Could I respectfully draw the moderator’s attention to the verbal violence practised by the commentator Wei on the immigration post yesterday.
I accept that most of ‘his’ inflammatory comments were made after 11pm, and even moderators need some sleep – but his/her posts should raise red flags in the future – and not PRC ones!
[So this off-handed inflammatory shit that you’re spouting (about raising PRC flags) is exactly the kind of stuff that kicks things off. I’ve just read the thread in question, and while Wei overstepped the mark with regards one response in particular, any bans would be for the inflammatory comments by Ropata and Tamati Tautuhi. Happens every time Wei comes here – the casual racist bullshit gets flung at him. He responds. He gets banned. Not happening this time around. There are a few people need to take a look at themselves and their attitudes] – Bill
Well, the small bit I read of the discussion did look a bit like there was adouble standard, and misunderstanding of the power of white privileger: i.e. Wei was critical of the naming and explaining of white privilege with respect to the treatment of white Sth African immigrants, while tending to denigrate Chinese immigrants.
Verbal violence though is not on, IMO, whatever the views.
Actually Wei calling for a massacre of white South African “ crackers” has to be his ticket out of here. If you don’t find his behaviour deeply disturbing there’s something wrong with you.
Why don’t you use a system similar to that used by insurance companies when there are two parties claiming against each other from an incident. It’s called knock-for-knock.
Why not take both parties out of the post for an hour? Let others get on with debating their own ideas and when the others settled down they would have learned something; either how to explain themselves better, or that they were majorly wrong. Just a bit of time out without playing the heavy-handed parent would help to give this present blog an adult-centred approach with democratic room for thinking citizens to have a say.
Calling another commenter a piece of s*** is ok and describing an assault on a commenter is ok… and in response Ropata was very restrained I have to say.
But making a joke referencing another post and bearing no malice whatsoever is moderation worthy. Sorry Bill, you’ve got things wrong here.
I don’t agree on all Bill’s moderation decisions, but I think he’s right to point out the Wei was trying to speak up against implicit racism and that people weren’t ready to re-examine their own comments or the bias they were exhibiting. Yes, he/she got angry and (in the end) abusive, but context is important and in this case I think it possible to understand Wei’s frustration.
You are a moderator you make decisions – I hope you at least ask Wei to done it down
“He is a lying piece of shit
A dumb cunt incapable of a single shred of logical thought
Fuck you are low IQ.
I’m talking about those racist white cracker Boers who can’t stand black rule and come here bringing their racist ways. Fuck you are a twit
A filthy Uncle Tom such as Ropata
Personally I hope the South African government seals off the borders and then carry out its land expropriation without compensation. Let those Boers scurry around like the rats they are with nowhere to go.
Hopefully we will see a massacre of those racist Boers
If that does happen I hope the NZ navy machine guns them in the water before they get their white asses to the North Shore – -how about it eh????”
This seems a “bit rough” to say the least
I know CV got a one year ban and I thought he was baited into that and what CV was banned for seems to me to be very small potatoes compared to Wei’s outbursts.
I understand moderator’s work is generally thankless and under appreciated and I apologise if it seems I am being overly critical
I know CV got a one year ban and I thought he was baited into that and what CV was banned for seems to me to be very small potatoes compared to Wei’s outbursts.
I agree that some of my comments were out of line. However the vicious racist rhetoric of people such as Ropata is far worse than anything I wrote. I appreciate the moderator’s nuanced approach.
That message board on immigration would have done an ‘Alt Right’ website proud, and it is only in recent years since Labour decided to jump on the populist bandwagon, that the vicious racist underbelly of the NZ left has emerged, in a truly unabashed sense.
If that does happen I hope the NZ navy machine guns them in the water before they get their white asses to the North Shore – -how about it eh????”
Of course that comment was to bait other commenters, and not a reflection of how I feel – but it is the secret attitude of many Westerners when it comes to black and brown refugees and migrants, consider Katie Hopkins who enjoys huge popularity in the UK “Rescue boats? I’d use gunships to stop migrants”.
I placed the same views within a different racial context to get a rise out of the openly racist commentators that infest the webosphere of the New Zealand left. The fact is the Australia and New Zealand left was largely founded on vicious anti-Chinese racism, was suppressed for a long time, but is now rearing its ugly head as the economic ascendancy of China, and other non-white powers around the world give rise to white racial and economic angst.
I’ve worked in China – you don’t have a leg to stand on about racism.
“The fact is the Australia and New Zealand left was largely founded on vicious anti-Chinese racism.” (citation required)
The truth is that you represent a vocal and unproductive minority whose destructive speculation long since eclipsed their positive contribution. NZ infrastructure is stretched and there has been a degree of political capture, whereby people paid and sworn to represent NZers represent foreign interests instead. This is undergoing a minor correction.
Some migrants are unconcerned by the damage they do to their host society until the inequality precipitates violence. That’s not the NZ way. If it’s your way, go away.
“I’ve worked in China – you don’t have a leg to stand on about racism.”
Agree. Chinese tend to put whites on a pedestal. However with increasing economic power of China and the rise of her standing in the world, that is undergoing a slightly more than ‘minor correction’
“you represent a vocal and unproductive minority”
Vocal? Chinese are quite underrepresented I think when it comes to the New Zealand political scene (and I’m not blaming racism for that)
‘Unproductive’? Asian employment rates are virtually identical to European employment rates. Perhaps you have some data that they are employed in ‘unproductive’ industries compared with European New Zealanders?
However I doubt it. The engineering schools throughout the country are dominated now by Indians and Chinese, and most of them find employment in extremely productive fields.
“NZ infrastructure is stretched” True. But does a Chinese migrant stretch it anymore than an English or South African migrant?
“Some migrants are unconcerned by the damage they do to their host society until the inequality precipitates violence.”
Do you have some information that NZ Asians, or Chinese in particular are that much more wealthy on average than other New Zealanders?
“That’s not the NZ way. If it’s your way, go away.”
The NZ (Anglo Saxon) way is to steal the wealth of Asians and Africans. Its been that way for centuries. When the Chinese did not want to trade your people invaded and looted the place. You did it to India, you did it to the Africans, and you did it to the indigenous people of this country. The Anglo Saxon tribe are the greediest and most rapacious bunch of motherfuckers that ever existed on the face of the earth, but the day of political, economic, and even military reckoning is fast approaching!
“Some migrants are unconcerned by the damage they do to their host society until the inequality precipitates violence.”
“Do you have some information that NZ Asians, or Chinese in particular are that much more wealthy on average than other New Zealanders?”
This is a more general critique than simply Asia, and wealth is not the only criterion for sociopathy, though it often allows it greater scope for expression.
A word that has been sanitized in modern usage is entrepreneur, but an entrepreneur is not a technological rainmaker of the Hollywood variety. Literally an entrepreneur is someone who comes in and takes – a colonist or planter in 18th or 19th century terms, which is when the word was coined.
Coming in and taking is a disruptive activity. It causes changes to the host economy. The presence of cashed up Boer farmers for instance, inflates the price of prime dairy country beyond the means of the poorly paid farm workers who a generation before would in the fullness of time have come into possession of the land as the owner’s physical capacity declined. This in term obliges the farm worker to seek some other profession, because the culminating reward of a lifetime of poorly paid strenuous work in all weathers is taken off the table.
“The NZ (Anglo Saxon) way is to steal the wealth of Asians and Africans. Its been that way for centuries. When the Chinese did not want to trade your people invaded and looted the place. You did it to India, you did it to the Africans, and you did it to the indigenous people of this country. The Anglo Saxon tribe are the greediest and most rapacious bunch of motherfuckers that ever existed on the face of the earth, but the day of political, economic, and even military reckoning is fast approaching!”
This is just flame bait. You’re probably just an asshole looking for racist quotes to circulate among some far-right coterie. If this is your starting position you’re going to meet with a great deal of rejection.
“This is a more general critique than simply Asia, and wealth is not the only criterion for sociopathy, though it often allows it greater scope for expression. “
Hang on – your original comment was about inequality precipitating violence – against Chinese. Walking things back now eh?
“The presence of cashed up Boer farmers for instance, inflates the price….”
Attempt to appear fair and balanced after your racist diatribe against Chinese. Well done.
“This is just flame bait. You’re probably just an asshole looking for racist quotes to circulate among some far-right coterie. “
WTF?
This is after you accused me of representing “a vocal and unproductive minority whose destructive speculation long since eclipsed their positive contribution.”
“you’re going to meet with a great deal of rejection”
hahahhahahahahahahah…..I think I already have for some time
According to Stuart, I’m a member of a “a vocal and unproductive minority whose destructive speculation long since eclipsed their positive contribution.”
That goes well beyond a reasoned debate on the consequences of immigration.
Then he mutters darkly about possible violence against Chinese because of the inequality they bring – without of course providing any evidence that Chinese are inordinately wealthy relative to other groups.
You are part of a vocal and unproductive minority.
If you think the influence of Asian property speculation has gone unnoticed in NZ you’d better think again.
The argument is not that immigrant Chinese are inordinately wealthy – though you clearly want to beat that line up for a politics of envy attack. Immigration requires that they have capital assets of some description, and the differences in Asian banking and family finance structures have enabled significant numbers of them to enter the property market here. As in Australia and Canada this has had undesirable inflationary effects on the property market.
It is not the wealth but the negative consequences they brought that triggered the violence against them in Indonesia – albeit with some connivance from politicians there wishing to displace blame.
“without of course providing any evidence”
Your little manifesto on Chinese manifest destiny is a vagrant collection of prejudices for which you produced no support. Why should I?
“Hence we have a plague of horrible driving, mindless stripping of seafood resources, exploitation of employees, and a breakdown of trust…….
A safer land, where children were free to cycle or walk anywhere. Where you could go fishing and usually catch something decent. Where you could swim in clean rivers. Where we didn’t have hordes of campervans crapping on our loveliest tourist spots. Where you could work on minimum wages and buy a house and start a family.”
The implicit but obvious meaning is the wonderful New Zealand lifestyle and social trust of the past was lost, mainly because of the arrival of immigrants, particularly Asian ones. He blames most of New Zealand’s social ills on Asians. His rhetoric is redolent of Nazi propaganda against the Jews —and I’m not in the least bit exaggerating.
Yet when it comes to white South African migrants, he is far more forgiving: “At least they are legal citizens unlike a large swathe of new arrivals who snuck in the back door by student visa scams or pretending to start a business. Or even worse those who arrived with suitcases of cash and are now parasitical landlords or communist spies in the National party caucus.”
Blaming an entire ethnic group for most if not all of a countries problems, but without resorting to explicit racial slurs, is in fact the most vicious, dangerous type of racist rhetoric
“Blaming an entire ethnic group for most if not all of a countries problems, but without resorting to explicit racial slurs, is in fact the most vicious, dangerous type of racist rhetoric.”
“The NZ (Anglo Saxon) way is to steal the wealth of Asians and Africans. Its been that way for centuries.”
I count nearly 30 comments on this matter about moderation and dealing with a stirrer and the responses to this. It is fair to let someone have a rant about their own concerns. But why not leave it as a rant of that person, and just put a full stop against your name showing you have read it and are letting it lie as that. Why try to put everybody right according to what each subsequent commenter happens to think should be the norm?
In the absence of sensible responses to someone being provocative I don’t see why the moderation cannot have a time out operation to stop what seem to develop into flame wars.
You can have The Standard as a place where political problems and ideas are discussed, mulled over, critiqued, improved.
Or a place where people pass on any idea that gets into their heads in an emotional outburst. Sitting on the sidelines and criticising or making fun is easy compared to attempting to understand, reason and see how to improve things. And note: that can’t be done in a case where people of any background want to argue and create dissension. If they are totally right, and consider others who raise objections totally wrong, they should not be on this blog. They should have their own site and create their own harmony with like-minds.
There are many perspectives of thought, but just reactions each day are just safety valves. They don’t add anything lasting likely to hep from and enlighten future policies and political systems.
You make some good comments and I know that this something close to your heart as you have made comments along the same vein here in the past (with some consequences too).
I also know that weka was thinking of doing another post on moderation. [BTW, where is weka?]
I have my own thoughts on all this (and moderation) but I’ll limit it to the following.
Ideas, opinions and everything should and are in fact allowed to be discussed here on TS; it is wonderful forum that gives us or anybody who wishes, for that matter, more than enough opportunity and leeway. I don’t take this for granted and highly appreciate the opportunity and see it almost as a privilege.
I used to think too that replying to comments based on merit & message would safeguard against threads sliding into negative territory. Play the ball, not the man. Don’t should the messenger. Stick to the facts. Rational debate would ensue. Etcetera. I now think that I was (and still am) quite naive.
In a nutshell: c’est le ton qui fait la chanson (ou la musique).
In other words, style & substance, form & function, contents & presentation, for example, go hand-in-hand. One cannot separate the what from the how.
Delivery, context, style are all important in rhetoric, which is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. By logical extension, they are equally important in oral or written debate such as here on TS.
Lastly, a purely rational debate is impossible; we are driven by emotions.
What do you think? I think I can quite safely assume that not many others will read let alone engage with these comments of ours 😉
Prosecution against two Greenpeace activists who were charged with jumping into the water in front of an oil exploration ship will go ahead despite the Government announcing a ban on offshore oil exploration last week.
Greenpeace executive director and former politician Russel Norman and volunteer Sara May Howell are set to stand trial in the Napier District Court at the end of this month for their roles in a deep-sea oil protest last year.
The pair allegedly jumped into the water in front of oil exploration ship Amazon Warrior, off the Wairarapa coast, forcing it to stop its seismic work on April 10.
They were both charged with interfering in the operation of the 125m ship and pleaded not guilty at a joint appearance last October.
….It might be objected that the present Labour-led government, by fulsomely fulfilling its promises to its partners – especially the Greens – is demonstrating an entirely new approach to coalition politics. Upon closer inspection, however, it is clear that all Labour has done is convey an impression of environmental activism. As the former Green Party co-leader, Russel Norman – now the NZ Director of Greenpeace – was quick to point out, Labour’s decision to issue no new oil and gas prospecting permits offers no impediment to utilising fully those already granted.
The greening of the Labour Party may be more apparent than real. Which is why, as he listened to Jacinda Ardern talking-up Labour’s environmental credentials last week, James Shaw’s broad smile may have been misplaced. Did he not realise that, looking out from the stage, he was standing to her left?
We should be preparing everyone in the old world/low tech world of fossil fuel power generation for the next wave of newer technologies. What I would like to see is everyone who may lose their jobs in oil/coal/etc being given training in high tech industry like solar/wind/tidal.
Shutting down oil exploration should be an incentive to move people to other industries.
It’s the only way our technology will progress, by taking advantage of the high tech solutions available to us and power generation is one of those industries ripe for change (in fact – we HAVE to do it).
Housing NZ chief executive Andrew McKenzie is probably just a good little bureaucrat of the neoliberal enabling class. He must be furious that his cool, rational enforcement of the rules has seen his hand publicaly smacked by a minister in possession of some common sense and compassion.
