Somebody here yesterday asked whether there were even any family members left to receive compensation for the US's wrongful drone strike on an innocent family in Kabul.
Afghan survivors of US drone strike: Sorry 'is not enough'
"Sorry is not enough for the Afghan survivors of an errant US drone strike that killed 10 members of their family, including seven children.
Emal Ahmadi, whose 3-year-old daughter Malika was killed on August 29, when the US hellfire missile struck his elder brother's car, told The Associated Presson Saturday that the family demands Washington investigate who fired the drone and punish the military personnel responsible for the strike."
“That is not enough for us to say sorry,” said Ahmadi. “The USA should find the person who did this."
"Ahmadi said the family is also seeking financial compensation for their losses and demanded that several members of the family be relocated to a third country, without specifying which country.
…
Even as evidence mounted to the contrary, Pentagon officials asserted that the strike had been conducted correctly, to protect the US troops remaining at Kabul's airport ahead of the final pullout the following day, on August 30.
…
Zemerai was the family's breadwinner had looked after his three brothers, including Emal, and their children."
"'Now I am the one who is responsible for all my family and I am jobless,' said Emal Ahmadi. The situation “is not good”, said Ahmadi of life under the Taliban. International aid groups and the United Nations have warned of a looming humanitarian crisis that could drive most Afghans below the poverty level.
…
Ahmadi wondered how the family's home could have been mistaken for an Islamic State hideout."
“The USA can see from everywhere," he said of US drone capabilities. “They can see that there were innocent children near the car and in the car. Whoever did this should be punished.”
Couple of items of interest on Afghanistan reported on Aljazeera tv news:
“Taliban leaders have turned the Kabul building that housed Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs into the offices for the religious police, an ominous portent for women’s rights.”
And, according to Aljaz tv reporting, the Taliban have announced that all BOYS should return to their secondary schools from today. Creating fears that girls are not going to be permitted to attend secondary schools.
Aljaz further reports that co-ed schools in Afghanistan (or it might just be Kabul) have been strictly segregated, & the Taliban have previously recently said that young women may return to Universities (but in segregated classes, & to bectaught only by women – which several female academics there have said will end up being impractical & unaffordable for many, so that it’s likely a tactic to ultimately achieve the goal of sending women back into their homes, while initially avoiding world condemnation). So this has created general confusion.
PS: The Taliban leadership has apparently just said it will be making an announcement about when girls can return to secondary schools at some point soon.
I’m losing count of the number of Auckland L4 lockdown breachers being arrested by the police all over the motu. Some folk up there are starting to go stir-crazy, it seems.
Although I noticed that masks and social distance had suddenly become quite universal around Queenstown locals, including a couple of gentlemen who were prominent at the howl a month or so back. The sense of security from isolation, 'covid's just in South Auckland, none down here', gone and replaced by a quiet concern.
Pleasing to see but last week very few were masking or distancing, and if you did you got shit. Retail staff were scared and very thankful to those that were masking. Retailers Assn has done a lot of good work educating employers and staff of the requirements and reasons for masking and staff feel vulnerable. It's pleasing to see some responsibility from the public, even if it is motivated by personal fear.
Yes, I'm in Welly. Just got back from my supermarket shopping. Everyone's masked up, including yours truly, & shoppers are all trying to keep a reasonable amount of distance from other shoppers at Level 2.
I get a bit hacked off with the mask fogging up me specs, but until we get everyone possible vaccinated, I'm quite happy to keep wearing a mask when out in public.
I find I can prevent my glasses fogging with stillsuit breathing (if you know Herbert's Dune); in through the mouth, and out through the nose. Though it does take a couple of minutes to switch back to more regular patterns when the mask comes off. Also, the bridge of the glasses helps hold the mask on too – but I am using washable cloth ones rather than wired disposables.
I bought 3 cloth masks, made in India, sold to me off my Dentist’s counter. He & his missus are both Kiwi Indians with still-strong connections to whanau back in the old country which, until Covid, they visit regularly. They’re both practising Christians & were selling them for an orphanage charity in India that they support.
The only thing is they seemed to be a single layer cloth – but nope, I’ve just gone & checked them carefully & they’re lined: 2 layers.
I’ve got a biggish box of surgical masks, so I’m using a few of them up first. They’re supposed to be one-use-only, but I go out from my home base relatively infrequently & often for only about 30 mins or so, so most the time I take it off in the car & re-use it a few times in Level 2, where there’s less risk of Covid being in the air & getting on the mask.
In Level 4 lockdowns – when Welly’s had cases in the community – they get trashed after one use.
I notice on Aljazeera tv-shown Press Conferences that the Taliban & the Iranian leadership have the same problem, McFlock. 😀 I’ve just got a mo. Not so much of a problem.
Good to see the 'evil doers' taking their civic responsibilities seriously.
It seems that these terrible inhuman monsters, that we have to slaughter hundreds of innocent civilians. just to get to one of them, shares some very human frailties with the rest of us.
Nearly 90 Percent Of People Killed In Recent Drone Strikes Were Not The Target
U.S. drone strikes have killed scores of civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.
However it's a sunny, quite warm day today & I noticed when trying on my mask outside, there wasn't that much of a problem today.
It may well diminish or disappear as the weather gets warmer – though no doubt we'll get a real "Polar Blast" barreling up the whole country sometime before the end of September. Happens every year.
Went for a bush walk here on Auckland's North Shore yesterday. Close to our home about 2km away. A bit hesistant as the track narrows in a lot of places and it was a nice day – but stuck our masks on and assumed others would too. Only about 20% masked – people puffing their way back uphill unmasked and right past others who were also unmasked and taking a breather. Completed our walk – albeit with a fair bit of backing into the bushes and keeping clear of others when we hit the beach at the bottom. Regretted the decision to go. Looked a bit like a case of "Covid's just in South Auckland, none up here…"
Mask compliance here in Whanganui is nearly universal. Late last week I saw a kuia bawling out a group of school kids over their not wearing masks in a crowded main street. The whole lot donned the masks they were carrying.
Good on her. From my observations, they allow a fair bit of latitude to young kids & don’t always bawl out their tamariki for misdemeanors. When they do, I bet the kidz listen up !
Nah they were escaping last time. Family on the Coromandel commented on how many Aucklanders were flying in by helicopter during lock down and/or arriving in the middle of the night.
I think it is more that people have lost tolerance for the behaviour this time.
Here’s an even scarier statement, from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s strategies during crisis standards of care:
“Universal DNR Order: Adult patients hospitalized during a public health emergency, when crisis standards of care have been declared, should receive aggressive interventions; however, they should receive NO attempts at resuscitation (compressions, shocks or intubation if not yet intubated) in the event of cardiac arrest. The likelihood of survival after a cardiac arrest is extremely low for adult patients. As well, resuscitation poses significant risk to healthcare workers due to aerosolization of body fluids and uses large quantities of scarce resources such as staff time, personal protective equipment, and lifesaving medications, with minimal opportunity for benefit.”
In other words, whether we’ve signed a “do not resuscitate” directive or not, everyone single one of us is now under a DNR directive in Idaho because we’ve reached crisis standards of care due to a deadly and overwhelming surge of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in our hospitals.
If it were up to me, I would now be setting up tents in the far corner of hospital carparks as the Unvaccinated Covid wards. And giving the directive that unvaccinated (but eligible for vaccination) covid patients are first on the list for triaging.
