After “Super Storm Sandy” struck New York, gaining wall to wall media coverage.
After the deadly tornado struck North Auckland, (following the track of the deadly tornado that struck the same area last year).
After last Tuesday’s “Super Storm” Bopha devastated the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines, (Despite Super Storm Bopha being “unprecedented” that close to the equator, unlike Sandy this terrible tragedy barely gained a mention in the local media, despite leaving hundreds dead and missing and an estimated 400,000 homeless.)
And due to hit about now, “Super Cyclone Evan” after killing ten people in Samoa is reportedly gaining strength and is bearing down on Fiji. Samoa was savaged by Evan on Thursday leaving four confirmed dead and eight people missing from fishing boats.
However unlike “Super Storm” Bopha, earlier in the week, “Super Cyclone”,Evan has gained the media’s attention here.
<blockquote>In an unusual speech to the nation, Tuilaepa told the largely Christian state that there was a time for every season, and that God balances all things.
“The most poignant concerns that are distressing world leaders at the moment are the disastrous changing weather patterns that will allow the occurrences of cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding and other disasters, which all emanates from man abusing the garden that God appointed him to tend, such as the mindless cutting of trees excessively warming the environment resulting in disasters not often experienced before,” he said.
He said deforestation near rivers and streams led to Samoa’s disaster.
“Likewise the extreme deforestation near rivers and streams which, consequently, now results in the loss of lives and the destruction of homes nearby due to flash floodings.” http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/8086706/Fiji-under-curfew-as-cyclone-arrives</blockquote>
Once is a coincidence, twice is a happenstance, three times is a conspiracy
Winston Churchill
As more energy is trapped in the system due to the Greenhouse effect, are these “Super Storms”, “Super Cyclones” and tornadoes to become regular events?
Storms, cyclones, and, tornado’s have for all of history been regular events, attaching the epithet ‘super’ to these weather events is the only thing that is ‘new’ about them…
In 1853 Dobson published a list of 24 Hurricanes from Pacific Island groups, Dobson and several subsequent records were cited in ‘Tropical Cyclones of the Pacific’, (Visher 1925), Visher lists ‘325’ Cyclones passing through the various island groups in the South Pacific,
The record includes Cyclones between 1789 and 1923.
A review of these sources and the data compilation for Western Samoa, (Puaga and LeFale 1988), has resulted in a list of 79 cyclones which have impacted Western Samoa between 1831 and 1990, the list indicated that more than 5 events with winds of 30 or more knots wind speed can be expected each decade….
Google= Probability andf recurrence of tropical cyclones in Western Samoa.
ict.sopac.org/VirLib/TR0106.pdf
Ps, The above is talking of cyclones that actually impact Western Samoa, there’s plenty more that miss which are not included….
So what happens when under the TPPA the U.S. guns and ammo manufacturers decide they’re being unfairly locked out of the NZ market by our relatively restrictive gun laws?
I think this kind of stereotyping is really beneath you, mickey. Non-neurotypical people are no more likely to commit violence than neurotypical people, and labelling all homicidal shooters as “crazy” is just a really good way to stop people taking the scarier parts of America’s gun culture seriously.
You say that, yet here you are rubbishing us for not having faith and trust in Key and his government.
See hs, when all the available facts contradict your beliefs but you continue to hold them, as you’re doing here and in the boot-camp thread and pretty much every time you post anywhere, that’s faith.
And in your case that faith is currently placed in Key and his govt. Pretend all you like, it’s here in black and white.
Apparently you have some facts about changes in gun law or gun importation/export post a potential TPPA care to share ?
My position is there is no evidence nor precedent to support your suggestion that the TPPA or indeed any FTA will lead to any change in gun law, access or importation into or out of NZ.
Given the facts, and the international precedents, the onus is on you to show that the weapons industry won’t have the investor-state provisions of the agreement at its disposal under the TPPA.
I may be wrong but I am pretty sure Australia hasn’t changed its gun laws in light of a free terade deal with the States. Neither has Britian for that matter.
The USA has free trade with 17 different countries all with varying gun laws. Going by this it would seem highly unlikely that we’d have to change ours.
Never mind the whole investor-state issue, never mind that companies will be able to sue NZ if we limit their rights to our markets, never mind what the tobacco companies are up to, and never mind applying the same logic to other industries.
higherstandard says it’s rubbish, despite having been totally schooled every time he has pretended to be an expert on the TPPA, so that’s that.
1) The agreements being made are confidential so you have no way of knowing what Key & Co. intend to sign us up for
2) The whole issue with the TPPA is that it allows foreign companies to seek damages from our government for any law that disadvantages them commercially. It is naive and shortsighted to assume that nothing will happen. As long as we are considering being a party to the TPPA then the sovereignty of our nation is at risk.
@FelixViper – good point. There are so many other nasty consequences of the TPPA that you are the first that I know of to question the guns/ammo issue. God help us if the Amercian gun lobby gets a foot in NZ. Could even force the arming of our police.
The way this government is going it won’t be long that our police are armed any way. They’ve already given the police more power and easier access to guns.
Are you in a position financially or otherwise to make good on your guarantee in the event you are wrong? The head of the Police union is constantly seeking the arming of our police (greater arming) which will require a change “to NZZ’s gun laws”. You may be safe in that the gun lobby (here and overseas) will funnel their message and drive through that organisation so it may never appear it was TPPA driven.
IF tobacco companies selling a product they admit harms and can kill people can sue for damages for not being allowed to have their brand on packets….
I saw Shearer on TV3 not too bad, no stutters as such. But what a dreamer he is. “The Leadership battle is well and truly over,” he says. “Labour had a good year”.
The Leadership battle is NOT over, and Labour had one of the worst years on record I say again. what a dreamer!!!
If that’s a good year for Labour wonder what a bad one looks like.
One after another shoocker from the NACT and sweet FA pinned on them either in the house or ouside it….Dreamer isn’t a word I’d use. Dellusional more like.
When Shearer obtained the leadership I hoped Labour was getting real person to front it rather than a politician, as has always been the case with the Greens.
