Lets face facts shall we, labour voted with national more times than the Māori party. Labour stole more land from Māori than any time since the wars. Labour wimped out on closing the gaps because they have no spine. The Māori party got more major initiatives than the greens have been able to.
That said, at worst the Māori party held national in check. At best they stopped them from going full ideological wing nut.
But more importantly, the Māori party will be back in parliament this time round.
Fair analysis (although I disagree on the comparison with the Greens).
I hope they do get back in this time. They've still got too much right wing positioning for me but I think NZ is still way better off with them in the political scene and Māori should have direct representation.
they have lots of good policy (always have done). I was more thinking of Tamihere being elected co-leader. I don't know if that's reflected in the rest of the party.
I would be careful confusing John's social conservatism with his understanding of economics. John gets the need to lift Māori out of the quagmire created for them by 180 odd years of liberalism.
So his staff should have been safe and tested being in the front line.
They should have tested everyone who worked in the front line.
"How’s that positive for Māori?" Good question, I think he there to out the House Negroes which infest NZ politics. A major positive for Māori. He puts Māori front and centre – another positive. Māui, another positive.
On a personal level I like him, he always been nice to the wife and I – he treats disabled people like human beings. Which is more inclusive than many in the labour and NZ1st caucus, and pretty much the whole of the national caucus. Even a couple of ex-greens were a bit shit in that regard.
No, the point is how someone claiming to be left wing, anti neo lib and equality for all, etc. voted for a national support party.
It's not my idea of being anti by voting pro.
Talk of being a handbrake on national is very much bollocks, when they had the votes of act and Dunne to fall back on, and the poverty stats and housing crisis after their nine years sort of say not really.
Both. As all election results are unknown before the votes are cast and counted, but knowing a vote for the maori party, as it was their intention to carry on supporting national, was a vote to keep the status quo and national in power.
Sure it wouldn't have switched the result if they suddenly refused to work with the then government, but no one knew that on the Saturday of the vote.
Presumably National was planning on making the transport announcement sometime in the actual election campaign in the hope of winning a day of that campaign. The fact they’ve been compelled to do it now in order to try and stop the polling slide just shows what a disaster the last few weeks have been for them.
So National plans a busway from Onehunga to the city centre. We all know what that will end up like, there’s one that Labour built on the North Shore. It’s basically a little motorway. So National needs to front up and say which parts of some of the loveliest old heritage suburbs across the isthmus will be wrecked to build their project?
Rail (single track to Penrose) exists into the CBD. Go on MSM ask them which parts of Epsom they'll carve up…btw bus lanes exist last I looked when in akl.
The stupid is off and running akl has much bigger transport fish to fry.
Haven't had a close look at the Nats plan for the Airport but basically it's rail from Puhinui to airport then later light rail from airport to Onehunga.
You are correct that Onehunga to Penrose is single track so that will have to be two-tracked and a heap of level crossings removed if it is to take airport traffic to the CBD. There are no Remuera houses in the way though which is probably why they have proposed it.
Also can't see how they will get around twin changes, at the airport (rail to light rail) and Onehunga (light rail to rail)???
Wasn't the heavy rail option from Puhinui to Airport abandoned because it became too hard / expensive, which is how the light rail proposal came to be the preferred option?
At least with National supporting the Puhinui line Government can get into it straight away. Same with a lot of National's transport 'policy'
Not sure. There was a link put up yesterday to a 2018 GA article pulling apart the proposals for the Puhinui spur.
I got the impression they didn't really attack the idea itself, rather the details around the Wiri interchange, servicing and the expense of tunnelling under the airport itself. Both seem to be resolvable to me. For instance instead of tunnelling, have a raised railway instead.
"Wasn't the heavy rail option from Puhinui to Airport abandoned because it became too hard / expensive, which is how the light rail proposal came to be the preferred option?"
Christ! if that's the case it just shows the extent to which we've fallen.
But no surprises there really – we can't even restore a rail link to Gisborne, or do the obvious basics, the needs of which will become an inevitability in this future space going forward (such as rail to the Earports in places like Christ's Church, Dunny Din, Tear Ranga, The Tron). Even given things like the original MTL, the Managweka deviation, various power projex.
Christ! we can't even get a bloody Transmission Gully done without a load of ticket clippers, risk analysts, consultants and all their hanger's looking for their cut, and then screaming mummy when things start to show up a few people as being the bullshit artists they are.
By the way ( …. that's BTW these days), but does anyone know where the details of the Dominion Road light rail option are? I'd put money on their being incompatible with various future options – things like an inability to use existing infrastructure because of guage differences – that sort of shit.
I'd put money on their being incompatible with various future options – things like an inability to use existing infrastructure because of guage differences – that sort of shit.
There is an issue because they will be two separate systems but they can be connected to the same stations where you simply change trains. This is quite normal in cities with extensive PT coverage.
I believe that's why it's important to have linear solutions which minimise these transfers.
So let's take for instance a hypothetical light rail 'Central Line' running from the airport to Orewa through the CBD. Those carriages would not be able to travel on the CRL but they can run past the CRL stations and be connected to them.
A major flaw with Collins’ plan, if you can call it that, is rail from Wiri to airport, then light rail from airport to Onehunga, then rail again from Onehunga to the CBD. Madness.
Actually, according to Collins when making the announcement with the other caucus members standing behind her, she said "My plan" etc. Then at the end she addressed the media gathered in front of her with this bit of cringe "Are you stunned". OK I admit that I am biased, but that was a very lame performance and unconvincing.
During that presentation yesterday Iwas intrigued at the clapping from people out of sight. Journalists don't usually clap. So was it all Tova O'Brian, or were there other supporters there?
There was a range of people there, mostly Nat MPs and candidates, but also Auckland business types.
And give the Tova-bashing a rest. It's tedious and wrong. She did her job this morning, getting Collins on the record, with a series of self-incriminating statements.
It's not her job to then wake up Labour's campaign team on a Saturday morning and make them use the material Tova's interview has provided. That's up to Collins' opponents.
Compare the stories on Newshub now with the rebuttals by Labour in the last 48 hours (good luck finding them, Grant did one, that's about it, who's the f***ing Transport Minister?), and then tell me who is doing their job better.
Whose job? Labour Ministers? Labour MPs? Labour Comms? Labour Campaign Team? Obviously, whoever it is, they’re missing in action, like a ‘homeless man’ living it up large in a managed hotel.
What are the jobs of the Fourth Estate and Press Gallery in NZ? Are they doing their job well?
Some are, some aren't. Generalising about "The Media" is stupid.
As for Labour, I expect them to grasp the fact that things have changed. This is not Muller, lost at sea. Collins will lie and lie, because that's what she does.
If lies are not rebutted, they win. Anyone who doesn't get that has not been paying attention to modern politics.
If lies are not rebutted, they win. Anyone who doesn't get that has not been paying attention to modern politics.
When/where are these lies uttered? On Twitter or FB? In the Debating Chamber? When lies don’t get exposed immediately, they’ll get a life of their own very quickly, like a virus; they spread and infect others – some are super spreaders.
Lying is a deliberate strategy to control the narrative; rebut the lie and you buy into the narrative and down the rabbit hole. When you do this in public, people will see you go down that (rabbit) hole and thus the hole is real, not imaginary. Job done, mission accomplished.
Come on, there's an obvious difference between magnifying a lie in the way you describe, and responding to something which is already all over the news headlines. It's not about dead cats on the table or a political version of the Streisand effect. Brian Tamaki rants and lies? Sure, ignore, don't give him oxygen. Leader of the opposition launches flagship policy? Very different.
Today was a good example, Collins lied (if only by omission) in her infrastructure speech – they've done no costings for these tunnels through the mountains. Grant Robertson responded, and wins on the 6 pm news:
As the bible says, there's a time for every purpose under heaven. The time for that strategic political action will be if the polls close sufficiently that Labour is risking a loss by not doing so. If! If Judith is a miracle worker… 😒
You are bringing almost poetic touches to the brouhaha swordfish. We can do with your style and novelty and if it can raise consciousness in the soporific in Nuzilland we will be doing a flamboyant flamenco.
I sincerely hope Claire Czabo and her comrades down at Labour Party HQ in Wellington have a word with the people at The Standard. Just a little pep talk about loose lips not only sinking ships, but also deep-sixing the trust and confidence of potentially vital coalition partners.
Last para.
Not many on the left have done as much over that last decade to deep-six the left’s cause than Chris Trotter.
Collins on TV3 "Nation" gives many hostages to fortune. Everything from cost of her road plans (she admits she doesn't know) to her own polling and caucus leaking – even telling her own MPs to leave.
If only Labour had people writing this stuff down and telling the voters. That's not "attack politics", Jacinda. That's Labour's job. Don't let Collins get away with it.
Judith Collins says … "I trust Winston Peters" (link up later).
National leader contradicts front bench spokesman and former leader live on television.
But nobody will notice, because the well-funded Labour comms team won't put it all over social media or put out press statements, because they're under orders to be nice. FFS.
edit
I was impressed by the strong masculine surety of Bishop discussing the plans for infrastructure spending in NZ which will be the (road) making of us.
And he is explaining to citizens again how government works. I am sure I remember Bill English telling us they have to balance their budgets just like householders do. Now Chris Bishop:
He said the programme of works would be paid for by making a significant change in the way the NZ Transport Agency paid for its projects. Currently it's pay as you go – the NZTA takes money in from fuel tax and road user charges and then pays it out for what it wants to build.
This was not the way most businesses and households operated, Bishop said.
National would encourage NZTA to borrow on its own balance sheet. It has an asset base of $26 billion a year in state highways and revenue of $4b a year in fuel tax. Under National's plan they would borrow and pay back the debt over 20 to 30 years, like a household taking out a mortgage.
"That provides quite a significant chunk for the programme we've announced today."
The land and roads that NZTA oversees creates an 'asset base' on which they can borrow. And if they don't pay back the debt then what will happen – will some overseas entity take ownership of our road surfaces? However there is actual money in fuel taxes, and if government told NZTA to charge road tolls that allow for untolled roads for the many poor people, that would mean that the roads could become user-pays and give a financial push towards using rail.
It sounds like that dumb accounting swindle the government have played on hospitals, making the boards pay a tax or something on the land (and buildings?) that we use for physical buildings to provide the health services from. This of course is to ensure efficiency!
Go home Treasury bods and financiers, back to Mont Pelerin or wherever the mythical temple of pure management economics is situated.
I can see the populist appeal but you don’t run the NZ economy like “most businesses and households” and Government borrowing is not “like a household taking out a mortgage”.
