Labor leader Anthony Albanese has backed the nation's $70 billion coal export industry, agreeing with Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton that ending local exports would only increase global emissions……
……."If you stopped exporting coal [from Australia] immediately, then that would not reduce global emissions," Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney on Friday……
The move by the first-term congresswoman, a project rumored to be underway for months, is a bold challenge to the DCCC which angered many progressive lawmakers and activists when it announced last year a blacklist effort against campaign consulting firms and others who worked against its preferred candidates….
Heres why, on the balance of probabilities, I don't believe Warren over Sanders. He may have said he doesn't believe a woman can beat Trump but thats as far as I'd go (and hes probably not wrong in that)
Gabbard might have had a chance but the party took care of her…
Indeed, the odious Warren strikes again and if you're left and don't vote for her then you're totally responsible for the left's loss according to the fake left.
Reality is that editing a FB post is miles away from writing speeches, word for word, from beginning to end, every single one of them.
Perception is that they are the same, unless one is open to nuance and context and applies at least a smidgen of critical thinking before they spout their brain burbs opinions into the world.
Watch: Devastating footage as Tropical Cyclone Tino batters Pacific
….While the storm will not be a "direct threat" to New Zealand, WeatherWatch warned it would bring large waves to some places around the country and "churn up some NZ beaches".
There is a growing conservative Filipino vote in NZ, though no idea how much they are worth compared with those Chinese or Indian donors he was weighing up.
No need for MFAT, surely mark mitchell and paulo garcia can take care of the details. Dodgy dealings.
Edit…. Come to think of it, I wonder why mark mitchell is going when the nat's say it's about trade? He’s their spokesperson for defence, justice, disarmament and pike river…. weird.
At the moment, I suspect 1 Chinese = 3 Filipinos at the current exchange rate (and still 2 Indians, although that's fluctuating as they are becoming more aware of how they're valued)
If I were playing the stock and trade market, I'd put my money on those bloody Africans. They could become a force to be reckoned with. (Current rate: 1 Chinese = 4.5 Africans and rising – trending). Both the BBC and CNN have competing voices.
Africa could become the new ‘thing’ (going forward, BUT in the fullness of time, and with regard to the intricacies & capabilities of our Immigration department)
Paulo Garcia is on record as stating that sex is only for having babies.
This means that National have no right to call the left "wowsers".
People like him have been streaming into the country for the last 10-15 years and obtaining positions of influence. South African and Filipino bible bashers who want to impose a Gilead-style theocracy in this country. People who completely reject science, sexuality, and female emancipation.
The National party have been capured by Chinese oligarchs and South African/Filipino reactionary bible bashers. They all belive that people who do not work shouldnt eat,women should be the property of their husbands/fathers/brothers, sex outside of marriage should be outlawed.
Surveillance capitalism courtesy of Mr Thiel, Mr.Zuckerberg, and mates.
His tiny company, Clearview AI, devised a groundbreaking facial recognition app. You take a picture of a person, upload it and get to see public photos of that person, along with links to where those photos appeared. The system — whose backbone is a database of more than three billion images that Clearview claims to have scraped from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo and millions of other websites — goes far beyond anything ever constructed by the United States government or Silicon Valley giants.
[…]
But without public scrutiny, more than 600 law enforcement agencies have started using Clearview in the past year, according to the company, which declined to provide a list. The computer code underlying its app, analyzed by The New York Times, includes programming language to pair it with augmented-reality glasses; users would potentially be able to identify every person they saw. The tool could identify activists at a protest or an attractive stranger on the subway, revealing not just their names but where they lived, what they did and whom they knew.
[…]
One reason that Clearview is catching on is that its service is unique. That’s because Facebook and other social media sites prohibit people from scraping users’ images — Clearview is violating the sites’ terms of service.
“A lot of people are doing it,” Mr. Ton-That shrugged. “Facebook knows.”
Jay Nancarrow, a Facebook spokesman, said the company was reviewing the situation with Clearview and “will take appropriate action if we find they are violating our rules.”
Mr. Thiel, the Clearview investor, sits on Facebook’s board. Mr. Nancarrow declined to comment on Mr. Thiel's personal investments.
Fire services said this precipitation will help to weaken fires in those areas, though it won't actually put them out…..
……85 fires were still raging across the state, with 30 still out of control…..
…..To make matters worse, the rain that has fallen so far has caused some flooding and damage. Forecasts suggest the flooding could get even worse, and cause even more devastation after months of fires.
Lightning from the storms has also in some case started new fires, CNN reported.
The Australian leaders as much as the americans and others don't give a flying poo about climate change. Currently they see our environment as a cost centre, it costs money to keep a tree alive that is only of use to a little marsupial that serves no purpose to us and that we already sell as a plushy. Thus why not let fire kill everything, then the floods finish of those who may survive. When all is said and done no one can stop the business form mining, drilling, mountain top cutting and so on and bingo profit. As for us humans, there is billions of us and if we drop a billion of three it would not make a difference.
What would it take to get Australia's political leaders to take climate change seriously?
Should we sue them?
It's not like we haven't got grounds
…World Meteorological Organization says smoke has ‘probably’ reached Antarctic
Smoke from bushfires in Australia has drifted across the Pacific and affected cities in South America, and may have reached the Antarctic, the UN World Meteorological Organization said on Tuesday.
…..Brown sooty deposits have already beenreported on glaciers in New Zealand, potentially accelerating the rate at which they are melting, the programme said.