Alas, with comments such as this and his bland, emptily verbose ‘statements’ carried on this blog Shearer is showing himself to be just another politician with no regard for or appreciation of the fact that his audience might have a shred of intelligence and views of their own rather than empty vessels to be filled with whatever he wants them to believe, even when he doesn’t believe it himself.
Not that I believe Cunliffe would be any better.
Shearer is possibly a good Manager -but never a Leader.
Not the same thing.
Very rare to find both.
Clark was great at both, as she had Heather alongside too.
But perhaps she overmanaged finally.
Shearer saying the leadership issue is over, once again, he is not accpeting the membership’s
wishes with regard to leadership,there are many members and potential voters wanting and expecting a genuine election for leadership in Feb 13, his stance will increase the mana and greens vote in 2014.
Shearer say’s ‘I know nothing, I see nothing, I hear nothing’
His ignorance is bliss.
Something else i noticed during the segment… Kathryn Ryan appeared to be getting her hackles up a bit when both Hooton and mike had a go at Nick Smith. It made me wonder if there is a bit of a personal connection between them.
I used to respect Mike Williams a lot. But somtime over the past few years he seems to have turned into a ‘yes’ man. Says just whatever the current Leadership team wants him to say and I worry about his grwoing policy vacuum – if he has a spine I’m not seeing or hearing it.
Occasionally Williams has taken it to Hooton and humiliated him. The pity of it is that most of the time all he does is, as you say, make a point of finding common ground with Hooton.
Williams is still far better than Josie Pagani, although occasionally even she has taken it to Hooton—and triumphed. Hooton is not impressive when his statements are challenged, so it’s a pity that his opponents so rarely challenge him.
Hooton always says same old rubbish week in week out . lets have debate He is the only one who gets anything out of disscussion.. re just picks up another cheque from RNZ
What was slightly enlightening was Williams joining in with Hooten to bag the Greens Russell Norman,
Hooten, hardly a full to overflowing suitcase of intellectual rigor was again taking to Russell over the Greens willingness to print money to spend into the New Zealand economy according to ‘the little fat toad’, (as opposed to His mate Blubber Boy,’the big fat toad’), ”No Government can print money unless interest rates are zero”, unquote,
What really gets me when such ‘comment’ is allowed to be repeated over and over as Nine to Noon gives Hooten free rein to do, without allowing Russell Norman the courtesy of a reply is that ‘what’s her face’ the presenter and even the pathetic Williams didn’t demand of Hooten a factual basis for such an assertion,
Perhaps ‘the little fat toad’ should have taken more notice of both the US and just held Japanese elections, the Prez quoted during His election campaign openly stated that each month He will print the monies needed and every month until there is ‘a recovery’ He will cause the same to happen,
The next Prime Minister of Japan elected as late as yesterday is promising to do exactly the same thing…
I endorse everything you’ve said about the way Williams, Pagani, Peter Harris (remember HIM?) and a host of other utterly ineffective “commentators from the left” have simply sat back and let Hooton say anything he wants.
Only two people ever challenged him strongly: Laila Harre and Sue Bradford.
Hell yeah ! We’ve no redundancy if stn cross cable goes down and Telecom and partners are taking the piss with pricing on a cable that’s not even fully utilised currently.
Competition is desperately needed to overcome our small population/bottom of the world factors.
More common sense agenda setting from the greens.
As for the actual policy, they’re suggesting taking a cornerstone stake in a second international fibre-optic link, to ensure both competition and redundancy in case of failure. This is priced at $100 million, but as they point out, that’s just 0.8% of the amount National has wasted on its “Roads of National Significance”. national would no doubt complain that investment should be left to the market, but the market has failed to provide this basic infrastructure, therefore its the government’s job to step in – just as it did for electricity and railways in their day.
Secondly, they’re pushing changes to government procurement, to push them towards local providers for IT services, and to use open standards and open source software where possible. Finally, they want to reverse Nationals’ proposed change to the Patents Bill, and outlaw software patents.
I know that you’re being facetious but that would actually be the best option. Selling Telecom means that we’ve lost ~$16b dollars due to the dead weight loss of profit just from Telecom. Adding competition means that we’re now adding in even more costs as well as more of the dead weight loss from profit.
News of the Day in a Moronic Way
The Panel, National Radio, Monday 17 December 2012
Jim Mora: What else have you got for us, Richard?
Richard Langstone: Danny Boyle has turned down a knighthood.
Mora: Oh yes. Maybe he’s hanging out to be Lord Boyle.
Barry Corbett: Ho ho ho ho ho!
Langstone: He he hee heeee heeeee!
Mora: Lord Boyle! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Langstone: It’s not a surprise, really, though, is it? He’s from Lancashire, so he would have thought, I don’t want any of your soft southern honours! A hee heee heeee heeee.
Corbett: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Mora: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Thus a serious moral and political point is reduced to nothing by the lofty thinkers on The Panel.
The best reason for anyone listening to either Nine to Noon or Afternoons with Jim Moron these days is to gain a understanding of just how badly ‘dumbed down’ the political/social discourse has become in New Zealand,
The best defence i can mount on behalf of RadioNZ National is that i got spoiled by Kim Hill….
Um, to be a semantic bore, the reason he could kill that many people was his access to firearms.
His actual motives are unknown. The Secret Service did note in their 2002 report into school shootings that a quarter of shooters in the study had at least a partial motive of getting attention or recognition.
Oh, and that 4/5ths apparently had some sort of grievance before they went berserk.
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Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
New Zealand First are celebrating the announcement of an investment of $3.5 million into five new trapping devices. These are a range of bait and trap devices, all designed to be left unattended for long periods of time. NZ First conservation spokesperson Jenny Marcroft says that this latest development will ...
