ship strike and coincidence stated in article but 'so long….' was first thought that sprang to mind ….some 'odd' shark behaviour been reported recently as well
Article 1 Section 9 Clause 8 of the US Constitution states:
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Article 2 Section 1 Clause 7 of the US Constitution states:
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
One or both of these clauses gets violated every time any foreign delegation stays at a Trump Organisation property, or the Secret Service has to pay for the rooms their agents use when protecting the Prez when he goes to a Trump Organisation property.
But the greatest grifter of them all isn't content with forcing the minor cognitive dissonance of ignoring or defending this level of corruption on his cultists. No sirree, he has to go for the big kahuna of using one of his properties to host the G-7 meeting, thereby forcing the US government and all participating foreign governments into massive tribute payments.
I think what this shows, and all the other examples in recent times (whether NZTA, MSD cruelty, the T&C examples, MoBIE employees calling people "scum", etc., etc., etc.), is that if you give state agencies an opportunity, certain elements within will go rogue. EVEN IF they think its all with the best of intentions.
Far worse now as parts of our public service operate as little feifdoms with KPIs et all to meet. Proper oversight and accountability is well overdue
EVEN IF they think its all with the best of intentions.
It's a return to the degrading attitudes of Victorian times and the rigid class distinctions and who is entitled to respect and who not, with punitive punishments meted out by the people in society who see themselves as domatrixes? over the lower class. It's ugly and so are the thoughts behind the well-made up and expensively dressed group. It actually becomes so embedded in society without it being noticed, examined and condemned that it becomes a caste system, with untouchables at the base of it.
Self-delusion is strong amongst UK Conservatives. How do you diagnose the Madness of the Entitled deep into group-think?
The Telegraph passed on this gem from Rees-Mogg (Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since 2019, Eton and Trinity Colleges), from a report by Asa Bennett, Brexit Commissioning Editor.
Meanwhile, don't miss Jacob Rees-Mogg's column, in which he urges his fellow MPs to pass the deal, adding: "It is a great injustice meted upon the British people by the political class that the joyful decision they took, born out of confidence and resolution, should have become so associated with stasis and stagnation."
I think the time has come to stop taking the p out of Simon. He will end up getting a sympathy vote for being mocked and picked-on. The emotional responses of all our educated citizens are high, compared to the informed judicious approach when deciding on election choice.
A large number of deaths of apparently healthy antelope. Why?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/25/mass-mortality-events-animal-conservation-climate-change Feb 2018 The scientists on the ground pinpointed blood poisoning as the cause, but were puzzled as to why whole herds were dying so quickly. After 32 postmortems, they concluded the culprit was the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, which they believe normally lives harmlessly in the tonsils of some, if not all, of the antelopes. In a research paper published in January in Science Advances, Kock and colleagues contrasted the 2015 MME with the two from the 1980s. They concluded that a rise in temperature to 37C and an increase in humidity above 80% in the previous few days had stimulated the bacteria to pass into the bloodstream where it caused haemorrhagic septicaemia, or blood poisoning.
The weather link raises the spectre of climate change. Just as it is rarely wise to link a single extreme weather event – whether it’s the Australian heatwave, last summer’s Hurricane Harvey or this winter’s North American cold snap – to climate change, it is equally difficult to blame an MME on global warming. But what can be said with confidence is that the sorts of extreme weather events linked to MMEs – such as the temperature and humidity rise that nearly wiped out the saiga – will become more frequent.
And more climate change problems for animals and us?
More than half a century ago, conservationist Rachel Carson sounded an alarm about human impacts on the natural world with her book Silent Spring. Its title alluded to the loss of twittering birds from natural habitats because of indiscriminate pesticide use, and the treatise spawned the modern conservation movement. But new research published Thursday in Science shows bird populations have continued to plummet in the past five decades, dropping by nearly three billion across North America—an overall decline of 29 percent from 1970.
The answer is apparently for ths hoi polloi to elect someone like Harper in Canada 2014 who sacked 2000 scientists and encouraged destruction of archived records. and buffoon politicians with an air of confidence who lie about the conditions, and then there is no need to think. I think this proves that democracy tends to fall into the hands of finaglers and connivers and people are lulled into thinking they don't need to participate in the running of their country and so democracy is never really tried, as has also been said of Christianity.
Hard to see Luxon getting a high (enough) placing on the List and not aiming for a win in his electorate (if he’s selected to stand). OTOH, he could stand and do a Goldsmith.
It would be cynical to parachute Luxon high into the party when he hasn’t done the hard yards yet and not proven himself. That said, he might get a high listing if he takes one for the team in Botany, i.e. do a Goldsmith. I can’t see it nor can I see JLR play along with it but in politics anything is possible.
How the voters vote will depend on the cues from the party (National) and the campaign.
Apparently, having to give up state-of-the-art bang-bangs makes some gun owners "feel like victims".
Fair point, from one perspective. Fuckwits in the world are why we can't have a lot of nice or fun things. Skyrockets, for example.
But I also have the impulse to say "awwww, having your toy taken away makes you feel like you were just going about your daily routine when some fuckwit put several high-velocity projectiles through your body? You poor dear."
Phil Twyford on Q&A was pointing at targeted rates. Where private finance is brought in (such as infrastructure bonds) and paid back through targeted rates or a levy to be added on top of current rate bills. Shifting the debt off council books (helping to address their problem) but which Twyford admitted, will do nothing for ratepayer affordability.
And of course, this will have a flow on effect. Putting further upward pressure on rents, thus putting further pressure on incomes. Which in turn, reduces spending elsewhere.
To better address households ability to pay, rates should be funded through income tax. Which is far more progressive, thus far better suited to address household affordability issues. As those that earn the most pay a larger share.
Nevertheless, while income tax is not perfect, it's the most progressive from of taxation we have, thus the most suited to address household affordability issues.
Central government needs to stop pushing stuff onto councils without thinking of the unintended consequences e.g. increasing immigration as a matter of government policy increases the infrastructure requirements that councils have to meet but the government at the same time as pushing these costs up sides with the developers moaning about the cost of putting in such infrastructure.
Or funding private landlords to buy rental properties through both tax incentives and rent subsidies while at the same time reducing state rentals (both proportionally to population and in some councils in actuality) putting undue pressure on council housing which receives zero central government support for housing.
It was an original accord between councils and government that the state would pick up most of the need for state housing and councils some for the elderly and the disabled. Councils who have retained their housing (and thanks to the ones that have) should get a cash injection from government to upgrade and replace their aging housing. This to compensate for the years of support private landlords have had.
Twyford's subtext for this "uplift" is the light rail deal, and how HLC uplifts development profit out of that deal. Although with TV3 selling out of their Eden Terrace property, there's scope for CRLL to buy it as it's an adjacent property and would then be able to be pulled into a wider redevelopment deal. More scope for betterment there.
If he wants to fund rates through income tax, he should have a sit-downwith an actual tax policy specialist, such as Deb Russel who runs the Finance Committee.
Otherwise he should stop putting up tax policy balloons that have no support.
I think it was The Chairman, not Phil Twyford, who is pushing for nation-wide income tax as mechanism to fund local projects and services at Council level.
Unfortunately, The Chairman did not include a link in his comment @ 12, which would have been helpful.
And the reason I didn't provide a link is because I clearly stated it was on Q&A.
