Just a comment on something that annoys me on the idiot box:
Why do the reporters all repeat this BS about a 1 in 500 year event re the flooding in Northland.
When it happens again next year and the year after will our memories be so short that we’ll again call it a 1 in 500 year event, as if that explains it all.
Not once have I heard climate change given as an explanation! Intensity of climate events? Naw, just Nature behaving badly.
Collectively we remain in denial about global warming – and the Natz have elected a leader who is a climate change denier!
Comes from NIWAs High Intensity Rainfall System – Councils use the same scientific terminology, engineers use it when designing bridges, culverts etc. Lots of climate change mentions on NIWAs website.
We live in a designated zone that will be inundated by a 100 year flood. The water never came near us. Does this mean a 100 year flood will be worse than a 500 one? Is the Pope Catholic? If I don’t have breakfast will I be hungry by lunchtime?
It simply means that your subcatchment did not receive the same amount of rain as other catchments. Flood models can also assume that culverts are blocked which may not have occurred downstream of your property.
One in 500 or however many years is easier for people to understand than it being an event with an 0.2% chance of occurring in any given year which is a bit more abstract. Return periods whilst useful to describe are somewhat misleading in that regard and don't always help with understanding, alas they are the more common way to different between how common events are.
I'm posting the following clip for those that take an interest in international relations, specifically the relationship between the world's two powerhouses, China and the US.
The local mainstream media don't seem to have comprehensive coverage of this.
This is what I call America's pineapple lump moment and welcome your thoughts.
Warning: this is hard hitting, has global implications, thus is not for the faint-hearted
The days of American passivity and naivety are over. The awaking of the US by US National Security Advisor, Robert O'Brien.
NZ recently had an annual trade surplus with China of ~$7,000,000,000, so how might NZ hit the CCP in the pocket?
In light of developments NZ should be reevaluating its position and reliance on China. Clearly, we're not in the same league as the US, thus can't be expected to lead on this issue but no doubt we will be expected to play our part if the issue deepens and widens.
On a side note, could you tell us how much of that trade surplus was returned to China in the form of profits from their NZ holdings selling goods to China?
On a side note, could you tell us how much of that trade surplus was returned to China in the form of profits from their NZ holdings selling goods to China?
Oh, please shut up with your irrelevant questions. A warm thanks in advance.
The relevance was the trade surplus touted. People often tout our trade surplus while overlooking that some of our most lucrative sectors are offshore owned or have high overseas investment, thus should look at our current account to see the wider picture.
Instead of asking questions, maybe it is time that you start giving us some answers, yes?
What are “some of our most lucrative sectors are offshore owned or have high overseas investment”? Don’t hold back in providing supporting information, preferably in the China context. Please don’t mention the Ozzie banks, thanks.
You do agree with the primary premise so at least we have established that.
$17.3 billion
Top exports: dairy, wood products, meat
Imports from China
$13.3 billion
Top imports: machinery, clothing & apparel
Investment from China including Hong Kong into New Zealand reached NZ$10.6 billion in 2018. After Australia, China is New Zealand's second largest source country for foreign direct investment, representing almost 10% of our total FDI stock.
Chinese investment extends across a range of sectors including primary industries and forestry (30%), infrastructure, commercial development (20%), and manufacturing (15%). Chinese investors are the largest foreign investors in primary products exports, waste management, electrical whiteware, and tourism infrastructure.
China may exceed official estimates as investment transactions are often routed through Hong Kong or other countries, including Singapore, as well as other jurisdictions. Capturing the extent of this Chinese investment from so-called “immediate” sources is complex and is only partially captured in this report.
We can rule out the Ozzie banks if you wish but that still leaves the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and Rabobank all operating here.
There are foreign-owned water bottling plants. Insurance companies. Foreign owned forestry companies are NZ's biggest landowners.
"…no doubt we will be expected to play our part if the issue deepens and widens." – no doubt, Chair, no doubt. And I wonder what part 'we' will be expected to play (and by who) if the issue doesn't deepen and widen.
Re your "side note" enquiry, no, I could not tell 'us' that off the top of my head, but I'd be interested (and frankly amazed) if you could ferret out that info for 'us'.
To what/who does NZowe thanks for that largish annual trade surplus?
Thanks Chair – would you be willing and able to attempt a summary, i.e. to what extent are NZ's lucrative sectors 'China-owned', or was that not your real 'concern'?
The words "China" and "Chinese" aren't used in the URL page that you linked to, although the United States of America, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Japan and Hong Kongare mentioned.
As highlighted above, investment from China is often routed through Hong Kong or other countries, including Singapore, as well as other jurisdictions.
Investment from China including Hong Kong into New Zealand reached NZ$10.6 billion in 2018.
Of that, 30% went into lucrative primary industries and forestry investment. 20% into lucrative infrastructure and commercial development and 15% into manufacturing.
Chinese investors are the largest foreign investors in primary products exports, waste management, electrical whiteware, and tourism infrastructure.
Of which, tourism infrastructure is unlikely to be so lucrative at this point in time.
And then there are their banking investments and utilities. In 2008, Hong-Kong based Cheung Kong Infrastructure bought the Wellington Electricity Company. China is the largest foreign investor in New Zealand dairy sector. Haier owns Fisher Paykel Appliances, which once was one of New Zealand largest manufacturing companies.
The total amount invested coupled with the percentage breakdown of the sectors invested in gives some indication to what extent NZ's lucrative sectors are China-owned.
According to the graphs in your link (@12:26 am), in 2019 the value of Australian investment in NZ was $129,000,000,000, followed by the U.K. at $71,003,000,000, and then the U.S.A at $48,689,000,000.
"The total amount invested coupled with the percentage breakdown of the sectors invested in gives some indication to what extent of NZ's lucrative sectors are China-owned."
So to what extent are NZ's lucrative sectors "China-owned"? “NZ$10.6 billion in 2018.” That’s pretty piddly compared to the big three. China is the most populous country in the world – I reckon they can do better.
"National proposes to commit to doubling our two way trade with China from $30 billion to $60 billion over the next decade." – would that make NZ more or less dependent on China, do you reckon?
The US is the danger to planet, they dictate to all the 5 eyes partners taking away the independence of us all. The US rule with fear and bully tactics, they have aggressed in every corner of the globe with actual military attacks and interfere with the politics of their so called friends. China aggression, where have they bombed and destroyed another country like even we have, nowhere, we NZ is a bigger aggressor than China because Chaiman you and the like believe in letting the US dictate our foreign policy. Get a grip, grow some balls and pull out of Yankee aggressive spy domes.
Before you jump to conclusions about some kind of control or censorship here on TS you may want to make sure you don’t make any typos in your user name and/or e-mail address because the system, which is a computer chip with an IQ of zero, will notice your error(s) and put your comment in Pre-Moderation until one of the Moderators has time to look into it and release it.
The US is no saint and there are some within the US that support the big brother China model. However, as it stands the US is the lesser of the two evils.
China may not have bombed anyone but they are building up an arsenal large enough to blow up everyone. Moreover, they are currently flexing their muscles and are on a war footing – see link.
"China may not have bombed anyone but they are building up an arsenal large enough to blow up everyone."
Do you reckon that it would be in China's interests to "blow up everyone"? During WWII Japan partially occupied China, and the U.S.A. dropped nuclear bombs on Japan. How times change.
What purpose does fear-mongering against China serve? IMHO NZ faces more immediate concerns, such as the prospect of a National-led government opening our borders and flooding tertiary institutions with students from China and India. Now there's an investment!
Less than two weeks after the Harper's letter published online, New York Times opinion writer Bari Weiss released a searing resignation letter, in which she detailed what she called an increasingly "illiberal environment" at the paper. That same day, New York Magazine announced it was parting ways with columnist Andrew Sullivan. Their departures were greeted with a chorus of good riddance, reinforcing a creeping intolerance to heterodox views in the allegedly liberal media.
These are not writers who have spilled ink defending President Donald Trump: both Weiss and Sullivan have repeatedly condemned the President as a threat to liberal democracy. But crucially they have also criticized the far-left identity politics they see rising in the wings.
Weiss wrote extensively about anti-Semitism and Sullivan supported gay rights as an early advocate for marriage equality. But they have not let their identities predetermine all of their politics and they have been demonized because of these disagreements — not just by the usual hate parade of trolls, bots and strangers on Twitter, but from fellow journalists. According to Weiss' resignation letter, some newsroom colleagues apparently took to office message boards like Slack as well as public social media platforms with smears and bullying calls for her dismissal.
And it's yet another case of leftists sociopaths copying rightist sociopaths:
When I was covering the unhinged right-wing reaction to the early years of the Obama administration for my book Wingnuts, I saw the center-right being mercilessly purged from the GOP in what was gleefully known as RINO-hunting (shorthand for those considered Republicans in Name Only). As I wrote at the time, "Hunting for heretics pretends to be a principled fight for ideological purity, but behind that mask is an uglier impulse, an attempt to intimidate and insist on conformity."
Yes, the christian model of rigidly-imposed orthodoxy persisted for so many centuries that liberal diversity still struggles to prevail against an internalised assumption that ideological purity is the standard to be enforced. Binary thinking remains the default of most mainstreamers. If you ain't good – in accord with their prescription – you're bad.
To those in NW China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and nations with recognised territorial rights in the South China Sea there is nothing manufactured about it.
To those operating in the global market, being required to hand over tech to operate in the Chinese market (or allow buy up of your export industries), having your tech stolen then exported around the world from China, competing against Chinese companies who get essential resources/minerals via long term contract supply lines with cost below the world price there is nothing manufactured about it.
To those watching how China acquires foreign bases via debt Sri Lanka Pakistan and Djibouti while aiding Iran militarily there is nothing manfuactured about it.
Given breaking Oz and US into economically dependent satellites is part of their three circles ambition for the Pacific, which they have barely tried to hide, there is nothing manufactured about it.
For mine it is going to be hilarious, when the West embraces Russia as part of containment of China, how many people are going to turn on a dime.
I think the vilification of Russia has gone so far ,the West embracing Russia really would be turning on a dime.The West has done everything possible to strengthen links between Russia and China
And the BBC, Guardian for unbiased reporting on the west?
Substandard editor Kath Viner has just sacked the cartoonist Steve Bell. She and the Grauniad are, like the BBC, practically British intelligence assets.
the problem with you lefties is you can't see past your chin.
the report was from the US, which is not being reported on. Of course RT will report on that. You use your sources to centralise information you normally can't find.
