Oh dear, how sad, another self-entitled entrepreneur (Phil Sprey of Capital C: Concerts) wants the Government to change the rules so he can refill his coffers. It seems he has failed to understand what has made NZ's Covid response successful. Private contractors are not able to be trusted, as Australia has also learned at great cost, and he naively believes that superstars would play by the rules when internationally, they haven't. Sprey also seems to not understand the risks involved with superspreader events.
If his, is such a great idea, he should demonstrate his commitment by offering to carry the risk by depositing sufficient funds to meet the cost of containing and eliminating any consequent Covid-19 outbreak. The concept of employing the Government services at superstar rates to quarantine the performers and their entourages would not go amiss – but that would affect his bottom line no doubt. Even then, should the country carry the risks associated with his personal business? Meanwhile, instead of grandstanding, Sprey could be putting together packages of NZ talent that has had a hard time financially due to Covid.
Promoters are already putting NZ packages together and long may that continue. I do not see this as a bad idea except anyone thinking they get a special (isolation) deal because they're celebrities.
Recall Tom Cruise wouldn't allow people to look him in the eye. WTF kind of human is that. Role model? Joke! Recall the Avatar people tossed their toys and went home because we talked about them being precious. HA. That's precious…
But when we ignore the fatuous fakes that parade around magazine covers we also have an industry that service concerts. Sound, stage and lighting companies. Security, promoters, printers, food vendors, designers, builders, techies, drivers, machinery operators, ground crew and more.
Personally I'm not interested in paying big ticket prices for bands I've already seen many times. It'll only work for a while then we're flogging a dead horse. So there's merit to imports, despite the fact I find most celebrities to be self absorbed twats.
And how many have brought the virus back into NZ? Surely, we can do without that. Besides, I do sincerely hope they are being charged for their quarantine and its not the taxpayer being once more asked to fork out money for millionaire's.
We have currently a severe poverty and housing issue. Today's news report 1 in 5 families could go hungry this Christmas. This is disgusting, money should be spend there.
Just a plan to line his pockets and drop the balance of payments a little. There are jobs in the sector but I assume they are event related not permanent and they usually seem to bring a lot of people with them. But since NZ events are usually tacked onto Australian concerts for profit reasons I imagine – I don't see how one or two events here would be financially worth it for the performer.
But why the need for special quarantine? A lot of performers come from pretty ordinary backgrounds and probably wouldn't worry about a quarantine hotel and it's not as if anyone can get to them there
Used to be people moved for well-paying jobs – now that there are none, they have to look for places where the foreign bank rake-off is a bit less instead.
The irrationality lies in the treatment of unemployment.
For decades we have been told that inflation is terrible. The policy of the decent society, full employment, was abandoned to control inflation, consigning 5-10% of the constant to lives of misery and deprivation.
But real estate inflation is different somehow – because corrupt MPs have investment properties presumably. Inflation there is evidently economically wonderful, notwithstanding its effects on the productive economy, and the further emiseration of those impoverished by the structural malice of neoliberalism.
Since inflation is suddenly ok though, maybe we should return to full employment. If it's good enough for the wanker class, it's good enough for those in want.
The more you look at Johnson’s government’s actions in the UK over COVID, the more evidence presents that they are guilty of criminal negligence.
There is no doubt in my mind that the vague instructions are deliberately opaque, so they can wash their hands of culpability – and blame a lack of individual responsibility.
Johnson and his motley crew should be up in court.
This resignation, together with the active undermining on freshwater quality by farmers elected to Fish and Games's regional councils, is a serious loss to the government's water quality improvement efforts. They’ve just had an important ally knocked out for 2021.
The previous Minister had sought to generate a governance review of the organisation, which appears to have been conveniently buried.
While National are apparently quiescent, deep in local and regional councils, and in Fish and Game, conservative activists and Federated Farmers, and the truly recalcitrant rural elites, are strengthening their power bases.
Wait for farmers to start joining the Labour Party like they have Fish and Game and asserting their democratic membership opportunities.
Although most farmers were already members of F & G, they tend to hunt and fish more than the general population, just weren't that active in the representative side until F & G started to get assertive in protecting habitat and upset some less than responsible farmers.
The corollary would be for eco-activists to infiltrate and dominate the Federated Farmers groups around the country.
BBQ's are mandatory, of course and a great guarded gateway, but some of these latest indistinguishable-from-meat-soy-substitute sausages might get an aspiring vegan into the tent.
Shepherd James Rebanks tends a flock of Herdwick sheep on a family-owned farm in the Lake District in northern England.
He learned traditional farming ways from his grandfather; a man with a profound connection with his land.
An OE in Australia introduced Rebanks to industrial farming practices, which he applied to his own farm in the 1990s.
After a while he realised that he was in fact damaging the land, soil and local wildlife.
So he started the laborious process of restoring features like hedgerows, pastures, meadows, and dry stone walls- and hasn't looked back. He's now a self declared 'old fashioned farmer
It,s the same old story. Activists take over an organisation to push their extremist views. F and G look like they are cleaning out the idiots and maybe some sensible dialogue could be the end result.
Anglers and farmers need to work together.Predatory trout are killing our native fish all over New Zealand.Dairy delivers a quarter of New Zealands income.
[I would, if I had made the assertion. However, the onus is on you to back your statement of fact. Now, go and find a good link from an authoritative source or take an extended break for wasting my time and being a smart arse. As a “turkey” I feel a little stressed around this time of the year and I make no apologies for that to a cocky – Incognito]
Johnson’s criminal government needs to be held to account.
‘In a desperate scramble to acquire supplies during the first wave of the pandemic – the government handed out contracts worth billions of pounds. Now an investigation has claimed a lot of the cash went to companies with links to the Tory party.’
Are you one of those lazy commenters who spray & walk away dumping their little ‘pearls of wisdom’ here thinking that you’ve done something worthwhile?
If the story/comment is worth knowing about, discussing, and following (up) then by all means, raise it here, but please do provide a link when you quote/cite.
to reiterate what Incognito said, if you quote you have to link to where you cut and paste from. If you are typing out from audio, then link to that and make it clear.
This is the grand total of the written part on Channel 4:
In the desperate scramble to acquire scarce supplies of PPE, ventilators and Covid testing kits during the first wave of the pandemic – the government handed out hundreds of contracts worth billions of pounds.
An investigation carried out by the New York Times claims that much of that cash went to companies with links to the Conservative party, or with no prior experience in the field.
I guess you were not interested enough to find the investigation in NYT then? Maybe you should read up on those stories before you comment here, as it would add value to your otherwise rather lightweight and empty comments.
Advice from a successful professional soldier at the end of an interview.
"I never expect anyone to agree with me but what I do say is that what I write or say is quite clear and at least they know with what they are disagreeing. That's the big thing, they must know that"
He earlier comments on leadership, materialism, China, sea power and the importance of political strategy.
As I see it, NZ politics is dominated at the moment by parties with essentially similar policies, afraid to say anything that might upset the electorate, which stifles constructive disagreement and debate.
So you've leapt from an interview from a late 1950s military commander having a long comfortable stroke about command-and-control execution, and somehow made a link to New Zealand that we don't democratically debate policy here.
The policy options debated between the main parties are too similar. In a healthy democracy the main party in government should have policies that are strongly opposed to policies of the opposition parties, otherwise there is no real choice and people come to believe "there is no alternative". I see a link with the quote because I believe our populist political leaders avoid saying or writing anything that might turn public opinion against them. Pleasing public opinion is not a sound motive for policy to deal with the serious problems arising from inequality in NZ.
Political leaders still have to get enough votes to win power. I had hoped that like Lange, Ardern would front a covert revolutionary agenda, but so far no sign of this. Lange succeeded – hence most of today's inequality related suffering. No covert Labour agenda this time it seems. A wasted opportunity given their parliamentary majority.
They wrote to her begging to stay on, but her response was politely that they hadn't provided any evidence that they were up to it.
“I consider a commission to be necessary to deliver the strategic leadership that the council and city needs.”
With their notorious crap communication in Tauranga city, she stated “I will be sending the commission a strong direction to ensure that the Tauranga community is engaged with and consulted on all significant decisions of the council, as is required in the legislation."
If anyone lives or has recently visited Tauranga recently, it's actually exploding in growth and there's next to zero coherence to go with it.
The Tauriko industrial park for example is in the middle of paddocks, pushed out of a three-way motorway intestine like a haemeroid.
Its public transport system is one of the worst in New Zealand, and barely used. There is no passenger train service despite rail going right through the middle of downtown and connecting Tauranga to the Mount. You can walk down Cameron Street its main commercial street on any night and you will see not a single pedestrian – just a few brave kids on scooters and bikes.
And its downtown framework is in close-to the same condition it was in when it was launched four years ago.