[Whether it is “correct” use of tax funding is a matter of opinion.
Without a link people have to do a search to find what you are referring to in order to verify your comment. How many times has Phil Twyford appeared on Q & A? This does not make for good debate and does not show good faith. It would take you a few seconds to find and post the link here so please correct your omission – Incognito]
I guess we will never know what was fact and what was your opinion. So, sadly, this debate never got off the ground in a good way because of lack of appropriate sharing of information, IMHO.
Commenters here often link to stuff that’s behind paywalls and usually warn about it too. A small gesture goes a long way. In any case, linking gives others an opportunity to go to same source and make up their own minds. Subsequently, a debate might ensue and if new information needs to be included, a new link will appear in the discussion thread, et cetera. It is really that simple.
The rates burden wont be solved by redesignating the collector …regardless the increasing costs will continue (unless you advocate further austerity) as it must occur for as the sum of infrastructure increases so does its maintenance…..such is growth
And there will be the, or should be, the extra personnel keeping an eye on infrastructure for cracks, bulges etc when the materials start breaking down or not performing as required.
Indeed, Pat.With growth comes cost. However, to improve the sustainability in meeting those costs, how rates are collected (or more precisely how the burden is shared) needs to change to a more progressive form.
The Government can't expect people who are currently struggling to take on more costs without the wheels falling off. Which, of course, will result in wider, negative ramifications for the economy and society overall.
Sounds to me you’re conflating a number of things and pushing for some kind of privatising profits/benefits and socialising losses/costs (AKA externalising). Intuitively, the user-pays argument makes a lot of sense. You will have to argue hard to convince a wage earner in Invercargill to pay effectively income tax for a swimming pool in a suburb of Auckland.
Sounds to me you’re conflating a number of things and pushing for some kind of privatising profits/benefits and socialising losses/costs
Not at all. I talking about peoples ability to pay ever increasing costs. Thus, the need to find a more sustainable source of funding.
In this regard, all the Government has done thus far is to come up with a way (infrastructure bonds) to keep the cost off of councils books, while largely overlooking peoples ability to pay growing, ongoing costs moving forward.
And in the case of infrastructure bonds, one would assume the rate will be higher than the rate it currently costs the Government to borrow.
As a funding source, the use of infrastructure bonds will privatize profits. The use of taxes won't.
As for a taxpayer in Invercargill paying for projects elsewhere, taxpayer funding already pays for spending elsewhere throughout the country. Therefore, in that context, what I'm suggesting wouldn't change a thing.
How do Council progress projects and services if they cannot borrow more?
Who will pay for those Infrastructure Bonds?
Will these help to reduce Council debt?
Please provide evidence that a portion of income tax paid by a wage earner in Invercargill goes towards local projects and services elsewhere in the country that are paid for by targeted rates. In any case, if your suggestion “wouldn’t change a thing” what nation-wide projects and services will receive less of the taxpayers’ dollar?
Are you thinking of an extension of the Provincial Growth Fund for local Councils?
Ratepayers largely fund council, thus their costs/debt.
Moody's highlighted Auckland Council could suffer a future credit downgrade if it faces reduced support from the government to deliver its infrastructure program.
Back in April, there was currently $1.2 billion of debt headroom against the internal debt-to-revenue ceiling of 265%. This headroom was projected to be fully utilised over the next couple of years.
The Auditor-General released a report in February which talked about the increasing pressures many of the country’s councils are facing as they tried to deal with increasing costs associated with infrastructure and growth in the face of growing debt levels.
Please provide evidence that a portion of income tax paid by a wage earner in Invercargill goes towards local projects and services elsewhere in the country that are paid for by targeted rates.
I didn't state that. I said as for a taxpayer in Invercargill paying for projects elsewhere, taxpayer funding already pays for spending elsewhere throughout the country. So in that context, nothing would change.
In any case, if your suggestion “wouldn’t change a thing” what nation-wide projects and services will receive less of the taxpayers’ dollar?
Again, you are changing the context. I was alluding to there being no change in the fact tax dollars obtained from one region is already being spent elsewhere. Some even goes offshore as in foreign aid.
In the wider context, as for what nation-wide projects and services will receive less taxpayer funding as a result? That depends on whether or not the Government would opt for an additional infrastructure tax (largely targeted at high income earners, reducing downward in the income scale) opposed to cutting back tax spending elsewhere. Such as defense spending, offshore aid, etc…
Ultimately, I would like to see a total shift away from rates (which are less progressive and don't really take into account people’s income, thus people's ability to pay) moving to all council rates being funded directly via income taxes. Which, of course, does take into account people’s income hence ability to pay, thus is far more sustainable going forward.
Infrastructure bonds will help slow the build up of council debt, but they are not the only solution. Furthermore, they come at a far greater public cost.
I’m afraid you’re shifting the goalposts (context) and roping in all sorts of stuff that have nothing to do with the original discussion topic (hint: it was about what Phil Twyford said during an interview). In other words, you’re conflating a number of things, as I said previously. Please re-read your comment @12 that started this thread. If you want to discuss foreign aid or defense spending, which I know is one bee in your bonnet, and then start a new thread.
Foreign aid and defense spending were examples brought up due to your questioning. Nevertheless, as your questioning indicates, the two are interconnected – i.e. funding and expenditure.
Fascinating that you blame my questioning for you not staying on topic and bringing your hobbyhorses into the conversation. For your convenience, please let me remind you of the topic as started by you @ 12: (alternative) ways of funding/financing targeted rates and reasoning from a Council’s perspective as raised by Phil Twyford in his interview that you couldn’t link to (you got close, in the end). Even within your starting comment @ 12, you already went off track and avoided addressing Twyford’s points with your idiosyncratic way of criticising negatively. You claim to come here to build consensus, which IMHO relies on finding and acknowledging commonality. Your MO, OTOH, is to find and highlight distinction, separation, discord, and discontent, to name just a few, which usually are based on assumptions that you and only you seem to make and rarely based on hard facts.
Talk about not staying on topic, I’m not the topic.
The Government knows the high cost of housing is a problem which has wider, negative ramifications.Yet, they seem intent on adding to it.
Addressing council's affordability via private sector investment will add to household costs (privatizing profits) while also encouraging councils to spend more (via removing current funding constraints) putting more affordability pressures on households.
Can you not see the problems this is going to create going forward?
Nice try of deflecting that you cannot and did not stay on topic and only used Twyford’s interview to spew your usual concern about this country going to hell in a handbasket thanks to the Labour-led Government. Of course, Twyford is flavour target of the month.
Yes, living costs are (too) high and so are Council debts. Projects and services need to be delivered/executed in a timely fashion or costs will rise astronomically – do you follow the NZTA story at all?
Twyford was addressing a possible alternative for Councils to move forward and clear their debts, which are paid for by ratepayers who are likely to benefit, which is one argument for targeted rates, which happened to be one of Twyford’s talking points. You still haven’t given a single decent argument why a wage earner in Invercargill should pay income tax to pay for a local project or service in Auckland, for example, that is/should/could be funded by targeted rates. That argument will, of course, never eventuate because foreign aid and defense spending blablabla.
Could this create (unintended?) problems? Possibly, but neither your problems nor your ‘solutions’ seem to have been thought through for more than a fleeting moment; they just feel good to you so they/you must be right.
