The redacted Mueller report is out. While it’s still way too early to digest it all and get all a clear picture of what we’re being allowed too see, let alone try to parse what might have been in the redacted bits, let’s all keep in mind how seriously Barr has already misrepresented the report.
Here’s Barr:
As the report states: ”[T]he investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election inference activities.”
Here’s the full sentence from Mueller:
Although the investigation established that the Russian government perceived it would benefit from a Trump presidency and worked to secure that outcome, and that the Campaign expected it would benefit electorally from information stolen and released through Russian efforts, the investigation did not establish that members of the Trump Campaign conspired or coordinated with the Russian government in its election interference activities.
What we already knew from public info: they met in a bar, there was dirty dancing, there was steamy snogging in the carpark. Mueller just couldn’t get the tapes that they got to the bedroom together and jumped each other’s bones.
But her role in covering up Trump’s motivations for firing Comey were laid bare in the report, which cited how her statements at a press briefing days after the FBI’s firing were at odds with the facts. Sanders insisted at the briefing that Trump fired Comey at the justice department’s recommendation and repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that rank-and-file members of the FBI had lost confidence in Comey.
Sanders acknowledged to the special counsel’s office that her assertion “was not founded on anything”.
The tour will “lay out the plan to make the 2020 election a referendum on the Green New Deal, so we can make the Green New Deal law in 2021.”
……..Three prominent Massachusetts Democrats will join community and labor leaders in Boston Thursday night to kick off the youth-led Sunrise Movement’s 250-city Road to a Green New Deal Tour……
……..”We’re building a groundswell of support for the Green New Deal in every corner of this country,” organizers explain on a tour webpage. “We’ll gather in libraries, university campuses, churches, and living rooms to learn about the ambition, prosperity, and promise of a Green New Deal, hear from political and community leaders, and discuss the pathway to make the Green New Deal become reality.”…..
……”First, we put the Green New Deal on the map and changed the conversation on climate policy in this country,” Sunrise Movement executive director Varshini Prakash said in a press statement. “Now it’s time to transform the 2020 election into a referendum on climate action…….
….This sort of leadership, combining public activism with parliamentary activism, fought from a minority position, is not unknown in this country.
Rod Donald also fought for his corner with the sort of dogged leadership currently being given by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Rod Donald MP, from an even slimmer minority position, than the one currently enjoyed by the Green Party, promoted and fought for, and eventually won over the whole country pushing the National government of Jim Bolger to hold a public referendum on MMP, which was carried by a huge majority, despite a massive well funded anti-MMP campaign by the Right.
Rod Donald, Jeanette Fitzsimons, Catherine Delahunty….none afraid of speaking up or standing out. Goodness, I’d forgotten about the battle for MMP, thanks Jenny-htgt.
Hi Rosemary, what is even less well known about Rod Donald was his political activism to make New Zealand Nuclear Weapons free.
‘Combining public activism with par’iamentary activism’
All politics is pressure
Rod Donald had been a Values Party member since 1974, in 1982 Rod Donald and other Values Party members joined the Labour Party. What Rod and other ex-Values members brought with them into the Labour Party was their strong anti-nuclear views.
During the time of Rod Donald’s influential leadership and political activism against war, (and nuclear weapons in particular), within the Labour Party, LECs became the main organising centres for the huge protests against US Nuclear armed and powered warships. This grass roots activism at the LEC level fed into the parliamentary activism of the opposition Labour Party in parliament. In 1984 public pressure, combined with the huge anti-nuclear ship protests, two government MPs Mike Minogue and Maralyn Waring crossed the floor to vote with the opposition Labour Party to make New Zealand nuclear free. To prevent the final vote being taken, Prime MInister Muldoon closed parliament and called a snap election. The rest is history.
(The strategies and tactics that Rod Donald learned in the Anti-nuclear campaign, he honed and refined in his later campaign for MMP.)
We are again living in an age where activists must become politicians, and politicians must become activists.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s path to Congress representing an urban, diverse district in New York City began in a freezing-cold protest camp in North Dakota.
She spent several weeks in 2017 with indigenous activists fighting the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The protests garnered national attention, even if she herself didn’t.
“It was right after I left Standing Rock that I knew I had to do something,” she said at a press conference last week…..
….”She was someone who was very passionate about climate justice,” said Evan Weber, Sunrise Movement founder, who noted her time at Standing Rock…..
…..Ocasio-Cortez often links her experiences with the water protectors at Standing Rock and the goals of the Green New Deal. In North Dakota, she saw corporate power bearing down on the Native activists, building a pipeline that would endanger local water and ultimately contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.
On being elected to congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez didn’t disappear into committee rooms never to heard from again, as is the traditional career path followed by most freshmen congress members. But continued how she had begun, melding, executive parliamentary activism with grass roots political activism.
On Nov. 13, [Congresswoman] Ocasio-Cortez joined 150 activists from Sunrise in a protest at the office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the likely next speaker.
Sunrise wants a Green New Deal: a program aimed at decarbonizing the U.S. economy through significant investments in green infrastructure and renewable energy. It also wants the establishment of a select panel on climate change with legislative authority in the House.
Ocasio-Cortez quickly signed on to the group’s goals, boosting them on Twitter and turning what had been fringe proposals into a legitimate movement among the party’s progressive flank. At least 18 members of the new Democratic caucus back the Green New Deal.
“Obviously we had added star power and firepower that took it through the roof,” Weber said regarding the explosion of interest in the Green New Deal after Ocasio-Cortez trumpeted the cause.
She has since been joined by other progressive favorites including Reps.-elect Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
Gordon Campbell ruminates on the aftermath of the cgt debacle, and asks “who were the big winners”? “That’s easy: the people on the topmost rungs of the wealth ladder. By the Tax Working Group’s own calculations, 10% of the population own 70% of the assets that stood to be taxed, while the bottom 70% have only 10% of such assets, and the 30% of lowest income earners have merely 1% of them.” http://werewolf.co.nz/2019/04/gordon-campbell-on-scrapping-the-capital-gains-tax/
So the coalition has chosen survival via preservation of wealth inequality. It knows those who voted for them in hope of reducing inequality have no better voting option, so making a living wage more viable will have to do for this term.
“In fact, if they have a good tax lawyer, high earners can find ingenious ways to transform their ordinary taxable income into untaxed capital gains. So… is it fair that the country’s top 10% will continue to enjoy tax–free earnings for the foreseeable, while ordinary wage earners have to pay tax year in, year out? Of course not.”
Since there’s never been a fair economy, Gordon’s perception (which I share) is largely irrelevant. Politics is the art of the possible. CGT was proven impossible.
“On strictly economic terms, it also isn’t very smart – or efficient – to incentivize people to buy up property for the capital gain, rather than encourage them to invest in the productive parts of the economy.” Maybe so. However, the notion that investing in shares is a good idea was shredded by the ’87 crash. Slow learners still clinging to the notion got done over by the dot-com crash a decade later. God only knows what constituency Gordon thinks he’s (not) preaching to…
Not possible only in the most neo-liberal nation state. Most others have a higher top rate of tax, a CGT and estate tax. And near all have higher GDP per capita – much greater investment in the real economy, rather than property.