It shows a fundamental misunderstanding but it’s more likely deliberately misleading and spreading disinformation. Either way, it is gobsmacking.
Calling for business people who like to comment here to point out the many flaws (AKA BS) but I expect them to stay cowardly silent.
Observer, I really appreciate your comments. I do think that Labour have to be careful with their strategy. I suggest they get a psychologist (Nigel Latta??) on how to deal with a narcissist. Jacinda in depriving of Judith of attention to date, may be the way to go.
Narcissist hate not getting attention. She's out to provoke Ardern. Really important not to be provoked. I saw Parker on the Duncan Garner show with Bridges yesterday. Bridges all upbeat and chirpy. He even called Parker Davo (shades of David Brent). Parker said Davo, no that doesn't work.
Everything Bridges said he said, No that's not true. Simple. Not a lie or fake news….Parker kept smiling. Re Judith's nomination to the leadership he said, something like No that's not going to work.
Look I don't know what Labours strategy should be……….But I do remember the first budget and Bridges got up in parliament and ranted. At the end of it Ardern got up and said "well that was a lot of shouting"
I definitely do not want Ardern to get into a slanging match. She handled both Bridges and Muller well.
But I do want Labour (not Ardern) to point out simple facts.
Bridges says he did not vote for Collins as leader. Bridges says National can't trust Winston. But Collins says she can. Those are all statements on the record. We don't need leaks to find them.
In the last 48 hours we have the usual culprits screeching "Russia hacking and stealing covid research, Russia hacking and stealing covid research" which is completely shot down by the reality of cooperation between many countries.
Russia on Friday unveiled a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture a COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the pharmaceuticals giant and Oxford University, a move its wealth fund head said showed Moscow had no need to steal vaccine data.
The multiple talks confirm the bloc’s more assertive stance on procuring potential COVID-19 shots and drugs after early U.S. moves in securing promising treatments and vaccines. “We are in talk with several companies on possible COVID-19 vaccines,” a spokesman for the Commission said on Friday, declining to comment on specific firms as negotiations were confidential. More than 150 possible vaccines are being developed and tested around the world to try to stop the pandemic. Of 23 in human clinical trials, at least three are in final Phase III testing – including candidates from China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech (SVA.O) and AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
Shooting your self in the foot, Nats & Act, economic disaster our children & grand children will be paying this off forever. Judith we are going to build 31b of new roads and 7b is coming out of the covid recovery fund the the prudent govt have not yet spent
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the popularity of the Liberals, who would likely form a majority government if an election were held today. The Conservatives have taken the biggest hit in the polls since the October election, while the New Democrats have held steady. The Bloc Québécois and Greens have experienced only a modest dip in support.
The Canadian electoral system has a significant element of PR within it. It is a million times better than the FPP system in the UK.
On the basis of the (supposedly terrible) election results in 2019 Corbyn would be PM as head of an SNP/LibDem/Green/Labour coalition if there was MMP in the UK
You are right Scott-I retract that. Canada has a crap FPP system. For some reason I was confusing Canada with the Spanish electoral system which does have a PR element, though not as pure as NZ or Germany.
But my comment re the UK system and Corbyn, above, remains valid.
A big debate going on here in Oz over suppression versus elimination. Most states and territories have in effect eliminated Covid-19 despite state and federal governments having a suppression strategy. The success in most parts of Oz is now threatened by the accelerating upsurge in Victoria whih has spilled over into NSW (which didn't have any border closures with Victoria until last week.) Victoria, NSW and ScoMo are all dithering over more severe restrictions as the numbers of infections and deaths are rising. The debate between eliminationists (pointing to Taiwan and NZ's success) and the suppressionists (claiming that elimination is impossible and economically damaging) is hotting up and the longer the debate goes on with no resolution it's only likely that more damage will be done.
Incidentally, it seems that Victoria's upsurge (over 400 new cases yesterday) was caused by lax quarantine facilities at one or two particular hotels and the use of poorly paid untrained security workers – unlike more rigorous quarantine measures used in other states. NZ has probably dodged a bullet and I'm sure the NZ government is keeping a very wary eye on theVictorian situation.
Collins has also announced a National government would repeal the Resource Management Act completely, and replace it with two new pieces of law.
Just think about that for a moment.
No plan to manage NZ's resources.
Just allow civil engineering contractors, foresters, and farmers to completely trash the environment in the pursuit of more profit. Believe me – I have worked in the industry alongside someone who worked in the civil engineering industry before the RMA, and some of the stories he has to tell of environmental recklessness carried out prior to the RMA are horrifying.
Indeed I see the effects of open slather on the environment by unthinking engineers, miners, foresters, and farmers every day from my lounge window at low tide. Prior to the 1890's the Firth of Thames was navigable up to the town and there were a number of Jetties and wharfs built out into the Firth from the town to receive freight and passengers off the numerous vessels that sailed to and from Auckland as that was the mode of transportation then. The discharge of silt from the mines, and from the land, as foresters and farmers cut down the hillside and riverside trees, has resulted in extensive mudflats that now prohibit navigation in all states of the tide, except high tide. This is but one example of thoughtless behaviour by industries whose only concern is the pursuit of profit.
The thinking by Collins and her cronies is muddled and fallacious. They simply perceive that the environment is a subset of the economy. Nothing could be more removed from the truth.
"I want to hear how Collins would prevent and manage eliminating Covid-19 were it to transmit into the community."
Same here, but so far no mention of any Covid19 policies or plans re community transmission from Collins, despite how highly contagious the disease is. I believe Amy Adams as former National shadow minister of the CovidV19 portfolio was in the process of putting together a Covid19 policy prior to the leadership change. However on becoming leader, Collins killed it off and as far as I know to date, no National MP has taken over Adams' portfolio. These points say Covid19 does not rate a priority for Collins or National! Not good at all.
I have just started reading the Roman themed novels of Lindsey Davis with a smart spy called Marcus Falco getting about like Superman, or Batman? The types of problems he deals with in the book I've read aren't too far away from our present selection. He gets to win obviously, as their have been a large number in the series. That winning, or surviving, makes for good light reading with a positive outcome, to combat the negatives so constant.
There are many ways of ‘dying’ and only one involves actual medical/biological death. In order to survive, everything is allowed, even self-defence. When people feel their livelihood is under threat, e.g. they might lose their job & status, their house & status, or their business & status, it feels to them as if they’re ‘dying’. They will act accordingly and in line with the threat(s). National is very good at tapping into this raw emotion that includes fear & anger and they don’t shy away from fuelling it.
Anne Salmond is a credible voice from the real world.
Does the Opposition realise that our country is in lethal danger, and that a global pandemic is raging? Do they understand that at present, New Zealanders need calm, intelligent, trustworthy leadership, focused on the future and our collective survival?
Below are the parts of the RMA that Collins hates because they give significant protection to natural resources, especially landscape values.
It would be a disaster if she were to be elected-all of these protections would be thrown on the scrap heap in order to help Collins' money hungry developer mates.
5 Purpose
(1) The purpose of this Act is to promote the sustainable management of natural
and physical resources.
(2) In this Act, sustainable management means managing the use, development,
and protection of natural and physical resources in a way, or at a rate, which
enables people and communities to provide for their social, economic, and cultural
well-being and for their health and safety while—
(a) sustaining the potential of natural and physical resources (excluding
minerals) to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations;
and
(b) safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil, and ecosystems;
and
(c) avoiding, remedying, or mitigating any adverse effects of activities on
the environment.
6 Matters of national importance
In achieving the purpose of this Act, all persons exercising functions and
powers under it, in relation to managing the use, development, and protection
of natural and physical resources, shall recognise and provide for the following
matters of national importance:
(a) the preservation of the natural character of the coastal environment (including
the coastal marine area), wetlands, and lakes and rivers and their
margins, and the protection of them from inappropriate subdivision, use,
and development:
(b) the protection of outstanding natural features and landscapes from inappropriate
subdivision, use, and development:
(c) the protection of areas of significant indigenous vegetation and significant
habitats of indigenous fauna:
(d) the maintenance and enhancement of public access to and along the
coastal marine area, lakes, and rivers:
(e) the relationship of Maori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral
lands, water, sites, waahi tapu, and other taonga:
(f) the protection of historic heritage from inappropriate subdivision, use,
and development:
(g) the protection of protected customary rights:
(h) the management of significant risks from natural hazards.
7 Other matters
In achieving the purpose of this Act, all persons exercising functions and
powers under it, in relation to managing the use, development, and protection
of natural and physical resources, shall have particular regard to—
(a) kaitiakitanga:
(aa) the ethic of stewardship:
(b) the efficient use and development of natural and physical resources:
(ba) the efficiency of the end use of energy:
(c) the maintenance and enhancement of amenity values:
(d) intrinsic values of ecosystems:
(e) [Repealed]
(f) maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the environment:
(g) any finite characteristics of natural and physical resources:
(h) the protection of the habitat of trout and salmon:
(i) the effects of climate change:
(j) the benefits to be derived from the use and development of renewable
energy.
There's nothing muddled or fallacious about her and her cronies' callous indifference.
Ms Collins said she had no idea environmentalists were concerned about digging up wetland areas.
While it is illegal to export raw native timber, 3 News understands Oravida is planning to set up a processing plant so it can send the Kauri offshore as a finished product.
Ms Collins said the concerns have nothing to do with her.
"Does that have anything to do with me? Am I the minister of wetlands? Go and find someone who actually cares about this, because I don't," she said.
"There's a large number of our birds that depend on wetlands for their survival," said Dr Smith.
"It's not my issue. I don't like wetlands – they're swamps," said Ms Collins.
This is all comes less than a month after the Victoria Forest Park controversy, when Energy Minister Simon Bridges signed off the biggest forest park in the country for oil exploration, despite never having heard of it.
Oravida ( old Mrs Collins says she knows nothing about it) is going to export miles of native timbers to China.
As well, Simon Bridges is going to dig up the largest Wet Lands in Aoteroa and sell the oil off for himself and his national idiots. the Wet Lands will disappear.
I'm quite fond of Krugman, generally speaking. He's scientist enough to be swayed by evidence. I wonder if our Treasury can claim as much.
Krugman writes that he and other mainstream economists “missed a crucial part of the story” in failing to realize that globalization would lead to “hyperglobalization” and huge economic and social upheaval, particularly of the industrial middle class in America. And many of these working-class communities have been hit hard by Chinese competition, which economists made a “major mistake” in underestimating, Krugman says. It was quite a “whoops” moment, considering all the ruined American communities and displaced millions of workers we’ve seen in the interim.
