Further evidence of a society in disarray.
The selfish neo-liberal approach is damaging the social structure.
Don’t expect the Herald to make the link between an economic system and such consequences, though.
However the Spirit Level has the research to prove it.
‘New research has found that New Zealanders are losing touch with their neighbours – and it’s affecting our wellbeing.
In the recently released results of the Sovereign Wellness Index, New Zealand trailed behind other countries when it came social connections and community, with our neighbourly relations particularly lacking.
“We came last when compared to 29 European countries that deployed the same survey, which is not only a disappointing result but, when compared to the first Sovereign Wellbeing Index in 2013, it shows no improvement,” said Grant Schofield professor of public health at AUT University, who led the research.’
I’ve been watching “Someone else’s country” again. In a general way you see the machinery at work during the 80’s/90’s that began to transform our society from a collective and cohesive one to a self serving and socially isolating one.
It’s certainly not in our imaginations that this transition occurred. The theorist, Uri Bronfenbrenner, who studied Human Development came up with his well known Ecological Theory to illustrate the impact of systems, including political systems upon the development of the individual. The political system exists within the Chronosystem. See handy chart below:
On the development where I live it’s all too easy to see the effect of community cohesion break down. It’s on the outer perimeter of existing suburbs, people are reliant of cars despite a good bus service, and very few residents have put any effort into creating gardens in the neighbourhood. There appears to be no connection to nature or one another.
To try and combat this sense of alienation I joined neighbourly.co.nz in an attempt to get people talking and break the ice. (The founder of that website is quoted in the Herald article) Twice I advertised an an afternoon tea at our place to discuss community resilience and response during an emergency, to be hosted by my husband whose a civil defence volunteer. Not one response from the 100+ members on the site. Twice I advertised an all ages kite flying day, a get to know your neighbours thing and once again, not one response.
It’s really quite depressing living here, but it’s what you do when you can’t afford to live in the established neighbourhoods closer to town.
Interestingly it’s those neighbourhoods that appear to be going from strength to strength with their efforts to improve social cohesion. There are many reports in the local papers about all the events they put on and their community building activities.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more fracturing of social cohesion as we continue to sprawl out into former farmlands and as we move further away from our formerly collective and caring society. It can’t be denied that this is political in its origin.
The dismantling of the “awards” system for purposes of workplace bargaining along with disestablishing compulsory unionism should not be underestimated as to why there is less social cohesion in NZ society today. We have been forced into believing the neo liberal framing of the narrative that individual responsibility is saintly and collectivism & the concept of team work only works when it is controlled by the privileged and powerful for the benefits of capital.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a link existed between the politically motivated promotion of individualism in the workplace, the loss of widespread Union membership and diminishing social cohesion. – solidarity and collective strength is something that spreads beyond the walls of the workplace and into people’s consciousness.
You lose those bonds and surely that weakens the community as a whole. Think of the lock outs and strikes of the pre 1990 ECA era and how neighbours and sometimes local businesses rallied around to support the workers.
There are many contributing factors though and we are a long way now, from where we used to be.
The problem with the mass developments, like the one I live on, is often they’re out of sight out of mind, they’re new and not part of the culture of the region or city and all the more isolated because of it. It’s made worse by the fact that they often don’t have any amenities (shops etc) and no recreational facilities so there is no gathering place, something once so crucial to human socialising.
Thanks Rosie, I think you are 100% correct. I recall attending union meetings where the topic of conversation wasn’t solely focused on pay & conditions. Large work places were especially fertile ground for wider social issue type conversations. Where else could a large group of working people come together and share their thoughts and points of view on topics as diverse as social welfare benefits ( for freezing workers whose work was seasonal this was important – still is -) or the Vietnam war ( the recent deployment of troops to the Middle East makes that conversation as meaningful today as it was back in the 60’s & 70’s ).
The white apartheid regime in South Africa, especially when the All Blacks were due to tour was a hot topic that divided loyalties but raised consciousness levels of the many who supported tours, albeit begrudgingly and often with the exchange of more than a few words!
Of course it wasn’t all beer & skittles. People were shouted down. The loudest voice was sometimes the only one heard, while others were handier with their tongues then their mitts. But it was all part of the growing pains of a new and growing nation – we still are -.
I sympathise with what you are having to endure and as social animals we deserve better.
I should probably make it clear that when I speak of pre 1990 ECA era workplaces I speak not from experience but from learning from doco’s and sitting and listening to the fascinating stories of older Union activists.
You echo what my friend told me of his experiences in a large workplace where people sat in the canteen and discussed the Springbok tour. He was deeply involved in the anti tour movement and discussions got very lively, there was some aggro but on the whole, people did get to learn and came round to understanding why he did what he did, even if they didn’t always support him.
As for the ECA, I had been in the work force only two years before the ECA was introduced and the changes were horrendous. Our pay was dropped as we lost our penal rates and we had to work 6 days instead of 5 just to make up for the loss in wages. Retailers got to exploit the new law and it made it cheaper for them to keep shops open for longer. Thats were our long opening hours in retail came from, the ECA of 1990.
Bastards. Thats what woke me up. After that I started paying attention to what politicians do and what we can do to stop them.
‘Farmers seeking staff for the new milking season risk being named and shamed on social media if the money being offered in their job advertisement is below the minimum wage.
Outgoing Waikato Federated farmers dairy chairman Craig Littin revealed that trade unions were picking apart farm jobs placed on Fonterra’s Farm Source website.
Littin told farmers at the group’s annual meeting that unions were doing simple calculations around listed salary, hours worked and days off and posting them on social media.’
Helen Kelly has been doing that for months. Some of the jobs she highlights are atrocious. It highlights how NZ is becoming a low wage, high hours economy.
New Zealand’s ‘rock star economy’ is growing slower.
‘New Zealand’s recent economic growth is actually lower in the last two years than it has averaged over the last 20, despite being hailed as a “rock star economy”.
Quarterly growth figures show the economy grew on average 2.8 per cent between 1995 and 2014, slightly more than the 2.6 per cent it averaged in 2013-14.’
Yes… but at the same time not so subtly putting the knife into Little for shying away from CGT as it was seen as a vote shedder. Labour was on the right track, but really failed to deliver a clear and concise CGT policy that was not easily picked apart, with some artistic scaremongering, by the Nats.
@ Ben
Yes I thought that too. Why should the Hairy offer positives about Cunliffe? Just a way to pour a little salt and water into any crack they might find in Labour skin.
Not sure that Labour has ditched the CGT. Didn’t they just comment that it was the wrong time and not well presented to the electorate at that time. Now on the back burner.
CGT is one of the many previous policies Labour has under review – whether it gets picked up again is still debatable – there may well be other ways of dealing with property speculation eg removing tax benefits like property losses against other income.
Hi ianmac, I don’t think it was a case of being badly presented, but the political climate that still existed prior to the election made it the wrong time. To my way of thinking David Parker did a very good job of presenting it, but he was up against a well resourced and hostile political machine that successfully convinced the public they were going to “lose lots of money” when they sold their houses.
I hope Labour has finally learned the lesson that a little bit of pre-election subterfuge is inevitable if you want to get into power and make a real difference for everyone and not just a chosen few.
In an ideal world, none of this would be necessary…
Notes for Labour Party handlers #2:
“Phrases of a negative tone that have as the subject, “things that aren’t big”, should never leave the leader’s mouth. Instead, try positive expositions on how things that are not big often become important, and are necessary to success.”
I am disappointed that there is not more coverage of this and more dissembling of the way National frame moderate CPI-based increases in funding to essential services as ‘propping up’.
No such concern at ‘propping up’ yachties or aluminium smelters owned by wealthy overseas companies.
But to her credit MS Tolley has not checked the bloodlines which no Minister of the Crown would do. (Sarc)
Mihi is pretty good in a quiet understated way.
Luxon from Airnz on line with Radionz at 9.35am. He is one of those fast speakers who don’t sound as if there is room for thought between sentences! Comes up with a block of words that provide an explanation as to why they are doing okay as they are.
He is being questioned about their attitude to the provincial services and lack of co-operation. Highly complex systems are needed by the replacement regional services with IT etc.
Seems to be good at batting away suggestions. At a fast pace.
Auckland councillor Penny Webster is alarmed that some controls should be put on dairies selling sugar laden food. …the suggestions were “totally overboard” and she would oppose them if they were put before the council.
Sour woman, don’t know what her spiel to get into Council was. It couldn’t have been to help the people with planning and action to have a healthy and happy community.
The idea is to act with plans to lobby for changes to the Resource Management Act to give councils the power to stop new dairies, convenience stores and takeaways being built, in the same way they can for alcohol outlets.
