Open mike 20/01/2024

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, January 20th, 2024 - 85 comments
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Open mike is your post.

For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.

The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).

Step up to the mike …

85 comments on “Open mike 20/01/2024 ”

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  2. Morrissey 2
    20 January 2024 at 7:56 am

    RNZ and most of the other corporate media in this country still refuse to acknowledge what Israeli forces did on October 7th. This from British-Israeli journalist Jonathan Cook….

    … What we now know – from multiple credible Israeli sources – is that Israel killed lots of its own civilians on October 7. Ynet, Israel's biggest media outlet, has just published an investigation in Hebrew showing that Hamas successfully took out Israel's all-seeing drone “eyes” over Gaza that day, leaving the Israeli military blind about what was happening. Panicked, Israeli commanders invoked the Hannibal directive, allowing those in the field to order tanks and helicopters to fire at anything that moved.

    It was Israel that incinerated the hundreds of cars trying to flee the Nova festival, killing potentially hundreds of the 1,140 Israeli civilians that died that day, as well as Hamas fighters. It was an Israeli tank that incinerated 13 Israeli civilians, and 40 Hamas fighters, holed up in a house in Kibbutz Be'eri by blasting a shell through its front wall.

    Israel, of course, wants no one, least of all the western media, talking about any of that. What it needs instead is anything that will help to distract from its crimes against its citizens and justify its committing of genocide against the people of Gaza. So it has every reason to serve up the “Hamas mass rape” story, feeding what it rightly assumes are the Islamophobic prejudices of most Israeli Jews and western reporters….

    https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/why-the-guardians-hamas-mass-rape
    • SPC 2.1
      20 January 2024 at 8:16 am

      This was reported in Haaretz over a month ago.

      The Hamas fighters released a prisoner who explained their 14 captives in the building.

      It appears (I've not seen any reports about the official reasoning) the Hannibal directive is a policy designed to prevent public pressure on the government to release prisoners to get soldiers (captured at border areas) back. There was no expectation of it applying to civilians (taken hostage) so as to recover territory held within Israel.

      The Haaretz articles gives possible reasons for the lack of focus on the issue, even within Israel.

      The first is that given the depth of grief and anger caused by October 7, there is little interest in calling to account those who came to the rescue of the massacre's victims. Even Dagan, whose husband, Adi, was killed in the incident, has avoided criticizing her rescuers. "People gave their lives to save us," she said. "I can only give thanks to those who were there and fought for me."

      The second likely reason is the fear that acknowledgment of what occurred by the media and public of the incident will only serve those who deny there was any massacre and other propagandists. These have rushed to exploit anecdotal reports of civilians mistakenly being harmed by indirect fire to try and claim that Israel, not Hamas, was responsible for the majority of civilian deaths.

      https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-12-13/ty-article-opinion/.premium/if-israel-used-a-procedure-against-its-citizens-we-need-to-talk-about-it-now/0000018c-6383-de43-affd-f783212e0000

      • Morrissey 2.1.1
        20 January 2024 at 9:09 am

        This was reported in Haaretz over a month ago.

        It's still being rigorously suppressed in the U.S. corporate media, however. And in this country.

        • bwaghorn 2.1.1.1
          20 January 2024 at 5:40 pm

          Weeeelll if hamas hadn't crossed the boarder and attacked civilians would thos innocent 14 be alive ?

          Not condoning isreals past present or future actions , but wars bloody and has started the latest round.

          • Morrissey 2.1.1.1.1
            20 January 2024 at 7:14 pm

            Weeeelll if hamas hadn't crossed the boarder and attacked civilians…

            The militants (not all of them were Hamas) broke out of the illegal blockade not to kill civilians, but to kill I.O.F. soldiers (which they did–more than 300 of them), destroy I.O.F. tanks (which they did with ridiculous ease), and to take Israeli civilians as hostages. The attacking of civilians, and the mass incineration of civilians in their houses and cars was, it is increasingly being revealed, and admitted, carried out by the I.O.F., being ordered to execute the insane "Hannibal Directive."