Let me guess, you get all your information from stuff and .org.nz organisations?
I had to read about Bari Weiss and found this critique of the newly and professionally cancelled right:
The professionally cancelled pundit is a genre of primarily center-right contrarian who makes their living by deliberately provoking outrage online, and then claiming that the outrage directed at them is evidence of an intolerant left run amok…They’re beloved by white boomers, Romney Republicans and those who use the word “woke” derisively. Their work is meant to appeal to people uncomfortable with social forces that challenge the established hierarchy of power.
Probably some truth in that. The Guardian writer imposes leftist framing as required by the media owner, so we can't call it balanced & fair. Evasion of Chomsky, for instance. So I did my own reality check: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bari_Weiss
Weiss wrote that consensus at the Times had become "that truth isn’t a process of collective discovery, but an orthodoxy already known to an enlightened few whose job is to inform everyone else."
Well, yeah. Media owners have been doing that since forever, eh? So she found the cultural environment too toxic to remain in. The supposed broadness of coverage signalled by the editorial staff was a chimera:
In 2017, as part of an effort by The New York Times to broaden the ideological range of its opinion staff after the inauguration of President Trump, the paper hired Weiss as an op-ed staff editor and writer about culture and politics.
Folks in contested media careers survive if they are robust & resilient. Social darwinism rules that ecosystem. Sensitive folk exposed as snowflakes ought to shift to safer places…
Elite power holders and the old boys network still exist. In addition we now have a completely new dynamic. It's not just aimed at centre right people of privilege, and it's gobsmacking that people think it won't be used against them.
But yeah, maybe not quite as new as I was implying, for sure feminists have been doxxed and targeted by MRAs etc for quite some time. Still, the ante has been well and truly upped and if the left doesn't start talking seriously about its own authoritarian tendencies things will go badly when the shit hits the fan.
One of the alarming aspects is the degree to which liberals and some on the left now believe that getting someone fired is a generally legit tactic. Even if the principles are being abandoned there, what do people think happens to people who get fired? They suddenly become liberals or compliant to whatever the prevailing ideology is? They don't end up with compounding resentment from poverty and stress?
Firstly, it doesn't overrule due process. Employers still have employment law to consider.
Secondly, it's not that I don't think it won't be used against me or others on the left. But at least it is something that people other than the elites can use, aven against the elites if their behaviour is bad enough.
Thirdly, despite what the elites like to say, it doesn't result in dismissal for trivialities. Otherwise they wouldn't have to misrepresent what people got fired for.
Fourthly, columnists and others in the public eye are paid to generate income from their content. If their content results in a boycott, that's on them for not providing the goods their clients and bosses wanted. People who play edgelord risk cutting themselves.
And if someone does lose their job over it, sure there's a low probability they'll learn from it. But even if they don't learn, they can then go looking for employers who find that sort of stuff to be desirable. If hosking can keep a job, there's an employer for any flavour of jerk. And if not, they probably didn't lose their job by advocating for a decent unemployment safety net, so irony, I guess.
Bari Weiss made her name hounding academics who dared to speak out against Israel's depradations in the Occupied Territories and Gaza. She is the quintessence of "cancel culture." I cannot believe, Dennis, that you or anyone else with an I.Q. above room temperature would cite her.
Here's a serious analysis of her by a couple of real journalists….
The same backdoor security threat posed by Chinese multinationals and their state-linked companies is driving the fear of Huawei and its role in the most important global technology in a generation – the 5G network that will connect most of our lives to the internet.
Simon Lacey, the former vice-president of trade facilitation and market access for Huawei Technologies in China, is now a senior lecturer in international trade at the University of Adelaide. Last week he acknowledged Huawei's inherent contradiction.
"In China, it had to demonstrate unwavering loyalty to the goals of the Communist Party leadership. Outside China, it had to argue that it had little or nothing to do with the Chinese state," he said in a piece first published in The Conversation.
Looks like the shift from economic mutuality (as basis for neoliberal globalism) to geopolitical containment is now substantial. As long as it doesn't ascend into bipolar geopolitics (like the Cold War did), the trend is sensible.
That is certainly true. The US has a bipartisan approach on this and has done so for some years.
China's actions in Hong Kong and its treatment of Uighurs is not helping China's position, particularly the latter. Camps for 1 million Uighurs are impossible for China to defend. It is an extreme policy that will have people thinking the absolute worst. The fact that China has done this seems extraordinary to me. Previous Chinese leaders would not have done this.
If China wants to reduce the tension they are going to have to change their policies on some of these things.
It's a statesmanship test for Xi. We don't know if there's any truth in their framing the detention camps as benign. One wonders how long till the UN attempts credibility by declaring intent to send in observers to talk to those interned without Chinese supervision. Even if Xi allowed it, there would have to be specialist teams included to detect/prevent electronic eavesdropping by the guards/regime.
Even if a workable arrangement could be made, there remains the downside of UN tolerance. No point in adopting universal civil rights covenants if you then allow China to get away with a flimsy pretence at adherence!
In 1966 the UN passed two International Human Rights Covenants that are among the great achievements of humankind. The covenants were adopted in five equally binding languages, one of which was Chinese.
The People's Republic of China (PRC) is generally assumed to have ratified one and signed (but not ratified) the other. In 1973, however, soon after the PRC began representing China in the UN, new Chinese-language versions of each mysteriously came into existence.
These are the versions one is likely to find on the UN website, and they are what the Chinese government treats as the “covenants.” The authors of this article show that these contain substantial revisions from the covenants that had been passed by the UN 1966 and subsequently ratified by at least 164 countries.
The revised versions are so different, in fact, that one could well question whether the PRC actually embraced either covenant. The covenants granted rights that the revisions would later withdraw, and in at least one case the revisions recognize a right that is absent in the covenants. Based on their comparative analysis of the various versions, the question arises as to whether China is a responsible actor in the international legal order and a reliable partner when it comes to entering into agreements with other countries or acceding to international treaties. Given that China comprises over one-fifth of humanity, it also brings into question whether the principles in the covenants can claim absolute validity and anything like universal acceptance.
I appreciate that National in govt here has endeavoured to create a coalition of nations in support of UN reform – that seems worth bipartisan support here. I'm unaware of whether Winston has expressed such support. Will be interesting to see if SB provides follow-through.
China doesn't want to reduce the tension – they're taking anything and everything that they can get their hands on and the rest of the world is letting them.
Normally these extravaganzas are announced with bells, whistles & hoopla. She seems not to grasp the essentials of political pr, eh? Coulda used a few dancing girls here & there – tv audiences love that.
Didn't even call it a superhighway, for god's sake. That was so obviously essential! Media love buzzwords.
Three tunnels was good – through huge ranges and under the harbour. Heroic stuff! As macho as you can get. But where was the number of bridges?? Everyone knows promising lots of bridges is essential for National winning. So I dunno. Bit of a mixed bag really.
I recall the 1975 hit job on Gough Whitlam and the consensus of opinion among Labour members and activists was one of shock and disgust. We may not have known the truth behind the sacking but everyone knew the CIA was deeply embedded – as indeed we now know they were in NZ too.
It subsequently transpired the Yanks were building a huge electronic spy station somewhere in the depths of the wastelands and when Whitlam learned of its existence he said he was going to close it down. He had to go. Kerr was assigned the job of sacking him. How much the Rowling government knew is hard to say, but I imagine their response was the same as the rest of us – shock and disgust.
Well, the chickens are coming home to roost now and I have not one ounce of sympathy for them. They have been asking for it for the past 60 years.
And the Aussie spooks were alive and well in NZ too.
In 1992/3 a former ASIS spy, Wendi Holland outed herself and described her many 'adventures' in NZ in the late 1960s and early 1970s in an article published in the Australian Women's Weekly. She described a hit job she did on parliamentarians who were visiting an 'entertainment venue' somewhere in Wellington. She didn't name them but her job was to climb a tree and photograph them entering and leaving the building. All grist for the mill I expect if it ever became necessary to discredit them.
My father knew her (no, not through the brothel) but he died in the 1980s so never knew she was a spy. There's another story there……
Back then (mid 70s) a politician's private life could ruin their political career were the opposition to use an incident against them even when no charge was laid.
Those chickens are foul! Sorry couldn't resist the cliche.
In part that headline at 5.1.1 is true, but we are aware of rather than “jealous of Australia’s growing wealth and power", and would appear irrational to Oz for not meekly following their wise decisions. As for having an inferiority complex, well we suffer from hubris a bit and would be better to be realists using the Baldrick phenomenon – 'having a cunning plan' – and be aware of our strengths and weaknesses.
Kerr could have passed info onto the CIA and this is why Kerr ended up retiring in Britain. Some sort of deal between Britain and the USA intelligence services.
So she did manufacture the whole thing right back to the Bridges dumping ref the Ratfuckers in the story. She is still neck deep in Dirty Politics so who are the Ratfuckers and their pre-history would be revealing.
Some sort of maze. It should not be that hard to have a civilised caucus vote. When it came to Collin's 3rd attempt her selection was, vacancy needs to be filled immediately.
As it was for Andrew Little, the beginning of Todd Muller’s end came about because of a Sunday morning talk show. Muller had decided to decline an invitation to appear on TVNZ’s Q+A. Days of damaging headlines and an onslaught of questions about the leak of confidential patient data by Clutha-Southland MP Hamish Walker had left the 51-year-old bruised and exhausted.
There was no upside to another interrogation … But his deputy, Nikki Kaye, saw it differently. Ignoring advice – and a last-minute intervention by party campaign chair Gerry Brownlee – Kaye decided to front up to the show … Her appearance was – as one insider coarsely put it – “a s… show … Kaye’s interview broke the dam.
The Power behind the Throne
But while the party was thrown into turmoil, Muller’s resignation did draw a line under a chaotic 53 days within the Opposition Leader’s Office.
Under Muller, MPs and candidates had become confused about a lack of direction on policy, and a persistent indecisiveness from what commentators have dubbed the “triangle” of leadership: Muller, Kaye and former justice minister Adams.
Both women – former ministers in the John Key Government – were the leading torchbearers for Muller as the caucus began to lose confidence in Simon Bridges. According to sources, they championed his abilities to fellow MPs and eased his private doubts.
If it was a triangle, it was inverted, with Muller constantly deferring to Kaye and Adams.
Bridges loyalists say none of the criticism about Muller’s leadership style came as a surprise to them: one described Muller as “lazy” and said he was known as someone who “delegated everything”.