Sounds a good idea. Talk about supermarkets and garages also being lolly outlets is just a smokescreen, and a strawman argument. The dairies are local, common and easily accessed. Way back, on my way to Sunday School, I would spend my collection money on chocolate fish, so know about the sweet temptation! Also I have had a dairy and being near a school is being near a good customer source for sales, and also on the downside, for shop stealing.
Retail industry lobbies and spokespeople for dairy owners, often Indian, need to step back or else they will be viewed negatively. They already are seen often running liquor stores in poor areas, and making a living from selling goods with a health-destroying effect will not give them mana in the community, quite the opposite.
During the apartheid era various performers disgraced themselves by playing at Sun City.
Today, Israel offers a lucrative market for various musicians. Some people just play there and take the blood money; some declare their love for the repressive racist state and complain how it is misunderstood. The latest ratbag in this category is the airhead Lady Gaga.
Meanwhile Roger Waters, ex of Pink Floyd, maintains his integrity, calling on artists to turn down offers to play there.
Ron Why don’t you just say that you do like Israelis, no matter what nasty people say about them – like running over protesters with a bulldozer. Using massive force against puny protests etc. But perhaps you are amoral as they have chosen to be.
Well I do like Israelis, I have not meet any that I dislike. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for some of people of other countries that I have met.
Better put me on the list
Don’t like the Israeli government or their policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and lethal use of heavy military weapons on civilians. That’s quite different to “not liking Israelis.”
Israeli Apologist Vs Pro-Palestinian Celebs and near-Celebs (a little list I’ve been compiling)
(one or two, as you’ll see, are now deceased)
In no particular order
Israel Cheerleaders (includes everything from extensive outspoken support for Israel to explicit opposition to BDS to signing pro-Israeli petitions/advertisements – usually as PR exercises during one of Israel’s regular massacres in Gaza, the West Bank or Lebanon)
Serena Williams (US tennis champ)
Ellen DeGeneres (US comedian/talkshow host)
Samuel L Jackson (US actor)
Scarlett Johansson (US actress/model)
Lady Gaga (US musician)
Simon Cowell (UK record/tv producer/prominent Tory supporter)
Vanessa Williams (US singer/actress)
Howard Stern (US radio personality)
Sylvester Stallone (US actor)
Nicole Kidman (Aussie actress)
Dennis Hopper (US actor/prominent Republican)
Bruce Willis (US actor/Republican)
Danny De Vito and Rhea Perleman (US actors/couple)
Don Johnson (US actor)
James Wood (US actor/prominent Republican)
Charlie Daniels (US Country Music)
Bill Maher (US comedian/talkshow host)
Dionne Warwick (US singer)
Ashton Kutcher (talentless US actor)
Jesse Eisenberg (US actor)
Joan Rivers (US comedian)
Jon Voight (US actor/prominent Republican)
Mayim Bialik (US actress)
Justin Timberlake (UK singer)
Mark Pellegrino (US actor – Lost/Dexter)
Robert De Niro (US actor)
Kelly Preston (US actress)
William Hurt (US actor)
Danny Schuler (US musician – Biohazard)
Jackie Mason (US comedian)
Gene Simmons (remarkably talentless US musician)
Ridley Scott (US Director)
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones (US/UK actors/’power couple’)
Dick Donner (US Director)
Tony Scott (US Director)
Michael Mann (US Director)
Elton John (UK singer/drama queen)
Patricia Heaton (US actress)
Barbra Streisand (US actress/singer)
Gal Gadot (US actress)
Adam Baldwin (US actor)
Madonna (US singer)
Adam Sandler (talentless US actor/comedian)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (over-the-top US/Austrian actor/politician)
John Lydon (UK musician – Sex Pistols)
Chuck Norris (US actor)
Maureen Lipman (UK actress)
Sympathy for Palestinians/Gaza/BDS and explicit criticism of Israel
Nelson Mandela
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Naomi Wolf (US author/political consultant)
Danny Glover (US actor)
Alice Walker (US writer/poet)
Roger Waters (UK musician – Pink Floyd)
Rihanna (US/Barbadian singer)
Alan Rickman (UK actor)
Mia Farrow (US actress)
Brian Eno (UK musician/producer/prominent LibDem)
Anthony Bourdain (US celebrity chef)
Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (Spanish actors/’power couple’)
Rob Schneider (US actor/comedian)
Rosie O’Donnell (US actress/talkshow host)
John Cusack (US actor)
Selena Gomez (US actress/singer)
Stephen Hawking (UK leading Physicist)
Peter Gabriel (UK musician)
Bryan Adams (Canadian Singer)
Bobby Gillespie (Scots musician – Primal Scream)
William Dalrymple (UK journalist/historian)
David Morrissey (UK actor)
Maxine Peake (UK actress)
Alexei Sayle (UK comedian)
Mario Balotelli (Italian/Ghanaian Football player)
Whoopi Goldberg (US comedian/actress)
Dwight Howard (US NBA Basketballer)
Talib Kweli (US Hip Hop artist)
Joey Barton (UK Football)
Eddie Vedder (US singer – Pearl Jam)
Jarvis Cocker (UK musician – Pulp)
Sinead O’Connor (Irish singer/musician)
Zayn Malik (UK Boy Band singer)
Mark Ruffalo (US actor)
John Stewart (US – The Daily Show)
Wallace Shawn (US actor/playwright)
Jonathan Demme (US director)
Emma Thompson (UK actress)
Elvis Costello (UK musician)
Bella Freud (UK fashion designer)
Ken Loach (UK director/filmmaker)
Robert del Naja (UK musician – Massive Attack)
Jemima Khan (UK journalist/activist)
Will Self (UK writer)
Pedro Almodovar (Spanish director)
Hanif Kureishi (UK playwright/filmmaker)
Esther Freud (UK novelist)
Laura Bailey (UK actress)
Jeremy Hardy (UK comedian)
David Randall (UK music producer)
Boots Riley (US rapper/arts producer)
Chris Hedges (US journalist)
Kool A.D/Victor Vazquez (US musician)
Michael Ondaatje (Canadian writer)
Mike Leigh (UK writer/director)
Vanessa Redgrave (UK actress)
Christiano Ronaldo (Portuguese Football legend)
Lupe Fiasco (US Hip Hop)
Michael Radford (UK director/screenwriter)
Amare Stondemire (US NBA Basketballer)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italian footballer – Goalkeeper)
Dustin Hoffman (US actor)
Cynthia Nixon (US actress – Sex in the City)
Stephen Fry (UK actor/comedian)
Miriam Margolyes (UK actress)
Harold Pinter (UK playwright legend)
Jimmy McGovern (UK screenwriter)
Zoe Wanamaker (UK actress)
Jenny Diski (UK author)
Ben Elton (UK writer/comedian)
Susan Wooldridge (UK actress)
Patrick Neville (UK actor)
Tom Adams (US musician)
Andy de la Tour (UK actor/writer)
Mike Hodges (UK director/screenwriter)
Earl Okin (UK musician/comedian)
Hayley Carmichael (UK actress)
Reem Kelani (UK musician)
David Calder (UK actor)
Norma Cohen (UK actress)
Somaye Zadeh (UK singer/musician)
Pablo Navarette (director/producer)
Chris Thomas (UK director)
Laurie Penny (UK journalist)
Mark Thomas (UK comedian)
Kate Tempest (UK musician)
Robert Wyatt (UK musician)
Yeah, well I guess the SNP has, in its own way, become a kind of “celeb or near-celeb” since the Referendum/May Election. 🙂
That’s a pretty refreshing stance, akin to the position adopted by various Nordic Left-Socialist parties (and, to some extent, Germany’s Die Linke).
Starkly contrasting with Britain’s two major parties with their powerful Friends of Israel lobbies (although, it seems Labour started to make some – admittedly tentative and half-hearted – moves away from knee-jerk Israeli support under Ed Miliband – enough to upset Zionist erstwhile-Labour-supporters like Maureen Lipman).
That’s amazing list Swordfish. Whaleoil for NZ and there is a new company starting up. They have very fresh ideas in business in Israel, very go-ahead, eating and living for two states I suppose has that effect.
Without going through the list with a fine tooth comb but Dennis Hoppers been dead 5 years and Joan Rivers passed away last year I’d suggest your lists are a bit out of date
There is a Neolib view in New Zealand that restricting the DPB stops teenage pregnancies ( see Post comments by Andrew on Miteria Turei’s May guest blog on the ‘Daily Blog’)
This is counter to the international prevailing view that looks at other social issues such as young female wellbeing and rights ….contraception, supportive family , education and employment independence opportunities etc…better to address these issues than chauvinist female victim blaming and making children of the poor even more disadvantaged
“In developed countries, teenage pregnancies are often associated with social issues, including lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and other poorer life outcomes in children of teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage, and carries a social stigma in many communities and cultures.[8] By contrast, teenage parents in developing countries are often married, and their pregnancies welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems.
