Tony V, the analysis needs to go deeper than left or right wing attitudes to people like Kaoss. Sorry if that sounds a bit pompous. But my point is there is very little that can be done for people once that are displyaing the behaviour Kaoss was.
We need to go to the evidence to look for any interventions that could help very early on with these people
Yeah children need help early when adults try to victimise them. Unfortunately the road to hell is paved with good intentions. State intervention thus far seems to have been fraught with screw-ups of all sorts.
We could be less jaundiced about such intervention processes if there was an audit that measured the outcomes & could vouch for the number of successful interventions. Haven't seen any evidence that the state is doing so..
Are we excusing now violence because lets not forget that there are for the most part victims involved. Seems they are now collateral damage, left behind in their agony or completely ignored if no visible injury shows. But time and resources are spent on the perpetrator and their psychological make up . This is just bizarre. Right and wrong would be the term that needs to be looked at. The current approach is certainly not helping to build a safe and stable society.
I feel more sorrow that Kaoss Price had the sort of life he did, than that he died, although I understand that friends are feeling a lot of sorrow.
This young man's trajectory was sadly going to take him back to prison and it is amazing that he didn't kill someone already with his reckless driving.
Was watching some interesting stuff about conduct disorder and early signs someone will end up sociopathic (although I am not saying this is the case with Kaoss as he had drug addiction, but likely).
The signs that someone could become sociopathtic are there early. The problem is these youth become hard to work with, because they are often violent at a young age. And most counsellors wouldn't want to endanger themselves by working with people who put them at risk.
I go back to the Dunedin study (that also posited that it was a combination of genes and environment that leads to violence). They found at 3 years old, that could predict who would be less or more likely to have good outcomes e.g not getting into trouble with the law. It came down to children who naturally had good self control. Young Kaoss didn't, eg using meth
Not saying this is the case here – because I don't know and there have been no reports.
But often these kids have fetal alcohol syndrome and/or pre-natal exposure to meth. Their brains are cross-wired from birth.
Kids with poor self control as pre-schoolers can learn to overcome this – it takes patience and a loving environment with firm boundaries and consequences – from parents supported by psych professionals (where needed).
Intervention needs to start with the pregnant mothers, and continue with pre-schoolers and their families.
By the time they get to school (even at 5) it's pretty much too late. Schools are simply not set up to deal with them, and they'll fail right the way through the system.
When that is seen as necessary, and the building of more prisons and employing more staff in prisons is seen as the priority, rather than putting the investment into early school age, the mass of problems will continue to grow.
Yeah. A big part of the problem is that you have to double pay now, to (potentially) avoid paying in the future.
By the time kids like Kaoss are in their teens/early twenties – no intervention is going to work. They need to be in jail for the safety of the community – let alone (as in this case) themselves. So you still have the 150K cost.
You then need to find the money to invest in the kids who would otherwise grow up to be Kaoss…. And that's not cheap, it's a complex issue, and it requires some form of state intervention (which is wildly unpopular these days).
As commented above – we need effective reporting and auditing to see what's working (and what's not) over long periods. None of this is 'quick fix' stuff.
I often wonder what the differences were that made folks take such different paths, and have such different endings, when we all start out as the same sort of lump of cells.
One of the key concepts in healthcare is "intervention point". The earlier the intervention, almost always there are better odds of an outcome. Not always, but almost. Folate in early pregnancy prevents neural tube defects that require a lifetime of assistance. Early identification of learning disorders help the child achieve more academically. So does free food in schools.
So we've gone from the "first thousand days" from birth to from (and even before) conception.
And it's not just a better outcome for the person, but for society, and it's cheaper, too.
Death by police is an extreme intervention. I doubt it was unavoidable in the greater scheme of his life, even if the moment left little other option. Maybe we should fund earlier individual and systemic interventions.
But then that would lead us to lowering socioeconomic inequity as well, and we can't have that. /sarc
Absolutely agree about early intervention. But state intervention (KO) is becoming increasingly unpopular and undesirable.
One of the big issues in child welfare, sadly, is still fetal alcohol syndrome (also meth babies). It has a profound (and often permanent) effect on the child. Not Mums having the odd drink before they know they're pregnant – but Mums drinking regularly and to excess throughout their pregnancy.
I don't think it can be lack of knowledge – this has been hammered over the last 30 years – at least. It's got to be societal – drinking (and drugs) are normalized in their social group. You either have to 'fix' the whole social group (huge ask) – or remove the Mum from it (some form of supervision – which is pretty much anathema to the social welfare pundits).
We dont have the resources, time or patience to address the problem from both directions….like the housing bubble we are going to have to accept the consequences of decades of neglect.
But state intervention (KO) is becoming increasingly unpopular and undesirable.
KO? Housing?
It's very easy to focus on one cause of our societal clusterfuck – FAS is a massive problem, but so are legal/illegal drugs (often acting as self medication for other unrecognised problems), socioeconomic pressures, and generational alienation from society and government organisations (there's a world of difference between people who will call the cops for assistance, and people for whom police involvement will just make life worse).
There truly are families where the parents are incapable (for whatever reason, addiction, crime, etc.) of caring for their children – at even the most basic level. And where the wider family is just as dysfunctional. Kids don't have the decades it may require to get the parents back on the rails – even with massive support.
If you want to make a difference, you need to target those Mums and little kids – and throw resources at that problem.
FAS is the problem in that it's really hard (and sometimes impossible) to recover from. You can choose to stop self-medicating with drugs (illegal or legal) or to leave a gang, or to shift towns and sort your life out (all with a lot of help). But it's pretty hard to choose to fix your screwed up brain wiring.
If a particular set of circumstances is all one has ever known, I'm not so sure how much of a "choice" leaving it really is.
But a lot of the prevention measures cross over multiple issues: sex education and free contraception lower surprise pregnancies where the mother finds out in the third trimester after six months of drinking and smoking, access to primary healthcare (including mental health) can lower the need for self-medication with improvised "remedies", and more available antenatal and postnatal care help identify and address other "nurture" triggers before requiring more extreme OT intervention. Hell, even better-resourced schools might have made a difference in this young man's life, long before his final encounter with the cops or even a court.
OT have major problems in approach, equity, and understanding the basic difference between a population-level association and a predictor of individual outcomes. They seem to think that if someone ticks four out of five boxes, an uplift is automatically necessary. But also, they're well down the list of interventions after things have already started to go down the shorter, harder path.
I agree that the support matters. I really question the need for additional sex education and free contraception. Surprise and teen pregnancies are dropping in NZ – and I don't really think that lack of knowledge and/or choices about whether to become pregnant are the issue. The drinking and meth addiction throughout the pregnancy, are. And that's a social/cultural issue.
Choice is an interesting word. The point I was trying to make is that FAS is something imposed on the child as a consequence of the mother's actions – and isn't really recoverable from. It's a one-way street.
And, while I agree that OT are problematical – I don't see anyone else coming up with a solution where the parent/s are self-evidently incapable of meeting a reasonable level of care for the children (despite all the wrap around support in the world), and the wider family are also dysfunctional. It happens. Just look at the utterly shameful NZ statistics on child abuse and murder. What's the solution?
We've known solutions to the bulk of our problems for decades:
non-punitive access to benefits
a living wage as minimum wage
better funded and resourced education
better funded and resourced healthcare (especially primary healthcare)
better funded and resourced early childhood support
social welfare services that view themselves as assistants rather than saviours
a criminal justice system more focused on rehabilitation and avoidance of recidivism
But all of that, and bridging the bubble of current late-but-expensive interventions while we boost funding to early-but-expanded interventions, requires things like taxing the rich and CGT.
It won't solve all problems, but the bulk of them would have a pretty big dent.
Bill Browder has a new book out – his first was a real humdinger.
A graduate of Stanford Business School, he arrived in Moscow in the late 1990s, via a stint in London, determined to make his fortune.
As his previous book, Red Notice, detailed, that’s exactly what he did. He set up Hermitage Capital Management, with the help of the Monaco-based billionaire Edmond Safra… It was a time of wild profiteering, as post-Soviet state assets were sold off on the cheap, and a venal oligarchy was created. Business feuds were regularly settled by bullets, and the life expectancy of bankers was radically shortened. When Putin came to power on New Year’s Eve 1999, promising to stamp out corruption, Browder was a relieved man.
And he remained pro-Putin for the next three years, as the new Russian leader imposed state order on capitalist anarchy. In these years, Browder made a fortune, turning Hermitage into the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia. His big innovation was shareholder activism, in which he targeted corrupt practices in some of the biggest companies, such as Gazprom, and by doing so raised their share price.
Born in the USA, he's now a British citizen. One of his grandads "was a radical and had lived in the Soviet Union for several years from 1927 and married Raisa Berkman, a Jewish Russian woman while living there."
After his return to the United States in 1931, Earl Browder became the leader of the Communist Party USA from 1930 to 1945 and ran for U.S. president in 1936 and 1940. After World War II, Browder lost favor with Moscow and was expelled from the U.S. Communist Party.
Earl and his wife Raisa had three children, all sons, and all three became mathematicians who headed the mathematics departments of top American universities including Bill Browder's father… Felix was a mathematics prodigy who had entered MIT at 16, acquired his bachelor's degree in two years, and by the age of 20 received a Ph.D. from Princeton. But during the McCarthy era, he could not find work because he was the son of the onetime head of the Communist Party USA.
After a series of job rejections in the 1950s, he was championed by Eleanor Roosevelt, the former First Lady who was then chairman of the board of Brandeis University; she overrode the rest of the board who were afraid to hire him, and he gained a position at Brandeis. Felix went on to chair the mathematics department at the University of Chicago, and in 1999 became the president of the American Mathematical Society.
What you see here is a family matrix that combines the successful rebel outsider archetype with the successful academic leader archetype, plus homelands in Russia & America. This mix created a successful establishment rebel.
In the first book we learned why Bill supported Putin initially (anticorruption) and why Putin turned on him.
On July 16, 2018, during a joint press conference with President Donald Trump in Helsinki, Finland, Russian president Vladimir Putin stated that Browder had funneled $400 million to Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, an effort that he claimed involved members of the U.S. intelligence community who, Putin said, "accompanied and guided these transactions." The statement was made after Putin said he would allow special counsel Robert Mueller's team to come to Russia for their investigation—as long as there was a reciprocal arrangement for Russian intelligence to investigate in the U.S.