High-energy and driven, Kaye has a reputation as being a demanding employer. Staff and MPs were working long into the evening, and late-night phone calls were common.
Decisions – even on minor arrangements like travel – were often re-litigated.
The leadership decided to turn away from the party’s much-hyped policy discussion documents, a body of work diligently prepared by MPs over the previous two years. “No-one could understand it,” one MP said. “It debilitated the whole team.”
Policy never seemed to be finished, and insiders have claimed the caucus was frustrated by Adams changing details right up until the last minute.
That was offered as an explanation for Muller’s shaky and unconfident delivery of National’s five-point economic plan in Christchurch earlier this month.
All about Eve
And there was some resentment about the influence held by first-term Wellington-based MP Nicola Willis, who wrote (Muller's) leadership acceptance speech. She was soon nicknamed “The Devil wears Prada.”
Year of the Ratfuckers
But frustrations mounted and some demoralised staff seriously considered quitting.
Some MPs were also aggrieved – and the hierarchy became irritated by frequent leaks, especially when some information appeared to be incorrect.
There was a certain degree of schadenfreude. Bridges' leadership had been dogged by poisonous leaks to journalists in the Press Gallery, especially in the final nine months as Muller’s campaign to be leader gathered pace.
Bridges’ team suspected a band of three young staffers. The “smart arse” trio – as one source described them – became known as “The Ratf…..s,” a slang term used by Richard Nixon supporters to describe the dirty tricks they used against their opponents.
They were believed to be behind a series of damaging leaks published on a blog site run by former TVNZ reporter Richard Harman.
… The Muller camp copped most of the blame, though the same group were also known to be close to Collins.
… The Ratf….s were also fingered for an embarrassing incident in May 2019, when an “emotional junior staffer” was blamed for deleting a controversial petition against a UN migration compact.
It’s claimed the instruction to delete the post came from Muller’s people.
As Bridges’ supporters had suspected Muller, “the Triangle” presumed Bridges was behind the disloyalty following their coup. Neither side had any evidence.
Backfire
Muller and Kaye decided to try to plug the leaks, with a stern warning to caucus. But it backfired.
For some reason, Muller was unable to deliver the message at the meeting and it was left to Kaye. MPs, particularly the seasoned ones, did not appreciate the lecture from Kaye.
… Few were impressed with her performance thus far. This began almost on day one when she incorrectly described finance spokesman Paul Goldsmith as “obviously Ngāti Porou.”
“We were bleeding from our base,” one MP said. “They didn’t like the second-guessing and the indecisiveness. Right from her first balls-up, with Paul Goldsmith, they didn’t like that we were excusing the lack of ethnicity on the front bench.
“Our supporters could see that he didn’t trust his gut, and it went from bad to worse.”
Respect began to slide, and was further dented by the Walker/Boag affair. Initial anger at Walker’s actions was replaced by an unease at Muller’s performance. Sources have confirmed it was Southern Regional chair Rachel Bird – not Muller or Kaye – who had to talk Walker into stepping down.
Anger Still Burns
Muller is now taking some time off to recover. While there is sympathy for his ordeal, anger still lingers within some of the caucus.
“They got rid of Simon for nothing but personal ambition. They took us to the worst polling we’ve ever had. And now our campaign funds are being eaten up replacing billboards.”
Judith is Anointed
Six months ago, Judith Collins was an unpalatable choice. Her support was so thin that she ruled out running against Muller in May.
This time – her third attempt to secure the leadership – she held no doubts, although her husband David Wong-Tung was worried about the risk.
Senior figures began calling to urge her to run … “I had a few phone calls from some very senior colleagues…people ringing who I never have thought … Before Tuesday’s vote, Key rang to offer support and English has also been in touch. That’s despite the Papakura MP dishing the dirt in her recently released memoir on how she was treated by both men in the previous National administration.
Well that is a revelation Swordfish. I can't read all the 'stuff' in situ as I find I can't handle all the info that I need to know to get an overview and not be stuck in the mud. So that is very clear and informative from a trusted source!
Saying it was better to be overly cautious at uncertain times like this, the nation’s introverts have called for social distancing rules to be maintained for at least another 2-3 years.
“No-one likes being confined to their home by themselves with only a good book, a fridge full of food, a warm bed and a new Netflix series to get stuck into. But these are the sacrifices we have to make in order to kill this virus,” introvert Chloe Bradley said.
Jacinda & Judith: Correct me if I'm wrong … but I'm pretty sure this is the first time in any Western Liberal Democracy that Identical Twin Sisters have led opposing Major Political Parties ?
Q&A with Jack. Crikey Jack. You asked the right questions of Collins and she failed to control the interview. She could not answer questions about the costing of their Transport Project. Judith's smile became a grimace and her answers faltered and she lost her fluency.
I thought the Winston interview was quite interesting, when asked about the Tally's donations and the fact that "cameras on fishing boats still hasn't occurred" nearly 3 years on, Winstons response was that the cameras weren't the problem, it was the collection, storage and analysis of the infomation/pictures that was holding up the process, how convenient.
NZFs slow responce to this issue has been noted, I imagine the 10s of thousands of dollars that Talleys donates to the party has no bearing on the lethargy to enforce the installation of cameras.
So the main takeaways from that interview are that nothing’s going to happen for a decade at least. She said cyclists and pedestrians would have to wait 13 years to get a designated harbour crossing, namely a surplus lane on the old harbour bridge. In the meantime they can pop their cycles on a ferry. The other thing is that she doesn’t have a clue how much anything is going to cost or where the money will come from. So much for using infrastructure spending to rescue the economy from Covid.
Jack's questioning caused Collins to look and sound unsure and unconvincing, however, when Winston came on, Jack floundered. Winston is infuriatingly capable.
How hard can it be to copy the address from whichever window you are reading at the time you are typing and paste it here? That is literally all you need to do. No fancy formatting or anything.
It's like expecting the next person to flush the toilet for you. Embarrassing.
I find an old iphone not too hard to link from. Touch the address bar highlights the URL, touch again gives the options, choose copy, then paste into the TS text box.
Newspapers are carrying the usual election hoardings being taken down stories. National ones. (I wonder if Paul Goldsmith has been talked to about it.)
Funny to see the word 'dickheads' in the headlines and Chris Bishop being quoted.
Those who feel the breath of sadness
Sit down next to me
Those who find they're touched by madness
Sit down next to me
Those who find themselves ridiculous
Sit down next to me
Love, in fear, in hate, in tears
Down
Down
Oh sit down
Sit down next to me
Sit down, down, down, down, down
In sympathy
David appears to be having trouble with some of his followers trying to spread rumours about "some MPs personal lives and/or their families".
I think I know the rumour his followers are spreading. Good on David for trying to do the right thing but it really does ram home the nastiest of the right wing crowd, his crowd. I wonder if David ever reflects on that fact…
Good for grabbing headlines – and a promise already broken, in advance:
"the National Party unveiled new policy stating that anyone entering New Zealand from October 3 would be charged a $3000 fee per adult for their managed isolation if National wins the election."
Obviously this will be popular, but it is also a lie. National cannot do anything from October 3. We will still be waiting for a new government to be sworn in.
Meanwhile, I understand the actual government is considering a similar move at Cabinet tomorrow. In either case, we can expect legal challenges.
Summary: National are doing this today, simply so they can say next week "We announced it first, government followed."
National would like to build up pressure at the border by suggesting a future cost to get in, but why would the government want that?
National wants maximum numbers and risk at the border (local spread fits in with their tourism, migrants/cheap labour and students) approach.
The government response should be no cost stays unless one has gone overseas for a holiday since lockdown. To the charge respond saying those overseas know how to vote if they oppose it. And to resident population guarantee a controlled inflow of returnees based on maintaining Level 1.
As the government is investigating the charging option – I wonder if the position paper has been leaked to her and if it recommends something like this amount? So the "policy" is based on what labour will actually decide and Judith will milk it in some way. With more airlines looking to fly here charging must be moving up the list. Still $3000 feels hefty = $200 per day ( in which case looks like they need to renegotiate the hotel charges.)
Observer, the policy released this morning for charges to returnees is exactly the same policy the Premiere of NSW Berisjeklian unvaled last Thursday, exactly the same.
Excellent policy! Law-abiding ordinary citizens who come back home get slapped with a compulsory fine fee of $3,000. Do they get a discount if they test negative and a surcharge if positive? What happens if they don’t pay? Why not bail them to a suitable private address as they do with not-so-law-abiding citizens? Oh wait …
Most arrivals in May 2020 were short-term travellers, made up of 2,600 New Zealand residents and 2,200 overseas visitors. Provisionally there were 900 migrant arrivals. All these passenger types include New Zealand and non-New Zealand citizens.
Need to check the fine print, Collins said on Q & A "there will be exemptions". & fuck that, we shouldn't have to pay to come back to NZ, non NZrs? Sure.
I think the starting point for considering any National policy at this election is that it is not meant to be implemented. The aim is only to make the MPs' lifeboat bigger.
Regardless of party, there will be legal questions down the track. But the election timetable is shorter than the courts' timetable. Politicians aren't too worried now about what the Supreme Court decides in 2021.
I wouldn't say that exactly. She knew what was coming (it's been discussed for weeks) and went for a quick headline first.
The difference between the parties is that a government can introduce legislation, whereas an opposition can only propose it if elected (hence the October date from National, even though that is impossible, as stated above). Ball is in Labour's court now … but they should be careful, populism isn't a great basis for workable law.
Collins may have got a quick cheap headline but she's had any attack possibilities neutralised by grabbing that headline. Tad impulsive and gave the government an opportunity to show they had it under control. More expected her to be saying there should have been charges months ago.
Agree regarding populism as a poor basis for lawmaking but there's charges for quarantine in import circumstances. Don't think entry is being denied, rather being made conditional.
"With the self-implosion of the untested Todd Muller, the departure of many other top MPs, and the non-possibility of picking Simon Bridges again, she was the best of a bunch of bad options."
I'll give them 30% under Collins, only because there's lots of loyal supporters out there who are not only deaf, but appear to be blind as well, and not all of them are, very Old
"There are many figures you can compare Collins to: Margaret Thatcher if you like her, David Cunliffe if you don’t. What she is much closer to is Don Brash: A leader extremely keen to differentiate his party from the Government, and not afraid to tap into third rail issues like race to do so.
I am a follower of The Standard but my login no longer works. However , I am spitting tacks atm and would like to express my ire over the piss poor, superficial 'menu' being delivered by media for these elections.