Teenage pregnancies appear to be preventable by comprehensive sex education and access to birth control.[9] Abstinence-only sex education does not appear to be effective.[10]”
In countries where women have equality of opportunity and good contraception options they do not choose to have teenage pregnancies…this is a feminist issue , a human rights issue and also an overpopulation issue
“There is a Neolib view in New Zealand that restricting the DPB stops teenage pregnancies..”
Even if it did, it would be no justification for making children and their parents suffer financial and material hardship. But since ‘the left’ (I’m using that term loosely) has ceded the debate on just about every fucking thing these days, we ain’t going to hear how it’s simply decent for society to support those most in need of support as much as possible.
Vodafone is bad, but Spark is worse 😉 I stick with vodafone because the call centre is better. That I have to call the call centre that much to be able to tell is an indictment of the whole telecommunications industry in NZ.
More like Banksie’s wife got some mates to make up some extra evidence. If you have enough money, you can buy just about anything these days – well, unless the US government is after you.
NOW?
Pity all those gullible leftists who let their bullshit detecting faculties get completely disarmed by the hope that KDC might be able to do some real damage to JK didn’t realise that THEN.
Too late now. Three more years….
Just hope those of you who got taken for absolute dummies will remember this case next time you get tempted by a false messiah pandering to your ‘obsession with JK’ weak point.
So you were the mug who bought it were you?
Now you realise that you were stupid to do so you are trying to palm it off on some other sucker. I doubt you will find anyone though who is quite as credulous as you were though.
Cue a post and one thousand comment thread about judicial corruption. What with centre-right governments being elected around the world the left can’t take a trick at the moment.
John Banks gets off, wipes egg from face, and denies it was ever there. Proceeds to fowlhouse for further feathered foolhardy, furtive and futile fandangos.
Todays the private sector can’t do it better than a collective comment.
Have a wee look at the phone book. I know you probably don’t – but at work yesterday we lost the internet – and, well, we tried using a phone book. It became a nightmare of epic proportions.
Try finding a government department – or anything which is community based. Ministry of health. And you local community centre.
Now that has probably frustrated you no end – think back before a private company got hold of it and it was privatised.
Just heard john key reiterate that there is no housing crisis in Auckland, and Andrew Little say there is one.
Why then has no one asked john Key what symptoms would be present in his opinion he would see for him to acknowledge that there is a crisis.
What is IOM – Part of United Nations Alliance of Civilisations http://www.unaoc.org/ibis/about/who-we-are-international-organization-for-migrations/ The IOM believes about half a dozen boats remain at sea, some close to shore. Mr. Lowry likened the search for the vessels that are further out to “looking for specific needles in a giant haystack,” and says a much greater search and rescue effort from the region’s governments is needed.
Food has been dropped to some by Thai helicopter. Indonesia is also offering help.
What is New Zealand doing to help its trading partner and Pacific neighbour Indenesia.
Two days ago – http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/15/asia/thailand-malaysia-rohingya-refugees/
The Thai govt is cracking down on smugglers. This boat had called into Malaysia which had provided water and food and sent it off. It broke down off Thailand, but after the engine was fixed, and food and water given it went back to Malaysia. An observer says it is like a game of ping-pong. And many boats have been abandoned by the smugglers because they have not been able to offload their passengers and are afraid for their own safety.
We need to help these truly helpless If not – The shame is on all of us. The USA military budget is $600 billion, Australian $32 B. The matter is widely reported by media from wealthy nations.
I did a google search –
What aid offered to Myanmar boat people by Red Cross
Red Cross have nothing up about these people, last is Nepal.
Then World Vision below
Then Oxfam – they have been working in Myanmar, but the boats no.
World Vision – a summary of the problemMyanmar’s Rohingya minority adrift with little aid
As many as 120,000 members of the Rohingya ethnic and religious group have fled Myanmar and Bangladesh by sea in the past three years. Now, about 8,000 of them are stranded in boats in the Andaman sea, having been abandoned by their traffickers as a result of crackdowns on international trafficking. Boatloads of Rohingya that have been left adrift without food and water are now being turned away by Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian authorities. About 1.3 million Rohingya have lived for generations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, but are not counted among its citizens. The Rohingya have long suffered displacement, abuse, and extreme poverty.
Google headings – The Guardian –
Burma’s boatpeople ‘faced choice of annihilation
also
5 days ago – With up to 8000 desperate people – Rohingya Muslims from Burma and … leaving an estimated 6,000 refugees to fend for themselves, according to reliable aid .
USNews –
500 people on a boat found Wednesday off northern Penang state were given …
Yahoo –
Southeast Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar’s 1.3 million …
independent.co.uk –
Southeast Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar’s 1.3 million …
phuketwan –
Nations Must Speedily Aid Desperate Boatpeople, Says Rights Group … to work together to rescue these desperate people and offer them humanitarian aid, help in … ”The world will judge these governments by how they treat these most …
msn news –
4 days ago – More than 1,600 migrants and refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh have…
trust –
Jeffrey Savage, who works for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees … boats for the next 20 days and given only small amounts of food and water.
jakartapost –
Australia’s slashing of foreign aid by almost Aus$1.0 billion (US$800 million) will hurt the most .
thedailybeast –
4 days ago – BANGKOK—As boatloads of stateless Rohingya people and other migrants drift off the … 8,000 boat people seeking to land somewhere—anywhere—as they struggle with a ..
Rohingya Blogger http://www.rohingyablogger.com/
6 hours ago – The price of living in a world of rules and norms widely shared is that you do not get … Malaysia prodded Myanmar on Sunday to halt the exodus from its shores as ..
Can AsEAN help in its own territory? NON-INTERVENTION PRINCIPLE
At the core of ASEAN’s inaction is its principle of non-interference in internal political affairs of its member states, observers said.
“There is a lot of sensitivity, a lot of prejudices and a lot of mutual suspicion that make it difficult for any entity to do something about this situation,” Surin said.
The U.N. has said the deadly pattern of migration across the Bay of Bengal would continue unless Myanmar ends discrimination against the Rohingya.
Most of Myanmar’s 1.1 million Rohingya are stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions. Almost 140,000 were displaced in clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012.
Is the UN going to wait till talks on May 29 which Myanmar says it will not attend if the word Rohingya is mentioned! Can people live on air and hope? Is this a time to put aside regional thoughts and make it an all-world crisis and do the blaming and reproaching later!!
Recent http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2015/05/18/indonesias-boat-people-the-numbers/
After this is over it might be that we should look at helping Muslim Aid as a counter to so much of the destruction and violence that they are suffering. It might help in the healing that hopefully would come soon. Muslim Aid
The USA military budget is $600 billion, Australian $32 B.
This is a statement from somebody who doesn’t understand economics. Economics isn’t about money but about resources and we’re running out of them.
There’s also the point that, no matter how much money was spent on militaries around the world, almost none of those resources would help the people on the boats even if they hadn’t left their homeland. You cannot eat or drink steel.
You can’t say that if we just spent the money here rather than there and everything will be fixed because of the difference between what resources are being used and what resources are needed to bring about the change you desire.
What are you on about DTB. You’re making an argument out of a mud pie.
If countries can afford to spend on war to that extent then they can find the machinmery to fly or sail to help those people. They can find a bit in a corner of their extensive budgets to pay for water food and humanitarian aid. Don’t make a blockbuster drama out of a very simple premise.
Stop being so objective too, when people are hurting. They don’t want your considered opinion on the cost benefit of helping them, or care whether you care or not, just as long as you don’t stop other people from paying attnetion to their plight which was what my bloody comment was about.
I’ve taken the leap and joined twitter. So if you really, really need to know two minutes ahead of time that I’m about to put up a post, this is the place for you:
Any PR/media consultants/publicists with the inside goss to share are welcome to send it to me as well. No promises that it’ll make it into the Standard though; my bullshit detector is finely tuned.
Labour Party in England is repeating the exact same mistake as in the last leader selection: only Oxbridge graduates who subsequently became “Special Advisers” are entered into the race.
Andy Burnham: English, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
Yvette Cooper: PPE, Balliol College, Oxford.
Mary Creagh:Languages, Pembroke College, Oxford.
Liz Kendall: History, Queen’s College, Cambridge.
Tristram Julian William Hunt: History, Trinity College, Cambridge.
As long as they continue to draw from this small clique they will continue to be loosers.
In contract the SNP intake is remarkably representative of broad society.