“A peaceful protester in Portland was shot in the head by one of Donald Trump’s secret police,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote in a Thursday tweet that also called out acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf. “Now Trump and Chad Wolf are weaponizing the DHS as their own occupying army to provoke violence on the streets of my hometown because they think it plays well with right-wing media.”
Civil rights advocates suggested the Trump administration is testing the limits of its executive power.
“I think Portland is a test case,” Zakir Khan, a spokesman for the Oregon chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told The Post. “They want to see what they can get away with before launching into other parts of the country.”
Jann Carson, interim executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, called the recent arrests “flat-out unconstitutional” in a statement shared with The Post.
“Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street, we call it kidnapping,” Carson said. “Protesters in Portland have been shot in the head, swept away in unmarked cars, and repeatedly tear-gassed by uninvited and unwelcome federal agents. We won’t rest until they are gone.”
I have been worried about something like this happening for over a month now since the beginning of the protests in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. That teams of Federal law enforcement, with the majority coming from the Bureau of Prisons Disturbance Response Units (they’re trained to go in one on top of each other into cells or areas of Federal prisons and use maximum force to achieve compliance) and C&BP’s equivalents of Rapid Response Units would be deployed to all the major urban areas, especially those with majority or plurality minority populations (African American, Latinx, or a combination of the two). Specifically, that they will be used in an increasingly visible manner over the next 100 days or so culminating in widespread visible use of them during early voting periods and on election day in or near voting precincts, as well as near mail in ballot drop boxes at municipal facilities. A program of voter suppression under color of law. While the mayors and governors of these states who are Democrats will push back, and the Democratic governors won’t allow their National Guard to be pulled into these operations, the states that have Republican governors aligned with the President like Florida, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, etc, even if the cities being targeted have Democratic leadership (Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Cincinnati, etc), will play ball with the President, the Attorney General, and the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security.
[…]
Now that the Republican National Committee is out from under the Federal court imposed requirement not to use paid election monitors, I have long predicted that they would hire off duty law enforcement to work as election monitors while in uniform. While this is what got them in trouble to begin with in the 1980s and resulted in the Federal court order that was finally lifted last year, the RNC knows it works and paired with an escalating use of Federal law enforcement within urban areas between now and the election in November would go along way to suppressing the vote under the color of law.
Much of Pull No Punches is a litany of bland little certainties. But one of the enduring appeals of Collins as a politician is the way she seems animated by rage and bitterness, and these hostilities are expressed throughout the book towards its dark stain, its bad dream – John Key. Here, then, is the joy and the catharsis she felt as an author: utu, served cold.
Briefly, or intermittently, the book comes to life; but it’s only a half-life. Collins omits to deal in any detail with the hacked emails between her and Slater that Hager published in Dirty Politics. Slater’s name is mentioned only in passing in Pull No Punches. She blathered to Andrea Vance of Stuff this weekend, “I mean, honestly, I got about six pages [in Dirty Politics]. John Key and John Key’s office got chapters.” Actually she got 10 pages, and an entire chapter; her name features in the book’s index as heavily as the other goons and operatives implicated in Dirty Politics – Jason Ede, David Farrar, Jordan Williams, Simon Lusk.
She was thick as thieves with Slater for years. Hager writes, "They were drawn together by …a shared attraction to aggressive and often petty attack politics.” Some of their exchanges are actually kind of funny. Their name for Ardern: “My Little Pony.” I think it’s only fair to appreciate Collins as a humourist.
Earlier Steve had this to say in respect of her literary style, following with a prescient comment on the timing of publication:
She declared war on the comma. “Never did I feel so attached to anything I have written as I do to this book. It has been the most cathartic experience.” And then a terrible threat: “I have enjoyed it so much that I will keep on writing.” It’s really not necessary.
What joy, what catharsis? I don’t know if Pull No Punches is intended as a job application as such – you know, to take over as National leader if the hapless Muller fails in September – but it certainly provides a bland and joyless mission statement. The mission is to present herself as invulnerable and impeccable.
I found his review intriguing, inasmuch as he makes a strong analytic case for how the autobiography reveals her character. More one-dimensional than I expected…
Whilst pulicising her book "Pull No Punches" I heard Judith Collins say she was writing another book but needed a good punchy title. After the election maybe "On The Ropes Again" could be a goer ?
😊 Would imply acceptance of defeat though. She'd be more likely to frame it to herself as a temporary glitch. Surprising that she's writing another so soon eh? I suspect she will struggle to find motivation to finish it…
I'm a bit puzzled by this. Canadian whose original intention was a 6 week stay here then moving on to London. Then applied for a work visa and wondering why a work visa hasn't been issued pronto but as far as I can see there are now flights available to both Canada and London so he can continue his journey. Also seems to want to undermine just about any working conditions available locally.
Why is there no push back in the story? He has choices other than a work visa.
Conflicting opinions confuse readers, fatal mistake if you want to win elections. Follow a consolidated message so close to an election. Standing 2 progressive candidates in Auckland Central is stupid. Split the vote and National win. Happened in 3 or four electorates in 2017. No wonder the left is viewed as incompetent, they can not even consolidate their election strategy. Sigh, you have a duty of care re Kiwi's, dont confuse. But then it is said "you cant fix stupid" how true. Seems progressives in NZ a bit slow to comprehend.
[Please pick one user name and stick to it – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
You're new here, so I'll spell it out for you. The site exists to provide space for robust debate. Authors are free to write what they want (there is no editorial control), and frequently disagree with each other. The value in this is that ideas get hashed out and in a strong debate culture the stupid/unhelpful ones tend to torn apart. The useful/interesting ones also get pulled apart and made better. This is normal political process.
Please read the Policy and About so you understand the purpose of the site.
btw, I tend to take a dim view of people who comment in such a way that makes me think they didn't bother to read the post, especially people who then want to use my post to slag off a political party or the left.
Sure, voters like clarity and consistency, which doesn’t mean simple or easy; they’re clever enough and they don’t like being patronised.
So, “the left” is viewed as “incompetent”, presumably by ‘the right’? What do you consider “the left”? Should they talk & act with one voice and pretend they represent ‘the left voters’, whoever those are?
BTW, thanks for picking a different user name but I reckon this could tricky to get exactly right each time; one minor difference/typo will be picked up by the system and your comment will end up pending in Pre-Moderation until a Moderator releases it. Moderators don’t like extra work, least of all in Pre-Election time.
"You have a duty of care re Kiwi's, don't confuse"…………………..how confusing do you think it has been for Kiwis to see the billboards "strong team" and then see three different leaders in less than three months, one who swanned in telling us he was going to be the next PM and now, it seems not…….Bennett, Adams and Kaye gone within weeks……………Shadow health minister criticising Labour for the privacy breaches, then whoops a daisy, turns out he knew that his own team had done the leaking all along……
Very confusing of Adams to say retiring for family reasons then shes back! Now she's gone!!!!!
Labour/Ardern…….completely clear……….Ardern clear about the arrangements re gifting seats……..
You are new here. Feel free to stick around and note the calibre of the debate. So far your contribution falls well below the standard here. You will be shot down every time you contribute unless you lift your game……….but maybe you can't fix stupid
Commenters and readers here do understand that the latest face of the National Party is not one that will change anything at all with regards the future and direction Jacinda Ardern and her team have set for the country – don't you? The bellowing and posturing from the boiled-down National Party leadership will achieve … nothing at all.
We humans are so easily spooked. If you feel that honesty, sincerity and kindness will prevail, the whipped-up "latest developments" will seem like a light rain on your umbrella.
Judith Collins, weka? Have you so little faith in Jacinda's abilities, her support and the circumstances we find ourselves in to fear the actions of a person like Judith Collins? I see a mangy old tomcat, hissing and spitting with people noticing the rank odour of an animal long past it's prime
Good point, which means that the Left wants to hear and talk about stories from the Left. Where is the overarching story for our future from the progressive Left? Till we have one, we will be tempted, forced almost, to look at S & M show put on for us by the Right. Not only are we a willing audience of (paying) spectators, there’s never a shortage, it seems, of willing volunteers to join in.
we appear to be too busy poking a stick at each other, or ostracising each other, to have a coherent and useful overarching story.
And yep about the audience. The posts about the reactionary stuff will garner more engagement, almost every time.
But that too is a self-defeating narrative and I tend to agree with Robert about confidence and how we choose to position ourselves. Will have to think about this.
" not one that will change anything at all with regards the future and direction Jacinda Ardern and her team have set for the country "
National/Collins certainly won't achieve anything for the country. The question is, can their scorched earth, destructive campaign succeed in its real goal: saving enough Nat MPs to force Ardern to cobble together a government she doesn't really want, instead of a clear win.
We can say "impossible", but then that would be ignoring the lessons of Trump, Brexit, ScoMo, etc.
It won't work here. We can only speculate from this point in time but buying into a nervous, insecure story is a personal choice. Nothing is set in stone, all predictions are ephemeral stories. We seem to enjoy insecurity, but my encouragement is to choose confidence and surety. Whipped-up froth can be blown away by the breath of a person secure in their deep belief; there will always be constant erosion from agencies that thrive on insecurity and you know who clasps those to their bosom.
"No" might reflect the population's position and not surprisingly. It's a big stretch and people aren't inclined to go beyond their cultural boundaries. If you don't act with measured, considered confidence, you are agreeing to swirl and twirl with whatever currents are directed your way. What kind of player do you want to be – one at the beck and call of the "other side" or one that chooses a position, intelligently and clearly, then follows that line?
I agree. It's a time of great potential change and the stories we tell determine which way the change goes. Lots of opportunity here. Collins is going to troll the left with everything she's got, best the left find a better story than that reactionary one. What you call measured, considered confidence I might call grounding and knowing our own truth worth.
Why don't you just go fund the lincoln project then?
They'd happily take your money.
And past what, all having to be limited to arguing in the small small ideological world of liberalism. – Yeah I'd like to be past that too, but you and your ilk keep limiting the debate.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[I have no patience for this shit. Don’t tell me what to do under my own post, and don’t make out I believe something I don’t. If you’re too stupid or caught up in your bah humbug that you can’t see I’m not supporting liberalism, then stay out of my posts.
You do that sly, manipulative, poking at people shit in a conversation with me one more time and I will ban you, no matter where on site it happens. I opened a door to a conversation with you and you just spit in my face. I’m done.
To make it *really* clear, this is entirely an issue of behaviour not politics. You are quite capable of making political arguments, so make them without flaming and then I will respect you again even if I disagree. – weka].
I think Australia has had 16 deaths since they’d ‘eliminated’ and cases surged. Very sad, but a clear indicator you toy with this Coronavirus at your peril.