The ploy didn't work. Putin's intended victim has won eight awards for moral leadership – I'll just include one:
In 2019, Browder received the Lantos Human Rights Prize from the Lantos Foundation for his work as the "driving force behind the Magnitsky Sanctions, the most consequential enforcement mechanism of the modern human rights movement."
Just to stress test your confirmation bias Dennis, there's a rather comprehensive archive written by an award winning financial fraud specialist , Lucy Komisar available.
People who are impressed by published claims of contrary evidence flock together. Whoopee. Websites featuring compilations of counter-claims devoid of actual evidence, with the apparent intent of entertaining suckers. Why would anyone bother to even do that? They really think readers are morons??
Yeah I scanned them as well. The consistent theme is that anything the poor misunderstood Russian authorities claim must be treated as the sober truth, while anything Western is inherently lies.
Reality probably lies somewhere between. Due to the very nature of doing business in Russia it is almost certain Browder is not as pure as holy water – but to then leap to the idea that this means the entire Magnitsky story is a Russiaphobic hoax a remarkably selective reading of events indeed.
I suspect so. I'm just as inclined to believe a capitalist is telling the truth as anyone else here – but I read his book years ago before anyone started to claim he wasn't telling the truth. It rang true.
The gist of the contrarists seems to be that Putin & Trump were plotting to get him, so he must be a baddie. Somehow this logic seems unconvincing…
If you'd bothered to look , you would have seen that Nekrasov has produced any number of docos that highlight how bad Russia is and how bad Putin is, and that has not changed.You have probably seen them " Inside Putin's Russia" for instance..not a very flattering portrayal.But in this instance, he discovered Browders story had some glaring narrative flaws.Instead of giving up (his intention had been to show up corrupt Russia once again) he pressed on , and he's been quite dogged as you would have seen from his archival website.At no point however does he give Putin or Russia a pass .
You would also have seen that Lucy Komisar tackles financial fraud in many different countries, and has no form for whitewashing Russia.Her focus is on Browder's financial activity in Russia, not exonerating "poor misunderstood Russia "But so entrenched are you now in your bid to perceive Russia in an eternally cartoonish "evil" light , Browder must be one of the good guys, and everything he has to say must be the truth .Reverse contrarianism
I think i said about a year or so ago, that soon enough there will be men and others. Just like in the good old days of around 1650. Are women even human, and can everything be a woman, and if anything is a women, what is it even.
Mind, they need to remove the 'woman' thing/soul from our bodies. After all our bodies need to be productive, eggs need to be harvested, milk needs to be pumped for sale, and future human beings for sale need to be 'baked' err incubated. And hey, after all we are but bodies.
I can't wait for our progressive politicians here to start telling us how empowering all that is, that loss of identity and the rights that come with it, after all there is money to be made. So much money.
Article about a Canadian nurse of 30 years who posted on line that sex is real and biology matters. Two people complained to her Professional Association and now she is being investigated and could lose her job. Perhaps we could offer her work in NZ as we are so short of nurses here.
Rachel Levine is but an opportunist who is given grant to live out their little fetish. The opportunity was however provided to them by lawmakers who saw this a fit action.
Fwiw, the first 'woman' to be elected to President of the USA will be a woman just like Rachel Levine.
Liberal academic feminism is the driving force of this. And these liberal academic feminists sit in political parties, run political parties, run charities depend on the good will and financing of governments who are comprised of political parties etc.
It is liberal feminism that is doing all of this. They are not absent, they are complicit if not the driving force of this capitalistic and corporate and unlitimately dehumansing and deadly for woman feminism. And in NZ they sit in Parliament and make all of this law.
Becoming quite a big issue over here in the upcoming Australian election. (This article is just one of many on this across much of the media – excuse me picking the first one to hand.)
I doubt the Australian version of this is going to make much sense however. Julia Gillard showed how female politicians are treated across the Tasman. I think the women will be allowed to sit at the back while the men determine if they can whistle to their supporters without imploding in the media. Given Malcolm Turnbull is widely considered a highly intelligent politician the bar is set pretty low of course.
Who builds public toilets? Councils. Local politicians plus hired employee managers & administrators. Notice how they cling to the establishment binary! Two cubicles.
Now we know they are capable of creating diversity of options. Public toilets with provision of cubicles for disabled folk have been normal awhile. It's just a mental block then. Someone has to lobby them to create a separate user-defined cubicle!
Definitely! No valid reason to discriminate against women like the picture shows. I doubt any of the council scumbags will ever be able to produce even a semblance of one. Haven't seen any evidence of them trying it on…
I work somewhere which has done that where it can (some offices share the toilets with other offices on the same floor, so that's up to the landlord, others have them included within the office, so that's up to us).
I've also worked somewhere where all the toilets were individual unisex cubicles, so I guess that was their implementation – non-gendered toilets effectively. I have also been to a few pubs and restaurants where they've done that, but my guess would be due to space constraints rather than any particular ideology – hard to have separate blocks when a place only has 2-3 toilets.
One Unisex Loo – named with a sign on the entrace saying "Loo" with fully enclosed cubicles, well lit, with lots of cameras on the common space where the basins are located. Put a sign up there that says' smile you are on camera' – and hopefully it will prevent evil doing.
But if you need a loo, irrespective of gender or genitals, there it is your glorious Unisex Toilet facilities for all.
There is no need to waste precious and expensive real estate by providing men with their own space, they too can use the Unisex loos like everyone else.
I do not agree with that at all. Why would a mother be forced to bring up their child with the idea that gender is "fluid" and biology is just a nonsense subject best "rewritten" for a suitable curriculum. Its getting to a stage where women become afraid to voice an opposition to those "trendy" fantasies of a "better" tomorrow.
but if men can have a single sex toilet so should women (the born ones, not the worn ones). And if women can't have single sex toilets in order to be inclusive to men who identify as women or as non binary then so should men have no single sex toilets so as to be accomodating to women who identify as men or as non binary.
The stage were women have been scared into silence for the most has already passed. They are not saying a single thing, and the academics and liberals and lefties among them will happily point out that they are 'cis' aka not trans and 'she/her' lest someone get confused.
And we can pay thanks to our current overlords, their hand maidens and all other parties in government who helped bring these bright and shiny new times upon us who were born without a penis.
Varies by needs of the office and space available in my experience as not everywhere is big enough to have showers and changing areas at all.
Larger offices had cubicles on each floor which were toilets and handbasins with mirrors only (full height doors from floors to ceilings) with changing and shower areas separately provided by the bike storage area as they were the main reason people used the showers at work. Essentially the cubicles are small toilet rooms like you'd find in a house.
Smaller offices I have worked in either had no shower/changing area or one shower/changing area as a separate unisex room.
Larger offices had cubicles on each floor which were toilets and handbasins with mirrors only (full height doors from floors to ceilings)
Still not clear what you mean by cubicle. To me this is where you walk off a public area (eg a hallway) into a large room. In that large room there are multiple doors into the 'cubicles'. Walls and doors may go ceiling to floor, or not. But the shared area is through a generally closed door.
That kind of space is not ok for women to share with males.
(I wasn't talking about changing rooms, I was talking about having space in the toilet room, or shared room, to get changed in. Women need space to deal with changes of clothes where they go to the toilet).
By cubicle in my earlier posts, I meant a fully separate, fully enclosed room like toilets often are in a house, not a stall in a shared bathroom area (the only toilets I've ever been in with fully-enclosed stalls were in the Air NZ Koru Lounges although I'm sure there are other places that do that).
Whether they were big enough for room to change in was variable – some places had the space for that, some didn't, usually dependent on whether the office/shop had sufficient space for it. Whether there is a legal requirement for changing facilities depends on the type of work, so there's a lot of variation out there.
most public women's toilets (including in private businesses like pubs) have enough space to get changed. You walk into a room with sinks and mirrors and the toilets are off that. Males shouldn't be going in there, and those spaces shouldn't be taken away from women and/or redesigned to solve other people's problems. Solve other people's problems without taking things from women.
Andrea Vance has produced an excellent in-depth examination of the prospects of conservation law reform. Stakeholders have generated a hefty consensus in favour of progress but there's considerable complexity. Here's one dimension of that:
Māori values are often undermined and not currently reflected in law. The conservation estate – which is largely unmodified and uncompromised by environmental degradation – is also culturally vital. It is one of the few remaining avenues through which Māori can fulfil their obligations as kaitiaki (guardians) over their taonga (anything considered to be of value, or precious) and develop and sustain mātauranga [knowledge] Māori.
But, since the creation of the conservation estate, the Crown has assumed management of the vast landscapes that make up the estate. Māori have struggled to have a voice. Many believe the exclusion of Māori from governance, thus frustrating their ability to act as kaitiaki, also breaches the Treaty of Waitangi.
Easy to frame the situation as a progressive trend to honour the treaty vs the inertial effect of neocolonialism. The binary must be finessed via inclusion of conservatives – provided they concede that the present situation is untenable and take a constructive stance. Rightists take note! We need an intelligent consensus.
A repeat of the Three Waters debacle – a necessary legislative and functional update being used as cover for yet another implementation of He Puapua policy.
A lot of ambiguous language that avoids making direct contestable claims, but consistently demands a fundamental (that word is used repeatedly) change to the current system. Wherever possible is discounts or denigrates conservation efforts to date and insists that putting iwi interests ahead of all other considerations is the only way forward.
Of course the authors are smart enough not to say it outright, but the entire document is a plain as daylight effort to create the necessary framework to transfer effective control of the DoC estate to the iwi chiefs.
And, there are increasing numbers of co-governance situations coming to light – where conservation is apparently at direct odds with iwi ambitions for their people.
Here is Tuhoe saying that, in the management of Lake Waikaremoana and the associated Te Urewera National Park, the needs of their iwi come first, and conservation is second.
TUT sees reconnecting its people to their homeland as by far the most important goal and takes more of an holistic approach to conservation.
This differing view of priorities means that they don't mesh well with DoC – who have $$$ to spend on Te Urewera maintenance but TUT don't recognize this as a priority (yes, much of the work has now been done, after substantial media, public and political pressure)
If DOC felt “uncomfortable” with TUT’s judgment, Luke wrote, it should remove the structure in question altogether.