Pretty much the same issue here. Caused in no small part by the destruction of the trade union movement and Labours natural leaders. Of course Andrew Little at least has a union background and a strong understanding of workers issues. Unfortunately the union movement in this country is predominantly led by academics and they are appointed rather than elected, albeit they are in all probability good people with sound humanitarian values, but I would doubt that any of them would have ever lined up in the dole queue waiting to see their case officer or boned a quarter of beef or sweated over a cheese vat or polished a lino floor 40 hours a week.
With respect I think you’d find that many people with academic qualifications, especially older ones have in their student days.done the sorts of jobs that you mention.
and your point is? Roger Douglas was a pig farmer once.
I wasn’t trying to be disingenuous as I think their hearts and intentions are noble and some of them could have (had) high paying positions utilising their qualifications in other vocations.
But I wonder if they have the passion, understanding and desire to lead those who perform those jobs their entire working lives? Douglas didn’t.
Oh well I hope I’m wrong.
My point about Oxbridge, SPADs and the small elite which had control of the English Labour Party.
There are 109 universities in the current UK. There is an additional 133 Higher Education Institutes that don’t use the term university. The great prosperity bestowed (another story) on “Oxbridge” was and is marvellous. I don’t begrudge them their history and their current standing as two great places of learning, research and thought leadership.
When the five contestants for Labour leadership in 2010 and the five in 2015 all come from a tiny section of society there is a systemic problem.
No argument from me Northsider. I’m with you on this one.
My 25.1.1.2 was a response to 25.1.1.
Seems to me that Labour here and the UK need a broader mix of people standing for public office and a reconnection with communities and their real needs. Ain’t necessarily enough to simply ask about & attempt to resolve there issues, but more about having as their representatives those people themselves. Not really convinced that Grant is capable of representing the financial views of labour simply because he picked a few apples during the summer break.
I’ve no issue with an individual Oxbridge grad and spad becoming a Labour MP. I’ve no issue with an individual rolling down the hill from Victoria to a back office role in a political office and then onto becoming an MP.
When a powerful group at HQ all have the same career profile then there is a systemic problem. Robertson, Ardern, Faafoi in Labour and many in the Nats have these narrow profiles.
The public hear similar mechanical messaging styles.
The public turn off.
In the 1970s UK Labour had a third of its MPs come from labouring and manual work backgrounds, including a couple of dozen MPs who were former coal miners. The unions frequently sponsored workers from within their own ranks to run as candidates in electorates.
Today, Labour all around the world are professional middle class and upper middle class politicians: former student politicians, former Parliamentary staffers, former academics and policy wonks, PhDs and upper middle class professionals.
Labour thinks that it represents the best interests of almost all NZers; sadly only about one in five voters agreed.
When a powerful group at HQ all have the same career profile then there is a systemic problem. Robertson, Ardern, Faafoi in Labour and many in the Nats have these narrow profiles.
Yep. Hipkins. It’s a self perpetuating systemic issue with Labour now, as you infer.
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Climate change is everywhere. And when something's everywhere it can feel like it's nowhere. So how do we get our heads ...
Its a law like gravity: whenever a right-wing government is elected, they start attacking democracy. And now, after talking to their Republican and Tory and Fidesz chums at the International Democracy Union forum in Wellington, National is doing it here, announcing plans to remove election-day enrolment. Or, to put it ...
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
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 ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Photo by Jari Hytönen on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
Your Excellency Ambassador Meredith, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and Ambassadors from European Union Member States, Ministerial colleagues, Members of Parliament, and other distinguished guests, Thank you everyone for joining us. Ladies and gentlemen - In diplomacy, we often speak of ‘close’ and ‘long-standing’ relations. ...
The Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) will be repealed this year so that a better regime can be put in place to provide New Zealanders safe and timely access to medicines, medical devices and health products, Associate Health Minister Casey Costello announced today. “The medicines and products we are talking about ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government is talking up the crucial role of gas as a transition fuel “through to 2050 and beyond”. In a gas strategy to be released on Thursday, the government envisages the fuel’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Next week the government will again next try to get its legislation through to deal with non-citizens who won’t cooperate with efforts to deport them. The bill, which the opposition and crossbench refused to rush ...
A long-term project that will set out an alternative vision for Aotearoa that looks beyond the narrow confines of the policy straight jacket adopted by successive governments. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Bree Hurst, Associate Professor, Faculty of Business and Law, QUT, Queensland University of Technology TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock A much-awaited report into Coles and Woolworths has found what many customers have long believed – Australia’s big supermarkets engage in price gouging. What started ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daniel Ghezelbash, Associate Professor and Deputy Director, Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law, UNSW Law & Justice, UNSW Sydney The Albanese government wanted to avoid an inquiry into its migration amendment bill. The report, handed down yesterday by a senate committee that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joo-Cheong Tham, Professor, Melbourne Law School, The University of Melbourne Lobbying is at the heart of government. Who has access to and influence over key government officials shapes the decisions governments make – and how they make them. The ability to influence ...
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In announcing changes to the school lunches programme, David Seymour said kids would no longer be served ‘woke’ foods. To clear up any confusion, The Spinoff has compiled a guide to the wokeness levels of some common food items. Apple = NOT WOKE Avocado = WOKE Avocado, smashed = EVEN ...
The Minister Responsible for GCSB and the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security have been notified of this review, and have been provided a finalised Terms of Reference. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Minglu Chen, Senior Lecturer, Government and International Relations, University of Sydney Robert Way/Shutterstock As the past few years have illustrated so clearly, the Australia-China relationship is complicated. As such, it is crucial for Australians to develop a more nuanced understanding of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mariana Campbell, Research Lecturer, Conservation, Charles Darwin University Marilyn Connell Australian freshwater turtles are facing an alarming trend. Almost half of these species are listed as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered. The Mary River turtle (Elusor macrurus) is one of Australia’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Josephine Barbaro, Associate Professor, Principal Research Fellow, Psychologist, La Trobe University Unsplash We’ve come a long way in terms of understanding that everyone thinks, interacts and experiences the world differently. In the past, autistic people, people with attention deficit hyperactive disorder ...
PNG Post-Courier Papua New Guinea’s deputy opposition leader James Nomane has accused the government of “reckless economic management” that has forced devaluation to manage loan repayments in foreign currency and placate the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Prime Minister James Marape “must stop lying to the people of Papua New Guinea”, ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Jane Arthur, author of Brown Bird, and former bookseller at Good Books.The book I wish I’d writtenI have been working on not comparing myself to others. On accepting that what I can ...
The final decision on the Wellington District Plan makes it official: High-density housing is legal across most of Wellington. Housing minister Chris Bishop has announced his decision on the Wellington District Plan, approving a series of amendments to radically upzone most of Wellington, allowing tens of thousands of new townhouses ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. It’s power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, there’s the rich list and the powerful “c-suite” list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeer’s phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gadd’s story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didn’t have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail – those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. What’s all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boy’s body was found the day he died. Lachie’s body was discovered face up ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucy’s brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where “he had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didn’t get in”. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon, and Wayne Brown climbed into a hole and announced a plan to solve Auckland’s water woes. This is how it’ll work. New Zealand’s pipes are munted. They’re cracked and leaking, and struggling to handle all the extra poos excreted by our rising population. It’s a big, ...
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Opinion: “As time passes, knowledge of the circumstances of the August 2016 outbreak will fade and its immediate impact will be lost.” This statement is from the 2017 report of the Official Inquiry into the Havelock North campylobacteriosis outbreak. The then National-led government established the inquiry after the outbreak left ...
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What do a sombrero in Argentina and cognitive driving tests have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not setting up a bad joke. Hinengaro Clinic dementia clinician Gregory Winkelman has the answer on today’s episode of The Detail. “We ask a patient’s spouse or son or daughter: If you went to ...
Wellington long jumper Phoebe Edwards is back and she’s having fun again. Until this year, Edwards, a top athlete in her teens, had never competed as a senior athlete in New Zealand. In March, the 26-year-old won a national long jump title in a lifetime best of 6.28m after ...
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ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
By Robin Martin, RNZ News reporter A New Zealand local authority, Whanganui District Council, has passed a motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, condemnation of all acts of violence and terror against civilians on both sides of the conflict and the immediate return of hostages. It comes as ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will invest $566 million over a decade on data, maps and other tools to promote exploration and development in Australia’s resources industry. The project will fund “the first comprehensive map of what’s ...
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Further evidence of a society in disarray.
The selfish neo-liberal approach is damaging the social structure.
Don’t expect the Herald to make the link between an economic system and such consequences, though.
However the Spirit Level has the research to prove it.
‘New research has found that New Zealanders are losing touch with their neighbours – and it’s affecting our wellbeing.