Conventional triaging and medical ethics is built around events out of the control of those injured. But what we've got coming at us is very much foreseeable, and there is a very safe, very effective, and free precaution (almost) all of us can take against being a part of the coming problem (that unfortunately isn't quite 100% effective). However, some will refuse to do their very minimal bit for their community and help themselves at the same time.
Responding to this problem is a society-wide values and ethics and resource-allocation issue, not a conventional medical ethics and triaging situation. Therefore conventional medical ethicists are not the right people for setting the response guidelines.
Our government needs to be the ones to step up and give the hard word.
If it were up to me, I would now be setting up tents in the far corner of hospital carparks as the Unvaccinated Covid wards. And giving the directive that unvaccinated (but eligible for vaccination) covid patients are first on the list for triaging.
You could sell tickets – the morally superior vaccinated people could come and watch the spectacle of the 'filth' choking to death. Seems it would be popular.
But I would set up another tent in a different corner of the carpark as a vaccination centre. So those that need the shock of seeing how nasty it is to nudge them into protecting themselves can get it done then and there.
We won't discuss the morality of kids needing care after a car accident, for example, not getting admitted to hospital, because it is full of idiots who didn't get vaccinated, when it is easily available.
Already happening in New York State, from a first hand description.
US hospitals ration care amid shortages and Covid-19 surge
Surges in coronavirus cases in several US states this week, along with staffing and equipment shortages, are exacting a mounting toll on hospitals and their workers, leading to warnings at some facilities that care would be rationed.
…
In Alaska, the influx is so heavy the state's largest hospital is no longer able to provide life-saving care to every patient who needs it due to the influx of Covid-19 hospitalisations, according to an open letter from the medical executive committee of Providence Alaska Medical Centre this week.
"If you or your loved one need speciality care at Providence, such as a cardiologist, trauma surgeon, or a neurosurgeon, we sadly may not have room now," the letter read. "There are no more staffed beds left."
Yes Gezza, apparently therre was a protest on women's suffrage day in Dunedin calling for trans rights. I am informed the protesters countering the women's celebrations seem to have no idea what women's suffrage was about. That women had to fight hard for their right to cast a vote.
Was there Anker? I haven't heard anything about that myself (but then the last time I bothered marching in protest was against the TPPA, so people know better than to ask me along), and I am familiar with a few takatāpui kaiwhakahē o Ōtepoti. Do you have a link?
This is the closest I could find (from yesterday), but then again – I don't use Twitter or suchlike:
Local feminists are marching for their rights in Wellington and Dunedin on New Zealand Suffrage Day, this Sunday, in protest against two bills before Parliament that the women say will erode their rights; the Births, Deaths, Marriages and Relationships Registration Bill and the Conversion Practices Prohibition Legislation Bill…
The Wellington protest will take place on Sunday, 19 September, at 12.00pm, at Te Aro Park, and a rally will be held at the Octagon in Dunedin from 11 am.
Sufferage became universal for males for all males in 1879 (as opposed to male land owners only being able to vote)
In 1867 the Maori seats were established so Maori males could vote.
Then women got the vote in 1893, the first country in the world that allowed women to vote. Women fought hard for this in NZ and in other countries. In some countries like Switzerland women didn't get the vote till the 1970's.
Voting rights were restricted biological sex. That's why suffrage is celebrated by women.
Women have always celebrated suffrage on our day 19th September. It was then that we were included. We are remembering how hard our sisters fought to be included.
The protests were against SUFW hijacking the Suffrage Day celebration (there were posters saying the Octagon even was organised by the SUFW to oppose self ID thing), not against the Suffrage Movement.
Afaik, it wasn't SUFW, it was Women's Liberation Aotearoa and Mana Wāhine Kōrero. And they didn't hijack a Suffrage Day celebration, they organised it. They have a FB page if you want to look it up.
The universal in "universal suffrage" refers more to the right to both; vote for, and stand for, elected office. Universal suffrage in NZ was deemed to have been achieved even before women and Māori got the right to vote. Māori votes were problematic from 1867 (when they were worth about a quarter as much as Pākehā by population, and weren't permitted to use secret ballots, or electoral rolls) all the way up until 1992 with the adoption of MMP that finally gave (those who chose to risk discrimination for identifying as) Māori a proportionate voice in parliament.
However, I would argue that we have not yet reached true universal suffrage due to age restrictions (particularly in the 16-17 age group; which I think is currently before the courts based on the HRA, but even younger might be feasible through proxy). Also the removal of voting rights for prisoners, and preventing those convicted of a crime punishable for more than 2 years imprisonment (even if the actual sentence is less than that). Plus NZ citizens losing the right to vote if they have been out of the country for too long (3 years, I think – that's going to be an live issue come 2023).
Exclusive: The government is bracing itself for supplies of beer, fizzy drinks and meat to be hit by a severe shortage of CO2, with supermarkets and restaurants expected to be affected in the coming days.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was warned on Thursday that shortages of CO2, caused by the closure this week of two major fertilizer plants, would affect manufacturers across food and drink industry, PoliticsHome understands.
[…]
The CO2 shortage is set to compound ongoing disruption to food and drink supplies caused by chronic shortages of lorry drivers, processors, and other workers in the UK's supply chains.
The labour shortages, which have been exacerbated by the coronavirus and Brexit, have resulted in household names like McDonald's, Gregg's, and the Co-op running out of certain items in recent weeks, with the disruption expected to worsen in the coming weeks in the run-up to Christmas.
The final outcome of Brexit is uncertain. In my view the EU is a bloated bureaucratic that has long ago lost it's way. The sooner it returns to a simple trade pact the better.
"but their labour laws only caught up on them now… because brexit."
On the contrary. The article states "Decades of anti-union legislation has tilted what was always an unequal relationship between workers and capital even further in the latter’s favour. "
"Some people would rather rule over peasants in muck than live in a developed and equitable society."
On the back of 300mil quid a week, and other bullshit.
The basic problem with that article is that unionisation wouldn't stop EU drivers making cross-channel deliveries. So unions or not, crashing out of the EU was still a predictably stupid thing to do.
So the "nuanced" view is that if Brexit hadn't happened, there'd still be the same shortages now?
Because it seems to me that if they had enough drivers before Brexit, and not enough drivers after, then maybe that's an issue they should have fucking considered and solved before crashing out of the EU.
That article was written in 2019, and includes this "This article demonstrates why the NHS is currently suffering from a staffing crisis…". So the staffing crisis existed BEFORE Brexit came into effect.
From that link "London still has a towering lead over rivals Frankfurt, Milan and Paris when it comes to trading stocks, currencies and derivatives and playing host to asset managers." You're quoting from an article written less than 2 months after Brexit came into effect, that is extolling London's virtues! Look I can give you more.
The people of the UK overwhelmingly backed pro-Brexit policies of the Conservatives in the last election. They will have a far better country as a result.
Well, the kingdom wasn't quite united on that one.
But it's funny how the driver shortages really hit home when they can't just get some Baltic drivers in at the last minute, innit. Pure coincidence, according to the nuanced view?
More the energy crunch due to large increases in natural gas prices.
With the large fertilizer manufacturers shutting production of Nitrogen and ammonia urea,there will be large increases in food costs,and the cost of building materials such as waste pipes,guttering etc.
Electricity has also (like NZ) skyrocketed in Europe.
Meamwhile Collins and co are trying to find a way of saying we should, open up immediately, and accept however many deaths and disabilities, as well as the economic loss to businesses and workers, that were largely able to carry on business as usual, due to the success of comprehensive but short lockdowns, without actually saying it.