For those who are of the strongly held opinion that Biden is little more than a slightly kinder version of Trump, I'm posting this link in the hope that they will think again.
In what is a major first for the US with a long history of oppression of Native Americans the appointment of a Native American woman and the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet Secretary is a major resetting of priorities.
President-elect Joe Biden's selection of Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., to lead the Department of the Interior — potentially the first Native American to do so and serve as a Cabinet secretary — is being celebrated across Native American groups and viewed as a fresh start for tribal relations with the federal government.
The Interior Department is "a massive battleship. It's not going to turn on a dime, but this is the signaling of a new chapter," said Crystal Echo Hawk, executive director of IllumiNative, a Native American advocacy group. "This is a deep resetting of the federal government's relationship with Native peoples, one that was built on stolen land and broken promises."
Biden's pick of Haaland had drawn concern among some Democrats over the threat of losing another seat and narrowing of the party's slim hold in the U.S. House. But she tweeted Thursday that the historic nature of her nomination has come at the right moment.
"A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior," Haaland, 60, a tribal member of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico, said. "Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household made me fierce. I'll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land."
Haaland's supporters say her experience in Congress and personal understanding of Native American issues makes her qualified for an important federal position that involves the conservation and managing of the country's 500 million acres of federal lands and natural resources and includes a broad patchwork of agencies such as the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
"It is truly a historic and unprecedented day for all Indigenous people," said Jonathan Nez, president of the Navajo Nation, the tribe with the largest reservation in the United States.
In policy terms, the racial/cultural identity of the appointees will be much less influential than what the Democratic Party's corporate donors will tolerate.
The optics however, are excellent.
Perhaps it might pay to read in full the article to which I linked. You would find even AOC is fulsome in her praise for the selection and Ms Haaland has a great wealth of experience and has achieved a good deal already. She is also regarded as a progressive politician in Congress. You damn her with faint praise.
Further to my post a few mths about the NZDF and CC in regards to Bushfires. Well the Cyclone Season has started early for the 2020/221. Abnormal weather conditions down the East of Australia where it’s been raining cats & dogs over the last couple weeks coinciding with King Tides.
Now Samoa and Fiji being wrack with early season Cyclones and the resulting HADR Taskings that both ADF & NZDF do in the Region during the Cyclone Season. With Fiji still recovering from the March cyclone that hit Fiji and now Covid19.
It’s going to be really interesting to see if the NZDF can maintain its current commitments IRT to Covid19, its NZG mandated Tasks & it HADR Tasks both within NZ & the Sth Pacific Region during the Cyclone Season concurrently with it too few assets it’s small resource of manpower. What’s going to break first aging/ lack of equipment or the manning of Regular & Reserve Forces or a combination of the 3?
I guess he hasn't been told there's a breach in the warp core. The terracotta turdface might have pressed the wrong button or something, so the White Supremacist House is being blamed for delays in deliveries to states.
"Elected fools" The key word there is elected… we dont need another Ecan situation, sure they're behaving badly but rather than a commissioner hold a new election and if they get voted in again well that's on the people of Tauranga.
I really dislike the appoint of unelected officials…
A chronological listing of news and opinion articles posted on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, Sep 24, 2023 thru Sat, Sep 30, 2023. Story of the Week We’re not doomed yet’: climate scientist Michael Mann on our last chance to save human civilisationThe renowned US ...
On the 11th of April 1945 advancing US forces liberated the Nazi concentration camp of Buchenwald near Weimar in Germany. In the coming days, under the order of General Patton, a thousand nearby residents were forced to march to the camp to see the atrocities that had been committed in ...
Years and years ago, when Helen Clark was Prime Minister and John Key was gunning for her job, I had a conversation with a mate, a trader who knew John Key well enough to paint a helpful picture.It was many drinks ago so it’s not a complete one. But there’s ...
Completed reads for September: The Lost Continent, by C.J. Cutcliffe Hyne Flatland, by Edwin Abbott All Quiet on the Western Front, by Erich Maria Remarque The Country of the Blind, by H.G. Wells The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles ...
Descending Into The Dark: The ideological cadres currently controlling both Labour and the Greens are forcing “justice”, “participation” and “democracy” to make way for what is “appropriate” and “responsible”. But, where does that leave the people who, for most of their adult lives, have voted for left-wing parties, precisely to ...
“‘BUT HE HASN’T GOT ANYTHING ON,’ a little boy said ….. ‘But he hasn’t got anything on!’ the whole town cried out at last.”On this optimistic note, Hans Christian Andersen brings his cautionary tale of “The Emperor’s New Clothes” to an end.Andersen’s children’s story was written nearly two centuries ago, ...
Bryce Edwards writes – As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The heavily promoted narrative, which has ramped up over the last six years, is that Maori somehow have special vulnerabilities which arise from outside forces they cannot control; that contemporary society fails to meet their needs. They are not receptive to messages and ...
Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.Chris Trotter writes –THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very ...
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:Labour presented a climate manifesto that aimed to claim the high ground on climate action vs National, ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two weeks.Friday 29Play it, ElvisElection Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t ...
While the economy is not doing too badly in output terms, external circumstances are not favourable, and there is probably a sizeable group of households struggling because of rising interest rates.Last week’s announcement of a 0.9 percent increase in volume GDP for the June quarter had the commentariat backing down ...
This week the International Energy Association released its Net Zero Roadmap, intended to guide us towards a liveable climate. The report demanded huge increases in renewable generation, no new gas or oil, and massive cuts to methane emissions. It was positive about our current path, but recommended that countries with ...
Buzz from the BeehiveOh, dear. We have nothing to report from the Beehive. At least, we have nothing to report from the government’s official website. But the drones have not gone silent. They are out on the election campaign trail, busy buzzing about this and that in the hope ...
Election Hell special!! This week’s quiz is a bumper edition featuring a few of the more popular questions from last weekend’s show, as well as a few we didn’t have time for. You’re welcome, etc. Let us press on, etc. 1. What did Christopher Luxon use to his advantage in ...
National unveiled its fiscal policy today, announcing all the usual things which business cares about and I don't. But it did finally tell us how National plans to pay for its handouts to landlords: by effectively cutting benefits: The biggest saving announced on Friday was $2b cut from the ...
Photo by Anna Ogiienko on UnsplashIt’s that time of the week for an ‘Ask Me Anything’ session for paying subscribers about the week that was for an hour, including:duelling fiscal plans from National and Labour;Labour cutting cycling spending while accusing National of being weak on climate;Research showing the need for ...
Welcome to Friday and the last one for September. This week in Greater Auckland On Monday, Matt highlighted at the latest with the City Rail Link. On Tuesday, Matt covered the interesting items from Auckland Transport’s latest board meeting agendas. On Thursday, a guest post from Darren Davis ...
Brian’s god spoke to him. He, for of course the Lord in Tamaki’s mind was a male god, with a mighty rod, and probably some black leathers. He, told Brian - “you must put a stop to all this love, hope, and kindness”. And it did please the Brian.He said ...
Labour is cutting spending on cycling infrastructure while still trying to claim the higher ground on climate. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Labour Government released a climate manifesto this week to try to claim the high ground against National, despite having ignored the Climate Commission’s advice to toughen ...
Not Labour: If you’re out to punish the government you once loved, then the last thing you need is to be shown evidence that the opposition parties are much, much worse.THE GREATEST VIRTUE of being the Opposition is not being the Government. Only very rarely is an opposition party elected ...
Open access notables "Net zero is only a distraction— we just have to end fossil fuel emissions." The latter is true but the former isn't, or not in the real world as it's likely to be in the immediate future. And "just" just doesn't enter into it; we don't have ...
IN THE CURRENT MIX of electoral alternatives, there is no longer a credible left-wing party. Not when “a credible left-wing party” is defined as: a class-oriented, mass-based, democratically-structured political organisation; dedicated to promoting ideas sharply critical of laissez-faire capitalism; and committed to advancing democratic, egalitarian and emancipatory ideals across the ...
It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
It is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha Primary School!It can be any time when you are telling a story.Telling stories about things that happened in the past is how we learn from our mistakes.If we want to.Anyway, it is not the school holidays yet at Kia Kaha ...
Labour’s Chris Hipkins came out firing, in the leaders’ debate on Newshub’s evening programme, and most of the pundits rated him the winner against National’s Christopher Luxon. But will this make any difference when New Zealanders start casting their ballots? The problem for Hipkins is that voters are all too ...
Buzz from the BeehiveNot long after Point of Order published data which show the substantial number of New Zealanders (77%) who believe NZ is becoming more divided, government ministers were braying about a programme which distributes some money to “the public” and some to “Maori”. The ministers were dishing ...
The D&W analysisMichael Grimshaw writes – Given the apathy, disengagement, disillusionment, and all-round ennui of this year’s general election, it was considered time to bring in those noted political operatives and spin doctors D&W, the long-established consultancy firm run by Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. Known for ...