            Not condoning isreals past present or future actions…

            That's exactly what you're doing.

      • lprent 2.1.2
        20 January 2024 at 12:56 pm

        Plus there seems to be considerable censorship and suppression by the state of any opinions contrary to official lines at present.

        You can see traces of exactly how much that is happening on Haaretz (mostly paywalled). Israelis aren’t seeing the images that we are seeing of 2000lb dumb bombs by the IDF being dropped on civilians with no apparent military reason.

        https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/podcasts/2023-12-13/ty-article-podcast/israelis-dont-see-images-from-gaza-because-our-journalists-are-not-doing-their-job/0000018c-5e34-de43-affd-fe36d3a70000

        https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2023-12-25/ty-article-magazine/.premium/how-israeli-media-became-a-wartime-government-propaganda-arm

        I don’t even bother reading any of the other Israeli media because it is pretty clearly being censored by either the state or by the editors when compared to every other source.

        That first link pretty much says it all at the end

        Israelis fear that the world doesn’t see their pain and is only sympathizing with the Palestinians. Saragusti sees things differently. According to her, “The world saw the October 7 massacre. Journalists came to Israel, they saw the bodies, the remains of the Nova partygoers, the destruction in the kibbutzim. They delivered the message, they reported on it. But now the focus is somewhere else.

        “The fact is that people outside of Israel are seeing a completely different picture of reality. If we don’t see what they are seeing, we won’t be able to understand the growing sentiment against us. The majority of people know what happened, they know there was a massacre, they understand Israel went through something devastating. The fact that we Israelis are living in a completely different dimension doesn’t work to our advantage. We need to deal with it.”

        Yes – there was a horrible massacre by Hamas that was strategically designed to make sure that the Palestinian state issue wasn’t going to be sidelined by Israelis, Gulf states or the US. They bypassed the IDF defences in such a way to demonstrate that you cannot run a concentration camp of refugees safely.

        What has even more horrible is that the Israeli’s have demonstrated with their disproportionate response that appears to mostly be targeting non-combatant civilians that they cannot be trusted with the security of any Palestinians. Obviously being Israeli makes people into genocidal maniacs.

        • SPC 2.1.2.1
          20 January 2024 at 1:14 pm

          I suspect many Israelis go to Haaretz, al Jazeera, BBC, WPost, NYTimes etc for a broader perspective.

          The free daily newspaper is pro Likud.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Hayom

          Anyone inclined to an exclusive river to the sea state could be categorised as intent on ethnic cleansing, or some sort of apartheid-like alternative. Some Israeli some Palestinian and some neither.

          • lprent 2.1.2.1.1
            20 January 2024 at 1:27 pm

            Anyone inclined to an exclusive river to the sea state could be categorised as intent on ethnic cleansing, or some sort of apartheid-like alternative. Some Israeli some Palestinian and some neither.

            Which is I can’t see either Likud or Hamas in the solution. Genocidal policies put me off. Rather than either getting the upper hand, I’d go for just dispersing the whole population of south Levant and making sure it couldn’t be reoccupied by either.

            The world has wasted far too much time on this region in the last 70 years, and it has a habit of spilling over everywhere else. Even NZ, if you count the Mossad examining our cemeteries or the the ostensible cause of the OPEC price rises in the 1970s.

        • Dennis Frank 2.1.2.2
          20 January 2024 at 1:22 pm

          being Israeli makes people into genocidal maniacs

          Over-generalised. Works like that for the fundamentalists, perhaps with tacit guilt by association for the conservatives who vote for them – & reps like the yahoo PM who bridge to the center-right moderates to achieve a working majority.

          Perception, in sum, rather than reality. True that fear makes it seem more than that. Fear looms large for the Israelis – but it didn't stop the yahoo telling Biden where to get off, eh? Yahoo freezes out his only friend on the global stage so as to seem sufficiently macho to his army…

          • lprent 2.1.2.2.1
            20 January 2024 at 3:35 pm

            Over-generalised.

            Sure.