Darroch Ball, Spokesperson for Police New Zealand First is proud to have delivered on a key Coalition Agreement commitment to adding 1800 new frontline police, with the graduation of Recruit Wing 332 in Porirua today. Law and Order Spokesperson Darroch Ball says increasing police numbers and boosting their resources was one ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Conservation New Zealand First is proud to announce the Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has allocated $3.5 million to develop innovative predator control approaches which will reduce the need for repeated 1080 use. $19.5 million of PGF funding was announced for Predator Free 2050 Limited in February ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has welcomed the first reading of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation 2021 (APEC 2021) Bill in Parliament today. The temporary bill supports New Zealand’s security preparations for hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum ...
Clayton Mitchell, Spokesperson for Consumer Affairs The ‘wheel clamping’ Bill that will cap clamper fees to $100 passed its third readinginParliament today. New Zealand First welcomes The Land Transport (Wheel Clamping) Amendment Bill to combat predatory wheel clamping behaviour in what is currently a largely unregulated business. Cowboy clampers are: gouging ...
Jenny Marcroft, Spokesperson for Health New Zealand First welcomes the passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Bill through its first reading in Parliament. “Today’s progress takes serious action on the mental health and addiction crisis the country is facing,” says New Zealand First Health Spokesperson Jenny Marcroft. “The re-establishment ...
The Government will fund the bulk of the cost of a rural water supply for the Ohakea community affected by PFAS contamination, Environment Minister David Parker announced today at a meeting of local residents. This new water scheme will provide a reliable and clean source of drinking water to the ...
I have had the opportunity to be briefed on the details of the volcanic eruption of Whakaari/White Island, off the coast of Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. The eruption happened at 2.11pm today. It continues to be an evolving situation. We know that there were a number of tourists ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare have today confirmed initial Government support of $100,000 for communities affected by the severe weather that swept across the South Island and lower North Island over the weekend. The contribution will be made to Mayoral relief funds across the ...
New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, Tessa Temata, died in Palmerston North over the weekend, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today. Ms Temata, 52, had recently returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. "On behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, we extend ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today announced construction is underway on Wellington commuter rail upgrades which will mean more frequent services and fewer breakdowns. The upgrades include converting the Trentham to Upper Hutt single track section to a double track, with a new signalling system, upgraded stations and level crossings, and ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark and Minister for Climate Change James Shaw have announced the release of a Defence Climate Change Implementation Work Plan, titled Responding to the Climate Crisis: An Implementation Plan. The plan sets out a series of recommendations based on the 2018 New Zealand Defence Assessment, The ...
A medium-scale adverse event has been declared for the South Canterbury district, which will see up to $50,000 in funding made available to support farming communities which have been significantly affected by recent heavy rain and flooding in the area, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Two weeks of solid rain ...
Thank you Professor Juliet Gerrard and your team for the comprehensive and extremely helpful report and recommendations. Thank you too to all the stakeholders and interested parties who have contributed ideas and thinking to it. “Making best practice, standard practice” is a great framework for change and the action plan ...
The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the release today of a pivotal report for dealing with waste. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealandreport, released by her Chief Science Advisor ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Ethnic communities will be able to plan and deliver more community initiatives thanks to an increase in Government funding, Minister for Ethnic Communities Hon Jenny Salesa said today. “Ensuring Aotearoa New Zealand is a place we can all be proud to call home has been a key priority of our ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
The next phase of the Pike River Re-entry project is underway, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry Andrew Little says. “Fresh air will be pumped into the Pike River Mine drift this week, following acceptance of the plan for re-entry beyond the 170m barrier by New Zealand’s independent health and ...
New Zealand consumers will have greater certainty about their insurance cover when they need to make claims as a result of proposed government changes. “Insurance is vitally important in supporting consumers and businesses to be financially resilient when unexpected events happen,” Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Kris Faafoi said. ...
The Crown is providing an opportunity for the hapu of Ngāpuhi to rebuild its framework from the ground up for collective negotiations to deal with its historical Treaty claims, Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations Andrew Little and Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta announced today. The Crown is also ...
A Bill enabling referendums to be held with the 2020 General Election has passed its third reading. Justice Minister Andrew Little says the Act is important for upholding the integrity of New Zealand’s electoral process. “The Government has committed to holding a referendum on legalising recreational cannabis at the next ...
The first release of public information on the two referendums to be held at next year’s General Election was made today with an informative new Government website going live. Additionally, the draft Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill has been released, showing the strict controls on cannabis that will apply if ...
The Government is taking action to protect New Zealand from foreign interference in our elections by banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament this afternoon and passed under urgency. “There’s no need for anyone other than New ...
Governments and tech companies are holding a two-day workshop, hosted by YouTube/Google in Wellington, to test the Christchurch Call Shared Crisis Response Protocol. The workshop aims to refine and strengthen the response in the event of a terrorist attack with online implications. Companies, governments, civil society experts and NGOs will ...
The new independent Cancer Control Agency has formally opened today, delivering on the Government’s plan to improve cancer care in New Zealand. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Health David Clark marked the occasion by announcing the membership of the Advisory Council that will be supporting ...
Small businesses who deal with government departments are set to be paid faster and have improved cash flow as a result, under a new strategy released today. The Government is backing recommendations from the Small Business Council (SBC) and has agreed to implement three initiatives immediately to support business and ...
The Education and Training Bill 2019, introduced in Parliament today, proposes the biggest education changes in decades and is an important step towards improving success for all our learners, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. “The Bill’s rewrite of education legislation is long overdue. Indeed one Education Act, parts of which ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio will travel to Bali to represent New Zealand at the 12th Bali Democracy Forum that will be held on the 5-6 December. “The Forum is a valuable opportunity for Asia-Pacific countries to share experiences and best practice in building home-grown democracy and fostering ...
We don’t normally see these eruptions coming, no matter how much we would like to. Many systems are already ‘primed’ for such events, but the triggers are poorly understood, writes Shane Cronin of the University of Auckland.As of Monday night five people have been confirmed dead, 18 had been rescued ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shane Cronin, Professor of Earth Sciences, University of Auckland Five people have been confirmed dead, 23 have been rescued and several remain unaccounted for after a sudden volcanic eruption on Whakaari/White Island off the east coast of New Zealand. The island is ...