Kissy kissy. Cartoon credit BoomSlang. The BFD. JC writes- Allow me to preface this contribution with the following statement: If I were asked to express a preference between a National/ACT coalition or a National/ACT/NZF coalition then it would be the former. This week Luxon declared his position, ...
This re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Andy Furillo was originally published by Capital & Main and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The California Legislature took a step last week that has the potential to accelerate the fight against climate ...
This is a cross post Adventures in Transitland by Darren Davis. I recently visited Brisbane and South East Queensland and came away both impressed while also pondering some key changes to make public transport even better in the region. Here goes with my take on things. A bit of ...
My daughter arrived home from the supermarket yesterday and she seemed a bit worried about something. It turned out she wanted to know if someone could get her bank number from a receipt.We wound the story back.She was in the store and there was a man there who was distressed, ...
New Zealand’s longest-running political roadshow rolled into Opotiki yesterday, with New Zealand First leader Winston Peters knowing another poll last night showed he would make it back to Parliament and National would need him and his party if they wanted to form a government. The Newshub Reid Research poll ...
Hi,As September draws to a close — I feel it’s probably time to do an Ask Me Anything. You know how it goes: If you have any burning questions, fire away in the comments and I will do my best to answer. You might have questions about Webworm, or podcast ...
The mediocrity who stands to be a Prime Minister has a litany.He uses it a bit like a Koru Lounge card. He will brandish it to say: these people are eligible. And more than that, too: These people are deserving.They have earned this policy.They have a right to this policy. What ...
Buzz from the BeehivePoint of Order has waited until now – 3.45pm – for today’s officially posted government announcements. There have been none. The only addition to the news on the Beehive’s website was posted later yesterday, after we had published our September 26 Buzz report. It came from ...
Alex Holland writes – In 2017 when Labour came to power, crown spending was $76 billion per year. Now in 2023 it is $139 billion per year, which equates to a $63 billion annual increase (over $1 billion extra spend every week!) In 2017, New Zealand’s government debt ...
Labour released its fiscal plan today, promising the same old, same old: "responsibility", balanced books, and of course no new taxes: "Labour will maintain income tax settings to provide consistency and certainty in these volatile times. Now is not the time for additional taxes or to promise billions of ...
The Facts has posted – KEY INSIGHTSOf New Zealander’s polled: Social unity/division77%believe NZ is becoming more divided (42% ‘much more’ + 35% ‘a little more’) 3%believe NZ is becoming less divided (1% ‘much less’ + 2% ‘a little less’) ...
The centre-right’s enthusiasm for forcing people off the benefit and into paid work is matched only by the enthusiasm (shared by Treasury and the Reserve Bank) for throwing people out of paid work to curb inflation, and achieve the optimal balance of workers to job seekers deemed to be desirable ...
New research shows that tenants in social housing - such as these Wellington apartments - are just as happy as home owners and much happier than private tenants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The election campaign took an ugly turn yesterday, and in completely the wrong direction. All three ...
Media awareness about global warming and climate change has grown fairly steadily since 2004. My impression is that journalists today tend to possess a higher climate literacy than before. This increasing awareness and improved knowledge is encouraging, but there are also some common interpretations which could be more nuanced. ...
If there’s one thing the mob loves more than keeping Māori in their place, more than getting tough on the gangs, maybe even more than tax cuts. It’s a good old round of beneficiary bashing.Are those meanies in the ACT party stealing your votes because they think David Seymour is ...
Labour kicks off the fiscal credibility battle today with the release of its fiscal plan. National is expected to follow, possibly as soon as Thursday, with its own plan, which may (or may not) address the large hole that the problems with its foreign buyers’ ban might open up. ...
While it may be unlikely to register in New Zealand’s general election, Britain’s PM Rishi Sunak has done something which might just be important in the long run. He’s announced a far-reaching change in his Conservative government’s approach to environmental, and particularly net zero, policy. The starting point – ...
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 ...
Canada is in uproar after the exposure that its parliament on September 22 provided a standing ovation to a Nazi veteran who had been invited into the chamber to participate in the parliamentary welcome to Ukrainian President Zelensky. Yaroslav Hunka, 98, a Ukrainian man who volunteered for service in ...
The big screen is a great place to lay out the ways of the salesman. He comes ready-made for Panto, ripe for lampooning.This is not to disparage that life. I have known many good people of that kind. But there is a type, brazen as all get out. The camera ...
The following is a message sent yesterday from lawyer Stephen Franks on behalf of the Free Speech Union. I don’t like to interrupt first thing Monday morning, but we’ve just become aware of a case where we think immediate and overwhelming attention could help turn the tide. It involves someone ...
The right-wing message calendar is clearly reading "cruelty" today, because both National and NZ First have released beneficiary-bashing policies. National is promising a "traffic light" system to police and kick beneficiaries, which will no doubt be accompanied by arbitrary internal targets to classify people as "orange" or "red" to keep ...
Buzz from the Beehive One Labour plan – for 3000 more public homes by 2025 – is the most recent to be posted on the government’s official website. Another – a prime ministerial promise of more funding for Pharmac – has been released as a Labour Party press statement. Who ...
As the National Party gets closer to government, lobbyists and business interests will be lining up for influence and to get policies adopted. It’s therefore in the public interest to have much more scrutiny and transparency about potential conflicts of interests that might arise. One of the key individuals of ...
Voters are deserting Labour in droves, despite Chris Hipkins’ valiant rearguard action. So where are they heading? Clearly not all of them are going to vote National, which concedes that the outcome will be “close”. To the Right of National, the ACT party just a few weeks ago was ...
Accusations of racism by journalists and MPs are being called out.Graham Adams writes – With the election less than three weeks away, what co-governance means in practice — including in water management, education, planning law and local government — remains largely obscure. Which is hardly ...
As the centre-right has (finally!) been subjected to media interrogation, the polls are indicating that some voters may be starting to have second thoughts about the wisdom of giving National and ACT the power to govern alone. That’s why yesterday’s Newshub/Reid Research poll had the National/ACT combo dropping to 60 ...
ANZ has increased its forecast for house inflation later this year on signs of growing momentum in the market ahead of the election. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR:National has campaigned against the Labour Government’s record on inflation and mortgage rates, but there’s now a growing chance the Reserve ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Katie Myers. This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. Pittsburgh, in its founding, was blessed and cursed with two abundant natural resources: free-flowing rivers and a nearby coal seam. ...
Today the AT board meet again and once again I’ve taken a look at what’s on the agenda to find the most interesting items. Closed Agenda Interestingly when I first looked at the agendas this paper was there but at the time of writing this post it had been ...
Continuing my series on interesting electorates, today it’s West Coast-Tasman.A long thin electorate running down the northern half of the west coast of the South Island. Think sand flies, beautiful landscapes, lots of rain, Pike River, alternative lifestylers, whitebaiting, and the spiritual home of the Labour Party. A brief word ...
National leader Christopher Luxon yesterday morning conceded it and last night’s Newshub poll confirmed it; Winston Peters and NZ First are not only back but highly likely to be part of the next government. It is a remarkable comeback for a party that was tossed out of Parliament in ...
As this blogger, alongside many others, has already posited in another forum: we all know the National Party’s “budget” (meaning this concept of even adding up numbers properly is doing a lot of heavy, heavy lifting right now) is utter and complete bunk (read hung, drawn and quartered and ...
Everyone was asking, Are you nervous? and my response was various forms of God, yes.I've written more speeches than I can count; not much surprises me when the speaker gets to their feet and the room goes quiet.But a play? Never.YOU CAME! THANK YOU! Read more ...
Today's big political news is that after months of wibbling, National's Chris Luxon has finally confirmed that he is willing to work with Winston Peters to become Prime Minister. Which is expected, but I guess it tells us something about which way the polls are going. Which raises the question: ...
Buzz from the Beehive Under something described as a “rebalance” of its immigration rules, the Government has adopted four of five recommendations made in an independent review released in July, The fifth, which called on the government to specify criteria for out-of-hours compliance visits similar to those used during ...
Some of you might know Gerard Otto (G), and his G News platform. This morning he wrote a letter to Christopher Luxon which I particularly enjoyed, and with his agreement I’m sharing it with you in this guest newsletter.If you’d like to make a contribution to support Gerard’s work you ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – While there will not be another quarterly release of benefit numbers prior to the election, limited weekly reporting continues and is showing an alarming trend. Because there is a seasonal component to benefit number fluctuations it is crucial to compare like with like. In ...
A close analysis of the Treasury assessment of the Medium Term in its PREFU 2023 suggests the economy may be entering a new phase.Brian Easton writes – Last week I explained that the forecasts in the just published Treasury Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Update (PREFU 2023) was ...
