. I certainly am not going out of my way to defend the captain of the NCC, but the video ref might find him not out with the benefit of the doubt on this one. 🙂
I’m rather struck by this Joe Hildebrand essay. As with any political opinion piece I understand not everyone will agree with everything being said here; but on my first read I bookmarked it and came back later for another pass at it.
It’s not long:
Now I am certainly no slave to Western ideology, if only because the whole point of Western liberal democracy is that it is not an ideology — it is merely a framework. A framework that allows people to choose their own governments, be judged fairly by their peers and have their individual freedoms respected and protected. A framework that allows nations to oscillate between capitalism and socialism if they so choose but only when they so choose. A framework that doesn’t just tolerate dissent but celebrates it. A framework that isn’t imposed from the top down but has evolved organically over centuries and millennia in republics and constitutional monarchies alike, from Sweden to Switzerland, from the United Kingdom to the United States.
A framework that allows people to choose their own governments
And there in lies the problem with Western liberal democracy.
How about, instead of electing people to govern us and to tell us what to do and why we can’t have what’s actually needed we stand up and govern ourselves?
Maybe then we’ll be able to stop the failings of dictators be they ever so democratically elected.
No dictated orthodoxy, just peoples across the world independently choosing the freedom to choose.
Representative democracy doesn’t allow us the choice. It empowers a few to have that choice and they’re the ones that are implementing policies that don’t work. Policies that are designed by the businesses and corporations for their own benefit.
Ironically it was these common democratic values and freedoms that led to the European Union in the first place
Yes it was.
Question: Did the people of Europe actually have a say in the creation of the EU or was it all driven from the top?
When its values are exported not walled up.
The only ‘Western’ values that have been exported are those of exploitation and theft so it really shouldn’t be surprising that the rest of the world views our stated values with scepticism.
And the West works best when ideas are debated, not denounced. When speech is free and frank, not criminalised and condemned.
A framework that allows people to choose their own governments, be judged fairly by their peers and have their individual freedoms respected and protected…
Yeah, and its a friggin disaster unless you have a well educated, scientifically literate middle class. That took centuries to happen in the West. And it was helped along by enormous amounts of wealth looted from the non-Western world, that enabled the elites to trickle some down to their own downtrodden to keep them just happy and educated enough to serve the cause of empire.
Nowhere in the developing world has so called ‘democracy’ worked well. It has only worked well in countries after they became wealthy, and not before.
Case in point is India vs China. What country has performed better on almost all indices of economic growth, literacy, human happiness, life expectancy, and social well being? Google it.
Of course the West loves to thrust ‘democracy’ prematurely on shit-holes around the world – in order that they remain feudal disorganized shit-holes ripe for exploitation. The West fears most those strong secular states that adopt modern science and technology, eschew backward feudal superstitions, and who can stand up to the West. That is why the West supports the Syrian opposition. That is why they hate China, and love India.
That is, the West fears most those who adopt the scientific method first developed in the West, in order to stand up to the West.
“Justice Winkelmann will replace retiring Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, who is leaving the role in March next year, having reached the compulsory retirement age of 70 for judges.”
What a pity USA didn’t retire their Supreme Court Judges at 70.
Thousands of enraged demonstrators, during the fourth night of angry protests over the past week, marched to the headquarters of Hungarian state television in Óbuda, in the hope that the taxpayer-funded Fidesz propaganda machine that pretends to be a public broadcaster would allow for the demands of the opposition to be read on air.
[…]
Remarkably, but not surprisingly, the taxpayer-funded television station refused to give air time to ten democratically elected Hungarian MP’s who wanted to read the following in a live broadcast:
Rescinding the so-called “slave law” (overtime law)
Decrease required overtime hours for police officers
The end of Fidesz-run separate courts
Hungary must join the European Prosecutor’s Office
A non-partisan, independent state broadcaster. The immediate firing of Dániel Papp from the leadership of the state broadcaster.
Meanwhile shortly before 23:00 Budapest time, MP’s still inside the public broadcasters headquarters called on all 66 opposition MP’s to come to the headquarters as well. At the same time, police used tear gas against the first line of demonstrators, while a growing number of protesters called for a push towards storming the building.
Maybe if government passed down the word to judges to start sending people who do violent acts to prison, if parole had to be earned rather than given, if multiple acts of crimes were added up then maybe we might be able to start having a talk but if government won’t even take violent seriously then is it any surprise men think they can get away with it, especially when society (in the form of government) allows them to
No, send them to prison then they arn’t out on the streets. Send them to prison and the message from the state is violence won’t be tolerated. Send them to prison and make parole dependent on rehab and training.
Making parole hard to get is silly. Parole allows for monitoring and conditions once the person has been released with the hope of better re-integration. If they complete their full sentence then the state has no strings on them whatsoever.
The principle of justice involved is that once you have served your sentence then you have paid your debt to society. Being a fanboy for Collins though i can see why you wouldn’t care about human rights.
Did you not see this part: “parole dependent on rehab and training.”
Its not out of sight out of mind but it is protecting society from these people and encouraging them to make something of their lives while incarcerated
I just can’t see how, on one hand, we want to stop violence towards women yet instead of keeping society safe, for a little while, we let them out
Someone attacks a cop and they get home detention, what message does that send
I find it disgusting that a tiny % of men commit violence against both women and men.
The vast majority of women is behind closed doors and curtains, by their partners, basically because they are scum and know full well it’s wrong, so it isn’t exactly on display
The fact that I am a male doesn’t make me somehow culpable or colluding in it.
And to say that it is somehow down to just men to fix it all, because they happen to be the same sex is dumb
Given the most likely people to know about this shit is the abused friends I would think it is extremely stupid to think that it is just men that should be highlighted to call it out.
I was at the vigil for grace and found the talk of toxic masculinity unhelpful, even though I am a feminist.
We have to understand who these violent offenders are so we have a better chance of doing something to change it.
Most men who are physically violent have come from abusive backgrounds and have personality disorders such as anti social, boarderline or narcissistic. They are often substance abusers.
On a completely personal level when I was a much younger woman I worked with some really sexist men. But I felt completely safe with them and they never crossed a boundary, although they may have held a door open for me.
I have also come across progressive men who support feminist causes who I felt emotionally abused by.
It is a psychological approach we need to apply to solve the problem. Not a social/cultural one
A big part of the problem is cultural. Culture is a system of shared meaning. We have some particularly toxic male culture in this country. The only way to change something shared is collectively.
“men thinking they can hurt, rape and murder”.
The men might not be thinking. “The failure of “top-down” control systems in the prefrontal cortex to modulate aggressive acts that are triggered by anger provoking stimuli appears to play an important role.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4176893/
“Make part of release conditions monitoring, education, training, whatever for people who commit crimes of violence”. Is there good evidence this affects the top-down control systems ?
Good comment.
The development of humans in the animal behavours sense didn’t automatically become extinct due to the near instant developement of modern society.
Oxytocin and Vasopressin biology in regards to some DV and some sex crimes is very interesting, and an eye opener for people who have experienced how biology controls behavours, but never could explain things due to the social construct that everything we do is intentional.
Actually the evidence is pretty discouraging in terms of what works with treatment for violent offenders.
Solka I honestly do appreciate your contribution on the standard but I have to disagree with you about changing toxic male culture. Of course it is a good idea to do that but I don’t believe it addresses the problem of violent male offenders and the research that teaching these men to respect women more shows it to be a very weak intervention
And they blame the indigenous people for this – bloody kali yuga. The Amazon is under so many threats it is scary.
“Approximately 8,000 barrels of crude oil have spilled into the Amazon, and the Peru State oil company Petroperu says its because local indigenous people severed the pipeline. According to a company statement, members of the Mayuriaga community in the Loreto region first damaged the pipeline and then interfered with the technicians trying to repair it.”
WHO in the hell cranked Trotter up. To be fair I find it difficult to read his murmuring but the comments left me gob smacked. Someone advised Prime Minister Ardern to “open your eyes my love” Really!!.
I think your problem is that you can’t handle long-form journalism, ie more than 50 words!
This is interesting from a WMLB: That the organised criminals controlling the New Zealand drug trade – especially the scourge of methamphetamine – are, overwhelmingly, wealthy Pakeha, is a fact too frightening for their middle-class neighbours to acknowledge. https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-salvation-armys-latest-report.html
Could it be that this sort of finger-pointing comes uncomfortably close to such as you?
I think your problem is that you are an over-active vinegarish critic lacking sufficient humour to be effective. Having a lemon drink every day seems quite good for cleaning the tubes, but it is even better with a spot of honey.
Open Mike this morning? 18/12
I wonder if after this helpful New Zealander was helping in Australia with clearing a track, that politicians might remember how we have been a big part of their advancement and are no more prone to criminality than they are. After all Ned Kelly is one of their heroes. Please stop hating Kiwis and treating us as 4th class citizens – and let our people go and stay. You know what I mean!
There you go some of our Aotearoa sea food is like gold over seas MPI need to be vigilant and the public need to dob in people rading our fisheries and fishes
The Ministry for Primary Industries said it was at least the sixth occasion in the last five years that overseas crew from merchant ships had been caught breaking fishing rules during a stopover in Bluff.
This was despite the ministry providing crew members with the rules around the legal take and size limit of shellfish.
Ministry spokesman Garreth Jay said the most recent incident in November involved four crew members who were caught near Ocean Beach at Bluff with a total of 91 black foot pāua, 82 of which were undersized, and 42 yellow foot pāua, of which 26 were undersized. Link Below ka kite ano . P.S We do want the mokopunas to experince the joys of gathering sea food.
Eco Maori tau toko Vanuatu action to sue big carbon companys who are burning OUR future mokopunas right to a happy healthy future
Vanuatu threatens to sue biggest carbon energy producers The power of the courts
If Vanuatu sues it will add to a growing trend of climate change litigation.
Before 2014, only 12 countries had climate law suits — by March 2017, nearly 900 such cases had been filed in 24 countries, according to the UN Environment Programme.
“There’s just a tremendous urgency to take action now, so environmental groups, citizens, states and cities are taking to the courts to try and force action,” says Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.
The majority of climate change lawsuits have been filed in the US.
“Governments are almost always the defendants in climate change cases,” according to a 2017 UN Environment global review of climate change litigation.
In 2015, activist group Our Children’s Trust filed a law suit in the state of Oregon against the federal government. “I am suing the US government for taking direct action that puts my generation disproportionately at risk from climate change, and violating my constitutional rights to life, liberty and property,” Vic Barrett, a 19-year-old American university student and member of Our Children’s Trust, told CNN at the COP24 climate talks.
That year, attorneys for the federal government filed a motion to dismiss the case.
Among the defense’s arguments were that the law suit “presents a generalized attack on government action and inaction regarding climate change, rather than a challenge to specifically identifiable violations of law that can be concretely rectified by a favorable decision.” Links below ka kite ano
Aftre shonky and his money men m8 joyce have inplanted the culture of Tangata /People are just some thing to siphon profts off who cares if there actions cause great stress and harm even death. 1 Winz 2 ACC 3 Housing Corp 4 Justice System 5 Health system 6 Education System 7 Maori wealth has dived under 9 years of his corporate way of running Aotearoa. All of these have put millions of people in hardship and stress I know Eco Maori is still being treated like DIRT NOW my UTU will be REKA.
ACC spying: ‘It’s nothing less than warfare’
At some point somebody with intelligence needs to stand back and say this is crazy. This is insane, we’re spending all this money and the guy is mad as hell – what do we need to do to fix this?”
As for Stryder, his war with ACC continues. To date, he has had 16 reviews of ACC decisions and applied to appeal three review decisions in the district court. He has been barred from communications with ACC case managers and trespassed from dispute resolution service Fairway Resolution Limited premises That kind of figure is made up … it’s not a hard figure, it’s speculative.”
Sara said ACC needed to learn how to better deal with people like Stryder.
“Like a number of people who have had unhappy dealings with ACC, they get mad as hell and that can lead to … nothing less than warfare.”
ACC defended the figure, saying the value of its integrity unit “intervention” was calculated based on claim history modelling.
In the financial year to June, ACC made 802,099 payments totalling $131m for medical assessments.
ACC used lawyers for about 10 per cent of review hearings due to “legal complexity, the precedence value of the issue, indications the client intends to progress the matter to court, and the workload of our people”.
Sara said hiring lawyers for reviews only inflamed the situation and put claimants in an unfair position.