One person is dead, 23 have been rescued and potentially two dozen people are unaccounted for on Whakaari/White Island, after it erupted on Monday. ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters are to be commended for their leadership on the Upper North Island port issue, Waterfront 2029 Spokesperson Michael Goldwater said today. The Prime Minister today announced that ...
In partnership with the JR McKenzie Trust and University of Otago, Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft has today released the annual Child Poverty Monitor at childpoverty.org.nz which shows more bold and sustainable action is needed. ...
Today’s child poverty figures , revealing that nearly 150,000 children are living in material hardship in New Zealand, show the need for tax relief says the Taxpayers’ Union . ...
Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) welcomes the 2019 Child Poverty Monitor report , and says more can be done to help families who have need of welfare assistance. ...
A rescue operation is under way on Whakaari/White Island in the Bay of Plenty, with reports of up to 20 people injured, some critical.What’s going on?Whakaari/White Island, New Zealand’s most active cone volcano, located 48km off the eastern coast of the Bay of Plenty, is erupting. Large plumes of steam ...
Auckland bus operators are enraged at the inconvenience to passengers affected by continued bus driver strike action. Even those operators not directly affected by strikes are appalled at the behaviour of First Union and Tramways Union and their ...
The publication of the Child Poverty Monitor 2019, released today, is a reminder of the need to accelerate efforts to lift our children / tamariki out of poverty. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniela Kaleva, Associate Head Research and Scholarship, Australian Institute of Music Review: Farnace, composed by Vivaldi, Pinchgut Opera When a performance of Farnace was cancelled at the theatre of Ferrara after the artistic failure of Vivaldi’s opera Siroe re di Persia in ...
OPINION: In the fifth part of the series with our partners at Flick Electric Co to help you make better energy choices, Flick’s Nikki Cockburn breaks down the sources of our electricity.So we know that regardless of which power company we’re with, the electricity we use is at the mercy ...
The recent accident near Kaikoura, where two Malaysian children and their parents were killed in a head-on collision with a truck, was easily preventable, says the car review website dogandlemon.com . ...
Former Auditor-General Martin Matthews is petitioning Parliament to reopen his case, claiming MPs "held a gun to his head" to force his resignation. ...
Auckland Council recently announced a citywide food scrap collection scheme that will be kicking off in 2021. Most of us already know the main gist of composting, but what’s happening to this waste? What will I have to pay? And can I opt out if I don’t need it?New Zealanders ...
Central and local government, including Auckland Council, have been debating the future of the Ports of Auckland but there seems to be something missing in the debate - how much more greenhouse gases will Aotearoa emit if we move the port from the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW Westpac can expect a bumper turnout of shareholders at its annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday, many of them angry at its alleged role in facilitating child exploitation in the Philippines, its 23 million ...
More than a billion dollars has wiped off the value of New Zealand's biggest company this morning following the surprise resignation of A2 Milk's chief executive. ...
Cindy Baxter is at COP25 – her 17th climate change conference – and for the first time, New Zealand is one of the good guys. But are we?As we head into the second week of the climate talks in Madrid, I’ve been reflecting over the first week, and the strange ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David King, Senior Lecturer, The University of Queensland Growing up, no one ever gave me the rundown on how or what I should do to keep my penis clean […] I’ve never read any reliable answer beyond washing it with water. ...
You’ve probably never heard of him, but an artist called Cavetown is coming to Auckland in January for a show that’s already sold out. We explain where he came from, how this happened, and why you should be listening.What, pray tell, is a Cavetown?Cavetown is the stage name of Robin ...
Three glaze recipes to take your festive feast from ho-hum to ham-azing.In the middle of November, my aunt suggested in our family WhatsApp group that Christmas lunch should go meat-free in acknowledgement of climate change. I froze at my desk where I’d taken a moment to procrastinate. While I support ...
The Climate Change Minister James Shaw says he is hopeful the final hurdles can be cleared for fixing the final rules of Paris Agreement before it kicks in next year. ...
"Youllbefine, Rockmaster, Cossack Warrior and now Valtteri are the four horses who have been killed on New Zealand race tracks in just three weeks" said Frances Baker, Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses (CPR) spokesperson. ...
Former finance minister Steve Joyce says an NBR journalist told him its columnist Matthew Hooton had ‘gone completely troppo’ in a column about to be published by the business website about the MP. ...
A truly ambitious solution would keep jobs in Southland, delivering on the promise of the Zero Carbon Act to make NZ all but carbon neutral by 2050, writes Nicola Gaston in a post co-authored with Sally Brooker, Justin Hodgkiss and David Williams of The MacDiarmid Institute.Tiwai Point is in the ...
The housing market is heating up ahead of the holidays, with positive signs of growth, according to ASB's latest quarterly housing confidence survey. ...
The New Zealand Maori Council has called the latest childhood poverty statistics released by the Children’s Commissioner as appalling for a first world nation and has called upon the Government to do more. Matthew Tukaki, the Councils Executive ...
The next phase in the Democrats’ plan to impeach US President Donald Trump begins at 9am Monday morning Washington DC when the House judiciary committee meets to consider a report from the intelligence committee – and hear academic argument on the way forward. The judiciary committee is expected to draft ...
It’s been a Sunday morning staple for Kiwi kids for decades, but What Now may be facing new challenges in the era of social media. New Zealand children’s show What Now has utilised many different ways of engaging with its young audience over the past 38 years. Whether it was getting ...
New Zealand Police has taken delivery of three Armoured Special Purpose Vehicles. The vehicles are unmarked and look like standard Toyota Land cruisers. ...
Polystyrene meat trays, cups and takeaway food containers are the next targets in the battle to phase out single-use plastics, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced. ...
All workers contracted by InterGroup to carry out street cleaning and litter control for Hutt City Council are now receiving the living wage as a minimum. ...
Kris Faafoi apologises to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, does not offer to resign; and Government moves to ban plastic fruit stickers, cutlery, and cotton buds. ...