Today Labour responds with a minor upgrade of Auckland's northwestern motorway for buses, and a cycleway with little transport network use being built on a swamp that will be underwater in most spring tides – and next to impossible to build.
Labour are already very electorally weak on transport, so Collins knows to go for Twyford very hard.
Methinks Labour better have more fuel in the tank of their transport policy if they think they are going to outflank National on transport.
Yeah or you could just turn on the radio or TV news.
Seriously if it deserved a blog post it would have got one. They were all well established projects, just re-released since the Auckland Council cut them. Both Greens and Labour need a better plan this.
It is good form to include a link so that others can read it too and follow up if they wish. People forget here all the time and we remind them here all the time. Without exceptions 😉
A point you will get to see when someone releases his comments from the filter. Or he could just do what four moderators have asked and change his email address and then you would have seen his comments immediately.
Indeed, and they have just had to raise the NW motorway 5m for that reason. 2m of that was because the road had dropped either side of the Oakley Estuary Bridge.
The new bit on the city side of that bridge is already sinking but that is probably due to Steven Joyce cutting corners.
I imagine the Whau River path would be designed to an accepted profile of what is to come.
I released his two comments about 4 hours after they were submitted because I had been away and nobody else was around, it seems. Ad’s not stupid so I don’t know what his problem is.
On a different note:
Boardwalk Height
Here’s our best attempt to describe the boardwalk height in plain English. We hope this will help with your submission.
The standard height of the boardwalk is 2.9m above mean sea level (i.e. the Auckland Vertical Datum, AVD). The seabed on the western bank of the Whau River is slightly above this mean sea level and therefore the boardwalk deck would actually be about 2.8m above the seabed. This will vary as the seabed level changes along the route of the board walk. The boardwalk deck is approximately 1.38m above water level at mean high tide.
However, NZ doesn’t have cycling in its blood or genes like the Dutch, it is not part of the NZ culture and therefore not of the NZ infrastructure, sadly. Maybe with e-bikes and e-scooters it will change, slowly. In Amsterdam, you can easily beat a car or PT on a bicycle with no gears and leg-power only on a short-distance trip. When traffic is shite, the bicycle wins on medium-distance trips too. And it is free!
it is beautiful but the first thing I see is taking twice as long to get somewhere. Please tell me the curvy path is because of the landscape, access and engineering, not because someone wanted to make a curvy path?
form following function and other form? I don't know the area so don't have a grasp of why they would build it like that. A curve is more interesting, unless you are walking to work and it takes you 20 mins instead of 15. Some people won't mind, others will.
If you want your commenting privilege back, you need to write a nice and compelling apology to Lprent. Let us know if you want/need the link to when/where things went pear-shaped.
Crikey. Times are tough in Australia. Back to where we were weeks ago.
Acting on the advice of Australia’s acting Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly, Morrison has written to the Speaker of the House of Representatives to request that the sitting fortnight commencing August 4 not be held.
Well there are many here discussing JC. (Not the biblical fellow.)
I would like to discuss the difference between the two Leaders.
Jacinda Ardern has proven herself here and overseas as caring and informed, and is much admired.
JC was given a role that involved going overseas, and true to type she used that occasion to promote her husband's business and herself.
For that and other mis-steps she was demoted by John Key. WOW!!
She hopes we will forget that and trust her with our sick Kauri Covid and Recovery.
Sorry Judith, you just haven't got it, and Tova should have said "You are not a 10..
but you don't listen do you? !!’
Today I have a hoarding on our section for Labour Jacinda and Claire in Rotorua. The stop sign has been shifted or we would have had one for Tamati as well. Go Labour!! I am biased.. Go the Greens as well!!
Everyone should have opportunity's to own a whare.
That's correct the system has been screwed in favour of the people who have asset whena at the expense of the people who don't the renters next minute they tell you it's better to rent and quote the trickle down effects year right.
One point I would like to make is there should not be a dividing things like baby boomers millennials race we are all on motherearth together and need to make great choices for our future.
Buzz from the Beehive Transport Minister Simeon Brown dutifully issued advice to all road users to keep safe on our roads during the Easter weekend. He encouraged them to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. ...
Oliver Hartwich writes – New Zealanders recently learned about a new feature film. It will be about former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern – and taxpayers will subsidise it to the tune of NZ$800,000. Ardern had nothing personally to do with either the film or the subsidy. But her government’s ...
TL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above that was recorded yesterday afternoon above between and The Kākā’s climate correspondent : An independent review panel into the emergency response to Cyclone Gabrielle in Hawkes Bayconcluded “that ...
There are now only a few days left to give feedback on the Draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport 2024-34 (see our earlier post this week on GPS submission guides). As we’ve reported, the GPS is a disaster for Local Government, so we were particularly interested to hear ...
Willis has pledged to go ahead with the debt-funded tax cuts, despite growing opposition from her own supporters worried about appearing fiscally irresponsible. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for ...
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
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Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
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My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
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A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
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The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Opposition MPs and unions are criticising a proposal by New Zealand’s Ministry of Pacific Peoples to cut staff by 40 percent. The country’s largest trade union — The Public Service Association — says the ministry has informed staff that it is looking to shed 63 of 156 positions. Opposition MPs ...
A poem by Poetry Aotearoa Yearbook 2024 featured poet Carin Smeaton. Daughtr of the 90s when she gets promoted to usherette a baby blu eel carries her all the way up to mothership she’s hovering high she lets the underaged in to see keanu reeves she lets the only lonely ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin, trained as an economic historian, is a retired lecturer in Economics and Statistics. He lives in Auckland, New Zealand. My earlier article – Can ‘Good’ be the Greater Evil? – looked at the issue of how wars should end, and how Good versus Evil ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 AMMA by Saraid de Silva (Moa Press, $38)A stunning debut novel reviewed by Brannavan ...
From Steve Martin to Ricky Stanicky, a pick’n’mix of things worth watching and listening to this long weekend. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. If you’re at a loss for something to occupy yourself with this Easter, don’t panic: The Spinoff’s got ...
Jesus had dinner with his 12 disciples right before he died. Noted historian Madeleine Chapman finds out who really deserved to be there.First published in 2018 but let’s be honest, the subject is timeless. As you sit on your couch this Easter Sunday, eating a chocolate egg you know ...
The newly-promoted Northern League club is on a mission to return to the National League for the first time in two decades. Plenty about domestic football in New Zealand has changed in that time – but the sense that this amateur competition is not an entirely level playing field remains. ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
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Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
Be nice of people to win votes rather than do the usual and expect them to be delivered votes.
I think the labour party are little better than national, so there is no way in hell I'd vote for them.
Why is there a collection of people who think people should vote for them? And go on to try and shame anyone who dares question them?
Arrogance? Purity? Smug middle class condescension? Or did the Russians do it?
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
And yet you voted for national's support partner the maori party.
And I will again
lol
At least this time they've said they won't work with national, unlike the last time, when you voted to keep them in power.
Lets face facts shall we, labour voted with national more times than the Māori party. Labour stole more land from Māori than any time since the wars. Labour wimped out on closing the gaps because they have no spine. The Māori party got more major initiatives than the greens have been able to.
That said, at worst the Māori party held national in check. At best they stopped them from going full ideological wing nut.
But more importantly, the Māori party will be back in parliament this time round.
Genuine Q: which electorate(s) are they most likely to win?
Fair analysis (although I disagree on the comparison with the Greens).
I hope they do get back in this time. They've still got too much right wing positioning for me but I think NZ is still way better off with them in the political scene and Māori should have direct representation.
I would have thought this was the most left wing policy announced by any party so far
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/06/21/whanau-first-maori-party/
they have lots of good policy (always have done). I was more thinking of Tamihere being elected co-leader. I don't know if that's reflected in the rest of the party.
I would be careful confusing John's social conservatism with his understanding of economics. John gets the need to lift Māori out of the quagmire created for them by 180 odd years of liberalism.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/liberalism
"John gets the need to lift Māori out of the quagmire created for them by 180 odd years of liberalism"
are his approaches to that left or neoliberal? Kaupapa Māori?
Have you never got past his bombastic rhetorical style?
Have you missed what being happen at waipareira trust?
This might help
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/06/21/maori-party-announce-whanau-first-policy-on-covid-19-economic-recovery/
JT doesn’t unite, he polarises and divides, which is one reason why he is good as a shock jock. How’s that positive for Māori?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/413791/maori-doctor-accuses-john-tamihere-of-telling-staff-to-lie-for-covid-19-test
Good on him!
So his staff should have been safe and tested being in the front line.
They should have tested everyone who worked in the front line.
"How’s that positive for Māori?" Good question, I think he there to out the House Negroes which infest NZ politics. A major positive for Māori. He puts Māori front and centre – another positive. Māui, another positive.
On a personal level I like him, he always been nice to the wife and I – he treats disabled people like human beings. Which is more inclusive than many in the labour and NZ1st caucus, and pretty much the whole of the national caucus. Even a couple of ex-greens were a bit shit in that regard.
are you saying that if the Mp hadn't done a deal with National that Labour would have formed government?
No, the point is how someone claiming to be left wing, anti neo lib and equality for all, etc. voted for a national support party.
It's not my idea of being anti by voting pro.
Talk of being a handbrake on national is very much bollocks, when they had the votes of act and Dunne to fall back on, and the poverty stats and housing crisis after their nine years sort of say not really.
so when you said,
"At least this time they've said they won't work with national, unlike the last time, when you voted to keep them in power."
who is 'them', National or Mp?
Both. As all election results are unknown before the votes are cast and counted, but knowing a vote for the maori party, as it was their intention to carry on supporting national, was a vote to keep the status quo and national in power.
Sure it wouldn't have switched the result if they suddenly refused to work with the then government, but no one knew that on the Saturday of the vote.
With reference to the Natz more roads, saw this interesting video on twitter – not sure if I know how to transfer it over – but here goes:
https://twitter.com/urbanthoughts11/status/1191295205187686400
Should be compulsory viewing for all RW road lovers.
Edit – it works – isn’t technology wonderful!
Nice one Tony
Presumably National was planning on making the transport announcement sometime in the actual election campaign in the hope of winning a day of that campaign. The fact they’ve been compelled to do it now in order to try and stop the polling slide just shows what a disaster the last few weeks have been for them.
I get the feeling it is going to be forgotten pretty quickly.
So National plans a busway from Onehunga to the city centre. We all know what that will end up like, there’s one that Labour built on the North Shore. It’s basically a little motorway. So National needs to front up and say which parts of some of the loveliest old heritage suburbs across the isthmus will be wrecked to build their project?
A Bus Rapid Transit between Onehunga and the CBD is not in Greater Auckland's CFN2.