New Zealand glaciers turn brown from Australian bushfires' smoke, ash and dust
Snow-capped peaks and glaciers discoloured as former PM says ash could accelerate glacial melting
Eleanor Ainge Roy, The Guardian
Thu 2 Jan 2020
Snow and glaciers in New Zealand have turned brown after being exposed to dust from the Australian bushfires, with one expert saying the incident could increase glacier melt this season by as much as 30%.
Sadly ‘loss of election’ is unlikely to be the impetus for change, as both major Australian political parties are in basic agreement over coal exports and climate change.
“If Australia stopped exporting today there would not be less demand for coal – the coal would come from a different place," Anthony Albanese
This a morally corrupt argument from the Labor Party leader.
I wouldn't be surprised if the same twisted logic was used by supporters of slavery when the British Parliament was debating ending the slave trade.
With just a little rephrasing, let's see how Anthony Albanese logic would read when applied to the slave trade;
"If Britain stopped the slave trade today there would not be less demand for slaves – the slaves would come from a different place,"
In various versions this same argument has been used by other national leaders to justify Business As Usual. Donald Trump for instance has said that if America cut its fossil fuel use the US would be disadvantaged against its trading rivals.
In the end no country will do anything. Because it will “come from a different place”.
Sometime in the past few weeks there was a conversation that started with someone asking for examples of the terrible things that Trump administration had done, because people keep saying they're doing terrible things but this person wasn't seeing it. Anyone remember where that was?
"Democrats have two theories of how to win the 2020 presidential election: persuasion versus turnout. Advocates of the former, generally moderates, believe that Clinton lost to Trump mostly because she failed to convince enough moderate voters in swing states. But progressives say that an emphasis on turning nonvoters into voters is more important for a Democratic victory in November. They blame Clinton’s loss on failing to inspire and mobilize Americans: An estimated 4.4 million people who voted for Barack Obama did not vote in 2016."
Biden seems a genial old duffer. Why, then, do I always seem to have the impression that he's constantly doing weasel impressions?? But Democrats like that kind of person, eh? Apart from being male, he's another Hilary Clinton.
"In the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats flipped 41 House seats from red to blue, the majority of the party’s winning candidates were more moderate. Candidates endorsed by lefty groups such as Our Revolution and Justice Democrats had much less success. Lanae Erickson, a senior vice president at Third Way, a center-left think tank, cited those gains as a reason to stick with a more moderate presidential candidate this year."
Oh, I get it. Most Democrats are actually centrists. They're just pretending to be leftist. Ok, I think I can go with this theory. Politics is a numbers game, and if the numbers are in the center, they need someone sufficiently bland.
Let's hope that we are kinder to Australians seeking refuge here, than they are to those who have sought refuge in Australia.
“It is conceivable that much of Australia simply becomes too hot and dry for human habitation,” Dr Mann, who is director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, told Reuters…..
…..Dr Mann, the author of four books including The Madhouse Effect, said Australia could still “easily achieve” the target by shifting towards renewable energy.
“It’s possible to grow the economy, create jobs, and preserve the environment at the same time. These are things that all Australians could embrace,” he said.
“They just need a government that’s willing to act on their behalf rather than on behalf of a handful of coal barons.”
Maybe we could gently chide Australians who may seek refuge here by demanding that they first agree to give up their Australian citizenship and passport to become New Zealand citizens.
Problem is, they would still think like Aussies. They'd try to bowl underarm whenever possible. I know – we could hold them temporarily in pens on Auckland Island for however many years it takes for them to jump through our immigration hoops. They'll love the cool, wet climate there. They understand how helpful it is for those in transit to do a sojourn on an island because it's been their government policy for so long. 🤣
With Simon Bridges and his mercenary friends going to meet an extra-judicial dictator in Rodrigo Duterte, and Shane Jones attacking his own government from the inside, my wish for 2020 is for NZ First to be placed on the sidelines and for voters to recognise the danger of another National led government right now.
Madness would be claiming to want to build bridges between Leavers and Remainers and then ringing the biggest bell in the fooking country to celebrate Leaving, at the exact moment of leaving.
Australia to spend up large on 21st Century version of a Potemkin Village frontage for visitors to gawp at.
Severe thunderstorms to hit NSW as bushfires continue to burn
– with $25m to be spent on an international advertising campaign to tell visitors that “Australia is safe and open for business”.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, described the bushfire crisis as the “biggest challenge in living memory” to Australian tourism.
In the tourism package, $20m will be spent on a domestic ad campaign and $10m has been set aside to create new tourist attractions – such as events, festivals or art – in bushfire-hit areas….
…..The rest of the package includes $9.5m to be spent on bringing international TV shows and media to Australia, $6.5m for Tourism Australia’s annual trade industry event and $5m for the country’s diplomatic network.
I think politics using people's lack of knowledge of other cultures is a bit on the low side Chris.
The weather is doing what our great scientists have predicted years ago on this site there was a conversation about what is happening in Australia now 2 years ago.
Ka pai to China for their single use plastic bag ban that move will also make recycling plastic less costly.
Rangtoto old sacred sight should be protected from development as a lot of knowledge will be lost forever from the development.
Maori film makers should get tautoko every one knowns that discriminatied will make it harder for true tangata whenua o Aotearoa stories to be made into films.
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
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Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
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Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
Chris Trotter writes – MELISSA LEE should be deprived of her ministerial warrant. Her handling – or non-handling – of the crisis engulfing the New Zealand news media has been woeful. The fate of New Zealand’s two linear television networks, a question which the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications ...