One of the most important speeches of our time has been delivered yesterday on Nelson Mandela Day by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres . It's message is universal yet incredibly pertinent to NZ as we approach new elections and make choices for our long term future.
The true NORMAL issues now are not being addressed in the archaic " oh we'll fix a road with billions," promises. It is laughable that in global survival even of New Zealanders, kiwis think a road will save them. It is not Covid19 that is the issue, it's role has only opened the curtains on our deliberate blinkered view. Nor is the problem, the bait being used to instil fear , of an " economic crisis" that are ours and the world's ills ! An "Economic Crisis" has been the norm for decades, not just a new phenomenon; a misnomer used as a catchphrase because the wealthy see lost profit and want the old ways back .. "while we are all floating on the same sea, it’s clear that some are in superyachts, while others are clinging to the drifting debris.” We all are responsible for this, because we vote for it !
Millions and millions of people will continue to perish at our own hands in the near future; and not because of climate change either. Entrenched inequality and neocapitilism, the vices, greed and hatred and the impacts that these have bred, ARE the issues underlying all the world's ills. No! Ms Tapsell standing for National, " the East Coast needs footpaths " . Really ?
There is a myriad of ways that emanate from this accepted inequality that detrimentally affects each of us right here, not just over there… somewhere. But hey, a few seconds given for a condescending pat on the head for standing in Maori seats and a nod to beneficaries that they are safe, solves everything does it not? Only 26 individuals of a population of 8 billion people own half the globes' wealth ! Read that as, ' we'll pander to you silly lot with promises for your vote , then exploit you to pay for it.'
Why has NZ media ignored the analysis and the implications of Guttere's message to the world? Why are the most critical questions, crucial to all our daily lives and future, not being asked of our politiciations by journalists? Instead media , are increasingly treating its audience as an unintelligent species on which it foists more and more trite, inward looking so called news? Where lies the responsibility of NZ media in the quest for urgent change?
“We belong to each other”, Gutteres said. “We stand together, or we fall apart”. The world, he concluded, is at breaking point, and it is time for leaders to decide which path to follow.
Thought experiment – you personally have (take or are given) an equitable share of the "globes wealth". What would you do that you are not currently doing about "the vices greed and hatreds underlying the world's ills " ?
Maybe you're right. But one of the main planks of his campaign is going to be how much the government he's just been in didn't get done. Catnip to centrists I suppose, but everyone else just rolls their eyes.
I think it will backfire on him. It sounds like a clarion call to the left to mobilise and boot his crotchety pale blue arse out of parliament for good, once and for all.
As ever, if you want to have a progressive, left of centre government in NZ, you have to party vote labour or green.
Because GOP Senators junior staffers think black people all look the same.
Like many of their colleagues, GOP Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Dan Sullivan of Alaska posted tributes to Rep. John Lewis on Saturday and included photos of themselves with the civil rights icon who died Friday. Rubio even made the image his Twitter profile picture.
There was just one problem. The photos they each posted were of Rep. Elijah Cummings, who died in October.
"It was an honor to know & be blessed with the opportunity to serve in Congress with John Lewis a genuine & historic American hero," Rubio tweeted with the photo of himself and Cumming
20 people have died in Australia as a result of softening their Covid-19 policy.
Australia had won but then threw it away because of some bizarre idea that the economy is more important than health.
I fully believe deaths in NZ would be in the hundreds and climbing right now if we followed what Australia did. We have a colder climate, and very overcrowded and poor quality housing in a lot of low income areas.
You can't mess with this virus and I think what our Labour-led government* has done is world-beating and should be promoted at every opportunity during the election campaign.
*Apart from Peters who, while the rest of government was doing the mahi, spent lockdown on holiday.
"You can't mess with this virus and I think what our Labour-led government* has done is world-beating and should be promoted at every opportunity during the election campaign."
Yes, we should all be very proud of our collective efforts under the Guidance of some incredible Leadership and direction allat all levels of Govt.
Did we make some mistakes, yep, but we identified them and eliminated them as they arose, that's what real management looks like.
Graeme – have you read this from Bryan Cadogan? Gives Walker and his ilk a not-so-subtle serve (I think).
"OPINION: Comments and derogatory innuendo around New Zealanders returning home, coupled with incessant nitpicking around incidents occurring at our isolation units, is starting to get on my wick.
Our daughter’s job of four years in China has just been vaporised and her visa expiry date is ticking like a time bomb. Like so many people her life has been unexpectedly upheaved and the danger of becoming stateless is a real prospect.
However the difficulties of getting out of China now pale in comparison with the logistical nightmare of getting into New Zealand – thanks to the micro snivelling campaign that has now forced authorities to place restraints on numbers entering the country.
Meanwhile her old man is on the other side of the world feeling an overwhelming urge to tell a few self-proclaimed experts on the matter to shut the beep up and let us have a chance to bring our kids home."
As the local electorate National Party prepares to select a replacement, Boult says ‘‘unless it’s somebody who happens to come from our district, it will take quite a long time to get their head round the issues we face’’.
‘‘While our [Southland] seat has always been regarded as a safe National seat, I’m also
aware the Labour Party has put up a strong candidate [Queenstown-raised Jon Mitchell] this time as well, so it will be interesting.’’
Veteran former local National MP, cabinet minister and two-time Queenstown mayor, Warren Cooper, 87, says ‘‘we don’t need someone that has to learn on the job, we need someone that’s an operator from here on in, once the selection is made’’.
A lot of papering over the cracks in that piece too, Walker was challenged for re-selection by the electorate executive, evidently led by Queenstown branch over honesty issues.
Can see Jon Mitchell doing very well at this end of the electorate, people know him and Boult's endorsement is widespread. Usually the Labour candidate has nothing in common with this end of the electorate. Will be interesting to see how he does down your end, but talking disaster management is pretty much talking farming, to a good farmer.
I agree with you about NZ's approach, but your points about 'Australia' do have to be qualified. Each state and territory has taken a different tack and there seems to be little that can be concluded about the difference between Labor led governments and Coalition (Tory) ones. WA, Tasmania, the NT, South Australia and Queensland have all done as well as NZ, even if they didn't actually set out to eliminate the virus. There was and still is some confusion about what the federal government's intentions were or are, but basically most states have just done what they thought was right anyway.
The problem was Victoria's reliance on using low paid badly trained security workers at quarantine hotels. The virus leaked out (just as it could have done in Auckland before everything was tightened up) and now the state is in the mess it is in and the virus has spread to NSW where elimination had almost been achieved. This virus is very nasty and very contagious, so constant vigilance is going to be needed and that applies to NZ too.
The precise point I'm trying to make is that Australia didn't have a common goal and that 'each state and territory has taken a different tack.
Australia didn’t take it seriously enough.
That is another factor in pandemic response which I'm sure will be examined – the advantages one-state countries have when developing and executing policy under pressure.
edit
I think highly of our Royal Family but not much of the preoccupation of very common-ers in the media and their readers who are magnetised to the glamour or the wealth and fancy surroundings. RadioNZ has something on somebody Sussex who is adding to the brouhaha of Harry and Meghan’s attempt to have a life of their own – Ata marie to them.
It's been a tough time for the British royal family of late, with Prince Andrew laying low in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, Prince Harry stepping down as a senior member of the Royal Family, and a new study showing the royals are pretty much useless at raising money for charity…
Author and foreign correspondent Christina Lamb joined her on a recent trip to South Sudan.
While the journalist was not normally a royal correspondent, she said she joined Sophie on the trip as they were both interested in the issue of sexual violence in war….
"I said to her, you know I can't talk to you about what you're talking about justice for sexual abuse and sexual violence when your brother in law Prince Andrew is being accused of being friends with a paedophile and has in fact been accused by one of the young women of having forcibly slept with her when she was underage."
She was met with silence and told she was unable to answer the question – which Lamb expected, but felt the question still needed to be asked.
After returning to the UK from South Sudan, Lamb went on to visit the grand estate of Bagshot Park, where Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Prince Edward reside in Surrey.
She observed that the running costs of the residence must be enormous – and also noted a contrast with the location they had previously visited.
The wording starts off being disparaging about the
Royals. And the story seems to echo the MeToo meme about the wrongs dealt to women; there is mention of a girl who has just been raped, it’s a rather cheap and nasty way to gain footage by going further than just calling for improvement, but exploiting the wrongs to both women and men under this grey-black amoral code under neolib and low regulation. It is right to keep on about the bad treatment of females, but moral outrages tend to spotlight one matter and bypass other equally important ones.
The female journalist puts herself forward as being the arbiter of the Royals commenting critically on their housing and its cost, and like a speech from the Bench, faulting the amoral behaviour of Prince Andrew as if the Sussex Royal is responsible for all. It seems to me that the nouveau riche in a neolib society that measures everything by money and conformist status, have decided that they are as good as the Royals and are prepared to undermine and white-ant the system that privileges themselves, on their own personal whim and uninspired reflection.
It's archived under life and society | aid and development but it's aimed at the middle and upper class choice of which part of society and aid is currently 'the thing'. At least Princess Diana went after mines hand grenades personal bombs etc. – not at all fashionable, and unfavourably diminishing the profits of many wealthy amoral men and women.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
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Just a comment on something that annoys me on the idiot box:
Why do the reporters all repeat this BS about a 1 in 500 year event re the flooding in Northland.
When it happens again next year and the year after will our memories be so short that we’ll again call it a 1 in 500 year event, as if that explains it all.
Not once have I heard climate change given as an explanation! Intensity of climate events? Naw, just Nature behaving badly.
Collectively we remain in denial about global warming – and the Natz have elected a leader who is a climate change denier!
Comes from NIWAs High Intensity Rainfall System – Councils use the same scientific terminology, engineers use it when designing bridges, culverts etc. Lots of climate change mentions on NIWAs website.
We live in a designated zone that will be inundated by a 100 year flood. The water never came near us. Does this mean a 100 year flood will be worse than a 500 one? Is the Pope Catholic? If I don’t have breakfast will I be hungry by lunchtime?
It simply means that your subcatchment did not receive the same amount of rain as other catchments. Flood models can also assume that culverts are blocked which may not have occurred downstream of your property.
One in 500 or however many years is easier for people to understand than it being an event with an 0.2% chance of occurring in any given year which is a bit more abstract. Return periods whilst useful to describe are somewhat misleading in that regard and don't always help with understanding, alas they are the more common way to different between how common events are.