“That seems to us the only real way to remove that pressure. I understand that is not a preferred DOC view, and thus a further impasse.”
"He said opening Te Urewera to the public was “way down the list of priorities” for Tūhoe, as it brought no benefit to the iwi."
There is apparently no sanction or redress when the iwi-led partner chooses not to engage – they can simply hamstring the process — seemingly forever. (e.g. conservation plans in limbo, maintenance plans not signed off – and no response to repeated attempts to engage with them over these issues)
All of this is of considerably concern, when the Government is rolling out increased co-governance plans across a wide range of national agencies.
We are entitled to ask, what happens when either one group, or the relationship is dysfunctional (and, sooner or later it will happen)?
We have legislative redress for Government agencies (the Minister can dismiss them), local government (bounced out at the next election – or replaced by MoLG with commissioners). We *assume* that this will be the case for 3 Waters representatives (though, based on the current situation with the council controlled organizations in Auckland – I'm less than trusting over this).
But, what about if/when iwi co-governance organizations are dysfunctional?
We've seen little evidence of an open and transparent process in appointment and turnover. And some evidence of very dubious people being appointed (resulting in outcry, from Maori as well as the rest of the population)
Ah so the reverse of the current situation where councils are dysfunctional in their consultation – like consultation with their own appointed Maori advisor, appointed through their own processes then somehow deluding themselves that that person speaks for all Maori affected (even when they don't come from that iwi or hapu group) and that their consultation is done. You know ticking the box.
Or spending months have the paid council staff produce a 200 page report then giving to their voluntary Maori advisors and expecting a response back in a couple of weeks – or in some cases sign off at the meeting.
Puao Te Ata Tu many years ago noted this folly – the need to treat Maori as a partner and pay for the time and effort to have consultation occur.
But then councils produce as part of their ten year plan anything up to 600 items they want consultation on with iwi and hapu groups – mainly unpaid time and often extraordinarily complex. This to be fitted an amongst heath, employment, welfare, police, roading, rail, etc consultation.
What is clear is that consultation is not the way to go. It is an impossible demand on ordinary peoples time.
It is why partnership is the way to go. Where before lengthy documents are produced both parties can talk about what they bring to the table not one party e.g. the larger council government one asking Maori for what they the council want and asking for sign off on already decided plans.
Tuhoe have been clear for many years that tourism brings them little benefit. I'm not sure how that is not understood. Maori want many of the same things that we all want but clearly have different views on how to get there.
If we are doing business overseas eg China, Japan, Vanuatu, USA, etc we don't go in thinking that we don't have to change and adapt to their way of operating. If we want to do business then we adapt or don't get anywhere.
So the current 'consultative' model is dysfunctional. New co-governance model is also dysfunctional (in many instances). Not seeing how change is improving anything here….
Sorry, from the environmental perspective – we need to make hard choices. Do we want to have some of our native species survive, or not…..
Because 'predator free NZ' by 2050 isn't compatible with an ongoing possum ‘livelihood’ fur trapping industry (prominent in the Tuhoe plan) https://issuu.com/teurutaumatua/docs/tuhoe_te_uru_taumatua_annual_plan_issuu
It isn't prominent. That is your bias and slant. It is pretty clear they are saying they will continue to cull possums but will also work out whether there is value and opportunity to still have some co-exist. The answer may be yes or no.
The simple fact is that nothing about the pioneering co-governance model with Tuhoe can be held up as a shining example. Fact is once they had a grip on a little bit of power they have used it for their own benefit and not that of all New Zealanders. In Kuger's own words:
"He said opening Te Urewera to the public was “way down the list of priorities” for Tūhoe, as it brought no benefit to the iwi."
A clear case of iwi before kiwi if there ever was.
Te Urewera Board Chair Tāmati Kruger said funding needs to be boosted back to “at least” the level it was before the Tūhoe settlement when the area used to be a national park.
Tūhoe receives about $2.5 million a year from the Crown for resources. When it was a national park Kruger said funding to DOC was at least $7 million.
"Our settlement entails a working relationship with DoC at an operational and management level and the loss of almost $800,000 from their budget and the loss of staff is of great concern to us," Mr Kruger said.
A significant number of jobs lost in Te Urewera were scientists who monitored health of flora and fauna and informed policy, he said.
"How will the department maintain a service that will diminish with the loss of this money and staff? That is what we are interested in."
This is the worry about health as well. The Crown sets up an entity to help with Maori health then reduces the funding and says it is all up to you now.
The $7m figure from Kruger sounds like maybe the whole spend on the East Coast Conservancy.
From experience I know how complex DoC operations are and it is not always easy to determine what has been spent on what, but if Te Urewera itself was indeed ever getting a number like that I would be very surprised.
Kiri Allan told Checkpoint she has not heard of funding being that much, and is investigating
So, the 7Mill seems highly unlikely.
In addition, DoC have repeatedly said that they need to have signoff on a management plan, and that the one provided by TUT didn't actually include any funding for maintenance work or capital expenditure – before they can release funds (it's a government requirement – don't shoot the messenger) – and Tuhoe have repeatedly failed to engage with them [it's clearly a difference in priorities – DoC want to deal with infrastructure and pest control – Tuhoe want to funding to go to iwi re-engagement with the land]
Your other quote comes from an article from 2013 – where the whole of DoC reduced staff. It doesn't seem directly relevant to Te Urewera. Other areas in NZ under DoC management aren't facing similar conservation issues.
This has been going on for a long time and is quite complex and the difficulty in taking any bit in isolation is that it doesn't paint the overall picture.
Maori well know they can be set up to fail and then people can say I told you so. There is a pattern where agencies hand over something, often to a group much smaller and less resourced organisation than themselves then systematically remove what they were knowing full well that there isn't the capacity there to manage it and perform. Alternatively you hand it over and then control the KPI's that are measured against even though you well know that the priorities for the group may be different e.g. you still impose your performance expectations not those of the group you have handed over to.
This is in part what we are seeing here and what causes some of the dysfunction and trust.
2013 when DOC withdrew it's staff just happens to be the year settlement was initially agreed – it isn't just a co-incidence.
Both sides are on a journey and I see no reason to be pessimistic – there is a longer time frame to consider.
"Now, we have a much-improved relationship with the Department of Conservation where we’re quite gentle with each other — well, on Mondays and Thursdays. And they’ve asked us to help the machine understand that this is a new world, that indeed a national park has disappeared, and there is this place that is of itself.
It cannot be owned by anyone else, and the machine is having difficulty understanding what that is. And the machine does not want to give resources to something that it doesn’t own and something that it doesn’t control.
So that’s where we are at, at this operational level, and the Department of Conservation accepts that it has no governance role, it has no management role, it is a contributor to operations, but its contribution is half of what Tūhoe contributes as well.
So, it’s not a significant contribution, but nevertheless it’s a contribution so that my friend Barry can bring all of his friends to Te Urewera. Because without the Crown contribution, you’ll have to ask my permission — because then [it will] revert to private land, wouldn’t it?
Oh, I kind of think it already is in one way — not that it’s not public land.
But the money that the Crown gives to help operate things in Te Urewera is how all non-Tūhoe people access Te Urewera. And if tomorrow the Crown said: “Sorry, we can’t afford it, we’re spending all our money on Auckland again”, then all you good folk will have to do something else — I can’t imagine what that will be — in order to access Te Urewera."
Partnership where each is bring something to the table, working out common goals and understanding where goals are different instead of imposing the requirements on the other is really in it's infancy.
If DOC was coming to the table they'd be saying "we bring less scientists and less funding than we were spending previously." Whether it is 7 million or something different is not important as the principle. That ultimately is what DOC is bringing. It has never seemed to me to be a good starting point for partnership but is consistent with what I've seen elsewhere.
This is why I worry about health – that the state reduces it services out of proportion to whatever is handed over. We need to understand that this is normal practice – the disability community knows this well from deinstitutionalisation where the cost of running institutions was in no way compensated for by sufficient community funding and support in many rural communities in particular.
Going back to the original point while we have this expectation that Maori interests are subordinate to our own then we will have difficulty.
I had a very close friend who was the East Coast Conservancy Senior Scientist for many years prior to his passing in 2014. He pioneered much of the original groundwork for 2013 agreement and I had many in depth conversations with him on just this topic.
In short I think he would be very saddened at the outcomes here – there is no question that public access to Te Urewera is being run down – especially for the hunting community. Public huts are becoming dilapidated, or mysteriously burn down and don't get replaced, while numerous 'private shacks' get built wherever the locals want them. Tuhoe may not own the park in any strict legal sense, but they now have effective control on the ground over how it is used – as a giant private hunting and possum harvesting patch for the locals and their mates.
As for the removal of the conservancy scientists – I suspect this has happened nationwide. As time went by DoC found it increasingly difficult to retain high caliber staff in regional locations and have moved most of these roles back to Wellington.
But the taxpayer has and still is paying huge amounts of money. Where is it all gone?
What needs to be cleared up is the unspoken premise here: will the property right of the individual be abolished?
To bring in such huge changes under a cloak-and-dagger policy will cost labor their next election.
Many say that our PM is already looking at a position at the UN or similar and wont be part of the next election. If so leaving behind some serious damage.
Many say that our PM is already looking at a position at the UN or similar and wont be part of the next election. If so leaving behind some serious damage.
Many say lots of things about the PM and most of it is pig-swill. Just another falsehood to add to the never ending deluge of 'falsehoods' in an attempt to slander, insult, demean and defame her.
I mean, she is acutely intelligent, strong in character, exceedingly competent and amazingly across all of the portfolios, so how else are the cowardly right-wing assholes going to discredit her?
Concerns from the anonymous Conservation Board member who leaked the controversial set of draft recommendations from the Options Development Group : [May 2021]
Word I have been told is that if as a non-Maori hunter you are silly enough to make too much noise about your slow exclusion from the backcountry – you are likely to get a visit from the cops regarding your gun license.
I have never been interested in hunting myself, but as a tramper of many decades I have spent many an interesting night sharing a hut with them and know a few well. Much disquiet in that community.
"Māori values are often undermined and not currently reflected in law"
Yes, we saw that 7 or 8 years ago when Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau was charged with breaking Pakeha law when he was simply following Maori custom in eating kereru.