The table didn’t stick out into the common area at all. Anyone with a sense of space would have realised that. The common area is beyond the wall – the one sticking out from in-between each flat to give more privacy.
To me it sounds like “the manager of her Body Corporate, Stephen Connelly” was simply trying to assert his authority and power. I’d be looking into the relationship between the two. Either way, he obviously should not be in that sort of position with that sort of power as he doesn’t use it responsibly.
Hager says that though some loopholes in NZ tax law were changed after the Panama Papers, it’s still possible for foreign interests to use NZ as a tax haven.
Sources claim this network leads back to the Azerbaijan government, which has been accused of corruption and money laundering.
The New Zealand companies and trusts were uncovered as part of the Daphne Project, a media investigation involving 46 journalists from 16 countries.
…
The Daphne Project has revealed that many of the companies in the Azerbaijan-Pilatus network linked back to an address in Auckland, New Zealand – 112 Parnell Road.
The address was home to wealth management company Denton Morrell. The company’s director, Matthew James Butterfield, is described in an online profile as a specialist in “ultra-high net worth clients” and in December 2016 it was mentioned in news stories about allegations that British football club manager Jose Mourinho hid millions of pounds from tax authorities in tax havens.
In normal circumstances, without whistleblowers like those helping the Daphne Project, the owners and their money movements are impossible to trace.
It needs to be illegal for the owners and money movements not to be traced. And make it so that if they can’t be traced the ownership reverts back to the nation.
There is no evidence or any suggestion that Denton Morrell or Mr Butterfield were aware of any allegations of money laundering by the Azerbaijan-linked companies, but it appears that the structure created by Denton Morrell may have been used to hide the ultimate beneficial owners of those assets.
It seems obvious to me that the structure was created to do the money laundering.
Shocking – makes you wonder not only how much tax avoidance we are encouraging here, but also how much of our NZ assets are also listed as NZ companies or under bogus trusts but owned by someone else and how under that structure, our government would be completely unaware how much NZ land and assets are offshore owned and managed.
I’m pretty sure that 3% that Key’s government said was foreign owned land and farms was as genuine as his efforts on Pike River recovery.
But, I notice your reference refers to the RSA and poppy day.
After the way they treated J Force and Korean vets and the way we were treated coming back from nam, the sooner the RSA goes broke and disappears the better. This only changed when they realised their WW1 and WW2 vets were dying off and the cash cow was disappearing.
Cardi B is getting into tax policy now. She says she's paying 40% of her income in taxes and wants to know where the money is going…"when you donate to a kid in a foreign country, they give you updates on what they're doing with your donation….I want updates on my tax money." pic.twitter.com/E1hITGNqee— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 23, 2018
[…]
4. The video above wasn't the first time Cardi B has talked about taxes. Late last year, she shared her tax planning strategies with her followers. pic.twitter.com/rtIai4Xl6I— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 23, 2018
4. The video above wasn't the first time Cardi B has talked about taxes. Late last year, she shared her tax planning strategies with her followers. pic.twitter.com/rtIai4Xl6I
I, too, want to be able to know what the taxes are spent on. As far as I’m concerned, in this day and age, we should be able to go online and get an accurate accounting in near real time and going back for several years at least.
Other than giving fuckwits the ability to turn financial accountability into a manual denial-of-service attack by querying every transaction as soon as it’s made.
If the larger-scale problems weren’t already obvious and innumerable (DHB “debts”, teacher shortages, infrastructure decay, and so on), maybe realtime minutae would be useful. but there’s more than enough to address already.
Because we actually need to know to be able to govern ourselves. Which is what democracy is all about – governing ourselves. To be able to say which of the resources that the country has should be used.
Other than giving fuckwits the ability to turn financial accountability into a manual denial-of-service attack by querying every transaction as soon as it’s made.
There would need to be rules of course.
If the larger-scale problems weren’t already obvious
If they were obvious then the last government wouldn’t have been able to lie about them for nine years.
What more for “democracy” do we need to know that we don’t already know?
You can hand-wave all the rules you want, the fact is that every system is open to abuse and the tories could easily shut down any government they don’t like purely by volume of complaints and storms in teacups. Look at what they did with MP expenses, and you want that level of bullshit spread throughout the entire bureaucracy?
The larger scale problems were obvious. The government lied about them. But the real problem is that people didn’t care enough to bother with even that granularity of information – if it suited them, they were happy to go along with whatever key or hosking said. We don’t suffer from a lack of information, our system a lack of consideration.
Thumbs up to Countdown in Marton who are the first supermarket in NZ to introduce quiet hour.
Specifically catering to the autistic it sounds heavenly for the non spectrum stressed out too with minimal light levels, no background music/ads, no staff stocking shelves. Just ease and grace + One Card rewards 😉
Do you know whether it is just a local management initiative or whether it is a trial for wider application throughout NZ Countdowns, similar to their ongoing introduction of pharmacies into their bigger stores?
I have found this latter initiative in my local Countdown excellent. The pharmacy is open (I think) from 7 – 8am through to about 7 – 8pm daily, and their per item prescription charges are only $3 compared to the standard $5. Their prices for over the counter (General Sales) pharmaceuticals and other medications, medicines etc seem to be generally lower than at other pharmacies. These charges and prices are apparently standard across all Countdown pharmacies.
This is no criticism of the smaller pharmacies (independent or part of a group) because understandably their overheads are much higher, whereas presumably the Countdown pharmacies’ overheads (floor space, power etc) are less due to their shared nature. And these smaller pharmacies will always remain essential to smaller towns, local communities where these larger facilities are not practical or feasible from a business point of view.
Parents have been encouraged to believe, in spite of plentiful evidence to the contrary, that their children’s future success is dependent on their commitment to purely career-oriented courses;
Hasn’t changed since I was a child 40+ years ago then.
…and by a National Standards regime that promotes crudely measurable forms of knowledge at the expense of critical thinking.
And that’s actually going back to the way things were when I was a child. I suppose we should expect that sort of BS from conservatives who always think that the past was better.
For academic staff, the exaggerated emphasis placed on so-called “research outputs” as the principal criterion for professional advancement, has meant publication has tended to displace teaching as the core of professional responsibility.
I actually want our universities to be doing research and publishing. Perhaps the problem is that, over the last while, we’ve regarded universities as tertiary education rather than the research institutions that they should be. Learning goes hand in hand with research but not so much teaching.
It’s a difference in perspective. Instead of going to university to learn we have people going to university to do research. At the end of that research they will publish and maybe get a degree. They will join as part of a small team doing specific research under the guidance of a primary, i.e, someone who already has a degree in that field.
We’d get better learning and more innovation. Would involve a lot more people.
All of this has meant that, even as fees kept rising, students have been getting less and less for their money.
Are, the National slogan Do More With Less strikes again and we end up getting a lot less for more.
The new Government’s decision to gradually abolish undergraduate fees, by countering the neo-liberal idea of tertiary education as a “private good”, is a step in the right direction but unless it is accompanied by serious investment and a through re-think of what universities are all about, it will probably only hasten a decline brought about by already inadequate funding.
Nothing I said would change that. It changes the reason for going to university from a place to get a degree to a place to do research.
1. Students should be doing that from primary school.
2. Yes, a university is a place for research. Again though, people should be learning to do research from primary school. Innovation isn’t something people do but something that comes about because of what people know, their experience and if they’ve developed their critical thinking.
3. Back to 2.
4. Back to 2.
5. That’s what research is for.
I’d argue that critical & independent thinking are more fundamental to #5 than research but you and I may have a slightly different understanding of “research”.
What happens inside the walls of universities has to build on a solid educational foundation; this is one growing problem.
Different degrees have different profiles; there is no one size fits all, obviously.
There is a growing recognition and emphasis on ongoing education for university staff including researchers and how to improve their teaching; it is impossible to get promoted in the system without at least some teaching component.
What happens inside the walls of universities has to build on a solid educational foundation; this is one growing problem.
Yes, that I can agree with. That’s why the change over the last few years in education to research based education even at primary school to develop critical thinking and the knowledge on how to do research.
There is a growing recognition and emphasis on ongoing education for university staff including researchers and how to improve their teaching; it is impossible to get promoted in the system without at least some teaching component.
Ongoing education is necessary for everyone.
And I think we’re talking past each other. You seem to be thinking of teaching as a separate activity while I’m thinking that the experienced doctorate would be leading under-graduates through research and helping them learn along the way.
Yes, I agree that we seem to talking past each other. I do think that learning to learn and learning to do research are different processes that require different approaches and methodologies for optimal results. Ergo, they require different teaching styles. I do agree that there is an overlap, a point of connection, and that both aspects, if you like, can be taught by the same person or people. In practice, this is not as common as one would think because teaching and research have drifted apart and are, in fact quite separated – income, overheads, and cross-subsidising are carefully monitored and fodder for ongoing discussions about the right model, etc. Universities are ‘forcing’ this to change by setting Academic Standards that one has to meet in order to get promoted. As so many other decisions in the university system, it is done in a heavy-handed authoritarian manner with a very business-minded (hard-nosed) attitude.
Part of the problem with universities is that it’s almost all about publishing. And peer-reviewed publishing with impact factors, at that.
So the academic responsibility of universities also being “critic and conscience of society” counts for nought unless it’s plugged in a journal that only other academics will read, by and large. Public reports, externally-funded research, or even opinion pieces in local media count for virtually nothing, even if the reports are peer-reviewed and have social worth.
And similarly the teaching side becomes a numbers game. Apparently there’s one vice chancellor of a university who is getting academic credit (in addition to the day job) for “supervising” the research of around a dozen phd candidates. Makes you wonder how closely the tens of thousands of words each candidate puts out a year are actually being read, let alone how much help they get designing and producing the associated journal articles. That VC could always be a fecking machine, but doubtful.
By Law universities are required to fulfil their role as critic & conscience of society. How do you think they (should) achieve this?
Teaching is much broader than supervising the research of PhD students. But I agree that some are taking the piss; there is a limit to how many PhD students one academic can formally (as in: taking the credit) supervise.
Part of the problem with universities is that it’s almost all about publishing. And peer-reviewed publishing with impact factors, at that.
True, at the root it’s money. But that’s above my payscale. I just see most academics shitting themselves about what outputs count how much towards pbrf. Apparently the grail is to get multiyear program fundng so you can take additional research into the margin for error of the program budget, lol.
But yeah the critic and conscience role is more important possibly even than research, but is too qualitative to be recognised by most managerial regimes.. We do actually need people taking time to submit on bills or local projects, even to write think-pieces for the local rag and turn up to public meetings on local issues, providing informed opinion without fear of compromising their jobs. Those were the days.
The reason why academics are shitting themselves about PBRF is because management is painting pictures full of fire & brimstone. PBRF is hugely costly zer0-sum exercise. The only group that really benefits from this entire madness are the big publishing houses that own the scientific journals; it is a billion dollar industry subsidised by taxpayers and students & their parents.
The ‘grail’ is to get any grant, any funding, which requires ‘pilot data’ and a strong ‘track record’ in the field, which effectively means that you have already done a major part of what you say you will be doing if (!) you get the funding. It is a game and to play the game you have to game the system and use what is colloquially called “grantsmanship”. In this lottery system (because of the very low success rates in getting grants) success breeds success; merit of the proposals and good quality research ideas play a lesser role than they should. It is a subtle but insidious variation on the theme of the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
There are not nearly enough public intellectuals. In the US the public university is going extinct. In fact, anything public is slowly disappearing all over the world. We live in an age of hyper-individualism and privatisation for profiteering by a few and these elites feel no charity towards institutions or individuals who would like to play the role of critic & conscience of society.
Love how (sarcasm) it’s the arts that people seem to think is a dead end career choice and not good for NZ. In my view it’s cultural capital that is now starting to have massive value as people push back from this obsession with money and economy. People in those industry have ideas, they do things!
Our richest and most well known teenager is Lorde (music), one of our biggest challenges is architecture and planning (also being cut from the library) especially with the current ‘clown planning’ in Auckland and building disasters from leaky building to Bella vista in Tauranga.
Our fine artists are as important as cultural capital as sport (without the big funding).
Prince William and Dutchess of Cambridge studied art history, but to the Auckland University philistines, arts are clearly not important.
Nobody takes foreign dignitaries to the law firm or the accountants office in NZ. Nope they get the cultural experience because otherwise we might as well sell our country as the cheaper Pita pit if we take away our arts and culture and deem it 3rd class at university level.
Or as Wei says in his/her posts on the immigration issue “Too small a population means you get inbreds with no technology and no culture and no civilization. ”
I’m not sure if he/she is referring to Maori or just all of NZ? But an alternative vision rather than overturning or appropriation of culture, could be maintaining and cherishing it, which clearly is not happening at our largest university.
Also in relation to Wei’s comment on technology with low populations, .. tech is NZ’s fastest growing and third biggest export… and our tech people are valued highly and sought after overseas. (Pity not much government/business support on keeping local tech talent in NZ with high wages and decent jobs and opportunities.)
Or as Wei says in his/her posts on the immigration issue “Too small a population means you get inbreds with no technology and no culture and no civilization. ”
Which, of course, is a load of bollocks. From Why we can’t afford the rich:
In his book The Moral Economy of Labor, James Murphy cites empirical research on the relation between the intellectual capacities of workers and the complexity of the work they do that showed that over a 10-year period the intelligence of workers doing complex jobs developed, while that of workers doing simple and repetitive work deteriorated. Further, as Smith feared, there is evidence that ‘Workers in mindless jobs not only undermine their capacity for the enjoyment of complex activities at work but also their capacity for the enjoyment of complex activities during leisure.’
As Murphy adds, while workers are increasingly protected from harm to their physical capacities, they are not protected from harm to their mental capacities.
Smith didn’t see the jobs people do as a reflection of their intelligence, but rather the reverse:
The difference of natural talents in different men is, in reality, much less than we are aware of; and the very different genius which appears to distinguish men of different professions, when grown up in maturity, is not upon many occasions so much the cause, as the effect of the division of labour. The difference between the most dissimilar characters, between a philosopher and a common street porter, for example, seems to arise not so much from nature, as from habit, custom, and education.
My bold.
Yeah, it’s not the number of people that is the problem but our socio-economic system which disadvantages the many in favour of the few.
Your second point, which I agree with, had virtually nothing to do with the first.
A small population means you are less likely to produce Beethoven’s, Led Zeppelin’s and Steven Hawkings. That’s just a plain statistical fact.
And you do obviously have less opportunity for specialisation, and a smaller market for innovation —although international trade ameliorates that somewhat.
I had a friend who lived in UK in the 1970s and 1980s. It was a glorious time, he could enjoy live concerts of the best rock bands in the world on an almost weekly basis. The size of the population meant a high probability that not only great talents would emerge (not the only factor of course), but the mass and density of the population means there is a market to enjoy that talent and it is economic to perform to live audiences on a frequent basis. New York and Paris and even Hong Kong and have far more going on in the arts and music than Auckland, and likely always will.