New Zealand, eh? Everyone rowing in different directions.
Rail (single track to Penrose) exists into the CBD. Go on MSM ask them which parts of Epsom they'll carve up…btw bus lanes exist last I looked when in akl.
The stupid is off and running akl has much bigger transport fish to fry.
Haven't had a close look at the Nats plan for the Airport but basically it's rail from Puhinui to airport then later light rail from airport to Onehunga.
You are correct that Onehunga to Penrose is single track so that will have to be two-tracked and a heap of level crossings removed if it is to take airport traffic to the CBD. There are no Remuera houses in the way though which is probably why they have proposed it.
Also can't see how they will get around twin changes, at the airport (rail to light rail) and Onehunga (light rail to rail)???
Wasn't the heavy rail option from Puhinui to Airport abandoned because it became too hard / expensive, which is how the light rail proposal came to be the preferred option?
At least with National supporting the Puhinui line Government can get into it straight away. Same with a lot of National's transport 'policy'
Not sure. There was a link put up yesterday to a 2018 GA article pulling apart the proposals for the Puhinui spur.
I got the impression they didn't really attack the idea itself, rather the details around the Wiri interchange, servicing and the expense of tunnelling under the airport itself. Both seem to be resolvable to me. For instance instead of tunnelling, have a raised railway instead.
"Wasn't the heavy rail option from Puhinui to Airport abandoned because it became too hard / expensive, which is how the light rail proposal came to be the preferred option?"
Christ! if that's the case it just shows the extent to which we've fallen.
But no surprises there really – we can't even restore a rail link to Gisborne, or do the obvious basics, the needs of which will become an inevitability in this future space going forward (such as rail to the Earports in places like Christ's Church, Dunny Din, Tear Ranga, The Tron). Even given things like the original MTL, the Managweka deviation, various power projex.
Christ! we can't even get a bloody Transmission Gully done without a load of ticket clippers, risk analysts, consultants and all their hanger's looking for their cut, and then screaming mummy when things start to show up a few people as being the bullshit artists they are.
By the way ( …. that's BTW these days), but does anyone know where the details of the Dominion Road light rail option are? I'd put money on their being incompatible with various future options – things like an inability to use existing infrastructure because of guage differences – that sort of shit.
There is an issue because they will be two separate systems but they can be connected to the same stations where you simply change trains. This is quite normal in cities with extensive PT coverage.
I believe that's why it's important to have linear solutions which minimise these transfers.
So let's take for instance a hypothetical light rail 'Central Line' running from the airport to Orewa through the CBD. Those carriages would not be able to travel on the CRL but they can run past the CRL stations and be connected to them.
A major flaw with Collins’ plan, if you can call it that, is rail from Wiri to airport, then light rail from airport to Onehunga, then rail again from Onehunga to the CBD. Madness.
Don't panic, anyone – in Northland we're still waiting for 9 of our 10 bridges!
You have to admit though, they did build one, the Taipa Bridge, oh, wait a minute, that was completed only 7 months ago.
Actually, according to Collins when making the announcement with the other caucus members standing behind her, she said "My plan" etc. Then at the end she addressed the media gathered in front of her with this bit of cringe "Are you stunned". OK I admit that I am biased, but that was a very lame performance and unconvincing.
A couple of clips I've seen if her ,shes looked daft . Trying hard to be something she isnt.
During that presentation yesterday Iwas intrigued at the clapping from people out of sight. Journalists don't usually clap. So was it all Tova O'Brian, or were there other supporters there?
The sound of one hand clapping.
Just saw a photo on Audrey's column and those in the audience seem to be media. Clapping from the media???
Maybe they were promised a nice cuppa with a biscuit afterwards 😉
A "cuppa and biscuit" puts me in mind of taxes and getting blood from stones…
“I know, but you can't always get 'em”
I watched the Q & A with media live. Collins left very early and journalists complained about that – live.
Then Bishop stepped in and took the questions, at greater length.
Again, the reporters did their job. They usually do, but they are not the editors and publishers.
There was a range of people there, mostly Nat MPs and candidates, but also Auckland business types.
And give the Tova-bashing a rest. It's tedious and wrong. She did her job this morning, getting Collins on the record, with a series of self-incriminating statements.
It's not her job to then wake up Labour's campaign team on a Saturday morning and make them use the material Tova's interview has provided. That's up to Collins' opponents.
Compare the stories on Newshub now with the rebuttals by Labour in the last 48 hours (good luck finding them, Grant did one, that's about it, who's the f***ing Transport Minister?), and then tell me who is doing their job better.
Whose job? Labour Ministers? Labour MPs? Labour Comms? Labour Campaign Team? Obviously, whoever it is, they’re missing in action, like a ‘homeless man’ living it up large in a managed hotel.
What are the jobs of the Fourth Estate and Press Gallery in NZ? Are they doing their job well?
Some are, some aren't. Generalising about "The Media" is stupid.
As for Labour, I expect them to grasp the fact that things have changed. This is not Muller, lost at sea. Collins will lie and lie, because that's what she does.
If lies are not rebutted, they win. Anyone who doesn't get that has not been paying attention to modern politics.
If lies are rebutted they win. Anyone who doesn't get that has not been paying attention to modern politics.
If that was true, Steven Joyce would now be Finance Minister.
The $11 billion hole was the Big Lie of the 2017 campaign. And you think Labour were wrong to rebut. OK …
When/where are these lies uttered? On Twitter or FB? In the Debating Chamber? When lies don’t get exposed immediately, they’ll get a life of their own very quickly, like a virus; they spread and infect others – some are super spreaders.
Lying is a deliberate strategy to control the narrative; rebut the lie and you buy into the narrative and down the rabbit hole. When you do this in public, people will see you go down that (rabbit) hole and thus the hole is real, not imaginary. Job done, mission accomplished.
Come on, there's an obvious difference between magnifying a lie in the way you describe, and responding to something which is already all over the news headlines. It's not about dead cats on the table or a political version of the Streisand effect. Brian Tamaki rants and lies? Sure, ignore, don't give him oxygen. Leader of the opposition launches flagship policy? Very different.
Today was a good example, Collins lied (if only by omission) in her infrastructure speech – they've done no costings for these tunnels through the mountains. Grant Robertson responded, and wins on the 6 pm news:
Was he right to hit back, or should he have said nothing? Watch and decide for yourselves.
observer I must admit that watching Tova conduct her interviews this morning she did her job pretty well.
Tova is pretty even handed, her bombastic trying to catch them out style she uses on Lab & Nat, I give her credit for that.
Good comments, Observer. And today we have this desperate nonsense https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/willie-jackson-goes-for-judith-collins-jugular-over-racially-divisive-remarks.html. Thigs have changed all right.
Quick scan on Twitter and the RWs are convinced Tova O'Brien is working for Labour, she really gets under people's skin.
old predictable Judith
Judith has been in Parliament 18 controversial years and achieved nothing.
Those that know of her have mostly hung up their caucus boots and departed. Because they do not want to play a useless, empty attack game.
The remarkably young, and world renowned Jacinda Ardern is the person Judith Collins has stupidly declared she intends to Crush.
Judith is not bright. Not at all. She is an old quirky aggressive. Cuddling up with a Tazzer Weapon.
Collins is like a retread tyre.
Chris Trotter (with rose stem between clenched teeth) passionately dances the foxtrot with a demure TRP to the music of MMP:
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2020/07/17/auckland-central-the-importance-of-acting-strategically/
As the bible says, there's a time for every purpose under heaven. The time for that strategic political action will be if the polls close sufficiently that Labour is risking a loss by not doing so. If! If Judith is a miracle worker… 😒
You are bringing almost poetic touches to the brouhaha swordfish. We can do with your style and novelty and if it can raise consciousness in the soporific in Nuzilland we will be doing a flamboyant flamenco.
Last para.
Not many on the left have done as much over that last decade to deep-six the left’s cause than Chris Trotter.
Even worse, he does it for the cash.
Collins on TV3 "Nation" gives many hostages to fortune. Everything from cost of her road plans (she admits she doesn't know) to her own polling and caucus leaking – even telling her own MPs to leave.
If only Labour had people writing this stuff down and telling the voters. That's not "attack politics", Jacinda. That's Labour's job. Don't let Collins get away with it.
For example: Simon Bridges said …
"I can't trust Winston Peters"
Judith Collins says … "I trust Winston Peters" (link up later).
National leader contradicts front bench spokesman and former leader live on television.
But nobody will notice, because the well-funded Labour comms team won't put it all over social media or put out press statements, because they're under orders to be nice. FFS.
And again: "I have not sacked Michael Woodhouse" (verbatim quote)
Headlines, 2 days ago: "Collins sacks Michael Woodhouse".
My meme about National has become, they are too unstable to govern now
See the Peter's interview on the Nation, Peter's is in the know about National disgruntled MPs.
I think more National MPs will resign and another cabinet reshuffle, the weekend will be good for reflection. I cannot see another leadership coup.
I think if any more National MPs resign that will be the final nail in the coffin for them
On Newshub Nation, I just saw this by-line:
She’s received a lot of positive (good) press in the last few days and now some less fawning pieces emerge. The pattern in MSM is so predictable.
edit
I was impressed by the strong masculine surety of Bishop discussing the plans for infrastructure spending in NZ which will be the (road) making of us.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/421465/national-s-31b-transport-plan-pricey-but-worth-it-bishop
And he is explaining to citizens again how government works. I am sure I remember Bill English telling us they have to balance their budgets just like householders do. Now Chris Bishop:
He said the programme of works would be paid for by making a significant change in the way the NZ Transport Agency paid for its projects. Currently it's pay as you go – the NZTA takes money in from fuel tax and road user charges and then pays it out for what it wants to build.
This was not the way most businesses and households operated, Bishop said.
National would encourage NZTA to borrow on its own balance sheet. It has an asset base of $26 billion a year in state highways and revenue of $4b a year in fuel tax. Under National's plan they would borrow and pay back the debt over 20 to 30 years, like a household taking out a mortgage.
"That provides quite a significant chunk for the programme we've announced today."
The land and roads that NZTA oversees creates an 'asset base' on which they can borrow. And if they don't pay back the debt then what will happen – will some overseas entity take ownership of our road surfaces? However there is actual money in fuel taxes, and if government told NZTA to charge road tolls that allow for untolled roads for the many poor people, that would mean that the roads could become user-pays and give a financial push towards using rail.
It sounds like that dumb accounting swindle the government have played on hospitals, making the boards pay a tax or something on the land (and buildings?) that we use for physical buildings to provide the health services from. This of course is to ensure efficiency!
Go home Treasury bods and financiers, back to Mont Pelerin or wherever the mythical temple of pure management economics is situated.