At the time there were questions raised as to whether the European law, which had been around for a century, breached the Treaty of Waitangi.
Mind you, at the time he said "I also wish to say this was a mistake, which I deeply regret". I suspect the only mistake he thought he had made was to get caught.
Perhaps in his favour we could acknowledge that there's no evidence he ever sold the shrunken heads of slaves to British traders, so he's only partly traditionalist…
If you do the crime, you pay the fine. I’d suggest you stick to KFC unless you’re willing to serve three months' community detention and 100 hours community work and be fined $24,500. BTW, he pleaded guilty.
You dredged up an irrelevant incident and alleged that a Māori breached Pākehā law deliberately because he was simply following Māori custom. [my emphasis] In other words, he couldn’t give a shit and gave the finger and this is typical of what has been and still is happening now in NZ.
If this were truly the case then he would not have pleaded guilty and not have shown remorse.
Your comment is deeply divisive and problematic and not only in and for this discussion thread.
It is utterly absurd to suggest that guilty plea diminished the crime committed and admitted and the suggestion is entirely your fabrication. The obvious weakness of your strawman argument is that you dredged up the worst case in NZ history to score your ‘point’, an example that actually doesn’t even support your bizarre notion at all.
I think you have a sick mind; you know that something was very wrong with your comment but either you didn’t understand how heinous it was or you did know this and posted it anyway with some lame pre-emptive ‘excuse’ that you were not equating the two crimes but simply putting them side-by-side as if it was merely some kind of hypothetical exercise aka sick mind-game of yours.
Another commenter and previous moderator has just suggested I misused moderation today. I cannot wait to ‘misuse’ it on you next time when (not if) you post similarly vile and divisive BS. You have been warned.
In my fairly basic legal understanding pleading guilty does not reduce the culpability (in other words it does not diminish the charge, it will not reduce murder to manslaughter for example) – but can be taken into account when sentencing.
Alwyn has used an unnecessarily inflammatory example to make his point, but in principle I think he is correct.
Except that it never was [about] a legal argument and there never was any suggestion of the guilty plea amounting to a diminishment or attempted diminishment of the crime(s) committed and admitted in Court. In fact, by comparing it with the worst example in NZ history the guilty plea was made to look worse. I believe this was intentional and I made my views clear for this reason.
My point was that he, as Ngāpuhi was not on his iwi rohe. Arguments that his actions can be justified by tikanga not being subject to Pākehā law ignore that the specific legal condition he broke was one that exists in cooperation between the Crown and Ngāi Tahu to protect the customary rohe of Ngāi Tahu. As far as I'm aware, no permission was given by Te Runanga o Ngāi Tahu.
Eh? I literally have no idea how you got anything like that from what I said.
Someone from one iwi coming into the rohe of another iwi and violating that iwi's rahui when that rahui is also enforced by the Crown is not above tikanga or the law. Not sure how you get "racist" from that.
Biofuels at the cost of food cause significant food shortages,they are also inefficient,cause air pollution in warmer weather,and require fossil fuels for conversion production and land use changes.
NZ is to introduce a biofuel mandate from 2023,the costs have increased by 25% in the feed stock alone without the capital expense of blended fuels.There is no benefits if the true costs are identified,and fueling inflation locally, and food costs internationally increase instability.
Very likely going to end up in widespread civil unrest through the developing world as people find it harder and harder to feed themselves. Highly populated cities and countries that rely on imported staples to feed the servant class will feel the brunt first.
Not to mention famine taking hold in parts of the third world as wealthier countries hoover up the availble supplies of wheat etc.
I think the price increase in NZ will come because of an increased demand for our exports due to lack of food elsewhere.
Farmers are going to expect to get the same prices locally as what they can get from exports if they are going to supply us here. So, food will get expensive here as well.
Exports are negated by currency flows and the high cost of freight (refrigerated) somewhat (but not all) Then again without agriculture exports we would not be able to balance the budget and we would have few overseas funds.
A lot of our prices havnt increased yet (or at least not to the extent they will) because existing supply agreements are still in force….next seasons crops will be a different story
It's fine for the pollies. The ones in Cabinet get, usually electric, cars provided by the taxpayer. The others are paid enough to be able to afford newish cars themselves.
To bad if you live in the poorer areas of town and can only afford old cars though. The ethanol they are mandating in the fuel can ruin old style engines apparently. How sad. The Cabinet members won't worry though as the ones who will suffer aren't their kind of people.
”What emerged instead was societies increasingly marked by survivalist alienation rooted in feral capitalism tied to authoritarian-minded (or simply authoritarian) neo-populist politics that pay lip service to but do not provide for the common good–and which do not adhere to the original neoliberal concept in theory or in practice. Survivalist alienation is (however inadvertently) encouraged and compounded by a number of pre- and post-modern identifications and beliefs, including racism, xenophobia, homophobia and social media enabled conspiracy theories regarding the nature of governance and the proper (“traditional” versus non-traditional) social order. This produces what might be called social atomisation, a pathology whereby individuals retreat from horizontal solidarity networks and organisations (like unions and volunteer service and community agencies) in order to improve their material, political and/or cultural lot at the expense of the collective interest. As two sides of neoliberal society, survivalist alienation and social atomisation go hand-in-hand because one is the product of the other.”
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
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 ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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: ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
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. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Increasing income support could help keep women and children safe according to new work demonstrating strong links between financial insecurity and domestic violence. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University The telecommunications industry faces a major shakeup following the release of the post-incident report on last November’s 12-hour Optus outage. Telecommunications companies will have to share more information with customers during future ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Eden Denyer, bookseller at Unity Books Auckland.Weirdest question/request you’ve had on the shop floorA mother came in looking for anything we might have on Alaskan bison as that was her little boy’s ...
NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said new data released by Statistics New Zealand shows the need for Government to act now, with unemployment rising from 3.4% to 4.3%. ...
The outpouring of anger over Maiki Sherman’s hyperbolic presentation of this week’s ‘nightmare’ poll is itself an overreaction, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund. Politicians love nothing more than to pretend they don’t care about polls. This week, deputy prime minister Winston Peters said he didn’t give a “rat’s derriere” about a TVNZ ...
Asia Pacific Report Ngāti Kahungunu in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region has become the first indigenous Māori iwi (tribe) to sign a resolution calling for a “ceasefire in Palestine”, reports Te Ao Māori News. Reporter Te Aniwaniwa Paterson talked to Te Otāne Huata, who has been organising peace rallies ...
By Dale Luma in Port Moresby “We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago. The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part ...
Happy May Day. Join a union. Q: What’s worse than a staff break room where the only place to sit and have a cup of tea is on a teetering stack of old pornography magazines? A: Your boss replacing the magazine stacks with chairs that are “heartily encrusted with ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Former opposition leader Matthew Wale has been announced as the second prime ministerial candidate ahead of the election in Solomon Islands tomorrow. He will face off against former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele, who was announced by the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation ...
We get but one birthday a year – why not make it last as long as possible by scheduling as many meals with friends and family as you can? This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. How do you celebrate your birthday? Do you celebrate at ...
A Koi Tū discussion paper released today proposes sweeping changes to New Zealand’s media industry. The principal’s key author, Gavin Ellis, explains how journalists have a key role to play in making others value their role in society. This is an abridged version of a piece first published on knightlyviews.com ...
The Government’s spending cuts are again targeting support for Māori with proposed reform of the agency charged with advising on Māori wellbeing and development. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Douglas, Honorary Senior Lecturer, UNSW Aviation., UNSW Sydney The history of budget jet airlines in Australia is a long road littered with broken dreams. New entrants have consistently struggled to get a foothold. Low-cost carrier Bonza has just become the industry’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney Australia is finally having a sustained conversation about violence against women and what we can do about it. It is more than time. Australian women and girls continue to experience ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne stockfour/Shutterstock Preliminary bulk billing data released this week shows a 2.1% rise in bulk billing up to March. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Schulz, Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide Australia is once again grappling with how we can stop gendered violence in our country. Protests over the weekend show there is enormous community anger over the number of women who are dying and National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University AnastasiaDudka/Shutterstock What if the government was doing everything it could to stop thieves making off with our money, except the one thing that could really work? That’s how it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury The Conversation It seems to be a time of old favourites. This month our experts have recommended two new seasons – the second season of Alone Australia (although ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland A bright Eta Aquariid meteor photobombed this photo of comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) in May 2020.Jonti Horner Meteors – commonly known as shooting stars – can be seen on any night of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Honorary fellow, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Current concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Earth’s atmosphere are unprecedented in human history. But CO₂ levels today, and those that might occur in coming decades, did occur millions of years ago. ...
Winston Peters has been keen to dismiss speculation on our involvement in Aukus but will give a speech tonight on the direction of our foreign policy, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition government’s ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
Hospitals around the country are not allowed to make a single hiring decision without the approval of Te Whatu Ora's head office, including for cleaners and administration staff. ...
A new report on protecting journalism and democracy in New Zealand recommends a levy be charged on global platforms like Facebook and Google to fund media firms undertaking public interest reporting. It also calls for the reinstatement of a powerful Broadcasting Commission to distribute public funding for journalism and other ...
On International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi and the wider union movement are celebrating the proud history of the labour movement during a tough time for working people. ...
From bills to beards, a walk through the former Green co-leader’s time in politics. After close to a decade in politics, James Shaw is preparing to bid farewell to parliament. Tonight will see the former minister deliver his valedictory address, certain to be a speech filled with Shaw’s trademark wit ...
Two months ago, MPs unanimously voted to give themselves a week off in Efeso Collins’ honour. On Tuesday, most were too busy to give even an hour of their time. The day Fa’anānā Efeso Collins died, parliament felt different. In a building that operates at a breakneck pace, everyone stopped ...
India’s election involves hundreds of millions of people and is a months-long affair. Here’s how voting works and what’s at stake.The biggest-ever election in world history started on April 19, with more than 10% of the world’s population eligible to vote. Elections in India, the world’s most populous country ...
Opinion: The impression from the carpark is very inviting. The area is well fenced but barred so there is easy visibility of loved ones. Inside, the spaces are welcoming and clean and staff are friendly and clearly comfortable. I am greeted by ‘Kim’. She has worked here for three years, ...