TL;DR: The podcast above features co-hosts and , along with regular guests Robert Patman on Gaza and AUKUS II, and on climate change.The six things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the ...
Policymakers rarely wish to make plain or visible their desire to dismantle environmental policy, least of all to the young. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent ...
I like to keep an eye on what’s happening in places like the UK, the US, and over the ditch with our good mates the Aussies. Let’s call them AUKUS, for want of a better collective term. More on that in a bit.It used to be, not long ago, that ...
TL;DR: The global economy will be one fifth smaller than it would have otherwise been in 2050 as a result of climate damage, according to a new study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and published in the journal Nature. (See more detail and analysis below, and ...
New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. The data is from February this ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is understood to be planning a major speech within the next fortnight to clear up the confusion over whether or not New Zealand might join the AUKUS submarine project. So far, there have been conflicting signals from the Government. RNZ reported the Prime Minister yesterday in ...
Life throws curveballs, and sometimes, those curveballs necessitate wiping your iPhone clean and starting anew. Whether you’re facing persistent software glitches, preparing to sell your device, or simply wanting a fresh start, knowing how to factory reset iPhone without a computer is a valuable skill. While using a computer with ...
Gone are the days when communication was limited to landline phones and physical proximity. Today, computers have become powerful tools for connecting with people across the globe through voice and video calls. But with a plethora of applications and methods available, how to call someone on a computer might seem ...
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The absolute brass neck of this guy.We want more medical doctors, not more spin doctors, Luxon was saying a couple of weeks ago, and now we’re told the guy has seven salaried adults on TikTok duty. Sorry, doing social media. The absolute brass neck of it. The irony that the ...
Buzz from the Beehive Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones relishes spatting and eagerly takes issue with environmentalists who criticise his enthusiasm for resource development. He relishes helping the fishing industry too. And so today, while the media are making much of the latest culling in the public service to ...
Having written, taught and worked for the US government on issues involving unconventional warfare and terrorism for 30-odd years, two things irritate me the most when the subject is discussed in public. The first is the Johnny-come-lately academics-turned-media commentators who … Continue reading → ...
Eric Crampton writes – Kainga Ora is the government’s house building agency. It’s been building a lot of social housing. Kainga Ora has its own (but independent) consenting authority, Consentium. It’s a neat idea. Rather than have to deal with building consents across each different territorial authority, Kainga Ora ...
Muriel Newman writes – The Coalition Government says it is moving with speed to deliver campaign promises and reverse the damage done by Labour. One of their key commitments is to “defend the principle that New Zealanders are equal before the law.” To achieve this, they have pledged they “will not advance ...
Chris Trotter writes – The absence of anything resembling a fightback from the public servants currently losing their jobs is interesting. State-sector workers’ collective fatalism in the face of Coalition cutbacks indicates a surprisingly broad acceptance of impermanence in the workplace. Fifty years ago, lay-offs in the thousands ...
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Lindsay Mitchell writes – Ten years ago, I wrote the following in a Listener column: Every year around one in five new-born babies will be reliant on their caregivers benefit by Christmas. This pattern has persisted from at least 1993. For Maori the number jumps to over one in three. ...
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Hi,A friend had their 40th over the weekend and decided to theme it after Curb Your Enthusiasm fashion icon Susie Greene. Captured in my tiny kitchen before I left the house, I ending up evoking a mix of old lesbian and Hillary Clinton — both unintentional.Me vs Hillary ClintonIf you’re ...
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Today in our National-led authoritarian nightmare: Shane Jones thinks Ministers should be above the law: New Zealand First MP Shane Jones is accusing the Waitangi Tribunal of over-stepping its mandate by subpoenaing a minister for its urgent hearing on the Oranga Tamariki claim. The tribunal is looking into the ...
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Turning what Labour called the “holiday highway” into a four-lane expressway from Auckland to Whangarei could bring at least an economic benefit of nearly two billion a year for Northland each year. And it could help bring an end to poverty in one of New Zealand’s most deprived regions. The ...
Tonight’s six-stack includes: launching his substack with a bunch of his previous documentaries, including this 1992 interview with Dame Whina Cooper. and here crew give climate activists plenty to do, including this call to submit against the Fast Track Approvals bill. writes brilliantly here on his substack ...
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 ...
You're in the mall when you hear it: some kind of popping sound in the distance, kids with fireworks, maybe. But then a moment of eerie stillness is followed by more of the fireworks sound and there’s also screaming and shrieking and now here come people running for their lives.Does ...
Karl du Fresne writes – There’s a crisis in the news media and the media are blaming it on everyone except themselves. Culpability is being deflected elsewhere – mainly to the hapless Minister of Communications, Melissa Lee, and the big social media platforms that are accused of hoovering ...
I don’t normally send out two newsletters in a day but I figured I’d say something about… the news. If two newsletters is a bit much then maybe just skip one, I don’t want to overload people. Alternatively if you’d be interested in sometimes receiving multiple, smaller updates from me, ...
Buzz from the Beehive David Seymour and Winston Peters today signalled that at least two ministers of the Crown might be in Wellington today. Seymour (as Associate Minister of Education) announced the removal of more red tape, this time to make it easier for new early learning services to be ...
Politicians across the political spectrum are implicated in the New Zealand media’s failing health. Either through neglect or incompetent interventions, successive governments have failed to regulate, foster, and allow a healthy Fourth Estate that can adequately hold politicians and the powerful to account. Our political system is suffering from the ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Māori are yet to see anything from this Government except cuts, reversals and taking our people backwards, Māori Development spokesperson Willie Jackson said. ...