It’s been a while since we looked at the latest with the City Rail Link and there’s been some fantastic milestones recently. To start with, and most recently, CRL have released an awesome video showing a full fly-through of one of the tunnels. Come fly with us! You asked for ...
We are heading into another period of fast population growth without matching increased home building or infrastructure investment.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR:Labour and National detailed their house building and migration approaches over the weekend, with both pledging fast population growth policies without enough house building or infrastructure investment ...
Labour leader Chris Hipkins yesterday took the gloves off and laid into National and its leader Christopher Luxon. For many in Labour – and particularly for some at the top of the caucus and the party — it would not have been a moment too soon. POLITIK is aware ...
The leaders have had their go, they’ve told us the “what?” and the “why?” of their promises. Now it’s the turn of the would be Finance Ministers to tell us the “how?”, the “how much?”, and the “when?”A chance for those competing for the second most powerful job in the ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – Over the past 30-odd years it’s become almost an orthodoxy to blame or invoke neoliberalism for the failures of New Zealand society. On the left the usual response goes something like, neoliberalism is the cause of everything that’s gone wrong and the answer ...
The National Party's U-turn on water reform has left local councils high and dry and will drive up Kiwi's rates bills, Labour Party Local Government Spokesperson Kieran McAnulty says. ...
A re-elected Labour Party will continue to tackle discriminations still faced by members of the Rainbow community in areas ranging from surrogacy and adoption to blood donation. ...
National’s fiscal plan has failed to fill the massive fiscal hole in its dodgy tax scheme, it will mean more cuts to public services, more children being put into poverty and an end to action on climate change. ...
New Zealand First Policy Announcement:Law and Order New Zealand First believes that keeping society safe should be the priority of law-and-order policies. Every New Zealander deserves to feel safe, secure, and have their person and property respected. That is why New Zealand First continues to fix the flaws in ...
In last night’s leaders debate Labour Leader Chris Hipkins referred toaquote without giving any explanation of its content, which was about the ‘disease of co-governance’ that is perpetuated by the Māori elite, and he said it was racist. Then, without even examining the content, National leader Christopher Luxon agreed with ...
In last night’s leaders debate Labour Leader Chris Hipkins referred toaquote without giving any explanation of its content, which was about the ‘disease of co-governance’ that is perpetuated by the Māori elite, and he said it was racist. Then, without even examining the content, National leader Christopher Luxon agreed with ...
After years of criticising the Government on law and order, National have embarrassed themselves by conceding they have no new ideas and instead copied Labour’s Police policy announced three weeks ago, Labour Police spokesperson Ginny Andersen says. ...
Labour’s fiscal plan will continue its focus on carefully managing the books while protecting critical public services like health and education and investing to deliver high wage jobs and a low carbon economy. ...
New Zealand First today is announcing a policy on adjusting the rules and restrictions around access to the Job Seeker Benefit.New Zealand First’s policy is to introduce a capped time-period for any person to access the Job Seeker Benefit during their lifetime. Any individual will have the ability to access the Job Seeker ...
New Zealand First today is announcing a policy on adjusting the rules and restrictions around access to the Job Seeker Benefit.New Zealand First’s policy is to introduce a capped time-period for any person to access the Job Seeker Benefit during their lifetime. Any individual will have the ability to access the Job Seeker ...
National’s cuts to funding for beneficiaries will once again leave children and their parents with less, Spokesperson for Social Development and Employment Carmel Sepuloni said. ...
The Green Party will double the Best Start payment and make it available for every child under three years of age - and it will be paid for with a fair tax system. ...
Labour will fund more medicines for more New Zealanders by investing over $1 billion of new funding into Pharmac if re-elected, Chris Hipkins announced today. ...
Labour has just announced a policy to increase Pharmac funding by $1billion over four years to fund additional medicines.With the current Pharmac budget of $1.2billion per year and needing a further $213million, by Minister Verrall’s own admission, just to keep up with current costs - then this is nothing ...
Labour has just announced a policy to increase Pharmac funding by $1billion over four years to fund additional medicines.With the current Pharmac budget of $1.2billion per year and needing a further $213million, by Minister Verrall’s own admission, just to keep up with current costs - then this is nothing ...
This matter begins with the Pike River investigation being inadequate, inexplicably lengthy, and after millions of dollars, the evidence that should have been placed before the public still has not been. We have always believed that Pike River isacrime scene, and thataproper investigation would have come to that conclusion. Blue ...
This matter begins with the Pike River investigation being inadequate, inexplicably lengthy, and after millions of dollars, the evidence that should have been placed before the public still has not been. We have always believed that Pike River isacrime scene, and thataproper investigation would have come to that conclusion. Blue ...
New Zealand faces a stark choice this election – vote for Labour to continue to confront the climate emergency with eyes wide open or bury your head in the sand alongside Christopher Luxon. ...
Labour is supercharging its plan to solve the public housing shortfall created by National, promising another 6,000 homes on top of what has already been committed says Labour Housing spokesperson Dr Megan Woods. ...
Labour will back migrant working families by introducing a 10-year multiple-entry parents’ and grandparents’ Super Visa, and make good on the Dawn Raids apology by providing a one-off visa for overstayers who have been in the country ten years or more, Labour’s Immigration Spokesperson Andrew Little says. ...
The Green Party is today welcoming Labour coming to the table to ensure an amnesty for overstayers, but only the Greens will ensure immigration settings actually reflect the reality of people who have been failed by our immigration system. ...
The Green Party is calling on Auckland Council to do more to protect urban trees and housing developer Aedifice Property Group to restore and replant the native forest it cleared, and protect all the remaining trees on Ngahere Road in Pukekohe after a significant number of native trees were cut ...
Latest Police data shows monthly ram raids have hit a two-year low, laying waste to Christopher Luxon’s false claim that there are two ram raids a day says Labour’s Police Spokesperson Ginny Andersen. ...
Free and healthy school lunches will be here to stay if Labour is re-elected, guaranteeing food for our kids who need it most and significant cost saving for parents. ...
The next Labour Government will build a new hospital in Hawke’s Bay, Labour leader Chris Hipkins and Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall announced. ...
The Green Party will keep up the fight to support exploited migrant workers, including pushing to end single employer visas, after the government picked up Green recommendations to improve immigration settings. ...
Green Party co leader James Shaw visited a home in Auckland today that has been upgraded with a wide range of energy improvements, similar to those that would be supported through the Green Party’s Clean Power Payment. ...
The Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s presence in New York today at the United Nations General Assembly is a contempt of New Zealand’s “caretaker government” convention. Despite the long-standing caretaker convention, Minister Mahuta is today at the UN to sign a highly contentious “Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement”, delivering a ...
The Pre-Election Fiscal Update Changes EverythingWithin an hour of this speech there is going to be a debate between the political parties that the media, under MMP, still think are the only parties that matter in this campaign. Both of those parties are riddled with inexperience, as evidenced by ...
National and ACT's tax plans don't add up, and that means deep cuts to the public services New Zealanders rely on, says Labour Campaign Chair Megan Woods. ...
Thank you for your invitation to speak with you this afternoon about New Zealand Foreign Policy. After offering one or two general thoughts about the nature of foreign policy, the focus today will be the Pacific Reset and why its goals remain even more important today as when they were ...
Tuvalu is in the spotlight this week as communities across New Zealand celebrate Vaiaso o te Gagana Tuvalu – Tuvalu Language Week. “The Government has a proven record of supporting Pacific communities and ensuring more of our languages are spoken, heard and celebrated,” Pacific Peoples Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Many ...
Seven more innovative community-scale energy projects will receive government funding through the Māori and Public Housing Renewable Energy Fund to bring more affordable, locally generated clean energy to more than 800 Māori households, Energy and Resources Minister Dr Megan Woods says. “We’ve already funded 42 small-scale clean energy projects that ...
The Government has approved new funding that will boost resilience and greatly reduce the risk of major flood damage across Te Tai Tokerau. Significant weather events this year caused severe flooding and damage across the region. The $8.9m will be used to provide some of the smaller communities and maraes ...
The largest public housing development in Napier for many years has been recently completed and has the added benefit of innovative solar technology, thanks to Government programmes, says Housing Minister Dr Megan Woods. The 24 warm, dry homes are in Seddon Crescent, Marewa and Megan Woods says the whanau living ...
Māori: Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna te Whakaaetanga Whakataunga Kua waitohua e Te Whānau a Apanui me te Karauna i tētahi Whakaaetanga Whakataunga hei whakamihi i ō rātou tāhuhu kerēme Tiriti o Waitangi. E tekau mā rua ngā hapū o roto mai o Te Whānau ...
Regions around the country will get significant boosts of public housing in the next two years, as outlined in the latest public housing plan update, released by the Housing Minister, Dr Megan Woods. “We’re delivering the most public homes each year since the Nash government of the 1950s with one ...