After the Christchurch earthquake, the then-national civil defence boss compared his experience to “putting a team on the rugby field who have never ever played together before”. Now, eight years later – and following a damning inquiry into the emergency response of cyclones Gabrielle, Hale and the Auckland anniversary weekend floods – ...
“I had just come off the end of a major robbery case which I had been working on for six months when I got a call on the afternoon of September 1, 1992, that some remains had been found at a building site in Devonport, so I drove over with ...
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Comment: Journalists are very good at telling other people’s stories, but they fall well short when writing about their own profession. Perhaps that is why it is so undervalued. Every successive poll on the public’s attitude toward journalism is more alarming than the last. In the last month we have ...
Opinion: A young Māori woman and her Pacific partner arrive at their local hospital by ambulance. She has gone into labour at just under 24 weeks, but the couple haven’t recognised the symptoms – and don’t know the risks of premature birth for their baby. By the time they arrive, ...
Behind closed doors, NZ First will be arguing fiercely against any watering down of the ministerial decision-making powers in the Bill The post Bishop backtracks after fast-track backlash appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Emotional scenes played out in the Invercargill courthouse on the first two days of the coronial inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones, in which the boy’s mother was accused of disposing of her son’s body. The second season of Newsroom’s award-nominated podcast The Boy in the Water ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
A Waitangi Tribunal inquiry report has warned government that a repeal of Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act could cause harm to children in care. ...
The Treasury has published today three new papers covering government consumption multipliers, automatic stabilisers and the impacts of global shocks on New Zealand’s economy. ...
Asia Pacific Report The Pacific state of Hawai’i’s House of Representatives has joined the state’s Senate in calling for a ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza, becoming the first state to pass such a resolution, reports Hawaii News Now. In March, the Senate passed a ceasefire resolution with a 24–1 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Ferrie, A/Prof, UTS Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research and ARC DECRA Fellow, University of Technology Sydney PsiQuantum The Australian government has announced a pledge of approximately A$940 million (US$617 million) to PsiQuantum, a quantum computing start-up company based in Silicon Valley. Half ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hunter Bennett, Lecturer in Exercise Science, University of South Australia Cameron Prins/Shutterstock If you spend a lot of time exploring fitness content online, you might have come across the concept of heart rate zones. Heart rate zone training has become more ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Eugene Doyle He is the most popular Palestinian leader alive today — and yet few people in the West even know his name. Absolutely no one in Gaza or the West Bank does not know him. That difference speaks volumes about who dominates the media narrative that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Will McCallum, PhD Candidate – School of Communication and Creative Arts, Deakin University Earlier this year, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of not supporting Operation Sovereign Borders – the military-led border security operation that has “closed Australia’s borders ...
By Melyne Baroi in Port Moresby A Papua New Guinea MP, Peter Isoaimo, who had been ousted by the National Court in an alleged bribery case, has been reinstated by the Supreme Court on appeal. A three-member Supreme Court bench found that the National Court had erred in finding that ...
And right on cue, here comes the sob stories telling us how nice a guy he was, and he was just mis-understood etc.
"He was telling us about, you know, the mistakes there had been in life and he said he loved us when he left and that he wants to make changes."
Well he certainly made changes….he increased his offending! Ramming a police car!
Fatal Taranaki police shooting: Kaoss Price wanted to 'make changes' to troubled life – NZ Herald
Isn't this so like right whingers – gloating over some poor bugger's misfortune!
Tony V, the analysis needs to go deeper than left or right wing attitudes to people like Kaoss. Sorry if that sounds a bit pompous. But my point is there is very little that can be done for people once that are displyaing the behaviour Kaoss was.
We need to go to the evidence to look for any interventions that could help very early on with these people
You mean like not letting parents name their kids Kaoss in the first place?
Yeah children need help early when adults try to victimise them. Unfortunately the road to hell is paved with good intentions. State intervention thus far seems to have been fraught with screw-ups of all sorts.
We could be less jaundiced about such intervention processes if there was an audit that measured the outcomes & could vouch for the number of successful interventions. Haven't seen any evidence that the state is doing so..
Not misfortune, his killing. On consecutive days, too.
Yes I agree, Those poor police officers, they were very misfortunate.
Are we excusing now violence because lets not forget that there are for the most part victims involved. Seems they are now collateral damage, left behind in their agony or completely ignored if no visible injury shows. But time and resources are spent on the perpetrator and their psychological make up . This is just bizarre. Right and wrong would be the term that needs to be looked at. The current approach is certainly not helping to build a safe and stable society.
I feel more sorrow that Kaoss Price had the sort of life he did, than that he died, although I understand that friends are feeling a lot of sorrow.
This young man's trajectory was sadly going to take him back to prison and it is amazing that he didn't kill someone already with his reckless driving.
Was watching some interesting stuff about conduct disorder and early signs someone will end up sociopathic (although I am not saying this is the case with Kaoss as he had drug addiction, but likely).
The signs that someone could become sociopathtic are there early. The problem is these youth become hard to work with, because they are often violent at a young age. And most counsellors wouldn't want to endanger themselves by working with people who put them at risk.
I go back to the Dunedin study (that also posited that it was a combination of genes and environment that leads to violence). They found at 3 years old, that could predict who would be less or more likely to have good outcomes e.g not getting into trouble with the law. It came down to children who naturally had good self control. Young Kaoss didn't, eg using meth
Not saying this is the case here – because I don't know and there have been no reports.
But often these kids have fetal alcohol syndrome and/or pre-natal exposure to meth. Their brains are cross-wired from birth.
Kids with poor self control as pre-schoolers can learn to overcome this – it takes patience and a loving environment with firm boundaries and consequences – from parents supported by psych professionals (where needed).
Intervention needs to start with the pregnant mothers, and continue with pre-schoolers and their families.
By the time they get to school (even at 5) it's pretty much too late. Schools are simply not set up to deal with them, and they'll fail right the way through the system.
It costs $150k a year to keep someone in prison.
When that is seen as necessary, and the building of more prisons and employing more staff in prisons is seen as the priority, rather than putting the investment into early school age, the mass of problems will continue to grow.
Yeah. A big part of the problem is that you have to double pay now, to (potentially) avoid paying in the future.
By the time kids like Kaoss are in their teens/early twenties – no intervention is going to work. They need to be in jail for the safety of the community – let alone (as in this case) themselves. So you still have the 150K cost.
You then need to find the money to invest in the kids who would otherwise grow up to be Kaoss…. And that's not cheap, it's a complex issue, and it requires some form of state intervention (which is wildly unpopular these days).
As commented above – we need effective reporting and auditing to see what's working (and what's not) over long periods. None of this is 'quick fix' stuff.
As the metaphor says, "nature loads the gun, nurture pulls the trigger". And I suspect none of us really knows how much of a loaded gun we are.
I often wonder what the differences were that made folks take such different paths, and have such different endings, when we all start out as the same sort of lump of cells.
One of the key concepts in healthcare is "intervention point". The earlier the intervention, almost always there are better odds of an outcome. Not always, but almost. Folate in early pregnancy prevents neural tube defects that require a lifetime of assistance. Early identification of learning disorders help the child achieve more academically. So does free food in schools.
So we've gone from the "first thousand days" from birth to from (and even before) conception.
And it's not just a better outcome for the person, but for society, and it's cheaper, too.
Death by police is an extreme intervention. I doubt it was unavoidable in the greater scheme of his life, even if the moment left little other option. Maybe we should fund earlier individual and systemic interventions.
But then that would lead us to lowering socioeconomic inequity as well, and we can't have that. /sarc
Absolutely agree about early intervention. But state intervention (KO) is becoming increasingly unpopular and undesirable.
One of the big issues in child welfare, sadly, is still fetal alcohol syndrome (also meth babies). It has a profound (and often permanent) effect on the child. Not Mums having the odd drink before they know they're pregnant – but Mums drinking regularly and to excess throughout their pregnancy.
I don't think it can be lack of knowledge – this has been hammered over the last 30 years – at least. It's got to be societal – drinking (and drugs) are normalized in their social group. You either have to 'fix' the whole social group (huge ask) – or remove the Mum from it (some form of supervision – which is pretty much anathema to the social welfare pundits).
We dont have the resources, time or patience to address the problem from both directions….like the housing bubble we are going to have to accept the consequences of decades of neglect.
KO? Housing?
It's very easy to focus on one cause of our societal clusterfuck – FAS is a massive problem, but so are legal/illegal drugs (often acting as self medication for other unrecognised problems), socioeconomic pressures, and generational alienation from society and government organisations (there's a world of difference between people who will call the cops for assistance, and people for whom police involvement will just make life worse).
Sorry, my bad, for KO – read Oranga Tamariki (OT)
There truly are families where the parents are incapable (for whatever reason, addiction, crime, etc.) of caring for their children – at even the most basic level. And where the wider family is just as dysfunctional. Kids don't have the decades it may require to get the parents back on the rails – even with massive support.
If you want to make a difference, you need to target those Mums and little kids – and throw resources at that problem.
FAS is the problem in that it's really hard (and sometimes impossible) to recover from. You can choose to stop self-medicating with drugs (illegal or legal) or to leave a gang, or to shift towns and sort your life out (all with a lot of help). But it's pretty hard to choose to fix your screwed up brain wiring.
If a particular set of circumstances is all one has ever known, I'm not so sure how much of a "choice" leaving it really is.
But a lot of the prevention measures cross over multiple issues: sex education and free contraception lower surprise pregnancies where the mother finds out in the third trimester after six months of drinking and smoking, access to primary healthcare (including mental health) can lower the need for self-medication with improvised "remedies", and more available antenatal and postnatal care help identify and address other "nurture" triggers before requiring more extreme OT intervention. Hell, even better-resourced schools might have made a difference in this young man's life, long before his final encounter with the cops or even a court.
OT have major problems in approach, equity, and understanding the basic difference between a population-level association and a predictor of individual outcomes. They seem to think that if someone ticks four out of five boxes, an uplift is automatically necessary. But also, they're well down the list of interventions after things have already started to go down the shorter, harder path.
I agree that the support matters. I really question the need for additional sex education and free contraception. Surprise and teen pregnancies are dropping in NZ – and I don't really think that lack of knowledge and/or choices about whether to become pregnant are the issue. The drinking and meth addiction throughout the pregnancy, are. And that's a social/cultural issue.