I can see the populist appeal but you don’t run the NZ economy like “most businesses and households” and Government borrowing is not “like a household taking out a mortgage”.
It shows a fundamental misunderstanding but it’s more likely deliberately misleading and spreading disinformation. Either way, it is gobsmacking.
Calling for business people who like to comment here to point out the many flaws (AKA BS) but I expect them to stay cowardly silent.
Observer, I really appreciate your comments. I do think that Labour have to be careful with their strategy. I suggest they get a psychologist (Nigel Latta??) on how to deal with a narcissist. Jacinda in depriving of Judith of attention to date, may be the way to go.
Narcissist hate not getting attention. She's out to provoke Ardern. Really important not to be provoked. I saw Parker on the Duncan Garner show with Bridges yesterday. Bridges all upbeat and chirpy. He even called Parker Davo (shades of David Brent). Parker said Davo, no that doesn't work.
Everything Bridges said he said, No that's not true. Simple. Not a lie or fake news….Parker kept smiling. Re Judith's nomination to the leadership he said, something like No that's not going to work.
Look I don't know what Labours strategy should be……….But I do remember the first budget and Bridges got up in parliament and ranted. At the end of it Ardern got up and said "well that was a lot of shouting"
I definitely do not want Ardern to get into a slanging match. She handled both Bridges and Muller well.
But I do want Labour (not Ardern) to point out simple facts.
Bridges says he did not vote for Collins as leader. Bridges says National can't trust Winston. But Collins says she can. Those are all statements on the record. We don't need leaks to find them.
Parker was brilliant, and Garner too, the Nats aren't used to being held to account for the things they say.
In the last 48 hours we have the usual culprits screeching "Russia hacking and stealing covid research, Russia hacking and stealing covid research" which is completely shot down by the reality of cooperation between many countries.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-cyber-russia-exclu-idUSKCN24I15L
Shooting your self in the foot, Nats & Act, economic disaster our children & grand children will be paying this off forever. Judith we are going to build 31b of new roads and 7b is coming out of the covid recovery fund the the prudent govt have not yet spent
Trudeau's pandemic leadership has bounced the Libs up to 40%: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/elections/poll-tracker/canada/
Sad how 40% is enough for a comfortable majority in Canada. No wonder Trudeau walked back his promise of proportional representation
The Canadian electoral system has a significant element of PR within it. It is a million times better than the FPP system in the UK.
On the basis of the (supposedly terrible) election results in 2019 Corbyn would be PM as head of an SNP/LibDem/Green/Labour coalition if there was MMP in the UK
Care to share which elements of the Canadian electoral system are proportional? As far as I can tell it’s a straight up FPP Westminster system.
You are right Scott-I retract that. Canada has a crap FPP system. For some reason I was confusing Canada with the Spanish electoral system which does have a PR element, though not as pure as NZ or Germany.
But my comment re the UK system and Corbyn, above, remains valid.
A big debate going on here in Oz over suppression versus elimination. Most states and territories have in effect eliminated Covid-19 despite state and federal governments having a suppression strategy. The success in most parts of Oz is now threatened by the accelerating upsurge in Victoria whih has spilled over into NSW (which didn't have any border closures with Victoria until last week.) Victoria, NSW and ScoMo are all dithering over more severe restrictions as the numbers of infections and deaths are rising. The debate between eliminationists (pointing to Taiwan and NZ's success) and the suppressionists (claiming that elimination is impossible and economically damaging) is hotting up and the longer the debate goes on with no resolution it's only likely that more damage will be done.
Incidentally, it seems that Victoria's upsurge (over 400 new cases yesterday) was caused by lax quarantine facilities at one or two particular hotels and the use of poorly paid untrained security workers – unlike more rigorous quarantine measures used in other states. NZ has probably dodged a bullet and I'm sure the NZ government is keeping a very wary eye on theVictorian situation.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-fight-of-our-lives-doctors-call-for-virus-elimination-strategy-as-stage-four-restrictions-loom-20200717-p55d5g.html#comments
Nats to repeal the RMA.
Just think about that for a moment.
No plan to manage NZ's resources.
Just allow civil engineering contractors, foresters, and farmers to completely trash the environment in the pursuit of more profit. Believe me – I have worked in the industry alongside someone who worked in the civil engineering industry before the RMA, and some of the stories he has to tell of environmental recklessness carried out prior to the RMA are horrifying.
Indeed I see the effects of open slather on the environment by unthinking engineers, miners, foresters, and farmers every day from my lounge window at low tide. Prior to the 1890's the Firth of Thames was navigable up to the town and there were a number of Jetties and wharfs built out into the Firth from the town to receive freight and passengers off the numerous vessels that sailed to and from Auckland as that was the mode of transportation then. The discharge of silt from the mines, and from the land, as foresters and farmers cut down the hillside and riverside trees, has resulted in extensive mudflats that now prohibit navigation in all states of the tide, except high tide. This is but one example of thoughtless behaviour by industries whose only concern is the pursuit of profit.
The thinking by Collins and her cronies is muddled and fallacious. They simply perceive that the environment is a subset of the economy. Nothing could be more removed from the truth.
Anne Salmond calls it “a Roman circus”.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/anne-salmond-a-roman-circus
First job for any political party is to crush Covid-19 before it crushes you.
Collins wants to crush the government which has a differcult ongoing task to prevent the virus from returning into the community.
I want to hear how Collins would prevent and manage eliminating Covid-19 were it to transmit into the community.
Come 19 September who has better control and management policy over Covid-19 is the winner.
Treetop @ (13.1.1)
"I want to hear how Collins would prevent and manage eliminating Covid-19 were it to transmit into the community."
Same here, but so far no mention of any Covid19 policies or plans re community transmission from Collins, despite how highly contagious the disease is. I believe Amy Adams as former National shadow minister of the CovidV19 portfolio was in the process of putting together a Covid19 policy prior to the leadership change. However on becoming leader, Collins killed it off and as far as I know to date, no National MP has taken over Adams' portfolio. These points say Covid19 does not rate a priority for Collins or National! Not good at all.
Gerry B. is in charge of National’s charge on COVID-19 Border Response. Enough said.
Even if I had a cat I would not ask him to look after it in my absence.
I have just started reading the Roman themed novels of Lindsey Davis with a smart spy called Marcus Falco getting about like Superman, or Batman? The types of problems he deals with in the book I've read aren't too far away from our present selection. He gets to win obviously, as their have been a large number in the series. That winning, or surviving, makes for good light reading with a positive outcome, to combat the negatives so constant.
Collins is also thin on Covid-19 response money.
Survivors are winners. It is the what needs to happen to survive that is the issue for me.
And
To remember that better days are ahead and today I am surviving.
There are many ways of ‘dying’ and only one involves actual medical/biological death. In order to survive, everything is allowed, even self-defence. When people feel their livelihood is under threat, e.g. they might lose their job & status, their house & status, or their business & status, it feels to them as if they’re ‘dying’. They will act accordingly and in line with the threat(s). National is very good at tapping into this raw emotion that includes fear & anger and they don’t shy away from fuelling it.
I get it that a full life is so much better than just existing.
I will settle for surviving for the time being and have control over what I can control.
Anne Salmond is a credible voice from the real world.
Covid-19 needs to be taken seriously, otherwise it will be so serious for the country.
Brownlee was criticising Adern for her planning, the regional lockdowns, as scaremongering.
Does he say that too about earthquake drills and strengthening of buildings against earthquakes? Just asking, for a friend.
It's either here orr the Checkpoint later in the day, unless it was in the Bridges Garner thing. https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/duncan-garner-gerry-brownlee-butt-heads-over-national-s-policy-announcements.amp.html
Think of the economic growth when the next lot of leaky building need to be fixed. (Sarc)
I wasn't aware they'd finished repairing the last lot
The never ending story.
Below are the parts of the RMA that Collins hates because they give significant protection to natural resources, especially landscape values.
It would be a disaster if she were to be elected-all of these protections would be thrown on the scrap heap in order to help Collins' money hungry developer mates.
5 Purpose
(1) The purpose of this Act is to promote the sustainable management of natural
and physical resources.
(2) In this Act, sustainable management means managing the use, development,
and protection of natural and physical resources in a way, or at a rate, which
enables people and communities to provide for their social, economic, and cultural
well-being and for their health and safety while—
(a) sustaining the potential of natural and physical resources (excluding
minerals) to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations;
and
(b) safeguarding the life-supporting capacity of air, water, soil, and ecosystems;
and
(c) avoiding, remedying, or mitigating any adverse effects of activities on
the environment.
6 Matters of national importance
In achieving the purpose of this Act, all persons exercising functions and
powers under it, in relation to managing the use, development, and protection
of natural and physical resources, shall recognise and provide for the following
matters of national importance:
(a) the preservation of the natural character of the coastal environment (including
the coastal marine area), wetlands, and lakes and rivers and their
margins, and the protection of them from inappropriate subdivision, use,
and development:
(b) the protection of outstanding natural features and landscapes from inappropriate
subdivision, use, and development:
(c) the protection of areas of significant indigenous vegetation and significant
habitats of indigenous fauna:
(d) the maintenance and enhancement of public access to and along the
coastal marine area, lakes, and rivers:
(e) the relationship of Maori and their culture and traditions with their ancestral
lands, water, sites, waahi tapu, and other taonga:
(f) the protection of historic heritage from inappropriate subdivision, use,
and development:
(g) the protection of protected customary rights:
(h) the management of significant risks from natural hazards.
7 Other matters
In achieving the purpose of this Act, all persons exercising functions and
powers under it, in relation to managing the use, development, and protection
of natural and physical resources, shall have particular regard to—
(a) kaitiakitanga:
(aa) the ethic of stewardship:
(b) the efficient use and development of natural and physical resources:
(ba) the efficiency of the end use of energy:
(c) the maintenance and enhancement of amenity values:
(d) intrinsic values of ecosystems:
(e) [Repealed]
(f) maintenance and enhancement of the quality of the environment:
(g) any finite characteristics of natural and physical resources:
(h) the protection of the habitat of trout and salmon:
(i) the effects of climate change:
(j) the benefits to be derived from the use and development of renewable
energy.
Link: http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1991/0069/latest/DLM230265.html
There's nothing muddled or fallacious about her and her cronies' callous indifference.
Ms Collins said she had no idea environmentalists were concerned about digging up wetland areas.
While it is illegal to export raw native timber, 3 News understands Oravida is planning to set up a processing plant so it can send the Kauri offshore as a finished product.
Ms Collins said the concerns have nothing to do with her.