Judicial warrant process for out-of-hours compliance visits 2023/24 Recognised Seasonal Employer cap increased by 500 Additional roles for Construction and Infrastructure Sector Agreement More roles added to Green List Three-month extension for onshore Recovery Visa holders The Government has confirmed a number of updates to immigration settings as part of ...
Tangi ngunguru ana ngā tai ki te wahapū o Hokianga Whakapau Karakia. Tārehu ana ngā pae maunga ki Te Puna o te Ao Marama. Korihi tangi ana ngā manu, kua hinga he kauri nui ki te Wao Nui o Tāne. He Toa. He Pou. He Ahorangi. E papaki tū ana ...
40 solar energy systems on community buildings in regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events Virtual capability-building hub to support community organisations get projects off the ground Boost for community-level renewable energy projects across the country At least 40 community buildings used to support the emergency response ...
The lifting of COVID-19 isolation and mask mandates in August has resulted in a return of almost $50m in savings and recovered contingencies, Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. Following the revocation of mandates and isolation, specialised COVID-19 telehealth and alternative isolation accommodation are among the operational elements ...
Susie Houghton of Auckland has been appointed as a new District Court Judge, to serve on the Family Court, Attorney-General David Parker said today. Judge Houghton has acted as a lawyer for child for more than 20 years. She has acted on matters relating to the Hague Convention, an international ...
The Government has today confirmed $2.5 million to fund a replace and upgrade a stopbank to protect the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant. “As a result of Cyclone Gabrielle, the original stopbank protecting the Waipawa Drinking Water Treatment Plant was destroyed. The plant was operational within 6 weeks of the ...
Another $2.1 million to boost capacity to deal with waste left in Cyclone Gabrielle’s wake. Funds for Hastings District Council, Phoenix Contracting and Hog Fuel NZ to increase local waste-processing infrastructure. The Government is beefing up Hawke’s Bay’s Cyclone Gabrielle clean-up capacity with more support dealing with the massive amount ...
The future of Supercars events in New Zealand has been secured with new Government support. The Government is getting engines started through the Major Events Fund, a special fund to support high profile events in New Zealand that provide long-term economic, social and cultural benefits. “The Repco Supercars Championship is ...
The economy has turned a corner with confirmation today New Zealand never was in recession and stronger than expected growth in the June quarter, Finance Minister Grant Robertson said. “The New Zealand economy is doing better than expected,” Grant Robertson said. “It’s continuing to grow, with the latest figures showing ...
The Government has accepted the Environment Court’s recommendation to give special legal protection to New Zealand’s largest freshwater springs, Te Waikoropupū Springs (also known as Pupū Springs), Environment Minister David Parker announced today. “Te Waikoropupū Springs, near Takaka in Golden Bay, have the second clearest water in New Zealand after ...
Temporary package of funding for accommodation and essential living support for victims of migrant exploitation Exploited migrant workers able to apply for a further Migrant Exploitation Protection Visa (MEPV), giving people more time to find a job Free job search assistance to get people back into work Use of 90-day ...
An export boost is supporting New Zealand’s economy to grow, adding to signs that the economy has turned a corner and is on a stronger footing as we rebuild from Cyclone Gabrielle and lock in the benefits of multiple new trade deals, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. “The economy is ...
The Government has approved $15 million to raise about 200 homes at risk of future flooding. More than half of this is expected to be spent in the Tairāwhiti settlement of Te Karaka, lifting about 100 homes there. “Te Karaka was badly hit during Cyclone Gabrielle when the Waipāoa River ...
The Government is helping businesses recover from Cyclone Gabrielle and attract more people back into their regions. “Cyclone Gabrielle has caused considerable damage across North Island regions with impacts continuing to be felt by businesses and communities,” Economic Development Minister Barbara Edmonds said. “Building on our earlier business support, this ...
Defence Minister Andrew Little has turned the first sod to start construction of a new Maintenance Support Facility (MSF) at Burnham Military Camp today. “This new state-of-art facility replaces Second World War-era buildings and will enable our Defence Force to better maintain and repair equipment,” Andrew Little said. “This Government ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will represent New Zealand at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week, before visiting Washington DC for further Pacific focussed meetings. Nanaia Mahuta will be in New York from Wednesday 20 September, and will participate in UNGA leaders ...
Around 1,700 Te Whatu Ora employed midwives and maternity care assistants will soon vote on a proposed pay equity settlement agreed by Te Whatu Ora, the Midwifery Employee Representation and Advisory Service (MERAS) and New Zealand Nurses Association (NZNO), Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall announced today. “Addressing historical pay ...
Aotearoa New Zealand will provide humanitarian support to those affected by last week’s earthquake in Morocco, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced today. “We are making a contribution of $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) to help meet humanitarian needs,” Nanaia Mahuta said. ...
The Government is investing over $22 million across 18 projects to improve the resilience of roads in the West Coast that have been affected by recent extreme weather, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins confirmed today. A dedicated Transport Resilience Fund has been established for early preventative works to protect the state ...
The Government has today confirmed a $2 million grant towards the regeneration of Greymouth’s CBD with construction of a new two-level commercial and public facility. “It will include a visitor facility centred around a new library. Additionally, it will include retail outlets on the ground floor, and both outdoor and ...
Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta will attend the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, in Suva, Fiji alongside New Zealand’s regional counterparts. “Aotearoa New Zealand is deeply committed to working with our pacific whanau to strengthen our cooperation, and share ways to combat the challenges facing the Blue Pacific Continent,” ...
Economy to grow 2.6 percent on average over forecast period Treasury not forecasting a recession Inflation to return to the 1-3 percent target band next year Wages set to grow 4.8 percent a year over forecast period Unemployment to peak below the long-term average Fiscal Rules met - Net debt ...
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall proudly opened the Canterbury Cancer Centre in Christchurch today. The new facility is the first of its kind and was built with $6.5 million of funding from the Government’s Infrastructure Reference Group scheme for shovel-ready projects allocated in 2020. ...
Labour has released its full policy plan this afternoon, with a focus on improving education for children and funding for training and work for youth. ...
The Prime Minister and Labour leader has tested positive for Covid-19 and is isolating for five days or until he returns a negative test After feeling unwell on Sunday morning and cancelling his attendance at a Samoan church service in Auckland, Chris Hipkins has now tested positive for Covid-19. He ...
Prime minister Chris Hipkins has tested positive for Covid-19, and will be isolating for five days or until he returns a negative test. A spokesperson confirmed he has cold and flu symptoms that began yesterday and will continue with engagements he can undertake via Zoom. Hipkins missed an event on ...
The TVNZ Young Voters' debate run by Re:News was a rowdy interjection into a relatively subdued election campaign, and its moderator has some ideas on how media organisations can better cater to young people. ...
In a bizarre interview with TVNZ’s Q&A programme this morning, NZ First leader Winston Peters said he would “make sure” he secured the broadcasting portfolio should his party make it into government. “We’ll start with TVNZ after the campaign,” he told journalist Jack Tame in an interview that made yesterday’s ...
Labour’s manifesto launch will go ahead this afternoon, despite leader Chris Hipkins missing an event on the campaign trail this morning due to being unwell. Deputy prime minister Carmel Sepuloni is speaking at a Sāmoan church service in Auckland this morning in Hipkins’ place, but according to a Labour spokesperson, ...
National has pledged to remove the Auckland fuel tax, repeal water reform and resource management legislation, ban gang patches and remove funding for cultural reports used in sentencing in its first 100 days in office. The party has set out a range of priorities for its first 100 days in ...
The prime minister is missing an event on the campaign trail this morning because he’s unwell. Chris Hipkins was due to speak at a Sāmoan church service in Auckland, but deputy prime minister Carmel Sepuloni is stepping in to take his place. Hipkins is scheduled to launch Labour’s manifesto at ...
Lawrence Patchett talks to Bill Nelson about Root, Leaf, Flower, Fruit, a verse novel that Nelson has just released with Te Herenga Waka University Press. Bill Nelson demonstrated his versatility with his first book, Memorandum of Understanding. A book of surprising range and humour, it included a love poem styled ...
None of New Zealand’s commercial French vanilla ice creams contain the crucial ingredient. Dylan Jones busts the case wide open. Like any good investigation, this one started as an innocuous Thursday night question among flatmates: what isFrench vanilla ice cream, and how is it different to regular vanilla? A ...
Bard Billot on Lord WinstonThe Duke of Hazard Lord Winston, the Duke of Hazard, Rose late and yawned. The Palace was loud with the hubbub Of busy courtiers preparing to flee the city. Outside the gates, the followers of Baron Luxon Prepared for their assault upon the ...
National leader Christopher Luxon says he wouldn't do a deal with The Opportunities Party leader Raf Manji, even if it could help avoid a potential coalition with New Zealand First. ...