In the recently released results of the Sovereign Wellness Index, New Zealand trailed behind other countries when it came social connections and community, with our neighbourly relations particularly lacking.
“We came last when compared to 29 European countries that deployed the same survey, which is not only a disappointing result but, when compared to the first Sovereign Wellbeing Index in 2013, it shows no improvement,” said Grant Schofield professor of public health at AUT University, who led the research.’
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11450741
http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resources/spirit-level
I’ve been watching “Someone else’s country” again. In a general way you see the machinery at work during the 80’s/90’s that began to transform our society from a collective and cohesive one to a self serving and socially isolating one.
It’s certainly not in our imaginations that this transition occurred. The theorist, Uri Bronfenbrenner, who studied Human Development came up with his well known Ecological Theory to illustrate the impact of systems, including political systems upon the development of the individual. The political system exists within the Chronosystem. See handy chart below:
http://cicsworld.centerforics.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/02061.jpeg
On the development where I live it’s all too easy to see the effect of community cohesion break down. It’s on the outer perimeter of existing suburbs, people are reliant of cars despite a good bus service, and very few residents have put any effort into creating gardens in the neighbourhood. There appears to be no connection to nature or one another.
To try and combat this sense of alienation I joined neighbourly.co.nz in an attempt to get people talking and break the ice. (The founder of that website is quoted in the Herald article) Twice I advertised an an afternoon tea at our place to discuss community resilience and response during an emergency, to be hosted by my husband whose a civil defence volunteer. Not one response from the 100+ members on the site. Twice I advertised an all ages kite flying day, a get to know your neighbours thing and once again, not one response.
It’s really quite depressing living here, but it’s what you do when you can’t afford to live in the established neighbourhoods closer to town.
Interestingly it’s those neighbourhoods that appear to be going from strength to strength with their efforts to improve social cohesion. There are many reports in the local papers about all the events they put on and their community building activities.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see more fracturing of social cohesion as we continue to sprawl out into former farmlands and as we move further away from our formerly collective and caring society. It can’t be denied that this is political in its origin.
The dismantling of the “awards” system for purposes of workplace bargaining along with disestablishing compulsory unionism should not be underestimated as to why there is less social cohesion in NZ society today. We have been forced into believing the neo liberal framing of the narrative that individual responsibility is saintly and collectivism & the concept of team work only works when it is controlled by the privileged and powerful for the benefits of capital.
I wouldn’t be surprised if a link existed between the politically motivated promotion of individualism in the workplace, the loss of widespread Union membership and diminishing social cohesion. – solidarity and collective strength is something that spreads beyond the walls of the workplace and into people’s consciousness.
You lose those bonds and surely that weakens the community as a whole. Think of the lock outs and strikes of the pre 1990 ECA era and how neighbours and sometimes local businesses rallied around to support the workers.
There are many contributing factors though and we are a long way now, from where we used to be.
The problem with the mass developments, like the one I live on, is often they’re out of sight out of mind, they’re new and not part of the culture of the region or city and all the more isolated because of it. It’s made worse by the fact that they often don’t have any amenities (shops etc) and no recreational facilities so there is no gathering place, something once so crucial to human socialising.
Thanks Rosie, I think you are 100% correct. I recall attending union meetings where the topic of conversation wasn’t solely focused on pay & conditions. Large work places were especially fertile ground for wider social issue type conversations. Where else could a large group of working people come together and share their thoughts and points of view on topics as diverse as social welfare benefits ( for freezing workers whose work was seasonal this was important – still is -) or the Vietnam war ( the recent deployment of troops to the Middle East makes that conversation as meaningful today as it was back in the 60’s & 70’s ).
The white apartheid regime in South Africa, especially when the All Blacks were due to tour was a hot topic that divided loyalties but raised consciousness levels of the many who supported tours, albeit begrudgingly and often with the exchange of more than a few words!
Of course it wasn’t all beer & skittles. People were shouted down. The loudest voice was sometimes the only one heard, while others were handier with their tongues then their mitts. But it was all part of the growing pains of a new and growing nation – we still are -.
I sympathise with what you are having to endure and as social animals we deserve better.
I should probably make it clear that when I speak of pre 1990 ECA era workplaces I speak not from experience but from learning from doco’s and sitting and listening to the fascinating stories of older Union activists.
You echo what my friend told me of his experiences in a large workplace where people sat in the canteen and discussed the Springbok tour. He was deeply involved in the anti tour movement and discussions got very lively, there was some aggro but on the whole, people did get to learn and came round to understanding why he did what he did, even if they didn’t always support him.
As for the ECA, I had been in the work force only two years before the ECA was introduced and the changes were horrendous. Our pay was dropped as we lost our penal rates and we had to work 6 days instead of 5 just to make up for the loss in wages. Retailers got to exploit the new law and it made it cheaper for them to keep shops open for longer. Thats were our long opening hours in retail came from, the ECA of 1990.
Bastards. Thats what woke me up. After that I started paying attention to what politicians do and what we can do to stop them.
I’m quite sure we share different political beliefs Rosie, but can I just say I was quite moved by your story. Well spoken.
Thanks Jan
Stingy farmers named and shamed on social media.
‘Farmers seeking staff for the new milking season risk being named and shamed on social media if the money being offered in their job advertisement is below the minimum wage.
Outgoing Waikato Federated farmers dairy chairman Craig Littin revealed that trade unions were picking apart farm jobs placed on Fonterra’s Farm Source website.
Littin told farmers at the group’s annual meeting that unions were doing simple calculations around listed salary, hours worked and days off and posting them on social media.’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/68509128/stingy-farmers-named-and-shamed-on-social-media
Helen Kelly has been doing that for months. Some of the jobs she highlights are atrocious. It highlights how NZ is becoming a low wage, high hours economy.
telling headlines eh…stingy, not illegal, naming and shaming, not prosecution.
New Zealand’s ‘rock star economy’ is growing slower.
‘New Zealand’s recent economic growth is actually lower in the last two years than it has averaged over the last 20, despite being hailed as a “rock star economy”.
Quarterly growth figures show the economy grew on average 2.8 per cent between 1995 and 2014, slightly more than the 2.6 per cent it averaged in 2013-14.’
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/68626049/new-zealands-rock-star-economy-is-growing-slower
So the Herald is now praising David Cunliffe’s CGT policies (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11450781).
I now look forward to it apologising to David for its Donghua Liu coverage (http://thestandard.org.nz/the-more-complete-donghua-liu-timeline/).
Yes… but at the same time not so subtly putting the knife into Little for shying away from CGT as it was seen as a vote shedder. Labour was on the right track, but really failed to deliver a clear and concise CGT policy that was not easily picked apart, with some artistic scaremongering, by the Nats.
@ Ben
Yes I thought that too. Why should the Hairy offer positives about Cunliffe? Just a way to pour a little salt and water into any crack they might find in Labour skin.
Not sure that Labour has ditched the CGT. Didn’t they just comment that it was the wrong time and not well presented to the electorate at that time. Now on the back burner.
CGT is one of the many previous policies Labour has under review – whether it gets picked up again is still debatable – there may well be other ways of dealing with property speculation eg removing tax benefits like property losses against other income.
Hi ianmac, I don’t think it was a case of being badly presented, but the political climate that still existed prior to the election made it the wrong time. To my way of thinking David Parker did a very good job of presenting it, but he was up against a well resourced and hostile political machine that successfully convinced the public they were going to “lose lots of money” when they sold their houses.
I hope Labour has finally learned the lesson that a little bit of pre-election subterfuge is inevitable if you want to get into power and make a real difference for everyone and not just a chosen few.
In an ideal world, none of this would be necessary…
Notes for Labour Party handlers #2:
“Phrases of a negative tone that have as the subject, “things that aren’t big”, should never leave the leader’s mouth. Instead, try positive expositions on how things that are not big often become important, and are necessary to success.”
yeah it’s the basics…
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/05/19/what-happens-if-there-is-another-example-of-key-pulling-a-womans-hair-in-a-workplace/
Hmmm? Possible that someone knows that there is? Indeed what then!
Very cryptic indeed. Sounds like there is another case of hair pulling waiting in the wings.
“He” behaves like those horrible boys in my day who liked pulling wings off butterflies and tipping baby birds out of their nests.
And in a Government department.. was this Roger Sutton’s ponytail?
Bradbury shouldn’t play games with this (as evidenced by his readers comments who either make jokes or say nothing will happen).
This story highlights the effects of a funding freeze on services.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/273983/govt-won't-'prop-up'-counselling-service
I am disappointed that there is not more coverage of this and more dissembling of the way National frame moderate CPI-based increases in funding to essential services as ‘propping up’.
No such concern at ‘propping up’ yachties or aluminium smelters owned by wealthy overseas companies.