Another example is of course minor sports and niche activities. For example, in Europe, rugby is still a relatively minor sport, proportionately speaking. Yet the sport can draw huge crowds and they have very competitive national and international competitions that frequently run. Even though a small percentage of people are interested in the sport, they still have the highest number of registered players in the world, I believe. On a per capita basis, football, in New Zealand is at least as popular as rugby in Europe, but you get more seagulls at a local tournament, and the skill level is abysmal.
A small population means you are less likely to produce Beethoven’s, Led Zeppelin’s and Steven Hawkings. That’s just a plain statistical fact.
More bollocks. Statistically speaking all groups of people have exactly the same chance.
And you do obviously have less opportunity for specialisation, and a smaller market for innovation
You obviously misunderstood the quote: Specialisation hinders innovation and the development of intelligence.
It was a glorious time, he could enjoy live concerts of the best rock bands in the world on an almost weekly basis.
I can do that today in NZ. Could do it in the 1970s/80s as well. We’ve even had a few of them end up the world stage over the years.
but the mass and density of the population means there is a market to enjoy that talent and it is economic to perform to live audiences on a frequent basis.
Any size population that’s capable of supporting itself is quite capable of doing that as well. Large numbers don’t actually make it any better.
New York and Paris and even Hong Kong and have far more going on in the arts and music than Auckland, and likely always will.
In absolute numbers, yeah, but not as a percentage. The percentage will be about the same.
On a per capita basis, football, in New Zealand is at least as popular as rugby in Europe, but you get more seagulls at a local tournament, and the skill level is abysmal.
More bollocks. Statistically speaking all groups of people have exactly the same chance.. Bollocks.
Statistically speaking, and assuming a similar statistical distribution of talent, a larger population obviously has more chance of producing an outrageous talent than a smaller population.
A country with 10 times the population of another, will, assuming similar birthrates and demographic characteristics, produce 10 times the number of geniuses within the same period
“Specialisation hinders innovation and the development of intelligence.”
That’s a ridiculous statement. The fact that I can programme software say, and only know how to do that, and not catch my fish, and grow my vegetables is no hindrance on the development of intelligence. In engineering there are huge ramifying trees of specialisations —working in any one of them provides a lifetime of cognitive challenge.
“while that of workers doing simple and repetitive work deteriorated”
Sorry, these workers are not ‘specialists’. In fact they are the very opposite. Simple repetitive work can be done by anyone. These workers are utilised as generic cogs.
“In absolute numbers, yeah, but not as a percentage. The percentage will be about the same.”
It simply does not work that way. A country of a small population may never have the chance to enjoy, say the Berlin Philharmonic, whereas another country with a larger population may have them tour once every 2 or 3 years. Not exactly sure what the exact thresholds are, but the relationship is certainly not a linear one.
Statistically speaking, and assuming a similar statistical distribution of talent, a larger population obviously has more chance of producing an outrageous talent than a smaller population.
A larger population will produce a larger number of outstanding talent (if such a thing even exists) but they have the same chance.
That’s a ridiculous statement.
That’s what the research shows and what I quoted.
In his book The Moral Economy of Labor, James Murphy cites empirical research on the relation between the intellectual capacities of workers and the complexity of the work they do that showed that over a 10-year period the intelligence of workers doing complex jobs developed, while that of workers doing simple and repetitive work deteriorated.
Complexity develops intelligence. Specialisation is a decrease in complexity.
Sorry, these workers are not ‘specialists’.
They’re doing the same work over and over, ergo, specialised. And it results in a decrease in intelligence.
Considering that that applies to the majority of the population we should probably change it so that we can increase the intelligence and innovation of the country.
The book goes on to say that even doctors and other highly skilled specialists would probably benefit from having a change.
It simply does not work that way. A country of a small population may never have the chance to enjoy, say the Berlin Philharmonic, whereas another country with a larger population may have them tour once every 2 or 3 years.
Who gives a fuck about the Berlin Philharmonic touring?
In Auckland we have the Auckland Philharmonic. Then there’s the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Wellington.
Biggest Success story in town.
With a rich history as New Zealand’s oldest regional orchestra founded over sixty years ago, Orchestra Wellington’s audience numbers have grown rapidly to become one of the most consistently well attended in the country. With progressive programmes, accessible pricing, and a focus on community outreach, Orchestra Wellington is now recognised as one of the most exciting and progressive orchestras in the world.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that we have the music covered.
It’s not a question of absolute numbers but of productivity and percentages. Even small villages thousands of years ago produced good musicians.
The only real danger from homeopathy is if one has an actual illness and is relying on the homeopathy to offer any actual benefit outside of the placebo effect.
If you’ve got a health problem best to see a good qualified medical doctor in the first instance for a diagnosis and then proceed on from there.
Dunno about the lack of real danger. If the homeopathic practitioner decided the rabid dog saliva didn’t need much potentising, and didn’t go through the extended palaver of repeated dilution and succussion, then the treatment might be a wee bit riskier than I’d be comfortable with.
How does one collect rabid-dog saliva?
In any case, the much maligned “placebo” effect is very powerful and useful in conventional modern medicine, as well as in traditional practices.
Can’t say I’ve ever seen info on recommended techniques. I wouldn’t have guessed there was much demand for rabid-dog saliva, since rabies vaccines are produced using cell-culture or nerve tissue. In any case, collecting spider venom or snake venom strikes me as a more difficult problem, for which there’s a variety of solutions, since collecting those kinds of venom is necessary for producing treatments that actually work.
Dunno that the placebo effect itself is much maligned. Insufficiently understood and insufficiently used, for sure, but the non-use of placebo by modern medicine is as much an ethics issue as anything else. But when it comes to maligning, the existence of a powerful placebo effect is used to malign nostrum hucksters whose products are no more effective than placebos (and sometimes actually less effective).
Yes fair point anyone prepared to supply this product may be less than scrupulous in the dilutions – I suspect all of it is just water out of the tap ……
Amusing… But does one not have to point out that H2O is a molecule, and McFlock’s water is composed of them? Or have I misremembered my form 3 Science from 1960? (Purple auras explain everything..)
Phil Quinn: the political commentator we all love to hate (including me) has redeemed himself. Haven’t time yet to read it properly but what I have read thus far… I agree with everything he has said:
Great link Anne, I don’t think Dotcom is that unlikable, it was the MSM hate campaign against him, he’s more like a manic with big ideas (But Dotcom actually achieves them). Other pluses, he lives in NZ, has a family here, rents! a house and has the ability to create jobs, opportunities and industry in this country. My vote is for him not someone on $16.50 p/h or tech moguls that don’t live or invest in NZ to stay and lead a colourful (but legal) and productive life here with his family.
From Anne’s link…
“Consider this. The Global Financial Crisis brought countless millions to their knees. Hundreds of thousands were left homeless due to the dodgy bank loans and the reckless conduct of financial titans. For these crimes, with real and countless victims, the US Department of Justice has barely lifted a finger.
Fewer than five criminals responsible for Wall St’s moral failures have spent any time behind bars — and for a fraction of the time the feds insist for Dotcom and his colleagues. Why? Because the mortgage-strapped and cash-poor can’t afford lobbyists and lawyers to persuade the government to do their bidding.”
Dotcom is a lonely Big Guy who doesn’t drink because of an alcoholic parent.
He always wanted to be big in IT. He is also not a well man, who has been treated poorly. I don’t agree with some of his politics, but he deserves better than he has had so far. He has been used.
Silly old public-bar bore Battersby. Interesting to note that he has a QSM. But then again, much worse, much more vicious people than him have been knighted….
A shout out to Radio New Zealand for, yet again, contacting the Cuban Studies Institute, otherwise known as University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, for their take on the current change of power in Cuba.
I include this quote from an article discussing the trials and tribulations of the institute itself..(my bolds)
“Over the summer, several Cuban exile groups joined the fray, concerned that the institute might shift its focus from being an academic weapon against the Castro regime. They took the line that Suchlicki had not retired but had been unjustly terminated.
Some exiles began to attack Gómez and asked for his resignation as interim director of the institute.
Without mentioning Gómez directly, the organizations that make up the Cuban Resistance said in a statement that UM “cannot appoint an interim director or any incoming directors who may associate with companies that trade with the Castro regime, since this Center, by definition, cannot be under the influence and interference of Havana’s totalitarian regime.” Gómez had been an on-board lecturer on Cuba during a cruise to the island. It was a one-time gig.”
They are entitled to their opinion , and their take on current events in Cuba is interesting, but why would RNZ not explain the Institutes overt position on Cuba, the Castro crowd and Communism in general.
The Herald is obsessed with the mindless mutterings of a homophobic sportsplayer.
As winter approaches, imagine if they devoted the same column inches to the crises facing our country – inequality, homelessness, child poverty….
Maybe they could dedicate a lot more coverage to climate change, so they have an informed readership.
We need a lot more coverage like this from Stuff today.
“The 2016 marine heatwave has triggered the initial phase of that transition [to heat-tolerant reef assemblages] on the northern, most pristine region of the Great Barrier Reef, changing it forever as the intensity of global warming continues to escalate,” the paper said.”
If Bill is out there, looks like your optimism over no war being started in Korea was better placed than my anxiety. Hopefully.
Since this really does feel like the start of a proper diplomatic fandango, I am hoping for very modest improvements. Like, for example, Kim sees that it’s better to form a proper diplomatic corps to engage with countries. And that forming a bit of a decent public service to deal with that is a whole bunch more effective than successively executing any general who disagrees with him.
And secondly, realising that there is more to sustaining a country than giving the military everything they want. It’s not in his military’s interests to see diplomatic success – diplomacy is the solvent to martial law.
Those two would be small but humble starts.
More adventurously, I hope the US agrees formally that the Korean War has stopped and that they make peace over that.
Spare me from God’s wrath if I see Trump being as good as Obama at cracking the hard diplomatic problems.
Intensive Dairy farming is NOT a sustainable practice.
It is destroying our soil.
“Nearly 200 million tonnes of soil are being lost in New Zealand every year – an out-of-sight problem that could pose far-reaching consequences for our environment and economy.
A major Government report out this morning also found nearly half of that loss was coming from pastures, at a time when dairy intensification was packing more cows into paddocks.
The quality and quantity of soil is crucial to the overall health of our land and wider environment, storing water, carbon and nutrients, growing food, breaking down contaminants and hosting an abundance of species.
Half of tested dairy sites had excess soil phosphorus and a further 65 per cent were below the target range for macroporosity.
New Zealand accounted for just 0.2 per cent of the planet’s total land area but contributed 1.7 per cent to global sediment loss.
The amount of land used for dairy has meanwhile surged by more than per 40 cent since the early 2000s, while that used for sheep and beef has dropped by 20 per cent, in step with dairy’s white gold rush.
New Zealand’s dairy country now spanned 2.6m ha
Has anyone here read “The Captured Economy – how the powerful enrich themselves, slow down growth, and increase inequality”, by Brink Lindsey and Steven Teles?
They take Piketty seriously, and are of course super-dark on Trump, but have a really weird view of the role of the state in the economy, and some fairly slippery institutional framework theory around that.
Just checking if anyone’s had a look at this book.
Horrifying. This is 2018 America. Judicial nominee Wendy Vitter had her confirmation hearing this morning. She stated she “personally disagrees with the decision in Brown v. Board of Education.”That’s literally white supremacy. 😳#UnfitToJudgepic.twitter.com/1Ptp6jSin5— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@MuslimIQ) April 11, 2018
Miss 13 cooked dinner last night, did a stellar job.
Miss 10 wanted to say something nice, so thanked ‘god’ for dinner (Nana took her to church last Sunday).
Miss 13 walked off. She was pissed off because god didn’t make dinner, she did! Lmao!!!
It is hopeful that good progress seems to being made with a trade deal with Britain post brexit.
Trade deals that promote ‘values’ instead of ‘donkey billions’ is the way to go, & more traditional forms of developmental western societal organisation to that, would have more mutual recognition and easy alignment with the British people going down the track i’d say, from New Zealand’s position, traditional receptivity & prosperity.
I wonder if a RAF training base down queenstown way would be a viable thing. A training space for the British with their top aircraft and relatively unclutted airspace – would basically have the entire westcoast to zoom up and down on for starters with formations, drills, scenarios and the like, with geography not that far removed from alot of European soil. And the NZ forces providing the on ground maintenance with the British top wings, would be a win for them as well.
What does Britain have that we would want to buy or sell for which there are great big trade barriers to entry?
Munitions?
A monarchy and House of Lords?
A corrupt class system?
A dead public health system?
Lots of empty stone churches?
I’m old enough to remember what English companies and English politics did to us last century.
So I would like to hear what Prime Minister has in mind for our country on this.
The Am Show Good morning social media is a awesome tool to educate te tangata about the truths of the ruling classes and the reality’s of the plite of the common people.There is a dubble edged sword in everything to do with the internet as with anything one must know what the mokopunas are up to . To prevent someone from having a negative affect on the children observation is key here because sometimes they won’t tell you what the are up to observation and Aroha are a must for children .
Soil is one of the life force of Papatuanuku we could easily change to Organic farming it would be better for the enviroment and for us less chemicals =less cancers .
Ka kite ano I have to go to work here a brown man that tells it like it is.
Newshub Our Leader looked good wearing te beautiful Korowai that is a excerlint way to promote our Maori culture to the World ka pai .
Mark Middleton congratulations on getting your visa to stay in NZ permanently many thanks to Chis and co for granting Mark this Eco Maori does not trust the system as far as I can——— I have tryed to use the legal systems 5 times and 5 times they have cheated me out of justice the——- Ana to kai .
Thats a awesome the Dunedin Wild life Hospital ka pai many animals and birds will be saved because of this great institution.
I brought a poppy today the thing is I have a problem with ANZAC day is that in my eyes it promotes war and war is for idiots in Eco Maori View . Ka kite ano
The Crowd Goes Wild Wairanga and Makere it will be awesome if the Warriors end up with heaps of wagons following there band there are other reasons I a kumara never tells how sweet it is .
Wai this new format of cricket could attacked more brown players which is a good thing I recon that some should start a New Zealand Ausse Rules Rugby He tangata will make heaps of money playing that game in Australia.
Ka kite ano
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So, there have been a bunch of bad polls out for Labour, and even the Leftie's friend, Survation, have recently given the Conservatives a rip-snorting 11% lead. You Gov's much vaunted MRP poll - which pretty much nailed the result in 2015 - is currently predicting a comfortable majority for ...
The European Parliament has voted overwhelmingly to declare a climate emergency:The European parliament has declared a global “climate and environmental emergency” as it urged all EU countries to commit to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The vote came as scientists warned that the world may have already crossed ...
Pure Fear: Worse than Heroin, this drug’s addictive power was terrifying. People under its influence didn’t drift off to Elysium. Nor did it persuade inadequate individuals that they could conquer the world. No, this drug – pure crystal methamphetamine, “P” for short – unlocked the gates of Hell itself. It ...