Choice is an interesting word. The point I was trying to make is that FAS is something imposed on the child as a consequence of the mother's actions – and isn't really recoverable from. It's a one-way street.
And, while I agree that OT are problematical – I don't see anyone else coming up with a solution where the parent/s are self-evidently incapable of meeting a reasonable level of care for the children (despite all the wrap around support in the world), and the wider family are also dysfunctional. It happens. Just look at the utterly shameful NZ statistics on child abuse and murder. What's the solution?
We've known solutions to the bulk of our problems for decades:
But all of that, and bridging the bubble of current late-but-expensive interventions while we boost funding to early-but-expanded interventions, requires things like taxing the rich and CGT.
It won't solve all problems, but the bulk of them would have a pretty big dent.
Bill Browder has a new book out – his first was a real humdinger.
Born in the USA, he's now a British citizen. One of his grandads "was a radical and had lived in the Soviet Union for several years from 1927 and married Raisa Berkman, a Jewish Russian woman while living there."
What you see here is a family matrix that combines the successful rebel outsider archetype with the successful academic leader archetype, plus homelands in Russia & America. This mix created a successful establishment rebel.
In the first book we learned why Bill supported Putin initially (anticorruption) and why Putin turned on him.
The ploy didn't work. Putin's intended victim has won eight awards for moral leadership – I'll just include one:
Just to stress test your confirmation bias Dennis, there's a rather comprehensive archive written by an award winning financial fraud specialist , Lucy Komisar available.
https://www.thekomisarscoop.com/category/thebrowderhoax/
Here's a list of her other investigations
https://inthesetimes.com/authors/lucy-komisar
Also check out Andrei Nekrasov , liberal anti Putin film maker.
His doco refuting Browder's story has been banned on Youtube , but is available for hire
Look at the trailers at least , and check out the other commentary
Or don't , if your principle interest is maintaining your own comfortable assumptions
https://www.magnitskyact.com/
People who are impressed by published claims of contrary evidence flock together. Whoopee. Websites featuring compilations of counter-claims devoid of actual evidence, with the apparent intent of entertaining suckers. Why would anyone bother to even do that? They really think readers are morons??
Yeah I scanned them as well. The consistent theme is that anything the poor misunderstood Russian authorities claim must be treated as the sober truth, while anything Western is inherently lies.
Reality probably lies somewhere between. Due to the very nature of doing business in Russia it is almost certain Browder is not as pure as holy water – but to then leap to the idea that this means the entire Magnitsky story is a Russiaphobic hoax a remarkably selective reading of events indeed.
Reality probably lies somewhere between.
I suspect so. I'm just as inclined to believe a capitalist is telling the truth as anyone else here – but I read his book years ago before anyone started to claim he wasn't telling the truth. It rang true.
The gist of the contrarists seems to be that Putin & Trump were plotting to get him, so he must be a baddie. Somehow this logic seems unconvincing…
If you'd bothered to look , you would have seen that Nekrasov has produced any number of docos that highlight how bad Russia is and how bad Putin is, and that has not changed.You have probably seen them " Inside Putin's Russia" for instance..not a very flattering portrayal.But in this instance, he discovered Browders story had some glaring narrative flaws.Instead of giving up (his intention had been to show up corrupt Russia once again) he pressed on , and he's been quite dogged as you would have seen from his archival website.At no point however does he give Putin or Russia a pass .
You would also have seen that Lucy Komisar tackles financial fraud in many different countries, and has no form for whitewashing Russia.Her focus is on Browder's financial activity in Russia, not exonerating "poor misunderstood Russia "But so entrenched are you now in your bid to perceive Russia in an eternally cartoonish "evil" light , Browder must be one of the good guys, and everything he has to say must be the truth .Reverse contrarianism
And now for todays good news…….
.
LOL. Yes unfortunately there doesn't seem to be much good news these days.
Sexism 👇
https://twitter.com/slightlyatsea/status/1515979134220046337?s=21
I think i said about a year or so ago, that soon enough there will be men and others. Just like in the good old days of around 1650. Are women even human, and can everything be a woman, and if anything is a women, what is it even.
Mind, they need to remove the 'woman' thing/soul from our bodies. After all our bodies need to be productive, eggs need to be harvested, milk needs to be pumped for sale, and future human beings for sale need to be 'baked' err incubated. And hey, after all we are but bodies.
I can't wait for our progressive politicians here to start telling us how empowering all that is, that loss of identity and the rights that come with it, after all there is money to be made. So much money.
Sabine , you have to realise, that the best women are those who were born men and have penises.Its hurtful to say otherwise.
https://www.phillyvoice.com/rachel-levine-health-secretary-women-of-the-year-usa-today/
https://quillette.com/2022/04/08/im-being-investigated-by-the-british-columbia-college-of-nurses-because-i-believe-biological-sex-is-real/?fbclid=IwAR028zJ8zLCgJuud7oIXTdGneFnzN0bOepc1zPoIxn7xCQnGJi5CEPHsRa4
Article about a Canadian nurse of 30 years who posted on line that sex is real and biology matters. Two people complained to her Professional Association and now she is being investigated and could lose her job. Perhaps we could offer her work in NZ as we are so short of nurses here.
Rachel Levine is but an opportunist who is given grant to live out their little fetish. The opportunity was however provided to them by lawmakers who saw this a fit action.
Fwiw, the first 'woman' to be elected to President of the USA will be a woman just like Rachel Levine.
from last year,
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/08/half-of-women-in-uk-fear-equality-is-going-back-to-1970s-survey
And liberal feminism is asleep at the fucking wheel.
Liberal academic feminism is the driving force of this. And these liberal academic feminists sit in political parties, run political parties, run charities depend on the good will and financing of governments who are comprised of political parties etc.
It is liberal feminism that is doing all of this. They are not absent, they are complicit if not the driving force of this capitalistic and corporate and unlitimately dehumansing and deadly for woman feminism. And in NZ they sit in Parliament and make all of this law.
Becoming quite a big issue over here in the upcoming Australian election. (This article is just one of many on this across much of the media – excuse me picking the first one to hand.)
I doubt the Australian version of this is going to make much sense however. Julia Gillard showed how female politicians are treated across the Tasman. I think the women will be allowed to sit at the back while the men determine if they can whistle to their supporters without imploding in the media. Given Malcolm Turnbull is widely considered a highly intelligent politician the bar is set pretty low of course.
Who builds public toilets? Councils. Local politicians plus hired employee managers & administrators. Notice how they cling to the establishment binary! Two cubicles.
Now we know they are capable of creating diversity of options. Public toilets with provision of cubicles for disabled folk have been normal awhile. It's just a mental block then. Someone has to lobby them to create a separate user-defined cubicle!
Do you believe that women are entitled to female only toilets?
(it's not just councils, lots of places are required to have toilets)
Definitely! No valid reason to discriminate against women like the picture shows. I doubt any of the council scumbags will ever be able to produce even a semblance of one. Haven't seen any evidence of them trying it on…
👍👍
The reasons given generally revolve around telling women that other people get to define our needs and wants.
I believe there should be 2 options. Female only and Unisex.
I work somewhere which has done that where it can (some offices share the toilets with other offices on the same floor, so that's up to the landlord, others have them included within the office, so that's up to us).
I've also worked somewhere where all the toilets were individual unisex cubicles, so I guess that was their implementation – non-gendered toilets effectively. I have also been to a few pubs and restaurants where they've done that, but my guess would be due to space constraints rather than any particular ideology – hard to have separate blocks when a place only has 2-3 toilets.
It is actually simply as
One Unisex Loo – named with a sign on the entrace saying "Loo" with fully enclosed cubicles, well lit, with lots of cameras on the common space where the basins are located. Put a sign up there that says' smile you are on camera' – and hopefully it will prevent evil doing.
But if you need a loo, irrespective of gender or genitals, there it is your glorious Unisex Toilet facilities for all.
There is no need to waste precious and expensive real estate by providing men with their own space, they too can use the Unisex loos like everyone else.
I do not agree with that at all. Why would a mother be forced to bring up their child with the idea that gender is "fluid" and biology is just a nonsense subject best "rewritten" for a suitable curriculum. Its getting to a stage where women become afraid to voice an opposition to those "trendy" fantasies of a "better" tomorrow.
i don't agree with this new faith either.
but if men can have a single sex toilet so should women (the born ones, not the worn ones). And if women can't have single sex toilets in order to be inclusive to men who identify as women or as non binary then so should men have no single sex toilets so as to be accomodating to women who identify as men or as non binary.
The stage were women have been scared into silence for the most has already passed. They are not saying a single thing, and the academics and liberals and lefties among them will happily point out that they are 'cis' aka not trans and 'she/her' lest someone get confused.
And we can pay thanks to our current overlords, their hand maidens and all other parties in government who helped bring these bright and shiny new times upon us who were born without a penis.
Each cubicle has its own hand basin, mirror, and space to get changed in?
Cubicle as in floor to ceiling, no gaps including under the door?
Single toilets each with its own door off a common area? Or cubicles inside at wider toilet area?
The latter is not ok for many women, for safety, comfort and cultural reasons.
Think about toilets at high school for instance, and what is going to work for girls or not.
Varies by needs of the office and space available in my experience as not everywhere is big enough to have showers and changing areas at all.
Larger offices had cubicles on each floor which were toilets and handbasins with mirrors only (full height doors from floors to ceilings) with changing and shower areas separately provided by the bike storage area as they were the main reason people used the showers at work. Essentially the cubicles are small toilet rooms like you'd find in a house.
Smaller offices I have worked in either had no shower/changing area or one shower/changing area as a separate unisex room.
Still not clear what you mean by cubicle. To me this is where you walk off a public area (eg a hallway) into a large room. In that large room there are multiple doors into the 'cubicles'. Walls and doors may go ceiling to floor, or not. But the shared area is through a generally closed door.
That kind of space is not ok for women to share with males.
(I wasn't talking about changing rooms, I was talking about having space in the toilet room, or shared room, to get changed in. Women need space to deal with changes of clothes where they go to the toilet).
By cubicle in my earlier posts, I meant a fully separate, fully enclosed room like toilets often are in a house, not a stall in a shared bathroom area (the only toilets I've ever been in with fully-enclosed stalls were in the Air NZ Koru Lounges although I'm sure there are other places that do that).