Oh dear, we have a Plan B parrot that tripped over a few logical fallacies and fell in a rabbit hole. Please enlighten us, in your own words, as to why you claim that lockdowns in NZ are not working.
Cases are constant as are the mystery numbers. Shows covid is in the community and getting aroind
I never said plan B. I said level 3 with more mandatory restrictions to enjoy it. Open up just enough to give Aucklanders some relief but keep it safe.
You didn’t have to, it was crystal clear; in fact, no link required or desired, this time, as it would show you as the Plan B parrot that you are.
Shows covid is in the community and getting aroind [sic]
That comment shows a profound misunderstanding of lockdown, which is exactly because of spread in the community. In all reality, the peak has passed, but the tail is long (and hard), and most if not all news cases are linked to existing clusters within 24 hours and occur in households of known positive cases. Lockdown is definitely working, even against the much tougher Delta variant.
I hope you enjoyed the briefing at 4 pm by Ardern and Bloomfield and found it informative and educational. Lockdowns do work indeed!
In fact, it works so well that they have decided to use it again:
For the Mangatangi community to the east of Maramarua and the southeast of Miranda on the firth of Thames, a section 70 order has been put in place extending the road boundary currently around Auckland.
This area, under the advice of the Director-General of Health Doctor Ashley Bloomfield, is in a "bespoke Level 4'' arrangement for five days.
That means getting tested, staying home, and monitoring symptoms until that deadline is up.
It's tough, but it is working. Sydney and Melbourne show that if you ease off this sucker even a little bit, Auckland will be counting deaths by the day. Maybe when damned near everyone is double-jabbed, but not before.
I'd like to see some analysis on how onward transmission is still occurring at L4. The inference given at the 1PM today was that it isn't through the consumption of essential services, i.e. it's not unrelated people using the same dairy, laundromat, etc. Rather it's due to inter-household contact, either due to outright bubble-breaking, or to special circumstances where someone from one household has to provide support to another household. And if that's the case, I don't see how you stop it without tightening controls even further and/or throwing more resources and people at it.
For the most part many of the activities of people infectious in the community, are essential visits.
They haven't tended to see cases spin-off from locations of interest such as pharmacies and supermarkets. They're seeing transmission within households.
The weasel wording of "for the most part" and "haven't tended" suggests to me that some is indeed happening. Which would have an easy solution: instead of them having to go out on their essential trips, deliver their essential supplies instead. The government can easily stump up the delivery fee.
Most if not all new cases can be linked to known existing cases within 24 hours.
Most if not all transmission takes place within households.
Most of the activities of people who are deemed infectious in the community are (for) essential visits.
One possibility is to provide extra assistance to those identified households, e.g., using some kind of personalised chaperone system with experienced health care professionals from within the local community. This might help break the so-called long hard tail of this Delta outbreak in Auckland and allow the rules to be somewhat relaxed for the rest of the greater Auckland region that is in lockdown and the rest of the whole country sooner rather than later. In other words, more tailored and targeted measures with more flexibility and nuance reflecting the specific and local circumstances rather than the current crude blanket measures that seem to obey the rule (mantra) that one size fits all. How hard can that be?
Yes, maybe something new needs to be done, even if it is hard. Throwing 'wrap-around' care at households where someone is identified as a close contact – so they literally don't go anywhere until negative Day12 tests are returned, or into MIQ if tests are positive. Low numbers of such households presumably make it feasible.
But I guess everyone is scared of scenes like we saw in the early days in Wuhan with full PPE-wearing cops positioned outside people's front doors and physically shoving them back inside.
Yes, it would have its own set of difficulties and would indeed require some finesse for want of a better word.
I was thinking of allowing members of those households to continue to go about their ways under lockdown rather than give them full house arrest and without extra limitations and restrictions that could stigmatise them in their (local) communities.
A fully vaccinated professional could show them the do’s & don’ts, including mask-wearing and hand-washing, for example, and also chaperone them safely from a discrete distance without looking like a bodyguard in full armour, so to speak. Maybe appoint one member of the household as gatekeeper and observer of QC and adherence to good practice, but this may not gel well with certain socio-cultural norms within those households.
Things need to be tailored or they won’t work at all and possibly even backfire; intra-household wedges are not desired outcomes.
We need more lateral thinking and solutions after more than 18 months of dealing with this pandemic. We also need boldness combined with kind firmness.
I had a friend in Wuhan Province during their initial lock-down. They used a lot of workers to man intersections and then building entrances – eventually taking orders for shopping and delivering them for residents. It minimised contact between households and enabled a successful and orderly lockdown. there may have been police involved, and they were quick to use full body covering including masks. I did not hear of any widespread unrest; most of the population readily complied with requests. Whether that would have worked here is a moot point; they have a much higher density of population in cities than we do – and China is one of the few countries that has better Covid statistics then we do.
… provide extra assistance to those identified households, e.g., using some kind of personalised chaperone system with experienced health care professionals from within the local community. This might help break the so-called long hard tail of this Delta outbreak in Auckland and allow the rules to be somewhat relaxed for the rest of the greater Auckland region…
Its a no-brainer. Lets be honest for once about the problem in Auckland:
This outbreak appears pretty much confined to one ethnicity and in large part is caused by too many people in one household and the tendency to socially meet in large numbers eg. church functions. Setting aside the reason for this scenario which I know is not entirely their fault, it would be absurd if the whole of the Auckland region should continue to suffer the consequences of a L4 lockdown.
It was pertinent to the recovery process up until now, but any continuation would be harmful to Auckland and the rest of the country. Instead concentrate resources into the group who are currently topping the 'cases chart' and assist them to overcome the plight so many are currently in.
As an aside, to be really effective, public health measures need to be taken and tailored to the people who need it, i.e., know your audience. This means great(er) involvement of local community medical centres and GPs. This is one major reason why I’m quite wary of the abolishing of the DHBs, which are indeed a shambles, and replacing them with a more centralised structure and system. Public health happens at grassroots and patient level, not in boardrooms on top floors of tall buildings by managers in suits with bonus payments based on meeting KPIs. Same could be said about many societal issues, for that matter.
I think most community health centres and GPs are involved now. What I suspect happened is the government did not have sufficient vaccine to go too hard out and that is why they delayed bringing in the bulk of the medical clinics. Whether that was an error of judgement or they were constrained by sticking to one brand or for some other reason I don't know. Whatever, the situation has now changed.
We'll have to wait and see the fine print re-the proposed new Health Boards but there is little argument the country has way too many DHBs. I trust Andrew Little to set them up in such a way they will not turn into big corporate-type conglomerates. We had a good health system prior to neoliberalism. In fact it was regarded as one of the best in the world.
'A prisoner who arrived at an Auckland jail attended court on Friday when no technology was available for him to appear remotely, and he later tested positive for Covid-19.
More than a dozen people are regarded as contacts and Manukau District Court, a nearby custody unit and police vehicles had to be deep-cleaned.
But legal sources including one who was at the court on Friday say even more staff who were present now have to isolate, and some were not alerted to the situation until today.
After Herald enquiries, police and the Ministry of Justice confirmed the man attended Manukau District Court in person.
The Herald understands the defendant was in Courtroom 4 from 12.05 to 12.21pm.
Officials have said four police officers, five Corrections staff and six prisoners were being treated as contacts.'
the irony there is that no-one on the left with a job they care about would dare satirise the impact of individiualising pronouns on people's jobs. Or the English language.