As the rate of measles infection, and of deaths, continues to climb in Samoa, antivaccination activists infectious disease proponents seem intent on doubling down on their claims about vaccination. (Check pretty much any news-media FB post about measles & you’ll see exactly what I mean.) Unfortunately, some of them have ...
Samoa are experiencing a devastating measles epidemic. It is possible that 2-3% of the population will ultimately be infected by the time it is over. Hopefully the mass immunisation campaign currently under way can mitigate some of this, for many it is too late. The first question many people ask ...
Meghan Murphy is a Canadian writer and journalist She runs the Feminist Current website which she founded in 2012. She was a keynote speaker for the Feminism2020 conference in Wellington this month. When Massey University cancelled the original venue booking Feminism2020 was hosted in Parliament by MP David Seymour. Meghan ...
Text and photos by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh Colombia has lived through one week of protests against the economic measures taken by president Duque. What looked like a protest that would fizzle out after its first day on November 21st is still going strong. Part of the reason for the continuance ...
Around a million billion pass through you each second, almost all originating from our sun, but few of them are likely to interact with you enroute. I was reading in a physics magazine earlier in the week about the nature of neutrinos. These are extremely numerous elementary particles, but only ...
By Pallab GhoshThere’s value in covering new research advances, even when the underlying science is unsettled. But there are also risks.The recent announcement that scientists discovered water on the planet K2-18b, 110 light years away, prompted a media swoon. News stories, including a piece written by me, billed ...
I wrote this review a couple of years ago when I was still in the process of getting my head around the politics of transgenderism, and specifically the claim that intersex conditions lend support to the notion that sex is ‘socially constructed’. Since writing this review I have come across ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzHow much does our use of air travel contribute to the ...
Minor planet/asteroid (2309) Mr. Spock is named not for the character in Star Trek, but for a cat that was itself imperturbable, logical, intelligent and had pointed ears. In a preceding blog post I introduced one of my favourite asteroids, (2472) Bradman, and also mentioned (6581) Sobers amongst a few ...
Today the death toll from measles in Samoa rose to 32. All but four of the dead were less than 5 years old. Absolutely terrible, heartbreaking, news. That statistic alone should be enough to give the lie to the common claim by antivaccination activists plague enthusiasts that “measles is a ...
by Gearóid Ó Loingsigh It is late here in Bogotá, almost 11.30pm on Monday the 25th of November as I write this. The day began full of hope with yet more massive marches throughout the country, a mix of the International Day of Non-Violence Against Women and the National Strike. ...
Anti-fluoride activists are rubbing their hands in glee over what they claim is “yet another study” showing fluoride harms the brains of children. But their promotion relies on IQ relationships which the paper’s authors acknowledge disappearing when outliers or other factors are considered. And they completely ignore other relationships ...
The feature below is the conclusion of A History of Economic Thought, whose author was a leading Marxist economist in Russia in the early 20th century, Isaac Ilyich Rubin. The book arose from a course he ran at Moscow University following the Russian Revolution. First published in Russian in 1929, ...
There are many thousands of asteroids with formal names, some humdrum but other more noteworthy (depending on your predilections). One of my favourites, the name of which I was involved in suggesting, is (2472) Bradman, named for the Australian cricketing great. As a minor planet (synonym: asteroid) spotter, I have ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that New Zealand's Cook Islands High Commissioner, Tessa Temata, has died over the weekend. Ms Temata, 52, died in Palmerston North and had returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. She was the first New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands of Cook Island ...
A new defence report has mapped out how New Zealand's soldiers will navigate rising seas, and a year after the Defence Force announced its need to prepare for climate change. In the “Responding to the Climate Crisis” report, the Force restates its operational plan and sets goals to tackle climate ...
Mark Patterson, Spokesperson for Primary Industries New Zealand First spokesperson for Primary Industries, Mark Patterson, has called for awareness to be raised and more stringent biosecurity checks to be put in place for African Swine Fever (ASF), a widespread virus that is uncontrolled in most of Asia and a serious ...
Jenny Marcroft MP, Spokesperson for Human Rights A critical step has been taken to end gender based violence against women and girls in Parliament this evening. New Zealand First Spokesperson for Human Rights Jenny Marcroft MP has welcomed the passing of the first reading of the Crimes (Definition of Female ...
New Zealand First MP Shane Jones says it's time to recognise market forces haven't led to the expected reduction in Māori smoking rates and try a new approach. The Party had recently invoked the agree to disagree clause in their Coalition Agreement with the Labour Party, and will not support ...
Live from the Whanganui Opera House, on the final day of the 2019 Labour Party Conference, Jacinda Ardern announced the largest investment in school property in 25 years. ...
The Coalition Government will be banning foreign donations to political parties and candidates, ahead of next year’s general elections. Legislation will be introduced to Parliament and passed under urgency – emphasising the need for such restrictions to safeguard our democracy. The bill introduces a new requirement that party secretaries and ...
Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones opened Taipā's $19 million bridge recently, improving transport infrastructure in the Northland region. The two-lane bridge is 107m long with a 2.5m-wide shared walking and cycling path, and will reduce the congestion that the old one-lane bridge was notorious for. The project had also included ...
The Overseas Investment Office have rejected the application of Mercury Agriculture LP, which is 92 per cent controlled by Canadian interests, to purchase more than 2000 hectares of South Canterbury and Otago land. Mercury wanted to buy 2000ha at Rangitata, 1494ha near Ashburton, 816ha near Cromwell and 212ha near Temuka. ...
This weekend was Labour's 103rd Party Conference! We welcomed over 500 of our Labour whānau in red to Whanganui, where we reflected on the last two years in Government, and looked ahead to 2020 and beyond. We know the long-term challenges facing New Zealand won't be tackled overnight, but we're making ...
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Provincial Growth Fund will invest $9.6 million to seal the final unsealed section of State Highway 43 from Stratford to Taumarunui. The Minister said sealing the 12-kilometre gravel section of the highway – also called the “Forgotten World Highway” - through ...
Former Finance Minister and former chair of the Tax Working Group, Sir Michael Cullen, has voiced his support for New Zealand First’s decision to oppose the planned increase in tobacco excise tax. In an interview with The Weekend Collective, he said that increasing the price was no longer effective in ...
Māori are natural storytellers. On the marae we use stories to tell our history, to teach the next generation life lessons and to let people know, in our most creative of ways, who we are and where we have come from. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand First Leader New Zealand First has invoked the ‘Agree to Disagree’ provisions of the Coalition Agreement because it cannot support the announced 11.46 percent increase in the tobacco excise from 1 January 2020. “Studies show that the automatic tobacco excise increases are having less effect ...
Taupō-based company Geo40 has made a breakthrough in extracting near battery-grade lithium from geothermal fluid which its says could be a gamechanger. Its chief executive John Worth said the earth mineral was highly prized, with battery-grade lithium selling for US$10,000 (NZ$15,600) a tonne. Geo40 was founded in 2010 to find ...
Crown research institute AgResearch Ltd, as part of its Future Footprint plan, had intended to relocate top scientists and support staff — particularly those focused on sheep genetics and genomics — from Invermay to Lincoln. However, those plans seem to have been shelved at the request of the Coalition Government. ...
Ten engineering firms in Southland are receiving a total of $2.13 million in Provincial Growth Fund funding to lift productivity and create new jobs. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones announced in Invercargill that the 10 engineering and manufacturing firms would receive funding to assist them with buying equipment that ...
The number of new residents to New Zealand is the lowest it has been in nearly two decades and it has earned the ire of the immigration industry. The industry alleges that 'Trump-style extreme vetting' is being put in place aimed at keeping a lid on immigration numbers. June Ranson, ...
The Royal New Zealand Air Force is one step closer to modernising its fleet after the United States State Department recently approved the sale of five new C-130J Hercules aircraft to New Zealand. Arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin, in Fort Worth, Texas, will provide the aircraft, but as a "foreign military ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones wants to create a log barging facility at Hicks Bay and turn the area into a Special Economic Zone. The move would be part of protecting New Zealand's forests from being depleted by India and China, he said. It follows his announcement last week to strengthen ...
New Zealand First supports the changes recommended by the Winter Grazing Taskforce to improve animal welfare outcomes through the winter months, and the establishment of a pan-sector action group to implement them. New Zealand First Primary Industries Spokesperson Mark Patterson says the report highlights areas of concern about the animal ...
Former prime ministers Helen Clark and Sir John Key, formerly from the Labour and National parties respectively, have joined forces in support of New Zealand First’s plan to relocate Auckland's port to Whangārei. While Ms Clark and Sir John spent their political careers on opposite sides of the political divide, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is in Japan for the Foreign Ministers' meeting of the G20 grouping of countries as one of nine "invited" countries. He has used the opportunity to cast a spotlight on the plight of Pacific countries, calling out countries which still offered subsidies or Government assistance to ...
It's been a great week of progress: we've celebrated Children's Day, we've made communities safer with 1800 new police, and we've seen almost 90% of eligible schools take up Government funding to scrap school donations - taking pressure off the families of more than 416,000 students. ...
Hon Shane Jones, Minister of Forestry The Government will further strengthen New Zealand’s wood processing sector as part of our focus on ‘value over volume’ in our forestry industry, Forestry Minister Shane Jones says. Minister Jones will today meet with forestry representatives in Northland to signal new measures to help the ...
The Government is lifting capital investment to the highest level in more than 20 years as it takes the next step to future-proof New Zealand. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has announced $12 billion of new investment, with $8 billion for specific capital projects and $4 billion to be added to ...
The Government is forecast to run $12 billion worth of surpluses across the four years to 2023/24 as the economy continues to grow. The surpluses will help fund day-to-day capital requirements each year. These include fixing leaky hospitals, building new classrooms to cover population growth and take pressure off class ...
Budget 2020 will continue the Coalition Government’s focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also investing to future-proof the economy. When the Government took office in 2017 it was left with crumbling infrastructure, severe underinvestment in public services, degraded rivers and lakes, a housing crisis and rising ...
The Minister responsible for the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act 2011 (te Takutai Moana Act 2011), Andrew Little has welcomed the launch of an online geospatial tool that provides data-rich, dynamic coastline maps that will significantly boost research and evidence-gathering under the Act. Te Kete Kōrero a Te ...
The Chief Victims Advisor to Government Dr Kim McGregor, QSO, has been reappointed in her role for a further two years. Dr McGregor has held the role since it was established in November 2015. She provides independent advice to government on how to improve the criminal justice system for victims. ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Civil Defence Minister Peeni Henare have today announced the deployment of a network of DART (Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami) buoys. “New Zealand and the Pacific region are particularly vulnerable to natural disasters. It is vital we have adequate warning systems in place,” ...
DART Buoys Announcement Aotea Wharf, 9.30am 11 December 2019 Acknowledgements Acknowledgements to Minister for Civil Defence Hon Peeni Henare also here today. White Island It is with regret that this event shadows the tragic natural disaster two days ago. The volcanic eruptions on White Island have claimed 5 lives, ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has welcomed the first reading of the Racing Industry Bill in parliament today. This is the second of two Bills that have been introduced this year to revitalise New Zealand’s racing industry. “Our domestic racing industry has been in serious decline. The Government is committed to ...
Minister for Disability Issues, Carmel Sepuloni, is pleased to announce that $291,321 is to be awarded to national and local community initiatives to maintain and promote the use of New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). “New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world where Sign Language is an ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has announced today the Coalition Government’s initial response to work completed by the independent statutory body, the Veterans’ Advisory Board. “When Professor Ron Paterson completed his review of the Veterans’ Support Act in 2018, he made a number of recommendations, including one which I referred ...
The Government will fund the bulk of the cost of a rural water supply for the Ohakea community affected by PFAS contamination, Environment Minister David Parker announced today at a meeting of local residents. This new water scheme will provide a reliable and clean source of drinking water to the ...
I have had the opportunity to be briefed on the details of the volcanic eruption of Whakaari/White Island, off the coast of Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty. The eruption happened at 2.11pm today. It continues to be an evolving situation. We know that there were a number of tourists ...
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Minister of Civil Defence Peeni Henare have today confirmed initial Government support of $100,000 for communities affected by the severe weather that swept across the South Island and lower North Island over the weekend. The contribution will be made to Mayoral relief funds across the ...
New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Cook Islands, Tessa Temata, died in Palmerston North over the weekend, Foreign Minister Winston Peters said today. Ms Temata, 52, had recently returned to New Zealand for medical treatment. "On behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, we extend ...
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today announced construction is underway on Wellington commuter rail upgrades which will mean more frequent services and fewer breakdowns. The upgrades include converting the Trentham to Upper Hutt single track section to a double track, with a new signalling system, upgraded stations and level crossings, and ...
Minister of Defence Ron Mark and Minister for Climate Change James Shaw have announced the release of a Defence Climate Change Implementation Work Plan, titled Responding to the Climate Crisis: An Implementation Plan. The plan sets out a series of recommendations based on the 2018 New Zealand Defence Assessment, The ...
A medium-scale adverse event has been declared for the South Canterbury district, which will see up to $50,000 in funding made available to support farming communities which have been significantly affected by recent heavy rain and flooding in the area, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Two weeks of solid rain ...
Thank you Professor Juliet Gerrard and your team for the comprehensive and extremely helpful report and recommendations. Thank you too to all the stakeholders and interested parties who have contributed ideas and thinking to it. “Making best practice, standard practice” is a great framework for change and the action plan ...
The Government will phase out more single-use plastics following the success of its single-use plastic bag ban earlier this year and the release today of a pivotal report for dealing with waste. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has welcomed the Rethinking Plastics in Aotearoa New Zealandreport, released by her Chief Science Advisor ...
International education continues to thrive as the Government focuses on quality over quantity, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said. The tuition revenue from international education increased to $1.16 billion last year with the average tuition fee per student increasing by $960. The total number of international students enrolled in New Zealand ...
I want to talk about one of the most pressing issues in our national life: the housing crisis and the poor performance of our cities. The argument I want to make to you is that generations of urban land use policy have lacked a decent grounding in economics. The consequences ...
Health Minister Dr David Clark says new appointments to DHBs represent a significant changing of the guard, with 13 new chairs including four Māori chairs. Today 76 appointments have been announced to complement elected board members, as well as eight elected members appointed as either chair or deputy chair. Four ...
Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Fletcher Tabuteau, is travelling to Germany, Poland, Austria, and Spain next week to bolster New Zealand’s political and trade relationships in Europe. While in Spain, Mr Tabuteau will represent New Zealand at the 14th Asia-Europe (ASEM) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Madrid. “New Zealand strongly supports ...
“I’ve spoken to Minister Faafoi, who has apologised for his poor handling of this issue,” Jacinda Ardern said. “I have confidence in Kris as a hardworking and effective Minister, but this should have been dealt with in a much clearer manner, and I’ve made my views on that very clear ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters met with Tongan Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pohiva Tu'i'onetoa in Wellington today. The pair signed a Statement of Partnership setting out joint priorities for cooperation out to 2023. “We welcomed Prime Minister Tu'i'onetoa on his first visit to New Zealand as Prime Minister. Tonga ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash says his sympathies are with the family of a man who died after being shot by Police in Kurow. “Initial reports are that Police were called by a family member to help the man who was threatening to harm himself,” Mr Nash says. “However ...