The Coalition Government’s refusal to commit to ongoing funding for social housing is seeing the sector pull back on developments and families watch their dreams of securing a home fade away, says Labour Housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has made further appointments to the Board of Antarctica New Zealand as part of a continued effort to ensure the Scott Base Redevelopment project is delivered in a cost-effective and efficient manner. The Minister has appointed Neville Harris as a new member of the Board. Mr ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis will travel to the United States on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the Five Finance Ministers group, with counterparts from Australia, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. “I am looking forward to meeting with our Five Finance partners on how we can work ...
The coalition Government has today announced purrfect and pawsitive changes to the Residential Tenancies Act to give tenants with pets greater choice when looking for a rental property, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Pets are important members of many Kiwi families. It’s estimated that around 64 per cent of New ...
State Highway 1 (SH1) through Wellington City is heavily congested at peak times and while planning continues on the duplicate Mt Victoria Tunnel and Basin Reserve project, the Government has also asked NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to consider and provide advice on a Long Tunnel option, Transport Minister Simeon Brown ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters have condemned Iran’s shocking and illegal strikes against Israel. “These attacks are a major challenge to peace and stability in a region already under enormous pressure," Mr Luxon says. "We are deeply concerned that miscalculation on any side could ...
Hundreds of people in little over a week have turned out in Northland to hear Regional Development Minister Shane Jones speak about plans for boosting the regional economy through infrastructure. About 200 people from the infrastructure and associated sectors attended an event headlined by Mr Jones in Whangarei today. Last ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti has today thanked outgoing Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Chair Dame Karen Poutasi for her service on the Board. “Dame Karen tendered her resignation as Chair and as a member of the Board today,” says Dr Reti. “I have asked her to ...
The NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has signalled their proposed delivery approach for the Government’s 15 Roads of National Significance (RoNS), with the release of the State Highway Investment Proposal (SHIP) today, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan to ...
New Zealand is renewing its connections with a world facing urgent challenges by pursuing an active, energetic foreign policy, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “Our country faces the most unstable global environment in decades,” Mr Peters says at the conclusion of two weeks of engagements in Egypt, Europe and the United States. “We cannot afford to sit back in splendid ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has announced the Australian Governor-General, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley and his wife Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, will make a State visit to New Zealand from Tuesday 16 April to Thursday 18 April. The visit reciprocates the State visit of former Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced that Medsafe has approved 11 cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine. Pharmaceutical suppliers have indicated they may be able to supply the first products in June. “This is much earlier than the original expectation of medicines being available by 2025. The Government recognised ...
New Zealand and the United States have recommitted to their strategic partnership in Washington DC today, pledging to work ever more closely together in support of shared values and interests, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The strategic environment that New Zealand and the United States face is considerably more ...
April 11, 2024 Joint Declaration by United States Secretary of State the Honorable Antony J. Blinken and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs the Right Honourable Winston Peters We met today in Washington, D.C. to recommit to the historic partnership between our two countries and the principles that underpin it—rule ...
The Fast-track Bill, if passed, would allow three Ministers, unchallenged and unchecked, to approve the immediate extraction and exhaustion of one-off resources. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne iamharin/Shutterstock For many people, the term “bulk billed” refers to a GP visit they don’t have to pay ...
Emmas Hislop, Sidnam and Wehipeihana discuss what’s in a name. Emma Sidnam: Hello Emmas! Thank you so much for agreeing to do this with me. My first question for you is related to what’s been on my mind for a while. It’s very important. You see we’ve recently had some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Sievers, Research Fellow, Global Wetlands Project, Australia Rivers Institute, Griffith University Chris Brown Humans love the coast. But we love it to death, so much so we’ve destroyed valuable coastal habitat – in the case of some types of habitat, ...
Josh Thomson on the 80s milk ad jingle he can’t stop singing, the beauty of The Simpsons, why Jersey Shore is as good as Shakespeare and more. For someone who spends a lot of time on our screens, popping up in everything from 7 Days to Taskmaster, Educators to Good ...
In apparent defiance of the Biden administration, the Netanyahu government has now initiated missile strikes against Iran. Last Saturday night (Sunday morning in New Zealand) Iran launched more than 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles against Israeli military targets. With the assistance of US, UK and possibly French forces, ...
Māori representation brings a perspective that encompasses not only the interests of Māori communities but also a broader, holistic approach to environmental stewardship and community well-being, principles deeply embedded in Te Ao Māori (the Māori ...
This week in Auckland, a group of young people took over the microphone at a ministerial press conference, to explain why they oppose the Fast-Track Approvals Bill. One young woman said, ‘We’re here because we love Aotearoa New Zealand. We want to raise our children in an environment that’s thriving, ...
The summer was wonderful. Evie was wonderful, too; finally a teenager, finally worthy of long, hot days. She shaved her legs for the first time and bought cut-off shorts from the op-shop that made them look long. She got a Warehouse singlet so tight on her new shape that her ...
When Thomas James was on his solo camp as part of Outward Bound, the keen outdoorsman didn’t find it too challenging, as others often do. In what might just be the perfect illustration of his character, he saw it as a great opportunity to solve a few problems. “I thought, ...
From the unstable and drippy to the hi-tech and pretty, here’s our ranking of all the tunnels you can drive through in this country. The first tunnel seems to have been built in 2200BC in Babylonia, kicking off a global phenomenon for digging holes in order to get places more ...