            However it does express exactly what my opinion of the arseholes and their government dropping multiple unguided bombs on civilian sites to try to hit a few armed persons. That is what is commonly known as area bombing or terror bombing. It is also genocidal behaviour.

            “Israel has the most technologically advanced weapons in the world and their [precision-guided munitions] have an accuracy of three meters,” he said — but with unguided bombing, munitions can land as far as 30 meters, or about 100 feet, away from their intended target.

            There can be no justification for using those in highly populated locations. However that is exactly what the IDF has been doing.

            Even worse is the widespread use of very large bombs like the 2000lb Mark 84s that cause massive 40m craters with a much wider blast radius. This is how the IDF has been levelling building across most of Gaza. In killing the buildings they have also been killing almost entirely unarmed civilians.

            It is clearly deliberate genocidal warfare by deranged Israelis because it is a massively disproportionate response to the original Hamas attacks, it appears to have no targeting towards diminishing the Hamas military, and it looks like the Israeli’s are just trying to create a civilian death camp and calling it warfare.

            Soldiers doing this kind of behaviour are just as bad as the SS guards in the Nazi death camps. Whoever planned this kind of campaign has gone far beyond any proportionate response to the Hamas attack. It is straight terrorism aimed at civilians

            • Dennis Frank 2.1.2.2.1.1
              20 January 2024 at 4:26 pm

              Understandable (feeling response). I've been feeling similarly since I noticed their policy seemed to have a cavalier view of collateral damage – a dispassionate stance, perhaps, but similarly critical.

              I get the Israeli excuse that Hamas are forever hiding behind women & children – so selective targeting is impossible. True that the moslem nutters are being that pathetic. Doubt it really justifies mass elimination of civilians.

              The yahoo is intent on eliminating the threat of the rabid nutters. Whilst I agree that pests ought to be eliminated from any infected ecosystem, a peaceful resolution of a political impasse is always the better option.

              The yahoo isn't competent enough to get to it, but using the antics of a juvenile delinquent doesn't get him a reputation as statesman. History will not be kind to him!

  3. Joe90 3
    20 January 2024 at 8:10 am

    And there was me thinking that it's all about NATO, or something.

    /

    Ukrainian statehood poses a “mortal danger” for its people, since its very existence creates a “100% probability” of a new conflict with Moscow, former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has warned.

    “Any Ukraine” poses this threat, regardless of its political regime or leadership, according to Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy head of the Russian Security Council.

    “The presence of an independent state on historical Russian territories will now be a perpetual reason for the resumption of hostilities,” he said.

    “It’s too late. No matter who is at the helm of the cancerous growth under the name of Ukraine, this will not add legitimacy to their rule and the legitimacy of the ‘country’

    https://www.rt.com/russia/590811-ukrainian-statehood-mortal-danger/

    • SPC 3.1
      20 January 2024 at 8:26 am

      It's akin to WWI power blocks British empire A vs Ottoman B (that Berlin to Baghdad rail idea is a worry), France A vs Germany B, Russia A vs Austria-Hungary B.

      Team A (sans Russia which became a one party state), the winners justified the huge cost as the war for democracy. Liberating peoples to their own nation state. Thus began the roll back of empire worldwide.

      Whereas Russia wants to restore the borders of the Tsarist regime – the Baltic states and Poland are obviously expecting full NATO vigilance. And using the German lebensraum concept where there are Russians or a threat to expand the borders .. one wonders if Kazakhstan is considering a defence treaty with China and the Turkmen regions of the former Tsarist Russia, one with Turkey.

      Clearly Russia is now intent on eliminating nation states with UN membership, while presiding on the UNSC – its purpose to provide collective security …

    • SPC 3.2
      20 January 2024 at 8:40 am

      I wonder how Medvedev explains handing nukes to Belarus, once part of Russia?

    • Morrissey 3.3
      20 January 2024 at 9:00 am

      It is all about NATO, of course. The relentless provocation of Russia since 1945, with the U.S. covertly supporting subversive right wing Ukrainian nationalists, whose anti-Semitic violence had horrified even the Germans, the trashing of treaties by the West, most egregiously the flouting of the 2015 Minsk Agreements, and the flagrant breach of the commitment to not expand NATO, has got Ukraine to where it is now: on the verge of total collapse on the battlefield.