Ethnic communities will be able to plan and deliver more community initiatives thanks to an increase in Government funding, Minister for Ethnic Communities Hon Jenny Salesa said today. “Ensuring Aotearoa New Zealand is a place we can all be proud to call home has been a key priority of our ...
Healthier waterways, better productivity and farmer wellbeing are front and centre in a new project involving more than 1000 Southland farmers and growers. Minister of Agriculture Damien O’Connor today announced that the Thriving Southland Change and Innovation Project is the first region-wide extension programme supported by the $229 million Sustainable ...
Work to look after nature and restore freshwater quality in Te Hoiere/Pelorus River catchment is getting a significant boost, thanks to new Government funding support Minister for Conservation Eugenie Sage announced in Canvastown today. “Every New Zealander should be able to swim in their local river without getting sick, and ...
Eight Queen’s Counsel have been appointed under a process that includes the new criterion of a commitment to improving access to justice, Attorney-General David Parker announced today. “The new criterion was included this year. It emphasises that excellence and leadership in the profession can be seen through a wider, community ...
Onslow College in Wellington will get 20 new classrooms for more than 400 students, Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. The much-needed investment will relieve growth pressure the school has been experiencing for some time. Seven existing classrooms which have deteriorated over time will also be replaced, bringing the total ...
More than 250 young New Zealanders will add international experience to their education, thanks to the latest Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia (PMSA) and Latin America (PMSLA), Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced today. This round of scholarships supports 252 recent graduates or current students to undertake study, research or internships ...
Consumers will benefit from a more competitive, transparent retail fuel market as a result of changes the Government will be making in response to the findings of the Commerce Commission’s study of the fuel sector. “We accept the Commission’s findings and, as the Prime Minister has said, we’re ready to ...
Five new cancer medicines have now been funded this year, meaning thousands of people have more treatment options PHARMAC has today announced that it has approved two new medicines for funding – fulvestrant for breast cancer and olaparib for ovarian cancer. This follows earlier decisions on advanced lung cancer treatment alectinib, ...
The Minister of Local Government, Hon Nanaia Mahuta says the Government will consider making changes to local electoral legislation before the 2022 elections to fix the problems that have arisen where elections are settled by a coin toss. The Minister says the recount process in the Murupara- Galatea ward at ...
New Zealand will sign up to new international maritime regulations to reduce ship emissions and lift air quality around ports and harbours, Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced today. Subject to completion of the Parliamentary treaty examination process, New Zealand will sign up to Annex VI of MARPOL, an ...
New legislation to transform our urban areas and create sustainable, inclusive and thriving communities will tomorrow be introduced to Parliament, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford said. “The Urban Development Bill gives Kāinga Ora-Homes and Communities the tools it needs to partner with councils, communities, mana whenua and private developers to ...
Today’s launch of He taonga te Tamaiti: Every child a taonga: The Early Learning Action Plan 2019-2029 provides the foundation for long-lasting changes to early learning, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says. “Early learning will be one of the Government’s top education priorities going into 2020,” Chris Hipkins said. ...
Major decisions made by the Government will now be considered under a climate change lens, Minister for Climate Change James Shaw announced today. “Cabinet routinely considers the effects of its decisions on human rights, the Treaty of Waitangi, rural communities, the disability community, and gender – now climate change will ...
Education Minister Chris Hipkins today announced the appointment of Māori education specialist Dr Wayne Ngata and Business NZ head Kirk Hope to the Board of the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC). Dr Alastair MacCormick has been reappointed for another term. “Wayne Ngata, Kirk Hope and Alastair MacCormick bring a great deal ...
Whether tourists should have been allowed to visit Whakaari-White Island in the past and whether tourists should be allowed to visit in future are among the questions inevitably raised in the aftermath of the tragic volcanic eruption this week. Concerns have extended beyond the operations of White Island Tours, which ...
Responding to the Minister of Finance’s Half Year Economic and Fiscal Update , which includes a $900 million deficit for the next financial year, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “At at time of high commodity ...
The Maniapoto Māori Trust Board (MMTB) is pleased the Waitangi Tribunal’s report has agreed that the Crown was correct to recognise it as the appropriate body to hold the settlement mandate for Maniapoto. ...
Government books are now expected to go into the red this financial year with a forecast deficit of $900 million, down from a Budget forecast surplus of $1.3 billion. ...
Government books are now expected to go into the red this financial year with a forecast deficit of $900 million, down from a Budget forecast surplus of $1.3 billion. ...
In this hard-hitting episode of current affairs show OTR 24/7, lady journalist Leonie Hayden comes face to face with one of society’s most elusive figures.“Hey baby, show us ya [insert weird word for body part here]!”To many women and non-binary folks this is a common greeting, usually delivered with great ...
Start learning te reo Māori anywhere in Aotearoa with this list of introductory, part-time classes.‘Learn te reo Māori’ is at the top of a lot of people’s New Year’s resolutions. The problem is, it can be hard to enrol after the new year, which is typically when resolutions are meant ...
Last year, we published the anonymous account of a Koru Club member who was denied their mandated birthright entry into the Koru Club. This Koru Club member returns to give us their harrowing, haunting account of the day the Koru Lounge went dry.“Bye, bye miss American Pie. Drove the Chevy ...
A Labour MP’s private members bill which allowed for bereavement leave for a miscarriage has been withdrawn and resubmitted , in seemingly a deliberate attempt to exclude post-abortive women who may also be suffering grief and loss. It will receive its ...
The police are not ruling out starting the recovery operation today for eight people missing after the Whakaari / White Island eruption but say safety comes first ...
Power Play - The latest report on moving the bulk of Auckland's port operations to Northport will be released tomorrow, but Jane Patterson asks whether it will be possible for Cabinet to press ahead prior to next year's election. ...
Toby Manhire gazes back at the last almost-10 years in New Zealand politics, leadership and tragedy.When I returned to New Zealand after 11 years away in 2010, John Key had been prime minister for a couple of years and it felt like he’d been prime minister forever. He was a ...
The Chief Ombudsman is launching a new inquiry into whether central government agencies have addressed any weaknesses identified in a landmark investigation five years ago. ...
Op-Ed by Kaveh Zahedi and Van NguyenKaveh Zahedi, Deputy Executive Secretary for Sustainable Development, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).“The 2030 Agenda is coming to life”, declared the Secretary General at the opening of the first SDG Summit, a quadrennial event for ...
Editor’s Note: Here below is a list of the main issues currently under discussion in New Zealand and links to media coverage.New Zealand Parliament Buildings, Wellington, New Zealand.Whakaari/White Island eruption Gordon Campbell: On the Whakaari/White Island eruption MIchael Lueck (Stuff): Should NZ look again at risky adventure tourism? Brook ...
The senior doctors’ union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, is welcoming a report from the Medical Protection Society which provides further evidence of doctor burnout and high workload pressures. ...
Responding to reports of New Plymouth District Council’s $1.6 million rates surplus, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke says: “A rates surplus means the Council has taken more from the people of New Plymouth than it needs. It ...
The fatal eruption on Whakaari on Monday may force the tourism industry to review its current rules, writes tourism professor Michael Lueck.The official death toll is six and eight people are still missing, presumed to have died, in Monday’s volcanic eruption at Whakaari/White Island. The people on the island were ...
The Council of Licenced Firearms Owners (COLFO) is calling out Police for stepping up their intimidation campaign of licenced firearms owners as the deadline for firearms compensation draws near. ...
Belong Aotearoa alongside leading organisations working in the resettlement (refugee background) sector is calling on the New Zealand Government to play a greater role in responding to the international refugee crisis, ahead of the Global Refugee Forum ...
Protest groups and human rights supporters are preparing to “unwelcome” bulk carrying cargo ship ‘Federal Crimson’ as it arrives in Dunedin on Wednesday. The ship has carried over 50,000 tonnes of ‘conflict phosphate’ from the non-self ...
Tower boss quits after turning around $6.3m loss with risk-based insurance pricing strategy; and Prime Minister meets with rescuers of Whakaari / White Island survivors. ...
Should we modify the process of government formation to ensure no future incoming PM has the authority and mana of their office compromised from the outset? ...
A petition to Government that would see e-scooters and other personal transport devices banned from New Zealand footpaths is to be presented to the Honorable Tracey Martin, Minister for Children and Seniors on Thursday, 12th December, at 1.00 pm on the steps ...
All eyes today will be on Treasury and Finance Minister Grant Robertson when he releases his "significant infrastructure spending package" at 1pm today. ...
The Auckland Rotuman Fellowship Group Incorporated (ARFGI) is marking today’s International Human Rights Day to draw attention to the NZ Government’s discriminatory policy of only supporting selective Pacific Island languages. ...
Western Australia’s move to legalise voluntary assisted dying continues a worldwide trend supported by a clear majority of New Zealanders, the End-of-Life Choice Society’s President, Dr Mary Panko, said on Wednesday. ...
School support staff have voted to accept collective agreement offers from the Ministry of Education, with the Living Wage of $21.15 as the new minimum pay rate. ...
Our pop culture superfans at The Real Pod look back at the local celebrities who defined the last decade in Aotearoa.If there’s any group of people we can turn to in these uncertain times, it’s celebrities. And lucky for us, New Zealand suddenly seems to have heaps of them. The ...
Wellington’s newest local body political party, the Wellington Party , welcomes the news that if returned to Government, the National Party will accelerate the construction work on the proposed duplicate Mt Victoria tunnel. Party President, David Lloyd, ...
Sweeping law changes proposed by an official inquiry into last year's election and foreign interference have taken too long to be of use for next year's election. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cameron Webb, Clinical Lecturer and Principal Hospital Scientist, University of Sydney Mosquito-borne disease is a concern for health authorities around Australia. Each year, thousands fall ill to Ross River virus disease caused by mosquito bites. Tracking mosquito populations can help us respond ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elaine Pearson, Adjunct Lecturer in Law, UNSW As we approach the last days of the decade, it’s important to reflect on the fight for human rights, the setbacks and successes over the past year in Australia and around the world. Our list ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nathan Kettlewell, Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Economics Discipline Group, University of Technology Sydney Every year private health insurers raise premiums and every year we rue the hit to our hip pocket. This cycle is heavily regulated: insurers apply to the health minister ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Johnston, Lecturer in Primary Education, Southern Cross University It’s the end of the first year of school for many children and proud parents. Some children may be reading quicker than their classmates, others slower; some can add double digits, others only ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Ann Wheeler, Professor in Water Economics, University of Adelaide For the thousand or so farmers in Canberra in the past week venting their anger at the federal government, it’s the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to blame for destroying their livelihoods and forcing ...
A collective of former refugee leaders, resettlement, human rights, faith-based and humanitarian organisations have signed and sent an open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway. The letter asks the Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Ellerton, Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland As bushfires rage and our cities lie shrouded in smoke, climate change is shaping as a likely topic of conversation at the family dinner table this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jeff Seadon, Senior Lecturer, Auckland University of Technology CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Butt, Associate Professor in Sustainability and Urban Planning, RMIT University This is the third article in a series to mark the 50th anniversary of the landmark Melbourne Transportation Plan. Like the modernist plans of its time, the 1969 Melbourne Metropolitan Transportation ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chari Larsson, Lecturer of art history, Griffith University Review: Water, GOMA, Brisbane. As I write these lines, bushfires rage through the ancient forests of New South Wales and our cities are choked with smoke. The severity of these fires is fuelled by ...
Parliament's Justice Select Committee has released its results of its inquiry into the 2017 General and 2016 Local elections and it covers issues around combating foreign interference in elections. ...
Questions remain over who had the power to stop tour companies visiting Whakaari / White Island after the volcanic alert level was raised in recent weeks. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: How the Whakaari eruption will be investigated, Greens ditch Budget Responsibility Rules, and more controversy for Crimson Education.There has been a lot of confusion about what investigations will take place after the Whakaari eruption, and what they will focus on. As ...
The issue of moving Auckland's port goes beyond party politics - it is an idea whose time has come for commercial, practical and cultural purposes, writes Shane Te Pou. ...
A decade of austerity and four elections in five years have scarred rather than soothed Britain. John Morgan wonders if the electoral barometer might yet swing to change. ...
Through the dark clouds of injury woes, pole vaulting star Eliza McCartney saw a chance to turn her focus to making a cleaner, healthier New Zealand ...
While New Zealand struggles with the volcano tragedy, Australia too, is in the grip of its own disaster. Bushfires in New South Wales have killed 6 people and destroyed nearly 700 homes. Newsroom’s Mark Jennings is currently in Sydney which is blanketed in thick grey smoke. ...
By providing food boxes to those who have requested food grants, Work and Income is fundamentally misunderstanding how to meet a basic human right, writes Rebekah Graham. Over the past few months, Work and Income has provided Auckland-based beneficiaries who have requested a food grant with a Bargain Box food kit ...
As controversy including a $10m lawsuit and ‘ghost’ offices continues to swirl around Jamie Beaton, his fellow Rhodes scholars have slammed him for trying to recruit them.Those who gain a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship must display “truth, courage, devotion to duty, sympathy for and protection of the weak, kindliness, unselfishness and ...
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Hū ana te whenua, ngārue ana te moana. He aituā! He aituā! E tangi ana i āhua o te parekura i Whakaari inanahi. E aroha ana ki te whānau pani me ngā iwi e honohono kau ana ki te tipua maunga kei te Moana-a-Toi. “The Māori Party expresses its ...
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Open Mike 19/04/2018 
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So, You Gov's MRP poll - the weird one that tries to reflect what will happen at a constituency level and which pretty much nailed the hung parliament in 2017 - is not looking too good for Labour:
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Could I respectfully draw the moderator’s attention to the verbal violence practised by the commentator Wei on the immigration post yesterday.
I accept that most of ‘his’ inflammatory comments were made after 11pm, and even moderators need some sleep – but his/her posts should raise red flags in the future – and not PRC ones!
[So this off-handed inflammatory shit that you’re spouting (about raising PRC flags) is exactly the kind of stuff that kicks things off. I’ve just read the thread in question, and while Wei overstepped the mark with regards one response in particular, any bans would be for the inflammatory comments by Ropata and Tamati Tautuhi. Happens every time Wei comes here – the casual racist bullshit gets flung at him. He responds. He gets banned. Not happening this time around. There are a few people need to take a look at themselves and their attitudes] – Bill
Funny – I read the thread and found ropata and Janet the most racist commenters.
Well, the small bit I read of the discussion did look a bit like there was adouble standard, and misunderstanding of the power of white privileger: i.e. Wei was critical of the naming and explaining of white privilege with respect to the treatment of white Sth African immigrants, while tending to denigrate Chinese immigrants.
Verbal violence though is not on, IMO, whatever the views.
Not surprised James, you being a major fan of the Chinese owned National party here to sell us overseas.