Lucinda Bennett on the art of being greedy but resourceful. This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. When I picture the market, it is always this time of year. Crisp air, dripping nose, counting coins with cold fingers. Sunlight pale, filtered through specks of dew still ...
Zoë Colling’s favourite piece in the ‘That’s So Last Century’ collection is a lubrication chart for a sewing machine from the ’60s. It’s about the size of a postcard, and carefully maintained. “I like it that this piece of ephemera highlights that manual and technical side of the skill involved ...
Kia Ora Gaza A passionate haka reverberated through Auckland International Airport as a medical team of three New Zealand doctors received an emotional farewell from a big crowd of supporters before flying to Turkey to join the international Freedom Flotilla to Gaza. The doctors, who left Auckland yesterday, hope to ...
With submissions closing today, Macassey-Pickard says groups around the country have been supporting a huge range of people to make their submissions. ...
Our response to the new legislation is informed by targeted conversations with practitioners working in the system and through an implementation lens. ...
The new ‘Fast-track Approvals Bill’ would give just three Ministers the power to approve or deny development projects. They would avoid the usual checks and balances that are in place to protect rivers, land, the ocean, and communities. ...
COMMENTARY:By Eugene Doyle Helen Clark, how I miss you. The former New Zealand Prime Minister — the safest pair of hands this country has had in living memory — gave a masterclass on the importance of maintaining an independent foreign policy when she spoke at an AUKUS symposium held ...
The government's released the list of organisations provided with information on how to apply - just hours before public submissions on the bill close. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milton Speer, Visiting Fellow, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Technology Sydney Before climate change really got going, eastern Australia’s flash floods tended to concentrate on our coastal regions, east of the Great Dividing Range. But that’s changing. Now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Finkel, Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, La Trobe University Sia Duff / South Australian Museum In February, the South Australian Museum “re-imagined” itself. In the face of rising costs and inadequate government funds, CEO David Gaimster, who took the reins last June, declared ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Pearce, Professor, School of Allied Heath, Human Services & Sport, La Trobe University, La Trobe University This week, Collingwood AFL player Nathan Murphy announced his retirement, brought on by his concussion history and ongoing issues. The 24-year-old’s seemingly sudden retirement, ...
The Mental Health Foundation provides support and resources for those facing the loss of their job, so it’s wrong in the very week the Government adds another 1000 jobs to its tally of cuts, that this is happening. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Howard, Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney Daniel Boud/Sydney Theatre Company Decay, terror, revulsion. These are three of the central themes of Thomas Bernhard’s rarely performed play The President. The Austrian is one of the greatest ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ye In (Jane) Hwang, Postdoctoral Research Associate at School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney Shutterstock You’d be hard pressed to find any aspect of daily life that doesn’t require some form of digital literacy. We need only to look back ten ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says threats by ministers Shane Jones and David Seymour to reform or close down the Waitangi Tribunal were “ill-considered”, as legal experts say the ministers may have breached Cabinet Manual conventions. “I think those comments are ill-considered and we expect all ministers to actually exercise good ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rob Newton, Professor of Exercise Medicine, Edith Cowan University Pexels/RDNE stock project You’re not in your 20s or 30s anymore and you know regular health checks are important. So you go to your GP. During the appointment they measure your waist. ...
A new poem by Evangeline Riddiford Graham. Mitochondrial Problem I. It was long drive to Kansas for the man and his dog but you have to understand he said She doesn’t fly. Which calls to mind not carsick shitting barking or whining but a dog who chooses not to as ...
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 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)Hot off the press, this debut ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Wajnryb McDonald, PhD candidate in Criminology, University of Sydney Less than 24 hours after Ashlee Good was murdered in Bondi Junction, her family released a statement requesting the media take down photographs they had reproduced of Ashlee and her family without ...
Chief executive Shaun Robinson said it has not had any government funding cut, but government-funded contracts have not kept pace with rising costs. ...
The Ministry of Health has delayed the release of its evidence brief on the safety, reversibility and mental health and wellbeing outcomes for puberty blockers. While we wait, Julia de Bres speaks to those with firsthand experience. Best practice gender-affirming healthcare is based on trans people’s self-determination and agency. The ...
Barcelona’s city streets have gone from traffic-clogged to pedestrian-friendly. How? Superblocks. Ellen Rykers explains. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week I read a great interview with renowned urbanist Janette Sadik-Khan by The Spinoff’s Wellington editor Joel MacManus: “You can reimagine streets, ...
Student groups ‘Climate Action VUW’, Schools Strike 4 Climate and VUWSA will be on the street in Wellington today, the last day for submissions on the Fast-track Approvals Bill, with a message that the fight against the Government’s ‘War on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sofia Ammassari, Research Fellow, Griffith University Since 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity has grown exponentially – and so has the formidable organisational machine of his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These two factors will be key to delivering the BJP a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brendon Hyndman, Associate Professor of Education (Adjunct) & Senior Manager (BCE), Charles Sturt University During COVID almost all Australian students and their families experienced online learning. But while schools have long since gone back to in-person teaching, online learning has not gone ...
Yes, they’re better for the environment. No, that’s not a good enough reason for me to use them. Once every 26 days or so, my period arrives, and if struck by an act of God, I am caught red-crotched without products. How, after 17 years of this, do I still ...
“It will cause significant harm to our environment and communities. It is completely at odds with New Zealanders’ relationship with nature and our need for a low-carbon, sustainable economic future." ...