So perhaps focus will now switch to whether the coalition can keep faith with the electorate by making the tax system fairer in other ways. I hope so.
Ardern’s choice to not park the cgt, but eliminate it, was strange. Some kind of Labour in-house psychodynamic has to explain this – I wonder if it will be made public or suppressed as dirty laundry?
As a percentage of GDP, the New Zealand government’s share of the economy is pretty much in the the middle of the OECD.
The reason why it is done without CGT and with a top tax rate of 33%, is because we have almost no tax deductions and that it actually very difficult to avoid taxes in New Zealand. Also our GST is across the board, and also has virtually no exemptions.
Our GDP level is not due to the size of government, which is pretty average among the OECD. It is mostly the result of being the most remote nation in the world and largely dependent on a few key primary products. In fact given that, we do pretty well.
I meant it has proven impossible in the current political & economic context. I agree it’s possible in principle. Desirable, too. Preferable.
I suspect Labour insiders with a practical inclination would point to impracticality of application, due to the devil being in the details. Perhaps lack of advocacy from Labour politicians can be explained by this?
Good leadership includes things like embracing slightly risky options, if they offer improved outcomes over time. Consistently failing to take such steps erodes trust in leadership. The trope is not yet firmly established, but duck squeezing is not a habit that grows support.
In respect to the leadership angle, this decision reeks more of management than leadership.
Splitting hairs perhaps.
I am desirous of leadership in regards to bringing equity into our society.
Getting rid of G.S.T. and P.A.Y.E. and bringing in a F.T.T. aka Tobin tax or Hone tax. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qYtNwmXKIvM
(Not telling you how to suck eggs Stuart, the link is for onlookers.)
I recall around 7/8 years ago – when Key was riding the crest of political popularity – having a polite (reasonably) argument with a bunch of Auckland based MPs about Labour’s lack of responses to Key’s lies and false representations. In a polite and pc nuanced way they told me… they were scared to be too critical cos the voters might punish them.
Maybe they didn’t agree with you Anne and knew the voters would take issue with too many falsehoods being thrown at John Key. H fee blew up spectacularly for labour. That was about 7-8 years ago
A variety of reputable (note I said reputable) journalists were able to pick the lies and the distortions to pieces but the MSM for the most part ignored their contributions and we all know why… living in Key’s back pocket was regarded as essential if one’s career was to continue unobstructed.
Btw. my recollectuion was the H thing blew up about ten years ago… soon after the Key govt. was elected.
Nah. The entire thing was botched from the outset. Setting aside my view the a CGT is a dogs breakfast of a tax that doesn’t work, the TWG report was an uninspiring rehash of last century ideas and thinking. There was no vision, or cohesive strategy to energise a desire for change.
But the fatal blow was the proposed settings for the CGT. If it had been inflation adjusted and/or set at less than the top marginal tax rate, I think most people would have gone along with it.
Failing to adjust it for inflation was stupid. In rough terms property inflation over the long-term is about 3% pa, while inflation is 2%. It meant that even in the case of a property which has had zero gain in real value, that over periods of a decade or more, would still be hit with substantial tax liabilities on eventual sale due simply to inflation.
The same exact effect happens when PAYE tax rate thresholds are not inflation adjusted. Nice for government revenue, but it’s a lazy, dishonest form of taxation for everyone else.
Another major fault was a failure to exempt the tax if the proceeds of a sale are immediately re-invested into the same asset class, which is a major disincentive to businesses re-structuring and updating.
Still there is an upside to dumping this tax; it clears the way for something else. We may even be in for a surprise as soon as this next Budget.
There had better be Redlogix otherwise they will look like losers in the minds of ordinary folk. If you have principles then you must act on those principles.
John Key never had to worry because he didn’t have a lot pf principles in the first place.
Failure to make equity-setting policies time-independent has long puzzled me. Conventional thinking has been driving settings out of whack throughout our lives, so you’d think all stakeholders would have learnt the lesson by now. Bad design.
Re a pleasant budget surprise, hope you’re right. Maybe they put the rocket scientists onto a parallel track & left the cgt to the dummies. Will GR talk out of the socialist side of his mouth while reassuring the markets out of the neoliberal side? Will we see a forked tongue slithering between the two?
The whole exercise appears to have been designed as a trap by Minister Robertson to smash the reputation and body of work of Dr Cullen into a smeared red paste.
As if Robertson was simply letting the left of the party, the unions, the churches, NGOs, and the Green Party, know in neon lights that he knows exactly what they want – and they will never get it.
The biggest failure of all was to get things back to front. The person who should be paying CGT is the owner of a family home. Everyone else should be exempt. Paying a tax on the capital gain on the sale of a family home would afford some recognition of the years of rent free accommodation enjoyed by the family home owner. Instead the designers of the CGT want to exempt the family home and tax every other capital gain.
And this is a world wide problem. Every country that has a capital gains tax exempts the family home and taxes everything else. It’s no wonder the tax is so ineffectual.
Yes. When TOP first pointed this out many people found it a bit hard to process. The basic argument goes, that if you have money sitting in your own house you pay zero tax, but if you have it invested in any productive asset, even a minimum risk/return bank account you do pay tax on the income generated.
The argument rests on the idea that the benefit you enjoy from living in your own home is a form of ‘income’ that should be taxed in the interests of horizontal equity. That’s a grey area for a lot of people, we’ve become so acculturated to this loophole most people will deny it exists.
What is clear though, you do get to keep any ‘real capital gains’ (over and above inflation) as real income when you sell your home. That form of income was what a CGT was intended to capture, but as you say, for purely political reasons the family home is perversely excluded.
Thus homeowners would get to enjoy two tax benefits over all other asset types. Again for political reasons this may be tolerable. Home ownership has long been considered a desirable social goal in it’s own right. It’s also the presupposition our superannuation model is built on; $20k pa Super is simply not enough if your also paying $15k pa in rent.
But the core problem with home ownership as a desirable goal is that it privileges a hugely unproductive investment in housing. The vast bulk of the debt we owe as a nation is sitting in our houses. It’s not entirely wasted, we need shelter and a place to call our own, but the problem comes when we also start treating our homes as savings accounts and ATM’s.
Much of this is driven by the fact that National Super is insufficient to sustain even a modest middle class standard of living in retirement. It’s a safety net, not a lifestyle. Because my generation got repeatedly burnt by our financial sector and Muldoon destroyed our infant superannuation industry, that left housing as the only moderately reliable place to put our retirement savings.
As an aside it’s often overlooked that NZ is the only OECD country to fund superannuation entirely from the govt’s current account. Most other nations, retirement provision is at least a separate stream from core govt taxation. Indeed if for comparison purposes you separate out National Super, NZ’s core govt fraction of the economy is the very lowest in the OECD. So much for the proposition that we’re an over-taxed socialist hell-hole 🙂
But increasing tax revenue is difficult because our tax system is working with such a thin base. And this because so much of our wealth is tied up in non productive, un-taxed housing. An anti-virtuous circle if there ever was one.
The current system is a distorted mess and I’m under no illusion how difficult it will be to fix without causing more problems than we’re trying to solve. But it’s why I supported TOP because at least they were willing to put substantive tax reform at the centre of their agenda.