Nothing to do with political leanings (but hey good on you for bringing racism into it – you must be very proud).
Simply reading the comments and taking them at face value.
Actually Wei calling for a massacre of white South African “ crackers” has to be his ticket out of here. If you don’t find his behaviour deeply disturbing there’s something wrong with you.
It “has to be his ticket out of here” huh?
How about we let the people involved make that decision – Im pretty sure we don’t get to demand anything.
I notice still no condemnation of that blatant violent racism from you James.
Why don’t you use a system similar to that used by insurance companies when there are two parties claiming against each other from an incident. It’s called knock-for-knock.
. The justification for the use of the knock for knock system is that it would be expensive and practically difficult to adopt a “fault based” approach to liability in …
http://www.mondaq.com/x/555144/Insurance/Knock+for+Knock+Liability+Provisions
Why not take both parties out of the post for an hour? Let others get on with debating their own ideas and when the others settled down they would have learned something; either how to explain themselves better, or that they were majorly wrong. Just a bit of time out without playing the heavy-handed parent would help to give this present blog an adult-centred approach with democratic room for thinking citizens to have a say.
Well, I wasn’t commenting on the content of the posts, just the invective hurled by Wei at Ropata. ‘Wei’ over the top, in my opinion!
Bill made his comments above – I’m keeping out of this from here.
Had a look at his/her posts and the baiting and language is damn near identical to the head troll’s over at Farrar’s place.
Calling another commenter a piece of s*** is ok and describing an assault on a commenter is ok… and in response Ropata was very restrained I have to say.
But making a joke referencing another post and bearing no malice whatsoever is moderation worthy. Sorry Bill, you’ve got things wrong here.
I’m going to disagree with you on this one, mauī.
I don’t agree on all Bill’s moderation decisions, but I think he’s right to point out the Wei was trying to speak up against implicit racism and that people weren’t ready to re-examine their own comments or the bias they were exhibiting. Yes, he/she got angry and (in the end) abusive, but context is important and in this case I think it possible to understand Wei’s frustration.
Bill
You are a moderator you make decisions – I hope you at least ask Wei to done it down
“He is a lying piece of shit
A dumb cunt incapable of a single shred of logical thought
Fuck you are low IQ.
I’m talking about those racist white cracker Boers who can’t stand black rule and come here bringing their racist ways. Fuck you are a twit
A filthy Uncle Tom such as Ropata
Personally I hope the South African government seals off the borders and then carry out its land expropriation without compensation. Let those Boers scurry around like the rats they are with nowhere to go.
Hopefully we will see a massacre of those racist Boers
If that does happen I hope the NZ navy machine guns them in the water before they get their white asses to the North Shore – -how about it eh????”
This seems a “bit rough” to say the least
I know CV got a one year ban and I thought he was baited into that and what CV was banned for seems to me to be very small potatoes compared to Wei’s outbursts.
I understand moderator’s work is generally thankless and under appreciated and I apologise if it seems I am being overly critical
Yep.
I agree that some of my comments were out of line. However the vicious racist rhetoric of people such as Ropata is far worse than anything I wrote. I appreciate the moderator’s nuanced approach.
That message board on immigration would have done an ‘Alt Right’ website proud, and it is only in recent years since Labour decided to jump on the populist bandwagon, that the vicious racist underbelly of the NZ left has emerged, in a truly unabashed sense.
If that does happen I hope the NZ navy machine guns them in the water before they get their white asses to the North Shore – -how about it eh????”
Of course that comment was to bait other commenters, and not a reflection of how I feel – but it is the secret attitude of many Westerners when it comes to black and brown refugees and migrants, consider Katie Hopkins who enjoys huge popularity in the UK “Rescue boats? I’d use gunships to stop migrants”.
I placed the same views within a different racial context to get a rise out of the openly racist commentators that infest the webosphere of the New Zealand left. The fact is the Australia and New Zealand left was largely founded on vicious anti-Chinese racism, was suppressed for a long time, but is now rearing its ugly head as the economic ascendancy of China, and other non-white powers around the world give rise to white racial and economic angst.
You were provocative.
I’ve worked in China – you don’t have a leg to stand on about racism.
“The fact is the Australia and New Zealand left was largely founded on vicious anti-Chinese racism.” (citation required)
The truth is that you represent a vocal and unproductive minority whose destructive speculation long since eclipsed their positive contribution. NZ infrastructure is stretched and there has been a degree of political capture, whereby people paid and sworn to represent NZers represent foreign interests instead. This is undergoing a minor correction.
It’s not “white racial and economic angst” as these assimilation issues are not limited to Caucasian populations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_1998_riots_of_Indonesia
Some migrants are unconcerned by the damage they do to their host society until the inequality precipitates violence. That’s not the NZ way. If it’s your way, go away.
“I’ve worked in China – you don’t have a leg to stand on about racism.”
Agree. Chinese tend to put whites on a pedestal. However with increasing economic power of China and the rise of her standing in the world, that is undergoing a slightly more than ‘minor correction’
“you represent a vocal and unproductive minority”
Vocal? Chinese are quite underrepresented I think when it comes to the New Zealand political scene (and I’m not blaming racism for that)
‘Unproductive’? Asian employment rates are virtually identical to European employment rates. Perhaps you have some data that they are employed in ‘unproductive’ industries compared with European New Zealanders?
However I doubt it. The engineering schools throughout the country are dominated now by Indians and Chinese, and most of them find employment in extremely productive fields.
“NZ infrastructure is stretched” True. But does a Chinese migrant stretch it anymore than an English or South African migrant?
“Some migrants are unconcerned by the damage they do to their host society until the inequality precipitates violence.”
Do you have some information that NZ Asians, or Chinese in particular are that much more wealthy on average than other New Zealanders?
“That’s not the NZ way. If it’s your way, go away.”
The NZ (Anglo Saxon) way is to steal the wealth of Asians and Africans. Its been that way for centuries. When the Chinese did not want to trade your people invaded and looted the place. You did it to India, you did it to the Africans, and you did it to the indigenous people of this country. The Anglo Saxon tribe are the greediest and most rapacious bunch of motherfuckers that ever existed on the face of the earth, but the day of political, economic, and even military reckoning is fast approaching!
“Some migrants are unconcerned by the damage they do to their host society until the inequality precipitates violence.”
“Do you have some information that NZ Asians, or Chinese in particular are that much more wealthy on average than other New Zealanders?”
This is a more general critique than simply Asia, and wealth is not the only criterion for sociopathy, though it often allows it greater scope for expression.
A word that has been sanitized in modern usage is entrepreneur, but an entrepreneur is not a technological rainmaker of the Hollywood variety. Literally an entrepreneur is someone who comes in and takes – a colonist or planter in 18th or 19th century terms, which is when the word was coined.
Coming in and taking is a disruptive activity. It causes changes to the host economy. The presence of cashed up Boer farmers for instance, inflates the price of prime dairy country beyond the means of the poorly paid farm workers who a generation before would in the fullness of time have come into possession of the land as the owner’s physical capacity declined. This in term obliges the farm worker to seek some other profession, because the culminating reward of a lifetime of poorly paid strenuous work in all weathers is taken off the table.
“The NZ (Anglo Saxon) way is to steal the wealth of Asians and Africans. Its been that way for centuries. When the Chinese did not want to trade your people invaded and looted the place. You did it to India, you did it to the Africans, and you did it to the indigenous people of this country. The Anglo Saxon tribe are the greediest and most rapacious bunch of motherfuckers that ever existed on the face of the earth, but the day of political, economic, and even military reckoning is fast approaching!”
This is just flame bait. You’re probably just an asshole looking for racist quotes to circulate among some far-right coterie. If this is your starting position you’re going to meet with a great deal of rejection.
“This is a more general critique than simply Asia, and wealth is not the only criterion for sociopathy, though it often allows it greater scope for expression. “
Hang on – your original comment was about inequality precipitating violence – against Chinese. Walking things back now eh?
“The presence of cashed up Boer farmers for instance, inflates the price….”
Attempt to appear fair and balanced after your racist diatribe against Chinese. Well done.
“This is just flame bait. You’re probably just an asshole looking for racist quotes to circulate among some far-right coterie. “
WTF?
This is after you accused me of representing “a vocal and unproductive minority whose destructive speculation long since eclipsed their positive contribution.”
“you’re going to meet with a great deal of rejection”
hahahhahahahahahahah…..I think I already have for some time
You are merely trying to raise racist bogies to deflect from the simple truth that there are negative consequences to immigration.
“Your racist diatribe against Chinese”
It wasn’t a racist diatribe Wei – but yours was.
You seem to have a great desire to be hated – don’t punish yourself, get help. https://www.mentalhealth.org.nz/get-help/in-crisis/helplines/
According to Stuart, I’m a member of a “a vocal and unproductive minority whose destructive speculation long since eclipsed their positive contribution.”
That goes well beyond a reasoned debate on the consequences of immigration.
Then he mutters darkly about possible violence against Chinese because of the inequality they bring – without of course providing any evidence that Chinese are inordinately wealthy relative to other groups.
You are part of a vocal and unproductive minority.
If you think the influence of Asian property speculation has gone unnoticed in NZ you’d better think again.
The argument is not that immigrant Chinese are inordinately wealthy – though you clearly want to beat that line up for a politics of envy attack. Immigration requires that they have capital assets of some description, and the differences in Asian banking and family finance structures have enabled significant numbers of them to enter the property market here. As in Australia and Canada this has had undesirable inflationary effects on the property market.
It is not the wealth but the negative consequences they brought that triggered the violence against them in Indonesia – albeit with some connivance from politicians there wishing to displace blame.
“without of course providing any evidence”
Your little manifesto on Chinese manifest destiny is a vagrant collection of prejudices for which you produced no support. Why should I?
Well argued.
This is what Ropata wrote in separate posts:
“Hence we have a plague of horrible driving, mindless stripping of seafood resources, exploitation of employees, and a breakdown of trust…….
A safer land, where children were free to cycle or walk anywhere. Where you could go fishing and usually catch something decent. Where you could swim in clean rivers. Where we didn’t have hordes of campervans crapping on our loveliest tourist spots. Where you could work on minimum wages and buy a house and start a family.”
The implicit but obvious meaning is the wonderful New Zealand lifestyle and social trust of the past was lost, mainly because of the arrival of immigrants, particularly Asian ones. He blames most of New Zealand’s social ills on Asians. His rhetoric is redolent of Nazi propaganda against the Jews —and I’m not in the least bit exaggerating.
Yet when it comes to white South African migrants, he is far more forgiving:
“At least they are legal citizens unlike a large swathe of new arrivals who snuck in the back door by student visa scams or pretending to start a business. Or even worse those who arrived with suitcases of cash and are now parasitical landlords or communist spies in the National party caucus.”
Blaming an entire ethnic group for most if not all of a countries problems, but without resorting to explicit racial slurs, is in fact the most vicious, dangerous type of racist rhetoric
“Blaming an entire ethnic group for most if not all of a countries problems, but without resorting to explicit racial slurs, is in fact the most vicious, dangerous type of racist rhetoric.”
“The NZ (Anglo Saxon) way is to steal the wealth of Asians and Africans. Its been that way for centuries.”
Hypocrite.
No. Just told the truth. Learn some history
Racist hypocrite.
I count nearly 30 comments on this matter about moderation and dealing with a stirrer and the responses to this. It is fair to let someone have a rant about their own concerns. But why not leave it as a rant of that person, and just put a full stop against your name showing you have read it and are letting it lie as that. Why try to put everybody right according to what each subsequent commenter happens to think should be the norm?
In the absence of sensible responses to someone being provocative I don’t see why the moderation cannot have a time out operation to stop what seem to develop into flame wars.
You can have The Standard as a place where political problems and ideas are discussed, mulled over, critiqued, improved.
Or a place where people pass on any idea that gets into their heads in an emotional outburst. Sitting on the sidelines and criticising or making fun is easy compared to attempting to understand, reason and see how to improve things. And note: that can’t be done in a case where people of any background want to argue and create dissension. If they are totally right, and consider others who raise objections totally wrong, they should not be on this blog. They should have their own site and create their own harmony with like-minds.
There are many perspectives of thought, but just reactions each day are just safety valves. They don’t add anything lasting likely to hep from and enlighten future policies and political systems.
Good evening greywarshark,
You make some good comments and I know that this something close to your heart as you have made comments along the same vein here in the past (with some consequences too).
I also know that weka was thinking of doing another post on moderation. [BTW, where is weka?]
I have my own thoughts on all this (and moderation) but I’ll limit it to the following.
Ideas, opinions and everything should and are in fact allowed to be discussed here on TS; it is wonderful forum that gives us or anybody who wishes, for that matter, more than enough opportunity and leeway. I don’t take this for granted and highly appreciate the opportunity and see it almost as a privilege.
I used to think too that replying to comments based on merit & message would safeguard against threads sliding into negative territory. Play the ball, not the man. Don’t should the messenger. Stick to the facts. Rational debate would ensue. Etcetera. I now think that I was (and still am) quite naive.
In a nutshell: c’est le ton qui fait la chanson (ou la musique).
In other words, style & substance, form & function, contents & presentation, for example, go hand-in-hand. One cannot separate the what from the how.
Delivery, context, style are all important in rhetoric, which is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing. By logical extension, they are equally important in oral or written debate such as here on TS.
Lastly, a purely rational debate is impossible; we are driven by emotions.
What do you think? I think I can quite safely assume that not many others will read let alone engage with these comments of ours 😉
If Jacinda Ardern is sincere in her commitment to fighting climate change it is incumbent on her that she agree to repeal the Andarko Amendment.
“Greenpeace trial going ahead despite Government’s oil exploration ban”
New Zealand Herald, 17 April, 2018
“No Enemies To Labour’s Left?”
Bowalley Road, 18 April, 2018
Andrew McKenzie should get the whole bill as he caused the problem.
Typical actions of the powerful using “The System” to do their dirty work.
Trotter is spot on here…the drilling ban is more show than substance….but it does send a message.
it should have been backed up with subsidies for solar.
What I’d like to see is the Greens plan to make solar panels here in NZ from NZ resources put into action.
Would be money wasted I think.
You can already by them online for half the cost direct from Asia.
There is no way kiwi made could do enough numbers to match
Understand your thinking though
Which is actually false economics. There’s no way that anywhere in Asia could produce them any cheaper than a well built factory in NZ.
We don’t have to do the numbers – we just have to get the productivity the same or better and we could do that.
BTW, it’s actually delusional to think that if a factory produced more it costs less.
I’m with you on this Draco.
We should be preparing everyone in the old world/low tech world of fossil fuel power generation for the next wave of newer technologies. What I would like to see is everyone who may lose their jobs in oil/coal/etc being given training in high tech industry like solar/wind/tidal.
Shutting down oil exploration should be an incentive to move people to other industries.
QFT
We shouldn’t be afraid of the change but welcome it.
It’s the only way our technology will progress, by taking advantage of the high tech solutions available to us and power generation is one of those industries ripe for change (in fact – we HAVE to do it).