      • lprent 3.3.1
        20 January 2024 at 12:35 pm

        and the flagrant breach of the commitment to not expand NATO

        You are expressing a complete historical fantasy that has been worked as a simple propaganda tool.

        There has never been a commitment not to expand NATO. Show me the ratified document or treaty that was placed in. There were verbal assurances by various people in speeches almost entirely within the context of the reunification of Germany and if the territory of the GDR would be covered by NATO.

        Most of the ‘assurances’ were done by individuals and expressed as their personal position. They were not done as part of explicit policy by NATO or US or Canadian or individual European countries. That is an alliance and would have required agreement from each member to make any such commitment and it would have been written down.

        What there does appear to have been was considerable and deliberate use of misinformation of why those discussions took place at all. It was because of the special position of Germany and its reunification after the second world war when Germany was split militarily for security reasons by treaty between the Soviet Union, United States, Great Britain, and France.

        There is a reasonably good discussion of the history here with enough links to dig into it.

        The rest of your comment is also just repeating propaganda fabrications. If you are stupid enough to believe them without also ever looking at the actual history, then you really are delusional – and I can’t be bothered refuting a dimwit too lazy to read the details.

        • Morrissey 3.3.1.1
          20 January 2024 at 12:50 pm

          … just repeating propaganda fabrications.

          So the U.S. support of violent Ukrainian and Polish nationalists (Nazis) after 1945 is a "propaganda fabrication"? The Minsk Agreements never happened, they were just "propaganda fabrications"? And the Ukraine military is not on the verge of collapse?

          As Noam Chomsky says, "NATO is the most violent, aggressive alliance in the world."

          • SPC 3.3.1.1.1
            20 January 2024 at 1:15 pm

            Who required Ukraine give up nukes and then broke security guarantees, pre Minsk?

          • lprent 3.3.1.1.2
            20 January 2024 at 2:23 pm

            So the U.S. support of violent Ukrainian and Polish nationalists (Nazis) after 1945 is a “propaganda fabrication”?

            Most likely, especially since you don’t explain what you’re wanking about. You don’t provide any usable evidence to evaluate. Videos are simply useless for checking facts. In my opinion, they They are what you use when you want to spin propaganda to the weak-minded – which is probably why you like them some much.

            The Minsk Agreements never happened, they were just “propaganda fabrications”?

            Your fantasy of what they were never happened. That is because you’re a lazy dumbarse who never researches anything

            The Minsk agreements were just framework agreements for attempts to get a ceasefires. A ceasefire (and I can’t believe that I have to explain this even to a idiotic plonker like you appear to be) is not a state of peace or a commitment to work for peace.

            What ceasefire are used for is to try to stop active hostilities for long enough to allow other things to happen. Allowing medical and relief aid in. Diplomats to try to come to some kind of resolution of the conflict. To allow the withdrawal of destabilising weapons etc.

            It is a temporary cessation of hostilities. If hostilities continue, then the ceasefire has failed and the state of warfare resumes.

            Now (and please pay attention), the Minsk agreements were not part of a treaty, a commitment, or anything else that was binding as you seem to stupidly think. They were a framework for a temporary cessation of hostilities with some possibilities sketched in for reducing the conflict in the future.

            Now I realise that you are rather completely illiterate about the difference between things like what a commitment or treaty or anything else in the world of diplomacy is. You have already made that crystal clear in previous comments.

            But ceasefire agreements fail all of the time. In this case they failed mostly because of the actions of the DPR and LPR, probably under Russian Federation guidance rather more than the Ukrainian state. They were eventually formally killed by the Russian Federation less than a week before they invaded Ukraine.

            Arguably this Minsk II failed immediately because of the city of Debaltseve and the continued shelling by the DPR and probably the Russian armed forces in violation of the ceasefire in place provisions.