I’d never climb a mountain if I were you because the Labour Yetis will get you.
Twyford was addressing a possible alternative for Councils to move forward and clear their debts…
No. Twyford was addressing a possible alternative for Councils to overcome their debt constraints. An alternative that is likely to come in at a higher cost to households.
You still haven’t given a single decent argument why a wage earner in Invercargill should pay income tax to pay for a local project or service in Auckland, for example, that is/should/could be funded by targeted rates.
But I have. To better address household's affordability to pay, avoiding wider, negative ramifications for the economy and society overall. Was one. So can you explain why you don't see that as being a decent argument?
Helping to fund infrastructure throughout the nation is one of the reasons we pay tax.
Unintended problems you say. More like foreseeable problems such as an exacerbation of many of our current problems.
As for my proposal, it's open to suggestions of improvement or do you prefer to continue to dis me?
The intention is for MediaWorks to sell the television side of the business while retaining ownership of radio and QMS. The Flower Street property will also be put up for sale with a lease back option for a buyer to continue to operate television from that location.
Wasn't Media works helped out with a lessening of its licence some years ago when there were money troubles? If it is going to sell up, then we must put our hand out and recover that foregone money.
Media works had their licence payments changed from paying them in advance to in arrears. So there are no foregone money, just the timing on when they pay and the govt received the income. it was made out to be a larger issue than what is was, but that is the game of politics 😉 https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10711051
Investigation of Clinton emails ends, finding no 'deliberate mishandling'
The state department has completed its years-long internal investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of private email and found “no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information”.
The investigation, launched more than three years ago, did find violations by 38 people, some of whom may face disciplinary action.
Investigators determined that those 38 people were “culpable” in 91 cases of sending classified information that ended up in Clinton’s personal email, according to a letter sent to Republican senator Chuck Grassley this week and released on Friday. The 38 are current and former state department officials but were not identified.
Can the Trumpkins and Alt Left Wing Trolls now please give this a rest.
The speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, said he had selected for a vote a proposal to withhold support for Johnson's Brexit deal until formal ratification legislation has passed.
The amendment was put forward by former Conservative MP Oliver Letwin and is backed by a cross-party alliance of opposition MPs. If it passes, it would force Johnson to request an extension to Brexit by the end of Saturday…
Labour –
Main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told parliament Johnson's deal risks jobs, rights, the environment and health service.
"This deal would be a disaster for working people," he said, adding it was "even worse" than the one it replaces, which was voted down three times.
"Voting for a deal today won't end Brexit. It won't deliver certainty and the people should have the final say," Corbyn said.
He had earlier reiterated that Labour MPs would vote against the revised withdrawal agreement in a post on Twitter.
The BovverBoy –
(Johnson is now casting himself as the clear decision maker turning the Brexit matter around after the unfortunate decision of the referendum.The fact that it was the Conservatives who held it, and then acted on it on a whim really (it appeared), does not enter into the situation.)
They won't give up easily as getting out of Europe will mean changing laws in a swingeing way that give the workers standards under EU rules. Plus everything else and throwing away an Irish solution that resolved the deadly bombings and British shootings and prison sentences with excrement smearing and fasting and men desperate at the intransigence of Britain.
The Cons are so irresponsible and greedy, and Forage is a conniver, schemer and demagogue; a toxic mix.
Carbon is not only bad for Our environment is bad for one's health to. Let do the logical thing and drop carbon out of our society.
Scores more heart attacks and strokes on high pollution days, figures show
Data reveals acute impact on people’s health and the strain it puts on emergency services
Scores of children and adults are being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment on days of high pollution in cities across England, figures show.
Each year emergency services see more than 120 additional cardiac arrests, more than 230 additional strokes and nearly 200 more people with asthma requiring hospital treatment on days of high pollution compared with the average on days of lower pollution
Scores of children and adults are being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment on days of high pollution in cities across England, figures show.
Each year emergency services see more than 120 additional cardiac arrests, more than 230 additional strokes and nearly 200 more people with asthma requiring hospital treatment on days of high pollution compared with the average on days of lower pollution.
The data, to be published in full next month, shows the extra strain that poor air quality is putting on already stretched NHS emergency resources.
Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “These new figures show air pollution is now causing thousands of strokes, cardiac arrests and asthma attacks, so it’s clear that the climate emergency is in fact also a health emergency. Since these avoidable deaths are happening now, not in 2025 or 2050, together we need to act now
Much of the recent research on air pollution has focused on the lifelong effects of chronic exposure, including cognitive decline, stunted growth in children and premature death. However, it can also bring on serious illness more immediately.
Jenny Bates, an air pollution campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Many people may not realise how dangerous air pollution at high levels can be, and that it can trigger heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks as well as having long-term health effects. These figures will be a wake-up call for city leaders to take the strongest possible action.”
The reason the system is failing comes down to that thing called Greed its greed for Putea its greed Mana.
The wealthy do want to ceed Mana to the many pohara tangata they don't want the pohara tangata to become food and energy independent as these 2 thing is what controls the World and control is power they don't want to leave carbon in the ground were mother earth put it because having everyone depending on their carbon is controlling the %99 they would even put humanity’s future in grave jeopardy because of their GREED The wealthy could easily set the pohara tangata up to become independent food and energy producers but that old human Sin stops them from doing the correct things in respecting others tangata happiness and well-being. We are all Tamariki of the Earth and we all deserve to share her bounty EQUALLY.
Failing' food system leaves millions of children malnourished or overweight
Unicef report finds poorest children at greatest risk, while price of healthy food in rich nations drives food poverty
In the UK, the situation is a growing crisis. Almost two million children in England live in food poverty and one in three are overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school, Unicef said.
Globally almost 200 million children under five are malnourished, mostly due to poverty and deprivation, while 340 million suffer from hidden hunger in the form of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Poor children are carrying “the greatest burden of all forms of malnutrition”, the agency said, stressing that only one in five children aged six months to 23 months from the poorest families “is fed the minimum recommended diverse diet for healthy growth and brain development
In south Asia 50% of children are undernourished or overweight. The malnutrition rate in east and southern Africa is 42%, and 39% in west and central Africa
Globally, 149 million children under five are stunted, meaning they have low height for their age, and almost 50 million are wasted, with low weight to height ratio
“The number of stunted children has declined in all continents, except in Africa, while the number of overweight children has increased in all continents, including in Africa,” the report said.
Obesity is rapidly rising among children and young people around the world, driving early outbreaks of type 2 diabetes. At least 40 million children over the age of five are overweight. From 2000–2016, the number of overweight children aged five to 19 has doubled from one in 10 to one in five.
“Ten times more girls and 12 times more boys in this age group suffer from obesity today than in 1975,” the agency said.
Poorer children in the UK are twice as likely to be obese compared with those from the wealthier backgrounds. So-called “food swamps” – areas abundant in high-calorie, low-nutrient, processed foods – are disproportionately concentrated in deprived areas. In England, less than one in five children aged five to 15 eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and the poorest areas have five times more exposure to fast-food chains and corner shops
The report also looks at how globalisation, urbanisation and the climate emergency are compounding unhealthy diets. Just 100 giant firms dominate 77% of global sales of processed food. “Climate shocks, loss of biodiversity and damage to water, air and soil are worsening the nutritional prospects of millions of children and young people, especially among the poor,” said the report.