Let’s no buy in and spread the meme that CGT was or is proven impossible; other countries have CGT and the sky has not fallen for them. This does not help the tax debate, which must continue because the problems have not gone away; they have moved the elephant from one to another room.
In the NZ context, CGT was in the too-hard basket and the political price too high for some.
Shares are a good medium- to long-term investment option, even when you take inevitable market downturns and ‘crashes’ into account. The golden rule is to diversify and not put all your (Easter) eggs in one basket and to adopt a financial risk level that suits you.
Could be that tax policy is something the govt want to defer until the review of the Public Finance Act is complete. It sets out the standards and practices of how the Crown should report its tax and spending to parliament, according to economist Brian Easton. https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/a-taxing-and-spending-matter
“To understand the power of the PFA you need to recall Gilling’s Law which states the way you score the game shapes the way the game is played. Gilling’s Law says the danger is that we lapse into placing the level of debt at the top of the score card even if the primary focus is meant to be wellbeing. This is well illustrated by the current ‘Budget Responsibility Rules’, which emphasise the debt track.”
The coalition seeks to incorporate well-being as a policy goal, and shift the govt from operating like a business to include more of a quality of life focus. Such practical socialism is laudable, even if the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I agree that game theory has become influential in public policy since the eighties, despite practitioners remaining reluctant to educate the public about usage. They ought to pull finger and lose their diffident stance. We need more sophisticated politics.
I think the PM’s next tax initiative (if there is one) will be a top rate of 40% for incomes above $150,000 (or maybe $200,000) and a tax free threshold of $5,000 to $10,000.
She could readily campaign on that for the 2020 election. But would she take that risk? Are changes to income tax rates even necessary?
She could just stay with the current tax settings, on the basis they have widespread consent. That is what Labour did for 2017. Clearly it was a proven winner, so why mess with success.
In my view Jacinda’s brand does not lie in tax policy. It is much more in the area of children, environment, climate change and peacemaking.
The government doesn’t actually need to raise taxes to get more money. They already have a healthy surplus, some of which could be spent. Fiscal drag will slowly push up the size of government as a percentage of GDP. Govt spending could easily increase by say $4 billion per year (about 5% increase in govt spending) on current settings. You can actually do quite a lot with an extra $4 billion.
Maybe so, but that will only keep the conventional part of her electoral base happy. To make the progressive part happy she has to produce a fairer system. I doubt Winston is allergic to fairness (despite being conservative) so I hope the two will agree on sufficient of a better design of the tax system to deliver reassurance to the electorate that they intend to be more than just managerial neoliberals.
I expect the Greens to be firm in encouraging the govt to produce more of a sophisticated design. Recalling that income tax didn’t exist prior to around a century ago, and that land tax was the primary source of govt finance in the colonial era, I’m anticipating a design suitable for sustainable economics.
After all what would be the real point of major tax policy or even tax bracket change?
The economy is fine,
– international trade is fine,
– inequality is what it has been for a while,
– the government has plenty of money, and spends it,
– the Prime Minister is applauded for leadership in emotion without policy,
– the farmers are happy,
– any social-legislaation reform like euthanasia is gone,
– and the government sits atop a great pile of unused political capital.
Well, I’m taken aback by that news. Sounds rather like an infestation of Blairites, requiring remedial action. Understandable, however, given the ongoing failure of Corbyn and Sanders to explain how they intend to launch Socialism 2.0 as an operating system.
The way I see it, making progress in economics means devising a sustainable economy, in which the business cycle operates in a steady-state macroeconomic context. However, that’s mere philosophy and vision, and it needs a cadre of economists to drive it forward. After 27 years waiting, I’m still not seeing that emerge. Socialism 2.0 as an operating system will have to be designed as sustainable in perpetuity. Perhaps we still lack sufficient desperation to make it happen. More disasters, please!!
In my view Jacinda’s brand does not lie in tax policy. It is much more in the area of children, environment, climate change and peacemaking.
I suspect you are correct. However, the danger with this kind of statements is that we start to associate signature policies with political branding (PR) and this raises expectations in one and lowers them in other areas. The point is that it is not an either-or situation when you are in Government. Even outside of Government it matters as the Greens can attest to, for example. People didn’t mind them as long as they were barking up and hugging the right ‘tree’ but they get really upset when the Greens appear to stray from their ‘paddock’.
I’d hoped that we were getting past that kind of simplistic politics but it seems we still have a long way to go …
But it’s not the real thing.
As the article says
“By the time you get there and back you’ve done well over 5000km”.
What is this back bit? Surely they could hock of bits of the cars as they go along. I’m sure you could be a pretty good price for the drivers door from a yellow mini as you passed through Wanaka.
That would really be in the spirit of the original film, although if I was in it I certainly wouldn’t be volunteering parts of my car.
Are they all real minis or are the BMW imposters along as well?
I doubt if Fortune magazine would be keen to change JA’s ranking* in the light of NZ domestic politics. Funny how a leader who gained such credibility so recently has seemingly lost it all so quickly with the CGT backdown. Mind you, it’s a funny old list anyway, with the Gates at number 1 and Greta Thunberg there with Jacinda in the top 10.
We can’t afford to have unbalanced people with destructive obsessions roaming free in the streets. There is so much lasting damage that some quick or small behaviour can cause to society.
Just days after flames ravaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a man was arrested Wednesday night (local time) after entering St Patrick’s Cathedral [New York] carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters, police say….
“It’s hard to say exactly what his intentions were, but I think the totality of circumstances of an individual walking into an iconic location like St Patrick’s Cathedral carrying over four gallons of gasoline, two bottles of lighter fluid and lighters is something that we would have great concern over,” Mr Miller said.
“His story is not consistent.”
Mr Miller said the suspect was known to police, who were currently looking into his background.
St Patrick’s Cathedral was built in 1878 and has installed a sprinkler-like system during recent renovations. Its wooden roof is also coated with fire retardant. https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/387371/new-york-police-arrest-man-entering-st-patrick-s-cathedral-with-petrol-cans
Whanau care at its very, very worst….aided and abetted by the Tokoroa Hospital, Waikato Hospital, WINZ, a General Practitioner, a social worker and the New Zealand Police.
These criminals have been remanded in custody until sentencing…they shoild both be jailed…but probably will walk free.
They shoud be jailed and learn a bit about how it feels to be helpless, and they actually might learn something useful while there. Also it would split them up, they have been dragging each other down.
A mother in Nelson took her own life and her intellectually handicapped son’s when Ruth Richardson and Jenny Shipley indicated to the country that they had no human compassion. The mother felt if she died, her son would be neglected and have a hell of a life, and she decided to act before that happened. Very sad.
Having some crass cosmetic business use my sacred place name as a trademark would upset me greatly. What can we do about this to indicate that we actually have respect and sensitivity to Islam?
Mmmm. I don’t think this can be passed over lightly. It is a trademark and it cheapens the holy place each time it is displayed. I don’t think it would be used my any Muslim businessman.
Is so nice to be among the Trolls and Misfits. They churn out so much piffle. Most of it against Jacinda Adern .
Jacinda is a woman. Which is her biggest fault. She is The Prime Minister of New Zealand. Which is Her next biggest fault. She is Kindly – Which is her next biggest fault. The Trolls of New Zealand detest her with a vicious venom exuding from their tiny head cells. Some Bastard gave her magnificent Intelligence. Which is another Fault. Never Mind.