"Does that have anything to do with me? Am I the minister of wetlands? Go and find someone who actually cares about this, because I don't," she said.
"There's a large number of our birds that depend on wetlands for their survival," said Dr Smith.
"It's not my issue. I don't like wetlands – they're swamps," said Ms Collins.
This is all comes less than a month after the Victoria Forest Park controversy, when Energy Minister Simon Bridges signed off the biggest forest park in the country for oil exploration, despite never having heard of it.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/environmentsci/collins-wetlands-comments-outrage-environmentalists-2014050617
Collins is NZ's Ch
Trump.The Nats have been environmental vandals since Simon Upton left politics.
At least we know why she wants to ‘drain the swamp’.
Winston Peters has a good memory and hasn’t forgotten that that company that used to call itself Oravida Kauri Ltd dug up the fuel pipeline to Auckland Airport: https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansard-debates/rhr/document/HansS_20190925_054675000/peters-winston
I don't know why, but one of many "c" words come to mind.
And was never held to account for that, despite the impact of rescheduling international flights for 3 days.
That was in 2014 Joe. Would be interesting for her to be asked now about her attitude.
The coverup has begun…
https://twitter.com/DrEricDing/status/1283838734954266625
No testing = No covid, magic!!!
& Palantr got the contract!
To: Beared Git
Thank you for your Article.
Oravida ( old Mrs Collins says she knows nothing about it) is going to export miles of native timbers to China.
As well, Simon Bridges is going to dig up the largest Wet Lands in Aoteroa and sell the oil off for himself and his national idiots. the Wet Lands will disappear.
For such is the criminality of National Idiots.
I'm quite fond of Krugman, generally speaking. He's scientist enough to be swayed by evidence. I wonder if our Treasury can claim as much.
Krugman writes that he and other mainstream economists “missed a crucial part of the story” in failing to realize that globalization would lead to “hyperglobalization” and huge economic and social upheaval, particularly of the industrial middle class in America. And many of these working-class communities have been hit hard by Chinese competition, which economists made a “major mistake” in underestimating, Krugman says. It was quite a “whoops” moment, considering all the ruined American communities and displaced millions of workers we’ve seen in the interim.
Looks like 'Murica's dirty war has kicked off.
https://twitter.com/JesseDamiani/status/1284173475771412480
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1284173475771412480.html
“A peaceful protester in Portland was shot in the head by one of Donald Trump’s secret police,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) wrote in a Thursday tweet that also called out acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf. “Now Trump and Chad Wolf are weaponizing the DHS as their own occupying army to provoke violence on the streets of my hometown because they think it plays well with right-wing media.”
Civil rights advocates suggested the Trump administration is testing the limits of its executive power.
“I think Portland is a test case,” Zakir Khan, a spokesman for the Oregon chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told The Post. “They want to see what they can get away with before launching into other parts of the country.”
Jann Carson, interim executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, called the recent arrests “flat-out unconstitutional” in a statement shared with The Post.
“Usually when we see people in unmarked cars forcibly grab someone off the street, we call it kidnapping,” Carson said. “Protesters in Portland have been shot in the head, swept away in unmarked cars, and repeatedly tear-gassed by uninvited and unwelcome federal agents. We won’t rest until they are gone.”
http://archive.vn/79fPg (wapo)
Going full Pinochet.
I have been worried about something like this happening for over a month now since the beginning of the protests in response to the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. That teams of Federal law enforcement, with the majority coming from the Bureau of Prisons Disturbance Response Units (they’re trained to go in one on top of each other into cells or areas of Federal prisons and use maximum force to achieve compliance) and C&BP’s equivalents of Rapid Response Units would be deployed to all the major urban areas, especially those with majority or plurality minority populations (African American, Latinx, or a combination of the two). Specifically, that they will be used in an increasingly visible manner over the next 100 days or so culminating in widespread visible use of them during early voting periods and on election day in or near voting precincts, as well as near mail in ballot drop boxes at municipal facilities. A program of voter suppression under color of law. While the mayors and governors of these states who are Democrats will push back, and the Democratic governors won’t allow their National Guard to be pulled into these operations, the states that have Republican governors aligned with the President like Florida, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, etc, even if the cities being targeted have Democratic leadership (Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Austin, Houston, Cincinnati, etc), will play ball with the President, the Attorney General, and the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security.
[…]
Now that the Republican National Committee is out from under the Federal court imposed requirement not to use paid election monitors, I have long predicted that they would hire off duty law enforcement to work as election monitors while in uniform. While this is what got them in trouble to begin with in the 1980s and resulted in the Federal court order that was finally lifted last year, the RNC knows it works and paired with an escalating use of Federal law enforcement within urban areas between now and the election in November would go along way to suppressing the vote under the color of law.
https://www.balloon-juice.com/2020/07/17/the-federal-police-operations-will-not-stay-in-portland/
Steve Braunias reviewed JC's autobiography: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/readingroom/judith-joylessly
Earlier Steve had this to say in respect of her literary style, following with a prescient comment on the timing of publication:
I found his review intriguing, inasmuch as he makes a strong analytic case for how the autobiography reveals her character. More one-dimensional than I expected…
Whilst pulicising her book "Pull No Punches" I heard Judith Collins say she was writing another book but needed a good punchy title. After the election maybe "On The Ropes Again" could be a goer ?
😊 Would imply acceptance of defeat though. She'd be more likely to frame it to herself as a temporary glitch. Surprising that she's writing another so soon eh? I suspect she will struggle to find motivation to finish it…
She crushes those commas!
I'm a bit puzzled by this. Canadian whose original intention was a 6 week stay here then moving on to London. Then applied for a work visa and wondering why a work visa hasn't been issued pronto but as far as I can see there are now flights available to both Canada and London so he can continue his journey. Also seems to want to undermine just about any working conditions available locally.
Why is there no push back in the story? He has choices other than a work visa.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/122149438/jobseeking-canadian-stranded-by-covid19-struggles-to-get-visa-clarity
Conflicting opinions confuse readers, fatal mistake if you want to win elections. Follow a consolidated message so close to an election. Standing 2 progressive candidates in Auckland Central is stupid. Split the vote and National win. Happened in 3 or four electorates in 2017. No wonder the left is viewed as incompetent, they can not even consolidate their election strategy. Sigh, you have a duty of care re Kiwi's, dont confuse. But then it is said "you cant fix stupid" how true. Seems progressives in NZ a bit slow to comprehend.
[Please pick one user name and stick to it – weka]
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
mod note for you above.
"Conflicting opinions confuse readers"
You're new here, so I'll spell it out for you. The site exists to provide space for robust debate. Authors are free to write what they want (there is no editorial control), and frequently disagree with each other. The value in this is that ideas get hashed out and in a strong debate culture the stupid/unhelpful ones tend to torn apart. The useful/interesting ones also get pulled apart and made better. This is normal political process.
Please read the Policy and About so you understand the purpose of the site.
btw, I tend to take a dim view of people who comment in such a way that makes me think they didn't bother to read the post, especially people who then want to use my post to slag off a political party or the left.
Sure, voters like clarity and consistency, which doesn’t mean simple or easy; they’re clever enough and they don’t like being patronised.
So, “the left” is viewed as “incompetent”, presumably by ‘the right’? What do you consider “the left”? Should they talk & act with one voice and pretend they represent ‘the left voters’, whoever those are?
BTW, thanks for picking a different user name but I reckon this could tricky to get exactly right each time; one minor difference/typo will be picked up by the system and your comment will end up pending in Pre-Moderation until a Moderator releases it. Moderators don’t like extra work, least of all in Pre-Election time.
"Split the vote and National win. Happened in 3 or four electorates in 2017."
Sure. That's why National are in government now. They won some electorates.
Lol.
Username = "P.e..?.e….r the other one"
Complains 'the left' is confusing him.
Ok, champ.
Re P.e….?.e…r
"You have a duty of care re Kiwi's, don't confuse"…………………..how confusing do you think it has been for Kiwis to see the billboards "strong team" and then see three different leaders in less than three months, one who swanned in telling us he was going to be the next PM and now, it seems not…….Bennett, Adams and Kaye gone within weeks……………Shadow health minister criticising Labour for the privacy breaches, then whoops a daisy, turns out he knew that his own team had done the leaking all along……
Very confusing of Adams to say retiring for family reasons then shes back! Now she's gone!!!!!
You are new here. Feel free to stick around and note the calibre of the debate. So far your contribution falls well below the standard here. You will be shot down every time you contribute unless you lift your game……….but maybe you can't fix stupid
Commenters and readers here do understand that the latest face of the National Party is not one that will change anything at all with regards the future and direction Jacinda Ardern and her team have set for the country – don't you? The bellowing and posturing from the boiled-down National Party leadership will achieve … nothing at all.
I hope that's true 🙂 (I fear that JC will create some shit and make politics worse, but maybe that will just backlash against her, fingers crossed)
We humans are so easily spooked. If you feel that honesty, sincerity and kindness will prevail, the whipped-up "latest developments" will seem like a light rain on your umbrella.
Judith Collins, weka? Have you so little faith in Jacinda's abilities, her support and the circumstances we find ourselves in to fear the actions of a person like Judith Collins? I see a mangy old tomcat, hissing and spitting with people noticing the rank odour of an animal long past it's prime
A tomcat??
Sure – and a stinker to boot! Tufts of fur missing, mad eye, the whole package.
lol. I have been starting to roll my eyes a bit at all the lefties wanting to talk about National so much. I'm sure she will make good use of that.
Good point, which means that the Left wants to hear and talk about stories from the Left. Where is the overarching story for our future from the progressive Left? Till we have one, we will be tempted, forced almost, to look at S & M show put on for us by the Right. Not only are we a willing audience of (paying) spectators, there’s never a shortage, it seems, of willing volunteers to join in.
we appear to be too busy poking a stick at each other, or ostracising each other, to have a coherent and useful overarching story.
And yep about the audience. The posts about the reactionary stuff will garner more engagement, almost every time.
But that too is a self-defeating narrative and I tend to agree with Robert about confidence and how we choose to position ourselves. Will have to think about this.
" not one that will change anything at all with regards the future and direction Jacinda Ardern and her team have set for the country "
National/Collins certainly won't achieve anything for the country. The question is, can their scorched earth, destructive campaign succeed in its real goal: saving enough Nat MPs to force Ardern to cobble together a government she doesn't really want, instead of a clear win.
We can say "impossible", but then that would be ignoring the lessons of Trump, Brexit, ScoMo, etc.
They do this sh*t because it works.