Or how contradictory gender identity theory is,
"Because gender is a social construct, and I was born this way."
At 34 days NZ's and VIC's graphs are identical. If it's L4 keeping us there, any lifting of it will see our graph follow VIC's.
I can tell you now, Auckland isn't happy. Five more weeks at L4 to try suppress that graph when just a few people are not following the rules and ruining it for everyone else is going to result in some serious social division.
It used to be that naming and shaming rule breakers worked a treat. The government seems to have gone gun-shy yet again…
Taiwan and Vietnam do not tolerate such antisocial behaviour.
What are you trying to say there? That NZ does “tolerate” such behaviour and/or that NZ should become more like those countries and change the law to hand out tougher penalties and punishments? It sounds like a comment that could have come from a dog-whistling virtue-signalling two-faced politician talking from both sides of their mouth, if you asked me.
The moment Russiagate took the person I love most by Serena Sopwith-Fotherington, Daisycutter Sports News, Dec. 18, 2021
[deleted]
[I have no idea what the hell that was, but deleted because at least some of it was a cut and paste from a BBC website. Morrissey, you haveto make clear what are your words, and what are someone else’s and you have to do so in a manner that other people, including the mods, can understand. Use the blockquote tag, or some other way of making it clear – weka]
I will not utter profanities, but 🤬. And leave any other reactive comments to myself and go online and order a bottle of Whisky or 2. By the time they are finished Auckland maybe at level 3 🙁
Forgot to get a 4 pack of Tip Top Boysenberry Trumpets when I shopped at the supermarket today. No treats in the house at all today. I blame the guvermint.
(It’s not their fault, I just often blame all guvermints so I can move on from my trauma.)
ISRAEL CAPTURES LAST TWO PRISONERS WHO TUNNELLED OUT OF HIGH SECURITY PRISON
Aljazeera tv is reporting that Israeli police have just recaptured the remaining two Palestinian escapees from an Israeli high security prison.
The Israelis might now be able to stand down the thousands of police, security & other IDF personnel who have been deployed in the Palestinian occupied territories during the hunt for the fugitives, fearful that they might have been planning to stage attacks in Israel.
A Palestinian Rights Group says the Israelis have arrested over 100 Palestinians since those 6 prisoners escaped a few weeks ago. Their troops, a female Palestinian representative of the Group says, have also been roughing up & harassing & detaining hundreds of Palestinians while searching for the escapees.
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
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Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
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Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
Normally when we talk about accessing public transport it’s about improving how easy it is to get to, such as how easy is it to cross roads in a station/stop’s walking catchment, is it possible to cycle to safely, do bus connections work, or even if are there new routes/connections ...
Politicians are not renowned for telling the truth. Some tell us things that are verifiably not true. They offer statements that omit critical pieces of information. Gloss over risks, preferring to offer the best case scenario.Some not truths are quite small, others amusing in their transparency. There are those repeated ...
The pressure is mounting on the Government as it finalises its Budget Policy Statement, but yet more predicted revenue ‘goes missing’. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Climate Commission has delivered another funding blow to the National-ACT-NZ First coalition Government’s tax-cutting plans, potentially carving $1.4 billion off the ‘climate ...
The Government now faces the prospect of having to watch another tax raise the price of petrol when, only six days ago, it abolished the Auckland Regional Fuel tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon argued that the regional fuel tax imposed costs on lower-income people with less fuel-efficient vehicles and that ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
Today marks a tragic milestone for New Zealanders as the Coalition Government side with big tobacco to repeal the Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Smoked Tobacco) Amendment Act 2022, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins and Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
This year’s Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity and the contribution of Pacific communities to New Zealand culture, says Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti. Dr Reti announced dates for the 2024 Pacific Language Weeks during a visit to the Pasifika festival in Auckland today and says there’s so ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Hughes, Lecturer, Research School of Management, Australian National University After months of debate and intrigue, the AFL’s 19th and newest team, the Tasmania Devils, finally launched its jumper, logo and colours in Devonport this week. The Devils will wear green, ...
Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Gaunson, Associate Professor in Cinema Studies, RMIT University Narelle Portanier/Binge “If you don’t know who your mob are, you don’t know who you are,” Detective Andrea “Andie” Whitford (played by Leah Purcell) is told early into the new crime ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
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Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Patrick Taylor, Chief Environmental Scientist, EPA Victoria; Honorary Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University Naiyana Somchitkaeo/Shutterstock A recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine has linked microplastics with risk to human health. The study ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Albert Van Dijk, Professor, Water and Landscape Dynamics, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University Global climate records were shattered in 2023, from air and sea temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice extent. Scores of countries recorded their hottest year ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jason Nassios, Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University This article is part of The Conversation’s series examining the housing crisis. Read the other articles in the series here. Australian state and federal governments spend money in many ways to ...
The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
SailGP’s races feature in-your-face action, with agile, hydro-foiling catamarans tacking and jibing for the title over several days. However, public comments ahead of the global series’ return to New Zealand have left this past year’s controversy in the shadows, as a key appointment attracts criticism from dolphin advocates. A year ...
Opinion: We are fast approaching a fundamental change in prisons. As the number of people on custodial remand looks set to overtake the number of sentenced prisoners, the main function of prisons in New Zealand may become incarcerating un-sentenced people who may not be guilty of offending. We have already ...
A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
Opinion: In a move that has shocked road safety advocates across the country, the new Minister of Transport, Simeon Brown, is poised to abandon the previous government’s speed limit reduction policy, particularly around schools. Even more alarmingly, he wants school speed limits to be variable rather than full-time, arguing ...
Auckland Council is opposing a fast-track development backed by Sir John Kirwan and Spark NZ, because it doesn’t meet stringent new climate adaptation requirements The post Surf-data centre faces new 3.8C climate warming rules appeared first on Newsroom. ...
When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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The letters, which were published last week, were addressed to Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) Chairperson Megawati Sukarnoputri, National Democrat Party (NasDem) Chairperson Surya Paloh, National Awakening Party (PKB) Chairperson Muhaimin Iskandar, Justice and Prosperity Party (PKS) President Ahmad Syaikhu and United Development Party (PPP) Chairperson Muhammad Mardiono. In ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emerald L King, Lecturer in Humanities, University of Tasmania IMDB Between Netflix’s 2023 live-action version of One Piece, and its latest take on Avatar: The Last Airbender, fans are once again asking: why are live-action anime adaptations so tricky to ...
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The government says it still intends to deliver tax cuts by July, but will not lock them in until they have got them past their coalition partners. ...
Kiingi Tuheitia Pootatau Te Wherowhero VII has hosted members of the Green Party Caucus at Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaaruawahia. The audience follows the King’s Hui-aa-Motu on 20 January, where more than 10,000 people gathered to discuss national ...
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Somebody here yesterday asked whether there were even any family members left to receive compensation for the US's wrongful drone strike on an innocent family in Kabul.
Afghan survivors of US drone strike: Sorry 'is not enough'
"Sorry is not enough for the Afghan survivors of an errant US drone strike that killed 10 members of their family, including seven children.
Emal Ahmadi, whose 3-year-old daughter Malika was killed on August 29, when the US hellfire missile struck his elder brother's car, told The Associated Presson Saturday that the family demands Washington investigate who fired the drone and punish the military personnel responsible for the strike."
“That is not enough for us to say sorry,” said Ahmadi. “The USA should find the person who did this."