Whether they were big enough for room to change in was variable – some places had the space for that, some didn't, usually dependent on whether the office/shop had sufficient space for it. Whether there is a legal requirement for changing facilities depends on the type of work, so there's a lot of variation out there.
👍
most public women's toilets (including in private businesses like pubs) have enough space to get changed. You walk into a room with sinks and mirrors and the toilets are off that. Males shouldn't be going in there, and those spaces shouldn't be taken away from women and/or redesigned to solve other people's problems. Solve other people's problems without taking things from women.
Andrea Vance has produced an excellent in-depth examination of the prospects of conservation law reform. Stakeholders have generated a hefty consensus in favour of progress but there's considerable complexity. Here's one dimension of that:
Easy to frame the situation as a progressive trend to honour the treaty vs the inertial effect of neocolonialism. The binary must be finessed via inclusion of conservatives – provided they concede that the present situation is untenable and take a constructive stance. Rightists take note! We need an intelligent consensus.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/128333326/the-laws-of-nature-why-old-legislation-is-standing-in-the-way-of-tackling-environmental-crisis
A repeat of the Three Waters debacle – a necessary legislative and functional update being used as cover for yet another implementation of He Puapua policy.
Political suicide for Labour – NZers do not appreciate constitutional change by stealth
Read the report.
A lot of ambiguous language that avoids making direct contestable claims, but consistently demands a fundamental (that word is used repeatedly) change to the current system. Wherever possible is discounts or denigrates conservation efforts to date and insists that putting iwi interests ahead of all other considerations is the only way forward.
Of course the authors are smart enough not to say it outright, but the entire document is a plain as daylight effort to create the necessary framework to transfer effective control of the DoC estate to the iwi chiefs.
And, there are increasing numbers of co-governance situations coming to light – where conservation is apparently at direct odds with iwi ambitions for their people.
Here is Tuhoe saying that, in the management of Lake Waikaremoana and the associated Te Urewera National Park, the needs of their iwi come first, and conservation is second.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300535889/pest-control-efforts-in-te-urewera-have-changed–some-conservationists-worry-about-the-fate-of-native-species
This differing view of priorities means that they don't mesh well with DoC – who have $$$ to spend on Te Urewera maintenance but TUT don't recognize this as a priority (yes, much of the work has now been done, after substantial media, public and political pressure)
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/127779621/how-huts-and-bridges-in-te-urewera-fell-into-a-state-of-disrepair
There is apparently no sanction or redress when the iwi-led partner chooses not to engage – they can simply hamstring the process — seemingly forever. (e.g. conservation plans in limbo, maintenance plans not signed off – and no response to repeated attempts to engage with them over these issues)
All of this is of considerably concern, when the Government is rolling out increased co-governance plans across a wide range of national agencies.
We are entitled to ask, what happens when either one group, or the relationship is dysfunctional (and, sooner or later it will happen)?
We have legislative redress for Government agencies (the Minister can dismiss them), local government (bounced out at the next election – or replaced by MoLG with commissioners). We *assume* that this will be the case for 3 Waters representatives (though, based on the current situation with the council controlled organizations in Auckland – I'm less than trusting over this).
But, what about if/when iwi co-governance organizations are dysfunctional?
We've seen little evidence of an open and transparent process in appointment and turnover. And some evidence of very dubious people being appointed (resulting in outcry, from Maori as well as the rest of the population)
https://www.teaomaori.news/calls-roger-pikia-stand-down-whilst-sfo-investigates
Yes. Bad/incompetent/greedy people get appointed to public management in general. But the point is, that there are mechanisms to remove them.
Ah so the reverse of the current situation where councils are dysfunctional in their consultation – like consultation with their own appointed Maori advisor, appointed through their own processes then somehow deluding themselves that that person speaks for all Maori affected (even when they don't come from that iwi or hapu group) and that their consultation is done. You know ticking the box.
Or spending months have the paid council staff produce a 200 page report then giving to their voluntary Maori advisors and expecting a response back in a couple of weeks – or in some cases sign off at the meeting.
Puao Te Ata Tu many years ago noted this folly – the need to treat Maori as a partner and pay for the time and effort to have consultation occur.
But then councils produce as part of their ten year plan anything up to 600 items they want consultation on with iwi and hapu groups – mainly unpaid time and often extraordinarily complex. This to be fitted an amongst heath, employment, welfare, police, roading, rail, etc consultation.
What is clear is that consultation is not the way to go. It is an impossible demand on ordinary peoples time.
It is why partnership is the way to go. Where before lengthy documents are produced both parties can talk about what they bring to the table not one party e.g. the larger council government one asking Maori for what they the council want and asking for sign off on already decided plans.
Tuhoe have been clear for many years that tourism brings them little benefit. I'm not sure how that is not understood. Maori want many of the same things that we all want but clearly have different views on how to get there.
If we are doing business overseas eg China, Japan, Vanuatu, USA, etc we don't go in thinking that we don't have to change and adapt to their way of operating. If we want to do business then we adapt or don't get anywhere.
So the current 'consultative' model is dysfunctional. New co-governance model is also dysfunctional (in many instances). Not seeing how change is improving anything here….
Sorry, from the environmental perspective – we need to make hard choices. Do we want to have some of our native species survive, or not…..
Because 'predator free NZ' by 2050 isn't compatible with an ongoing possum ‘livelihood’ fur trapping industry (prominent in the Tuhoe plan)
https://issuu.com/teurutaumatua/docs/tuhoe_te_uru_taumatua_annual_plan_issuu
It isn't prominent. That is your bias and slant. It is pretty clear they are saying they will continue to cull possums but will also work out whether there is value and opportunity to still have some co-exist. The answer may be yes or no.
The simple fact is that nothing about the pioneering co-governance model with Tuhoe can be held up as a shining example. Fact is once they had a grip on a little bit of power they have used it for their own benefit and not that of all New Zealanders. In Kuger's own words:
"He said opening Te Urewera to the public was “way down the list of priorities” for Tūhoe, as it brought no benefit to the iwi."
A clear case of iwi before kiwi if there ever was.
I don't think you can read this article from a conservation perspective and not be concerned.
It seems really clear that since 2014, conservation of native species and pest control have taken a nose-dive in Te Urewa.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300535889/pest-control-efforts-in-te-urewera-have-changed–some-conservationists-worry-about-the-fate-of-native-species
I'm sorry – but I don't regard this as 'bias' or 'slant'.
Apparently so has the funding.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018829060/doc-looking-at-need-for-more-te-urewera-funding
Te Urewera Board Chair Tāmati Kruger said funding needs to be boosted back to “at least” the level it was before the Tūhoe settlement when the area used to be a national park.
Tūhoe receives about $2.5 million a year from the Crown for resources. When it was a national park Kruger said funding to DOC was at least $7 million.
And DOC reduced the number of scientists as well.
"Our settlement entails a working relationship with DoC at an operational and management level and the loss of almost $800,000 from their budget and the loss of staff is of great concern to us," Mr Kruger said.
A significant number of jobs lost in Te Urewera were scientists who monitored health of flora and fauna and informed policy, he said.
"How will the department maintain a service that will diminish with the loss of this money and staff? That is what we are interested in."
This is the worry about health as well. The Crown sets up an entity to help with Maori health then reduces the funding and says it is all up to you now.
@DoS
The $7m figure from Kruger sounds like maybe the whole spend on the East Coast Conservancy.
From experience I know how complex DoC operations are and it is not always easy to determine what has been spent on what, but if Te Urewera itself was indeed ever getting a number like that I would be very surprised.
From your quoted article
So, the 7Mill seems highly unlikely.
In addition, DoC have repeatedly said that they need to have signoff on a management plan, and that the one provided by TUT didn't actually include any funding for maintenance work or capital expenditure – before they can release funds (it's a government requirement – don't shoot the messenger) – and Tuhoe have repeatedly failed to engage with them [it's clearly a difference in priorities – DoC want to deal with infrastructure and pest control – Tuhoe want to funding to go to iwi re-engagement with the land]
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/127779621/how-huts-and-bridges-in-te-urewera-fell-into-a-state-of-disrepair
Your other quote comes from an article from 2013 – where the whole of DoC reduced staff. It doesn't seem directly relevant to Te Urewera. Other areas in NZ under DoC management aren't facing similar conservation issues.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/rotorua-daily-post/news/tuhoe-see-risk-to-treaty-deal-in-cuts/YDNT66RY3QAGXTJLBEPRV4EHSA/
This has been going on for a long time and is quite complex and the difficulty in taking any bit in isolation is that it doesn't paint the overall picture.
Maori well know they can be set up to fail and then people can say I told you so. There is a pattern where agencies hand over something, often to a group much smaller and less resourced organisation than themselves then systematically remove what they were knowing full well that there isn't the capacity there to manage it and perform. Alternatively you hand it over and then control the KPI's that are measured against even though you well know that the priorities for the group may be different e.g. you still impose your performance expectations not those of the group you have handed over to.
This is in part what we are seeing here and what causes some of the dysfunction and trust.
2013 when DOC withdrew it's staff just happens to be the year settlement was initially agreed – it isn't just a co-incidence.
Both sides are on a journey and I see no reason to be pessimistic – there is a longer time frame to consider.
"Now, we have a much-improved relationship with the Department of Conservation where we’re quite gentle with each other — well, on Mondays and Thursdays. And they’ve asked us to help the machine understand that this is a new world, that indeed a national park has disappeared, and there is this place that is of itself.
It cannot be owned by anyone else, and the machine is having difficulty understanding what that is. And the machine does not want to give resources to something that it doesn’t own and something that it doesn’t control.
So that’s where we are at, at this operational level, and the Department of Conservation accepts that it has no governance role, it has no management role, it is a contributor to operations, but its contribution is half of what Tūhoe contributes as well.
So, it’s not a significant contribution, but nevertheless it’s a contribution so that my friend Barry can bring all of his friends to Te Urewera. Because without the Crown contribution, you’ll have to ask my permission — because then [it will] revert to private land, wouldn’t it?
Oh, I kind of think it already is in one way — not that it’s not public land.