“Once you’ve got a lawyer involved, every case has to have a lawyer.The financial stress, severe back pain, insomnia and challenging of ACC caused his marriage to break down and he suffered from anxiety and depression, he said.
“I hate it when ACC don’t believe you. I’m going to have to keep battling with them; I believe it’s totally criminal behaviour.”
ACC BY THE NUMBERS*:
1.98 million new claims received
79,648 new weekly compensation claims received
$69m – spending on injury prevention
$1.7m – spending on treatment and emergency travel
$740m – spending on care and support
$1.48m – spending on financial compensation and vocational rehabilitation
$740m – spending on operating costs
$40 billion – size of ACC’s investment portfolio to cover future claims
$3.5m – amount ACC earned in interest on its investment
99,500 – number of claims declined annually (disputed by some lawyers and advocates who say the figure could be as high as 300,000)
7616 – number of applications for reviews of ACC claim decisions*
$12.2m – spending on review services to FairWay Resolution**
(Source: ACC Annual Report 2018 and ACC Media Adviser)
* For the financial year to June 2018
** For the financial year to June 2017. links below ka kite ano
Eco Maori could see that wahine and maori have been getting a underarm bowl as of late. I tau toko Cliff Curtis word’s as I have seen maori diserpear off Aotearoa screen quite quickly in the last decade I have voiced my concerns on this Phenomenon.
Its is also Very good that Nga puhi iwi are calling for more wahine to be involved in there treaty settlement process I will not com anymore on there settlement as Eco Maori does not know the facts and my Iwi is were I should & will put my nose in
Cliff Curtis calls for women, Māori leadership in NZ film industry
He said he formed Whenua Films with directors, Taika Waititi and Ainsley Gardiner, because the Māori film industry was going through a pretty rough time.
“Māori content could not get through the funding agencies, could not get through the broadcasters, could not get through the distributors unless we had somebody above us, and literally speaking we looked above us [and] there weren’t any Māori. We were it.
“If you have Māori content that you are exploring, and you are exploiting … whether it be a character or whether it be an aspect of your content, then partner with Māori.
Ka kite ano links below
Kia ora Newshub Paddy many thanks for the story of tompson and clark for spying on kiwis and IWI to what a big mess I wont say it Paddy. The imagration process is getting some checks and balances to stop employers ripping employes off the problem I have is money was good Dairyfarming and there were quite a few maori in dairy farming a few years back as we love working on the whenua .Now the money is crap and maori have been pushed out of dairyfarming show me how many maori dairy farmers made it into share milking not many if any because shonky flooded the dairyfarm workers market with Immigrints.
That development in Coromandale will lift the prospects of the locals E hoa one has to rembmer to be tact full so as not to put some peoples nose out of joint Eco want’s to our maori leaders in power a long time ka pai.
Yes Mike and Samatha Eco Maori is very pleased that national is not in power we would have never been able to roll them out if they had another term with the tec they would have had at the finger tip’s to con people into beleving them/vote for them
Lloyd Megen is a strong kind wahaine who see the big picture all the best to Harry and Megen. I did see the story on Nigella Lawson letting the TV networks know that air brushing her pictures is not on as it put a fulse image of her out there and puts a lot of pressure on some wahine to starve them selves to look slim .
I would like to try a cut of that wagyu Japanese beef cow they have to be treated like a pet lamp to get the best out of them they get the best treatment in Japan.
Ka kite ano
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...
Back in the 90's and early 2000's, the building industry was building leaky homes which should never have been granted consent. Now it turns out they've been building dodgy office blocks as well:New imaging technology has revealed hundreds of major buildings nationwide have defective or missing concrete or reinforcing steel. ...
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Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...
A Statement on Abortion Law Reform by the Council of Disobedient Women On the eve of bringing an end to antiquated, anti-women abortion laws Green MP Jan Logie intends to write women out of the Bill. With a stroke of the pen, the woke are aiming for total erasure ...
Musings continue apace about “the experienced businessman!” soon to be taking up a National Party MP position. Or to be more accurate, being parachuted into a seat to shut down their former MP Jamie-Lee Ross, who despite his own shortcomings shed at least some more light on the inner workings ...
The Ugandan government wants to murder gay people:Uganda has announced plans to impose the death penalty on homosexuals. The bill, colloquially known as “Kill the Gays” in Uganda, was nullified five years ago on a technicality, but the government said on Thursday it plans to resurrect it within weeks. The ...
Freedom Of Speech? The Säuberung (cleansing by fire) was the work of the German Student Union which, on 10 May 1933, under the watchful eye of the Nazi Reichminister for Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, consigned 25,000 books to the flames in a ritual exorcism of “un-German thought”. According to the logic of the ...
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New Zealand’s media is doing its part in Japan, reassuring those in the path of the storm that they won’t miss any rugby while away from their flooded homes. New Zealand sports reporters stationed in Japan for the Rugby World Cup have had the rare and heartwarming opportunity to inform ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones is the only Cabinet member in favour of putting it all on green. As Finance Minister Grant Robertson finds himself with an enormous $7.5 billion surplus, the Government has begun intense, at times contentious conversations about whether to put the money on red or black at ...
by Susanne Kemp At the start of September close to 100,000 school teachers went on strike in Jordan. They demanded a 50% pay rise. A pay rise actually agreed to by the regime back in 2014. In early October, however, in the face of government repression and threats, the teachers’ ...
Back in 2011, journalist Nicky Hager published Other People's Wars, an expose on NZDF's activities over the previous decade of the "war on terror". NZDF didn't like this, and especially didn't like the fact that it was base don leaks from their own. So, they had the SIS investigate him ...
The Zero Carbon Bill is due back from select committee in two weeks, and will likely pass its final stages in November. So naturally, farmers are planning a hate-march against it. But they're not just demanding lower methane targets so they can keep on destroying the planet; they're also demanding ...
Last year, California burned. This year, to stop it happening again (or rather, to stop themselves from being found liable if it happens again), Pacific Gas and Electric is cutting power to half the state for a week:Schools are closed. Traffic lights down. Tunnels dark. Businesses unopened. Hospitals running on ...
The Best Way: Missing from the on-line voting debate is any reference to the voting system that produces turn-out figures ranging from 77 to 93 percent of registered voters. The voting system used to collect and count the votes cast in our parliamentary elections. The system that involves citizens making ...
Among the great new bunch of political friends we have been making recently is the excellent Australian-based Marxist gender-critical site, Freer Lives. So we asked the comrade who set up that blog to write something for Redline on the blog, himself, his analysis of the rise of gender politics and ...
by Don Franks The Auckland City Mission is struggling with a 40 percent increase in demand for food parcels this year. A total of 23,020 were needed by June. Last month Missioner Chris Farrelly told the Herald the “cupboards are bare” and without an emergency food drive, he can’t see ...
by The Council of Disobedient Women Massey Wellington Student Association had a sit-in today. Imagine a sit-in. On a campus. Against a women’s rights meeting. Did the ’60s really happen or did we fucking dream it? They gathered in the student square, an echo chamber. Sitting on soft pillows ...
For some reasons, my post about the mystery message from inside the Downing Street bunker seemed to catch people's attention. Quite a lot of hits from NZ (unsurprisingly) and the USA (a bit more puzzlingly, but hi there, USAians!!) and 76 views from the Ukraine.I've celebrated my Ukrainian readers in ...
First, almost a score of Labour MPs seem to have sent a letter to the EU basically begging them to accept a deal - any deal - just so Britain can get the Heck on with Brexiting instead of being trapped in limbo:
by Phil Duncan In 2016 the National-led government suspended the Parent Visa Category, through which migrants were able to bring their parents into New Zealand. Since then over 5,700 people have been in immigration limbo, stuck on the visa wait list. Labour is now bringing back the scheme. Well, sort ...
The following was released yesterday (Tues, October 8) by the women’s liberation organisation Speak Up for Women. On 23 September Speak Up For Women announced that we would be holding an event at the Massey University Theaterette in Wellington. The event is called Feminism 2020. The intention of the event ...
The government is currently consulting on plans to improve freshwater quality. So naturally, farmers oppose it:South Taranaki farmers are preparing to fight proposed national freshwater changes that some fear will bankrupt them. The Government's proposed National Environment Standard on Freshwater Management, released in September, rated the Waingongoro River as one ...
Yesterday was the last day for (reliably) posting your vote away in local body elections. Turnouts are mostly much lower than the equivalent time last year (Palmerston North is down 2.3%), and so naturally people are pushing their online-voting snake oil again. Because the online census worked so well, lets ...
This essay, on the political legacy of the eugenics movement, by Kenan Malik was originally published in the Observer on 6 October 2019, under the headline ‘The spirit of eugenics is still with us, as immigrants know to their cost’. Birth control. Intelligence tests. Town planning. Immigration controls. It’s striking how ...
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Fatal Contact: With the arrival of captain James Cook in October 1769, the islands of what would become New Zealand ceased to be the preserve of Polynesian navigators and settlers and became a part of both the world’s map and the world’s history.THE MAORI NATIONALIST assault upon the historical meaning ...
Another round of tactical talks about forming a Government of National Unity have come to nothing with the Liberal Democrats still refusing countenance putting Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street:Opposition talks on Monday made little headway over when to try and vote down Boris Johnson's government and who might succeed him as ...
by Nick Rogers The debate around the meaning of sex and gender made an appearance at this year’s British Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women’s Place UK – an organisation that questions the demand that biological males who self-identify as woman should have access to women’s spaces, to all-women shortlists, ...
Yesterday I went down to Wellington to participate in the Extinction Rebellion protest. Its part of the latest global wave of XR actions, with actions happening all over the world. Some of those protests are massively disruptive: in Canada, XR is blocking major bridges, stopping people from getting to work. ...
The Workshop is a charitable trust for public good. The Workshop undertake research to find ways of communicating that will build support for the solutions that work to solve complex social and environmental problems. See their Report on Talking about Poverty and Welfare Reform below. ...
Being and Being Bought (Spinifex Press, 2013) by Kajsa Ekis Ekman A synopsis and commentary of Chapters 1-2 by Daphna Whitmore Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book She opens the discussion with a definition of ...
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Ivory Folly? The University of Auckland’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stuart McCutcheon, upheld the right of the radical nationalist group, Action Zealandia to exercise their freedom of speech – not matter how distasteful that speech might be. A wiser community of students and scholars would have nodded their agreement and moved on. ...
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Jeremy Clarkson says much like Greta Thunberg, Anne Frank “didn’t like what was going on”, but “she didn’t have a tantrum about it.” Former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has offered praise to historical figure Anne Frank, comparing her favourably to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg, who he attacked in ...
Press release by Speak Up For Women Lesbians from women’s rights group Speak Up For Women are furious at reports that Rainbow Tick are threatening Massey University with the removal of their ‘tick’ if they let the group’s event go ahead. The group has been under attack from trans ...
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Yesterday the High Court released its decision in Moncrief-Spittle v Regional Facilities Auckland Limited, on the (alleged) decision by the Auckland Council and Mayor Phil Goff to deny use of a public venue to a pair of visiting nazi grifters. Based on the information available back then, I said that ...
Image credit:45 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting a Blog I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. ...
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. . With some historical and present context, it should become readily apparent to Pakeha that the occupation at Ihumātao is not a free-for-all conflict for any and everyone to become involved in. First, some important dates: . 1840 . The year in which the Treaty of Waitingi was signed. ...
If this is how you propose to defend free speech, then freedom of speech is in grave danger An open letter from James Robb to Jan Thomas, Vice-chancellor of Massey University Massey University in Wellington is the venue for an event on 13 November called Feminism 2020, organised by Speak Up For ...
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Speaking to Radio NZ, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said the tightening of the parental category visa is a direct result of the Party’s coalition negotiations with the Labour Party. He said the new changes switch the financial onus from the parent moving to New Zealand to the child ...
The Coalition Government is set to cut red tape in the building and construction sector in an effort to allow more houses to be built, including prefabricated houses. The changes will enable the mass factory production of "high quality" buildings, slash the likely number of building inspections for factory produced ...
Since coming into Government, we’ve worked hard to tackle homelessness and make sure everyone has a warm, dry home. And today, on World Homeless Day, we want to report back and update you on our progress so far. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has hit back at National Party leader Simon Bridges who criticized the Coalition Government’s approach to crime, and said that the latter isn't credible in his attack on the Government over gang recruitment. "We've got as massive drug problem in this country. It is ...