Also they are very old Trolls – more interested in their Cirrhotic Livers – than anything important.
Jacinda has looked at the Money Books and decided She will not Tax Property. It means a lot to the greedy pinchy males of NZ – for after all they were bred for Greed.
However, the Greedy know, Money always goes to fewer and fewer and fewer- and the Trolls will gradually loose out. Even if The Queen of Sheba hands the coin stuff out.
The Trolls know that in a nonfair place like New Zealand they will soon be heavily impoverished. The Trolls and misfits will be no loss whatever. In my Opinion.
‘Thousands took to the streets of Berlin on Saturday in protest against rising property rents and called for properties of large-scale landlords with more than 3,000 houses to be taken over by the government.
Other protests have been held across Germany’s major cities, including Cologne, Frankfurt and Munich on Saturday.’
Whanau you see the sandflys have that much hardware pointed at me cameras listening devices that’s the main reason they keep blocking my YouTube video music because they are scared they might miss something interesting with my music blocking there buggs YEA RIGHT YOU got nothing and ain’t never going to find ANYTHING fools. P.S they broke a radio at the old whare to be careful whanau they are dirty rotten cheats
Whanau here is more evedince that goverments serve the 00.1% first and for most The sweet tooths use there money to bribe lobby cheat and steal with impunity .US the 99.9 % of people are just sheep to them waiting to be ripped off THATs REALITY.
Private Eye’s work revealed that a large chunk of the country was not only under corporate control, but owned by companies that – in many cases – were almost certainly seeking to avoid paying tax, that most basic contribution to a civilised society. Some potentially had an even darker motive: purchasing property in England or Wales as a means for kleptocratic regimes or corrupt businessmen to launder money, and to get a healthy return on their ill-gotten gains in the process. This was information that clearly ought to be out in the open, with a huge public interest case for doing so. And yet the government had sat on it for years.The political ramifications of these revelations were profound. They kickstarted a process of opening up information on land ownership that, although far slower and less complete than many would have liked, has nevertheless transformed our understanding of what companies own. In November 2017, the Land Registry released its corporate and commercial dataset, free of charge and open to all. It revealed, for the first time, the 3.5m land titles owned by UK-based corporate bodies – covering both public sector institutions and private firms – with limited companies owning the majority, 2.1m, of these. But there were two important caveats. Although we now had the addresses owned by companies, the dataset omitted to tell us the size of land they owned. Second, the data lacked accurate information on locations, making it hard to map. Ka Kite ano Links below P.S Whanau Eco Maori is going to change this atrocity https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/19/who-owns-england-secretive-companies-hoarding-land
Good choice of spreaker Moana will give a awsome view on the realitys of Aotearoa.
This is not the time for white voices
The speaker at the Hamilton Press Club on Friday May 3 will be Moana Jackson.He was a little bit reluctant and could even be described as diffident. Put it this way, it wasn’t his life’s dream.But he spoke with friends who have attended Hamilton Press Club events, and could be trusted to give him an honest appraisal of the lunch events and whether they are worthwhile forums, and they must have said okay things and out of kindness not described me as a complete jackass, because Moana eventually said, in his slow, measured way, yes.
Great. I think it’s going to be a special moment for the Hamilton Press Club. It can be a bit of a rough-house affair. I’m thinking of the time guest speaker Duncan Garner directed a jibe at then-MP Brendan Horan, who simmered and seethed for a couple of minutes, then caught my eye and indicated he needed to have a word in private.We met backstage. He said: “I’m going to dunk the *** in the river.” He really was incandescent with rage and I calmed him down with the help of New Zealand Herald journalist David Fisher, but I kind of regret it. I’d have paid good money to see Horan go at it with Garner.
Ka kite ano links below P.S its cool to get Eco Maori tau toko there are———- you know
The 00.1% Who are the actual rulers of the world still want there chocolate $$$ whether it ruins the Papatuanuku mother earth or not .Kia kaha protesters of the Extinction Rebellion Eco Maori Has your BACK
Pink boat becomes focus of attention on fifth day of Extinction Rebellion protestsThe siege of the Berta Cáceres started started shortly after noon when police in high-vis jackets surrounded the bright pink boat in Oxford Circus, central London, with two cordons and then steadily peeled off the Extinction Rebellion activists stuck to it.Officers with angle grinders cut through the bars below the hull of the vessel, named after the murdered Honduran environmental activist, which protesters had chained and glued themselves to.Five hours later, however, the tables had turned as hundreds of activist reinforcements swarmed into side roads and blocked the end of Regent Street. The police were surrounded. As officers attached the Berta Cáceres to a lorry, the crowd chanted: “We have more boats.”By 7pm police had managed to move the boat just two streets away, only to find themselves pinned in by more rows of demonstrators singing the Beatles’ All You Need Is Love. After much obstruction the vessel was eventually driven away up Regent Street followed by jogging uniformed officers.
Welcome to the fifth day of the Extinction Rebellion, the escalating but still methodically polite campaign of disruption that has turned several of central London’s best-known locations into a giant game of territorial to-and-fro.Despite more than 100 arrests on Friday, taking the total to 682 by early evening, the demonstration which has blocked four major London landmarks looked set to continue beyond the weekend, with organisers preparing to extend their disruption on Monday to “picnics on the motorway.”Advertisement
The activists reported an influx of supporters as the Easter holiday, balmy weather and gestures of support from school strike leader Greta Thunberg and the actor Emma Thompson injected new momentum into the weeklong climate protest. Ka kite ano Links below https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/19/extinction-rebellion-reports-hundreds-of-people-signing-up
Kia ora Newshub
Yes biggest thanks from Eco Maori for the protesting in Auckland and around the Papatuanukue on Climate change Kia kaha I would be there with you but if ECO Maori was there you would have seen the big police escort that caters for ME.
Cleo the haters need there heads read why hate its beyond me I’m get – – – on but I forgive the perpetrators I can see it’s the sandflys minupulate them I will forgive but NOT forget what they are doing.
Its quite dry in the Bop and Waikato regions hope no one was hurt in the 2 fires in Waikato .
Its cool that the Auckland Council is being vigilant in the defence of Tane Mahuta againstthe vvirus but YOU must do all you can to save him and his Mokopuna.
I can remember all the new species of fish when we first started fishing for orangeruffy and fishing Scampi down the Auckland island .
I see that a big name is calling on a trump inpeachment.
What giving the Democract no choice they can read the trump report but can’t talk about it or publish it what’s the fucken use of that PUPPET.
That was a big beautiful pithonsnake all animals have personalitys OUR dogs all had excellent personalitys hope she didn’t get to scared.
Plants are beautiful orcds to I had a elderly neighbour who had heaps of Orchids to use to give her all the fish she can eat.
Ka kite ano
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
Pacific Media Watch Journalists who report on environmental issues are encountering growing difficulties in many parts of the world, reports Reporters Without Borders. According to the tally kept by RSF, 200 journalists have been subjected to threats and physical violence, including murder, in the past 10 years because they were ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Hawkins, Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra BagzhanSadvakassov/Upsplash, CC BY-SA Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022. ...