We may be called fuckwits. We may be called idiots. But the optimism keeps on, writes Chris Cessford.As spring lurches into summer, Wellington wakes up to another day of a crazy-making gusty northerly gale. Or, as we cyclists in the southern suburbs call it, a head wind.I fasten my helmet ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lisa Kewley, Director, ARC Centre for Excellence in All-Sky Astrophysics in 3D, Australian National University Australian astronomy punches well above its weight, in terms of the research it leads and the facilities it houses. We have made remarkable discoveries in the past ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vicki Lowik, PhD candidate, CQUniversity Australia This article is the first in a series exploring gender and Christianity. Jane* was a member of Australia’s evangelical Christian community, and throughout her marriage she heard many sermons on honouring a husband’s authority. These sermons ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Yousuf Mohammed, Dermatology researcher, The University of Queensland If you’ve ever Googled the causes of a skin complaint or damaged hair, chances are someone on the internet has pointed the finger at SLS, or sodium lauryl (or laureth) sulfate, a common ingredient ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Nelson, Associate Professor of Economics, Griffith University Household electricity bills in Australia have increased sharply in the past decade. But new official figures show they are projected to fall markedly – in some cases by 20%. In-house modelling we conducted at ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Goss, School Education Program Director, Grattan Institute Education news in Australia last week was dominated by Australia’s worst ever showing in the OECD’s PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests. The mathematical literacy of our students has fallen to the OECD ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Liam Davies, PhD Candidate, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University This is the first article in a series to mark the 50th anniversary of the landmark Melbourne Transportation Plan. —- The 1969 Melbourne Transportation Plan was perhaps the most influential planning policy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Backhouse, Research Fellow, Learning Environments Applied Research Network (LEaRN), University of Melbourne Public libraries embody the values of democracy by offering free access to knowledge. But the role of contemporary public libraries extends far beyond access to books. Libraries are places ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Long term consequences from heavy weekend weather, hospitality giant apologises for many mishandled complaints, and Auckland traffic chaos looms.There will be long term consequences from the weather that hammered the country over the weekend. Chief among them is a massive slip ...
A new report from the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Adviser envisages a future with much less plastic, all of it recycled or dealt with responsibly within New Zealand borders. ...
America's Cup defenders Emirates Team New Zealand have done things differently by building their own boats for the first time, and so far, it's paying off ...
Liam Hehir makes a plea to education minister Chris Hipkins not to discriminate against integrated schools when it comes to school funding.The government’s announcement of a big maintenance funding boost for schools was greetedwarmly by many principals, teachers and parents. Excluded ...
In the wake of the OFLC report Breaking Down Porn, an academic studying the gendered influence of pornography urges people not to panic, but to be aware of when – and why – pornography becomes problematic.Contemporary pornography is immensely popular, accessible and mostly free via pornographic ‘tube’ sites such as ...
Sustainable New Zealand Welcomes the Government’s Announcement on Phasing Out Waste But Wants to See More Action on Building and Construction Waste ...
Our Seas Our Future welcomes Prime Minister Jacinda Arden’s announcement that the Government is aiming to phase out another round of single-use hard plastics, made of PVC and Polystyrene. ...
The Fraudster exposes the life and crimes of a million dollar conwoman Award-winning investigative team Stuff Circuit’s latest documentary exposes the cautionary tale of a woman who ripped off New Zealand businesses and government agencies, and a justice ...
Press Release 8 December 2019 Auckland, 8 December 2019 : The Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, presented the 262-page report on ‘Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand’ to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her Cabinet should make a policy decision tomorrow that Auckland’s car and container port must close by 31 December 2029, Waterfront 2029 Spokesperson Michael Goldwater said today. ...
In light of increasing public concern over the harmful effects of plastic pollution, the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor, Professor Juliet Gerrard, is presenting the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealand report to the Prime Minister on Sunday ...
The government will start phasing out polystyrene packaging and beverage containers in response to a major new report calling for a nationwide rethink on plastics in New Zealand, PM Jacinda Ardern announced today. Here’s what you need to know about the announcement, and the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa report.For much ...
Open mike 17/12/2012 
by Daphna Whitmore Last week France passed a law that equates anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism. It is based on a definition of anti-Semitism that includes criticism of Israel such as: “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g., by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist ...12 hours ago
Over the past year we've seen major bus problems in Hamilton and Wellington, as drivers have sought better wages and an end to the bullshit of split shifts, which basicly see them "married to the job". And now its Auckland's turn. When NZBus's drivers planned low-level strike action of not ...13 hours ago
The state of the United Kingdom is fractured, torn up, shredded. The Empire is gone, it died a long time ago. And yet, the country is still tracking with a lead in favour of the ones who play to the ingrained, class-bound division for political gain. It is a disgrace ...2 days ago
On 27 September, Greta Thunberg addressed a crowd of 500,000 at the School Strike for Climate in Montreal, saying: “You are a nation that is allegedly a climate leader. And Sweden is also a nation that is allegedly a climate leader. And in both cases, it means absolutely nothing. Because ...2 days ago
It should be obvious by now but let’s be clear: The same folk who regularly traffic in disinformation, misinformation and “fake news” are also those who most strongly claim that their freedom of expression rights are being violated when moves are made to curb hate speech (as opposed to protected ...2 days ago
New Zealand's Underarm Banker: It bears recalling that the “independence” of the Reserve Bank Governor was for decades held up by neoliberal capitalists as the most compelling justification for passing the Reserve Bank Act. Interesting, is it not, how the ruling class’s support for the Bank’s independence lasted no longer than ...4 days ago
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” ― Martin Luther King Jr. A long and bitter court feud between former Conservative Party leader Colin Craig and Jordan Williams has been settled, with an apology and compensation from Williams. On Tuesday, Craig sent out ...4 days ago
Some people seem to want to close down any critical discussion of the current research into the relationship between water fluoride and child IQ. They appear to argue that claims made by researchers should not be open to critical review and that the claims be accepted without proper consideration ...4 days ago
In an unreliable, strange and confusing world, Public Address is proud to present a measure of comfort and stability by annually asking everyone what words or phrases sum up the year that's been – and then giving some of them consumer goods as prizes for being clever or simply lucky.Well, ...5 days ago
While much of the NZ left has transitioned to postmodern and identity politics in relation to transgender ideology, there are some very good articles about that deploy Marxist methodology in relation to this subject. The one below is from the British marxist group Counterfire and appeared on their site here ...1 week ago
“America the Beautiful!”, staunch defender of democracy, freedom and… a whole lot of despotic tyrants that play nice with what is called “the Washington Consensus.” America is indeed capable of immense good, but like any Nation, and most assuredly any aspirant to the mantle of Empire, great, immense evil. All ...1 week ago
Image credit: The beginner’s guide to blogging I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is altered. If your blog is ... 1 week ago
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‘
After “Super Storm Sandy” struck New York, gaining wall to wall media coverage.