The Chair of the National Maori Authority, Matthew Tukaki, has warned a Parliamentary Select Committee that fast-tracking legislation is a perilous practice that undermines the core tenets of democracy, transparency, and accountability. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Tenbensel, Associate Professor, Health Policy, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Getty Images Since coming into power, the coalition government has adopted a simple but shrewd see-how-fast-we-can-move political strategy. However, in the health sector this need for speed entails ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Hronis, Clinical Psychologist, University of Technology Sydney Darya Sannikova/Pexels Whether you’re watching TV, attending a footy game, or eating a meal at your local pub, gambling is hard to escape. Although the rise of gambling is not unique to Australia, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Wong, Forrest Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia Have you ever wondered if there are more insects out at night than during the day? We set out to answer this question by combing through the scientific ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carol T Kulik, Research Professor, University of South Australia IR Stone/Shutterstock In Australia, it’s not the done thing to know – let alone ask – what our colleagues are paid. Yet, it’s easy to see how pay transparency can make pay ...
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is sounding a warning to migrants, that running foul of the law may see them leaving the country prematurely. ...
The government’s plan to get 50,000 people off jobseeker support by 2030 has had a rocky start, 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. Beneficiary numbers are up – and so are ...
Raglan Roast is a staple of Wellington coffee culture. But with five branches across the capital, which one is the best? I am a die-hard Raglan Roast fan. It’s consistently the most affordable cafe in Wellington, and one of the only places you can get a coffee after 3pm. So, ...
Residents of University of Auckland halls are being urged to withhold their accommodation fees from May 1, in a bid to force the university to take student concerns over rent hikes seriously.The University of Auckland is facing a strike from students over the cost of on-campus accommodation. The Students ...
Hineaupounamu ‘Missy’ Nuku has been scaling mountains in Canada for her college basketball team, the Lakeland Rustlers. Alberta is currently home for the 20-year-old point guard, who is in her first year of a scholarship at Lakeland College, where she is studying for a business degree. She has certainly made ...
New Zealand and the Philippines have signed a new maritime security agreement and stated their concerns over activity in the South China Sea, as Chinese vessels continue to flout international law. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippines President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos committed to signing a Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement by ...
The thousands of government “back-office” job cuts are causing widespread pain in the capital city. In today’s episode of The Detail, we speak to three journalists and a think tank researcher, looking at the larger picture around the cuts and what effect it will have on Wellington, a city that’s ...
Opinion: The famed American architect and urban designer Daniel Burnham once said, “Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood!” Burnham wouldn’t have been referring to the transport plans in Aotearoa New Zealand over the past five years; projects so big they hadn’t the credibility to ...
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Opinion: With maths understanding at 42 percent for Year 8 students, there’s no doubt something has to be done. But how? The post Financial literacy should be on all of us appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Low profile visit from Chinese navel ship. Spontaneous those Chinese.
Doesn't make any sense
Under fierce pressure from the unprecedented bush fires, this sort of ludicrous statement reflects the desperation of the coal lobby
For all the Corbyn fans out there – you might find this podcast a bit of a giggle.
https://twitter.com/ozkaterji/status/1218232764052508673?s=21
Cortez gets stuck into the Centrist gatekeepers
Heres why, on the balance of probabilities, I don't believe Warren over Sanders. He may have said he doesn't believe a woman can beat Trump but thats as far as I'd go (and hes probably not wrong in that)
Gabbard might have had a chance but the party took care of her…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFvujLZwUL0&t=0s
So he’s been lying for the past 40 years then PR?
Indeed, the odious Warren strikes again and if you're left and don't vote for her then you're totally responsible for the left's loss according to the fake left.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1227896/greta-thunberg-climate-change-activist-Facebook-page-social-media-posts-edited
I don't get this, it isn't really news is it, I thought it was pretty obvious others wrote her speeches for her
Reality is that editing a FB post is miles away from writing speeches, word for word, from beginning to end, every single one of them.
Perception is that they are the same, unless one is open to nuance and context and applies at least a smidgen of critical thinking before they spout their
brain burbsopinions into the world.That's all right then.
It doesn't affect us, (yet).
So simon is off to the Philippines, why there simon?
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/407636/simon-bridges-to-raise-concerns-over-killings-in-philippines-trip
Are you going to get some tips from duterte on his drug war? Or will you ask him for social media advice?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-07/how-rodrigo-duterte-turned-facebook-into-a-weapon-with-a-little-help-from-facebook
Maria Ressa could fill you in.
https://time.com/5475492/maria-ressa-rappler-person-of-the-year-2018/
There is a growing conservative Filipino vote in NZ, though no idea how much they are worth compared with those Chinese or Indian donors he was weighing up.
The Filipino labour hire industry should be worth a shake down. Promises to open the doors for commissions all round.
Wondering if there's MFAT involvement in this one, or it totally a National Party show, again
No need for MFAT, surely mark mitchell and paulo garcia can take care of the details. Dodgy dealings.
Edit…. Come to think of it, I wonder why mark mitchell is going when the nat's say it's about trade? He’s their spokesperson for defence, justice, disarmament and pike river…. weird.
Maybe there's a market for mercenaries there?
At the moment, I suspect 1 Chinese = 3 Filipinos at the current exchange rate (and still 2 Indians, although that's fluctuating as they are becoming more aware of how they're valued)
If I were playing the stock and trade market, I'd put my money on those bloody Africans. They could become a force to be reckoned with. (Current rate: 1 Chinese = 4.5 Africans and rising – trending). Both the BBC and CNN have competing voices.