I'm posting the following clip for those that take an interest in international relations, specifically the relationship between the world's two powerhouses, China and the US.
The local mainstream media don't seem to have comprehensive coverage of this.
This is what I call America's pineapple lump moment and welcome your thoughts.
Warning: this is hard hitting, has global implications, thus is not for the faint-hearted
The days of American passivity and naivety are over. The awaking of the US by US National Security Advisor, Robert O'Brien.
https://youtu.be/_J-Fqe9Xdi4?t=300
Brown nosing his bosses.
/
https://twitter.com/dropdeechalupa/status/1203706751217999873
Interesting. Although it has little to do with all the info collated, the new stance being taken and the related action being implemented.
And do what?
The CCP is helmed by a gang of totalitarian thugs and we're joined at the wallet.
How does the west go about curbing the CCP's most egregious goings on without endangering their own economic well being?
.
.
Hit them (the CCP) personally and in the pocket as Trump is doing.
Some are calling for the CCP to be designated a transnational criminal organization.
NZ recently had an annual trade surplus with China of ~$7,000,000,000, so how might NZ hit the CCP in the pocket?
Maybe the new leader of the opposition National party could put her Chinese contacts to good use in charting a way forward.
In light of developments NZ should be reevaluating its position and reliance on China. Clearly, we're not in the same league as the US, thus can't be expected to lead on this issue but no doubt we will be expected to play our part if the issue deepens and widens.
On a side note, could you tell us how much of that trade surplus was returned to China in the form of profits from their NZ holdings selling goods to China?
Oh, please shut up with your irrelevant questions. A warm thanks in advance.
The relevance was the trade surplus touted. People often tout our trade surplus while overlooking that some of our most lucrative sectors are offshore owned or have high overseas investment, thus should look at our current account to see the wider picture.
Instead of asking questions, maybe it is time that you start giving us some answers, yes?
What are “some of our most lucrative sectors are offshore owned or have high overseas investment”? Don’t hold back in providing supporting information, preferably in the China context. Please don’t mention the Ozzie banks, thanks.
You do agree with the primary premise so at least we have established that.
https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/north-asia/china/#:~:text=Investment,of%20our%20total%20FDI%20stock.
https://nzchinacouncil.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Understanding-Chinese-Investment-in-NZ.pdf
Additionally
We can rule out the Ozzie banks if you wish but that still leaves the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of China and Rabobank all operating here.
There are foreign-owned water bottling plants. Insurance companies. Foreign owned forestry companies are NZ's biggest landowners.
"…no doubt we will be expected to play our part if the issue deepens and widens." – no doubt, Chair, no doubt. And I wonder what part 'we' will be expected to play (and by who) if the issue doesn't deepen and widen.
Re your "side note" enquiry, no, I could not tell 'us' that off the top of my head, but I'd be interested (and frankly amazed) if you could ferret out that info for 'us'.
To what/who does NZ owe thanks for that largish annual trade surplus?
https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/balance-of-payments-and-international-investment-position-year-ended-31-march-2019
The info will be in the download data
Thanks Chair – would you be willing and able to attempt a summary, i.e. to what extent are NZ's lucrative sectors 'China-owned', or was that not your real 'concern'?
The words "China" and "Chinese" aren't used in the URL page that you linked to, although the United States of America, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Japan and Hong Kong are mentioned.
As highlighted above, investment from China is often routed through Hong Kong or other countries, including Singapore, as well as other jurisdictions.
Investment from China including Hong Kong into New Zealand reached NZ$10.6 billion in 2018.
Of that, 30% went into lucrative primary industries and forestry investment. 20% into lucrative infrastructure and commercial development and 15% into manufacturing.
Chinese investors are the largest foreign investors in primary products exports, waste management, electrical whiteware, and tourism infrastructure.
Of which, tourism infrastructure is unlikely to be so lucrative at this point in time.
And then there are their banking investments and utilities. In 2008, Hong-Kong based Cheung Kong Infrastructure bought the Wellington Electricity Company. China is the largest foreign investor in New Zealand dairy sector. Haier owns Fisher Paykel Appliances, which once was one of New Zealand largest manufacturing companies.
The total amount invested coupled with the percentage breakdown of the sectors invested in gives some indication to what extent NZ's lucrative sectors are China-owned.
According to the graphs in your link (@12:26 am), in 2019 the value of Australian investment in NZ was $129,000,000,000, followed by the U.K. at $71,003,000,000, and then the U.S.A at $48,689,000,000.
So to what extent are NZ's lucrative sectors "China-owned"? “NZ$10.6 billion in 2018.” That’s pretty piddly compared to the big three. China is the most populous country in the world – I reckon they can do better.
10% of our total FDI stock.
"National proposes to commit to doubling our two way trade with China from $30 billion to $60 billion over the next decade." – would that make NZ more or less dependent on China, do you reckon?
Discussion Document: The Economy – NZ National Party
"The page you were looking for was not found." – oh dear.
Even more reason to pull out of five eyes and crush the spy domes
We are with the slightly lesser of the two evils being neutral is not an option.
We have to walk a tight rope between them.
Is that even going to be possible with the CCP's ambition to dominate?
Why is that?
The US is the danger to planet, they dictate to all the 5 eyes partners taking away the independence of us all. The US rule with fear and bully tactics, they have aggressed in every corner of the globe with actual military attacks and interfere with the politics of their so called friends. China aggression, where have they bombed and destroyed another country like even we have, nowhere, we NZ is a bigger aggressor than China because Chaiman you and the like believe in letting the US dictate our foreign policy. Get a grip, grow some balls and pull out of Yankee aggressive spy domes.
[Fixed typo in user name]
Before you jump to conclusions about some kind of control or censorship here on TS you may want to make sure you don’t make any typos in your user name and/or e-mail address because the system, which is a computer chip with an IQ of zero, will notice your error(s) and put your comment in Pre-Moderation until one of the Moderators has time to look into it and release it.
Thank you so much for your understanding.
You'd make a bloody good diplomat @Incognito if you're looking for a job job job.
The US is no saint and there are some within the US that support the big brother China model. However, as it stands the US is the lesser of the two evils.
China may not have bombed anyone but they are building up an arsenal large enough to blow up everyone. Moreover, they are currently flexing their muscles and are on a war footing – see link.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2020/05/chinese-president-xi-jinping-tells-military-to-prepare-for-war-boosts-defence-budget.html
Then there is their cover up of the virus with them locking down locally but allowing residents to travel abroad.
"China may not have bombed anyone but they are building up an arsenal large enough to blow up everyone."
Do you reckon that it would be in China's interests to "blow up everyone"? During WWII Japan partially occupied China, and the U.S.A. dropped nuclear bombs on Japan. How times change.
What purpose does fear-mongering against China serve? IMHO NZ faces more immediate concerns, such as the prospect of a National-led government opening our borders and flooding tertiary institutions with students from China and India. Now there's an investment!
Why do you call it America's pineapple lump moment?
Due to the time it took them to realize and react.
Pineapple lumps are famously …slow?
Indeed. You've got to be quick around here (or something along that line) is the saying.
John Avlon is a senior political analyst at CNN. He explores the climate of fear being created by woke social media lynch-mobs hunting freethinker leftists: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/17/opinions/harpers-letter-free-speech-bari-weiss-andrew-sullivan-avlon/index.html
And it's yet another case of leftists sociopaths copying rightist sociopaths:
Yes, the christian model of rigidly-imposed orthodoxy persisted for so many centuries that liberal diversity still struggles to prevail against an internalised assumption that ideological purity is the standard to be enforced. Binary thinking remains the default of most mainstreamers. If you ain't good – in accord with their prescription – you're bad.
We're having our own version of the Cultural Revolution
Just as we're undergoing in the news media our version of Soviet Pravda, where manufactured external enemies are hyped to instill unity
To those in NW China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and nations with recognised territorial rights in the South China Sea there is nothing manufactured about it.
To those operating in the global market, being required to hand over tech to operate in the Chinese market (or allow buy up of your export industries), having your tech stolen then exported around the world from China, competing against Chinese companies who get essential resources/minerals via long term contract supply lines with cost below the world price there is nothing manufactured about it.
To those watching how China acquires foreign bases via debt Sri Lanka Pakistan and Djibouti while aiding Iran militarily there is nothing manfuactured about it.
Given breaking Oz and US into economically dependent satellites is part of their three circles ambition for the Pacific, which they have barely tried to hide, there is nothing manufactured about it.
For mine it is going to be hilarious, when the West embraces Russia as part of containment of China, how many people are going to turn on a dime.
I think the vilification of Russia has gone so far ,the West embracing Russia really would be turning on a dime.The West has done everything possible to strengthen links between Russia and China
Sure, but that cuts both ways, don't ya think?
Russia has earned that on it's own.
Trump is the enabler .
Russia is making more money out of arms sales than ever.
Like wise the US ithey are operating like a cartel creating instability to profit from the insecurity pushing up arms sales
the new reports out show it was all bullshit. You can find it on rt.com
It was just these guys mucking around for larks and fun times. They have no connexion with Pootie. They don't know him at all. Hardly at all.
RT is where I always go to find unbiased reporting on Russia.
I read an article several years ago about how "unbiased" RT was, and it seems it's a contradiction of terms
Indeed. Like asking Saudi Arabia's Muḥammad bin Salmān if he knows a good butcher.
To be fair, RT is pretty good if you're curious about what Pootee wants you to think.
And the BBC, Guardian for unbiased reporting on the west?
It's not quite as direct – relatively few BBC journalists are killed to ensure they tow the UK's preferred line.
And the BBC, Guardian for unbiased reporting on the west?
Substandard editor Kath Viner has just sacked the cartoonist Steve Bell. She and the Grauniad are, like the BBC, practically British intelligence assets.
https://www.thejc.com/news/uk/controversial-cartoonist-steve-bell-to-leave-the-guardian-1.501690
the problem with you lefties is you can't see past your chin.
the report was from the US, which is not being reported on. Of course RT will report on that. You use your sources to centralise information you normally can't find.
Let me guess, you get all your information from stuff and .org.nz organisations?
I had to read about Bari Weiss and found this critique of the newly and professionally cancelled right:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/15/bari-weiss-new-york-times-resignation-cancel-culture
From my perspective, left and liberal activism hasn't changed a bit. What is new is the centre-right's hurt response to it.