"Ahmadi said the family is also seeking financial compensation for their losses and demanded that several members of the family be relocated to a third country, without specifying which country.
…
Even as evidence mounted to the contrary, Pentagon officials asserted that the strike had been conducted correctly, to protect the US troops remaining at Kabul's airport ahead of the final pullout the following day, on August 30.
…
Zemerai was the family's breadwinner had looked after his three brothers, including Emal, and their children."
"'Now I am the one who is responsible for all my family and I am jobless,' said Emal Ahmadi. The situation “is not good”, said Ahmadi of life under the Taliban. International aid groups and the United Nations have warned of a looming humanitarian crisis that could drive most Afghans below the poverty level.
…
Ahmadi wondered how the family's home could have been mistaken for an Islamic State hideout."
“The USA can see from everywhere," he said of US drone capabilities. “They can see that there were innocent children near the car and in the car. Whoever did this should be punished.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/300410616/afghan-survivors-of-us-drone-strike-sorry-is-not-enough
Couple of items of interest on Afghanistan reported on Aljazeera tv news:
“Taliban leaders have turned the Kabul building that housed Afghanistan’s Ministry of Women’s Affairs into the offices for the religious police, an ominous portent for women’s rights.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/world/asia/taliban-women-ministry-religious-police.html
And, according to Aljaz tv reporting, the Taliban have announced that all BOYS should return to their secondary schools from today. Creating fears that girls are not going to be permitted to attend secondary schools.
Aljaz further reports that co-ed schools in Afghanistan (or it might just be Kabul) have been strictly segregated, & the Taliban have previously recently said that young women may return to Universities (but in segregated classes, & to bectaught only by women – which several female academics there have said will end up being impractical & unaffordable for many, so that it’s likely a tactic to ultimately achieve the goal of sending women back into their homes, while initially avoiding world condemnation). So this has created general confusion.
PS: The Taliban leadership has apparently just said it will be making an announcement about when girls can return to secondary schools at some point soon.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300410641/covid19-pair-arrested-in-wellington-after-allegedly-travelling-from-auckland
I’m losing count of the number of Auckland L4 lockdown breachers being arrested by the police all over the motu. Some folk up there are starting to go stir-crazy, it seems.
They have been released on bail to travel back to a court appearance in Auckland.
Should have been held until they have shown no covid infection
Although I noticed that masks and social distance had suddenly become quite universal around Queenstown locals, including a couple of gentlemen who were prominent at the howl a month or so back. The sense of security from isolation, 'covid's just in South Auckland, none down here', gone and replaced by a quiet concern.
Pleasing to see but last week very few were masking or distancing, and if you did you got shit. Retail staff were scared and very thankful to those that were masking. Retailers Assn has done a lot of good work educating employers and staff of the requirements and reasons for masking and staff feel vulnerable. It's pleasing to see some responsibility from the public, even if it is motivated by personal fear.
Yes, I'm in Welly. Just got back from my supermarket shopping. Everyone's masked up, including yours truly, & shoppers are all trying to keep a reasonable amount of distance from other shoppers at Level 2.
I get a bit hacked off with the mask fogging up me specs, but until we get everyone possible vaccinated, I'm quite happy to keep wearing a mask when out in public.
There is a two-sided 'body" tape that chemists sell that give a better air seal around the nose than the wire used in some masks.
Thanks Ed, might check that out when next in the chemists.
I’ve got a couple of rolls of 1/2 inch micropore tape at home. Might experiment with that.
I find I can prevent my glasses fogging with stillsuit breathing (if you know Herbert's Dune); in through the mouth, and out through the nose. Though it does take a couple of minutes to switch back to more regular patterns when the mask comes off. Also, the bridge of the glasses helps hold the mask on too – but I am using washable cloth ones rather than wired disposables.
I bought 3 cloth masks, made in India, sold to me off my Dentist’s counter. He & his missus are both Kiwi Indians with still-strong connections to whanau back in the old country which, until Covid, they visit regularly. They’re both practising Christians & were selling them for an orphanage charity in India that they support.
The only thing is they seemed to be a single layer cloth – but nope, I’ve just gone & checked them carefully & they’re lined: 2 layers.
I’ve got a biggish box of surgical masks, so I’m using a few of them up first. They’re supposed to be one-use-only, but I go out from my home base relatively infrequently & often for only about 30 mins or so, so most the time I take it off in the car & re-use it a few times in Level 2, where there’s less risk of Covid being in the air & getting on the mask.
In Level 4 lockdowns – when Welly’s had cases in the community – they get trashed after one use.
There's this dude making nose clips that allegedly help prevent fogging.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300410247/covid19-champions-one-mans-3d-printing-hobby-provides-solution-to-common-mask-problem
I just tend to wear my mask high, so that the glasses actualy hold the mask down on the bit by the nose that usually seems to be responsible.
In the process of making some extra large masks to stop me bristles poking out the bottom though.
I notice on Aljazeera tv-shown Press Conferences that the Taliban & the Iranian leadership have the same problem, McFlock. 😀 I’ve just got a mo. Not so much of a problem.
Good to see the 'evil doers' taking their civic responsibilities seriously.
It seems that these terrible inhuman monsters, that we have to slaughter hundreds of innocent civilians. just to get to one of them, shares some very human frailties with the rest of us.
Top US General Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr. said, 10 civilians, including children, killed in a drone strike was "a mistake"
Bull-Sh cough it
When you deploy a weapon that you know kills civilians 90% of the time, and it kills civilians, it is not a mistake.
There are lots of good video tips on line on how to fix this problem.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQ9dhkG-Dgs
Kia ora for this, Jenny
She actually doesn't have much success!
However it's a sunny, quite warm day today & I noticed when trying on my mask outside, there wasn't that much of a problem today.
It may well diminish or disappear as the weather gets warmer – though no doubt we'll get a real "Polar Blast" barreling up the whole country sometime before the end of September. Happens every year.
"Covid's just in South Auckland, none down here…"
Went for a bush walk here on Auckland's North Shore yesterday. Close to our home about 2km away. A bit hesistant as the track narrows in a lot of places and it was a nice day – but stuck our masks on and assumed others would too. Only about 20% masked – people puffing their way back uphill unmasked and right past others who were also unmasked and taking a breather. Completed our walk – albeit with a fair bit of backing into the bushes and keeping clear of others when we hit the beach at the bottom. Regretted the decision to go. Looked a bit like a case of "Covid's just in South Auckland, none up here…"
Mask compliance here in Whanganui is nearly universal. Late last week I saw a kuia bawling out a group of school kids over their not wearing masks in a crowded main street. The whole lot donned the masks they were carrying.
Retailers have been excellent, too.
Good on her. From my observations, they allow a fair bit of latitude to young kids & don’t always bawl out their tamariki for misdemeanors. When they do, I bet the kidz listen up !
Nah they were escaping last time. Family on the Coromandel commented on how many Aucklanders were flying in by helicopter during lock down and/or arriving in the middle of the night.
I think it is more that people have lost tolerance for the behaviour this time.
But it's my body, my choice….fucking filth
St. Luke’s reported that 92-94% of its COVID-19 patients in the past week have been unvaccinated. And 95-98% of its COVID-19 patients taking up ICU beds were unvaccinated.