            Certainly the DPR violated Minsk II by planning to carrying out elections without any of the oversight and observation of the OSCE as required under Minsk II – and eventually postponed them indefinitely. It doesn’t appear that they were capable of holding elections under observation and in accordance with Minsk II.

            Basically, the Minsk II ceasefire agreement was dead by 2016 because of the actions of DPR and LPR being completely unwilling to conform to point 12 of the Minsk II agreement and to hold elections under either the law of Ukraine or under the required standards or monitors.

            Based on the Law of Ukraine “On temporary Order of Local Self-Governance in Particular Districts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts”, questions related to local elections will be discussed and agreed upon with representatives of particular districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in the framework of the Trilateral Contact Group. Elections will be held in accordance with relevant OSCE standards and monitored by OSCE/ODIHR.

            Basically you appear to have vacated your native intelligence and scepticism in favour of a religious dedication to being faithful to a conforting blanket of stupid propaganda.

            And the Ukraine military is not on the verge of collapse?

            That hasn’t been noticeable to anyone who has a military background. It is pretty much a stalemate on the ground since the Russian Federation forces finished their full-scale retreat in the north and south in August/September 2022. The Ukrainians didn’t manage a successful advance across minefields and barricades this last summer. But similarly the Russians antique human wave tactics have just caused them really high casualties and no effect.

            The Russian attacks on mainly civilian and infrastructure targets using drones and missiles hasn’t had much effect apart from hardening those targets. The similar but smaller Ukrainian attacks on logistical lines and Crimean air and naval targets seems to have pushed the Russians to move those resources back to a ineffectual range.

            Currently stalemate

            //—-

            BTW: I really don’t value Noam Chomsky much as a authority apart from his role in developing the science of linguistics and ‘natural’ language. I like that he questions politics. But he does have a tendency to push ideology rather than looking at the facts and history or actual actions.

            • Morrissey 3.3.1.1.2.1
              20 January 2024 at 4:32 pm

              Apart from the abusive comments that pepper your response, and detract from its effectiveness, your points are well made.

              • Incognito …
                20 January 2024 at 6:33 pm

                Superiority complex and victimhood in the space of 7 min!!

                BTW, you’re abusing the word “abuse”.

                • Morrissey …
                  20 January 2024 at 7:25 pm

                  BTW, you’re abusing the word “abuse”.

                  ???

                  I wonder if anyone other than your good self would fail to see this farrago as anything other than abuse….

                  what you’re wanking about …. weak-minded – which is probably why you like them some much …. idiotic plonker like you appear to be …. as you seem to stupidly think …. Now I realise that you are rather completely illiterate … Basically you appear to have vacated your native intelligence and scepticism in favour of a religious dedication to being faithful to a conforting blanket of stupid propaganda. …

                  • Incognito …
                    20 January 2024 at 8:01 pm

                    And worst of all, because this one transcends simple abuse:

                    “BTW: I really don’t value Noam Chomsky much as a authority….”

                    • Drowsy M. Kram …
                      20 January 2024 at 8:29 pm

                      McGilvray suggests that Chomsky was never motivated by a desire for fame, but impelled to tell what he perceived as the truth and a desire to aid others in doing so.
                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky#Personal_life

                      Despite Morrissey not valuing Chomsky much as an authority, perhaps they share some motivations – perhaps.

                      Despite his academic success, his political viewpoints and activism have resulted in his being distrusted by mainstream media, and he is regarded as being “on the outer margin of acceptability“. Chomsky’s public image and social reputation often color his work’s public reception.
                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky#Reception_and_influence

                    • Incognito []
                      20 January 2024 at 8:54 pm

                      Not, not Morrissey, lprent.

                    • Morrissey …
                      20 January 2024 at 9:11 pm

                      No, I love Chomsky. And I love you too, Incognito, you old moderator, you. broken heart

                    • Green Hammer …
                      20 January 2024 at 9:14 pm

                      Incognito – Begs the question – then who do you value as an authority on the matter????