After the deadly tornado struck North Auckland, (following the track of the deadly tornado that struck the same area last year).
After last Tuesday’s “Super Storm” Bopha devastated the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines, (Despite Super Storm Bopha being “unprecedented” that close to the equator, unlike Sandy this terrible tragedy barely gained a mention in the local media, despite leaving hundreds dead and missing and an estimated 400,000 homeless.)
And due to hit about now, “Super Cyclone Evan” after killing ten people in Samoa is reportedly gaining strength and is bearing down on Fiji. Samoa was savaged by Evan on Thursday leaving four confirmed dead and eight people missing from fishing boats.
However unlike “Super Storm” Bopha, earlier in the week, “Super Cyclone”,Evan has gained the media’s attention here.
<blockquote>In an unusual speech to the nation, Tuilaepa told the largely Christian state that there was a time for every season, and that God balances all things.
“The most poignant concerns that are distressing world leaders at the moment are the disastrous changing weather patterns that will allow the occurrences of cyclones, tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding and other disasters, which all emanates from man abusing the garden that God appointed him to tend, such as the mindless cutting of trees excessively warming the environment resulting in disasters not often experienced before,” he said.
He said deforestation near rivers and streams led to Samoa’s disaster.
“Likewise the extreme deforestation near rivers and streams which, consequently, now results in the loss of lives and the destruction of homes nearby due to flash floodings.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/8086706/Fiji-under-curfew-as-cyclone-arrives</blockquote>
Once is a coincidence, twice is a happenstance, three times is a conspiracy
Winston Churchill
As more energy is trapped in the system due to the Greenhouse effect, are these “Super Storms”, “Super Cyclones” and tornadoes to become regular events?
Storms, cyclones, and, tornado’s have for all of history been regular events, attaching the epithet ‘super’ to these weather events is the only thing that is ‘new’ about them…
In 1853 Dobson published a list of 24 Hurricanes from Pacific Island groups, Dobson and several subsequent records were cited in ‘Tropical Cyclones of the Pacific’, (Visher 1925), Visher lists ‘325’ Cyclones passing through the various island groups in the South Pacific,
The record includes Cyclones between 1789 and 1923.
A review of these sources and the data compilation for Western Samoa, (Puaga and LeFale 1988), has resulted in a list of 79 cyclones which have impacted Western Samoa between 1831 and 1990, the list indicated that more than 5 events with winds of 30 or more knots wind speed can be expected each decade….
Google= Probability andf recurrence of tropical cyclones in Western Samoa.
ict.sopac.org/VirLib/TR0106.pdf
Ps, The above is talking of cyclones that actually impact Western Samoa, there’s plenty more that miss which are not included….
Pity that the “science” which is “settled” does not support your scare mongering.
Latest from the IPCC
http://climatedepot.com/a/18800/Prof-Pielke-Jr-Analysis-of-UN-IPCC-Draft-report–IPCC-shows-almost-complete-reversal-from-AR4-on-trends-in-drought-hurricanes-floods
But……. Higher temps mean more energy for storms to feed on .. please junk this idea?
BUT….Hotter water ,more petrol for storm engine makes it have more power … please debunk..
So what happens when under the TPPA the U.S. guns and ammo manufacturers decide they’re being unfairly locked out of the NZ market by our relatively restrictive gun laws?
I hate to think but no doubt in Court the gun companies will argue that guns do not kill people, people do …
“the gun companies will argue that guns do not kill people, people do …” This is the dumbest argument in the universe.
Surely it is clear that people with guns kill people.
And people without guns, particularly homicidal maniacs or the insane, will not be able to.
I agree.
It is just the weird place that the US right to bear arms debate has got to.
particularly homicidal maniacs or the insane
I think this kind of stereotyping is really beneath you, mickey. Non-neurotypical people are no more likely to commit violence than neurotypical people, and labelling all homicidal shooters as “crazy” is just a really good way to stop people taking the scarier parts of America’s gun culture seriously.
{ conn usa }4 people dead a few hours ago domestic dispute with girlfriend …. Ban girlfriends or guns ?
[lprent: If you want to assert a fact, then generally link to it so other people can see what you’re talking about. ]
DunnoKeyo version ….
“It a lack of heartbeat that kills people”, how it stopped beating is not my pervue M8!
nothing.
What makes you say that? The tobacco companies certainly don’t share your view.
And what on earth is the point of the agreement if nothing happens?
In that fellow’s case, Felix, “nothing” refers to the amount of thought, and reading, he has put in on the matter.
Not only is your dogwhistle in poor taste it’s been answered in my single statement.
Nothing will change in relation to NZ’s gun laws under a TPPA.
And why not? Do the gun manufacturers not have the “right” to insist their product have open access to New Zealand?
Or do you think Smith & Wesson, etc. are not as hard-headed and brutal as Big Tobacco?
“Do the gun manufacturers not have the “right” to insist their product have open access to New Zealand?”
No.
They WILL if the Key regime gets away with signing the TPP agreement.
Rubbish.
higherstandard, I don’t understand why you have such faith and trust in the government, not to mention John Key and his merry band of robbers.
I have little to no faith in this or any government.