New Zealand Mānuka honey exporters have welcomed an initiative by the Coalition Government to help secure the term “mānuka honey” to be used exclusively by Kiwi exporters, ensuring that our multimillion-dollar industry is protected. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones had recently announced that a Provincial Growth Funding of $5.7 ...
Political commentator Mike Hosking has labelled New Zealand First leader Winston Peters as “the voice of reason in a government soft on drugs”, for the Party’s stance on drug testing at music festivals. “If common sense is worth a vote, Winston Peters is quids in,” Mr Hosking said. The Labour ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau has announced Provincial Growth Funding to ensure work opportunities in Turangi and Whanganui, through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi. A fund of $500,000 will go to Rafting NZ in Turangi for a 16-week river guide training course to train ...
Treasury has shown that the Coalition Government has a $7.5 billion surplus, which is $4 billion higher than what was expected in the 2019 Budget unveiled last May. It is also $2 billion higher than the actual surplus unveiled this time last year, and at a size that has not ...
Official Information Act figures released to NZME show there were 350 assaults on officers in the year to the end of June, 79 more than the year before. The increase in attacks have sparked calls for more legal protection for first responders to be enacted. The assaults included officers being ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
We're making progress on tackling the long-term challenges: from homelessness, to strengthening border security, to bringing banking back New Zealand's small towns. ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones has backed the ambitious plan to move Auckland’s port to Northport, at Whangarei harbour, which he says will be the “King Kong of infrastructure”. The plan is part of the recommendations of a six-person independent working group, which has recommended the Ports of Auckland be ...
A six-member independent working group selected the option of moving Auckland’s port to Northport, in Whangarei, ahead of other options. In what could be New Zealand’s most ambitious infrastructure project yet, a major expansion of the Marsden Point port could happen within 15 years. The project, officially called the “Upper ...
The final Electricity Price Review recommended prohibiting prompt payment discounts but allowing “reasonable” late fees. The findings of this review was welcomed by the Coalition Government, but they hope companies will follow through with its recommendations without regulations needed to be passed. Meridian Energy had already stopped prompt payment discounts, ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF)through its skills and employment programme, Te Ara Mahi,will invest nearly $600,000 to ensure work opportunities for locals in Turangia and Whanganui, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. “I’m pleased to announce the PGF ...
An export-led economy is one of New Zealand First’s key principles, and our commitment to achieving this is shown by the continuing skyrocketing demand for our beef and sheep meat exports. Beef + Lamb New Zealand's New Season Outlook 2019-20 report forecasts beef, lamb and mutton prices to lift from ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today in Gisborne an investment of $17.27m into bringing “world-leading” food-growing technology and the creation of more than 100 new jobs in the East Coast city. The funding comes from the Provincial Growth Fund, and included a $15 million loan to LeaderBrand, a ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development More than 100 people in Tairāwhiti’s Tolaga Bay will benefit from two employment initiatives supported by the Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones and Employment Minister Willie Jackson announced today. “Tolaga Bay is an incredibly tight-knit community, but one in ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is supporting Gisborne business Leaderbrand to produce salad vegetables year round and create more jobs in the Tairāwhiti region, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. “Our support for Leaderbrand will help them build large greenhouses ...
“Nobody wants to see babies uplifted”, this was the pronouncement of Minister for Children Hon. Tracey Martin as her department, Oranga Tamariki, faces multiple inquiries into the number of babies being taken from their families. “But a baby can die with a single punch, “the Minister continued. “So sometimes, Oranga ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has praised the promise by New Zealand’s biggest banks not to close any provincial branches while the Coalition Government trials regional banking hubs across the country. The Minister said the announce was the “first sign of hope for regional communities”, many of which have ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First is proud to have delivered an upgrade of the SuperGold Card website and a new smartphone app, which will help unlock the full benefits of the SuperGold Card for 750,000 New Zealand seniors.Party Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters, ...
Delivering a key election campaign promise, New Zealand First is proud to have accomplished a long overdue upgrade of the SuperGold Card today. At an event in Auckland, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters joined Minister for Seniors Hon. Tracey Martin in unveiling the new website and smartphone app which ...
Another busy week, from speaking with world leaders on the world stage about climate change, to equipping our school leavers with everything they need to get ahead in life. ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says Air New Zealand has "an obligation to look after Kiwis", and urged the national carrier not to hike up their prices after Jetstar airline announced their withdrawal from regional flights this week. The Provincial Champion also expressed his disappointment at Jetstar’s decision on ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) will help fund a new dredge for the Port of Greymouth to ensure the regional fishing fleet have a reliable and productive harbour, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today “Last year the movements of ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said he was "immensely disappointed" at the withdrawal of the Jetstar airline from regional routes. He has also warned national carrier Air New Zealand not to capitalise on the Australian budget airline’s decision by “gouging” regional air travellers. "Air New Zealand has historically challenged ...
International credit ratings agency Moody's gave a glowing assessment of New Zealand’s economy in its latest report, which ranks the country’s economic strength as "very high" while saying growth remains "robust". The report says it's expected New Zealand's economy will grow between 2.5 and 3 percent in the next few ...
The Coalition Government is allocating nearly $6 million to a campaign to stop Australian beekeepers marketing their products as "mānuka" honey. This move comes after Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones accused Australian honey producers of trying to steal what was indigenous to New Zealand. "The Aussies are trying to ...
The Provincial Growth Fund has provided $400,000 to Great South to help the agency drive Southland's regional economic development aspirations. The funding will allow Great South, which is Southland's economic development agency, to appoint a portfolio manager and a project support adviser, who will provide project management expertise and support ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The One Billion Trees Fund has just hit two significant milestones that will create more than 7,500 hectares of new forest cover, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Speaking at a celebratory dinner at Parliament to mark 100 years of the New Zealand Forestry Service, Minister ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has lashed out at the New Zealand Transport Authority board, telling one of its new members to “get on with your job” or else they would get replaced. His comments come in response to a now deleted tweet from board member Patrick Reynolds, which ...
The Government is moving swiftly to change the law to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students living in university halls of residence and other tertiary hostels. Cabinet has agreed to several changes, including creating a new mandatory Code of Practice that sets out the duty of pastoral care ...
The Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage has launched a new comprehensive trapping guide for community trappers to help them protect our native birds, plants and other wildlife, at Zealandia in Wellington today. ‘A practical guide to trapping’, has been developed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), and was launched during ...
Associate Health Minister Julie Anne Genter welcomes PHARMAC’s move to improve access to long-acting reversible contraception (LARCs). PHARMAC has today announced it will fund the full cost of Mirena and Jaydess for anyone seeking long term contraception, lifting previous restrictions on access to Mirena. “I welcome women having greater choices ...
The Government has approved the next stage of a major redevelopment of Taranaki Base Hospital, which will deliver new and improved facilities for patients. Health Minister Dr David Clark has announced details of a $300 million dollar project to build a new East Wing at the New Plymouth hospital. It ...
Extra funding will allow Rural Support Trusts to help farming families, says Minister for Rural Communities and Agriculture Damien O’Connor. “I know that rural families are worried about some of the challenges facing them, including the ongoing uncertainty created by the Mycoplasma bovis outbreak. “Those concerns sit alongside ongoing worries ...
Thank you for the opportunity to be here to present certificates to the 16 graduates who have completed a beekeeping course delivered by the Howard League. Let us start by acknowledging Auckland Prison’s Deputy Prison Director Tom Sherlock, and Acting Assistant Regional Commissioner of Corrections Northern Region Scott Walker - ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson leaves this weekend to attend the APEC Finance Ministers meeting in Santiago, Chile. Discussions between APEC Finance Ministers at the meeting will include the effects of the current global economic uncertainty, risks for APEC economies and sustainable development of the region. While at APEC Grant Robertson ...
The Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says for Pacific people, language can be a source of strength. It can help ground us and give us confidence. When we speak them, our languages provide us with an immediate and intimate access to our identity and our story - and ...
The Coalition Government has announced an action plan to improve the wellbeing of disabled New Zealanders by addressing inequalities in play, active recreation and sport. The initiative includes training to develop a workforce that understands the needs of children and young people with a range of impairments, advocacy for fit ...
The construction sector is being freed up to allow more homes to be built more quickly as the Government cuts through some of the red tape of the Building Act. “Every New Zealander deserves a warm, dry, safe home and old inefficiencies in the Building Act make building slow and ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed further details on the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s visit to New Zealand next month. Their Royal Highnesses will visit New Zealand from 17-23 November – their third joint visit to New Zealand and first in four years. They arrive in Auckland ...
Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, heads to Thailand today to attend the final Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Ministerial meeting, as negotiations enter their final stages. “The RCEP Agreement would anchor New Zealand in a regional agreement that covers 16 countries, ...
Pacific young people living in the Hawke’s Bay, Southland and Otago regions will have access to support services that have proved successful in helping young people find new earning and learning opportunities. “Tupu Aotearoa is about changing Pacific young peoples’ lives. Our young people are talented, they are smart, they ...
Introduction As the Minister for ACC I thank you all for the work that you do supporting New Zealanders in their literally most vulnerable moments. From those who hold people’s lives in their hands, to the people who research technique, technology and trends, your work is highly valued. A special ...
Notes prepared for speeches in Christchurch – Wednesday 9 October 2019 Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There ...
Minister of Health Dr David Clark and Associate Minister of Health Peeni Henare say this year’s World Mental Health Day theme is a reminder of why the Government’s work on mental health is so important. “This year the World Federation for Mental Health has made suicide prevention the main theme ...
Associate Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Carmel Sepuloni will represent the government at Australia’s Meeting of Cultural Ministers in Adelaide this week. “This year’s meeting is special because New Zealand is expected to become an International Member of the Meeting of Cultural Ministers at this Australian forum,” Carmel Sepuloni said. “The meeting is an opportunity to ...
The Greater Christchurch Claims Resolution Service has resolved 608 insurance and EQC claims in its first year in operation, Minister Megan Woods has announced. The government service, which celebrates its first birthday today, provides a one stop shop to help Cantabrians still battling to get their homes repaired or rebuilt ...
Today’s topic, “trends and opportunities for the New Zealand economy,” is certainly one getting a great deal of commentary at the moment. Looking across the media landscape lately you’ll notice we aren’t the only ones having this discussion. There has been an increasing amount of attention paid to the outlook ...
The Government is acting swiftly to strengthen NZTA’s regulatory role following a review into the Transport Agency, and Ministry of Transport’s performance as its monitor, Transport Minister Phil Twyford said today. An independent review by Martin Jenkins has found NZTA failed to properly regulate the transport sector under the previous ...
The Netherlands and New Zealand have a long-standing and close relationship based on many shared interests and values. We value the rule of law, our democracies, and multilateralism. And we value our environment – at home and globally. Right now there are major global challenges in all of these areas – ...
The Government is putting right a decade’s worth of underpayment to nurses, doctors and other health workers, says Health Minister Dr David Clark. Initial sampling of District Health Boards payroll records has found that around $550-$650 million is owed to DHB staff to comply with the Holidays Act. It’s expected ...
A strong surplus and low debt show the economy is performing well, and means the Government is in a good position to meet the challenges of global economic uncertainty. “The surplus and low levels of debt show the economy is in good shape. This allows the Government to spend more ...
New applications from mining company OceanaGold to purchase land in Waihi for new tailings ponds associated with its gold mines have been approved. Minister of Finance Grant Robertson and Associate Minister of Finance David Parker considered the applications under the Overseas Investment Act. Earlier this year, applications from OceanaGold to ...
New Zealanders in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa / Poverty Bay will witness Māori, Pākehā and Pacific voyaging traditions come together today as the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla assembles for the first time, Māori Crown Relations: Te Arawhiti Minister Kelvin Davis says. “Tuia 250 is a national commemoration and an opportunity for honest conversations ...
Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker leaves tomorrow for Dubai, London and Berlin for a series of meetings to advance New Zealand’s trade interests. In Dubai he will visit New Zealand’s Pavilion at Expo 2020 where construction is underway. There he will meet Minister of State for International Cooperation, Her ...
Confirmation that PHARMAC will fund two new cancer drugs is further evidence of the good progress the Government is making to improve the treatment of New Zealand’s leading cause of death, Health Minister David Clark says. From 1 December PHARMAC will fund alectinib (Alecensa) for ALK positive advanced non-small cell ...
An additional $2.7 million has been announced for the Government Strategy for Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation on the first anniversary of the strategy’s launch. Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson gave the opening address to the first Sport NZ Women + Girls Summit in Wellington today, ...