Listening confirmed my take-away from lasts nights Native Affairs – Tolley’s a dissembling fool.
@ 22 minutes, Mihi Forbes has the fool on the rack over the make up the CYF review panel and lack of Māori input.
http://www.maoritelevision.com/tv/shows/native-affairs/S09E011/native-affairs
But to her credit MS Tolley has not checked the bloodlines which no Minister of the Crown would do. (Sarc)
Mihi is pretty good in a quiet understated way.
I’m not sure why but the bloodline references turned my stomach.
And in IMO Mihi Forbes is by far the best interviewer on the box today.
Defining poverty down
And National’s actual priorities?
Proof, if any more was actually needed, that National just doesn’t give a shit about anything except protecting the status quo.
Luxon from Airnz on line with Radionz at 9.35am. He is one of those fast speakers who don’t sound as if there is room for thought between sentences! Comes up with a block of words that provide an explanation as to why they are doing okay as they are.
He is being questioned about their attitude to the provincial services and lack of co-operation. Highly complex systems are needed by the replacement regional services with IT etc.
Seems to be good at batting away suggestions. At a fast pace.
Mike Yardley – columnist for The Press seems to be kept awake at night at the thought of the City of Christchurch owning power grids and airports.
Auckland councillor Penny Webster is alarmed that some controls should be put on dairies selling sugar laden food. …the suggestions were “totally overboard” and she would oppose them if they were put before the council.
Sour woman, don’t know what her spiel to get into Council was. It couldn’t have been to help the people with planning and action to have a healthy and happy community.
The idea is to act with plans to lobby for changes to the Resource Management Act to give councils the power to stop new dairies, convenience stores and takeaways being built, in the same way they can for alcohol outlets.
Sounds a good idea. Talk about supermarkets and garages also being lolly outlets is just a smokescreen, and a strawman argument. The dairies are local, common and easily accessed. Way back, on my way to Sunday School, I would spend my collection money on chocolate fish, so know about the sweet temptation! Also I have had a dairy and being near a school is being near a good customer source for sales, and also on the downside, for shop stealing.
Retail industry lobbies and spokespeople for dairy owners, often Indian, need to step back or else they will be viewed negatively. They already are seen often running liquor stores in poor areas, and making a living from selling goods with a health-destroying effect will not give them mana in the community, quite the opposite.
Webster is from the Act party.
Sacha Useful to know. It is good that ACT are staying true to their do-nothing, don’t care motto.
During the apartheid era various performers disgraced themselves by playing at Sun City.
Today, Israel offers a lucrative market for various musicians. Some people just play there and take the blood money; some declare their love for the repressive racist state and complain how it is misunderstood. The latest ratbag in this category is the airhead Lady Gaga.
Meanwhile Roger Waters, ex of Pink Floyd, maintains his integrity, calling on artists to turn down offers to play there.
Pimping for Israel: Lady Gaga, Madonna and Dionne Warwick:
https://rdln.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/pimping-for-israel-lady-gaga-madonna-and-dionne-warwick/
Why not just say that you don;t like Israelis
I imagine because that is not what he is saying Ron.
Ron Why don’t you just say that you do like Israelis, no matter what nasty people say about them – like running over protesters with a bulldozer. Using massive force against puny protests etc. But perhaps you are amoral as they have chosen to be.
Well I do like Israelis, I have not meet any that I dislike. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for some of people of other countries that I have met.
Better put me on the list
Don’t like the Israeli government or their policies of apartheid, ethnic cleansing and lethal use of heavy military weapons on civilians. That’s quite different to “not liking Israelis.”
Golly you are going to have a real problem with Hamas, ISISL, Boko Haram then
Israeli Apologist Vs Pro-Palestinian Celebs and near-Celebs (a little list I’ve been compiling)
(one or two, as you’ll see, are now deceased)
In no particular order
Israel Cheerleaders (includes everything from extensive outspoken support for Israel to explicit opposition to BDS to signing pro-Israeli petitions/advertisements – usually as PR exercises during one of Israel’s regular massacres in Gaza, the West Bank or Lebanon)
Serena Williams (US tennis champ)
Ellen DeGeneres (US comedian/talkshow host)
Samuel L Jackson (US actor)
Scarlett Johansson (US actress/model)
Lady Gaga (US musician)
Simon Cowell (UK record/tv producer/prominent Tory supporter)
Vanessa Williams (US singer/actress)
Howard Stern (US radio personality)
Sylvester Stallone (US actor)
Nicole Kidman (Aussie actress)
Dennis Hopper (US actor/prominent Republican)
Bruce Willis (US actor/Republican)
Danny De Vito and Rhea Perleman (US actors/couple)
Don Johnson (US actor)
James Wood (US actor/prominent Republican)
Charlie Daniels (US Country Music)
Bill Maher (US comedian/talkshow host)
Dionne Warwick (US singer)
Ashton Kutcher (talentless US actor)
Jesse Eisenberg (US actor)
Joan Rivers (US comedian)
Jon Voight (US actor/prominent Republican)
Mayim Bialik (US actress)
Justin Timberlake (UK singer)
Mark Pellegrino (US actor – Lost/Dexter)
Robert De Niro (US actor)
Kelly Preston (US actress)
William Hurt (US actor)
Danny Schuler (US musician – Biohazard)
Jackie Mason (US comedian)
Gene Simmons (remarkably talentless US musician)
Ridley Scott (US Director)
Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones (US/UK actors/’power couple’)
Dick Donner (US Director)
Tony Scott (US Director)
Michael Mann (US Director)
Elton John (UK singer/drama queen)
Patricia Heaton (US actress)
Barbra Streisand (US actress/singer)
Gal Gadot (US actress)
Adam Baldwin (US actor)
Madonna (US singer)
Adam Sandler (talentless US actor/comedian)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (over-the-top US/Austrian actor/politician)
John Lydon (UK musician – Sex Pistols)
Chuck Norris (US actor)
Maureen Lipman (UK actress)
Sympathy for Palestinians/Gaza/BDS and explicit criticism of Israel
Nelson Mandela
Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Naomi Wolf (US author/political consultant)
Danny Glover (US actor)
Alice Walker (US writer/poet)
Roger Waters (UK musician – Pink Floyd)
Rihanna (US/Barbadian singer)
Alan Rickman (UK actor)
Mia Farrow (US actress)
Brian Eno (UK musician/producer/prominent LibDem)
Anthony Bourdain (US celebrity chef)
Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz (Spanish actors/’power couple’)
Rob Schneider (US actor/comedian)
Rosie O’Donnell (US actress/talkshow host)
John Cusack (US actor)
Selena Gomez (US actress/singer)
Stephen Hawking (UK leading Physicist)
Peter Gabriel (UK musician)
Bryan Adams (Canadian Singer)
Bobby Gillespie (Scots musician – Primal Scream)
William Dalrymple (UK journalist/historian)
David Morrissey (UK actor)
Maxine Peake (UK actress)
Alexei Sayle (UK comedian)
Mario Balotelli (Italian/Ghanaian Football player)
Whoopi Goldberg (US comedian/actress)
Dwight Howard (US NBA Basketballer)
Talib Kweli (US Hip Hop artist)
Joey Barton (UK Football)
Eddie Vedder (US singer – Pearl Jam)
Jarvis Cocker (UK musician – Pulp)
Sinead O’Connor (Irish singer/musician)
Zayn Malik (UK Boy Band singer)
Mark Ruffalo (US actor)
John Stewart (US – The Daily Show)
Wallace Shawn (US actor/playwright)
Jonathan Demme (US director)
Emma Thompson (UK actress)
Elvis Costello (UK musician)
Bella Freud (UK fashion designer)
Ken Loach (UK director/filmmaker)
Robert del Naja (UK musician – Massive Attack)
Jemima Khan (UK journalist/activist)
Will Self (UK writer)
Pedro Almodovar (Spanish director)
Hanif Kureishi (UK playwright/filmmaker)
Esther Freud (UK novelist)
Laura Bailey (UK actress)
Jeremy Hardy (UK comedian)
David Randall (UK music producer)
Boots Riley (US rapper/arts producer)
Chris Hedges (US journalist)
Kool A.D/Victor Vazquez (US musician)
Michael Ondaatje (Canadian writer)
Mike Leigh (UK writer/director)
Vanessa Redgrave (UK actress)
Christiano Ronaldo (Portuguese Football legend)
Lupe Fiasco (US Hip Hop)
Michael Radford (UK director/screenwriter)
Amare Stondemire (US NBA Basketballer)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italian footballer – Goalkeeper)
Dustin Hoffman (US actor)
Cynthia Nixon (US actress – Sex in the City)
Stephen Fry (UK actor/comedian)
Miriam Margolyes (UK actress)
Harold Pinter (UK playwright legend)
Jimmy McGovern (UK screenwriter)
Zoe Wanamaker (UK actress)
Jenny Diski (UK author)
Ben Elton (UK writer/comedian)
Susan Wooldridge (UK actress)
Patrick Neville (UK actor)
Tom Adams (US musician)
Andy de la Tour (UK actor/writer)
Mike Hodges (UK director/screenwriter)
Earl Okin (UK musician/comedian)
Hayley Carmichael (UK actress)
Reem Kelani (UK musician)
David Calder (UK actor)
Norma Cohen (UK actress)
Somaye Zadeh (UK singer/musician)
Pablo Navarette (director/producer)
Chris Thomas (UK director)
Laurie Penny (UK journalist)
Mark Thomas (UK comedian)
Kate Tempest (UK musician)
Robert Wyatt (UK musician)
Might want to throw the SNP on that second list Swordfish 😉
http://www.bdsmovement.net/2011/scottish-first-minister-6963
Yeah, well I guess the SNP has, in its own way, become a kind of “celeb or near-celeb” since the Referendum/May Election. 🙂
That’s a pretty refreshing stance, akin to the position adopted by various Nordic Left-Socialist parties (and, to some extent, Germany’s Die Linke).