ACT's Rural Communities and Veterans spokesman Mark Cameron responds to cancellations and protests of ANZAC Day commemorations in Wellington. He says, "These pitiful attempts to detract from ANZAC Day are not at all indicative of the feelings of mainstream ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Meighen McCrae, Associate Professor of Strategic & Defence Studies, Australian National University American and Australian stretcher bearers working together near the front line during the Battle of Hamel in 1918.Australian War Memorial While the AUKUS alliance is new, the Australian-American partnership ...
The redacted Mueller report is out. While it’s still way too early to digest it all and get all a clear picture of what we’re being allowed too see, let alone try to parse what might have been in the redacted bits, let’s all keep in mind how seriously Barr has already misrepresented the report.
Here’s Barr:
Here’s the full sentence from Mueller:
What we already knew from public info: they met in a bar, there was dirty dancing, there was steamy snogging in the carpark. Mueller just couldn’t get the tapes that they got to the bedroom together and jumped each other’s bones.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/william-barr-misled-public-mueller-report_n_5cb8b2b0e4b032e7ceb60d05
Yep – gonna be fun unraveling the lies.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2019/apr/18/mueller-report-trump-russia-key-takeaways
This is how progressive politics is done.’
“A Message from the Future with AOC”: New Film Imagines World Transformed by the Green New Deal
https://www.democracynow.org/2019/4/18/a_message_from_the_future_with
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiDBjQ2UVWU
Here is a link to just the video of “A Message from the Future with AOC”: https://www.youtube.com/embed/d9uTH0iprVQ?wmode=opaque
This is how progressive politics is done. II
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/04/18/warren-markey-and-pressley-join-launch-sunrise-movements-250-city-road-green-new
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=5Eg6ZMxhbHM
This is how progressive politics is done. III
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2019/04/18/if-you-think-that-the-nz-green-party-who-are-just-as-wedded-to-neoliberalism-as-labour-is-are-your-new-political-home-you-are-delusional/#comment-459265
Rod Donald, Jeanette Fitzsimons, Catherine Delahunty….none afraid of speaking up or standing out. Goodness, I’d forgotten about the battle for MMP, thanks Jenny-htgt.
Hi Rosemary, what is even less well known about Rod Donald was his political activism to make New Zealand Nuclear Weapons free.
‘Combining public activism with par’iamentary activism’
All politics is pressure
Rod Donald had been a Values Party member since 1974, in 1982 Rod Donald and other Values Party members joined the Labour Party. What Rod and other ex-Values members brought with them into the Labour Party was their strong anti-nuclear views.
During the time of Rod Donald’s influential leadership and political activism against war, (and nuclear weapons in particular), within the Labour Party, LECs became the main organising centres for the huge protests against US Nuclear armed and powered warships. This grass roots activism at the LEC level fed into the parliamentary activism of the opposition Labour Party in parliament. In 1984 public pressure, combined with the huge anti-nuclear ship protests, two government MPs Mike Minogue and Maralyn Waring crossed the floor to vote with the opposition Labour Party to make New Zealand nuclear free. To prevent the final vote being taken, Prime MInister Muldoon closed parliament and called a snap election. The rest is history.
(The strategies and tactics that Rod Donald learned in the Anti-nuclear campaign, he honed and refined in his later campaign for MMP.)
We are again living in an age where activists must become politicians, and politicians must become activists.
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060108771
On being elected to congress Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez didn’t disappear into committee rooms never to heard from again, as is the traditional career path followed by most freshmen congress members. But continued how she had begun, melding, executive parliamentary activism with grass roots political activism.
https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060108771
Gordon Campbell ruminates on the aftermath of the cgt debacle, and asks “who were the big winners”? “That’s easy: the people on the topmost rungs of the wealth ladder. By the Tax Working Group’s own calculations, 10% of the population own 70% of the assets that stood to be taxed, while the bottom 70% have only 10% of such assets, and the 30% of lowest income earners have merely 1% of them.” http://werewolf.co.nz/2019/04/gordon-campbell-on-scrapping-the-capital-gains-tax/
So the coalition has chosen survival via preservation of wealth inequality. It knows those who voted for them in hope of reducing inequality have no better voting option, so making a living wage more viable will have to do for this term.
“In fact, if they have a good tax lawyer, high earners can find ingenious ways to transform their ordinary taxable income into untaxed capital gains. So… is it fair that the country’s top 10% will continue to enjoy tax–free earnings for the foreseeable, while ordinary wage earners have to pay tax year in, year out? Of course not.”
Since there’s never been a fair economy, Gordon’s perception (which I share) is largely irrelevant. Politics is the art of the possible. CGT was proven impossible.
“On strictly economic terms, it also isn’t very smart – or efficient – to incentivize people to buy up property for the capital gain, rather than encourage them to invest in the productive parts of the economy.” Maybe so. However, the notion that investing in shares is a good idea was shredded by the ’87 crash. Slow learners still clinging to the notion got done over by the dot-com crash a decade later. God only knows what constituency Gordon thinks he’s (not) preaching to…
Not possible only in the most neo-liberal nation state. Most others have a higher top rate of tax, a CGT and estate tax. And near all have higher GDP per capita – much greater investment in the real economy, rather than property.
So perhaps focus will now switch to whether the coalition can keep faith with the electorate by making the tax system fairer in other ways. I hope so.
Ardern’s choice to not park the cgt, but eliminate it, was strange. Some kind of Labour in-house psychodynamic has to explain this – I wonder if it will be made public or suppressed as dirty laundry?
As a percentage of GDP, the New Zealand government’s share of the economy is pretty much in the the middle of the OECD.
The reason why it is done without CGT and with a top tax rate of 33%, is because we have almost no tax deductions and that it actually very difficult to avoid taxes in New Zealand. Also our GST is across the board, and also has virtually no exemptions.
Our GDP level is not due to the size of government, which is pretty average among the OECD. It is mostly the result of being the most remote nation in the world and largely dependent on a few key primary products. In fact given that, we do pretty well.
Wayne.
We are so incredibly fortunate to have you around here.
Those who make the unpalatable sound like ambrosia also serve.
From the bottom of my heart….
GDP is just one aggregate economic measure and more of an indicator, just like CPI, for example.
“CGT was proven impossible”
Nope – our representatives merely folded too soon as usual.
I meant it has proven impossible in the current political & economic context. I agree it’s possible in principle. Desirable, too. Preferable.
I suspect Labour insiders with a practical inclination would point to impracticality of application, due to the devil being in the details. Perhaps lack of advocacy from Labour politicians can be explained by this?
I think it was a corrosive decision.
Good leadership includes things like embracing slightly risky options, if they offer improved outcomes over time. Consistently failing to take such steps erodes trust in leadership. The trope is not yet firmly established, but duck squeezing is not a habit that grows support.
In respect to the leadership angle, this decision reeks more of management than leadership.
Splitting hairs perhaps.
I am desirous of leadership in regards to bringing equity into our society.
Getting rid of G.S.T. and P.A.Y.E. and bringing in a F.T.T. aka Tobin tax or Hone tax.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qYtNwmXKIvM
(Not telling you how to suck eggs Stuart, the link is for onlookers.)
Any substantive action that counteracts burgeoning inequality will attract my ringing endorsement – I’ll suck those eggs any way you want.