As part of its work to ensure businesses can get the skilled workers they need, the Coalition Government is re-opening and re-setting the Parent Category visa programme, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. The move will: support skilled migrants who help fill New Zealand’s skills gaps by providing a pathway for ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark has today announced Major General Evan Williams of the New Zealand Defence Force has been selected as the commander of a significant, longstanding peacekeeping mission in the Middle East. In December, Major General Williams takes over as Force Commander for the Multinational Force and Observers ...
A record number of nurses are now working to deliver health services to New Zealanders as the Government’s increased funding and new initiatives rebuild key workforces start to show results, Health Minister Dr David Clark says. • 1458 more DHB nurses since the Government took office • 106 more midwives ...
Farmer and former Nuffield scholar Mel Poulton has been appointed New Zealand’s Special Agricultural Trade Envoy, Minister for Trade and Export Growth, David Parker, and Minister of Agriculture, Damien O’Connor, announced today. The position supports key Government objectives, including raising the value of New Zealand agricultural goods and services. Mel is ...
New Zealand’s Pacific and Māori voyaging heritage is acknowledged and celebrated today as waka of the Tuia 250 voyage flotilla arrive in Tūranga / Gisborne. “Today we celebrate Tangata Whenua, the first people of Aotearoa, and the triumphs of the voyaging tradition that brought our ancestors here from Polynesia 1000 ...
“Fijian Language Week starts on Sunday and the theme reminds us how important it is that we each have something to anchor ourselves to, something that can help us pause and feel in control in a rapidly changing world,” says Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio. “Family, culture, faith, ...
The Government is establishing an Airspace Integration Trials Programme to support the safe testing and development of advanced unmanned aircraft and accelerate their integration into the aviation system, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods announced today. The Government will work with leading, innovative aviation industry partners to test and ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today welcomed the NZ Transport Agency’s decision to fund urgent safety improvements and confirm the designation of the Ōtaki to North of Levin highway. Safety upgrades will be made along 23.4km of the existing state highway, running along SH1 from the end of the Peka Peka ...
New Zealand playing its part in Asia-Pacific and globally are behind changes announced today to the Coalition Government’s three year refugee quota policy, Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway says. “We are proud to be a welcoming and inclusive nation committed to supporting some of the world’s most vulnerable people to rebuild ...
Creating thriving regions and inclusive local communities is the aim of the Welcoming Communities programme being rolled out across the country, says Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway today. A successful pilot of the scheme ran over the last 2 years led by Immigration New Zealand and involved ten councils across five regions ...
Takahē may be flightless but their population is flying high with the official count reaching 418 after a record breeding season that produced an estimated 65 juveniles, the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage announced today. “The population reaching a high of 418 is great news for takahē which were considered ...
New Zealand is today taking action to reduce the potent global warming hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) gases, Climate Minister James Shaw and Associate Environment Minister Eugenie Sage announced today. “The global agreement to reduce these potent greenhouse gases is another step in New Zealand’s commitment to reduce global warming. It is estimated ...
The Inquiry has today published Minute No 21. This Minute sets out how the Inquiry intends to proceed given that the Attorney-General the Hon David Parker has agreed to extend the Inquiry’s reporting date by three months to 31 March 2020. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Grace Skrzypiec, Senior Lecturer, Flinders University Many Australian students don’t know the difference between banter and bullying, with some saying they joke about wishing their friend would “drown” or “die in a car crash”. More than 800 Australian students aged 11-16 took ...
But he did play a crucial role in helping journeyman Andy Foster knock over Justin Lester. Team Gone By Lunchtime size up the local elections, gaze plaintively at the dramas in the NZ First Party, and ask how bad the new poll is for Jacinda Ardern.Annabelle Lee-Mather, Ben Thomas and ...
In the fifth episode of Actually Interesting, The Spinoff’s monthly podcast exploring the effect Artificial Intelligence has on our lives, Russell Brown speaks to Ben Reid, executive director of the AI Forum, about the role of government in embracing and regulating AI.Subscribe to Actually Interesting via iTunes or listen on the player below.To ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Today’s content by Dr Bryce Edwards.Local government Henry Cooke (Stuff): How to lose an election: Over-promise or under-deliver Simon Collins ...
By RNZ Pacific A Solomon Islands province has agreed to lease a large island to a Chinese developer to develop into a special economic zone, weeks after the country opened diplomatic ties with China. But already cracks abound; there has been no official announcement and the provincial premier says the ...
The New Zealand First MP and Minister Shane Jones is still backing the firearms ban, despite being pictured with what appears to be an AR-15 semi-automatic while holidaying in Asia. ...
Everyone needs to be concerned about the draft National Policy Statement on Urban Development that the Ministry for the Environment has released. It is incompatible with the spirit of transparency and inclusiveness. ...
Prodigal Son is a new crime procedural coming hot and fresh to TVNZ 1 on Mondays at 8.30pm.Jean Sergent has a few reasons why you should be watching it. If you like serial killer shows, Michael Sheen, dark drama, Michael Sheen, twisted family dynamics, or Michael Sheen – strap yourself ...
Voters in the 2019 local elections have elected the largest number of new mayors in 30 years, with 26 candidates set to don mayoral chains for the first time later this month. ...
A team of investigators dedicated to stamping out violent extremism online is being set up with the government announcing $17 million in funding over four years. ...
In a major boost to efforts to counter violent extremism on the internet, the Government has promised $17m over four years to the Censorship Compliance Unit. ...
The final dinner party on Married at First Sight NZ brought an ugly misogyny to light. But it was far from the first time sexism reared its head this season, writes Alex Casey.It began with a man being edited out of the show after his domestic violence charges came to ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) is recommending members hold on to potentially illegal shotgun shells containing steel shot until the law banning certain types of ammunition is clarified. ...
New collaborative gifting platform Joyable is looking to shake up how we group-purchase gifts. Co-founders (and sisters) Rochelle Sheldon and Kimberley Crossman explain how their latest venture works. Joyable (not to be confused with the social anxiety-reducing app of the same name) is a somewhat left-field move for co-founder Rochelle ...
The extraordinary battle for the Tron has ended in a way no one quite saw coming, with the city relinquishing its stranglehold on the title of New Zealand’s most embarrassing council. Angela Cuming reports.The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a ...
On the eve of the announcement of the winner of the 2019 Booker prize, Spinoff books editor Catherine Woulfe outs herself as a giant know-nothing. Booker time. Tomorrow morning I will sit there refreshing Twitter like the drinking bird on The Simpsons. A winner will be announced. And I’ll be gripped ...
National's claim that things only went south when Phil Twyford took charge of transport is not supported by us at CEAC and we see that this begun in 2008 as we witnessed the change then while working as a partnership group with NZTA then. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendan Churchill, Research Fellow in Sociology, University of Melbourne There’s an old maxim: not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted. But there are some things we should count, and gender and sexual diversity are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Pollock, Climatologist, Australian Bureau of Meteorology Northern Australia is likely to see fewer cyclones than usual this season, but hot, dry weather will increase the risk of fire and heatwaves across eastern and southern Australia. The Bureau of Meteorology today released ...
We are in The Good Time for avocados. Alex Casey talked to an expert on how to make the most of it. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. A time when a new avocado headline is published somewhere in New Zealandeverysingleday. A time when it is ...
Sexual harassment and assault are an issue in all walks of life, but addressing the problem is particularly difficult when the perpetrator holds public office. Today campaigner Carrie Buckmaster launches a parliamentary petition calling for more transparency on the issue.The ongoing Labour Party scandal around handling of sexual harassment allegations ...
Dunedin’s new mayor Aaron Hawkins is the first official Green Party mayor in NZ and, arguably, the first to represent the city’s student population as much as its older residents. Josie Adams, who guessed he would win, asked him ten questions about his win.The Spinoff local election ...
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (F&P) has upgraded its full year guidance again after gaining the right to sell its new full face mask in the United States. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Shadow foreign minister Penny Wong says Australia needs to “define the boundaries” of its engagement with China now the relationship between the two countries is in a new phase. Focusing on China policy in a ...
Canon Rugby in Focus: Ireland awaits an All Blacks team that will be well-rested. Perhaps too well-rested. Rested and ready, or a game short and not match fit. Those are the two scenarios that will have All Blacks fans fretting this week ahead of ...
With the government recently announcing a desire to help our cities grow up and out, leading New Zealand IoT expert Kriv Naicker today questioned whether New Zealand is falling behind in the use of smart city technology to help achieve this goal. ...
You famously said climate change was this generation’s nuclear-free moment. But when Extinction Rebellion uses the tactics of the Nuclear Free movement, you say you aren’t impressed. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Regina Jefferies, Affiliate, Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW In the past five years, more than 95,000 people who arrived by plane have lodged a claim for asylum in Australia, new statistics show. Labor’s Immigration Spokesperson, Senator Kristina ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karen Waller, PhD candidate, University of Sydney Organs from potential donors once rejected as being unsafe to transplant may not be as risky as once thought, new Australian research shows. Our study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, suggests organs from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Merrilyn Delporte, PhD Candidate, Queensland University of Technology Australia’s refugee policy has led to a two-track education system. Those processed offshore, and deemed refugees by the time they have arrived in Australia, are entitled to fee support for university. But the almost ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marion Terrill, Transport and Cities Program Director, Grattan Institute Congestion charging should be introduced in Australia’s largest cities, as Grattan Institute’s latest report shows. Our analysis also finds that the people who commute to the Melbourne and Sydney CBDs by driving are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David C. Ribar, Professorial Research Fellow, University of Melbourne Australia, like the United States, makes it hard for people who get benefits to stay on them. It’s not simply a matter of withdrawing benefits as people get jobs and work more hours ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ana Silkatcheva, Doctoral Candidate (Oriental Studies – Islamic Art and Archaeology), University of Oxford; Curatorial Researcher, Nicholson Collection, Chau Chak Wing Museum, University of Sydney In 2005, the Art Gallery of South Australia (AGSA) opened Australia’s first permanent galleries of Islamic art. ...
Council's can expected more pressure from their own ranks to tackle climate change with a new crop of young councillors determined to fight it head on. ...
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Analysis that hits the mark after a big weekend of local elections, new party poll released, and Dunedinites turn out to clean up in honour of killed student.By now, you probably know whether or not you have a new local ...
Would any of the politicians who opposed the marriage equality bill have voted differently if it had passed today? Greta Yeoman asked them.Just over five years ago, New Zealand politicians voted 77-44 to legalise gay marriage, making this country the 13th in the world to do so. Of the 44 ...
We have been on a collision course with freshwater in this country for over a century, writes Dr Jonathan West. Time to make some uncomfortable choices. ...
Teenager Ella Benn has lost part of her left leg, and part of her right lung, to cancer. But with the guidance of a Paralympic legend, she's determined to be a swimming star in her own right. ...
Spark Sport’s six year deal with New Zealand cricket has dealt another blow to Sky TV. The company’s share price has sunk to an all-time low and as Mark Jennings writes, its future existence depends on winning rugby rights. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The ALP has announced an inquiry into the head office of the NSW ALP, after weeks of shocking revelations at the Independent Commission against Corruption about scandals in the handling of donations. The review, announced ...
The new Canterbury Regional Council is set to have a 50-50 gender balance, a younger average age, and people from backgrounds including law, science, farming, insurance and landscape architecture. ...
Aucklanders did not turn out in their droves to vote for incumbent Phil Goff but nor did they embrace the erratic campaigning of challenger John Tamihere. ...
Four of NZ's six largest cities changed mayors on Saturday, three through incumbents being ousted at the local polls. The new crew now need to be the change they promised. ...
Hayden Donnell identifies who did well, and who got massively owned, in the 2019 local elections.The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism, click here.Most of these winners and losers lists fail to capture the nuances ...
Sophie Handford, one of the country's youngest new councillors, hadn't expected to get elected and was at a barn dance when she found out the results. ...
Arms Bill a Legislative Colander: Must Be Rewritten SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER 2019 The Arms Bill has been written so poorly than it must be abandoned and rewritten, according to the Council of Licenced Firearm Owners, COLFO. ...
In one of the biggest surprises of the local elections, Andy Foster has seized the Wellington mayoralty from Justin Lester. In this cheat sheet, we answer some of the big questions about Andy Foster, such as ‘who is Andy Foster?’ The Spinoff local election coverage is entirely funded by The Spinoff ...
Wellington mayoral frontrunner Andy Foster says if he gets into office his backer Sir Peter Jackson won't be influencing what happens within the new council. ...