Here’s an even scarier statement, from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s strategies during crisis standards of care:
“Universal DNR Order: Adult patients hospitalized during a public health emergency, when crisis standards of care have been declared, should receive aggressive interventions; however, they should receive NO attempts at resuscitation (compressions, shocks or intubation if not yet intubated) in the event of cardiac arrest. The likelihood of survival after a cardiac arrest is extremely low for adult patients. As well, resuscitation poses significant risk to healthcare workers due to aerosolization of body fluids and uses large quantities of scarce resources such as staff time, personal protective equipment, and lifesaving medications, with minimal opportunity for benefit.”
In other words, whether we’ve signed a “do not resuscitate” directive or not, everyone single one of us is now under a DNR directive in Idaho because we’ve reached crisis standards of care due to a deadly and overwhelming surge of unvaccinated COVID-19 patients in our hospitals.
And it’s all entirely preventable.
https://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/editorials/article254287998.html
(my bold)
If it were up to me, I would now be setting up tents in the far corner of hospital carparks as the Unvaccinated Covid wards. And giving the directive that unvaccinated (but eligible for vaccination) covid patients are first on the list for triaging.
Conventional triaging and medical ethics is built around events out of the control of those injured. But what we've got coming at us is very much foreseeable, and there is a very safe, very effective, and free precaution (almost) all of us can take against being a part of the coming problem (that unfortunately isn't quite 100% effective). However, some will refuse to do their very minimal bit for their community and help themselves at the same time.
Responding to this problem is a society-wide values and ethics and resource-allocation issue, not a conventional medical ethics and triaging situation. Therefore conventional medical ethicists are not the right people for setting the response guidelines.
Our government needs to be the ones to step up and give the hard word.
A solution that doesn't require vaccination.
https://twitter.com/kaitlancollins/status/1438913472385912848
That way works, but it creates a lot of collateral damage among the staff and among patients that haven't chosen to be the problem.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/healthcare-workers-feeling-burnout-vaccine-deniers_l_6132806ce4b0aac9c016f0b9
Indeed. The anxiety of one of my sister's kid's over the safety of their mother working in CCU is becoming problematic.
If it were up to me, I would now be setting up tents in the far corner of hospital carparks as the Unvaccinated Covid wards. And giving the directive that unvaccinated (but eligible for vaccination) covid patients are first on the list for triaging.
You could sell tickets – the morally superior vaccinated people could come and watch the spectacle of the 'filth' choking to death. Seems it would be popular.
Nah.
But I would set up another tent in a different corner of the carpark as a vaccination centre. So those that need the shock of seeing how nasty it is to nudge them into protecting themselves can get it done then and there.
We won't discuss the morality of kids needing care after a car accident, for example, not getting admitted to hospital, because it is full of idiots who didn't get vaccinated, when it is easily available.
Already happening in New York State, from a first hand description.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/451823/us-hospitals-ration-care-amid-shortages-and-covid-19-surge
And isn't 'Rationing of Care' the canard deployed against socialised healthcare in the US?
When do we get a non binary suffrage day?
Quite likely that somebody’s already beavering away trying to organise that.
Yes Gezza, apparently therre was a protest on women's suffrage day in Dunedin calling for trans rights. I am informed the protesters countering the women's celebrations seem to have no idea what women's suffrage was about. That women had to fight hard for their right to cast a vote.
Was there Anker? I haven't heard anything about that myself (but then the last time I bothered marching in protest was against the TPPA, so people know better than to ask me along), and I am familiar with a few takatāpui kaiwhakahē o Ōtepoti. Do you have a link?
This is the closest I could find (from yesterday), but then again – I don't use Twitter or suchlike:
https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO2109/S00093/wellington-and-dunedin-feminists-rally-for-disappearing-rights.htm
Didn't realize it was a protest by women about the bills.
It makes more sense as to why others would counter protest. I don't have a link.
I agree about prisoners being able to vote.
Mixed feelings about kids below the age of 18.
Duke Ell you are joking right?
Sufferage became universal for males for all males in 1879 (as opposed to male land owners only being able to vote)
In 1867 the Maori seats were established so Maori males could vote.
Then women got the vote in 1893, the first country in the world that allowed women to vote. Women fought hard for this in NZ and in other countries. In some countries like Switzerland women didn't get the vote till the 1970's.
Voting rights were restricted biological sex. That's why suffrage is celebrated by women.
Suffrage celebrations need to be more inclusive then to avoid problems.
Universal perhaps….
No I think it is good as it is DukeEll.
Women have always celebrated suffrage on our day 19th September. It was then that we were included. We are remembering how hard our sisters fought to be included.
The protests were against SUFW hijacking the Suffrage Day celebration (there were posters saying the Octagon even was organised by the SUFW to oppose self ID thing), not against the Suffrage Movement.
Oh I think describing it as a high jijacking is a bit extreme.
We are women. Its our day, we can use it to highlight issues some of us are concerned about.
Afaik, it wasn't SUFW, it was Women's Liberation Aotearoa and Mana Wāhine Kōrero. And they didn't hijack a Suffrage Day celebration, they organised it. They have a FB page if you want to look it up.
https://twitter.com/wlaotearoa/status/1438511995184025606?s=20
The universal in "universal suffrage" refers more to the right to both; vote for, and stand for, elected office. Universal suffrage in NZ was deemed to have been achieved even before women and Māori got the right to vote. Māori votes were problematic from 1867 (when they were worth about a quarter as much as Pākehā by population, and weren't permitted to use secret ballots, or electoral rolls) all the way up until 1992 with the adoption of MMP that finally gave (those who chose to risk discrimination for identifying as) Māori a proportionate voice in parliament.
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/maori-and-the-vote/twentieth-century
However, I would argue that we have not yet reached true universal suffrage due to age restrictions (particularly in the 16-17 age group; which I think is currently before the courts based on the HRA, but even younger might be feasible through proxy). Also the removal of voting rights for prisoners, and preventing those convicted of a crime punishable for more than 2 years imprisonment (even if the actual sentence is less than that). Plus NZ citizens losing the right to vote if they have been out of the country for too long (3 years, I think – that's going to be an live issue come 2023).
"Suffrage celebrations need to be more inclusive then to avoid problems."
What problems?
The Brexit shambles continues.
Exclusive: The government is bracing itself for supplies of beer, fizzy drinks and meat to be hit by a severe shortage of CO2, with supermarkets and restaurants expected to be affected in the coming days.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) was warned on Thursday that shortages of CO2, caused by the closure this week of two major fertilizer plants, would affect manufacturers across food and drink industry, PoliticsHome understands.
[…]
The CO2 shortage is set to compound ongoing disruption to food and drink supplies caused by chronic shortages of lorry drivers, processors, and other workers in the UK's supply chains.
The labour shortages, which have been exacerbated by the coronavirus and Brexit, have resulted in household names like McDonald's, Gregg's, and the Co-op running out of certain items in recent weeks, with the disruption expected to worsen in the coming weeks in the run-up to Christmas.
https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/beer-and-fizzy-drink-supplies-at-risk-from-co2-shortages
But there is still adequate food.
And surely the NHS is going gangbusters from getting the 350 million quid a week that used to go to the EU.
"The Brexit shambles continues."
Or you could look to a slightly more nuanced response.
The final outcome of Brexit is uncertain. In my view the EU is a bloated bureaucratic that has long ago lost it's way. The sooner it returns to a simple trade pact the better.
And beer drinkers' response to any shortages of their favourite tipple will be slightly nuanced, too.
Well if some of those beer drinkers want to become lorry drivers, they can be part of the solution.
Gotcha. UK was doing fine for fizzy drinks, but their labour laws only caught up on them now… because brexit.