It won't work here. We can only speculate from this point in time but buying into a nervous, insecure story is a personal choice. Nothing is set in stone, all predictions are ephemeral stories. We seem to enjoy insecurity, but my encouragement is to choose confidence and surety. Whipped-up froth can be blown away by the breath of a person secure in their deep belief; there will always be constant erosion from agencies that thrive on insecurity and you know who clasps those to their bosom.
I like confidence, a lot. But … experience too. For example –
Polls (so far) suggest that for the referendum on legalising cannabis, "No" is leading.
That's based on a fear campaign, not reason and evidence. So I don't think we're really that different from other democracies, unfortunately.
"No" might reflect the population's position and not surprisingly. It's a big stretch and people aren't inclined to go beyond their cultural boundaries. If you don't act with measured, considered confidence, you are agreeing to swirl and twirl with whatever currents are directed your way. What kind of player do you want to be – one at the beck and call of the "other side" or one that chooses a position, intelligently and clearly, then follows that line?
I agree. It's a time of great potential change and the stories we tell determine which way the change goes. Lots of opportunity here. Collins is going to troll the left with everything she's got, best the left find a better story than that reactionary one. What you call measured, considered confidence I might call grounding and knowing our own truth worth.
Agreed Observer
So since the storm in 2011 we had another once in 500 year event.
https://www.teaomaori.news/storm-floods-northland-over-250mm-rain-24-hrs?_ga=2.27954553.498985619.1595039930-1989521011.1595039930
The evening before Muller resigned as leader it crossed my mind that he could.
I am 50/50 about him resigning from the National Party next week. Were Muller to do so I think he would be a good fit for NZ First.
Why don't you just go fund the lincoln project then?
They'd happily take your money.
And past what, all having to be limited to arguing in the small small ideological world of liberalism. – Yeah I'd like to be past that too, but you and your ilk keep limiting the debate.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
[I have no patience for this shit. Don’t tell me what to do under my own post, and don’t make out I believe something I don’t. If you’re too stupid or caught up in your bah humbug that you can’t see I’m not supporting liberalism, then stay out of my posts.
You do that sly, manipulative, poking at people shit in a conversation with me one more time and I will ban you, no matter where on site it happens. I opened a door to a conversation with you and you just spit in my face. I’m done.
To make it *really* clear, this is entirely an issue of behaviour not politics. You are quite capable of making political arguments, so make them without flaming and then I will respect you again even if I disagree. – weka].
Well done for proving my point of limiting debate to what you decide what that is – a very small area of liberalism indeed.
Unless your chanting trump bad, trump bad. Your a arsehole and a trump supporter. Downright depressing stuff as it is so fucking juvenile.
No wonder the debate can’t move anywhere. You either have to shut up or nod like a right idiot.
mod note for you above. I suggest you read the Policy to refresh your memory on how to talk to authors.
It's not tiddlywinks.
that we can agree on.
I think Australia has had 16 deaths since they’d ‘eliminated’ and cases surged. Very sad, but a clear indicator you toy with this Coronavirus at your peril.
380 new cases today, 0ver 10500 cases altogether.
The US had 75000 new cases yesterday.
But as Trump says, "it's only cos we do more testing than any other country"
Solution, don't do any testing and the virus will disappear.
So 24 hours ago Judith Collins proposes a full-sized mnotorway from Whangarei to Tauranga, with tunnels and tolls.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA2007/S00159/speech-delivering-infrastructure.htm
Today Labour responds with a minor upgrade of Auckland's northwestern motorway for buses, and a cycleway with little transport network use being built on a swamp that will be underwater in most spring tides – and next to impossible to build.
Labour are already very electorally weak on transport, so Collins knows to go for Twyford very hard.
Methinks Labour better have more fuel in the tank of their transport policy if they think they are going to outflank National on transport.
Even though you clearly don’t think much of it, you could at least have provided a link to the Government announcement by two Ministers of which only one is Labour: https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/auckland-transport-infrastructure-revealed
Yeah or you could just turn on the radio or TV news.
Seriously if it deserved a blog post it would have got one. They were all well established projects, just re-released since the Auckland Council cut them. Both Greens and Labour need a better plan this.
It is good form to include a link so that others can read it too and follow up if they wish. People forget here all the time and we remind them here all the time. Without exceptions 😉
That shared path along the Whau River looks amazing.
All projects do at dusk. It's an unlit pathway within 2 metres high mangroves barely above high tide. It's a sea level rise joke.
Ta
Ad doesn’t like it, apparently, but his dislike seems to be more for political than intrinsic reasons although only he could tell us
I thought the right wing were all about choice. It seems that doesn't apply to means of transport to and from work and play.
Thou shalt drive!
Are you referring to Collins and the Nat Party? They like toll roads a lot, apparently, because that gives people a choice. She said so yesterday: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2020/07/national-s-transport-plan-road-tolls-proposed-congestion-charging-on-the-cards.html
Pretty much.
apparently he doesn't think cycling is transport.
he does have a point about sea level rise though.
A point you will get to see when someone releases his comments from the filter. Or he could just do what four moderators have asked and change his email address and then you would have seen his comments immediately.
Indeed, and they have just had to raise the NW motorway 5m for that reason. 2m of that was because the road had dropped either side of the Oakley Estuary Bridge.
The new bit on the city side of that bridge is already sinking but that is probably due to Steven Joyce cutting corners.
I imagine the Whau River path would be designed to an accepted profile of what is to come.
Maybe it's an easy fix too, unlike a motorway.
I released his two comments about 4 hours after they were submitted because I had been away and nobody else was around, it seems. Ad’s not stupid so I don’t know what his problem is.
On a different note:
https://tewhaupathway.org.nz/have-your-say/
Ad is correct, cycling is not a mode of transport unless you live in the Netherlands.
how do you figure that?
Oops, I forgot the /sarc
However, NZ doesn’t have cycling in its blood or genes like the Dutch, it is not part of the NZ culture and therefore not of the NZ infrastructure, sadly. Maybe with e-bikes and e-scooters it will change, slowly. In Amsterdam, you can easily beat a car or PT on a bicycle with no gears and leg-power only on a short-distance trip. When traffic is shite, the bicycle wins on medium-distance trips too. And it is free!
I think we are getting better but it seems a slog. We'll probably see a freeing up and things moving faster and easier if we get a L/G govt in Sept.
it is beautiful but the first thing I see is taking twice as long to get somewhere. Please tell me the curvy path is because of the landscape, access and engineering, not because someone wanted to make a curvy path?
Artist's impression, perhaps? Design-wise some departure from a straight line is more interesting and might in this case reflect the landscape.
It is an interesting form/function question.
form following function and other form? I don't know the area so don't have a grasp of why they would build it like that. A curve is more interesting, unless you are walking to work and it takes you 20 mins instead of 15. Some people won't mind, others will.
Probably following the tide line.
I don't see a division down the middle of it so that foot and wheeled traffic can keep out of each others way.
It will probably just be the painted line as is the case with other shared paths.
No dividing lines these days – like shared car/pedestrian spaces, the idea is that it makes faster-moving people pay more attention to slower ones.
I see AT is separating that traffic in higher use zones.
https://at.govt.nz/projects-roadworks/northwestern-path-upgrade/
That one is a commuting highway combined with schoolkids walking to school, so yes.
is that cycle way fenced in?
Is there a good reason there'd be a motorway with tunnels and tolls from Whangarei but not tolls at the Waterview tunnel and motorway?
No good policy reason at all.
@ Puckish Rogue,
If you want your commenting privilege back, you need to write a nice and compelling apology to Lprent. Let us know if you want/need the link to when/where things went pear-shaped.
You're advertising for trolls now?
How strange is that!!!
more like we're trolling the troll 😈
I doubt that PR will take up the invitation, I suspect his professed love for the Joker is feigned.
We offer good money to trolls to avoid TS turning into an echo chamber as the shareholders don’t like that 😉 Troll lives matter too
John Lewis has died.
John Lewis, US civil rights hero and Democratic congressman, dies at 80
Lewis helped Martin Luther King organise the March on Washington in 1963 and once suffered a broken skull at the hands of state troopers
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jul/18/john-lewis-us-civil-rights-hero-and-democratic-congressman-dies-at-80
NZSteel goes into 'strategic review' from its Australian owner.
https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/nz-steel-next-up-for-strategic-review-by-aussie-owner
The review will be released weeks from the election.
First Tiwai Point aluminium, then Marsden Point refinery, now NZSteel. Nearly 10,000 jobs.
This government appears to have no answers to the full decline of our remaining heavy industry, in the course of two months.
Three regions, thousands of well paid jobs. Come on government, do something.
Crikey. Times are tough in Australia. Back to where we were weeks ago.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/300060209/coronavirus-parliament-scrapped-australian-pm-scott-morrison-warned-of-significant-risk
What can be achieved for climate. NZ is a long way behind.
https://interestingengineering.com/south-korea-commits-61-billion-for-net-zero-society-by-2025
I'm liking all these Sooty Shearwaters lining up!
Well there are many here discussing JC. (Not the biblical fellow.)
I would like to discuss the difference between the two Leaders.
Jacinda Ardern has proven herself here and overseas as caring and informed, and is much admired.
JC was given a role that involved going overseas, and true to type she used that occasion to promote her husband's business and herself.
For that and other mis-steps she was demoted by John Key. WOW!!
She hopes we will forget that and trust her with our sick Kauri Covid and Recovery.
Sorry Judith, you just haven't got it, and Tova should have said "You are not a 10..
but you don't listen do you? !!’
Today I have a hoarding on our section for Labour Jacinda and Claire in Rotorua. The stop sign has been shifted or we would have had one for Tamati as well. Go Labour!! I am biased.. Go the Greens as well!!
On a lighter note, wonder if Labour have thought of changing their campaign slogan and billboards to
Strong team, stable leadership
tv add including the blue team jogging in teal, losing team members and pushing each other out of the way, cheating
UK and Aussie bookies have firmed up Ardern slightly since Collins took over…
Kia Ora
The Am Show.
Everyone should have opportunity's to own a whare.
That's correct the system has been screwed in favour of the people who have asset whena at the expense of the people who don't the renters next minute they tell you it's better to rent and quote the trickle down effects year right.
One point I would like to make is there should not be a dividing things like baby boomers millennials race we are all on motherearth together and need to make great choices for our future.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora
Newshub.
Wai Wai every were scientists predicted this but the deniers in the lead decided to ignore the advice.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora
Te Ao Maori Marama.
That's is cool teaching tamariki there local Maori history.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora
Newshub.
People working from home will be good for the environment.
I'm sure our government will come up with a fair system for our border quarantine system charging.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora
Newshub.
I think it's a good idea to restrict people going to beaches with indangered creatures.
Ka kite Ano.