I suspect you are right Stuart Munro.
I recall around 7/8 years ago – when Key was riding the crest of political popularity – having a polite (reasonably) argument with a bunch of Auckland based MPs about Labour’s lack of responses to Key’s lies and false representations. In a polite and pc nuanced way they told me… they were scared to be too critical cos the voters might punish them.
I wandered off thinking… damm cowards. 😉
Maybe they didn’t agree with you Anne and knew the voters would take issue with too many falsehoods being thrown at John Key. H fee blew up spectacularly for labour. That was about 7-8 years ago
Except they weren’t falsehoods mate!
A variety of reputable (note I said reputable) journalists were able to pick the lies and the distortions to pieces but the MSM for the most part ignored their contributions and we all know why… living in Key’s back pocket was regarded as essential if one’s career was to continue unobstructed.
Btw. my recollectuion was the H thing blew up about ten years ago… soon after the Key govt. was elected.
But they were falsehoods.
If labour mp’s feel that way, I’d trust their judgement over yours on the matter.
Nah. The entire thing was botched from the outset. Setting aside my view the a CGT is a dogs breakfast of a tax that doesn’t work, the TWG report was an uninspiring rehash of last century ideas and thinking. There was no vision, or cohesive strategy to energise a desire for change.
But the fatal blow was the proposed settings for the CGT. If it had been inflation adjusted and/or set at less than the top marginal tax rate, I think most people would have gone along with it.
Failing to adjust it for inflation was stupid. In rough terms property inflation over the long-term is about 3% pa, while inflation is 2%. It meant that even in the case of a property which has had zero gain in real value, that over periods of a decade or more, would still be hit with substantial tax liabilities on eventual sale due simply to inflation.
The same exact effect happens when PAYE tax rate thresholds are not inflation adjusted. Nice for government revenue, but it’s a lazy, dishonest form of taxation for everyone else.
Another major fault was a failure to exempt the tax if the proceeds of a sale are immediately re-invested into the same asset class, which is a major disincentive to businesses re-structuring and updating.
Still there is an upside to dumping this tax; it clears the way for something else. We may even be in for a surprise as soon as this next Budget.
There had better be Redlogix otherwise they will look like losers in the minds of ordinary folk. If you have principles then you must act on those principles.
John Key never had to worry because he didn’t have a lot pf principles in the first place.
Failure to make equity-setting policies time-independent has long puzzled me. Conventional thinking has been driving settings out of whack throughout our lives, so you’d think all stakeholders would have learnt the lesson by now. Bad design.
Re a pleasant budget surprise, hope you’re right. Maybe they put the rocket scientists onto a parallel track & left the cgt to the dummies. Will GR talk out of the socialist side of his mouth while reassuring the markets out of the neoliberal side? Will we see a forked tongue slithering between the two?
Agreed.
The whole exercise appears to have been designed as a trap by Minister Robertson to smash the reputation and body of work of Dr Cullen into a smeared red paste.
As if Robertson was simply letting the left of the party, the unions, the churches, NGOs, and the Green Party, know in neon lights that he knows exactly what they want – and they will never get it.
The biggest failure of all was to get things back to front. The person who should be paying CGT is the owner of a family home. Everyone else should be exempt. Paying a tax on the capital gain on the sale of a family home would afford some recognition of the years of rent free accommodation enjoyed by the family home owner. Instead the designers of the CGT want to exempt the family home and tax every other capital gain.
And this is a world wide problem. Every country that has a capital gains tax exempts the family home and taxes everything else. It’s no wonder the tax is so ineffectual.
Yes. When TOP first pointed this out many people found it a bit hard to process. The basic argument goes, that if you have money sitting in your own house you pay zero tax, but if you have it invested in any productive asset, even a minimum risk/return bank account you do pay tax on the income generated.
The argument rests on the idea that the benefit you enjoy from living in your own home is a form of ‘income’ that should be taxed in the interests of horizontal equity. That’s a grey area for a lot of people, we’ve become so acculturated to this loophole most people will deny it exists.
What is clear though, you do get to keep any ‘real capital gains’ (over and above inflation) as real income when you sell your home. That form of income was what a CGT was intended to capture, but as you say, for purely political reasons the family home is perversely excluded.
Thus homeowners would get to enjoy two tax benefits over all other asset types. Again for political reasons this may be tolerable. Home ownership has long been considered a desirable social goal in it’s own right. It’s also the presupposition our superannuation model is built on; $20k pa Super is simply not enough if your also paying $15k pa in rent.
But the core problem with home ownership as a desirable goal is that it privileges a hugely unproductive investment in housing. The vast bulk of the debt we owe as a nation is sitting in our houses. It’s not entirely wasted, we need shelter and a place to call our own, but the problem comes when we also start treating our homes as savings accounts and ATM’s.
Much of this is driven by the fact that National Super is insufficient to sustain even a modest middle class standard of living in retirement. It’s a safety net, not a lifestyle. Because my generation got repeatedly burnt by our financial sector and Muldoon destroyed our infant superannuation industry, that left housing as the only moderately reliable place to put our retirement savings.
As an aside it’s often overlooked that NZ is the only OECD country to fund superannuation entirely from the govt’s current account. Most other nations, retirement provision is at least a separate stream from core govt taxation. Indeed if for comparison purposes you separate out National Super, NZ’s core govt fraction of the economy is the very lowest in the OECD. So much for the proposition that we’re an over-taxed socialist hell-hole 🙂
But increasing tax revenue is difficult because our tax system is working with such a thin base. And this because so much of our wealth is tied up in non productive, un-taxed housing. An anti-virtuous circle if there ever was one.
The current system is a distorted mess and I’m under no illusion how difficult it will be to fix without causing more problems than we’re trying to solve. But it’s why I supported TOP because at least they were willing to put substantive tax reform at the centre of their agenda.
Let’s no buy in and spread the meme that CGT was or is proven impossible; other countries have CGT and the sky has not fallen for them. This does not help the tax debate, which must continue because the problems have not gone away; they have moved the elephant from one to another room.
In the NZ context, CGT was in the too-hard basket and the political price too high for some.
Shares are a good medium- to long-term investment option, even when you take inevitable market downturns and ‘crashes’ into account. The golden rule is to diversify and not put all your (Easter) eggs in one basket and to adopt a financial risk level that suits you.
Could be that tax policy is something the govt want to defer until the review of the Public Finance Act is complete. It sets out the standards and practices of how the Crown should report its tax and spending to parliament, according to economist Brian Easton. https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/a-taxing-and-spending-matter
“To understand the power of the PFA you need to recall Gilling’s Law which states the way you score the game shapes the way the game is played. Gilling’s Law says the danger is that we lapse into placing the level of debt at the top of the score card even if the primary focus is meant to be wellbeing. This is well illustrated by the current ‘Budget Responsibility Rules’, which emphasise the debt track.”
The coalition seeks to incorporate well-being as a policy goal, and shift the govt from operating like a business to include more of a quality of life focus. Such practical socialism is laudable, even if the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I agree that game theory has become influential in public policy since the eighties, despite practitioners remaining reluctant to educate the public about usage. They ought to pull finger and lose their diffident stance. We need more sophisticated politics.