Starkly contrasting with Britain’s two major parties with their powerful Friends of Israel lobbies (although, it seems Labour started to make some – admittedly tentative and half-hearted – moves away from knee-jerk Israeli support under Ed Miliband – enough to upset Zionist erstwhile-Labour-supporters like Maureen Lipman).
I thought Maureen Lipman was a humorist. Has she lost her fine sense of what’s ridiculous and what’s nauseous?
That’s amazing list Swordfish. Whaleoil for NZ and there is a new company starting up. They have very fresh ideas in business in Israel, very go-ahead, eating and living for two states I suppose has that effect.
Without going through the list with a fine tooth comb but Dennis Hoppers been dead 5 years and Joan Rivers passed away last year I’d suggest your lists are a bit out of date
Hence, my second sentence (in parentheses)
Ridley Scott’s a Brit..
Our scumbag PM is addressing child poverty – by redefining what counts:
https://www.greens.org.nz/news/press-releases/pms-%E2%80%98oliver-twist%E2%80%99-poverty-measure-excuse-breaking-budget-promise
There is a Neolib view in New Zealand that restricting the DPB stops teenage pregnancies ( see Post comments by Andrew on Miteria Turei’s May guest blog on the ‘Daily Blog’)
This is counter to the international prevailing view that looks at other social issues such as young female wellbeing and rights ….contraception, supportive family , education and employment independence opportunities etc…better to address these issues than chauvinist female victim blaming and making children of the poor even more disadvantaged
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teenage_pregnancy
“In developed countries, teenage pregnancies are often associated with social issues, including lower educational levels, higher rates of poverty, and other poorer life outcomes in children of teenage mothers. Teenage pregnancy in developed countries is usually outside of marriage, and carries a social stigma in many communities and cultures.[8] By contrast, teenage parents in developing countries are often married, and their pregnancies welcomed by family and society. However, in these societies, early pregnancy may combine with malnutrition and poor health care to cause medical problems.
Teenage pregnancies appear to be preventable by comprehensive sex education and access to birth control.[9] Abstinence-only sex education does not appear to be effective.[10]”
http://sjp.sagepub.com/content/36/4/415.abstract
In countries where women have equality of opportunity and good contraception options they do not choose to have teenage pregnancies…this is a feminist issue , a human rights issue and also an overpopulation issue
“There is a Neolib view in New Zealand that restricting the DPB stops teenage pregnancies..”
Even if it did, it would be no justification for making children and their parents suffer financial and material hardship. But since ‘the left’ (I’m using that term loosely) has ceded the debate on just about every fucking thing these days, we ain’t going to hear how it’s simply decent for society to support those most in need of support as much as possible.
Smile of the morning, I got a phishing email pretending to be vodafone and it was signed off with ‘Yours Truly’.
Just giving up on Vodafone and switching to Spark @ $30 less per month. Hope the service is OK.
Vodafone is bad, but Spark is worse 😉 I stick with vodafone because the call centre is better. That I have to call the call centre that much to be able to tell is an indictment of the whole telecommunications industry in NZ.
I have never had to ring Spark as I have never had a problem, and have been with them for years.
Banksie.
Discuss,
Kim Dotcom changed his evidence.
zero credibility now for the fat german
More like Banksie’s wife got some mates to make up some extra evidence. If you have enough money, you can buy just about anything these days – well, unless the US government is after you.
Yeah more like that
“zero credibility now for the fat german”
NOW?
Pity all those gullible leftists who let their bullshit detecting faculties get completely disarmed by the hope that KDC might be able to do some real damage to JK didn’t realise that THEN.
Too late now. Three more years….
Just hope those of you who got taken for absolute dummies will remember this case next time you get tempted by a false messiah pandering to your ‘obsession with JK’ weak point.
At least now its official before the courts. Dotcom is telly porkies.
John Banks was/is the most credible witness.
I have a collateralised future dividend option on Auckland Harbour Bridge that might interest you.
But apparently there are two harbour bridges and you have conveniently forgotten to tell the crown about the other one?
Metaphor fail: Banks agrees that donations were discussed; the disclosure failure was the Crown’s.
Nice try though: far better than Alwyn’s feeble effort.
So you were the mug who bought it were you?
Now you realise that you were stupid to do so you are trying to palm it off on some other sucker. I doubt you will find anyone though who is quite as credulous as you were though.
Some interesting questions during question time today in parliament.
Here are the questions:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1505/S00275/questions-for-oral-answer-may-19.htm
Here is the parliament TV available from 2 pm:
http://www.parliament.nz/en-nz/about-parliament/see-hear/ptv
Cue a post and one thousand comment thread about judicial corruption. What with centre-right governments being elected around the world the left can’t take a trick at the moment.
The anglo-saxon FVEY nations have systems biased towards the establishment conservative (now right wing) players. No one argues that is not the case.
John Banks gets off, wipes egg from face, and denies it was ever there. Proceeds to fowlhouse for further feathered foolhardy, furtive and futile fandangos.
The court found it was never there. He has been acquitted, therefore did not commit the crime of which he was accused.
Never mind the courts. Do you really think he is not guilty?
Mud’s mud.
@ SHG
Well that’s good for you.
John Banks acquitted today of submitting false returns. Honest John at last.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/68668623/john-banks-acquitted-by-court-of-appeal-on-falsereturn-charges
Post up now. http://thestandard.org.nz/john-banks-conviction-quashed/
Todays the private sector can’t do it better than a collective comment.
Have a wee look at the phone book. I know you probably don’t – but at work yesterday we lost the internet – and, well, we tried using a phone book. It became a nightmare of epic proportions.
Try finding a government department – or anything which is community based. Ministry of health. And you local community centre.
Now that has probably frustrated you no end – think back before a private company got hold of it and it was privatised.
Just heard john key reiterate that there is no housing crisis in Auckland, and Andrew Little say there is one.
Why then has no one asked john Key what symptoms would be present in his opinion he would see for him to acknowledge that there is a crisis.
Meanwhile Rohingya people from Myanmar float on boats crying for water, fighting, hungry, lying sick. What can we do about it.
http://blogs.wsj.com/indonesiarealtime/2015/05/18/international-agencies-pitch-in-to-help-boat-people-in-indonesia/
What is IOM – Part of United Nations Alliance of Civilisations
http://www.unaoc.org/ibis/about/who-we-are-international-organization-for-migrations/
The IOM believes about half a dozen boats remain at sea, some close to shore. Mr. Lowry likened the search for the vessels that are further out to “looking for specific needles in a giant haystack,” and says a much greater search and rescue effort from the region’s governments is needed.
Food has been dropped to some by Thai helicopter. Indonesia is also offering help.
What is New Zealand doing to help its trading partner and Pacific neighbour Indenesia.
Two days ago –
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/15/asia/thailand-malaysia-rohingya-refugees/
The Thai govt is cracking down on smugglers. This boat had called into Malaysia which had provided water and food and sent it off. It broke down off Thailand, but after the engine was fixed, and food and water given it went back to Malaysia. An observer says it is like a game of ping-pong. And many boats have been abandoned by the smugglers because they have not been able to offload their passengers and are afraid for their own safety.
We need to help these truly helpless If not – The shame is on all of us. The USA military budget is $600 billion, Australian $32 B. The matter is widely reported by media from wealthy nations.
I did a google search –
What aid offered to Myanmar boat people by Red Cross
Red Cross have nothing up about these people, last is Nepal.