I include nuclear in this also
Wouldn’t you also like to see Green MP’s walking their talk and actually having Solar PV?
??
Why do the managerial technocrats of the neoliberal colonised SOE’s so hate Labour governments?
This is why:
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/19-04-2018/the-side-table-spat-that-got-housing-nz-labelled-petty-and-vindictive-by-phil-twyford/
Housing NZ chief executive Andrew McKenzie is probably just a good little bureaucrat of the neoliberal enabling class. He must be furious that his cool, rational enforcement of the rules has seen his hand publicaly smacked by a minister in possession of some common sense and compassion.
+100
The ability to be all butch and punitive now pervades much of the public service senior management.
The table didn’t stick out into the common area at all. Anyone with a sense of space would have realised that. The common area is beyond the wall – the one sticking out from in-between each flat to give more privacy.
To me it sounds like “the manager of her Body Corporate, Stephen Connelly” was simply trying to assert his authority and power. I’d be looking into the relationship between the two. Either way, he obviously should not be in that sort of position with that sort of power as he doesn’t use it responsibly.
A Nicky Hager article today on the RNZ site, about the Daphne Project, which has uncovered more NZ links in tax haven/avoidance chains of shell companies, with one key one based in Auckland.
Hager says that though some loopholes in NZ tax law were changed after the Panama Papers, it’s still possible for foreign interests to use NZ as a tax haven.
WOW!!
Everyone should have a read through that link.
It needs to be illegal for the owners and money movements not to be traced. And make it so that if they can’t be traced the ownership reverts back to the nation.
It seems obvious to me that the structure was created to do the money laundering.
The laws were written by the plutocrats.
Well, for the plutocrats anyway.
Key and the Nats made us all inside members of a dirty corrupt criminal world ….. when they turned NZ into a full blown tax haven ( for foriegners).
This latest criminal enterprise which has a New Zealand link is but one in a long trail involving thefts murders and corruption ….
The Green party in particular should be shaking this rotten tree … there is a lot more to drop out of it.
We have a Malta link as well ….. and this journalist being killed would be the equivalent of Nicky Hager being blown up here.
Hooten, Slater, Odgers and by association Dirty Politics have taken a step down that path already …..
Great link Carolyn_Nth.
Shocking – makes you wonder not only how much tax avoidance we are encouraging here, but also how much of our NZ assets are also listed as NZ companies or under bogus trusts but owned by someone else and how under that structure, our government would be completely unaware how much NZ land and assets are offshore owned and managed.
I’m pretty sure that 3% that Key’s government said was foreign owned land and farms was as genuine as his efforts on Pike River recovery.
Dang !!!! Thanks for the link Carolyn.
NZDF Doc warns our Vets are not getting treatment they need.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12035004
I have no argument with the NZDF Docs assertions.
But, I notice your reference refers to the RSA and poppy day.
After the way they treated J Force and Korean vets and the way we were treated coming back from nam, the sooner the RSA goes broke and disappears the better. This only changed when they realised their WW1 and WW2 vets were dying off and the cash cow was disappearing.
Rapper CardiB cites Franklin Delano Roosevelt:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-says-cardi-b-is-right-about-who-really-made-america-great-again_us_5ad76261e4b0e4d0715c7cd2
Now I’m waiting to see Ladi6 cite Michael Joseph Savage.
Sanders gets points for the uplift.
heh
[…]
I, too, want to be able to know what the taxes are spent on. As far as I’m concerned, in this day and age, we should be able to go online and get an accurate accounting in near real time and going back for several years at least.
Wrong log-in, Penny
So, do you have anything to say other than abuse?
Why?
Other than giving fuckwits the ability to turn financial accountability into a manual denial-of-service attack by querying every transaction as soon as it’s made.
If the larger-scale problems weren’t already obvious and innumerable (DHB “debts”, teacher shortages, infrastructure decay, and so on), maybe realtime minutae would be useful. but there’s more than enough to address already.
Because we actually need to know to be able to govern ourselves. Which is what democracy is all about – governing ourselves. To be able to say which of the resources that the country has should be used.
There would need to be rules of course.
If they were obvious then the last government wouldn’t have been able to lie about them for nine years.
What more for “democracy” do we need to know that we don’t already know?
You can hand-wave all the rules you want, the fact is that every system is open to abuse and the tories could easily shut down any government they don’t like purely by volume of complaints and storms in teacups. Look at what they did with MP expenses, and you want that level of bullshit spread throughout the entire bureaucracy?
The larger scale problems were obvious. The government lied about them. But the real problem is that people didn’t care enough to bother with even that granularity of information – if it suited them, they were happy to go along with whatever key or hosking said. We don’t suffer from a lack of information, our system a lack of consideration.
Keith Ng’s budget visualiser from a few years back.
https://publicaddress.net/keith/static/Budget2013-130516/Budget-Treemap.html
Thumbs up to Countdown in Marton who are the first supermarket in NZ to introduce quiet hour.
Specifically catering to the autistic it sounds heavenly for the non spectrum stressed out too with minimal light levels, no background music/ads, no staff stocking shelves. Just ease and grace + One Card rewards 😉
Feedback is overwhelmingly positive
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12034905
What a great initiative. Is this an hour daily?
Do you know whether it is just a local management initiative or whether it is a trial for wider application throughout NZ Countdowns, similar to their ongoing introduction of pharmacies into their bigger stores?
I have found this latter initiative in my local Countdown excellent. The pharmacy is open (I think) from 7 – 8am through to about 7 – 8pm daily, and their per item prescription charges are only $3 compared to the standard $5. Their prices for over the counter (General Sales) pharmaceuticals and other medications, medicines etc seem to be generally lower than at other pharmacies. These charges and prices are apparently standard across all Countdown pharmacies.
This is no criticism of the smaller pharmacies (independent or part of a group) because understandably their overheads are much higher, whereas presumably the Countdown pharmacies’ overheads (floor space, power etc) are less due to their shared nature. And these smaller pharmacies will always remain essential to smaller towns, local communities where these larger facilities are not practical or feasible from a business point of view.
What’s going on, a worthwhile and liberal opinion on Granny!
Comment: Loss of libraries is a symptom of Auckland University’s decline
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12034770
Quoting article:
Hasn’t changed since I was a child 40+ years ago then.
And that’s actually going back to the way things were when I was a child. I suppose we should expect that sort of BS from conservatives who always think that the past was better.
I actually want our universities to be doing research and publishing. Perhaps the problem is that, over the last while, we’ve regarded universities as tertiary education rather than the research institutions that they should be. Learning goes hand in hand with research but not so much teaching.
It’s a difference in perspective. Instead of going to university to learn we have people going to university to do research. At the end of that research they will publish and maybe get a degree. They will join as part of a small team doing specific research under the guidance of a primary, i.e, someone who already has a degree in that field.
We’d get better learning and more innovation. Would involve a lot more people.
Are, the National slogan Do More With Less strikes again and we end up getting a lot less for more.
See my thoughts above.
I can think of some important functions of universities:
1) A place where students learn to learn and learn to become critical & independent thinkers
2) A place where students learn to do research & innovation
3) A place where research and scholarship are conducted and preserved
4) A repository of knowledge
5) To act as a critic & conscience of society
Have you heard of Professional Teaching Fellows?
Nothing I said would change that. It changes the reason for going to university from a place to get a degree to a place to do research.
1. Students should be doing that from primary school.
2. Yes, a university is a place for research. Again though, people should be learning to do research from primary school. Innovation isn’t something people do but something that comes about because of what people know, their experience and if they’ve developed their critical thinking.
3. Back to 2.
4. Back to 2.
5. That’s what research is for.
No.
If you’re interested, here’s a brief description: https://www.otago.ac.nz/humanresources/training/academic-staff/academic-titles/otago069317.html#TFposition
I’d argue that critical & independent thinking are more fundamental to #5 than research but you and I may have a slightly different understanding of “research”.
What happens inside the walls of universities has to build on a solid educational foundation; this is one growing problem.
This is what a university degree is supposed to stand for and mean: https://www.auckland.ac.nz/en/students/forms-policies-and-guidelines/student-policies-and-guidelines/graduate-profile.html
Different degrees have different profiles; there is no one size fits all, obviously.
There is a growing recognition and emphasis on ongoing education for university staff including researchers and how to improve their teaching; it is impossible to get promoted in the system without at least some teaching component.
Yes, that I can agree with. That’s why the change over the last few years in education to research based education even at primary school to develop critical thinking and the knowledge on how to do research.
Ongoing education is necessary for everyone.
And I think we’re talking past each other. You seem to be thinking of teaching as a separate activity while I’m thinking that the experienced doctorate would be leading under-graduates through research and helping them learn along the way.
Yes, I agree that we seem to talking past each other. I do think that learning to learn and learning to do research are different processes that require different approaches and methodologies for optimal results. Ergo, they require different teaching styles. I do agree that there is an overlap, a point of connection, and that both aspects, if you like, can be taught by the same person or people. In practice, this is not as common as one would think because teaching and research have drifted apart and are, in fact quite separated – income, overheads, and cross-subsidising are carefully monitored and fodder for ongoing discussions about the right model, etc. Universities are ‘forcing’ this to change by setting Academic Standards that one has to meet in order to get promoted. As so many other decisions in the university system, it is done in a heavy-handed authoritarian manner with a very business-minded (hard-nosed) attitude.
Part of the problem with universities is that it’s almost all about publishing. And peer-reviewed publishing with impact factors, at that.
So the academic responsibility of universities also being “critic and conscience of society” counts for nought unless it’s plugged in a journal that only other academics will read, by and large. Public reports, externally-funded research, or even opinion pieces in local media count for virtually nothing, even if the reports are peer-reviewed and have social worth.
And similarly the teaching side becomes a numbers game. Apparently there’s one vice chancellor of a university who is getting academic credit (in addition to the day job) for “supervising” the research of around a dozen phd candidates. Makes you wonder how closely the tens of thousands of words each candidate puts out a year are actually being read, let alone how much help they get designing and producing the associated journal articles. That VC could always be a fecking machine, but doubtful.
By Law universities are required to fulfil their role as critic & conscience of society. How do you think they (should) achieve this?
Teaching is much broader than supervising the research of PhD students. But I agree that some are taking the piss; there is a limit to how many PhD students one academic can formally (as in: taking the credit) supervise.
If only! It is all about income and money!
True, at the root it’s money. But that’s above my payscale. I just see most academics shitting themselves about what outputs count how much towards pbrf. Apparently the grail is to get multiyear program fundng so you can take additional research into the margin for error of the program budget, lol.
But yeah the critic and conscience role is more important possibly even than research, but is too qualitative to be recognised by most managerial regimes.. We do actually need people taking time to submit on bills or local projects, even to write think-pieces for the local rag and turn up to public meetings on local issues, providing informed opinion without fear of compromising their jobs. Those were the days.
The reason why academics are shitting themselves about PBRF is because management is painting pictures full of fire & brimstone. PBRF is hugely costly zer0-sum exercise. The only group that really benefits from this entire madness are the big publishing houses that own the scientific journals; it is a billion dollar industry subsidised by taxpayers and students & their parents.
The ‘grail’ is to get any grant, any funding, which requires ‘pilot data’ and a strong ‘track record’ in the field, which effectively means that you have already done a major part of what you say you will be doing if (!) you get the funding. It is a game and to play the game you have to game the system and use what is colloquially called “grantsmanship”. In this lottery system (because of the very low success rates in getting grants) success breeds success; merit of the proposals and good quality research ideas play a lesser role than they should. It is a subtle but insidious variation on the theme of the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
There are not nearly enough public intellectuals. In the US the public university is going extinct. In fact, anything public is slowly disappearing all over the world. We live in an age of hyper-individualism and privatisation for profiteering by a few and these elites feel no charity towards institutions or individuals who would like to play the role of critic & conscience of society.
Love how (sarcasm) it’s the arts that people seem to think is a dead end career choice and not good for NZ. In my view it’s cultural capital that is now starting to have massive value as people push back from this obsession with money and economy. People in those industry have ideas, they do things!
Our richest and most well known teenager is Lorde (music), one of our biggest challenges is architecture and planning (also being cut from the library) especially with the current ‘clown planning’ in Auckland and building disasters from leaky building to Bella vista in Tauranga.
Our fine artists are as important as cultural capital as sport (without the big funding).
Prince William and Dutchess of Cambridge studied art history, but to the Auckland University philistines, arts are clearly not important.
Nobody takes foreign dignitaries to the law firm or the accountants office in NZ. Nope they get the cultural experience because otherwise we might as well sell our country as the cheaper Pita pit if we take away our arts and culture and deem it 3rd class at university level.
Lorde is talented but not even she can turn back time (shes 21)
Sorry you are right, but all the same pretty good going for a 21 yo!
Or as Wei says in his/her posts on the immigration issue “Too small a population means you get inbreds with no technology and no culture and no civilization. ”
I’m not sure if he/she is referring to Maori or just all of NZ? But an alternative vision rather than overturning or appropriation of culture, could be maintaining and cherishing it, which clearly is not happening at our largest university.
Also in relation to Wei’s comment on technology with low populations, .. tech is NZ’s fastest growing and third biggest export… and our tech people are valued highly and sought after overseas. (Pity not much government/business support on keeping local tech talent in NZ with high wages and decent jobs and opportunities.)
https://exportertoday.co.nz/news/nzs-tech-talent-demand
Which, of course, is a load of bollocks. From Why we can’t afford the rich:
My bold.
Yeah, it’s not the number of people that is the problem but our socio-economic system which disadvantages the many in favour of the few.
Your second point, which I agree with, had virtually nothing to do with the first.
A small population means you are less likely to produce Beethoven’s, Led Zeppelin’s and Steven Hawkings. That’s just a plain statistical fact.
And you do obviously have less opportunity for specialisation, and a smaller market for innovation —although international trade ameliorates that somewhat.
I had a friend who lived in UK in the 1970s and 1980s. It was a glorious time, he could enjoy live concerts of the best rock bands in the world on an almost weekly basis. The size of the population meant a high probability that not only great talents would emerge (not the only factor of course), but the mass and density of the population means there is a market to enjoy that talent and it is economic to perform to live audiences on a frequent basis. New York and Paris and even Hong Kong and have far more going on in the arts and music than Auckland, and likely always will.
Another example is of course minor sports and niche activities. For example, in Europe, rugby is still a relatively minor sport, proportionately speaking. Yet the sport can draw huge crowds and they have very competitive national and international competitions that frequently run. Even though a small percentage of people are interested in the sport, they still have the highest number of registered players in the world, I believe. On a per capita basis, football, in New Zealand is at least as popular as rugby in Europe, but you get more seagulls at a local tournament, and the skill level is abysmal.
More bollocks. Statistically speaking all groups of people have exactly the same chance.
You obviously misunderstood the quote: Specialisation hinders innovation and the development of intelligence.
I can do that today in NZ. Could do it in the 1970s/80s as well. We’ve even had a few of them end up the world stage over the years.