I think the PM’s next tax initiative (if there is one) will be a top rate of 40% for incomes above $150,000 (or maybe $200,000) and a tax free threshold of $5,000 to $10,000.
She could readily campaign on that for the 2020 election. But would she take that risk? Are changes to income tax rates even necessary?
She could just stay with the current tax settings, on the basis they have widespread consent. That is what Labour did for 2017. Clearly it was a proven winner, so why mess with success.
In my view Jacinda’s brand does not lie in tax policy. It is much more in the area of children, environment, climate change and peacemaking.
The government doesn’t actually need to raise taxes to get more money. They already have a healthy surplus, some of which could be spent. Fiscal drag will slowly push up the size of government as a percentage of GDP. Govt spending could easily increase by say $4 billion per year (about 5% increase in govt spending) on current settings. You can actually do quite a lot with an extra $4 billion.
Maybe so, but that will only keep the conventional part of her electoral base happy. To make the progressive part happy she has to produce a fairer system. I doubt Winston is allergic to fairness (despite being conservative) so I hope the two will agree on sufficient of a better design of the tax system to deliver reassurance to the electorate that they intend to be more than just managerial neoliberals.
I expect the Greens to be firm in encouraging the govt to produce more of a sophisticated design. Recalling that income tax didn’t exist prior to around a century ago, and that land tax was the primary source of govt finance in the colonial era, I’m anticipating a design suitable for sustainable economics.
The economically progressive part are not required, and Robertson’s team are actively burning them off, both within caucus and the Party.
Perhaps Grant and his ‘team’ should bugger off and join the National Party
They have the power not us.
After all what would be the real point of major tax policy or even tax bracket change?
The economy is fine,
– international trade is fine,
– inequality is what it has been for a while,
– the government has plenty of money, and spends it,
– the Prime Minister is applauded for leadership in emotion without policy,
– the farmers are happy,
– any social-legislaation reform like euthanasia is gone,
– and the government sits atop a great pile of unused political capital.
Ta-daaaaaaah!
Well, I’m taken aback by that news. Sounds rather like an infestation of Blairites, requiring remedial action. Understandable, however, given the ongoing failure of Corbyn and Sanders to explain how they intend to launch Socialism 2.0 as an operating system.
The way I see it, making progress in economics means devising a sustainable economy, in which the business cycle operates in a steady-state macroeconomic context. However, that’s mere philosophy and vision, and it needs a cadre of economists to drive it forward. After 27 years waiting, I’m still not seeing that emerge. Socialism 2.0 as an operating system will have to be designed as sustainable in perpetuity. Perhaps we still lack sufficient desperation to make it happen. More disasters, please!!
I suspect you are correct. However, the danger with this kind of statements is that we start to associate signature policies with political branding (PR) and this raises expectations in one and lowers them in other areas. The point is that it is not an either-or situation when you are in Government. Even outside of Government it matters as the Greens can attest to, for example. People didn’t mind them as long as they were barking up and hugging the right ‘tree’ but they get really upset when the Greens appear to stray from their ‘paddock’.
I’d hoped that we were getting past that kind of simplistic politics but it seems we still have a long way to go …
60 Minis left Kaitaia this morning, how many will make it to Invercargill.
In tribute to the iconic Goodbye Pork Pie & it’s recent remake; and raising money for the KidsCan charity.
Jolly good!
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503450&objectid=12223139
To donate:
https://porkpiecharityrun2019.gofundraise.co.nz
But it’s not the real thing.
As the article says
“By the time you get there and back you’ve done well over 5000km”.
What is this back bit? Surely they could hock of bits of the cars as they go along. I’m sure you could be a pretty good price for the drivers door from a yellow mini as you passed through Wanaka.
That would really be in the spirit of the original film, although if I was in it I certainly wouldn’t be volunteering parts of my car.
Are they all real minis or are the BMW imposters along as well?
I doubt if Fortune magazine would be keen to change JA’s ranking* in the light of NZ domestic politics. Funny how a leader who gained such credibility so recently has seemingly lost it all so quickly with the CGT backdown. Mind you, it’s a funny old list anyway, with the Gates at number 1 and Greta Thunberg there with Jacinda in the top 10.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/04/fortune-magazine-names-jacinda-ardern-world-s-second-best-leader.html
We can’t afford to have unbalanced people with destructive obsessions roaming free in the streets. There is so much lasting damage that some quick or small behaviour can cause to society.
Just days after flames ravaged the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, a man was arrested Wednesday night (local time) after entering St Patrick’s Cathedral [New York] carrying two cans of gasoline, lighter fluid and butane lighters, police say….
“It’s hard to say exactly what his intentions were, but I think the totality of circumstances of an individual walking into an iconic location like St Patrick’s Cathedral carrying over four gallons of gasoline, two bottles of lighter fluid and lighters is something that we would have great concern over,” Mr Miller said.
“His story is not consistent.”
Mr Miller said the suspect was known to police, who were currently looking into his background.
St Patrick’s Cathedral was built in 1878 and has installed a sprinkler-like system during recent renovations. Its wooden roof is also coated with fire retardant.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/387371/new-york-police-arrest-man-entering-st-patrick-s-cathedral-with-petrol-cans
Read it and weep….I did.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/112080526/vulnerable-man-who-drank-own-urine-spends-last-hours-constantly-moaning-and-calling-for-food-and-water
Whanau care at its very, very worst….aided and abetted by the Tokoroa Hospital, Waikato Hospital, WINZ, a General Practitioner, a social worker and the New Zealand Police.
These criminals have been remanded in custody until sentencing…they shoild both be jailed…but probably will walk free.
They shoud be jailed and learn a bit about how it feels to be helpless, and they actually might learn something useful while there. Also it would split them up, they have been dragging each other down.
A mother in Nelson took her own life and her intellectually handicapped son’s when Ruth Richardson and Jenny Shipley indicated to the country that they had no human compassion. The mother felt if she died, her son would be neglected and have a hell of a life, and she decided to act before that happened. Very sad.
Having some crass cosmetic business use my sacred place name as a trademark would upset me greatly. What can we do about this to indicate that we actually have respect and sensitivity to Islam?
Australian makeup retailer Mecca is moving out of its Auckland CBD store and into the former Topshop Auckland site on the corner of Queen and Victoria Sts.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12047157
Its lucky for them the moslem faith preaches tolerance and forgiveness!!
Mmmm. I don’t think this can be passed over lightly. It is a trademark and it cheapens the holy place each time it is displayed. I don’t think it would be used my any Muslim businessman.
No she ia white young entrepreneur from the money-worshipping cult so wouln’t think of being sensitive. Such a great brand! /sarc
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/mecca-cosmetica-creator-jo-horgans-vision-for-the-future-of-beauty-products-in-australia/news-story/05cfe778056d710c2b3404d1a7d9ca58
Breathing Happily
Is so nice to be among the Trolls and Misfits. They churn out so much piffle. Most of it against Jacinda Adern .
Jacinda is a woman. Which is her biggest fault. She is The Prime Minister of New Zealand. Which is Her next biggest fault. She is Kindly – Which is her next biggest fault. The Trolls of New Zealand detest her with a vicious venom exuding from their tiny head cells. Some Bastard gave her magnificent Intelligence. Which is another Fault. Never Mind.