School-aged children in the south are increasing their emotional literacy and talking about the tough stuff thanks to a rugby star’s commitment and a Southland teacher’s persistence Belinda Brown was a teacher with two decades of classroom experience when she heard Sir John Kirwan talk at a Winton pub about his ...
The promise of science to add commercial value to the waste of the New Zealand wine industry while limiting how much of it is sent to landfillOpinion: The New Zealand wine industry has been a great success story, creating world-renowned wines with continued export demand, but it’s an industry ...
My appointment diary will never be replaced by apps and platforms. It is the only true record of the minutiae of my life.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.Images by Tina Tiller.I bumped into an old friend and former colleague ...
The Pop-up Globe might be returning to the stage, but not everybody’s happy about it. Sam Brooks talks to some creditors – left in the dark after the company’s liquidation – about its shock 2023 return.On September 15, the Pop-up Globe announced it would be making an “audacious” return ...
RNZ News Green Party co-leader James Shaw has compared the language of New Zealand First leader Winston Peters to former US president Donald Trump, saying it may be emboldening violence against candidates in Aotearoa NZ’s election campaign. It comes after several candidates from different parties have spoken out about being ...
Chris Hipkins endured four seasons in one hour at an outdoor festival in an Auckland park – and claims to be sensing a rapid change in mood in the electorate as well, a fortnight from the election The Labour leader has gone there. He's publicly claiming his party has picked up 'momentum' in this ...
Green Party co-leader James Shaw has compared the language of New Zealand First leader Winston Peters to Donald Trump, saying it may be emboldening violence against candidates. ...
By Pauliasi Mateboto in Suva One in 50 Fijian children could have rheumatic heart disease and children between the ages of five to 15 years are the most at risk of rheumatic fever. While revealing these alarming statistics, Health Secretary Dr James Fong revealed the high figures indicated the high ...
RNZ News New Zealand police are investigating after the home of Te Pāti Māori election candidate Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke was invaded, vandalised, and a threatening letter left behind. They said the burglary of a Huntly home was reported to police on Monday. On Friday, Te Pāti Māori issued a statement saying ...
A protest against co-governance led by Julian Batchelor, a prominent figure in the movement, has ended, with police saying there were no issues. About 300 people marched from Civic Square to parliament in Wellington today, according to a police press release, and they have now departed parliament grounds. About 45 ...
The ACT Party says it would abolish Fair Pay Agreements, put a hold on minimum wage increases for three years, and remove the 2 January public holiday. ...
Police are investigating after the home of Te Pāti Māori candidate Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke was invaded, vandalised, and a threatening letter left behind. ...
There's no break in sight for the political party leaders as they continue to campaign in communities on Saturday. Follow RNZ's live blog for more. ...
Former Wellington mayor Andy Foster is attempting a political comeback as a candidate for NZ First. He talks to Joel MacManus.Fear not, Wellingtonians, your leader has returned from exile: Andy Foster is back.After nine terms on council and one term as mayor, Foster lost his re-election bid to ...
Former Wellington mayor Andy Foster is attempting a political comeback as a candidate for NZ First. He talks to Joel MacManus.Fear not, Wellingtonians, your leader has returned from exile: Andy Foster is back.After nine terms on council and one term as mayor, Foster lost his re-election bid to ...
In an interview that swung from jovial to furious and back again, Winston Peters joked about National leader Christopher Luxon’s claim not to know him, and denied his party was responsible for race-baiting that’s led to an escalation in vitriol towards Māori. In an interview on Newshub Nation this morning, ...
In an interview that swung from jovial to furious and back again, Winston Peters joked about National leader Christopher Luxon’s claim not to know him, and denied his party was responsible for race-baiting that’s led to an escalation in vitriol towards Māori. In an interview on Newshub Nation this morning, ...
The star of Shortland Street, The Gone and now Celebrity Treasure Island shares some of her favourite TV moments. Name a New Zealand television show, and Miriama Smith has probably been in it. For the past 30 years, the actor and presenter has been a welcome fixture on our TV ...
Every weekday, The Detail makes sense of the big news stories. This week, the big problems with tiny homes, how we can do our bit to mitigate climate change (besides recycling), why it's so difficult to keep our drinking water safe, the limits of mental health 'awareness', and the case of an ...
In this week's episode of VOTE2023, we talk to Green Party co-leader and Climate Change Minister James Shaw about student-focused policies, electric vehicles, the Emissions Trading Scheme, and whether the Green Party would form a coalition government with NationalThis series is made by politics students and aims to entertain ...
See ya later, ground. This week on Their house, my garden, it’s all pots, balconies, window ledges and the kitchen bench.Sometimes you move into a tiny CBD apartment to live out your urbanite dreams. You put on your sparkly eyeshadow and smile till 3am behind the bar of a ...
After a mild traumatic brain injury turned her life into a ‘game of snakes and ladders with no ladders’, Ursula Cochran discovered a powerful tool she could use to start getting better – her own brain. Here, she explores the potential of mind-body training for sufferers of other chronic illnesses, ...
This is The Detail's Long Read – one in-depth story read by us every weekend This week, it's a story from RNZ's In Depth team: 'Fully embedded': The food lobby in Aotearoa. Investigative reporter Guyon Espiner has come out with a new series, Off the Shelf, looking at the quiet struggle to stop New Zealanders eating ...
Pacific Media Watch Barely a day passes without a story in the British or Australian media that ramps up fear about the rulers in Beijing, reports the investigative website Declassified Australia. According to an analysis by co-editors Antony Loewenstein and Peter Cronau, the Australian and British media are ramping up ...
Asia Pacific Report Members of Indonesia’s Nduga District Police and the Damai Cartenz Police Task Force have raided a residential house and the local head office of the Papuan Tabernacle Church (Kingmi Papua) in the town of Kenyam, Nduga Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province, reports Human Rights Monitor. Before raiding the ...
Te Pāti Māori’s candidate for Hauraki-Waikato says her home was “invaded, vandalised, and left with a threatening letter” in what the party is calling a “politically motivated attack”. Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clark said the “premeditated and targeted attack” was the latest of three incidents to take place at her home just ...
The National Party's fiscal plan is ghoulish smoke and mirrors that will put more children into poverty, if you listen to Labour and the Green Party. ACT is critical, too. ...
“ACT will take the politics out of the Royal Commission into the Government’s Covid-19 response by allowing all New Zealanders to have their say on what should be investigated through a new crowdsourced terms of reference”, says ACT Leader ...
Te Pāti Māori are not strangers to hate speech and online threats. Today however, a line was crossed. Our Hauraki-Waikato candidate, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi Clark’s home was invaded, vandalised, and left with a threatening letter. This premeditated and ...
Analysis - Christopher Luxon's announcement that he'll work with Winston Peters after the election if he has to boosts NZ First's chances of getting back into Parliament, writes Peter Wilson. ...
National has wheeled out its stars into the blue, blue seat of Tāmaki which is under friendly fire attack from Act deputy leader Brooke van Velden First Bill English, then Christopher Luxon fronted within two days of each other for Simon O'Connor in the previously safe National heartland of the east ...
Chris Hipkins has condemned the increased risk of campaign trail violence as police investigate an assault on Labour’s Angela Roberts Labour’s candidate for Taranaki-King Country has confirmed she was assaulted following an election debate at the Inglewood Rotary Club earlier this week. Angela Roberts explained in a Facebook post after ...
National may have hoped its detailed fiscal plan would put to bed the lingering questions about how it will pay for its tax cuts, but there are no satisfactory answers in sight, Marc Daalder writesAnalysis: Grant Robertson says National's new fiscal plan has a $537 million hole in it and ...
“People who experience poverty as sanctioned by a capitalist system shouldn’t be punished for the predicament they’re in” says Brooke Pao Stanley, AAAP Coordinator. These parties use fear based politics to gain popularity and continue to push a narrative ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexander Gillespie, Professor of Law, University of Waikato Tax cuts, crime, the cost of living, potholes and co-governance … these and various other issues are now familiar to most voters. But there has been one major election area missing the serious debate ...
Labour candidate Angela Roberts, a list MP campaigning in Taranaki-King Country, was shaken and slapped by a member of the public following a debate on Tuesday this week. She described the incident on Facebook. While talking about education policy with an attendee after an event at Inglewood Rotary Club, the ...
The Forest Owners Association generally welcomes the National Party forestry policy announcement that National wants to give certainty and support to the forestry and wood processing industry clearly recognising its economic and environmental advantages. ...
Both major parties needed to have prioritised ongoing new investment in children and education in their allowances for new spending, NZEI Te Riu Roa president Mark Potter said today. “The two fiscal plans released this week made pre-commitments ...
National has finally released its fiscal plan after much delay and it reveals a plan to cut the incomes and essential public services the poorest New Zealanders rely on, just so they can pay for tax cuts for landlords and the well-off, says NZCTU ...