Probably some truth in that. The Guardian writer imposes leftist framing as required by the media owner, so we can't call it balanced & fair. Evasion of Chomsky, for instance. So I did my own reality check: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bari_Weiss
Well, yeah. Media owners have been doing that since forever, eh? So she found the cultural environment too toxic to remain in. The supposed broadness of coverage signalled by the editorial staff was a chimera:
Folks in contested media careers survive if they are robust & resilient. Social darwinism rules that ecosystem. Sensitive folk exposed as snowflakes ought to shift to safer places…
What's the world coming to when people call you an idiot just for saying idiotic things. So woke eh.
Here it is. Please read and respond, thanks.
https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-16-07-2020/#comment-1731895
"From my perspective, left and liberal activism hasn't changed a bit."
Social media changed everything. The ability to pile on or get people fired without due process are new.
It's not just the centre-right being harmed.
New for the left, maybe. Tories have been blacklisting individual workers for decades if not centuries.
Elite power holders and the old boys network still exist. In addition we now have a completely new dynamic. It's not just aimed at centre right people of privilege, and it's gobsmacking that people think it won't be used against them.
But yeah, maybe not quite as new as I was implying, for sure feminists have been doxxed and targeted by MRAs etc for quite some time. Still, the ante has been well and truly upped and if the left doesn't start talking seriously about its own authoritarian tendencies things will go badly when the shit hits the fan.
One of the alarming aspects is the degree to which liberals and some on the left now believe that getting someone fired is a generally legit tactic. Even if the principles are being abandoned there, what do people think happens to people who get fired? They suddenly become liberals or compliant to whatever the prevailing ideology is? They don't end up with compounding resentment from poverty and stress?
Firstly, it doesn't overrule due process. Employers still have employment law to consider.
Secondly, it's not that I don't think it won't be used against me or others on the left. But at least it is something that people other than the elites can use, aven against the elites if their behaviour is bad enough.
Thirdly, despite what the elites like to say, it doesn't result in dismissal for trivialities. Otherwise they wouldn't have to misrepresent what people got fired for.
Fourthly, columnists and others in the public eye are paid to generate income from their content. If their content results in a boycott, that's on them for not providing the goods their clients and bosses wanted. People who play edgelord risk cutting themselves.
And if someone does lose their job over it, sure there's a low probability they'll learn from it. But even if they don't learn, they can then go looking for employers who find that sort of stuff to be desirable. If hosking can keep a job, there's an employer for any flavour of jerk. And if not, they probably didn't lose their job by advocating for a decent unemployment safety net, so irony, I guess.
If you ain't woke, you're liberal eh. Or is it the reversewiseways in praxis?
Bari Weiss made her name hounding academics who dared to speak out against Israel's depradations in the Occupied Territories and Gaza. She is the quintessence of "cancel culture." I cannot believe, Dennis, that you or anyone else with an I.Q. above room temperature would cite her.
Here's a serious analysis of her by a couple of real journalists….
https://thegrayzone.com/2020/07/15/bari-weiss-cancel-culture-israel/
Reaction against China seems a rising trend. Depicting it as mere Trumpism probably won't work much longer. https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/300060332/multiple-battlefronts-as-china-takes-on-the-world
Looks like the shift from economic mutuality (as basis for neoliberal globalism) to geopolitical containment is now substantial. As long as it doesn't ascend into bipolar geopolitics (like the Cold War did), the trend is sensible.
Sounds a bit like a future former comrade colonel MP in praxis, eh.
Dennis,
That is certainly true. The US has a bipartisan approach on this and has done so for some years.
China's actions in Hong Kong and its treatment of Uighurs is not helping China's position, particularly the latter. Camps for 1 million Uighurs are impossible for China to defend. It is an extreme policy that will have people thinking the absolute worst. The fact that China has done this seems extraordinary to me. Previous Chinese leaders would not have done this.
If China wants to reduce the tension they are going to have to change their policies on some of these things.
It's a statesmanship test for Xi. We don't know if there's any truth in their framing the detention camps as benign. One wonders how long till the UN attempts credibility by declaring intent to send in observers to talk to those interned without Chinese supervision. Even if Xi allowed it, there would have to be specialist teams included to detect/prevent electronic eavesdropping by the guards/regime.
Even if a workable arrangement could be made, there remains the downside of UN tolerance. No point in adopting universal civil rights covenants if you then allow China to get away with a flimsy pretence at adherence!
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14672715.2015.1082259?scroll=top&needAccess=true&journalCode=rcra20
I appreciate that National in govt here has endeavoured to create a coalition of nations in support of UN reform – that seems worth bipartisan support here. I'm unaware of whether Winston has expressed such support. Will be interesting to see if SB provides follow-through.
China doesn't want to reduce the tension – they're taking anything and everything that they can get their hands on and the rest of the world is letting them.
I've been waiting for collins to announce that its china that's going to build all this infrastructure they are planning..
Normally these extravaganzas are announced with bells, whistles & hoopla. She seems not to grasp the essentials of political pr, eh? Coulda used a few dancing girls here & there – tv audiences love that.
Didn't even call it a superhighway, for god's sake. That was so obviously essential! Media love buzzwords.
Three tunnels was good – through huge ranges and under the harbour. Heroic stuff! As macho as you can get. But where was the number of bridges?? Everyone knows promising lots of bridges is essential for National winning. So I dunno. Bit of a mixed bag really.
Heh!
I have been awaiting another PPP, that Transmission Gully is going great….
One for the ‘Bill Rowling was an honourable man file’ Included in the cache of letters between Kerr and the sovereign at the time of the Dismissal is a lovely little snippet about the way Rowling managed to keep his distance from Kerr while he was on an official visit to Auckland.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-19/palace-letters-here-are-the-letters-you-might-have-missed/12465294
Do you know the date of the Auckland 1975 dinner with Kerr and Rowling?
There was a general election on 29 November 1975 in NZ and Rowling would not have wanted to become involved in an Australian scandal.
Maybe Rowling was tipped off.
May 1975. The Dismissal happened at the beginning of November that year. Kerr bitches to the Palace about his treatment from Rowling and gets a mild rebuke from Charteris the Queen’s Private Secretary.
https://www.politik.co.nz/2020/07/16/letter-from-australia-your-majesty-new-zealanders-are-jealous-of-us-and-are-slightly-irrational/
I recall the 1975 hit job on Gough Whitlam and the consensus of opinion among Labour members and activists was one of shock and disgust. We may not have known the truth behind the sacking but everyone knew the CIA was deeply embedded – as indeed we now know they were in NZ too.
It subsequently transpired the Yanks were building a huge electronic spy station somewhere in the depths of the wastelands and when Whitlam learned of its existence he said he was going to close it down. He had to go. Kerr was assigned the job of sacking him. How much the Rowling government knew is hard to say, but I imagine their response was the same as the rest of us – shock and disgust.
Well, the chickens are coming home to roost now and I have not one ounce of sympathy for them. They have been asking for it for the past 60 years.
So back then when it came to political hit jobs the spooks were part of it???
As far as Australia was concerned – yes.
And the Aussie spooks were alive and well in NZ too.
In 1992/3 a former ASIS spy, Wendi Holland outed herself and described her many 'adventures' in NZ in the late 1960s and early 1970s in an article published in the Australian Women's Weekly. She described a hit job she did on parliamentarians who were visiting an 'entertainment venue' somewhere in Wellington. She didn't name them but her job was to climb a tree and photograph them entering and leaving the building. All grist for the mill I expect if it ever became necessary to discredit them.
My father knew her (no, not through the brothel) but he died in the 1980s so never knew she was a spy. There's another story there……
Back then (mid 70s) a politician's private life could ruin their political career were the opposition to use an incident against them even when no charge was laid.
Those chickens are foul! Sorry couldn't resist the cliche.
In part that headline at 5.1.1 is true, but we are aware of rather than “jealous of Australia’s growing wealth and power", and would appear irrational to Oz for not meekly following their wise decisions. As for having an inferiority complex, well we suffer from hubris a bit and would be better to be realists using the Baldrick phenomenon – 'having a cunning plan' – and be aware of our strengths and weaknesses.
Kerr could have passed info onto the CIA and this is why Kerr ended up retiring in Britain. Some sort of deal between Britain and the USA intelligence services.
I think the main reason he moved to the UK was because he’d become so reviled in Australia. His actions and role in the Dismissal ruined him really.
Today's Stuff column on National's nest of vipers is worth a read. What a tangled web of distrust, back stabbing and deceit.
There's so much there all right. I almost cried when I saw that Woodhouse suffered 'collateral damage.'
Does that mean his party will ignore homeless people?
Saw Woodhouse in Dunedin on Fri, I figure he was here to check his emails.
The former impartial ref has been side lined because of dirty play red carded demoted to the reserve bench.After giving his team a hospital pass.
Link:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/122163895/better-the-devil-you-know-the-inside-story-of-how-judith-collins-became-nationals-leader
So she did manufacture the whole thing right back to the Bridges dumping ref the Ratfuckers in the story. She is still neck deep in Dirty Politics so who are the Ratfuckers and their pre-history would be revealing.
They have also done some work on Collins’ appearance-they are trying hard to soften her. The problem is what comes out of her mouth.
Some sort of maze. It should not be that hard to have a civilised caucus vote. When it came to Collin's 3rd attempt her selection was, vacancy needs to be filled immediately.
Some Highlights:
Beware the Curse of Q+A
The Power behind the Throne
All about Eve
Year of the Ratfuckers
Backfire
Anger Still Burns
Judith is Anointed
Well that is a revelation Swordfish. I can't read all the 'stuff' in situ as I find I can't handle all the info that I need to know to get an overview and not be stuck in the mud. So that is very clear and informative from a trusted source!
National caucus is clinging to a life boat named Collins, which will leak.
And it won't be the Westpac Rescue Helicopter coming to the rescue.
Best laugh all day.
This is actually a well-rounded, in-depth article. Stuff is doing some good work these days, well done!
Peter, they have history in ignoring homeless people until this phantom one in the hotel!
Someone's said it out loud.
Saying it was better to be overly cautious at uncertain times like this, the nation’s introverts have called for social distancing rules to be maintained for at least another 2-3 years.
“No-one likes being confined to their home by themselves with only a good book, a fridge full of food, a warm bed and a new Netflix series to get stuck into. But these are the sacrifices we have to make in order to kill this virus,” introvert Chloe Bradley said.
https://www.theshovel.com.au/2020/05/01/introverts-call-for-lockdown-to-be-extended-by-another-2-3-years-just-to-be-sure/
Heh. Joking aside – there's a real discussion to be had about how alienating and pointless BAU feels for many people
I've been saying it for months. Well, sorta kinda, anyways.