In Bangladesh alone, up to 19 million children are on the frontline of climate disasters
That's awesome Te Japanese tangata whenua Te Ainu building their own style Marae
I Maori always get the short end of the stick.
I don't think that Kura should turn down our Government funding for free Kai for their tamariki. If you need a new kitchen then get the parents to build it there are many ways to solve a problem.
I was very sceptical with shonky trying to stay in the medias EYE. Here you go Whanau he want his cake and to be able to eat it too as the old saying goes.
He wants to line his pocket with billions and still having a political influence on Aotearoa IE Whanau he is cheating.
Why Is John Key Running Around Trying to Organise a New Political Party?
National is panicking. They have started to realise that they need friends and they’ve also realised that the blue/green party is a stillborn nonsense.
That probably explains why John Key has been tasked with gathering up support for a new political party and has been busily talking up such a prospect to senior and wealthy business people
This is how it works. John Key gets an invite to dinner or a group to talk about whatever. Discussions inevitably steer towards the dreadful leadership of Simon Bridges and the need for a partner for National. At this point John Key suggests that the only viable option is for Judith Collins to go off and start her own party. Otherwise, he says they will have to deal with Winston Peters and he would rather see them booted from parliament than have to deal with him. He then says, that in his considered opinion, it is the only viable option. Those gullible business people, still thinking that John Key is the messiah then run around playing Chinese whispers and spreading the idea.
Quite how he thinks he can go around making such pronouncements is beyond this writer’s comprehension, save the only reasonable assumption one could make and that is that he is doing this with the approval and blessing of Simon Bridges and his leadership team.
However, it does expose Key somewhat as he retired from politics, got his knighthood, and a couple of cushy government appointments
It is obvious that he is still playing politics, but that causes him problems with his board positions, particularly the position he holds at Air New Zealand. That is a government-appointed position, and he has meddled in the selection processes in attempting to anoint Christopher Luxon.
John Key had his time in the sunlight, he got his knighthood, but failed in his other two goals of winning a fourth term and being the longest serving National PM. He should quietly bugger off and do his business thing and stop playing politics. He’s either in politics and out of business, or he’s in business and out of politics. He can’t do both. Not if he wants to keep his government board appointments.
John Key has always had a desire to sit on the board of one of the big Chinese Banks, a desire he expressed often enough to his political colleagues.
Global Warming is here and now it's not a phenomenon of our future its is a phenomenon we have to minimise and mitigate NOW.
Melting glaciers reveal five new islands in the Arctic
Russian navy discovers yet-to-be-named islands previously hidden under glaciers
An expedition in August and September charted the islands, which have yet to be named and were previously hidden under glaciers, said the head of the northern fleet, Vice-Admiral Alexander Moiseyev
Mainly this is of course caused by changes to the ice situation,” Moiseyev, who headed the expedition, said at a press conference in Moscow. “Before these were glaciers; we thought they were (part of) the main glacier.Melting, collapse and temperature changes led to these islands being uncovered.”
Glacier loss in the Arctic in the period from 2015 to 2019 was more than in any other five-year period on record, a United Nations report on global warming said last month
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
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Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
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 ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
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 ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
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, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
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 is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
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 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
Pacific Media Watch Earthwise hosts Lois and Martin Griffiths. Earthwise presenters Lois and Martin Griffiths on Plains FM 96.9 community radio talk to Dr David Robie, a New Zealand author, independent journalist and media educator with a passion for the Asia-Pacific region. David talks about the struggle to raise awareness ...
Pacific Media Watch Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent who was held for 12 hours at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, says Israeli forces rounded up Palestinian journalists at the facility and made them kneel on the ground for hours, while naked and blindfolded. “The occupation forces handcuffed and blindfolded us ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy, Grattan Institute chinasong, Shutterstock Electricity customers in four Australian states can breathe a sigh of relief. After two years in a row of 20% price increases, power prices have finally stabilised. In many places they’re ...
Chumbawamba have reportedly issued the deputy PM a cease-and-desist notice after he used their song 'Tubthumping' before his state of the nation speech. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Vitalities Lab, Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Centre, and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society, UNSW Sydney kitzcorner/Shutterstock The assertion from Queensland’s chief health officer John Gerrard that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Shutterstock Why are musicians so keen to get played on the radio? It can’t be because of the money. In Australia they are paid at rates so low they ...
"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Curran, Associate Professor of Ecology, Lincoln University, New Zealand Getty Images/Gerald Corsi In the latest move to reform environmental laws in New Zealand, the coalition government has introduced a bill to fast-track consenting processes for projects deemed to ...
Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
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 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
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 ...
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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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. ...
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 ...
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 ...
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. ...
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/18/second-whale-in-10-days-found-dead-in-river-thames
whales have been dying in the US this years in large numbers. Just washed up in numbers of one to three here and there every other day.
No whales showing up around cape town where they supposed to come by every year and this is after no sharks showed up.
I think we are doing a bang on job of killing everything we can as fast as we can because why not.
here https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/03/humpback-whales-unusual-mortality-event/
https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/whales-are-dying-round-alaska-and-scientists-dont-know-why/
https://phys.org/news/2019-06-feds-declare-emergency-gray-whale.html
ship strike and coincidence stated in article but 'so long….' was first thought that sprang to mind ….some 'odd' shark behaviour been reported recently as well
Japanese whale meat consumption has sky rocketed this year ?
We're removing millions of sharks each year for consumption, some just remove the fin and toss them back.
The experts say ecosystem collapse is inevitable with Apex predators removed.
Article 1 Section 9 Clause 8 of the US Constitution states:
Article 2 Section 1 Clause 7 of the US Constitution states:
One or both of these clauses gets violated every time any foreign delegation stays at a Trump Organisation property, or the Secret Service has to pay for the rooms their agents use when protecting the Prez when he goes to a Trump Organisation property.
But the greatest grifter of them all isn't content with forcing the minor cognitive dissonance of ignoring or defending this level of corruption on his cultists. No sirree, he has to go for the big kahuna of using one of his properties to host the G-7 meeting, thereby forcing the US government and all participating foreign governments into massive tribute payments.
https://www.vox.com/2019/10/17/20919414/trump-g7-doral-resort-2020-mulvaney
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/116039166/prison-spying-scandal-drugs-the-unauthorised-operation-and-the-police-investigation
I think what this shows, and all the other examples in recent times (whether NZTA, MSD cruelty, the T&C examples, MoBIE employees calling people "scum", etc., etc., etc.), is that if you give state agencies an opportunity, certain elements within will go rogue. EVEN IF they think its all with the best of intentions.
Far worse now as parts of our public service operate as little feifdoms with KPIs et all to meet. Proper oversight and accountability is well overdue
OwT +100
EVEN IF they think its all with the best of intentions.
It's a return to the degrading attitudes of Victorian times and the rigid class distinctions and who is entitled to respect and who not, with punitive punishments meted out by the people in society who see themselves as domatrixes? over the lower class. It's ugly and so are the thoughts behind the well-made up and expensively dressed group. It actually becomes so embedded in society without it being noticed, examined and condemned that it becomes a caste system, with untouchables at the base of it.
Unfortunately you can add the police and the military to that list.
Self-delusion is strong amongst UK Conservatives. How do you diagnose the Madness of the Entitled deep into group-think?