Also they are very old Trolls – more interested in their Cirrhotic Livers – than anything important.
Jacinda has looked at the Money Books and decided She will not Tax Property. It means a lot to the greedy pinchy males of NZ – for after all they were bred for Greed.
However, the Greedy know, Money always goes to fewer and fewer and fewer- and the Trolls will gradually loose out. Even if The Queen of Sheba hands the coin stuff out.
The Trolls know that in a nonfair place like New Zealand they will soon be heavily impoverished. The Trolls and misfits will be no loss whatever. In my Opinion.
https://www.euronews.com/2019/04/06/germans-take-to-streets-in-rent-rise-protests-demanding-government-takeover-large-private
‘Thousands took to the streets of Berlin on Saturday in protest against rising property rents and called for properties of large-scale landlords with more than 3,000 houses to be taken over by the government.
Other protests have been held across Germany’s major cities, including Cologne, Frankfurt and Munich on Saturday.’
(Might need to ratchet the numbers down for NZ…)
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute.
https://youtu.be/ZPQ8d55_rhE
Whanau you see the sandflys have that much hardware pointed at me cameras listening devices that’s the main reason they keep blocking my YouTube video music because they are scared they might miss something interesting with my music blocking there buggs YEA RIGHT YOU got nothing and ain’t never going to find ANYTHING fools. P.S they broke a radio at the old whare to be careful whanau they are dirty rotten cheats
Whanau here is more evedince that goverments serve the 00.1% first and for most The sweet tooths use there money to bribe lobby cheat and steal with impunity .US the 99.9 % of people are just sheep to them waiting to be ripped off THATs REALITY.
Private Eye’s work revealed that a large chunk of the country was not only under corporate control, but owned by companies that – in many cases – were almost certainly seeking to avoid paying tax, that most basic contribution to a civilised society. Some potentially had an even darker motive: purchasing property in England or Wales as a means for kleptocratic regimes or corrupt businessmen to launder money, and to get a healthy return on their ill-gotten gains in the process. This was information that clearly ought to be out in the open, with a huge public interest case for doing so. And yet the government had sat on it for years.The political ramifications of these revelations were profound. They kickstarted a process of opening up information on land ownership that, although far slower and less complete than many would have liked, has nevertheless transformed our understanding of what companies own. In November 2017, the Land Registry released its corporate and commercial dataset, free of charge and open to all. It revealed, for the first time, the 3.5m land titles owned by UK-based corporate bodies – covering both public sector institutions and private firms – with limited companies owning the majority, 2.1m, of these. But there were two important caveats. Although we now had the addresses owned by companies, the dataset omitted to tell us the size of land they owned. Second, the data lacked accurate information on locations, making it hard to map. Ka Kite ano Links below P.S Whanau Eco Maori is going to change this atrocity
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/19/who-owns-england-secretive-companies-hoarding-land
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd2T3o-Ybow
Some how I think the pro brexit was a plan to turn britian into Europe’s Factory farm.
Good choice of spreaker Moana will give a awsome view on the realitys of Aotearoa.
This is not the time for white voices
The speaker at the Hamilton Press Club on Friday May 3 will be Moana Jackson.He was a little bit reluctant and could even be described as diffident. Put it this way, it wasn’t his life’s dream.But he spoke with friends who have attended Hamilton Press Club events, and could be trusted to give him an honest appraisal of the lunch events and whether they are worthwhile forums, and they must have said okay things and out of kindness not described me as a complete jackass, because Moana eventually said, in his slow, measured way, yes.
Great. I think it’s going to be a special moment for the Hamilton Press Club. It can be a bit of a rough-house affair. I’m thinking of the time guest speaker Duncan Garner directed a jibe at then-MP Brendan Horan, who simmered and seethed for a couple of minutes, then caught my eye and indicated he needed to have a word in private.We met backstage. He said: “I’m going to dunk the *** in the river.” He really was incandescent with rage and I calmed him down with the help of New Zealand Herald journalist David Fisher, but I kind of regret it. I’d have paid good money to see Horan go at it with Garner.
Ka kite ano links below P.S its cool to get Eco Maori tau toko there are———- you know
https://e-tangata.co.nz/media/this-is-not-the-time-for-white-voices/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_religion
The 00.1% Who are the actual rulers of the world still want there chocolate $$$ whether it ruins the Papatuanuku mother earth or not .Kia kaha protesters of the Extinction Rebellion Eco Maori Has your BACK
Pink boat becomes focus of attention on fifth day of Extinction Rebellion protestsThe siege of the Berta Cáceres started started shortly after noon when police in high-vis jackets surrounded the bright pink boat in Oxford Circus, central London, with two cordons and then steadily peeled off the Extinction Rebellion activists stuck to it.Officers with angle grinders cut through the bars below the hull of the vessel, named after the murdered Honduran environmental activist, which protesters had chained and glued themselves to.Five hours later, however, the tables had turned as hundreds of activist reinforcements swarmed into side roads and blocked the end of Regent Street. The police were surrounded. As officers attached the Berta Cáceres to a lorry, the crowd chanted: “We have more boats.”By 7pm police had managed to move the boat just two streets away, only to find themselves pinned in by more rows of demonstrators singing the Beatles’ All You Need Is Love. After much obstruction the vessel was eventually driven away up Regent Street followed by jogging uniformed officers.
Welcome to the fifth day of the Extinction Rebellion, the escalating but still methodically polite campaign of disruption that has turned several of central London’s best-known locations into a giant game of territorial to-and-fro.Despite more than 100 arrests on Friday, taking the total to 682 by early evening, the demonstration which has blocked four major London landmarks looked set to continue beyond the weekend, with organisers preparing to extend their disruption on Monday to “picnics on the motorway.”Advertisement
The activists reported an influx of supporters as the Easter holiday, balmy weather and gestures of support from school strike leader Greta Thunberg and the actor Emma Thompson injected new momentum into the weeklong climate protest. Ka kite ano Links below
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/19/extinction-rebellion-reports-hundreds-of-people-signing-up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lu-VzZ45MwI
Kia ora Newshub
Yes biggest thanks from Eco Maori for the protesting in Auckland and around the Papatuanukue on Climate change Kia kaha I would be there with you but if ECO Maori was there you would have seen the big police escort that caters for ME.
Cleo the haters need there heads read why hate its beyond me I’m get – – – on but I forgive the perpetrators I can see it’s the sandflys minupulate them I will forgive but NOT forget what they are doing.
Its quite dry in the Bop and Waikato regions hope no one was hurt in the 2 fires in Waikato .
Its cool that the Auckland Council is being vigilant in the defence of Tane Mahuta againstthe vvirus but YOU must do all you can to save him and his Mokopuna.
I can remember all the new species of fish when we first started fishing for orangeruffy and fishing Scampi down the Auckland island .
I see that a big name is calling on a trump inpeachment.
What giving the Democract no choice they can read the trump report but can’t talk about it or publish it what’s the fucken use of that PUPPET.
That was a big beautiful pithonsnake all animals have personalitys OUR dogs all had excellent personalitys hope she didn’t get to scared.
Plants are beautiful orcds to I had a elderly neighbour who had heaps of Orchids to use to give her all the fish she can eat.
Ka kite ano