Fritters are a New Zealand classic and these ones, packed with fresh spring produce, make a perfect light lunch or dinner.Spring is well and truly upon us – my garden has exploded and I take such pleasure in being able to harvest its bounty on a daily basis. We are ...
Anna Knox, who spent four years living in Saudi Arabia, has been waiting for a book like Celestial Bodies – a story that shakes up entrenched ideas of women in the Middle East. Early on in Jokha Alharthi’s Celestial Bodies, Abdullah, son of Sulayman the Merchant, describes his family home in the ...
Madeleine Chapman celebrates the girl truths of Netflix’s hit show about puberty, Big Mouth.Girls are horny too. Girls are angry too. How to have an orgasm. The episode titles of Big Mouth are literal and accurate. Girls are horny too! Girls are angry too! How to have an orgasm!Big Mouth follows ...
The Māori Party has selected Debbie Ngarewa-Packer to win back the Te Tai Hauāuru seat in next year’s general election, it announced at its AGM in Whangaehu today. ...
Open Mike 17/12/2018 
With an unfair voting system, uneven electorates and an un-elected upper house, the UK's "democracy" is barely worthy of the name. But now the government wants to make it worse:The government has been accused of suppressing voters’ rights with the potential disenfranchisement of tens of thousands of people after plans ...5 hours ago
Two years have now gone by since the Friday afternoon when my university-student son and I headed out of our Barcelona flat to a nearby primary school, designated as a polling station for the vote that was to be held the following Sunday: the referendum on Catalonia’s independence from Spain ...2 days ago
Overruled: The joint decision of Finance Minister, Grant Robertson (Labour) and his Associate Minister, David Parker (Labour) arguably the two most powerful ministers in Jacinda Ardern’s government, to grant OceanaGold the consents which Land Information Minister, Eugenie Sage (Greens) had earlier denied them, offers bitter proof of how hard fighting ...2 days ago
More than double the number of people who will vote in this year’s local body elections have tried marijuana or urinated somewhere they shouldn’t have. As local elections look set for the lowest turnout in decades, with many regions falling well short of 40%, the Government is exploring a number ...3 days ago
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The news media uses emotive language and quotation marks to take a side in a story, as opposed to reporting the news..
This is how they report action by animal activists to highlight animal welfare issues at a sea park in Australia.
“Distressed parents were forced to take their children from theme park shows after protesters refused to leave and labelled them “disgusting”.
Fun family days out across the weekend have turned ugly as “peaceful” protesters storm Gold Coast theme parks.
Demonstrators who targeted several amusement parks held their hands up in peace signs, despite the situation becoming quite violent.
Dozens of children were forced to watch distressing situations at Sea World on Saturday after the group, Justice for Captives, refused to get out of the water until its famous dolphin show was stopped.”
The vocabulary used sets the scene ….’distressed parents’ , ‘disgusting protesters’,
Speech marks are used to describe the protesters are peaceful to undermine that claim, reinforced by the used of verbs like ‘storm’, ‘forced’ and adjectives like ‘ugly and voilent’
The reporter should continue. Make it really clear whose side you take.
Just another example brought to you to prove the corporate media sucks.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=12177949
Is this dolphin under a lot of stress and duress ….???
Would that Dolphin prefer to live in the Ocean … or little concrete pens ?.
The test would be to allow the Dolphins access to the sea …
If they’d stay to do tricks for Sardines …. that would show them to be content and happy … But we all know they’d leave if not held captive.
In reality they are providing a high octane monkeys tea party…. an aquatic zoo where the animals do tricks for us.
In my younger days, I worked for several weeks on Hamilton Island, and one of the jobs there was at the Dolphin Restaurant. A restaurant near the sea, surrounded by a concrete pool that held three dolphins.
It was sad to see those animals in such a artificial, enclosed environment, even though their keepers treated them with affection that ‘seemed’ to be returned. While I was there, one of the females just became listless and died.
After I left – I heard the dolphins pool was closed down, but that memory of those huge mammals kept in such a confined area to provide a living, backdrop for the restaurant patrons has stayed with me.
The journalist who wrote this piece is one Stephanie Bedo, a senior journalist, who, apparently..
“..has won awards for her health reporting and admits to being a bit of a science nerd, particularly when it comes to animal stories that often only she is excited about.”
She is “good” at making a clear “distinction” between “animal abuse” (bad) and “animal abuse” in the name of “entertainment” (good).
She is also a “chronic” uses of “inverted” commas.
Ignore her and she might just go away.
And then they deliver quality, intellectually rigorous gems like this
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/109405675/if-national-is-dog-whistling-on-migration-others-have-too
Bit like this twit, really:
“His views are backed up by some eyewitnesses to the parade. One parent told Newshub the Māori Santa left children stunned and in tears.
“All these kids were dumbstruck really, you could hear the ‘that’s not Santa’,” she told Newshub.
“Our six-year-old son burst into tears after the video finished. We had to explain to him that Santa was running late.”
Garner blamed some “PC wally” and “woolly woofter” for the “stupid decision by Nelson”.
I have a feeling he could be the one left feeling like a “wally” though – lol
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109291323/mori-santa-from-nelson-parade-coming-to-wellington
Right on Ed. Not only are the majority of humans ignorant they are also plain dumb!
The dumbing down of the masses is working as intended.
I worry about the crayfish 🙁
Is your worry in relation to this article?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12177804
“A conservation group is calling for a total fishing ban for crayfish in the Hauraki Gulf and Bay of Plenty as the population “collapses towards extinction”.
Forest & Bird is calling for the wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty crayfishing area (known as CRA2) to be closed for three years to allow the species to start recovering.
“The wider Hauraki Gulf to Bay of Plenty crayfish population has undergone a significant decline,” Forest & Bird marine conservation advocate Katrina Goddard said.
“Without an urgent end to fishing pressure, crayfish could become functionally extinct throughout the entire area within a few years.” ….”
Considering the state of our QMS and thus the unknown state of our fisheries
we should probably be considering either an outright ban on all fishing for 20 years or at least a serious decrease on commercial fishing by only allowing fish caught in NZ controlled waters to be sold in NZ.
if we go down that path could we first have words with the like of Ngati Kahungunu who insist on allowing the D’Esposito Brothers fishing rights?? I’m not sure of the total charges the D’Esposito’s and their various companies have attracted over the years, but it’s well over the hundreds. Infact Ngati Kahungunu (and Waikato Tainui) only concern seems to be the possible loss of jobs.
Then again, who can blame them for not taking overfishing seriously. The D’Espositos simply turn up in court, year after year, facing the same charges, paying the fines with their ill gotten gains, and continue on their merry way.
Restricting to NZ fishing companies only makes sense if we create bigger penalties for repeat, flagrant, breaking of the law. Otherwise we are kidding ourselves.
Just a random sample..
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/shows/2018/08/inside-mpi-s-2-5m-fishing-investigation.html
https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/ngati-kahungunu-chair-concerned-jobs-after-fisheries-raid
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/72827811/null
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/100241472/fisheries-trial-ends-abruptly-after-seven-months-with-guilty-pleas-entered-to-122-charges
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/104888202/hawkes-bay-fishing-company-and-directors-back-before-court-to-be-convicted
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business-around-new-zealand/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503701&objectid=11333980
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503462&objectid=11627567
Agreed. If a company breaks the law it should be nationalised and then sold. The previous owners should keep the debt that the company had built up as well as being fined in the millions of dollars. Limited liability should not exist.
That said, I didn’t actually say that the fishing be restricted to NZ companies. I said that the fish caught could only be sold in NZ. I suspect that foreign companies wouldn’t bother.
And, yes, I’m quite aware that many Iwi are standing in the way of what we need to do to protect the environment. Just have to look at their whinging about the Kermadec fish sanctuary to see that.
“And, yes, I’m quite aware that many Iwi are standing in the way of what we need to do to protect the environment. Just have to look at their whinging about the Kermadec fish sanctuary to see that.”
If the Iwi (or any other group) conflict with what we need to do to protect the environment than they need to change.
They don’t seem willing to as doing so gets in the way of their profits.
Hard for Kahungungu to complain when some of them were apparently travelling with the brothers to Greece during the court case. Family over there also wonder about who was benefitting from the back door sales over the years this was going on. Would have been much more interesting if the court case proceeded.
Still they did conveniently have a track to get upset about to take attention away.
“we should probably be considering either an outright ban on all fishing for 20 years ”
Do you mean just in NZ or worldwide? If you mean worldwide then you’ll run into problems because in some developing nations (and other western nations but it isn’t really a problem for Western Nations) fish make up a huge percentage of their protein. You’d need to introduce an alternative…Soylent Green?
The thread was about NZ fisheries.
That said, considering that fish stocks are collapsing worldwide I suspect that those nations, which does include Developed Nations, that are dependent upon fish to feed themselves are in for a world of hurt.
Yes I share your concern about the collapse of ecosystems.
It’s not that far off either….I have a young daughter and I am saddened by the idea she might grow up in a world where there are no tigers or Rhinos or….everything
I think it was a Standard poster who provided a link and put me onto this morbidly fascinating website
https://ejatlas.org/
The website features an atlas showing some large sites and locations in countries around the world …. these locations are where exploitation, corruption, pollution and environmental destruction … and various other bad things are taking place.
New Zealand is lightly ….. and under-represented
https://ejatlas.org/country/new-zealand
A couple of examples missing from the New zealand would be the 80% non compliant swamp Kauri smash and grab industry … with Judith collins connections providing the gps google earth location.
https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B052'06.7%22S+174%C2%B027'55.2%22E/@-35.868539,174.4647718,119m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m14!1m7!3m6!1s0x6d0c84ab7cf51103:0x500ef6143a30170!2sRuakaka!3b1!8m2!3d-35.9063963!4d174.4471293!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d-35.8685388!4d174.4653194
Another example of greed and destruction could be the forestry operators behind our recent Lumber Lahars ….that rooted Tolaga bay https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/04-07-2018/satellite-images-tell-the-story-of-tolaga-bays-forestry-disaster/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/109025916/prosecutions-over-floodtriggered-logging-debris-on-east-coast
“The Malaysian owner of a forestry company blamed for tonnes of debris washing up in Tolaga Bay has been fined twice for illegal logging overseas, but it took the Overseas Investment Office nine years to realise.” https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/366868/tolaga-bay-forestry-company-s-illegal-logging-history-revealed
And I’m sure there are many more sites around NZ where destruction, pollution, poisoning and exploitation of our Land and resources has taken place.
We could probably include most of Canterbury …. with dairying destroying freshwater resources.
The old Dow site in Taranaki … which is still poisoning its surrounds
The Waihi open pit mine
etc etc
I’m going to write up and submit The swamp kauri looting …. with a special mention for Judith Collins … who hates wetlands.
There is still loads of ‘slash’ from forestry that was washed down the Motueka valley during Gita. They cleared the roads, but crikey there’s a heap of wood in the dry parts of the river bed.
Fustrating to see it still sitting there. So I loaded up some logs, took them home, whipped out the chainsaw and hello free firewood.
Not sure if it’s legal or not, pretty legal maybe? It’s been almost a year now, maybe they were waiting for the locals to pick it up for fire wood as it’s not on private property?
It’ll be legal. If it’s been a year and nothing has been done about it, chances are it’s been abandoned and therefore free for the taking.
Unless the council has passed a resolution of some kind taking ownership or otherwise
“I’m going to write up and submit The swamp kauri looting …. with a special mention for Judith Collins … who hates wetlands .”
Pucky!
Was Judith on your list of Blue-Green Environmental Champions?
You better fly to her defence!
Paul Goldsmith’s car crash interview on RNZ.
Just a tiny bit of preparation by Guyon had Goldsmith talking utter garbage.
Amazing how many politicians who can’t cope when they are forced off their mantra.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018675894/the-government-is-focusing-solely-on-safety-national
Yes. Heard that. Should we take Goldsmith seriously or is he just a yapping Peke?
Too many cars (and big trucks) and not enough road, somethings got to give.
As one who travels to Whangarei quite a bit (work related), it is a tricky road. It has way more traffic than 10 years ago. It would be hugely safer if it was 4 lane. Same with Katikati to Tauranga.
But this govt hates the idea of 4 lanes, so we get band aid solutions.
Now obviously not all of dangerous roads have enough traffic to justify 4 lanning but the two I mentioned certainly do.
So yes, some parts of the Labour/Green plan are sensible, but their complete opposition to any new 4 lanes roads is foolish.