The Telegraph passed on this gem from Rees-Mogg (Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since 2019, Eton and Trinity Colleges), from a report by Asa Bennett, Brexit Commissioning Editor.
Meanwhile, don't miss Jacob Rees-Mogg's column, in which he urges his fellow MPs to pass the deal, adding: "It is a great injustice meted upon the British people by the political class that the joyful decision they took, born out of confidence and resolution, should have become so associated with stasis and stagnation."
Rats:
Bad news in the USA. New York in 2018
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/dec/21/new-york-rat-crisis-climate-change
Good news in agricultural Canada – Alberta. 2018 Vigilance and death.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/15/alberta-rat-catcher-phil-merill-canada-pest-free
I think the time has come to stop taking the p out of Simon. He will end up getting a sympathy vote for being mocked and picked-on. The emotional responses of all our educated citizens are high, compared to the informed judicious approach when deciding on election choice.
Japanese whale meat consumption has sky rocketed this year ?
Whats that got to do with the price of fish?
A large number of deaths of apparently healthy antelope. Why?
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/feb/25/mass-mortality-events-animal-conservation-climate-change Feb 2018
The scientists on the ground pinpointed blood poisoning as the cause, but were puzzled as to why whole herds were dying so quickly. After 32 postmortems, they concluded the culprit was the bacterium Pasteurella multocida, which they believe normally lives harmlessly in the tonsils of some, if not all, of the antelopes. In a research paper published in January in Science Advances, Kock and colleagues contrasted the 2015 MME with the two from the 1980s. They concluded that a rise in temperature to 37C and an increase in humidity above 80% in the previous few days had stimulated the bacteria to pass into the bloodstream where it caused haemorrhagic septicaemia, or blood poisoning.
The weather link raises the spectre of climate change. Just as it is rarely wise to link a single extreme weather event – whether it’s the Australian heatwave, last summer’s Hurricane Harvey or this winter’s North American cold snap – to climate change, it is equally difficult to blame an MME on global warming. But what can be said with confidence is that the sorts of extreme weather events linked to MMEs – such as the temperature and humidity rise that nearly wiped out the saiga – will become more frequent.
And more climate change problems for animals and us?
Ticks. 2018
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-winters-warm-blood-sucking-ticks-drain-moose-dry/
https://geographical.co.uk/nature/wildlife/item/3008-ghost-moose
Caring idealists doing what they can to help themselves and species survive.
https://www.dw.com/en/dying-fish-and-drying-rivers-consequences-of-europes-summer-heat-wave/a-45019500
.
Uncaring idealists who are too purist and sensitive for this world! 2017
https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/nov/01/animal-rights-activists-inuit-clash-canada-indigenous-food-traditions
We're going to kill everything.
More than half a century ago, conservationist Rachel Carson sounded an alarm about human impacts on the natural world with her book Silent Spring. Its title alluded to the loss of twittering birds from natural habitats because of indiscriminate pesticide use, and the treatise spawned the modern conservation movement. But new research published Thursday in Science shows bird populations have continued to plummet in the past five decades, dropping by nearly three billion across North America—an overall decline of 29 percent from 1970.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/silent-skies-billions-of-north-american-birds-have-vanished/
A new study suggests that 40 percent of insect species are in decline, a sobering finding that has jarred researchers worldwide.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/02/why-insect-populations-are-plummeting-and-why-it-matters/
The answer is apparently for ths hoi polloi to elect someone like Harper in Canada 2014 who sacked 2000 scientists and encouraged destruction of archived records. and buffoon politicians with an air of confidence who lie about the conditions, and then there is no need to think. I think this proves that democracy tends to fall into the hands of finaglers and connivers and people are lulled into thinking they don't need to participate in the running of their country and so democracy is never really tried, as has also been said of Christianity.
including ourselves
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/2095707/great-tea-robbery-how-british-stole-chinas
China has been 'got at' by the west. This may be at the back of their minds as they organise their political blocs in the world.
Laying the narrative for Kiwibank to be sold?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/115992087/18yearold-kiwibank-still-has-only-4-per-cent-of-the-market-whats-happened
Not a chance in Hell, unless Nats get back to power. They'd sell their mothers if it helps with funding tax cuts for the rich and moar roads.
Unfortunately, at some stage, National will get back into power.
Hopefully they spend a bit of time in the wilderness first, meditating on their wretched failure to govern.
you have misunderstood conservative.
they don't give up on their plans.
they don't worry about the time it takes
and they can never failed, they can only ever befailed. ( see republicans in the us, or tories in england, or cdu/csu germany etc etc etc )
only liberals need to reflect, pontificate, meditate and be bipartisan. 🙂 And sadly more often then not they are.
What's the chance of Jami-Lee Ross winning Botany come next election?
And if he did, what's the chance he'd help National over the line if need be?
Ross has NO chance.The true blues in Botany are staunch to the Natz.JLR needs to be given a job.
Yes, but they can party vote National and also vote for JLR. Which may provide National with help getting over the line.
Good thinking JLR is well disposed to the Natz=a match made in..heaven.
When it comes to National not having friends, could this be the "space" that Simon keeps telling us to watch for?
Simon Luxon?
Bridges.
Luxon
If National voters vote strategically, they can party vote National and for JLR as a potential to help National over the line.
Luxon doesn't offer them that potential. And if he (Luxon) has a high listing, he'll get in regardless.
I don’t smoke my own dope.
Hard to see Luxon getting a high (enough) placing on the List and not aiming for a win in his electorate (if he’s selected to stand). OTOH, he could stand and do a Goldsmith.
He (Luxon) may aim to win but ultimately that will come down to how strategically National voters in Botany decide to vote.
Considering his high profile, one would expect a safe listing.
A high or high enough listing?
It would be cynical to parachute Luxon high into the party when he hasn’t done the hard yards yet and not proven himself. That said, he might get a high listing if he takes one for the team in Botany, i.e. do a Goldsmith. I can’t see it nor can I see JLR play along with it but in politics anything is possible.
How the voters vote will depend on the cues from the party (National) and the campaign.
Apparently, having to give up state-of-the-art bang-bangs makes some gun owners "feel like victims".
Fair point, from one perspective. Fuckwits in the world are why we can't have a lot of nice or fun things. Skyrockets, for example.
But I also have the impulse to say "awwww, having your toy taken away makes you feel like you were just going about your daily routine when some fuckwit put several high-velocity projectiles through your body? You poor dear."
Phil Twyford on Q&A was pointing at targeted rates. Where private finance is brought in (such as infrastructure bonds) and paid back through targeted rates or a levy to be added on top of current rate bills. Shifting the debt off council books (helping to address their problem) but which Twyford admitted, will do nothing for ratepayer affordability.
And of course, this will have a flow on effect. Putting further upward pressure on rents, thus putting further pressure on incomes. Which in turn, reduces spending elsewhere.
To better address households ability to pay, rates should be funded through income tax. Which is far more progressive, thus far better suited to address household affordability issues. As those that earn the most pay a larger share.
What are your thoughts?
As those that earn the most pay a larger share.
Yeah, Right. TUI!
Yeah, sure.
Nevertheless, while income tax is not perfect, it's the most progressive from of taxation we have, thus the most suited to address household affordability issues.
Central government needs to stop pushing stuff onto councils without thinking of the unintended consequences e.g. increasing immigration as a matter of government policy increases the infrastructure requirements that councils have to meet but the government at the same time as pushing these costs up sides with the developers moaning about the cost of putting in such infrastructure.