You say that, yet here you are rubbishing us for not having faith and trust in Key and his government.
See hs, when all the available facts contradict your beliefs but you continue to hold them, as you’re doing here and in the boot-camp thread and pretty much every time you post anywhere, that’s faith.
And in your case that faith is currently placed in Key and his govt. Pretend all you like, it’s here in black and white.
Felix
Apparently you have some facts about changes in gun law or gun importation/export post a potential TPPA care to share ?
My position is there is no evidence nor precedent to support your suggestion that the TPPA or indeed any FTA will lead to any change in gun law, access or importation into or out of NZ.
Merry XMAS
Your faith is touching. Misplaced, but touching.
Given the facts, and the international precedents, the onus is on you to show that the weapons industry won’t have the investor-state provisions of the agreement at its disposal under the TPPA.
What international precedents ? What facts ?
The precedents of sovereign governments being sued and/or bullied into submission by corporations under the terms of free-trade agreements, of course.
Silly goose.
Links ?
Relevance to guns and gun law ?
Silly gander.
There’s nothing controversial in what I’ve written. Everything I’ve referred to has been well reported.
However I’m in no mood to chase links for a self-admitted trool who has already had them provided before.
ps I’m not the one who’s trying to present guns and ammo as a special class of product that will magically be unaffected by the TPPA, you are.
Wow another argument you’ve won you are the king of the standard.
I may be wrong but I am pretty sure Australia hasn’t changed its gun laws in light of a free terade deal with the States. Neither has Britian for that matter.
The USA has free trade with 17 different countries all with varying gun laws. Going by this it would seem highly unlikely that we’d have to change ours.
What would you know you RWNJ.
And there’s higherstandard’s whole argument.
Never mind the whole investor-state issue, never mind that companies will be able to sue NZ if we limit their rights to our markets, never mind what the tobacco companies are up to, and never mind applying the same logic to other industries.
higherstandard says it’s rubbish, despite having been totally schooled every time he has pretended to be an expert on the TPPA, so that’s that.
Nothing to see here.
higherstandard
Quite right – what a bullshit comment from Morrissey.
But I suppose all right as it is Monday – he is still churning from the weekend.
You really are a True Believer.
1) The agreements being made are confidential so you have no way of knowing what Key & Co. intend to sign us up for
2) The whole issue with the TPPA is that it allows foreign companies to seek damages from our government for any law that disadvantages them commercially. It is naive and shortsighted to assume that nothing will happen. As long as we are considering being a party to the TPPA then the sovereignty of our nation is at risk.
@FelixViper – good point. There are so many other nasty consequences of the TPPA that you are the first that I know of to question the guns/ammo issue. God help us if the Amercian gun lobby gets a foot in NZ. Could even force the arming of our police.
Lots of things to hunt in NZ.
The way this government is going it won’t be long that our police are armed any way. They’ve already given the police more power and easier access to guns.
Are you in a position financially or otherwise to make good on your guarantee in the event you are wrong? The head of the Police union is constantly seeking the arming of our police (greater arming) which will require a change “to NZZ’s gun laws”. You may be safe in that the gun lobby (here and overseas) will funnel their message and drive through that organisation so it may never appear it was TPPA driven.
IF tobacco companies selling a product they admit harms and can kill people can sue for damages for not being allowed to have their brand on packets….
Arm the police and their life expectations will be shortened. This has been well established in the U.S.A.
Len Snee will vouch for that.
Children speak to Obama, the weeping President….
http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/1355617642.html
I saw Shearer on TV3 not too bad, no stutters as such. But what a dreamer he is. “The Leadership battle is well and truly over,” he says. “Labour had a good year”.
The Leadership battle is NOT over, and Labour had one of the worst years on record I say again. what a dreamer!!!
If that’s a good year for Labour wonder what a bad one looks like.
One after another shoocker from the NACT and sweet FA pinned on them either in the house or ouside it….Dreamer isn’t a word I’d use. Dellusional more like.
Either way it’s been another sad year for new zealand society and the future.
Thank you TC I stand corrected.
When Shearer obtained the leadership I hoped Labour was getting real person to front it rather than a politician, as has always been the case with the Greens.
Alas, with comments such as this and his bland, emptily verbose ‘statements’ carried on this blog Shearer is showing himself to be just another politician with no regard for or appreciation of the fact that his audience might have a shred of intelligence and views of their own rather than empty vessels to be filled with whatever he wants them to believe, even when he doesn’t believe it himself.
Not that I believe Cunliffe would be any better.
After the stella successes of
Class sizes
novopay
CH reorganization
Salisbury school
The MOE are now reorganizing the truancy services according to an interview on 9 to noon.
Shearer is possibly a good Manager -but never a Leader.
Not the same thing.
Very rare to find both.
Clark was great at both, as she had Heather alongside too.
But perhaps she overmanaged finally.
Shearer saying the leadership issue is over, once again, he is not accpeting the membership’s
wishes with regard to leadership,there are many members and potential voters wanting and expecting a genuine election for leadership in Feb 13, his stance will increase the mana and greens vote in 2014.
Shearer say’s ‘I know nothing, I see nothing, I hear nothing’
His ignorance is bliss.
The twin to Key, and his “I See Notzink” Shultz’s Joyce and Jabba’
Great to hear Mike Williams agree so much with Matthew Hooton on RadioNZ right now…
Yes I’m also disappointed to hear Mike start every statement with “I agree with Matthew”. Mike must be fishing for BBQ invites.
There is one thing I agree with Hooton on however: “Hekia Parata should be fired.”
Something else i noticed during the segment… Kathryn Ryan appeared to be getting her hackles up a bit when both Hooton and mike had a go at Nick Smith. It made me wonder if there is a bit of a personal connection between them.
I used to respect Mike Williams a lot. But somtime over the past few years he seems to have turned into a ‘yes’ man. Says just whatever the current Leadership team wants him to say and I worry about his grwoing policy vacuum – if he has a spine I’m not seeing or hearing it.
Occasionally Williams has taken it to Hooton and humiliated him. The pity of it is that most of the time all he does is, as you say, make a point of finding common ground with Hooton.