Personally I thought Paul did quite ok, though he did get sidetracked at one point.
Doubt it especially when I take into account that you’re talking anecdotes and are ideologically in favour of more cars despite the evidence showing that we can’t afford the ones that we have.
It’s not the government that hates it – it’s reality.
Actually, rail would be better especially if it was electric. Increase freight and safety while being cheaper, faster and more ecologically sound.
No, it’s National’s desire to coat the entire country in roads that is foolish as it goes against all the evidence.
Draco,
You could not be more wrong even if you tried.
The 4 lane roads, especially the newer ones are by far the safest roads in the country. Not just anecdotal, actual fact.
As for 4 lanning well there is no doubt complete ideological opposition from the left, even for the blindingly obvious projects (Dome valley). Fortunately countered from the right. So at least when National is govt, they get built (though opened by Jacinda). Just as National will get to open the light rail-the northwest one is good, the Dominion Rd not so. Light rail should also go into the Southeast (Tamaki, Pakuranga, etc) and to North Shore.
So the next National govt will build the next set of motorways, to be opened by the Labour PM who follows Jacinda, who is possibly not yet in Parliament.
It’s not ideology – it’s reality. The stuff that National ignores because it doesn’t conform with their beliefs. We really can’t afford cars and so we can’t afford four lane roads.
Of course they will as they’re fully opposed to reality.
Yes well any road is going to be safer with 2 lanes rather than one… Would the astronomical build cost meet any sort of sane business cost ratio like pretty much all of the Nats other Roads of National significance? I doubt it. Two laning doesn’t solve traffic jams either as they don’t eliminate choke points, in fact they’re likely to make them worse by bringing more traffic into them.
With fluctuating fuel prices and declining world oil reserves does it make any sense to build new roading infrastructure? Don’t think so. It is possible to make roads safer without having to double the road width. This is what the Government are actually doing right now.
For the next 100 years or more, (probably more like 200 years or more) roads will be the main transport system in NZ. Roads have been a key land transport system for literally thousands of years going back to Roman times. It will not remain with fossil fuel engines. Electric and hydrogen will be the main power source.
There is zero prospect that rail could ever be dense enough in NZ to replace the majority of land transport. Even if rail quadrupled in the next few years, it would still be moving way less freight than road.
It would take a fantastic new, energy dense system to replace roads (magnetic levitation or something similar). But that requires power at multiple levels of what we currently use.
Only if we allow the delusional idiots at National to control everything.
Have you ever considered why rail is still in use today?
It’s because its far more economic than cars and trucks.
https://grist.org/article/freight-trains-19th-century-technology-due-for-a-21st-century-revival/
And we have the perverse subsidies mentioned in that article as well. If trucks actually paid their way they’d be out of business.
In NZ we have one other form of transport available that’s also more efficient than roads – ships.
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources/research/reports/497/docs/497.pdf
The only reason why trucking freight by road even exists in this country is because of those perverse incentives that I mentioned.
Flat bed rail carriages , drive on enjoy the trip, a meal the view, drive off. Rail to the airport, allow tourist easy access to rural tourist hubs and hire their campers and cars from there. Travellers, sales and business, use rail and hire ev’s. In 200 yrs the northern motor way is under 20 mtr of water, so it will be barges and ferry.
It’s a shame then @ Wayne that the short-sighted, vision-less of planners over the years have chosen to close down, or mothball the network we once had.
Just imagine the commuter rail and freight forwarding capability we might have had.
(For example, by now):
-Dunedin could have had an earport ta ciddy rail transit system, and even an alternative means to the burbs along the way and further north
-Christ’s Church could have had a commuter system from Lyttleton to points north, and from the outliers like Rolleston to the city
-Gisborne wouldn’t be worrying about its limitations – by now it’d have had a link between Matawai and Opotiki and onward to Tearonga, or that “choice’ to go southward
Living in Stratford or Eltham and working in the Plym might be viable.
Instead, that Auckland/Hamilton/Tauranga triangle is now seen as some sort of HUGE deal in terms of being able to furnish it with commuter and freight rail – let alone a fucking commuter & freight system to the Auckland REGIONAL & INTERNATIONAL Earport
And then there’s the south…..the system came close to linking the Queens town with Dunners
You do realise (I sincerely hope) that current transport arrangements are not sustainable long term ( and I don’t mean just because there might be some pretty bloody suspect truck/trailer linkages on the road, or because we can’t attract enough slaves to drive them before driver-less trucks become viable – probably not in my loiftoim)
Oh, and btw, you did another of your spray and walkaway acts the other day
Wayne have you heard of climate change?
Did you listen to Greta’s speech at COP?
Building more roads as we head to climate catastrophe- that’s a plan!!
You are assuming all future land transport will use fossil fuel engines. It won’t.
Electric and hydrogen will become the norm. But the vehicles still have to go over something. They are roads, just as horses and carts had to also use roads.
Have you considered that we can’t afford the roads due to the environmental damage that the roads do/cause?
He hasn’t , I sense.
Most people in NZ need roads because they lack the skills to survive without them, forgetting that our ancestors travelled mainly on foot. You won’t be the only one driving out of town on business. We could organise our communities so we didn’t need to, but there’s no incentive because road transport is affordable and people are hooked on driving. Why not walk to your workplace, work from home, teleconference if necessary ?
Climate change tells us that individual road transport is no longer affordable as it is.
The problem is that our entire economy has become based upon that unaffordable mode of transport. It’s what happens when externalities aren’t taken into account and become a massive subsidy to the manufacturers.
Even if/when cars/trucks go electric they mat still not be affordable because of the environmental damage caused by roads and the lack of resources needed to get everybody a car.
So, considering that we can’t actually afford cars/trucks then we must consider that we’re paid too much, that costs aren’t properly attributed or a combination of both.
why would everybody need a car? I can’t wait for CaaS.
Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore?
Car as a Service.
Won’t work as you expect.
Either there won’t be enough at peak times or we’ll still have congestion.
It’ll work outside of peak times when a reliable average can be determined.
For peak times there’s going to have to be public transport and as soon as there’s reliable public transport then CaaS doesn’t work again.
BTW, taxis are CaaS.
Well, public transport is CaaS too, it’s just inconvenient. I have to get to where the vehicle is, at the time when the vehicle is there.
My dream: the electric autonomous vehicle turns up when and where I need it because Big Data knows that’s when I need it. Maybe shared with other passengers for efficiency.
Does have the benefit of being economical and workable.
Which is a dream that is both uneconomic and unworkable.
It’s here now.
It’s called Uber. Comes with a driver and everything.
It’s brilliant.
I protested Uber on Saturday night. The wife and boy used it but I and the girl walked the 2km home instead. Everyone was happy.
“But this govt hates the idea of 4 lanes” Comments like this remove any credibility to the rest of your comment. Perhaps this Government is just looking at get more Bang for it’s Buck (or less Bangs as the case may be) rather than spend more on your two favoured stretches of road.
However the reality is that they do hate 4 lane roads, especially the Green MPs. They have said so many, many times.
Just about the very first action of this government was to cancel every single 4 lane road that had not actually beeen started. Ideology was the reason.
[citation needed]
The reason why they were cancelled was because they were uneconomical.
You’re saying this to someone who has to drive across a One Lane bridge on SH1 cancelled by Simon Bridges after promising double lanes. Your feeble attack on this Government holds no validity.
4 lane roads aren’t safer because they’re 4 lanes.
In modern cars most people die because they hit something solid like a tree, lamp-post, collide with oncoming traffic or T-Bone someone. Motorways are safer because oncoming traffic and trees etc are on the other side of barriers. Colliding with a vehicle travelling the same way as us is rarely fatal.
We don’t need 4 lanes just safe merging, passing lanes where easy done and barriers both sides and middle of a largely 2-lane road.
When so many are dying on our roads each year, I think the right thing to do is to make them safer and put off the luxury of 4 lane Interstate stylings for the time being. 4 lanes through the Aussie interior, no worries cobber, punching them through our mountainous, ravine ridden landscape, jolly expensive.
Wayne Wayne Wayne possum. This government doesn’t hate the idea of 4 lanes.
It just realises that there has been an under-investment over many years and it’s trying to deal with the basics (based on research) before it goes for the luxuries you think you’re entitled to.
Your gorgeous spokesman couldn’t have made that more clear this morning on Moaning Report, however in doing so, he came across as a complete egg roll and showed exactly where he places human life over convenience.
Oh, and btw, hopefully they’ll realise that there are other alternatives before we get to the 4 lane option becoming necessary.
Apparently you see no problem with placing emphasis on four lanes so that the world’s ‘best drivers’ – no doubt including yourself can text whilst driving, tailgate, merge like it is some sort of competition, put driving on auto, etc. with less risk
Train.
Just responding to a couple of articles about Grace Millane on open mike yesterday, one by Alison mau and one from Paul little. The Gus of these articles was that we care more about grace, because she was white, young and pretty. In Alison attempt to highlight this she quotes some studies (although no references given) which is useful information, then travels to south Auckland to a street where a woman was murdered, the day or so before. There is a blanket ban and name suppression around this case, but that didn’t stop Alison.
I found her article and indeed all comments about we only care about grace because she was pretty, in very poor taste at this time. I hope none of her extended family see them while they are grieving.
A crucial reason that people got so involved in grace tragic story, was initially a missing person. So we followed that story and hoped like hell she’d be found. And or course we experienced a roller coaster of emotion, right through to the bitter end. And it was a bit like the story of the Thai cave boys. Who would have clocked that story if the were missing foe a few hours then res used.
I am not denying what ms mau says about white pretty woman getting more publicity. That is not going to solve our problem though. I am going to pause now and will write about going to the vigil and my experience about that, and getting real about solving this problem ie what research tells us about these perpetrators and why slogans grandstanding isn’t going to change things
That is not going to solve our problem though
Just so we’re all clear, what problem is that?
Our problem is the significant levels of domestic violence and the homicides that occur, even though the rate is dropping.
Hell week is this week for retail and service sector workers. Under appreciated and sometimes not understood, have a thought for the people who ensure you can get your Christmas shopping done. Not all do.
What a load of rubbish, It’s only a hell week if you tell yourself it’s a hell week, your just busy and it’s work,
Just mind over matter eh Wildebeest? You don’t mind and no one else matters.
Indeed, good manners, courtesy, Larry Davids golden rule “do unto others…”, retail = underpaid!
Have you worked in the retail or service sectors?
I currently work in the service sector and did 7.5 years (6 years part time; 1.5 full)from 2001-2008 in a supermarket.
I could tell you a few stories. Think you know? Try working in the sector first.
Good article about seeds being a strategic asset for NZ and should be held by a NZ owned consortium.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12177017
Wrightson’s has gone down hill since the majority owned overseas ownership with many delays to farmers getting their seeds this year and disorganisation. Any issues with being able to plant swiftly to the season (especially with climate change) from poor management from Wrightsons has the ability to bankrupt farmers relying on a decent service. There are not many major seed firms in NZ.
The Wrightson’s chairman sounds a dodgy as.
“In one of those egregious deals that are only too common in the regulatory sector, Lai has agreed to pay a US$400,000 ($583,000) penalty and be barred from acting as a director or officer of a public company for five years for manipulating prices in Agria’s NYSE-listed shares.
The settlement with the SEC followed claims that the agriculture investment firm hid losses from investors through fraudulent accounting and overstated the value of its New York-listed stock.”
Totally agree that seeds are a ‘strategic’ asset that need to be NZ owned and also WELL run for the benefits of NZ agriculture. Good call for it to be bought by a NZ consortium and made sure it is well run to the benefit of many small and medium business in NZ that rely on it. Food is strategic. It should be retained for NZ.
We could call it the Ministry for the Primary Sector.
So crickets on the up and Kane Williamsons winning record is off the charts (at least for NZ cricket) so to add a bit of controversy to the day heres my all time NZ test team, since the advent of one day cricket (because I don’t want to add any names I haven’t seen play)
1. G Turner
2. M Richardson
3. K Williamson (C)
4. M Crowe
5. R Taylor
6. J Oram
7. BJ Watling (WK)
8. D Vettori
9. Sir R Hadlee
10. S Bond
11. T Boult
Unlucky mentions to J Wright, S Fleming and B McCullum
Number 6 was the most difficult position for me to choose as there were 3 candidates: Chris Cairns, Jacob Oram and J Coney
Cairns has a very good bowling average of under 30 but his batting is weaker than the other two (though certainly not bad) and of the three Coneys bowling is the weakest however I’m also looking at team players and how players would play under Williamsons captaincy
So Oram gets the nod because I’m banking on Hadlee, Bond and Boult to do the job
with the ball and Oram and Vettori to do the donkey work of tying up one end and building pressure plus Orams height adds to the variety of bowling
Bowlers win matches but batter save matches 🙂
and of course…
Never rated Vettori, thought he was a very average spin bowling, for a start the guy could hardly even spin the ball.