Bojo basically crashed out of the EU, and none of the predicted failures were mitigated in any way.
Some people would rather rule over peasants in muck than live in a developed and equitable society.
"but their labour laws only caught up on them now… because brexit."
On the contrary. The article states "Decades of anti-union legislation has tilted what was always an unequal relationship between workers and capital even further in the latter’s favour. "
"Some people would rather rule over peasants in muck than live in a developed and equitable society."
Well based on voting trends at the last election, those peasants must be voting for muck. In the 2019 British election, the Conservatives won more working class votes than labour. "Boris Johnson's party out-polled Labour by double-digit figures among both manual workers and households with incomes below £20,000".
On the back of 300mil quid a week, and other bullshit.
The basic problem with that article is that unionisation wouldn't stop EU drivers making cross-channel deliveries. So unions or not, crashing out of the EU was still a predictably stupid thing to do.
"The basic problem with that article is that unionisation wouldn't stop EU drivers making cross-channel deliveries."
There is a shortage of lorry drivers. To deliver product INSIDE the UK.
Brexit was the best thing to happen to the UK in decades. The working class have well and truly spoken.
So the "nuanced" view is that if Brexit hadn't happened, there'd still be the same shortages now?
Because it seems to me that if they had enough drivers before Brexit, and not enough drivers after, then maybe that's an issue they should have fucking considered and solved before crashing out of the EU.
Just like the fisheries, just like the NHS workforce, just like the NI problem, just like their role as a European financial centre.
Even if the destination is worthwile (doubtful), the incompetent way they left is beyond Thatcher.
"Because it seems to me that if they had enough drivers before Brexit,"
But they didn't. The point of the article is that the shortages have been building up for years.
"just like the NHS workforce"
That article was written in 2019, and includes this "This article demonstrates why the NHS is currently suffering from a staffing crisis…". So the staffing crisis existed BEFORE Brexit came into effect.
" like their role as a European financial centre."
From that link "London still has a towering lead over rivals Frankfurt, Milan and Paris when it comes to trading stocks, currencies and derivatives and playing host to asset managers." You're quoting from an article written less than 2 months after Brexit came into effect, that is extolling London's virtues! Look I can give you more.
The people of the UK overwhelmingly backed pro-Brexit policies of the Conservatives in the last election. They will have a far better country as a result.
Well, the kingdom wasn't quite united on that one.
But it's funny how the driver shortages really hit home when they can't just get some Baltic drivers in at the last minute, innit. Pure coincidence, according to the nuanced view?
"But it's funny how the driver shortages really hit home when they can't just get some Baltic drivers in at the last minute, innit. "
The driver shortage has been 'decades in the making'. Not months. Oh and as for those Baltic drivers…
"Recruiters are now finding their new cheap HGV drivers not in Poland, Hungary or Romania, but in the former Soviet Central Asian states of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan."
They have had shortages of carbonated beverages in the UK for decades?
The Brexit shambles continues.
More the energy crunch due to large increases in natural gas prices.
With the large fertilizer manufacturers shutting production of Nitrogen and ammonia urea,there will be large increases in food costs,and the cost of building materials such as waste pipes,guttering etc.
Electricity has also (like NZ) skyrocketed in Europe.
https://twitter.com/JavierBlas/status/1438772827755253761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1438776189343211520%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.twitter.com%2F%3Fquery%3Dhttps3A2F2Ftwitter.com2FJavierBlas2Fstatus2F1438776189343211520widget%3DTweet
24.
No Kentucky Fried for several more weeks.
Well now, that sucks great hairy months-unwashed balls.
When do we admit that lockdowns aren’t working?
why not move to level 3 and make mask wearing mandatory outside of the house at all times. We have to open up at some point
Working fine for everyone outside of Auckland.
My guess is with the NZHerald at 90% double-hit before reopening.
So never, if we listen to the experts in the same publication.
can’t keep the most concentrated part of the country and economy cooped up for ever
Not forever, no. Everyone in the country agrees with that.
It may be that more aggressive measures are required.
Great clip Stuart!
They are flat out on the 9th floor of the Beehive trying to come up with a story that lets them scrap the lockdowns without either
1. Saying that the original estimates of the deaths expected were greatly exaggerated or
2. having to say that there will be some deaths from Covid 19.
That sounds quite a feat.
Meamwhile Collins and co are trying to find a way of saying we should, open up immediately, and accept however many deaths and disabilities, as well as the economic loss to businesses and workers, that were largely able to carry on business as usual, due to the success of comprehensive but short lockdowns, without actually saying it.
without giving a firm number on how many dead they'll exchange for a latte.
Oh dear, we have a Plan B parrot that tripped over a few logical fallacies and fell in a rabbit hole. Please enlighten us, in your own words, as to why you claim that lockdowns in NZ are not working.
Cases are constant as are the mystery numbers. Shows covid is in the community and getting aroind
I never said plan B. I said level 3 with more mandatory restrictions to enjoy it. Open up just enough to give Aucklanders some relief but keep it safe.
You didn’t have to, it was crystal clear; in fact, no link required or desired, this time, as it would show you as the Plan B parrot that you are.
That comment shows a profound misunderstanding of lockdown, which is exactly because of spread in the community. In all reality, the peak has passed, but the tail is long (and hard), and most if not all news cases are linked to existing clusters within 24 hours and occur in households of known positive cases. Lockdown is definitely working, even against the much tougher Delta variant.
So how’s your profound misunderstanding of lockdown and the level system going?
Very well, thanks.
I hope you enjoyed the briefing at 4 pm by Ardern and Bloomfield and found it informative and educational. Lockdowns do work indeed!
In fact, it works so well that they have decided to use it again:
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/relief-for-auckland-more-rules-for-mangatangi
It's tough, but it is working. Sydney and Melbourne show that if you ease off this sucker even a little bit, Auckland will be counting deaths by the day. Maybe when damned near everyone is double-jabbed, but not before.
I'd like to see some analysis on how onward transmission is still occurring at L4. The inference given at the 1PM today was that it isn't through the consumption of essential services, i.e. it's not unrelated people using the same dairy, laundromat, etc. Rather it's due to inter-household contact, either due to outright bubble-breaking, or to special circumstances where someone from one household has to provide support to another household. And if that's the case, I don't see how you stop it without tightening controls even further and/or throwing more resources and people at it.
From the live feed at about 1:21 pm today: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/coronavirus/300410256/covid19-nz-live-24-new-cases-discovered-all-in-auckland
The weasel wording of "for the most part" and "haven't tended" suggests to me that some is indeed happening. Which would have an easy solution: instead of them having to go out on their essential trips, deliver their essential supplies instead. The government can easily stump up the delivery fee.
Most if not all new cases can be linked to known existing cases within 24 hours.
Most if not all transmission takes place within households.
Most of the activities of people who are deemed infectious in the community are (for) essential visits.
One possibility is to provide extra assistance to those identified households, e.g., using some kind of personalised chaperone system with experienced health care professionals from within the local community. This might help break the so-called long hard tail of this Delta outbreak in Auckland and allow the rules to be somewhat relaxed for the rest of the greater Auckland region that is in lockdown and the rest of the whole country sooner rather than later. In other words, more tailored and targeted measures with more flexibility and nuance reflecting the specific and local circumstances rather than the current crude blanket measures that seem to obey the rule (mantra) that one size fits all. How hard can that be?