Williams is still far better than Josie Pagani, although occasionally even she has taken it to Hooton—and triumphed. Hooton is not impressive when his statements are challenged, so it’s a pity that his opponents so rarely challenge him.
Unfortunately, he also agreed with Hooton’s generalisation that pregnant women were unfit for work.
What?! You have got to be joking!
About 22:15 onwards.
Hooton: “You’re meant to take leave when you’re pregnant, aren’t you? You take leave from work.”
Ryan: “Keep digging, Matthew…”
Williams: [laughs] “Matthew is quite right”.
Whatever Mahuta’s faults, I don’t think they’re due to her lady-parts.
Why am I completely unsurprised that Matthew Hooton has no fucking idea about the situation of pregnant working people?
I’m trying to listen to it right now, but it hasn’t maintained my attention. It’s a boring rambling discussion, with little that’s enlightening.
Hooton always says same old rubbish week in week out . lets have debate He is the only one who gets anything out of disscussion.. re just picks up another cheque from RNZ
What was slightly enlightening was Williams joining in with Hooten to bag the Greens Russell Norman,
Hooten, hardly a full to overflowing suitcase of intellectual rigor was again taking to Russell over the Greens willingness to print money to spend into the New Zealand economy according to ‘the little fat toad’, (as opposed to His mate Blubber Boy,’the big fat toad’), ”No Government can print money unless interest rates are zero”, unquote,
What really gets me when such ‘comment’ is allowed to be repeated over and over as Nine to Noon gives Hooten free rein to do, without allowing Russell Norman the courtesy of a reply is that ‘what’s her face’ the presenter and even the pathetic Williams didn’t demand of Hooten a factual basis for such an assertion,
Perhaps ‘the little fat toad’ should have taken more notice of both the US and just held Japanese elections, the Prez quoted during His election campaign openly stated that each month He will print the monies needed and every month until there is ‘a recovery’ He will cause the same to happen,
The next Prime Minister of Japan elected as late as yesterday is promising to do exactly the same thing…
I endorse everything you’ve said about the way Williams, Pagani, Peter Harris (remember HIM?) and a host of other utterly ineffective “commentators from the left” have simply sat back and let Hooton say anything he wants.
Only two people ever challenged him strongly: Laila Harre and Sue Bradford.
Good move by the greens:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/8089859/Govt-should-fund-internet-cable-Greens
Hell yeah ! We’ve no redundancy if stn cross cable goes down and Telecom and partners are taking the piss with pricing on a cable that’s not even fully utilised currently.
Competition is desperately needed to overcome our small population/bottom of the world factors.
More common sense agenda setting from the greens.
Nice +1
Liking the Greens more and more! +1
NRT has a good post on it too.
Won’t they just nationalise Telecom? Surely they can’t be thinking of relying on competition to bring the price down. That’s neolib thinking.
I know that you’re being facetious but that would actually be the best option. Selling Telecom means that we’ve lost ~$16b dollars due to the dead weight loss of profit just from Telecom. Adding competition means that we’re now adding in even more costs as well as more of the dead weight loss from profit.
Patrick Cockburn on Syria:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/syria-the-descent-into-holy-war-8420309.html
News of the Day in a Moronic Way
The Panel, National Radio, Monday 17 December 2012
Jim Mora: What else have you got for us, Richard?
Richard Langstone: Danny Boyle has turned down a knighthood.
Mora: Oh yes. Maybe he’s hanging out to be Lord Boyle.
Barry Corbett: Ho ho ho ho ho!
Langstone: He he hee heeee heeeee!
Mora: Lord Boyle! Ha ha ha ha ha!
Langstone: It’s not a surprise, really, though, is it? He’s from Lancashire, so he would have thought, I don’t want any of your soft southern honours! A hee heee heeee heeee.
Corbett: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Mora: Ha ha ha ha ha!
Thus a serious moral and political point is reduced to nothing by the lofty thinkers on The Panel.
Barry Corbett a lofty thinker? Ha ha ha ha ha ha
Corbett is a Noam Chomsky compared to the drone who’s talking right now, i.e. Chris Wikaira.
The best reason for anyone listening to either Nine to Noon or Afternoons with Jim Moron these days is to gain a understanding of just how badly ‘dumbed down’ the political/social discourse has become in New Zealand,
The best defence i can mount on behalf of RadioNZ National is that i got spoiled by Kim Hill….
Morgan Freemans quote was fake. Apparenly re RNZ panel . but valid ..
Whether it was made up or not, it was NOT valid. It was vacuous.
If Clint Eastwood is the most doo-lally old coot in Hollywood, without a doubt Morgan Freeman is the most boring.
“Glory killing” seems to be gaining traction for these events ,media has a part to play in this? Less focus on killers THAT is the key.
Nonsense. The reason he killed those children was because he had such ready access to those lethal weapons.
If you want censorship, why don’t you and the most boring grandpappy in the world move to North Korea?
If you looking for nonsense look no further than the first part of your comment.
“If you [sic!] looking for nonsense look no further than the first part of your comment.”
What? What was nonsensical about “the first part” of my comment?
“What? What was nonsensical about “the first part” of my comment?”
Just the whole thing. Slowly read what you said and think about it.
edit: I see McFliper has already pointed this out
Um, to be a semantic bore, the reason he could kill that many people was his access to firearms.
His actual motives are unknown. The Secret Service did note in their 2002 report into school shootings that a quarter of shooters in the study had at least a partial motive of getting attention or recognition.
Oh, and that 4/5ths apparently had some sort of grievance before they went berserk.
Not censorship maybe,just read a book on psychology .This might be a new phenomenon?
By “a new phenomenon”, you mean the last link that Jim Mora has latched on to during the superficial web-surfing he does instead of serious reading.
Would be nice if there was more depth. I dream of NZ “HARDTALK” As on BBC Mmmmmmmm
“BBC Hardtalk”? Bad suggestion, my friend. Have you watched it lately? It’s a disgrace.