Or funding private landlords to buy rental properties through both tax incentives and rent subsidies while at the same time reducing state rentals (both proportionally to population and in some councils in actuality) putting undue pressure on council housing which receives zero central government support for housing.
It was an original accord between councils and government that the state would pick up most of the need for state housing and councils some for the elderly and the disabled. Councils who have retained their housing (and thanks to the ones that have) should get a cash injection from government to upgrade and replace their aging housing. This to compensate for the years of support private landlords have had.
Twyford's subtext for this "uplift" is the light rail deal, and how HLC uplifts development profit out of that deal. Although with TV3 selling out of their Eden Terrace property, there's scope for CRLL to buy it as it's an adjacent property and would then be able to be pulled into a wider redevelopment deal. More scope for betterment there.
If he wants to fund rates through income tax, he should have a sit-downwith an actual tax policy specialist, such as Deb Russel who runs the Finance Committee.
Otherwise he should stop putting up tax policy balloons that have no support.
I think it was The Chairman, not Phil Twyford, who is pushing for nation-wide income tax as mechanism to fund local projects and services at Council level.
Unfortunately, The Chairman did not include a link in his comment @ 12, which would have been helpful.
Yes, that's correct re use of tax funding.
And the reason I didn't provide a link is because I clearly stated it was on Q&A.
[Whether it is “correct” use of tax funding is a matter of opinion.
Without a link people have to do a search to find what you are referring to in order to verify your comment. How many times has Phil Twyford appeared on Q & A? This does not make for good debate and does not show good faith. It would take you a few seconds to find and post the link here so please correct your omission – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 3:03 PM.
Latest episode.
https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/episodes
This one: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/episodes/s2019-e32?
That’s no good because you need to “Login to unlock this video.”
It could have been this clip: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/q-and-a/clips/twyford-says-pressure-on-councils-to-grow-cities-up-and-out
But you didn’t link to that one!?
I guess we will never know what was fact and what was your opinion. So, sadly, this debate never got off the ground in a good way because of lack of appropriate sharing of information, IMHO.
Yes, I was referring to the latest episode and of course the clip from it that you linked too.
I have no control over who can and can’t log into TVNZ. Therefore, what clips and episodes people can see.
This proposal (not Twyford's one re infrastructure bonds) is all my opinion.
Thank you.
Commenters here often link to stuff that’s behind paywalls and usually warn about it too. A small gesture goes a long way. In any case, linking gives others an opportunity to go to same source and make up their own minds. Subsequently, a debate might ensue and if new information needs to be included, a new link will appear in the discussion thread, et cetera. It is really that simple.
Speaking of light rail, have you seen this?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/116705422/light-rail-reality-the-six-power-point-slides-that-stopped-a-city
The rates burden wont be solved by redesignating the collector …regardless the increasing costs will continue (unless you advocate further austerity) as it must occur for as the sum of infrastructure increases so does its maintenance…..such is growth
And there will be the, or should be, the extra personnel keeping an eye on infrastructure for cracks, bulges etc when the materials start breaking down or not performing as required.
Indeed, Pat.With growth comes cost. However, to improve the sustainability in meeting those costs, how rates are collected (or more precisely how the burden is shared) needs to change to a more progressive form.
The Government can't expect people who are currently struggling to take on more costs without the wheels falling off. Which, of course, will result in wider, negative ramifications for the economy and society overall.
Sounds to me you’re conflating a number of things and pushing for some kind of privatising profits/benefits and socialising losses/costs (AKA externalising). Intuitively, the user-pays argument makes a lot of sense. You will have to argue hard to convince a wage earner in Invercargill to pay effectively income tax for a swimming pool in a suburb of Auckland.
Not at all. I talking about peoples ability to pay ever increasing costs. Thus, the need to find a more sustainable source of funding.
In this regard, all the Government has done thus far is to come up with a way (infrastructure bonds) to keep the cost off of councils books, while largely overlooking peoples ability to pay growing, ongoing costs moving forward.
And in the case of infrastructure bonds, one would assume the rate will be higher than the rate it currently costs the Government to borrow.
As a funding source, the use of infrastructure bonds will privatize profits. The use of taxes won't.
As for a taxpayer in Invercargill paying for projects elsewhere, taxpayer funding already pays for spending elsewhere throughout the country. Therefore, in that context, what I'm suggesting wouldn't change a thing.
Who’s currently paying for Council debt?
How do Council progress projects and services if they cannot borrow more?
Who will pay for those Infrastructure Bonds?
Will these help to reduce Council debt?
Please provide evidence that a portion of income tax paid by a wage earner in Invercargill goes towards local projects and services elsewhere in the country that are paid for by targeted rates. In any case, if your suggestion “wouldn’t change a thing” what nation-wide projects and services will receive less of the taxpayers’ dollar?
Are you thinking of an extension of the Provincial Growth Fund for local Councils?
Ratepayers largely fund council, thus their costs/debt.
Moody's highlighted Auckland Council could suffer a future credit downgrade if it faces reduced support from the government to deliver its infrastructure program.
Back in April, there was currently $1.2 billion of debt headroom against the internal debt-to-revenue ceiling of 265%. This headroom was projected to be fully utilised over the next couple of years.
The Auditor-General released a report in February which talked about the increasing pressures many of the country’s councils are facing as they tried to deal with increasing costs associated with infrastructure and growth in the face of growing debt levels.
https://www.interest.co.nz/bonds/98926/auckland-councils-12-bln-debt-headroom-keeps-credit-rating-agency-happy-meantime-using
I didn't state that. I said as for a taxpayer in Invercargill paying for projects elsewhere, taxpayer funding already pays for spending elsewhere throughout the country. So in that context, nothing would change.
Again, you are changing the context. I was alluding to there being no change in the fact tax dollars obtained from one region is already being spent elsewhere. Some even goes offshore as in foreign aid.
In the wider context, as for what nation-wide projects and services will receive less taxpayer funding as a result? That depends on whether or not the Government would opt for an additional infrastructure tax (largely targeted at high income earners, reducing downward in the income scale) opposed to cutting back tax spending elsewhere. Such as defense spending, offshore aid, etc…
Ultimately, I would like to see a total shift away from rates (which are less progressive and don't really take into account people’s income, thus people's ability to pay) moving to all council rates being funded directly via income taxes. Which, of course, does take into account people’s income hence ability to pay, thus is far more sustainable going forward.
Infrastructure bonds will help slow the build up of council debt, but they are not the only solution. Furthermore, they come at a far greater public cost.
I’m afraid you’re shifting the goalposts (context) and roping in all sorts of stuff that have nothing to do with the original discussion topic (hint: it was about what Phil Twyford said during an interview). In other words, you’re conflating a number of things, as I said previously. Please re-read your comment @12 that started this thread. If you want to discuss foreign aid or defense spending, which I know is one bee in your bonnet, and then start a new thread.
Foreign aid and defense spending were examples brought up due to your questioning. Nevertheless, as your questioning indicates, the two are interconnected – i.e. funding and expenditure.