He got his wickets just through the sheer volume of overs he’d bowl, his strike rate and average was rather poor.
I’d have John Bracewell any day over Vettori.
Also when the guy was batting you’d swear he had wet noodles for wrists.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/content/player/36306.html
http://www.espncricinfo.com/newzealand/content/player/38710.html
The bowling averages are quite similar though Vettori just shades Bracewell on all but Vettoris batting sees hims through however this selection is based on not knowing what the pitch will do…if its a spinning pitch then maybe Oram would get dropped for Bracewell (and then S Boock would get the apology 🙂 )
Bracewell bowed against far better players and was more of an attacking spin bowler.
You felt Bracewell could get wickets every time he bowled, while Vertori’s best hope was to just bore them out.
I had C Cairns over Oram as well.
Yeah those are good arguments and not all my decisions are based on numbers but in Vettoris case over 360 test wickets and six centuries are pretty compelling
The thing with Cairns is there’s quite a bit of…shall we say baggage…so I wouldn’t be comfortable having him in the team when he could break down with injury, possibly play through the injury but choose not to, fake an injury and then that stuff with Indian cricket and Lou Vincent and I’m happy to go with Orams better batting
Which the means the bowling line up of Hadlee, Bond, Boult, Vettori and Oram all have their strengths and differences
I mean you survive Bonds right arm 145kph plus in swingers and then you have Hadlees line and length (and under rated bouncer) or Boults left arm in swingers you get to the other end and now you have to try to score of Vettoris accuracy or Orams natural pitch of a 2 meter frame
Shes not a bad team
Always rated the likes of Bracewell and C Cairns for their gimme the fucking ball, I’ll get him out attitude.
I think I have that covered with Hadlee and Bolt 🙂
“I’d have John Bracewell any day over Vettori.”
+100%
360 wickets and six centuries are pretty compelling reasons for me
I couldn’t leave Cairns out.
He kind of had that winning mentality which I think many New Zealand cricketers have lacked over the years. In the age of Warne, Waughs and McGrath, he was possibly the only Kiwi who may have got a start in a hypothetical combined Trans-Team. Certainly he was the only one the Channel Nine team gave any respect to.
I would probably put McCullum ahead of Turner as well, based solely on his late career form (even though he did not open in Tests). They are polar opposites in style. McCullum was a fire cracker where anything could happen at any stage. Turner was a methodical bore-fest of a player.
Need Henry, Hosking and Key in there to keep Richardson company.
Bert Sutcliffe instead of Richardson (by a mile)
JR Reid ahead of Oram as the all-rounder (Reid’s offspin gives another slow bowler) – or alternatively Jeremy Coney, who could also be captain.
Jack Cowie ahead of Boult (much as I like Trent’s bowling)
Boult as 12th man or Bruce Taylor (terrific seamer and explosive hitter)
Vettori would have to be the young version before his first back injury – a wonderful bowler then with a more open-chested delivery and more spin, but he was pretty average after his back injuries..
They are fantastic players (especially JR Reid) but I figure the cut off point had to be around the time I first started watching otherwise its simply a matter of inputting stats in only, stats are a good place to start (or as tie breaker) but they don’t tell the full story
Agreed with Vettori but in my game plan hes there to tie an end down and build pressure, along with the natural bounce of Oram, to let Hadlee and Bond do their thing also 6 centuries batting down the order isn’t anything to sniff at
Boult gets in purely for variety reasons as a left arm pace bowler , I mean hes not bad but being left arm it’d be just something else for the batsmen to have to adjust to
Best all time test team
1. G Turner
2. S Dempster
3. K Williamson (C)
4. M Crowe
5. B Sutcliffe
6. J Reid
7. B McCullum (WK)
8. Sir R Hadlee
9. S Bond
10. C Grimmet
11. T Boult
Not sure we can count number 10 🙂 but otherwise a more than handy team
Some comments are being removed, I’m not sure whats happened or if I’ve inadvertently broken some sort of rule?
Just released a few comments, PR. Not sure what happened. New IP address, maybe? That or misspelling a name or email are the usual triggers.
I thought maybe there were some hard core Chris Cairns fans not liking what I’m posting 🙂
You have the wrong Cairns.
Lance was much more fun to watch, particularly in the one day game.
Against Australia in 1983 he got 50 runs in about 12 minutes, including 6 sixes in 10 balls.
Put Lance Cairns in somewhere, anywhere.
Sorry but his numbers nowhere near make him eligible for a position on my team
Also hes a major creepy sleaze (according to my wife)
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/12/blood-and-guts-and-sex-that-s-the-way-to-go-simon-bridges.html
Is there are NZ politician who mis-judges more than Simon Bridges??????? I don’t think so. What a completely inappropriate thing to say. I don’t want to know the leader of the opposition likes to watch sex on tv………………………more information than I need to know…..
# keep Simon
“Expense controversy
On 10 June 2010 after the release of ministerial credit card records, Jones admitted to having used a Crown credit card for personal expenditure, but assured the public that he had reimbursed the Crown in full for the expenditure. Later that day Jones admitted that he had used the card to hire pornographic films at hotels while on ministerial business.[11] The credit card record showed that he chartered an executive jet for $1200, which he claimed was due to bad weather which forced a change in his schedule.[12]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_Jones
Watching sex on TV never did this guy any harm….
Read what he said again.
I think Shane watching porn was bloody awlful as well. Worse than Simon.
Jones didn’t win the Labour leadership battle, Cunliffe did and Robertson came second. A lot of feminist women in the Labour Party, and I don’t imagine many voting for Jonsie.
Now there’s the envy of the rich that National are always going on about.
I’d agree with “the envy of the rich that National are always going on about”. I don’t think it exists as much as those who are motivated by possessions would say.
Who really wants a vineyard in the south? Just as I didn’t detect envy in what Bridges said. I thought I heard instead a rather gentle jibe at John Key.
I did listen, rather than read the transcript. I certainly am not going out of my way to defend the captain of the NCC, but the video ref might find him not out with the benefit of the doubt on this one. 🙂
I’m rather struck by this Joe Hildebrand essay. As with any political opinion piece I understand not everyone will agree with everything being said here; but on my first read I bookmarked it and came back later for another pass at it.
It’s not long:
http://europechronicler.com/joe-hildebrand-the-west-is-falling-and-its-all-our-fault/
And there in lies the problem with Western liberal democracy.
How about, instead of electing people to govern us and to tell us what to do and why we can’t have what’s actually needed we stand up and govern ourselves?
Maybe then we’ll be able to stop the failings of dictators be they ever so democratically elected.
Representative democracy doesn’t allow us the choice. It empowers a few to have that choice and they’re the ones that are implementing policies that don’t work. Policies that are designed by the businesses and corporations for their own benefit.
Yes it was.
Question: Did the people of Europe actually have a say in the creation of the EU or was it all driven from the top?
The only ‘Western’ values that have been exported are those of exploitation and theft so it really shouldn’t be surprising that the rest of the world views our stated values with scepticism.
That works wonderfully – when nobody’s lying.
A framework that allows people to choose their own governments, be judged fairly by their peers and have their individual freedoms respected and protected…
Yeah, and its a friggin disaster unless you have a well educated, scientifically literate middle class. That took centuries to happen in the West. And it was helped along by enormous amounts of wealth looted from the non-Western world, that enabled the elites to trickle some down to their own downtrodden to keep them just happy and educated enough to serve the cause of empire.
Nowhere in the developing world has so called ‘democracy’ worked well. It has only worked well in countries after they became wealthy, and not before.
Case in point is India vs China. What country has performed better on almost all indices of economic growth, literacy, human happiness, life expectancy, and social well being? Google it.
Of course the West loves to thrust ‘democracy’ prematurely on shit-holes around the world – in order that they remain feudal disorganized shit-holes ripe for exploitation. The West fears most those strong secular states that adopt modern science and technology, eschew backward feudal superstitions, and who can stand up to the West. That is why the West supports the Syrian opposition. That is why they hate China, and love India.
That is, the West fears most those who adopt the scientific method first developed in the West, in order to stand up to the West.
“Justice Winkelmann will replace retiring Chief Justice Dame Sian Elias, who is leaving the role in March next year, having reached the compulsory retirement age of 70 for judges.”
What a pity USA didn’t retire their Supreme Court Judges at 70.
Hungarians are over Orban and his autocracy, but Soros…
Thousands of enraged demonstrators, during the fourth night of angry protests over the past week, marched to the headquarters of Hungarian state television in Óbuda, in the hope that the taxpayer-funded Fidesz propaganda machine that pretends to be a public broadcaster would allow for the demands of the opposition to be read on air.
[…]
Remarkably, but not surprisingly, the taxpayer-funded television station refused to give air time to ten democratically elected Hungarian MP’s who wanted to read the following in a live broadcast:
Meanwhile shortly before 23:00 Budapest time, MP’s still inside the public broadcasters headquarters called on all 66 opposition MP’s to come to the headquarters as well. At the same time, police used tear gas against the first line of demonstrators, while a growing number of protesters called for a push towards storming the building.
http://hungarianfreepress.com/2018/12/16/chaos-erupts-at-hungarian-state-media-headquarters-as-demonstrators-demand-air-time/
Our Minister of Finance released this yesterday to explain the headline budget categories leading into 2019:
All this talk recently about what we can about men thinking they can hurt, rape and murder with impunity well heres part of the problem
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/109399536/man-who-used-martial-arts-to-flip-waikato-cop-injuring-him-sentenced-to-home-detention
Attacks cop, sentenced to home detention
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/108969105/man-who-injured-auckland-judge-sentenced-to-community-work
Breaks judges wrist, community work
Maybe if government passed down the word to judges to start sending people who do violent acts to prison, if parole had to be earned rather than given, if multiple acts of crimes were added up then maybe we might be able to start having a talk but if government won’t even take violent seriously then is it any surprise men think they can get away with it, especially when society (in the form of government) allows them to
Yarp send them to prison and the problem goes away. Not the brightest idea there.
No, send them to prison then they arn’t out on the streets. Send them to prison and the message from the state is violence won’t be tolerated. Send them to prison and make parole dependent on rehab and training.
Making parole hard to get is silly. Parole allows for monitoring and conditions once the person has been released with the hope of better re-integration. If they complete their full sentence then the state has no strings on them whatsoever.
” If they complete their full sentence then the state has no strings on them whatsoever.”
Ask Stewart Wilson if thats the case, the state can put restrictions on anyone if they choose to
Only in such extreme cases.
So who decides whats extreme or not.
Make part of release conditions monitoring, education, training, whatever for people who commit crimes of violence
The principle of justice involved is that once you have served your sentence then you have paid your debt to society. Being a fanboy for Collins though i can see why you wouldn’t care about human rights.
The problem is some of these people aren’t receiving sentences proportionate to their crimes and the victims aren’t receiving justice
If that is what you think then argue for more severe sentences.
Our problem is the significant levels of domestic violence and the homicides that occur, even though the rate is dropping.
So it’s out of sight out of mind – a bit like sending plastic to Thailand – maybe the crims can go pick up plastic while outside on the inside.
Did you not see this part: “parole dependent on rehab and training.”
Its not out of sight out of mind but it is protecting society from these people and encouraging them to make something of their lives while incarcerated
I just can’t see how, on one hand, we want to stop violence towards women yet instead of keeping society safe, for a little while, we let them out
Someone attacks a cop and they get home detention, what message does that send
“…but it is protecting society from these people…”
Mate these people are you and your mates from work, from school, neighbors and relatives. There is no them and us unless you don’t identify as a male.
I can quite honestly tell you that they are not my mates, they may be the people you identify with but I don’t.
Of course, how unsurprising.
What utter kak
Yes there is an atrocious amount of male violence in NZ, but to try and guilt trip an entire sex over it is incredibly silly
Your sentence says it all – there is no guilt tripping because it is the truth as uncomfortable as you may find it.
The point is I don’t find it uncomfortable.
I find it disgusting that a tiny % of men commit violence against both women and men.