Jacinda & Judith: Correct me if I'm wrong … but I'm pretty sure this is the first time in any Western Liberal Democracy that Identical Twin Sisters have led opposing Major Political Parties ?
"“But she's 61 years of age. She's tired of all the dirty tricks stuff. "
Shouldn't that be "She's tried all of the dirty tricks stuff."
"and found it curiously satisfying…"![smiley smiley](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/regular_smile.png)
Q&A with Jack. Crikey Jack. You asked the right questions of Collins and she failed to control the interview. She could not answer questions about the costing of their Transport Project. Judith's smile became a grimace and her answers faltered and she lost her fluency.
Watch Jack and Judy on Q&A.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/live from about 7 minutes
Like all right-wing populists, Judith manages to be simultaneously ridiculous and sinister.
Once Hamish HashisPrice and Bent Thomas finish 'analysing' it, she will have crushed it.
Ain't that the truth Gabby, I know we all partisan to some extent but those 2 are just delusional, who they think they kidding?
I thought the Winston interview was quite interesting, when asked about the Tally's donations and the fact that "cameras on fishing boats still hasn't occurred" nearly 3 years on, Winstons response was that the cameras weren't the problem, it was the collection, storage and analysis of the infomation/pictures that was holding up the process, how convenient.
Winston was his usual combative self.
Mind you, it's bloody hard to collect, store and analyse pictures you haven't got cameras to take in the 1st place.
A question Jake Tane should have asked.
NZFs slow responce to this issue has been noted, I imagine the 10s of thousands of dollars that Talleys donates to the party has no bearing on the lethargy to enforce the installation of cameras.
OK, why can't the camera upload the pics to the cloud via satellite?
Too, too simple, dv ('cause, it would work).
You can't chuck a satellite overboard.
Because then we would have to wait for Woodhouse to go to the cloud till we found out what the cameras revealed.
So the main takeaways from that interview are that nothing’s going to happen for a decade at least. She said cyclists and pedestrians would have to wait 13 years to get a designated harbour crossing, namely a surplus lane on the old harbour bridge. In the meantime they can pop their cycles on a ferry. The other thing is that she doesn’t have a clue how much anything is going to cost or where the money will come from. So much for using infrastructure spending to rescue the economy from Covid.
I guess Collins can be forgiven for not knowing how much building a road costs, she struggled with the price of a block of cheese.
Jack had her on the ropes and she looked ridiculous….. quite different to the patsy interview with Tova yesterday.
Jack's questioning caused Collins to look and sound unsure and unconvincing, however, when Winston came on, Jack floundered. Winston is infuriatingly capable.
Tova was gushing more than Collin's yesterday on the Nation.
As a side issue the two British campaigners on the Nation are about to relaunch Peter's.
Banks and Wigmore have clearly already started: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300060509/winston-peters-takes-aim-at-labour-and-greens-in-campaign-launch-speech – note the disparaging "woke pixie dust" comment about Labour and the Greens – bog standard Brexitese…
I fess up, I am so lazy when it comes to doing a link as it is a hit and miss for me.
How hard can it be to copy the address from whichever window you are reading at the time you are typing and paste it here? That is literally all you need to do. No fancy formatting or anything.
It's like expecting the next person to flush the toilet for you. Embarrassing.
Too tough, teacher.
A cell phone is hard to use for a link. Everything is so small and I misplace stuff.
As for flushing the toilet, I have grasped being able to do this since age 2.
I find an old iphone not too hard to link from. Touch the address bar highlights the URL, touch again gives the options, choose copy, then paste into the TS text box.
Thank you. I will get the hang of doing a link with better gear, soon. I constanly mess up my smart phone settings.
For god's sake Treetop! Could you be any more odious on a sunday evening.
Newspapers are carrying the usual election hoardings being taken down stories. National ones. (I wonder if Paul Goldsmith has been talked to about it.)
Funny to see the word 'dickheads' in the headlines and Chris Bishop being quoted.
To be fair, the bish has a MASSIVE head.
Wonder how Bishop feels about Jack's Transport "vision" being challenged. Another Hoarding being taken apart?
Trainwreck interview for Collins on Q&A this morning. Panic at being pressed by Tame for on-point response palpable.
Yep, the old fiscal hole in the budjet trick, the numbers don't add up.
Would the Auckland petrol tax levy not be down due to the lockdown?
To all commenters trying to be active and wise and keep up one's head on the run up to the election.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChfZZNu3nfQ
https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/james/sitdown.html
noice..
https://twitter.com/MightyBlender/status/1283621161742397440
https://twitter.com/MightyBlender/status/1283621165181747201
Joe 90
What a fabulous list – in the full meaning of the word!
Farrar watch:
David appears to be having trouble with some of his followers trying to spread rumours about "some MPs personal lives and/or their families".
I think I know the rumour his followers are spreading. Good on David for trying to do the right thing but it really does ram home the nastiest of the right wing crowd, his crowd. I wonder if David ever reflects on that fact…
Good for grabbing headlines – and a promise already broken, in advance:
"the National Party unveiled new policy stating that anyone entering New Zealand from October 3 would be charged a $3000 fee per adult for their managed isolation if National wins the election."
Obviously this will be popular, but it is also a lie. National cannot do anything from October 3. We will still be waiting for a new government to be sworn in.
Meanwhile, I understand the actual government is considering a similar move at Cabinet tomorrow. In either case, we can expect legal challenges.
Summary: National are doing this today, simply so they can say next week "We announced it first, government followed."
Sure this is the government's intent?
National would like to build up pressure at the border by suggesting a future cost to get in, but why would the government want that?
National wants maximum numbers and risk at the border (local spread fits in with their tourism, migrants/cheap labour and students) approach.
The government response should be no cost stays unless one has gone overseas for a holiday since lockdown. To the charge respond saying those overseas know how to vote if they oppose it. And to resident population guarantee a controlled inflow of returnees based on maintaining Level 1.
As the government is investigating the charging option – I wonder if the position paper has been leaked to her and if it recommends something like this amount? So the "policy" is based on what labour will actually decide and Judith will milk it in some way. With more airlines looking to fly here charging must be moving up the list. Still $3000 feels hefty = $200 per day ( in which case looks like they need to renegotiate the hotel charges.)
Observer, the policy released this morning for charges to returnees is exactly the same policy the Premiere of NSW Berisjeklian unvaled last Thursday, exactly the same.
Collins the con
Excellent policy! Law-abiding ordinary citizens who come back home get slapped with a compulsory
finefee of $3,000. Do they get a discount if they test negative and a surcharge if positive? What happens if they don’t pay? Why not bail them to a suitable private address as they do with not-so-law-abiding citizens? Oh wait …Oh wait … There's more
Most arrivals in May 2020 were short-term travellers, made up of 2,600 New Zealand residents and 2,200 overseas visitors. Provisionally there were 900 migrant arrivals. All these passenger types include New Zealand and non-New Zealand citizens.
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU2007/S00227/international-arrivals-in-may-lowest-in-61-years.htm
Need to check the fine print, Collins said on Q & A "there will be exemptions". & fuck that, we shouldn't have to pay to come back to NZ, non NZrs? Sure.
I think the starting point for considering any National policy at this election is that it is not meant to be implemented. The aim is only to make the MPs' lifeboat bigger.
Glad someone has worked it out.
I think we've all worked it out, especially National's loyal and united caucus![wink wink](https://cdn.ckeditor.com/4.11.3/full-all/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.png)
Nobody checks the fine-print anymore. But it all seems a moot point and aimed at a poll bounce and nothing else. Cynical politics at its finest.
😆 Labour agrees to charge returnees, announcement soon over quarantine costs
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12349183
😀
And this is why it was announced today:
Megan Woods responds.
Regardless of party, there will be legal questions down the track. But the election timetable is shorter than the courts' timetable. Politicians aren't too worried now about what the Supreme Court decides in 2021.
Did Collins just get played like a fiddle
I wouldn't say that exactly. She knew what was coming (it's been discussed for weeks) and went for a quick headline first.
The difference between the parties is that a government can introduce legislation, whereas an opposition can only propose it if elected (hence the October date from National, even though that is impossible, as stated above). Ball is in Labour's court now … but they should be careful, populism isn't a great basis for workable law.
That was Bridges' strategy during Covid. Worked out well for him…
Collins may have got a quick cheap headline but she's had any attack possibilities neutralised by grabbing that headline. Tad impulsive and gave the government an opportunity to show they had it under control. More expected her to be saying there should have been charges months ago.
Agree regarding populism as a poor basis for lawmaking but there's charges for quarantine in import circumstances. Don't think entry is being denied, rather being made conditional.
"With the self-implosion of the untested Todd Muller, the departure of many other top MPs, and the non-possibility of picking Simon Bridges again, she was the best of a bunch of bad options."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300060232/why-national-took-so-long-to-pick-judith-collins
"she was the best of a bunch of bad options."
Bottom of the barrel stuff..
I'll give them 30% under Collins, only because there's lots of loyal supporters out there who are not only deaf, but appear to be blind as well, and not all of them are, very Old
But only just…
"There are many figures you can compare Collins to: Margaret Thatcher if you like her, David Cunliffe if you don’t. What she is much closer to is Don Brash: A leader extremely keen to differentiate his party from the Government, and not afraid to tap into third rail issues like race to do so.
The electorate rejected Brash,"
Wasn't Brownlee Brashs deputy leader too?
Yes he was. Need to get out the record books to see if anyone has ever been a deputy leader, then returned to the same job five leaders later.
After Nuck Smith had a brief meltdown in the role of Deputy, yes.
Noticed that Economic Recovery is not really part of the rhetoric recently. Roads, Leadership, Vision but in the coming months?
I am a follower of The Standard but my login no longer works. However , I am spitting tacks atm and would like to express my ire over the piss poor, superficial 'menu' being delivered by media for these elections.
One of the most important speeches of our time has been delivered yesterday on Nelson Mandela Day by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres . It's message is universal yet incredibly pertinent to NZ as we approach new elections and make choices for our long term future.
The true NORMAL issues now are not being addressed in the archaic " oh we'll fix a road with billions," promises. It is laughable that in global survival even of New Zealanders, kiwis think a road will save them. It is not Covid19 that is the issue, it's role has only opened the curtains on our deliberate blinkered view. Nor is the problem, the bait being used to instil fear , of an " economic crisis" that are ours and the world's ills ! An "Economic Crisis" has been the norm for decades, not just a new phenomenon; a misnomer used as a catchphrase because the wealthy see lost profit and want the old ways back .. "while we are all floating on the same sea, it’s clear that some are in superyachts, while others are clinging to the drifting debris.” We all are responsible for this, because we vote for it !