                    • Incognito []
                      20 January 2024 at 9:31 pm

                      The heat is getting to people.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram …
                      20 January 2024 at 9:38 pm

                      Sorry Incognito (and Morrissey, lprent) – it's the heat you know smiley

                      Bloodnok: Ohh! Ohh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Seagoon, the heat!
                      Seagoon: Yes, the heat! Gad, it's hot!
                      Bloodnok: Yes, it… It must be the heat!
                      Seagoon: Of course, the heat! [Laughs]
                      Bloodnok: It's the hottest heat we've ever haut!
                      Seagoon: Yes. [Coughs] Oh, these jungle roads. Why are they so dusty?
                      Bloodnok: We can't get a cleaner.
                      Seagoon: Ah, it must be the heat.
                      Bloodnok: The heat, yes. Oh, it's bit of a fag.
                      Seagoon: What is?
                      Bloodnok: Half a cigarette. Oh, the heat, the heat!
                      Seagoon: The heat, oh, the heat [Etc.]

                      https://www.hexmaster.com/goonscripts/s05e10.pdf

          • lprent 3.3.1.2.1
            22 January 2024 at 12:20 am

            Clearly you haven't really read your linked article. That is very clear.

            My point was that there were no treaties or published agreements that committed to anything. The four plus two treaty for instance was about Germany only. As the Der Speigel article you linked to said

            There is, of course, no legally binding agreement between the two sides from the period following the fall of the Berlin Wall. The verdict as to whether the West has broken its word depends entirely on how binding one believes the assurances made by Major and the others actually were.

            Individual assurances by politicians are not and have never been considered to be binding on their successors. In the light of changing events they are not even considered to be binding on themselves. Quite simply as a diplomat if you want to have a binding promise, then get it written down in a treaty or something that defines not only the agreement, but also under what circumstances that agreement would be unbound.

            Basically neither you nor Putin can point to any assurances about NATO not having a eastern expansion in any written treaty or agreement except for the ones about the reunification of and only about Germany. So frankly any argument that there was a binding agreement or promise is simple bullshit.

            Furthermore it was always understood by politicians on both sides and is clear in the correspondence in your linked article that all sides, including both the Soviet rump and the successor Russia Federation admitted that states in eastern Europe (or anywhere else) who that they made military alliances with was up to them. This is a core tenant of national sovereignty.

            As your linked article points out

            The 1990s was the decade of good intentions and vast illusions, on both sides. Gorbachev promised that the Kremlin would introduce democracy, respect human rights and recognize the right of countries to self-determination. He even broached the possibility that the Soviet Union itself could become a member of NATO. His successor Yeltsin expressed a similar confidence, claiming that "we are becoming a different country."

            The eastern empire looked for a time as though it was ready for reform. And with that impression foremost in their minds, Kohl, Genscher, Bush and his successor Clinton really did want to transform NATO and take the Kremlin’s interests seriously. There was, however, one potentially significant contradiction: On the one hand, all countries were allegedly united by the "indivisibility of security," while on the other, each country allegedly had the right to decide which alliance it wanted to join. Still, that seemed at the time to be nothing more than a theoretical problem.

            On top of that, Clinton, Kohl and the others spent years rejecting NATO membership for Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. Such an expansion was viewed as too expensive, the fledgling democracies in those countries appeared too fragile and their militaries were too reactionary. But then, the reform process in Russia slowed and distrust began to grow.

            Many of the new states in Eastern Europe were eager to join NATO for reasons that probably had a lot to do with bloody military incursions into Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 by Russia and other member states of the Warsaw Pact. Plus the barely concealed intent to do the same in Poland in 1983 with Solidarity.

            Plus, most of the newly independent states didn't trust their newly independent neighbouring states. NATO has security guarantee policy about attacks on NATO members, including by other NATO members. That was probably just as enticing to ex-Warsaw Pact states as the guarantee from non-NATO states.

            Plus the Russian Federation didn't exactly help with their image with the way that they dealt with the Chechen war starting in 1994 (or later with the second in 1999).

            Wikipedia points out with the first group of NATO entrants invited in 1997, with references, exactly how much some states wanted to join NATO despite (and possibly because of) Russian opposition to it.