The Governor-General of New Zealand, Rt Hon Dame Cindy Kiro, and Dr Richard Davies will depart for an official visit to Malaysia on Sunday 1 October 2023. Their Excellencies are travelling to Malaysia at the invitation of His Majesty Yang di-Pertuan Agong ...
Labour says National’s plan to index benefits to inflation rather than wages will result in more children living in poverty. Speaking in Lower Hutt today, party leader Chris Hipkins said National was proposing “$2 billion in benefit cuts”. “In the middle of a cost of living crisis, they’re cutting benefits ...
Hatikvah Blue Hope Foundation is gravely concerned following the suicide of another serving police officer in the past month, and we extend our deepest sympathy to the grieving family. This tragedy comes as NZ Police is seeing a staggering 48.5% decline ...
The Child Poverty Action Group is asking the National Party to make good on its commitment to children in poverty, but says the party’s fiscal plan reveals it has no desire or intention to help those living in the greatest poverty in Aotearoa. ...
Sam Brooks reviews Auckland Theatre Company’s Switzerland, which can’t quite meet its subject straight in the eye.What is it?The last show in Auckland Theatre Company’s programme is somewhat of a pivot from the rest of its programme this year. It’s a psychological thriller by an Australian playwright (Joanna ...
A new poem by kī anthony. farm to table there is a story in my body that you want to hear. pull me apart like supermarket pizzabread and tell me who i am. narrative unspools my broken cassette; pick up your fork. wind me up. present me on masterchef and ...
The candidate for Taranaki-King Country says she was going to let it go, but realised it was important to take a stand against aggressive and unacceptable behaviour. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin (Vintage, $26) Gamer Queen of the list! ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is slamming the plan released by the National Party today saying it barely touches the sides in terms of cutting waste, and realigning the sector to live within the country’s means. Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Jordan ...
A National-led government would deliver “a mini-budget before Christmas”, Nicola Willis has confirmed, with the intention of “setting out some of the savings and reprioritisations we believe are necessary to get New Zealand back on track”.Speaking as National unveiled its revised, post-Prefu fiscal plan, she said heads of government ...
National’s “tough-on-crime” approach will result in a higher prison population, and $700 million has been set aside to deal with this, Nicola Willis has confirmed. “We do expect the prison population to rise as a result of our sentencing policy,” National’s finance spokesperson said at the announcement of the party’s ...
National is promising a bigger surplus and lower debt than Labour in its fiscal plan, which has just been released by leader Christopher Luxon and finance spokesperson Nicola Willis in Auckland. National’s plan says a surplus of $2.9 billion will be reached in 2027 – the same year as Labour. ...
The National Party has released its fiscal plan, saying it will lower taxes and reduce net debt. Watch a live stream with leader Christopher Luxon and finance spokesperson Nicola Willis here. ...
Can learning about politicians and policies be fun? A 23-year-old Ōtautahi illustrator thinks so, if you turn it all into a card game. A pencil drawn Chris Hipkins, with freckles and a big wide smile, looks like a little school boy. Underneath the portrait, he is briefly and somewhat ruthlessly ...
Smaller parties contending the 2023 election use social media most, shows a new study. Conducted by Victora University’s Internet, Social Media and Politics Research Lab, researchers analysed 681 posts made by political parties and party leaders on Facebook. Act posted almost twice as much as any other party. “Most of ...
In the lead-up to the general election on 14 October, ACT is pipping other parliamentary parties for the number of Facebook posts. However, some of its posts contain “half-truths”, said Dr Mona Krewel, director of the Internet, Social Media and Politics Research ...
Ngāi Tahu is celebrating the anniversary of its Crown Settlement by holding a tribal climate change symposium with whānau today. In 1998, Ngāi Tahu received an apology from the Crown, cultural and tribal redress, and $170 million compensation. It was ...
It is "wrong" that the government gets to set the terms of reference of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into its Covid-19 response, the ACT Party says. ...
Oh dear, how sad, another self-entitled entrepreneur (Phil Sprey of Capital C: Concerts) wants the Government to change the rules so he can refill his coffers. It seems he has failed to understand what has made NZ's Covid response successful. Private contractors are not able to be trusted, as Australia has also learned at great cost, and he naively believes that superstars would play by the rules when internationally, they haven't. Sprey also seems to not understand the risks involved with superspreader events.
If his, is such a great idea, he should demonstrate his commitment by offering to carry the risk by depositing sufficient funds to meet the cost of containing and eliminating any consequent Covid-19 outbreak. The concept of employing the Government services at superstar rates to quarantine the performers and their entourages would not go amiss – but that would affect his bottom line no doubt. Even then, should the country carry the risks associated with his personal business? Meanwhile, instead of grandstanding, Sprey could be putting together packages of NZ talent that has had a hard time financially due to Covid.
Sympathy for the self-entitled – NEVER!
Promoters are already putting NZ packages together and long may that continue. I do not see this as a bad idea except anyone thinking they get a special (isolation) deal because they're celebrities.
Recall Tom Cruise wouldn't allow people to look him in the eye. WTF kind of human is that. Role model? Joke! Recall the Avatar people tossed their toys and went home because we talked about them being precious. HA. That's precious…
But when we ignore the fatuous fakes that parade around magazine covers we also have an industry that service concerts. Sound, stage and lighting companies. Security, promoters, printers, food vendors, designers, builders, techies, drivers, machinery operators, ground crew and more.
Personally I'm not interested in paying big ticket prices for bands I've already seen many times. It'll only work for a while then we're flogging a dead horse. So there's merit to imports, despite the fact I find most celebrities to be self absorbed twats.
In time concerts will return, it is not as if music cannot be heard or seen digitally or musicians and singers from NZ do a concert.
Not a priority for me to have overseas musicians do a concert.
Managing the isolation for cricket had risks.
How is it different to what has been done for the yachting and cricket ?
And how many have brought the virus back into NZ? Surely, we can do without that. Besides, I do sincerely hope they are being charged for their quarantine and its not the taxpayer being once more asked to fork out money for millionaire's.
We have currently a severe poverty and housing issue. Today's news report 1 in 5 families could go hungry this Christmas. This is disgusting, money should be spend there.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/300188079/one-in-five-families-could-go-hungry-this-christmas–you-can-help
Just a plan to line his pockets and drop the balance of payments a little. There are jobs in the sector but I assume they are event related not permanent and they usually seem to bring a lot of people with them. But since NZ events are usually tacked onto Australian concerts for profit reasons I imagine – I don't see how one or two events here would be financially worth it for the performer.
But why the need for special quarantine? A lot of performers come from pretty ordinary backgrounds and probably wouldn't worry about a quarantine hotel and it's not as if anyone can get to them there
this is seriously good. About time
Yet another damning indictment of the government's failure to take rational action on the speculative property bubble.
Would-be homeowner heads south to get on property ladder | Stuff.co.nz
Used to be people moved for well-paying jobs – now that there are none, they have to look for places where the foreign bank rake-off is a bit less instead.
Hasn't this movement been the case for several decades?
Many here have been calling for more professions to move to the regions, as this example shows.
The irrationality lies in the treatment of unemployment.
For decades we have been told that inflation is terrible. The policy of the decent society, full employment, was abandoned to control inflation, consigning 5-10% of the constant to lives of misery and deprivation.
But real estate inflation is different somehow – because corrupt MPs have investment properties presumably. Inflation there is evidently economically wonderful, notwithstanding its effects on the productive economy, and the further emiseration of those impoverished by the structural malice of neoliberalism.
Since inflation is suddenly ok though, maybe we should return to full employment. If it's good enough for the wanker class, it's good enough for those in want.
Agree
The more you look at Johnson’s government’s actions in the UK over COVID, the more evidence presents that they are guilty of criminal negligence.
There is no doubt in my mind that the vague instructions are deliberately opaque, so they can wash their hands of culpability – and blame a lack of individual responsibility.
Johnson and his motley crew should be up in court.
[Fixed typo in e-mail address]
please fix your email address typo before your next comment
The Chief Executive of Fish and Game resigns three years into a five year contract.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300187483/fish–game-boss-resigns-suddenly-amid-internal-tension
This resignation, together with the active undermining on freshwater quality by farmers elected to Fish and Games's regional councils, is a serious loss to the government's water quality improvement efforts. They’ve just had an important ally knocked out for 2021.
The previous Minister had sought to generate a governance review of the organisation, which appears to have been conveniently buried.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/fish-and-game-governance-be-reviewed
While National are apparently quiescent, deep in local and regional councils, and in Fish and Game, conservative activists and Federated Farmers, and the truly recalcitrant rural elites, are strengthening their power bases.
Wait for farmers to start joining the Labour Party like they have Fish and Game and asserting their democratic membership opportunities.
Although most farmers were already members of F & G, they tend to hunt and fish more than the general population, just weren't that active in the representative side until F & G started to get assertive in protecting habitat and upset some less than responsible farmers.