Millions and millions of people will continue to perish at our own hands in the near future; and not because of climate change either. Entrenched inequality and neocapitilism, the vices, greed and hatred and the impacts that these have bred, ARE the issues underlying all the world's ills. No! Ms Tapsell standing for National, " the East Coast needs footpaths " . Really ?
There is a myriad of ways that emanate from this accepted inequality that detrimentally affects each of us right here, not just over there… somewhere. But hey, a few seconds given for a condescending pat on the head for standing in Maori seats and a nod to beneficaries that they are safe, solves everything does it not? Only 26 individuals of a population of 8 billion people own half the globes' wealth ! Read that as, ' we'll pander to you silly lot with promises for your vote , then exploit you to pay for it.'
Why has NZ media ignored the analysis and the implications of Guttere's message to the world? Why are the most critical questions, crucial to all our daily lives and future, not being asked of our politiciations by journalists? Instead media , are increasingly treating its audience as an unintelligent species on which it foists more and more trite, inward looking so called news? Where lies the responsibility of NZ media in the quest for urgent change?
“We belong to each other”, Gutteres said. “We stand together, or we fall apart”. The world, he concluded, is at breaking point, and it is time for leaders to decide which path to follow.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1068611
Thanks The Standard members.
Thought experiment – you personally have (take or are given) an equitable share of the "globes wealth". What would you do that you are not currently doing about "the vices greed and hatreds underlying the world's ills " ?
… spend it as quickly as possible – on hedonistic pursuits?
Face masks to be mandatory in Melbourne as Victoria records 363 new Covid-19 cases today.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/face-masks-mandatory-in-melbourne-victoria-records-363-new-covid-19-cases
New Covid-19 cases reported in Victoria last week.
Mon 13 July: 168
Tue 14 July: 257
Wed 15 July: 224
Thu 16 July: 302
Fri 17 July: 415
Sat 18 July: 188
Sun 19 July: 343
Victoria currently has 2,837 active cases, 130 in hospital, 28 in ICU.
https://covidlive.com.au/
Total number of cases has gone from 7000 cases to 10500 over 4 wks, it will take months of strict lockdown to get the numbers back down.
This is the Economic pain that NZ was able to offset through strict conditions and a loyal team of 5 million
A vote for New Zealand First is a vote for National.
Do you really think that?
Peters would know how bad the rot is in the National caucus and I do not think he is up for being in a snake pit.
Peters is trying to take National's votes.
Maybe you're right. But one of the main planks of his campaign is going to be how much the government he's just been in didn't get done. Catnip to centrists I suppose, but everyone else just rolls their eyes.
I think it will backfire on him. It sounds like a clarion call to the left to mobilise and boot his crotchety pale blue arse out of parliament for good, once and for all.
As ever, if you want to have a progressive, left of centre government in NZ, you have to party vote labour or green.
That's my take too, he's like Grandpa Simpson now, yelling at clouds.
The whole "right to believe in God" thing was the final thing that has turned me away from him.
Time for Winston to retire.
After todays interview on Q & A, I was disappointed in Peters, he didn't point out all achievements of the "Coalition" Govt for which he is a part of.
Instead, he grand standed all NZFs achievements, the PGF being the big one, handing out public money.
I don't recall the PGF being a NZF policy, I maybe wrong.
So much for Coalition Partners
Collins says she won't work with NZF
With NZF polling at 1.8%, perhaps the punters aren't convinced they've got the goods and NZF are over represented in Coalition decisions.
Never write them off, but many supporters may be wary after signing up to a Centre/Left Coalition
Because
GOP Senatorsjunior staffers think black people all look the same.Like many of their colleagues, GOP Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Dan Sullivan of Alaska posted tributes to Rep. John Lewis on Saturday and included photos of themselves with the civil rights icon who died Friday. Rubio even made the image his Twitter profile picture.
There was just one problem. The photos they each posted were of Rep. Elijah Cummings, who died in October.
"It was an honor to know & be blessed with the opportunity to serve in Congress with John Lewis a genuine & historic American hero," Rubio tweeted with the photo of himself and Cumming
https://www.adn.com/nation-world/2020/07/18/dan-sullivan-marco-rubio-pay-tribute-to-john-lewis-using-the-photo-of-a-different-black-congressman/
heh
https://twitter.com/skolanach/status/1284697718477123584
20 people have died in Australia as a result of softening their Covid-19 policy.
Australia had won but then threw it away because of some bizarre idea that the economy is more important than health.
I fully believe deaths in NZ would be in the hundreds and climbing right now if we followed what Australia did. We have a colder climate, and very overcrowded and poor quality housing in a lot of low income areas.
You can't mess with this virus and I think what our Labour-led government* has done is world-beating and should be promoted at every opportunity during the election campaign.
*Apart from Peters who, while the rest of government was doing the mahi, spent lockdown on holiday.
"You can't mess with this virus and I think what our Labour-led government* has done is world-beating and should be promoted at every opportunity during the election campaign."
Yes, we should all be very proud of our collective efforts under the Guidance of some incredible Leadership and direction allat all levels of Govt.
Did we make some mistakes, yep, but we identified them and eliminated them as they arose, that's what real management looks like.
You couldn't have said that any better.
Graeme – have you read this from Bryan Cadogan? Gives Walker and his ilk a not-so-subtle serve (I think).
"OPINION: Comments and derogatory innuendo around New Zealanders returning home, coupled with incessant nitpicking around incidents occurring at our isolation units, is starting to get on my wick.
Our daughter’s job of four years in China has just been vaporised and her visa expiry date is ticking like a time bomb. Like so many people her life has been unexpectedly upheaved and the danger of becoming stateless is a real prospect.
However the difficulties of getting out of China now pale in comparison with the logistical nightmare of getting into New Zealand – thanks to the micro snivelling campaign that has now forced authorities to place restraints on numbers entering the country.
Meanwhile her old man is on the other side of the world feeling an overwhelming urge to tell a few self-proclaimed experts on the matter to shut the beep up and let us have a chance to bring our kids home."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/opinion/122098318/enough-of-the-snide-talk-about-homecoming-kiwis–
I've got a lot of respect for both the Cadogan bros. Both or either would be a significant asset to either major party.
There was this in our local yesterday, looks like the lodge has had enough of party plonkas in Clutha Southland and want a 'mature' MP
A lot of papering over the cracks in that piece too, Walker was challenged for re-selection by the electorate executive, evidently led by Queenstown branch over honesty issues.
Can see Jon Mitchell doing very well at this end of the electorate, people know him and Boult's endorsement is widespread. Usually the Labour candidate has nothing in common with this end of the electorate. Will be interesting to see how he does down your end, but talking disaster management is pretty much talking farming, to a good farmer.
Australia's second wave stems from hotel quarantine mismanagement.
I agree with you about NZ's approach, but your points about 'Australia' do have to be qualified. Each state and territory has taken a different tack and there seems to be little that can be concluded about the difference between Labor led governments and Coalition (Tory) ones. WA, Tasmania, the NT, South Australia and Queensland have all done as well as NZ, even if they didn't actually set out to eliminate the virus. There was and still is some confusion about what the federal government's intentions were or are, but basically most states have just done what they thought was right anyway.
The problem was Victoria's reliance on using low paid badly trained security workers at quarantine hotels. The virus leaked out (just as it could have done in Auckland before everything was tightened up) and now the state is in the mess it is in and the virus has spread to NSW where elimination had almost been achieved. This virus is very nasty and very contagious, so constant vigilance is going to be needed and that applies to NZ too.
The precise point I'm trying to make is that Australia didn't have a common goal and that 'each state and territory has taken a different tack.
Australia didn’t take it seriously enough.
That is another factor in pandemic response which I'm sure will be examined – the advantages one-state countries have when developing and executing policy under pressure.
edit
I think highly of our Royal Family but not much of the preoccupation of very common-ers in the media and their readers who are magnetised to the glamour or the wealth and fancy surroundings. RadioNZ has something on somebody Sussex who is adding to the brouhaha of Harry and Meghan’s attempt to have a life of their own – Ata marie to them.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday/audio/2018755591/can-sophie-wessex-reignite-the-royal-flame
It's been a tough time for the British royal family of late, with Prince Andrew laying low in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations, Prince Harry stepping down as a senior member of the Royal Family, and a new study showing the royals are pretty much useless at raising money for charity…
Author and foreign correspondent Christina Lamb joined her on a recent trip to South Sudan.
While the journalist was not normally a royal correspondent, she said she joined Sophie on the trip as they were both interested in the issue of sexual violence in war….
"I said to her, you know I can't talk to you about what you're talking about justice for sexual abuse and sexual violence when your brother in law Prince Andrew is being accused of being friends with a paedophile and has in fact been accused by one of the young women of having forcibly slept with her when she was underage."
She was met with silence and told she was unable to answer the question – which Lamb expected, but felt the question still needed to be asked.
After returning to the UK from South Sudan, Lamb went on to visit the grand estate of Bagshot Park, where Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Prince Edward reside in Surrey.
She observed that the running costs of the residence must be enormous – and also noted a contrast with the location they had previously visited.
The wording starts off being disparaging about the
Royals. And the story seems to echo the MeToo meme about the wrongs dealt to women; there is mention of a girl who has just been raped, it’s a rather cheap and nasty way to gain footage by going further than just calling for improvement, but exploiting the wrongs to both women and men under this grey-black amoral code under neolib and low regulation. It is right to keep on about the bad treatment of females, but moral outrages tend to spotlight one matter and bypass other equally important ones.
The female journalist puts herself forward as being the arbiter of the Royals commenting critically on their housing and its cost, and like a speech from the Bench, faulting the amoral behaviour of Prince Andrew as if the Sussex Royal is responsible for all. It seems to me that the nouveau riche in a neolib society that measures everything by money and conformist status, have decided that they are as good as the Royals and are prepared to undermine and white-ant the system that privileges themselves, on their own personal whim and uninspired reflection.
It's archived under life and society | aid and development but it's aimed at the middle and upper class choice of which part of society and aid is currently 'the thing'. At least Princess Diana went after mines hand grenades personal bombs etc. – not at all fashionable, and unfavourably diminishing the profits of many wealthy amoral men and women.