The vast majority of women is behind closed doors and curtains, by their partners, basically because they are scum and know full well it’s wrong, so it isn’t exactly on display
The fact that I am a male doesn’t make me somehow culpable or colluding in it.
And to say that it is somehow down to just men to fix it all, because they happen to be the same sex is dumb
Given the most likely people to know about this shit is the abused friends I would think it is extremely stupid to think that it is just men that should be highlighted to call it out.
It is everyone, what ever sex they are
Everyone includes the subset ‘men’. So what exactly is the problem again?
. Actually Chris I agree with you.
I was at the vigil for grace and found the talk of toxic masculinity unhelpful, even though I am a feminist.
We have to understand who these violent offenders are so we have a better chance of doing something to change it.
Most men who are physically violent have come from abusive backgrounds and have personality disorders such as anti social, boarderline or narcissistic. They are often substance abusers.
On a completely personal level when I was a much younger woman I worked with some really sexist men. But I felt completely safe with them and they never crossed a boundary, although they may have held a door open for me.
I have also come across progressive men who support feminist causes who I felt emotionally abused by.
It is a psychological approach we need to apply to solve the problem. Not a social/cultural one
Why are some men so full of hatred and want to hurt women?
Maybe we need to look at the Mothers and why/how they raise these violent Men?
The insinuations it is an issue for all men do to deal with, and the onus is on them to stop it.
A big part of the problem is cultural. Culture is a system of shared meaning. We have some particularly toxic male culture in this country. The only way to change something shared is collectively.
Yes all men. You said no! Its everyone. Everyone includes all men.
No shit
That is because I mean everyone including men. I haven’t said otherwise, so not sure what you are trying to imply.
But the insinuations that it is JUST A MEN’S issue they have to deal with, and it is down to men to fix it borders on the irresponsible.
Again. It should be a message to EVERYONE who learns about it, to speak up. Not targeted at men only.
No matter what sex they are, no matter how rich (because it is just as likely), how poor, how much of a shitty upbringing the subjects had.
Edit: Actually just as likely should probably be “does happen”. As the financial side of things seems to exacerbate the problem
You must have hung out with a lot of arseholes Marty?
Ever join in on the “action”? are you feeling a bit guilty in your old age?
Feel the need to do penance?
“men thinking they can hurt, rape and murder”.
The men might not be thinking. “The failure of “top-down” control systems in the prefrontal cortex to modulate aggressive acts that are triggered by anger provoking stimuli appears to play an important role.”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4176893/
“Make part of release conditions monitoring, education, training, whatever for people who commit crimes of violence”. Is there good evidence this affects the top-down control systems ?
Good comment.
The development of humans in the animal behavours sense didn’t automatically become extinct due to the near instant developement of modern society.
Oxytocin and Vasopressin biology in regards to some DV and some sex crimes is very interesting, and an eye opener for people who have experienced how biology controls behavours, but never could explain things due to the social construct that everything we do is intentional.
Actually the evidence is pretty discouraging in terms of what works with treatment for violent offenders.
Solka I honestly do appreciate your contribution on the standard but I have to disagree with you about changing toxic male culture. Of course it is a good idea to do that but I don’t believe it addresses the problem of violent male offenders and the research that teaching these men to respect women more shows it to be a very weak intervention
Thank you so much Grafton gully. Finally someone is looking to and posting stuff on the science of aggression. Very interesting article
And they blame the indigenous people for this – bloody kali yuga. The Amazon is under so many threats it is scary.
“Approximately 8,000 barrels of crude oil have spilled into the Amazon, and the Peru State oil company Petroperu says its because local indigenous people severed the pipeline. According to a company statement, members of the Mayuriaga community in the Loreto region first damaged the pipeline and then interfered with the technicians trying to repair it.”
https://inhabitat.com/oil-spill-in-the-peruvian-amazon/
WHO in the hell cranked Trotter up. To be fair I find it difficult to read his murmuring but the comments left me gob smacked. Someone advised Prime Minister Ardern to “open your eyes my love” Really!!.
Where was this report?
Ed. Chris Trotter article at http://www.interest.co.nz. Some of the comments singularly unenlightened from the knuckle draggers.
Sometimes Trotter is a caricature of White Male Leftie Boomer.
I think your problem is that you can’t handle long-form journalism, ie more than 50 words!
This is interesting from a WMLB:
That the organised criminals controlling the New Zealand drug trade – especially the scourge of methamphetamine – are, overwhelmingly, wealthy Pakeha, is a fact too frightening for their middle-class neighbours to acknowledge.
https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-salvation-armys-latest-report.html
Could it be that this sort of finger-pointing comes uncomfortably close to such as you?
I think your problem is that you use the term “journalism” far too loosely.
I think your problem is that you are an over-active vinegarish critic lacking sufficient humour to be effective. Having a lemon drink every day seems quite good for cleaning the tubes, but it is even better with a spot of honey.
Sometimes?
Open Mike this morning? 18/12
I wonder if after this helpful New Zealander was helping in Australia with clearing a track, that politicians might remember how we have been a big part of their advancement and are no more prone to criminality than they are. After all Ned Kelly is one of their heroes. Please stop hating Kiwis and treating us as 4th class citizens – and let our people go and stay. You know what I mean!
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/378502/great-grandmother-sees-funny-side-in-getting-lost-in-australian-bush
There you go some of our Aotearoa sea food is like gold over seas MPI need to be vigilant and the public need to dob in people rading our fisheries and fishes
The Ministry for Primary Industries said it was at least the sixth occasion in the last five years that overseas crew from merchant ships had been caught breaking fishing rules during a stopover in Bluff.
This was despite the ministry providing crew members with the rules around the legal take and size limit of shellfish.
Ministry spokesman Garreth Jay said the most recent incident in November involved four crew members who were caught near Ocean Beach at Bluff with a total of 91 black foot pāua, 82 of which were undersized, and 42 yellow foot pāua, of which 26 were undersized. Link Below ka kite ano . P.S We do want the mokopunas to experince the joys of gathering sea food.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/109418722/merchant-ship-crew-fined-for-plundering-paua-stocks-in-bluff
Eco Maori tau toko Vanuatu action to sue big carbon companys who are burning OUR future mokopunas right to a happy healthy future
Vanuatu threatens to sue biggest carbon energy producers The power of the courts
If Vanuatu sues it will add to a growing trend of climate change litigation.
Before 2014, only 12 countries had climate law suits — by March 2017, nearly 900 such cases had been filed in 24 countries, according to the UN Environment Programme.
“There’s just a tremendous urgency to take action now, so environmental groups, citizens, states and cities are taking to the courts to try and force action,” says Michael Burger, executive director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School.
The majority of climate change lawsuits have been filed in the US.
“Governments are almost always the defendants in climate change cases,” according to a 2017 UN Environment global review of climate change litigation.
In 2015, activist group Our Children’s Trust filed a law suit in the state of Oregon against the federal government. “I am suing the US government for taking direct action that puts my generation disproportionately at risk from climate change, and violating my constitutional rights to life, liberty and property,” Vic Barrett, a 19-year-old American university student and member of Our Children’s Trust, told CNN at the COP24 climate talks.
That year, attorneys for the federal government filed a motion to dismiss the case.
Among the defense’s arguments were that the law suit “presents a generalized attack on government action and inaction regarding climate change, rather than a challenge to specifically identifiable violations of law that can be concretely rectified by a favorable decision.” Links below ka kite ano
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/17/world/vanuatu-cop-climate-change-intl/index.html
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
Aftre shonky and his money men m8 joyce have inplanted the culture of Tangata /People are just some thing to siphon profts off who cares if there actions cause great stress and harm even death. 1 Winz 2 ACC 3 Housing Corp 4 Justice System 5 Health system 6 Education System 7 Maori wealth has dived under 9 years of his corporate way of running Aotearoa. All of these have put millions of people in hardship and stress I know Eco Maori is still being treated like DIRT NOW my UTU will be REKA.
ACC spying: ‘It’s nothing less than warfare’
At some point somebody with intelligence needs to stand back and say this is crazy. This is insane, we’re spending all this money and the guy is mad as hell – what do we need to do to fix this?”
As for Stryder, his war with ACC continues. To date, he has had 16 reviews of ACC decisions and applied to appeal three review decisions in the district court. He has been barred from communications with ACC case managers and trespassed from dispute resolution service Fairway Resolution Limited premises That kind of figure is made up … it’s not a hard figure, it’s speculative.”
Sara said ACC needed to learn how to better deal with people like Stryder.
“Like a number of people who have had unhappy dealings with ACC, they get mad as hell and that can lead to … nothing less than warfare.”
ACC defended the figure, saying the value of its integrity unit “intervention” was calculated based on claim history modelling.
In the financial year to June, ACC made 802,099 payments totalling $131m for medical assessments.
ACC used lawyers for about 10 per cent of review hearings due to “legal complexity, the precedence value of the issue, indications the client intends to progress the matter to court, and the workload of our people”.
Sara said hiring lawyers for reviews only inflamed the situation and put claimants in an unfair position.
“Once you’ve got a lawyer involved, every case has to have a lawyer.The financial stress, severe back pain, insomnia and challenging of ACC caused his marriage to break down and he suffered from anxiety and depression, he said.
“I hate it when ACC don’t believe you. I’m going to have to keep battling with them; I believe it’s totally criminal behaviour.”
ACC BY THE NUMBERS*:
1.98 million new claims received
79,648 new weekly compensation claims received
$69m – spending on injury prevention
$1.7m – spending on treatment and emergency travel
$740m – spending on care and support
$1.48m – spending on financial compensation and vocational rehabilitation
$740m – spending on operating costs
$40 billion – size of ACC’s investment portfolio to cover future claims
$3.5m – amount ACC earned in interest on its investment
99,500 – number of claims declined annually (disputed by some lawyers and advocates who say the figure could be as high as 300,000)
7616 – number of applications for reviews of ACC claim decisions*
$12.2m – spending on review services to FairWay Resolution**
(Source: ACC Annual Report 2018 and ACC Media Adviser)
* For the financial year to June 2018
** For the financial year to June 2017. links below ka kite ano
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/108759109/acc-spying-its-nothing-less-than-warfare
Read the comments to .
Eco Maori could see that wahine and maori have been getting a underarm bowl as of late. I tau toko Cliff Curtis word’s as I have seen maori diserpear off Aotearoa screen quite quickly in the last decade I have voiced my concerns on this Phenomenon.
Its is also Very good that Nga puhi iwi are calling for more wahine to be involved in there treaty settlement process I will not com anymore on there settlement as Eco Maori does not know the facts and my Iwi is were I should & will put my nose in
Cliff Curtis calls for women, Māori leadership in NZ film industry
He said he formed Whenua Films with directors, Taika Waititi and Ainsley Gardiner, because the Māori film industry was going through a pretty rough time.
“Māori content could not get through the funding agencies, could not get through the broadcasters, could not get through the distributors unless we had somebody above us, and literally speaking we looked above us [and] there weren’t any Māori. We were it.
“If you have Māori content that you are exploring, and you are exploiting … whether it be a character or whether it be an aspect of your content, then partner with Māori.
Ka kite ano links below
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/376017/cliff-curtis-calls-for-women-maori-leadership-in-nz-film-industry
Kia ora Newshub Paddy many thanks for the story of tompson and clark for spying on kiwis and IWI to what a big mess I wont say it Paddy. The imagration process is getting some checks and balances to stop employers ripping employes off the problem I have is money was good Dairyfarming and there were quite a few maori in dairy farming a few years back as we love working on the whenua .Now the money is crap and maori have been pushed out of dairyfarming show me how many maori dairy farmers made it into share milking not many if any because shonky flooded the dairyfarm workers market with Immigrints.
That development in Coromandale will lift the prospects of the locals E hoa one has to rembmer to be tact full so as not to put some peoples nose out of joint Eco want’s to our maori leaders in power a long time ka pai.
Yes Mike and Samatha Eco Maori is very pleased that national is not in power we would have never been able to roll them out if they had another term with the tec they would have had at the finger tip’s to con people into beleving them/vote for them
Lloyd Megen is a strong kind wahaine who see the big picture all the best to Harry and Megen. I did see the story on Nigella Lawson letting the TV networks know that air brushing her pictures is not on as it put a fulse image of her out there and puts a lot of pressure on some wahine to starve them selves to look slim .
I would like to try a cut of that wagyu Japanese beef cow they have to be treated like a pet lamp to get the best out of them they get the best treatment in Japan.
Ka kite ano
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.