I'll fend them off from our Labour meetings with my …. hmmmm ….. my carefully sharpened HOP card.
plunging into one of your more ( ahem..!) verbose..takes on things..
..could also do the trick..
The corollary would be for eco-activists to infiltrate and dominate the Federated Farmers groups around the country.
BBQ's are mandatory, of course and a great guarded gateway, but some of these latest indistinguishable-from-meat-soy-substitute sausages might get an aspiring vegan into the tent.
Completely off-topic Robert – but did you hear James Rebanks on Kim Hill this morning?
Podcast Here
Have a shave and wear a swandri and you would be in like Flynn.Untill you opened your mouth.
It,s the same old story. Activists take over an organisation to push their extremist views. F and G look like they are cleaning out the idiots and maybe some sensible dialogue could be the end result.
I guess it depends on which side of the fence you are as to who the “idiots” are.
Anglers and farmers need to work together.Predatory trout are killing our native fish all over New Zealand.Dairy delivers a quarter of New Zealands income.
Only in your dreams.
Look it up turkey and I will accept your apology
[I would, if I had made the assertion. However, the onus is on you to back your statement of fact. Now, go and find a good link from an authoritative source or take an extended break for wasting my time and being a smart arse. As a “turkey” I feel a little stressed around this time of the year and I make no apologies for that to a cocky – Incognito]
[See you in one month – Incognito]
See my Moderation note @ 8:25 PM.
the urban/rural divide..
..laid bare..
Ian is excommunicado until he provides a satisfactory response to his Moderation note.
See my second Moderation note @ 8:25 PM.
dairy provides around a quarter of exports….not income.
http://www.worldstopexports.com/new-zealands-top-10-exports/
Johnson’s criminal government needs to be held to account.
‘In a desperate scramble to acquire supplies during the first wave of the pandemic – the government handed out contracts worth billions of pounds. Now an investigation has claimed a lot of the cash went to companies with links to the Tory party.’
This is corruption at an unheard of level.
These cronies need to face a reckoning.
Why didn’t you provide a link for your quote?
Are you one of those lazy commenters who spray & walk away dumping their little ‘pearls of wisdom’ here thinking that you’ve done something worthwhile?
If the story/comment is worth knowing about, discussing, and following (up) then by all means, raise it here, but please do provide a link when you quote/cite.
Here’s the original investigation that kicked off a collective outburst of disgust and dismay on Social Media: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/world/we-looked-inside-britains-pandemic-spending-and-found-waste-negligence-and-cronyism.html.
Oh, and before I forget, pay attention to your details such as e-mail address when commenting.
I found the story on Channel 4.
Here is the link.
https://www.channel4.com/news/investigation-claims-ppe-contracts-went-to-companies-with-links-to-tory-party
https://twitter.com/Channel4News/status/1339692094525337601
Ta
to reiterate what Incognito said, if you quote you have to link to where you cut and paste from. If you are typing out from audio, then link to that and make it clear.
Thank you.
This is the grand total of the written part on Channel 4:
I guess you were not interested enough to find the investigation in NYT then? Maybe you should read up on those stories before you comment here, as it would add value to your otherwise rather lightweight and empty comments.
Advice from a successful professional soldier at the end of an interview.
"I never expect anyone to agree with me but what I do say is that what I write or say is quite clear and at least they know with what they are disagreeing. That's the big thing, they must know that"
He earlier comments on leadership, materialism, China, sea power and the importance of political strategy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1dz3pqbRaw
As I see it, NZ politics is dominated at the moment by parties with essentially similar policies, afraid to say anything that might upset the electorate, which stifles constructive disagreement and debate.
So you've leapt from an interview from a late 1950s military commander having a long comfortable stroke about command-and-control execution, and somehow made a link to New Zealand that we don't democratically debate policy here.
As I see it, you are an idiot.
that was tidy..
The policy options debated between the main parties are too similar. In a healthy democracy the main party in government should have policies that are strongly opposed to policies of the opposition parties, otherwise there is no real choice and people come to believe "there is no alternative". I see a link with the quote because I believe our populist political leaders avoid saying or writing anything that might turn public opinion against them. Pleasing public opinion is not a sound motive for policy to deal with the serious problems arising from inequality in NZ.
that makes sense..
Political leaders still have to get enough votes to win power. I had hoped that like Lange, Ardern would front a covert revolutionary agenda, but so far no sign of this. Lange succeeded – hence most of today's inequality related suffering. No covert Labour agenda this time it seems. A wasted opportunity given their parliamentary majority.
Great to see the Minister of Local Government Nanaia Mahuta push the knife in deep to all those elected fools on Tauranga Council:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/123758732/commissioner-for-tauranga-as-councillors-pleas-to-stay-in-charge-prove-futile
They wrote to her begging to stay on, but her response was politely that they hadn't provided any evidence that they were up to it.
“I consider a commission to be necessary to deliver the strategic leadership that the council and city needs.”
With their notorious crap communication in Tauranga city, she stated “I will be sending the commission a strong direction to ensure that the Tauranga community is engaged with and consulted on all significant decisions of the council, as is required in the legislation."
If anyone lives or has recently visited Tauranga recently, it's actually exploding in growth and there's next to zero coherence to go with it.
The Tauriko industrial park for example is in the middle of paddocks, pushed out of a three-way motorway intestine like a haemeroid.
Its public transport system is one of the worst in New Zealand, and barely used. There is no passenger train service despite rail going right through the middle of downtown and connecting Tauranga to the Mount. You can walk down Cameron Street its main commercial street on any night and you will see not a single pedestrian – just a few brave kids on scooters and bikes.
And its downtown framework is in close-to the same condition it was in when it was launched four years ago.
https://www.priorityone.co.nz/vdb/document/1610
For our fifth largest city, it shows simply a comprehensive failure by the Council to keep up with and direct the future of the city.
For those who are of the strongly held opinion that Biden is little more than a slightly kinder version of Trump, I'm posting this link in the hope that they will think again.
In what is a major first for the US with a long history of oppression of Native Americans the appointment of a Native American woman and the first Native American to serve as a Cabinet Secretary is a major resetting of priorities.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/native-americans-rep-haaland-s-nomination-interior-secretary-signals-new-n1251727
In policy terms, the racial/cultural identity of the appointees will be much less influential than what the Democratic Party's corporate donors will tolerate.
The optics however, are excellent.
He hasn't started. Evaluate the results.
And the optics of precedent-breaking appointments are as important there as they are here.
one good thing about biden..is that he knows he will likely only do one term..
..so no reason not to go for it..
..but then again..it is biden..
I hope to be surprised..
Perhaps it might pay to read in full the article to which I linked. You would find even AOC is fulsome in her praise for the selection and Ms Haaland has a great wealth of experience and has achieved a good deal already. She is also regarded as a progressive politician in Congress. You damn her with faint praise.
Further to my post a few mths about the NZDF and CC in regards to Bushfires. Well the Cyclone Season has started early for the 2020/221. Abnormal weather conditions down the East of Australia where it’s been raining cats & dogs over the last couple weeks coinciding with King Tides.
Now Samoa and Fiji being wrack with early season Cyclones and the resulting HADR Taskings that both ADF & NZDF do in the Region during the Cyclone Season. With Fiji still recovering from the March cyclone that hit Fiji and now Covid19.
It’s going to be really interesting to see if the NZDF can maintain its current commitments IRT to Covid19, its NZG mandated Tasks & it HADR Tasks both within NZ & the Sth Pacific Region during the Cyclone Season concurrently with it too few assets it’s small resource of manpower. What’s going to break first aging/ lack of equipment or the manning of Regular & Reserve Forces or a combination of the 3?
Buwaaaahahahah!
They've finally settled on what servicemembers of Space Farce will be called … wait for it … Guardians!
Apparently the highest rank will be "Trash Panda". (ok, ok, I made up that bit)
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/space-force-guardians-twitter-snark_n_5fdd2e35c5b6a7df666476d0
The name of their new US moon base will be:
Babylon 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJT2LBuPUpQ
I just saw pence call the roll out of vaccines "operation warp speed " he did it with a straight face!!!
I guess he hasn't been told there's a breach in the warp core. The terracotta turdface might have pressed the wrong button or something, so the White Supremacist House is being blamed for delays in deliveries to states.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/12/white-house-delays-pfizer-vaccine-shipments
that is all pretty funny..
Andre @ 11
CGI Young Ross A. Lincoln, a Space Professional
@Rossalincoln
Good lord fucking please Joe BIden please undo this nationally humiliating nonsense as your first act.
"Elected fools" The key word there is elected… we dont need another Ecan situation, sure they're behaving badly but rather than a commissioner hold a new election and if they get voted in again well that's on the people of Tauranga.
I really dislike the appoint of unelected officials…
Oh dear, I’ve got news for you.