Africa could become the new ‘thing’ (going forward, BUT in the fullness of time, and with regard to the intricacies & capabilities of our Immigration department)
Paulo Garcia is on record as stating that sex is only for having babies.
This means that National have no right to call the left "wowsers".
People like him have been streaming into the country for the last 10-15 years and obtaining positions of influence. South African and Filipino bible bashers who want to impose a Gilead-style theocracy in this country. People who completely reject science, sexuality, and female emancipation.
The National party have been capured by Chinese oligarchs and South African/Filipino reactionary bible bashers. They all belive that people who do not work shouldnt eat,women should be the property of their husbands/fathers/brothers, sex outside of marriage should be outlawed.
We do not want them in this country. Full stop.
Worth it just to meet the pac man.
Surveillance capitalism courtesy of Mr Thiel, Mr.Zuckerberg, and mates.
His tiny company, Clearview AI, devised a groundbreaking facial recognition app. You take a picture of a person, upload it and get to see public photos of that person, along with links to where those photos appeared. The system — whose backbone is a database of more than three billion images that Clearview claims to have scraped from Facebook, YouTube, Venmo and millions of other websites — goes far beyond anything ever constructed by the United States government or Silicon Valley giants.
[…]
But without public scrutiny, more than 600 law enforcement agencies have started using Clearview in the past year, according to the company, which declined to provide a list. The computer code underlying its app, analyzed by The New York Times, includes programming language to pair it with augmented-reality glasses; users would potentially be able to identify every person they saw. The tool could identify activists at a protest or an attractive stranger on the subway, revealing not just their names but where they lived, what they did and whom they knew.
[…]
One reason that Clearview is catching on is that its service is unique. That’s because Facebook and other social media sites prohibit people from scraping users’ images — Clearview is violating the sites’ terms of service.
“A lot of people are doing it,” Mr. Ton-That shrugged. “Facebook knows.”
Jay Nancarrow, a Facebook spokesman, said the company was reviewing the situation with Clearview and “will take appropriate action if we find they are violating our rules.”
Mr. Thiel, the Clearview investor, sits on Facebook’s board. Mr. Nancarrow declined to comment on Mr. Thiel's personal investments.
http://archive.li/jQIrw (NYT)
Great branding.
Al-Qaeda (/ælˈkaɪdə, ˌælkɑːˈiːdə/; Arabic: القاعدة al-Qāʿidah, IPA: [ælqɑːʕɪdɐ], translation: "The Base", "The Foundation" or "The Database",
https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1218509613752115200
Pasty violent shitheads not known for originality.
it's ok, they're not Islamic so they ain't "terrorists", they're just "extremists"
Australia's climate change hell is not about to end soon.
When will Australia’s political leaders act on climate change?
When they themselves are on fire?
well someone needs to tell the guys in OZ that just got flooded that really all they need is mops n buckets
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1218674016942219265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1218674016942219265&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rawstory.com%2F2020%2F01%2Ftrump-urges-mops-and-buckets-as-his-superior-response-to-rising-sea-levels-from-climate-change%2F
and if we lock them up surely they stop protesting about stuff we don't have any intention about doing anything about. Surely.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/environmental-protests-terrorism-australia-bushfires
yeah, its all good. this is as it has always been
https://www.dw.com/en/storm-flooding-misery-follow-bushfires-in-australia/a-52049688
The Australian leaders as much as the americans and others don't give a flying poo about climate change. Currently they see our environment as a cost centre, it costs money to keep a tree alive that is only of use to a little marsupial that serves no purpose to us and that we already sell as a plushy. Thus why not let fire kill everything, then the floods finish of those who may survive. When all is said and done no one can stop the business form mining, drilling, mountain top cutting and so on and bingo profit. As for us humans, there is billions of us and if we drop a billion of three it would not make a difference.
What would it take to get Australia's political leaders to take climate change seriously?
Should we sue them?
It's not like we haven't got grounds
All we need do is quantify the loss to our tourism industry from increased ice loss, and tourists repugnance for viewing muck coated glaciers.
(Eleanor Ainge Roy is a journalist based in Dunedin, New Zealand. She writes on New Zealand issues for the Guardian)
Prepare to be sickened;
New Zealand's muck covered glaciers from above.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=TAWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theaustralian.com.au%2Fworld%2Fthe-times%2Fbushfires-ash-from-australia-threatens-nz-glaciers%2Fnews-story%2Fcc78bf59db528b33865a7eea740a3541&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium
Loss of election or major economic downturn.
Sadly ‘loss of election’ is unlikely to be the impetus for change, as both major Australian political parties are in basic agreement over coal exports and climate change.
This a morally corrupt argument from the Labor Party leader.
I wouldn't be surprised if the same twisted logic was used by supporters of slavery when the British Parliament was debating ending the slave trade.
With just a little rephrasing, let's see how Anthony Albanese logic would read when applied to the slave trade;
"If Britain stopped the slave trade today there would not be less demand for slaves – the slaves would come from a different place,"
In various versions this same argument has been used by other national leaders to justify Business As Usual. Donald Trump for instance has said that if America cut its fossil fuel use the US would be disadvantaged against its trading rivals.
In the end no country will do anything. Because it will “come from a different place”.
??
Sorry, a mistake and the delete function didn't come up.
Sometime in the past few weeks there was a conversation that started with someone asking for examples of the terrible things that Trump administration had done, because people keep saying they're doing terrible things but this person wasn't seeing it. Anyone remember where that was?