Yes, maybe something new needs to be done, even if it is hard. Throwing 'wrap-around' care at households where someone is identified as a close contact – so they literally don't go anywhere until negative Day12 tests are returned, or into MIQ if tests are positive. Low numbers of such households presumably make it feasible.
But I guess everyone is scared of scenes like we saw in the early days in Wuhan with full PPE-wearing cops positioned outside people's front doors and physically shoving them back inside.
Thanks for being constructive, much appreciated.
Yes, it would have its own set of difficulties and would indeed require some finesse for want of a better word.
I was thinking of allowing members of those households to continue to go about their ways under lockdown rather than give them full house arrest and without extra limitations and restrictions that could stigmatise them in their (local) communities.
A fully vaccinated professional could show them the do’s & don’ts, including mask-wearing and hand-washing, for example, and also chaperone them safely from a discrete distance without looking like a bodyguard in full armour, so to speak. Maybe appoint one member of the household as gatekeeper and observer of QC and adherence to good practice, but this may not gel well with certain socio-cultural norms within those households.
Things need to be tailored or they won’t work at all and possibly even backfire; intra-household wedges are not desired outcomes.
We need more lateral thinking and solutions after more than 18 months of dealing with this pandemic. We also need boldness combined with kind firmness.
Edit: give them kits for daily saliva testing
I had a friend in Wuhan Province during their initial lock-down. They used a lot of workers to man intersections and then building entrances – eventually taking orders for shopping and delivering them for residents. It minimised contact between households and enabled a successful and orderly lockdown. there may have been police involved, and they were quick to use full body covering including masks. I did not hear of any widespread unrest; most of the population readily complied with requests. Whether that would have worked here is a moot point; they have a much higher density of population in cities than we do – and China is one of the few countries that has better Covid statistics then we do.
I don’t follow your logic here.
Is that so? Is that a fact or your opinion?
Its a no-brainer. Lets be honest for once about the problem in Auckland:
This outbreak appears pretty much confined to one ethnicity and in large part is caused by too many people in one household and the tendency to socially meet in large numbers eg. church functions. Setting aside the reason for this scenario which I know is not entirely their fault, it would be absurd if the whole of the Auckland region should continue to suffer the consequences of a L4 lockdown.
It was pertinent to the recovery process up until now, but any continuation would be harmful to Auckland and the rest of the country. Instead concentrate resources into the group who are currently topping the 'cases chart' and assist them to overcome the plight so many are currently in.
As an aside, to be really effective, public health measures need to be taken and tailored to the people who need it, i.e., know your audience. This means great(er) involvement of local community medical centres and GPs. This is one major reason why I’m quite wary of the abolishing of the DHBs, which are indeed a shambles, and replacing them with a more centralised structure and system. Public health happens at grassroots and patient level, not in boardrooms on top floors of tall buildings by managers in suits with bonus payments based on meeting KPIs. Same could be said about many societal issues, for that matter.
I think most community health centres and GPs are involved now. What I suspect happened is the government did not have sufficient vaccine to go too hard out and that is why they delayed bringing in the bulk of the medical clinics. Whether that was an error of judgement or they were constrained by sticking to one brand or for some other reason I don't know. Whatever, the situation has now changed.
We'll have to wait and see the fine print re-the proposed new Health Boards but there is little argument the country has way too many DHBs. I trust Andrew Little to set them up in such a way they will not turn into big corporate-type conglomerates. We had a good health system prior to neoliberalism. In fact it was regarded as one of the best in the world.
I still think it will be KFC from Wednesday morning.
I am not sure.
This news is not encouraging.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/451839/auckland-prisoner-tests-positive-for-covid-19
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-delta-outbreak-prisoner-went-to-court-later-tested-positive-at-mt-eden-jail/L562FPDQROPFLTL6JF7F52LG7Q/
Yes and this too! Covid in Waikato!
Covid-19 live: Waikato cases linked to existing cluster, decision on alert levels today | Stuff.co.nz
https://twitter.com/thebabylonbee/status/1438238693869957122?s=21
Obviously The Onion for RWNJ's has a certain crossover value.
What's next, their lib owning anti-vaxx schtick?
the irony there is that no-one on the left with a job they care about would dare satirise the impact of individiualising pronouns on people's jobs. Or the English language.
Or how contradictory gender identity theory is,
This animation is just a weaker copy of another parody, from Abbott and Costello in 1945:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sShMA85pv8M
For those unaware of this kind of history, it’s called “Who’s On First?”
Easy to understand progress graphic of NZ, NSW and Victoria cases since first delta case in community.
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/7264270/
https://twitter.com/Gary_Boyd_NZ/status/1439414896135847936?s=20
At 34 days NZ's and VIC's graphs are identical. If it's L4 keeping us there, any lifting of it will see our graph follow VIC's.
I can tell you now, Auckland isn't happy. Five more weeks at L4 to try suppress that graph when just a few people are not following the rules and ruining it for everyone else is going to result in some serious social division.
It used to be that naming and shaming rule breakers worked a treat. The government seems to have gone gun-shy yet again…
Putting ankle tags on some of the lockdown violators might help, especially the ones most likely to whine about it to the media.
Clear and transparent deterrents need to be imposed on rule breakers. These are serious criminal acts and must be treated as such.
Taiwan and Vietnam do not tolerate such antisocial behaviour.
What are you trying to say there? That NZ does “tolerate” such behaviour and/or that NZ should become more like those countries and change the law to hand out tougher penalties and punishments? It sounds like a comment that could have come from a dog-whistling virtue-signalling two-faced politician talking from both sides of their mouth, if you asked me.
Of course Vietnam excites him.
/
https://vietnamnet.vn/en/society/should-violators-who-illegally-take-covid-19-infected-people-into-vietnam-receive-the-death-penalty-666998.html
Clear and transparent deterrents
"Twenty years in the isocubes, creep." – Karl Urban is Dredd.
The moment Russiagate took the person I love most by Serena Sopwith-Fotherington, Daisycutter Sports News, Dec. 18, 2021
[deleted]
[I have no idea what the hell that was, but deleted because at least some of it was a cut and paste from a BBC website. Morrissey, you haveto make clear what are your words, and what are someone else’s and you have to do so in a manner that other people, including the mods, can understand. Use the blockquote tag, or some other way of making it clear – weka]
mod note.
I will not utter profanities, but 🤬. And leave any other reactive comments to myself and go online and order a bottle of Whisky or 2. By the time they are finished Auckland maybe at level 3 🙁
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/three-new-covid-cases-in-waikato-including-two-school-students/J5A3QM6T4QSFKCFL7IYUVJPZQA/
Bugger.
Forgot to get a 4 pack of Tip Top Boysenberry Trumpets when I shopped at the supermarket today. No treats in the house at all today. I blame the guvermint.
(It’s not their fault, I just often blame all guvermints so I can move on from my trauma.)
ISRAEL CAPTURES LAST TWO PRISONERS WHO TUNNELLED OUT OF HIGH SECURITY PRISON
Aljazeera tv is reporting that Israeli police have just recaptured the remaining two Palestinian escapees from an Israeli high security prison.
The Israelis might now be able to stand down the thousands of police, security & other IDF personnel who have been deployed in the Palestinian occupied territories during the hunt for the fugitives, fearful that they might have been planning to stage attacks in Israel.
A Palestinian Rights Group says the Israelis have arrested over 100 Palestinians since those 6 prisoners escaped a few weeks ago. Their troops, a female Palestinian representative of the Group says, have also been roughing up & harassing & detaining hundreds of Palestinians while searching for the escapees.