Then World Vision below
Then Oxfam – they have been working in Myanmar, but the boats no.
World Vision – a summary of the problemMyanmar’s Rohingya minority adrift with little aid
As many as 120,000 members of the Rohingya ethnic and religious group have fled Myanmar and Bangladesh by sea in the past three years. Now, about 8,000 of them are stranded in boats in the Andaman sea, having been abandoned by their traffickers as a result of crackdowns on international trafficking. Boatloads of Rohingya that have been left adrift without food and water are now being turned away by Thai, Malaysian, and Indonesian authorities. About 1.3 million Rohingya have lived for generations in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, but are not counted among its citizens. The Rohingya have long suffered displacement, abuse, and extreme poverty.
Google headings – The Guardian –
Burma’s boatpeople ‘faced choice of annihilation
also
5 days ago – With up to 8000 desperate people – Rohingya Muslims from Burma and … leaving an estimated 6,000 refugees to fend for themselves, according to reliable aid .
USNews –
500 people on a boat found Wednesday off northern Penang state were given …
Yahoo –
Southeast Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar’s 1.3 million …
independent.co.uk –
Southeast Asia for years tried to quietly ignore the plight of Myanmar’s 1.3 million …
phuketwan –
Nations Must Speedily Aid Desperate Boatpeople, Says Rights Group … to work together to rescue these desperate people and offer them humanitarian aid, help in … ”The world will judge these governments by how they treat these most …
msn news –
4 days ago – More than 1,600 migrants and refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh have…
trust –
Jeffrey Savage, who works for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees … boats for the next 20 days and given only small amounts of food and water.
jakartapost –
Australia’s slashing of foreign aid by almost Aus$1.0 billion (US$800 million) will hurt the most .
thedailybeast –
4 days ago – BANGKOK—As boatloads of stateless Rohingya people and other migrants drift off the … 8,000 boat people seeking to land somewhere—anywhere—as they struggle with a ..
Rohingya Vision TV | Human Trafficking
http://www.rvisiontv.com/category/daily-news-2/human-trafficking/
6 days ago – … Myanmar migrants on a boat stranded for a week in the Andaman Sea with no ..
Rohingya Blogger
http://www.rohingyablogger.com/
6 hours ago – The price of living in a world of rules and norms widely shared is that you do not get … Malaysia prodded Myanmar on Sunday to halt the exodus from its shores as ..
Can AsEAN help in its own territory?
NON-INTERVENTION PRINCIPLE
At the core of ASEAN’s inaction is its principle of non-interference in internal political affairs of its member states, observers said.
“There is a lot of sensitivity, a lot of prejudices and a lot of mutual suspicion that make it difficult for any entity to do something about this situation,” Surin said.
The U.N. has said the deadly pattern of migration across the Bay of Bengal would continue unless Myanmar ends discrimination against the Rohingya.
Most of Myanmar’s 1.1 million Rohingya are stateless and live in apartheid-like conditions. Almost 140,000 were displaced in clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012.
Is the UN going to wait till talks on May 29 which Myanmar says it will not attend if the word Rohingya is mentioned! Can people live on air and hope? Is this a time to put aside regional thoughts and make it an all-world crisis and do the blaming and reproaching later!!
Recent
http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2015/05/18/indonesias-boat-people-the-numbers/
Help Medecins Sans Frontieres with donation? http://www.msf.org.au/refugee/?gclid=CLmuoN7jzMUCFUIAvAodPJgA1Q
After this is over it might be that we should look at helping Muslim Aid as a counter to so much of the destruction and violence that they are suffering. It might help in the healing that hopefully would come soon.
Muslim Aid
This is a statement from somebody who doesn’t understand economics. Economics isn’t about money but about resources and we’re running out of them.
There’s also the point that, no matter how much money was spent on militaries around the world, almost none of those resources would help the people on the boats even if they hadn’t left their homeland. You cannot eat or drink steel.
You can’t say that if we just spent the money here rather than there and everything will be fixed because of the difference between what resources are being used and what resources are needed to bring about the change you desire.
What are you on about DTB. You’re making an argument out of a mud pie.
If countries can afford to spend on war to that extent then they can find the machinmery to fly or sail to help those people. They can find a bit in a corner of their extensive budgets to pay for water food and humanitarian aid. Don’t make a blockbuster drama out of a very simple premise.
Stop being so objective too, when people are hurting. They don’t want your considered opinion on the cost benefit of helping them, or care whether you care or not, just as long as you don’t stop other people from paying attnetion to their plight which was what my bloody comment was about.
I’ve taken the leap and joined twitter. So if you really, really need to know two minutes ahead of time that I’m about to put up a post, this is the place for you:
https://twitter.com/tereoputake
Any PR/media consultants/publicists with the inside goss to share are welcome to send it to me as well. No promises that it’ll make it into the Standard though; my bullshit detector is finely tuned.
Me on Twitter
Cheers, DTB. Only quite a few thousand tweets before I catch up with you!
Meh, I’m only a baby tweeter really. A mere 7000 tweets in 5 years.
Add it to the twitter-auto-poster – right side of a post.
No women should look at this link – you might just get the wrong idea.
https://www.facebook.com/usauncut/photos/a.190167221017767.44131.186219261412563/936768469690968/?type=1&fref=nf
Labour Party in England is repeating the exact same mistake as in the last leader selection: only Oxbridge graduates who subsequently became “Special Advisers” are entered into the race.
Andy Burnham: English, Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge.
Yvette Cooper: PPE, Balliol College, Oxford.
Mary Creagh:Languages, Pembroke College, Oxford.
Liz Kendall: History, Queen’s College, Cambridge.
Tristram Julian William Hunt: History, Trinity College, Cambridge.
As long as they continue to draw from this small clique they will continue to be loosers.
In contract the SNP intake is remarkably representative of broad society.
Pretty much the same issue here. Caused in no small part by the destruction of the trade union movement and Labours natural leaders. Of course Andrew Little at least has a union background and a strong understanding of workers issues. Unfortunately the union movement in this country is predominantly led by academics and they are appointed rather than elected, albeit they are in all probability good people with sound humanitarian values, but I would doubt that any of them would have ever lined up in the dole queue waiting to see their case officer or boned a quarter of beef or sweated over a cheese vat or polished a lino floor 40 hours a week.
With respect I think you’d find that many people with academic qualifications, especially older ones have in their student days.done the sorts of jobs that you mention.
yeah but that aint the same is it.
not
by
a
long
shot
aint no substitute for experience and time
and your point is? Roger Douglas was a pig farmer once.
I wasn’t trying to be disingenuous as I think their hearts and intentions are noble and some of them could have (had) high paying positions utilising their qualifications in other vocations.
But I wonder if they have the passion, understanding and desire to lead those who perform those jobs their entire working lives? Douglas didn’t.
Oh well I hope I’m wrong.
My point about Oxbridge, SPADs and the small elite which had control of the English Labour Party.
There are 109 universities in the current UK. There is an additional 133 Higher Education Institutes that don’t use the term university. The great prosperity bestowed (another story) on “Oxbridge” was and is marvellous. I don’t begrudge them their history and their current standing as two great places of learning, research and thought leadership.
When the five contestants for Labour leadership in 2010 and the five in 2015 all come from a tiny section of society there is a systemic problem.
No argument from me Northsider. I’m with you on this one.
My 25.1.1.2 was a response to 25.1.1.
Seems to me that Labour here and the UK need a broader mix of people standing for public office and a reconnection with communities and their real needs. Ain’t necessarily enough to simply ask about & attempt to resolve there issues, but more about having as their representatives those people themselves. Not really convinced that Grant is capable of representing the financial views of labour simply because he picked a few apples during the summer break.
I’ve no issue with an individual Oxbridge grad and spad becoming a Labour MP. I’ve no issue with an individual rolling down the hill from Victoria to a back office role in a political office and then onto becoming an MP.
When a powerful group at HQ all have the same career profile then there is a systemic problem. Robertson, Ardern, Faafoi in Labour and many in the Nats have these narrow profiles.
The public hear similar mechanical messaging styles.
The public turn off.
In the 1970s UK Labour had a third of its MPs come from labouring and manual work backgrounds, including a couple of dozen MPs who were former coal miners. The unions frequently sponsored workers from within their own ranks to run as candidates in electorates.
Today, Labour all around the world are professional middle class and upper middle class politicians: former student politicians, former Parliamentary staffers, former academics and policy wonks, PhDs and upper middle class professionals.
Labour thinks that it represents the best interests of almost all NZers; sadly only about one in five voters agreed.
Yep. Hipkins. It’s a self perpetuating systemic issue with Labour now, as you infer.
Tell me something, interesting?
Eggs don’t bounce and steam rollers don’t roll steam!