Fascinating that you blame my questioning for you not staying on topic and bringing your hobbyhorses into the conversation. For your convenience, please let me remind you of the topic as started by you @ 12: (alternative) ways of funding/financing targeted rates and reasoning from a Council’s perspective as raised by Phil Twyford in his interview that you couldn’t link to (you got close, in the end). Even within your starting comment @ 12, you already went off track and avoided addressing Twyford’s points with your idiosyncratic way of criticising negatively. You claim to come here to build consensus, which IMHO relies on finding and acknowledging commonality. Your MO, OTOH, is to find and highlight distinction, separation, discord, and discontent, to name just a few, which usually are based on assumptions that you and only you seem to make and rarely based on hard facts.
Talk about not staying on topic, I’m not the topic.
The Government knows the high cost of housing is a problem which has wider, negative ramifications.Yet, they seem intent on adding to it.
Addressing council's affordability via private sector investment will add to household costs (privatizing profits) while also encouraging councils to spend more (via removing current funding constraints) putting more affordability pressures on households.
Can you not see the problems this is going to create going forward?
Nice try of deflecting that you cannot and did not stay on topic and only used Twyford’s interview to spew your usual concern about this country going to hell in a handbasket thanks to the Labour-led Government. Of course, Twyford is
flavourtarget of the month.Yes, living costs are (too) high and so are Council debts. Projects and services need to be delivered/executed in a timely fashion or costs will rise astronomically – do you follow the NZTA story at all?
Twyford was addressing a possible alternative for Councils to move forward and clear their debts, which are paid for by ratepayers who are likely to benefit, which is one argument for targeted rates, which happened to be one of Twyford’s talking points. You still haven’t given a single decent argument why a wage earner in Invercargill should pay income tax to pay for a local project or service in Auckland, for example, that is/should/could be funded by targeted rates. That argument will, of course, never eventuate because foreign aid and defense spending blablabla.
Could this create (unintended?) problems? Possibly, but neither your problems nor your ‘solutions’ seem to have been thought through for more than a fleeting moment; they just feel good to you so they/you must be right.
I’d never climb a mountain if I were you because the Labour Yetis will get you.
No. Twyford was addressing a possible alternative for Councils to overcome their debt constraints. An alternative that is likely to come in at a higher cost to households.
But I have. To better address household's affordability to pay, avoiding wider, negative ramifications for the economy and society overall. Was one. So can you explain why you don't see that as being a decent argument?
Helping to fund infrastructure throughout the nation is one of the reasons we pay tax.
Unintended problems you say. More like foreseeable problems such as an exacerbation of many of our current problems.
As for my proposal, it's open to suggestions of improvement or do you prefer to continue to dis me?
channel 3 for sale.
The intention is for MediaWorks to sell the television side of the business while retaining ownership of radio and QMS. The Flower Street property will also be put up for sale with a lease back option for a buyer to continue to operate television from that location.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1910/S00422/mediaworks-to-pursue-a-sales-process-for-television-business.htm
Wasn't Media works helped out with a lessening of its licence some years ago when there were money troubles? If it is going to sell up, then we must put our hand out and recover that foregone money.
CRL's Mt Eden Station – now under construction – is right next door to the TV3 site.
CRLL should buy it and fold it into their post-CRL construction plan.
Media works had their licence payments changed from paying them in advance to in arrears. So there are no foregone money, just the timing on when they pay and the govt received the income. it was made out to be a larger issue than what is was, but that is the game of politics 😉
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10711051
Thanks I thought it important then, so am glad they did pay it back.
But her emails!
Can the Trumpkins and Alt Left Wing Trolls now please give this a rest.
Brexit –
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/uk-brexit-showdown-latest-updates-191019080100527.html
The speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, said he had selected for a vote a proposal to withhold support for Johnson's Brexit deal until formal ratification legislation has passed.
The amendment was put forward by former Conservative MP Oliver Letwin and is backed by a cross-party alliance of opposition MPs. If it passes, it would force Johnson to request an extension to Brexit by the end of Saturday…
Labour –
Main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told parliament Johnson's deal risks jobs, rights, the environment and health service.
"This deal would be a disaster for working people," he said, adding it was "even worse" than the one it replaces, which was voted down three times.
"Voting for a deal today won't end Brexit. It won't deliver certainty and the people should have the final say," Corbyn said.
He had earlier reiterated that Labour MPs would vote against the revised withdrawal agreement in a post on Twitter.
The BovverBoy –
(Johnson is now casting himself as the clear decision maker turning the Brexit matter around after the unfortunate decision of the referendum.The fact that it was the Conservatives who held it, and then acted on it on a whim really (it appeared), does not enter into the situation.)
They won't give up easily as getting out of Europe will mean changing laws in a swingeing way that give the workers standards under EU rules. Plus everything else and throwing away an Irish solution that resolved the deadly bombings and British shootings and prison sentences with excrement smearing and fasting and men desperate at the intransigence of Britain.
The Cons are so irresponsible and greedy, and Forage is a conniver, schemer and demagogue; a toxic mix.
Kia Ora Breakfast.
Kia Kaha to all the Teams who didn't make the semi finals at the Rugby World Cup.
Tui
Still Lives Book by Maderlin all humans should be treated humanly by other people.
Ka kite Ano
Te Tui is my favourite Titi
Carbon is not only bad for Our environment is bad for one's health to. Let do the logical thing and drop carbon out of our society.
Scores more heart attacks and strokes on high pollution days, figures show
Data reveals acute impact on people’s health and the strain it puts on emergency services
Scores of children and adults are being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment on days of high pollution in cities across England, figures show.
Each year emergency services see more than 120 additional cardiac arrests, more than 230 additional strokes and nearly 200 more people with asthma requiring hospital treatment on days of high pollution compared with the average on days of lower pollution
Scores of children and adults are being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment on days of high pollution in cities across England, figures show.
Each year emergency services see more than 120 additional cardiac arrests, more than 230 additional strokes and nearly 200 more people with asthma requiring hospital treatment on days of high pollution compared with the average on days of lower pollution.
The data, to be published in full next month, shows the extra strain that poor air quality is putting on already stretched NHS emergency resources.
Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, said: “These new figures show air pollution is now causing thousands of strokes, cardiac arrests and asthma attacks, so it’s clear that the climate emergency is in fact also a health emergency. Since these avoidable deaths are happening now, not in 2025 or 2050, together we need to act now
Much of the recent research on air pollution has focused on the lifelong effects of chronic exposure, including cognitive decline, stunted growth in children and premature death. However, it can also bring on serious illness more immediately.
Jenny Bates, an air pollution campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Many people may not realise how dangerous air pollution at high levels can be, and that it can trigger heart attacks, strokes and asthma attacks as well as having long-term health effects. These figures will be a wake-up call for city leaders to take the strongest possible action.”
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/21/scores-more-heart-attacks-and-strokes-on-high-pollution-days-figures-show
Kia Ora 1 News.
Japan can be proud of the way there Rugby team played and hold their heads up they have made vast improvement in their team and games.
The engineered stone used for kitchen bench tops cutting causeing lung damage is quite a bit of a hazard.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
That's cool more putea for trade training for our youth I will be making sure my mokopuna get a good education.
Rudolph being treated badly is sad because he was different people can be cruel.
We do need more Maori teachers in university but I say we are discriminated against I have seen the proof.
Good on Te Tai tokarau for their WAKA build with the Tahitians. I want to see Ngāti Porou WAKA building revived.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Breakfast.
I tau toko tangata who champion mitigating Global Warming.