Was it this one? https://thestandard.org.nz/what-if-trump-wins-again/#comment-1675839
Your description sounded like a typical Puckish Rogue
trollconversation starter so I just searched Pucky's comments.Yes, that's the one, cheers. Totally sounds like PR, but it didn't turn up in my search.
He's been quite active under the bridge lately so I had to skim through several pages of results to find it.
ah yes, I only searched back a few weeks.
Natalia Salgado, who runs civic engagement at the Center for Popular Democracy, a left-wing advocacy group, anticipates the primaries: "This is an exciting time, and I can’t imagine anyone that’s less exciting than Joe Biden." https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/01/biden-sanders-warren-great-deflation/605134/
"Democrats have two theories of how to win the 2020 presidential election: persuasion versus turnout. Advocates of the former, generally moderates, believe that Clinton lost to Trump mostly because she failed to convince enough moderate voters in swing states. But progressives say that an emphasis on turning nonvoters into voters is more important for a Democratic victory in November. They blame Clinton’s loss on failing to inspire and mobilize Americans: An estimated 4.4 million people who voted for Barack Obama did not vote in 2016."
Biden seems a genial old duffer. Why, then, do I always seem to have the impression that he's constantly doing weasel impressions?? But Democrats like that kind of person, eh? Apart from being male, he's another Hilary Clinton.
"In the 2018 midterm elections, when Democrats flipped 41 House seats from red to blue, the majority of the party’s winning candidates were more moderate. Candidates endorsed by lefty groups such as Our Revolution and Justice Democrats had much less success. Lanae Erickson, a senior vice president at Third Way, a center-left think tank, cited those gains as a reason to stick with a more moderate presidential candidate this year."
Oh, I get it. Most Democrats are actually centrists. They're just pretending to be leftist. Ok, I think I can go with this theory. Politics is a numbers game, and if the numbers are in the center, they need someone sufficiently bland.
The new boat people will be Australian.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australians-may-become-climate-refugees-as-global-temperatures-soar-us-expert?cid=news%3Asocialshare%3Afacebook&fbclid=IwAR2Xs35FfBDT-vqfwIchVLery7CQHTg1Byfk96FybHiKkbVG6hKPQRnNnGE
Let's hope that we are kinder to Australians seeking refuge here, than they are to those who have sought refuge in Australia.
Maybe we could gently chide Australians who may seek refuge here by demanding that they first agree to give up their Australian citizenship and passport to become New Zealand citizens.
Problem is, they would still think like Aussies. They'd try to bowl underarm whenever possible. I know – we could hold them temporarily in pens on Auckland Island for however many years it takes for them to jump through our immigration hoops. They'll love the cool, wet climate there. They understand how helpful it is for those in transit to do a sojourn on an island because it's been their government policy for so long. 🤣
The US Space Force uniform has been unveiled:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-51160547
🙄
this is an excellent read, really
https://twitter.com/joshchafetz/status/1218595028924280832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1218648452785156097&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2F
With Simon Bridges and his mercenary friends going to meet an extra-judicial dictator in Rodrigo Duterte, and Shane Jones attacking his own government from the inside, my wish for 2020 is for NZ First to be placed on the sidelines and for voters to recognise the danger of another National led government right now.
Bojo's Brexit celebrations. He tried to get Big Ben to bong and now has to settle for a light show outside Downing St.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/big-ben-boris-johnson-brexit-day-downing-street-celebration-a9289306.html
As a poster on another forum put it;
So true.
Australia to spend up large on 21st Century version of a Potemkin Village frontage for visitors to gawp at.
Severe thunderstorms to hit NSW as bushfires continue to burn
– with $25m to be spent on an international advertising campaign to tell visitors that “Australia is safe and open for business”.
The prime minister, Scott Morrison, described the bushfire crisis as the “biggest challenge in living memory” to Australian tourism.
In the tourism package, $20m will be spent on a domestic ad campaign and $10m has been set aside to create new tourist attractions – such as events, festivals or art – in bushfire-hit areas….
…..The rest of the package includes $9.5m to be spent on bringing international TV shows and media to Australia, $6.5m for Tourism Australia’s annual trade industry event and $5m for the country’s diplomatic network.
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/world/severe-thunderstorms-to-hit-nsw-as-bushfires-continue-to-burn/ar-BBZ5T3T?ocid=spartanntp
Just gotta see the lead cartoon. Classic.
Kia Ora The Am Show.
I think politics using people's lack of knowledge of other cultures is a bit on the low side Chris.
The weather is doing what our great scientists have predicted years ago on this site there was a conversation about what is happening in Australia now 2 years ago.
Ka pai to China for their single use plastic bag ban that move will also make recycling plastic less costly.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Newshub.
Yes house prices are expensive in Aotearoa.
Wow that's a mean hailstorm.
The Dragon rocket did exactly as what it was programed to do Ka pai.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Rangtoto old sacred sight should be protected from development as a lot of knowledge will be lost forever from the development.
Maori film makers should get tautoko every one knowns that discriminatied will make it harder for true tangata whenua o Aotearoa stories to be made into films.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Am Show.
Christmas should be a hakari and home made gifts given out.
Condolences for the students lost on that footbridge but people need to learn to respect the power of mother nature.
The over 65 drowning Stats show that we don't care for our elderly as much as we did in the past sad.
Ocean acidification and warming is causing many negative effects on our environment.
That's is sad that the unique beautiful Platypus is moving closer to extinction everyday what a shame.
Ka kite Ano
What happens when you have the dark force interfering in your life when trying to get mahi