But the money that the Crown gives to help operate things in Te Urewera is how all non-Tūhoe people access Te Urewera. And if tomorrow the Crown said: “Sorry, we can’t afford it, we’re spending all our money on Auckland again”, then all you good folk will have to do something else — I can’t imagine what that will be — in order to access Te Urewera."
https://e-tangata.co.nz/identity/tamati-kruger-we-are-not-who-we-should-be-as-tuhoe-people/
Partnership where each is bring something to the table, working out common goals and understanding where goals are different instead of imposing the requirements on the other is really in it's infancy.
If DOC was coming to the table they'd be saying "we bring less scientists and less funding than we were spending previously." Whether it is 7 million or something different is not important as the principle. That ultimately is what DOC is bringing. It has never seemed to me to be a good starting point for partnership but is consistent with what I've seen elsewhere.
This is why I worry about health – that the state reduces it services out of proportion to whatever is handed over. We need to understand that this is normal practice – the disability community knows this well from deinstitutionalisation where the cost of running institutions was in no way compensated for by sufficient community funding and support in many rural communities in particular.
Going back to the original point while we have this expectation that Maori interests are subordinate to our own then we will have difficulty.
I had a very close friend who was the East Coast Conservancy Senior Scientist for many years prior to his passing in 2014. He pioneered much of the original groundwork for 2013 agreement and I had many in depth conversations with him on just this topic.
In short I think he would be very saddened at the outcomes here – there is no question that public access to Te Urewera is being run down – especially for the hunting community. Public huts are becoming dilapidated, or mysteriously burn down and don't get replaced, while numerous 'private shacks' get built wherever the locals want them. Tuhoe may not own the park in any strict legal sense, but they now have effective control on the ground over how it is used – as a giant private hunting and possum harvesting patch for the locals and their mates.
As for the removal of the conservancy scientists – I suspect this has happened nationwide. As time went by DoC found it increasingly difficult to retain high caliber staff in regional locations and have moved most of these roles back to Wellington.
But the taxpayer has and still is paying huge amounts of money. Where is it all gone?
What needs to be cleared up is the unspoken premise here: will the property right of the individual be abolished?
To bring in such huge changes under a cloak-and-dagger policy will cost labor their next election.
Many say that our PM is already looking at a position at the UN or similar and wont be part of the next election. If so leaving behind some serious damage.
Many say lots of things about the PM and most of it is pig-swill. Just another falsehood to add to the never ending deluge of 'falsehoods' in an attempt to slander, insult, demean and defame her.
I mean, she is acutely intelligent, strong in character, exceedingly competent and amazingly across all of the portfolios, so how else are the cowardly right-wing assholes going to discredit her?
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Concerns from the anonymous Conservation Board member who leaked the controversial set of draft recommendations from the Options Development Group : [May 2021]
(1) Podcast The Wild Podcast: Special Episode – Leaked Options Development Group Draft Recommendations on Apple Podcasts
(2) Transcript of Podcast Options Development Group — The Wild Podcast
Disturbing (still)
Word I have been told is that if as a non-Maori hunter you are silly enough to make too much noise about your slow exclusion from the backcountry – you are likely to get a visit from the cops regarding your gun license.
I have never been interested in hunting myself, but as a tramper of many decades I have spent many an interesting night sharing a hut with them and know a few well. Much disquiet in that community.
"Māori values are often undermined and not currently reflected in law"
Yes, we saw that 7 or 8 years ago when Ngapuhi leader Sonny Tau was charged with breaking Pakeha law when he was simply following Maori custom in eating kereru.
At the time there were questions raised as to whether the European law, which had been around for a century, breached the Treaty of Waitangi.
Mind you, at the time he said "I also wish to say this was a mistake, which I deeply regret". I suspect the only mistake he thought he had made was to get caught.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/kahu/ngapuhi-leader-admits-smuggling-pigeon/SQ6DIA3BQZSR7YZOFAZO3ZUZMU/
Perhaps in his favour we could acknowledge that there's no evidence he ever sold the shrunken heads of slaves to British traders, so he's only partly traditionalist…
I guess we'll just ignore that it was Ngāi Tahu rohe and they had a rahui on kererū then.
If you do the crime, you pay the fine. I’d suggest you stick to KFC unless you’re willing to serve three months' community detention and 100 hours community work and be fined $24,500. BTW, he pleaded guilty.
"BTW, he pleaded guilty."
B****n T****t, who murdered 51 people in Christchurch Mosques also pleaded guilty to those crimes.
Does it somehow diminish the crime if you do, as Tau did, plead guilty?
And no. I am not equating the crimes. I am only commenting on the idea that pleading guilty somehow diminishes the offence.
You dredged up an irrelevant incident and alleged that a Māori breached Pākehā law deliberately because he was simply following Māori custom. [my emphasis] In other words, he couldn’t give a shit and gave the finger and this is typical of what has been and still is happening now in NZ.
If this were truly the case then he would not have pleaded guilty and not have shown remorse.
Your comment is deeply divisive and problematic and not only in and for this discussion thread.
It is utterly absurd to suggest that guilty plea diminished the crime committed and admitted and the suggestion is entirely your fabrication. The obvious weakness of your strawman argument is that you dredged up the worst case in NZ history to score your ‘point’, an example that actually doesn’t even support your bizarre notion at all.
I think you have a sick mind; you know that something was very wrong with your comment but either you didn’t understand how heinous it was or you did know this and posted it anyway with some lame pre-emptive ‘excuse’ that you were not equating the two crimes but simply putting them side-by-side as if it was merely some kind of hypothetical exercise aka sick mind-game of yours.
Another commenter and previous moderator has just suggested I misused moderation today. I cannot wait to ‘misuse’ it on you next time when (not if) you post similarly vile and divisive BS. You have been warned.
In my fairly basic legal understanding pleading guilty does not reduce the culpability (in other words it does not diminish the charge, it will not reduce murder to manslaughter for example) – but can be taken into account when sentencing.
Alwyn has used an unnecessarily inflammatory example to make his point, but in principle I think he is correct.
Except that it never was [about] a legal argument and there never was any suggestion of the guilty plea amounting to a diminishment or attempted diminishment of the crime(s) committed and admitted in Court. In fact, by comparing it with the worst example in NZ history the guilty plea was made to look worse. I believe this was intentional and I made my views clear for this reason.
My point was that he, as Ngāpuhi was not on his iwi rohe. Arguments that his actions can be justified by tikanga not being subject to Pākehā law ignore that the specific legal condition he broke was one that exists in cooperation between the Crown and Ngāi Tahu to protect the customary rohe of Ngāi Tahu. As far as I'm aware, no permission was given by Te Runanga o Ngāi Tahu.
I guess we'll ignore all the people who didn't do as he did which were far, far greater in number.
If we used the example of pakeha individual offending to cast aspersions on all pakeha we would be laughed at. Fuck you are pathetic and racist.
Eh? I literally have no idea how you got anything like that from what I said.
Someone from one iwi coming into the rohe of another iwi and violating that iwi's rahui when that rahui is also enforced by the Crown is not above tikanga or the law. Not sure how you get "racist" from that.
It was a response to Alwyn's comment. The reply function shoved it down here.
Corn futures raise under demand for lower fuel prices and the canard of Biofuel mandates.
https://twitter.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1516101573423902728?cxt=HHwWkMC99aWWo4oqAAAA
Biofuels at the cost of food cause significant food shortages,they are also inefficient,cause air pollution in warmer weather,and require fossil fuels for conversion production and land use changes.
https://twitter.com/yaneerbaryam/status/1514347227002679297
NZ is to introduce a biofuel mandate from 2023,the costs have increased by 25% in the feed stock alone without the capital expense of blended fuels.There is no benefits if the true costs are identified,and fueling inflation locally, and food costs internationally increase instability.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/powering-nz%E2%80%99s-future-biofuels
We ain't seen nothing yet.
Don't think anything agricultural will be getting cheaper any time soon.
Very likely going to end up in widespread civil unrest through the developing world as people find it harder and harder to feed themselves. Highly populated cities and countries that rely on imported staples to feed the servant class will feel the brunt first.
Not to mention famine taking hold in parts of the third world as wealthier countries hoover up the availble supplies of wheat etc.
Read the links in Yaneers thread.
Instability is already underway in Sri Lanka, Pakistan,Tunisia,and Libya.Agriculture products here are not expensive if you purchase in season.
I think the price increase in NZ will come because of an increased demand for our exports due to lack of food elsewhere.
Farmers are going to expect to get the same prices locally as what they can get from exports if they are going to supply us here. So, food will get expensive here as well.
Exports are negated by currency flows and the high cost of freight (refrigerated) somewhat (but not all) Then again without agriculture exports we would not be able to balance the budget and we would have few overseas funds.
A lot of our prices havnt increased yet (or at least not to the extent they will) because existing supply agreements are still in force….next seasons crops will be a different story
It's fine for the pollies. The ones in Cabinet get, usually electric, cars provided by the taxpayer. The others are paid enough to be able to afford newish cars themselves.
To bad if you live in the poorer areas of town and can only afford old cars though. The ethanol they are mandating in the fuel can ruin old style engines apparently. How sad. The Cabinet members won't worry though as the ones who will suffer aren't their kind of people.
Nats will fix it alwyn – they've been working for "their kind of people" since forever.
Keep the faith – Luxfusion 2023
Pablo from Kiwipolitico on neoliberalism. Makes a lot of sense to me.
http://www.kiwipolitico.com/2022/04/a-word-on-post-neoliberalism/
”What emerged instead was societies increasingly marked by survivalist alienation rooted in feral capitalism tied to authoritarian-minded (or simply authoritarian) neo-populist politics that pay lip service to but do not provide for the common good–and which do not adhere to the original neoliberal concept in theory or in practice. Survivalist alienation is (however inadvertently) encouraged and compounded by a number of pre- and post-modern identifications and beliefs, including racism, xenophobia, homophobia and social media enabled conspiracy theories regarding the nature of governance and the proper (“traditional” versus non-traditional) social order. This produces what might be called social atomisation, a pathology whereby individuals retreat from horizontal solidarity networks and organisations (like unions and volunteer service and community agencies) in order to improve their material, political and/or cultural lot at the expense of the collective interest. As two sides of neoliberal society, survivalist alienation and social atomisation go hand-in-hand because one is the product of the other.”