Any size population that’s capable of supporting itself is quite capable of doing that as well. Large numbers don’t actually make it any better.
In absolute numbers, yeah, but not as a percentage. The percentage will be about the same.
[Citation Needed]
More bollocks. Statistically speaking all groups of people have exactly the same chance.. Bollocks.
Statistically speaking, and assuming a similar statistical distribution of talent, a larger population obviously has more chance of producing an outrageous talent than a smaller population.
A country with 10 times the population of another, will, assuming similar birthrates and demographic characteristics, produce 10 times the number of geniuses within the same period
“Specialisation hinders innovation and the development of intelligence.”
That’s a ridiculous statement. The fact that I can programme software say, and only know how to do that, and not catch my fish, and grow my vegetables is no hindrance on the development of intelligence. In engineering there are huge ramifying trees of specialisations —working in any one of them provides a lifetime of cognitive challenge.
“while that of workers doing simple and repetitive work deteriorated”
Sorry, these workers are not ‘specialists’. In fact they are the very opposite. Simple repetitive work can be done by anyone. These workers are utilised as generic cogs.
“In absolute numbers, yeah, but not as a percentage. The percentage will be about the same.”
It simply does not work that way. A country of a small population may never have the chance to enjoy, say the Berlin Philharmonic, whereas another country with a larger population may have them tour once every 2 or 3 years. Not exactly sure what the exact thresholds are, but the relationship is certainly not a linear one.
A larger population will produce a larger number of outstanding talent (if such a thing even exists) but they have the same chance.
That’s what the research shows and what I quoted.
Complexity develops intelligence. Specialisation is a decrease in complexity.
They’re doing the same work over and over, ergo, specialised. And it results in a decrease in intelligence.
Considering that that applies to the majority of the population we should probably change it so that we can increase the intelligence and innovation of the country.
The book goes on to say that even doctors and other highly skilled specialists would probably benefit from having a change.
Who gives a fuck about the Berlin Philharmonic touring?
In Auckland we have the Auckland Philharmonic. Then there’s the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra Wellington.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure that we have the music covered.
It’s not a question of absolute numbers but of productivity and percentages. Even small villages thousands of years ago produced good musicians.
The dangers of homeopathy
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/103226854/child-was-growling-at-preschool–so-naturopath-says-she-gave-him-rabid-dog-saliva
Sounds more like the dangers of dumb ass parents (but yes also homeopathy)
The only real danger from homeopathy is if one has an actual illness and is relying on the homeopathy to offer any actual benefit outside of the placebo effect.
If you’ve got a health problem best to see a good qualified medical doctor in the first instance for a diagnosis and then proceed on from there.
Dunno about the lack of real danger. If the homeopathic practitioner decided the rabid dog saliva didn’t need much potentising, and didn’t go through the extended palaver of repeated dilution and succussion, then the treatment might be a wee bit riskier than I’d be comfortable with.
How does one collect rabid-dog saliva?
In any case, the much maligned “placebo” effect is very powerful and useful in conventional modern medicine, as well as in traditional practices.
Can’t say I’ve ever seen info on recommended techniques. I wouldn’t have guessed there was much demand for rabid-dog saliva, since rabies vaccines are produced using cell-culture or nerve tissue. In any case, collecting spider venom or snake venom strikes me as a more difficult problem, for which there’s a variety of solutions, since collecting those kinds of venom is necessary for producing treatments that actually work.
Dunno that the placebo effect itself is much maligned. Insufficiently understood and insufficiently used, for sure, but the non-use of placebo by modern medicine is as much an ethics issue as anything else. But when it comes to maligning, the existence of a powerful placebo effect is used to malign nostrum hucksters whose products are no more effective than placebos (and sometimes actually less effective).
Possibly, one fibs about it bob.
Yes fair point anyone prepared to supply this product may be less than scrupulous in the dilutions – I suspect all of it is just water out of the tap ……
I’d have thought that tap water would be stronger than any normal homeopathic concoction given the amount of chemicals in our drinking water
I like my water with no chemicals at all. Not a molecule in sight.
Ya can’t see molecules, McFlock, least with the neked I.
Can too. They have purple auras.
I stand corrected and awed.
lol
Amusing… But does one not have to point out that H2O is a molecule, and McFlock’s water is composed of them? Or have I misremembered my form 3 Science from 1960? (Purple auras explain everything..)
Actually, you can and also single atoms: https://petapixel.com/2018/02/12/picture-single-atom-wins-science-photo-contest/
Phil Quinn: the political commentator we all love to hate (including me) has redeemed himself. Haven’t time yet to read it properly but what I have read thus far… I agree with everything he has said:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12034958
Great link Anne, I don’t think Dotcom is that unlikable, it was the MSM hate campaign against him, he’s more like a manic with big ideas (But Dotcom actually achieves them). Other pluses, he lives in NZ, has a family here, rents! a house and has the ability to create jobs, opportunities and industry in this country. My vote is for him not someone on $16.50 p/h or tech moguls that don’t live or invest in NZ to stay and lead a colourful (but legal) and productive life here with his family.
From Anne’s link…
“Consider this. The Global Financial Crisis brought countless millions to their knees. Hundreds of thousands were left homeless due to the dodgy bank loans and the reckless conduct of financial titans. For these crimes, with real and countless victims, the US Department of Justice has barely lifted a finger.
Fewer than five criminals responsible for Wall St’s moral failures have spent any time behind bars — and for a fraction of the time the feds insist for Dotcom and his colleagues. Why? Because the mortgage-strapped and cash-poor can’t afford lobbyists and lawyers to persuade the government to do their bidding.”
Dotcom is a lonely Big Guy who doesn’t drink because of an alcoholic parent.
He always wanted to be big in IT. He is also not a well man, who has been treated poorly. I don’t agree with some of his politics, but he deserves better than he has had so far. He has been used.
Priceless moment at the 2.14 mark in that video.
Prick’s an opportunist who tried to make hay out of a family’s loss. Fuck him.
https://gizmodo.com/kim-dotcom-says-fbi-file-about-seth-rich-is-fake-but-h-1795646891?IR=T
Sewer commenter outs himself.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/103227251/auckland-local-board-member-claims-free-speech-to-defend-racist-sexist-posts
Silly old public-bar bore Battersby. Interesting to note that he has a QSM. But then again, much worse, much more vicious people than him have been knighted….
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/complaint-sir-bob-jones-maori-gratitude-day-column-not-upheld
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/11/sir-william-gallagher-apologises-for-comments-about-m-ori-and-treaty-of-waitangi.html
A shout out to Radio New Zealand for, yet again, contacting the Cuban Studies Institute, otherwise known as University of Miami’s Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, for their take on the current change of power in Cuba.
I include this quote from an article discussing the trials and tribulations of the institute itself..(my bolds)
“Over the summer, several Cuban exile groups joined the fray, concerned that the institute might shift its focus from being an academic weapon against the Castro regime. They took the line that Suchlicki had not retired but had been unjustly terminated.
Some exiles began to attack Gómez and asked for his resignation as interim director of the institute.
Without mentioning Gómez directly, the organizations that make up the Cuban Resistance said in a statement that UM “cannot appoint an interim director or any incoming directors who may associate with companies that trade with the Castro regime, since this Center, by definition, cannot be under the influence and interference of Havana’s totalitarian regime.” Gómez had been an on-board lecturer on Cuba during a cruise to the island. It was a one-time gig.”
They are entitled to their opinion , and their take on current events in Cuba is interesting, but why would RNZ not explain the Institutes overt position on Cuba, the Castro crowd and Communism in general.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article191309729.html
The Herald is obsessed with the mindless mutterings of a homophobic sportsplayer.
As winter approaches, imagine if they devoted the same column inches to the crises facing our country – inequality, homelessness, child poverty….
Maybe they could dedicate a lot more coverage to climate change, so they have an informed readership.
We need a lot more coverage like this from Stuff today.
“The 2016 marine heatwave has triggered the initial phase of that transition [to heat-tolerant reef assemblages] on the northern, most pristine region of the Great Barrier Reef, changing it forever as the intensity of global warming continues to escalate,” the paper said.”
The key word there is FOREVER.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/103229290/great-barrier-reef-cooked-by-marine-heatwave-study
we have been warned……an inspired choice of RBNZ Governor
https://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018641349/reserve-bank-governor-adrian-orr
If Bill is out there, looks like your optimism over no war being started in Korea was better placed than my anxiety. Hopefully.
Since this really does feel like the start of a proper diplomatic fandango, I am hoping for very modest improvements. Like, for example, Kim sees that it’s better to form a proper diplomatic corps to engage with countries. And that forming a bit of a decent public service to deal with that is a whole bunch more effective than successively executing any general who disagrees with him.
And secondly, realising that there is more to sustaining a country than giving the military everything they want. It’s not in his military’s interests to see diplomatic success – diplomacy is the solvent to martial law.
Those two would be small but humble starts.
More adventurously, I hope the US agrees formally that the Korean War has stopped and that they make peace over that.
Spare me from God’s wrath if I see Trump being as good as Obama at cracking the hard diplomatic problems.
On top of Korea (whatever eventuates) I think Trump deserves credit for pulling the plug on Timber Sycamore (Syria).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timber_Sycamore
Intensive Dairy farming is NOT a sustainable practice.
It is destroying our soil.
“Nearly 200 million tonnes of soil are being lost in New Zealand every year – an out-of-sight problem that could pose far-reaching consequences for our environment and economy.
A major Government report out this morning also found nearly half of that loss was coming from pastures, at a time when dairy intensification was packing more cows into paddocks.
The quality and quantity of soil is crucial to the overall health of our land and wider environment, storing water, carbon and nutrients, growing food, breaking down contaminants and hosting an abundance of species.
Half of tested dairy sites had excess soil phosphorus and a further 65 per cent were below the target range for macroporosity.
New Zealand accounted for just 0.2 per cent of the planet’s total land area but contributed 1.7 per cent to global sediment loss.
The amount of land used for dairy has meanwhile surged by more than per 40 cent since the early 2000s, while that used for sheep and beef has dropped by 20 per cent, in step with dairy’s white gold rush.
New Zealand’s dairy country now spanned 2.6m ha
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12035548
OMG – Andrew Little and Pike River family members have gone 30m into the mine.
At last.
RNZ National reported it on their 2pm news but not on website yet but this from TVNZ.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/pike-river-mine-victims-family-members-enter-portal-very-first-time-alongside-andrew-little
“Mr Little said he wanted to see inside the mine for himself and felt completely safe going inside. He denied it was a political stunt.”
He should’ve brought along John Key and a cask of Amontillado.
And a big supply of bricks and mortar
and a bunch of kiwibuild apprentices 😀
This is epic.
Has anyone here read “The Captured Economy – how the powerful enrich themselves, slow down growth, and increase inequality”, by Brink Lindsey and Steven Teles?
They take Piketty seriously, and are of course super-dark on Trump, but have a really weird view of the role of the state in the economy, and some fairly slippery institutional framework theory around that.
Just checking if anyone’s had a look at this book.
Turning back the clock.
Just for a laugh…
Miss 13 cooked dinner last night, did a stellar job.
Miss 10 wanted to say something nice, so thanked ‘god’ for dinner (Nana took her to church last Sunday).
Miss 13 walked off. She was pissed off because god didn’t make dinner, she did! Lmao!!!
Cinny – that set me off a treat! I can’t stop laughing!
yay 🙂 that should always happen, these kids are a crack up 🙂
Sadly I just stopped laughing very fast. You may wish to see, need to see, these links:
What is that saying about power and corruption and absolute/absolutely…
It is hopeful that good progress seems to being made with a trade deal with Britain post brexit.
Trade deals that promote ‘values’ instead of ‘donkey billions’ is the way to go, & more traditional forms of developmental western societal organisation to that, would have more mutual recognition and easy alignment with the British people going down the track i’d say, from New Zealand’s position, traditional receptivity & prosperity.
I wonder if a RAF training base down queenstown way would be a viable thing. A training space for the British with their top aircraft and relatively unclutted airspace – would basically have the entire westcoast to zoom up and down on for starters with formations, drills, scenarios and the like, with geography not that far removed from alot of European soil. And the NZ forces providing the on ground maintenance with the British top wings, would be a win for them as well.
Sure, maybe a nice bombing range in the middle of the lake?
Well, uncluttered except when they have the helicopters flying around to keep frost off the vines…
What does Britain have that we would want to buy or sell for which there are great big trade barriers to entry?
Munitions?
A monarchy and House of Lords?
A corrupt class system?
A dead public health system?
Lots of empty stone churches?
I’m old enough to remember what English companies and English politics did to us last century.
So I would like to hear what Prime Minister has in mind for our country on this.
Maybe that just for once we could stop copying Britain’s mistakes several years after even Britain has recognised that they were mistakes?
Which emissions budget would that come out of…ours or the UK’s?
I was thinking industrial law, health and education..
The great and good Sir Robert Jones again comes under attack from some untermensch—this time a “huge great ugly blonde thing.”
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12024103
Judith Collins? Out celebrating Simoins 10 percent shafting perhaps??
This is my tipuna in Tikapa Marae
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jtzsKaEd3X_7TN5gzoxlAMSicQWPyG4x/view?usp=drives
The Hupu IWI I SAY Ngati-Ruawaipu
“Great Barrier Reef ‘cooked’ by marine heatwave: study”
That’s all right then, we have more than enough oil and gas exploration permits to continue on with.
The Am Show Good morning social media is a awesome tool to educate te tangata about the truths of the ruling classes and the reality’s of the plite of the common people.There is a dubble edged sword in everything to do with the internet as with anything one must know what the mokopunas are up to . To prevent someone from having a negative affect on the children observation is key here because sometimes they won’t tell you what the are up to observation and Aroha are a must for children .
Soil is one of the life force of Papatuanuku we could easily change to Organic farming it would be better for the enviroment and for us less chemicals =less cancers .
Ka kite ano I have to go to work here a brown man that tells it like it is.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/103152684/racism-is-real-raw-and-working-in-aotearoa Kia kaha brown tangata
Newshub Our Leader looked good wearing te beautiful Korowai that is a excerlint way to promote our Maori culture to the World ka pai .
Mark Middleton congratulations on getting your visa to stay in NZ permanently many thanks to Chis and co for granting Mark this Eco Maori does not trust the system as far as I can——— I have tryed to use the legal systems 5 times and 5 times they have cheated me out of justice the——- Ana to kai .
Thats a awesome the Dunedin Wild life Hospital ka pai many animals and birds will be saved because of this great institution.
I brought a poppy today the thing is I have a problem with ANZAC day is that in my eyes it promotes war and war is for idiots in Eco Maori View . Ka kite ano
The Crowd Goes Wild Wairanga and Makere it will be awesome if the Warriors end up with heaps of wagons following there band there are other reasons I a kumara never tells how sweet it is .
Wai this new format of cricket could attacked more brown players which is a good thing I recon that some should start a New Zealand Ausse Rules Rugby He tangata will make heaps of money playing that game in Australia.
Ka kite ano