(Well Hello)
Ka kite Ano
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
https://youtu.be/Mu3H_vf70GA
The reason the system is failing comes down to that thing called Greed its greed for Putea its greed Mana.
The wealthy do want to ceed Mana to the many pohara tangata they don't want the pohara tangata to become food and energy independent as these 2 thing is what controls the World and control is power they don't want to leave carbon in the ground were mother earth put it because having everyone depending on their carbon is controlling the %99 they would even put humanity’s future in grave jeopardy because of their GREED The wealthy could easily set the pohara tangata up to become independent food and energy producers but that old human Sin stops them from doing the correct things in respecting others tangata happiness and well-being. We are all Tamariki of the Earth and we all deserve to share her bounty EQUALLY.
Failing' food system leaves millions of children malnourished or overweight
Unicef report finds poorest children at greatest risk, while price of healthy food in rich nations drives food poverty
In the UK, the situation is a growing crisis. Almost two million children in England live in food poverty and one in three are overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school, Unicef said.
Globally almost 200 million children under five are malnourished, mostly due to poverty and deprivation, while 340 million suffer from hidden hunger in the form of vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
Poor children are carrying “the greatest burden of all forms of malnutrition”, the agency said, stressing that only one in five children aged six months to 23 months from the poorest families “is fed the minimum recommended diverse diet for healthy growth and brain development
In south Asia 50% of children are undernourished or overweight. The malnutrition rate in east and southern Africa is 42%, and 39% in west and central Africa
Globally, 149 million children under five are stunted, meaning they have low height for their age, and almost 50 million are wasted, with low weight to height ratio
“The number of stunted children has declined in all continents, except in Africa, while the number of overweight children has increased in all continents, including in Africa,” the report said.
Obesity is rapidly rising among children and young people around the world, driving early outbreaks of type 2 diabetes. At least 40 million children over the age of five are overweight. From 2000–2016, the number of overweight children aged five to 19 has doubled from one in 10 to one in five.
“Ten times more girls and 12 times more boys in this age group suffer from obesity today than in 1975,” the agency said.
Poorer children in the UK are twice as likely to be obese compared with those from the wealthier backgrounds. So-called “food swamps” – areas abundant in high-calorie, low-nutrient, processed foods – are disproportionately concentrated in deprived areas. In England, less than one in five children aged five to 15 eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day and the poorest areas have five times more exposure to fast-food chains and corner shops
The report also looks at how globalisation, urbanisation and the climate emergency are compounding unhealthy diets. Just 100 giant firms dominate 77% of global sales of processed food. “Climate shocks, loss of biodiversity and damage to water, air and soil are worsening the nutritional prospects of millions of children and young people, especially among the poor,” said the report.
In Bangladesh alone, up to 19 million children are on the frontline of climate disasters
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/oct/15/failing-food-system-means-millions-of-children-are-malnourished-or-overweight-unicef
Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute.
https://youtu.be/hT_nvWreIhg
https://youtu.be/QAB6aXOfUmU
Kia Ora 1 News.
Hope that they can get the fire under control in Tamiki Makaru before to much damage is caused.
That explaine the small swam today
There you go.
Congratulations to the left Canadian Prime Minister for his re election Kia Kaha
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
Condolences to Tommy's Whanau for their loss.
Big fires at sky city convention centre.
That's awesome Te Japanese tangata whenua Te Ainu building their own style Marae
I Maori always get the short end of the stick.
I don't think that Kura should turn down our Government funding for free Kai for their tamariki. If you need a new kitchen then get the parents to build it there are many ways to solve a problem.
I learnt never turn down koha putea or Kai
Kia Kaha Albe.
I tau toko Te Anglican Church.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Breakfast.
Richard.
Isn't it deja vu Whutu paoro
I can carry on with my project
Ka kite Ano
I was very sceptical with shonky trying to stay in the medias EYE. Here you go Whanau he want his cake and to be able to eat it too as the old saying goes.
He wants to line his pocket with billions and still having a political influence on Aotearoa IE Whanau he is cheating.
Why Is John Key Running Around Trying to Organise a New Political Party?
National is panicking. They have started to realise that they need friends and they’ve also realised that the blue/green party is a stillborn nonsense.
That probably explains why John Key has been tasked with gathering up support for a new political party and has been busily talking up such a prospect to senior and wealthy business people
This is how it works. John Key gets an invite to dinner or a group to talk about whatever. Discussions inevitably steer towards the dreadful leadership of Simon Bridges and the need for a partner for National. At this point John Key suggests that the only viable option is for Judith Collins to go off and start her own party. Otherwise, he says they will have to deal with Winston Peters and he would rather see them booted from parliament than have to deal with him. He then says, that in his considered opinion, it is the only viable option. Those gullible business people, still thinking that John Key is the messiah then run around playing Chinese whispers and spreading the idea.
Quite how he thinks he can go around making such pronouncements is beyond this writer’s comprehension, save the only reasonable assumption one could make and that is that he is doing this with the approval and blessing of Simon Bridges and his leadership team.
However, it does expose Key somewhat as he retired from politics, got his knighthood, and a couple of cushy government appointments
It is obvious that he is still playing politics, but that causes him problems with his board positions, particularly the position he holds at Air New Zealand. That is a government-appointed position, and he has meddled in the selection processes in attempting to anoint Christopher Luxon.
John Key had his time in the sunlight, he got his knighthood, but failed in his other two goals of winning a fourth term and being the longest serving National PM. He should quietly bugger off and do his business thing and stop playing politics. He’s either in politics and out of business, or he’s in business and out of politics. He can’t do both. Not if he wants to keep his government board appointments.
John Key has always had a desire to sit on the board of one of the big Chinese Banks, a desire he expressed often enough to his political colleagues.
This is yet another dog that won’t hunt
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://thebfd.co.nz/2019/10/why-is-john-key-running-around-trying-to-organise-a-new-political-party/
Global Warming is here and now it's not a phenomenon of our future its is a phenomenon we have to minimise and mitigate NOW.
Melting glaciers reveal five new islands in the Arctic
Russian navy discovers yet-to-be-named islands previously hidden under glaciers
An expedition in August and September charted the islands, which have yet to be named and were previously hidden under glaciers, said the head of the northern fleet, Vice-Admiral Alexander Moiseyev
Mainly this is of course caused by changes to the ice situation,” Moiseyev, who headed the expedition, said at a press conference in Moscow. “Before these were glaciers; we thought they were (part of) the main glacier.Melting, collapse and temperature changes led to these islands being uncovered.”
Glacier loss in the Arctic in the period from 2015 to 2019 was more than in any other five-year period on record, a United Nations report on global warming said last month
Ka kite Ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/22/melting-glaciers-reveal-five-new-islands-in-the-arctic
Kia Ora 1 News.
A referendum would be OK.
I think that it would be sad if the aluminium smelter shut down with the cleaner aluminium that's produced by our Awa power.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
The building has heaps of carbon in it.
Every culture has to abide by the rules.
Ka pai to Tangata Whenua getting a stronger voice in the Rotorua lakes councils kia kaha.
Awsome to see Te Carving Hinemateioro back in Turangi A Kiwa.
Its great to see Te reo being digitised that will make tangata learning Te reo easer to learn .
Jo Joe rabbit will be a good move to watch.
Ka kite Ano.