            That year, Russian leaders like Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev indicated their country's opposition to NATO enlargement.[44] While Russian President Boris Yeltsin did sign an agreement with NATO in May 1997 that included text referring to new membership, he clearly described NATO expansion as "unacceptable" and a threat to Russian security in his December 1997 National Security Blueprint.[45] Russian military actions, including the First Chechen War, were among the factors driving Central and Eastern European countries, particularly those with memories of similar Soviet offensives, to push for NATO application and ensure their long-term security.[46][47] Political parties reluctant to move on NATO membership were voted out of office, including the Bulgarian Socialist Party in 1997 and Slovak HZDS in 1998.[48] Hungary's interest in joining was confirmed by a November 1997 referendum that returned 85.3% in favor of membership.[49]

            Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic officially joined NATO in March 1999.[54]

            Perhaps if Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact hadn't been so heavy handed in Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, and with the forcing of martial law in Poland in 1983 – then observing the similar attempted brutal suppression by the Russian Federation of a break-away Chechna in 1994 wouldn't have convinced these three states to slaw their way into NATO. Not to mention the military and political issues with Georgia in 1992-1993 and later, or the tilted actions in the First Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 90s.

            Your linked article concluded with

            In doing so, the West didn’t break any treaties, but some participants were concerned nevertheless. Years later, Genscher said that the expansion was just fine from a formally legal point of view. But it was impossible to deny, he said, that it was counter to the spirit of the understandings reached in 1990.

            But after 1990, the Russian Federation seems to have made a point of demonstrating that they weren't that interested in supporting the welfare and independence of independent states near their borders and reminded them exactly why they didn't trust Russia.

            Also that being part of NATO was far better at deterring their neighbours in the kinds of silly territorial military dick-waving that Russia and the CIS seems to be perpetually involved in.

            Those were the driving forces behind the expansion of NATO in 1997 and later.

            Perhaps you should start to look at why states in Europe and eastern Europe have been wanting to get into NATO. Finland and Sweden have been able in a military sense to join NATO for many decades (the interoperability and CCC requirements are very strict). It took Russia invading Ukraine for flagrant imperial reasoning and stupid propaganda designed for idiotic fuckwits to make them want to do it – for the common military security guarantee.

            • Francesca 3.3.1.2.1.1
              22 January 2024 at 5:47 pm

              I'm flattered by your long reply (with only one fuckwit in sight) but I'm not persuaded

              The documents show that multiple national leaders were considering and rejecting Central and Eastern European membership in NATO as of early 1990 and through 1991, that discussions of NATO in the context of German unification negotiations in 1990 were not at all narrowly limited to the status of East German territory, and that subsequent Soviet and Russian complaints about being misled about NATO expansion were founded in written contemporaneous memcons and telcons at the highest levels"

              https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2017-12-12/nato-expansion-what-gorbachev-heard-western-leaders-early

              As it says in the previous link I gave and that you repeated , Gorbachev was very definitely led to believe, in those miraculous times when it seemed the cold war was over and there was mutual trust, that Russia's security interests would be honoured .There were no written agreements, that is true, which is why so many Russians think of Gorbachev as a naive fool , trusting western diplomats who were secretly thrilled at his gullibility.

              And perhaps why they think of the west , the US in particular as being "non agreement capable" Forked tongues and all that

              • lprent …
                26 January 2024 at 5:12 pm

                … in those miraculous times when it seemed the cold war was over and there was mutual trust, that Russia's security interests would be honoured .There were no written agreements, that is true…

                Thanks for conceding the basics..

                Problem was that mutual trust would have continued to work only if mutual trust had persisted and been enhanced in the newly independent nations that used to be in Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact. It was the interventions and military suppression of independence in those states over the previous 50+ years that generated the demand for military protection from those states.

                The other four parties (USA, UK, France and reunited Germany) who were were involved with the four plus two treaty and who were also 4 members of NATO out of 17 nations (from memory), were amongst the strongest opponents of adding members and adding requirements for doing it.

                Trust amongst the nations of eastern Europe didn't happen. In my view that is a direct result of the actions of the Russian Federation as the Soviet Union broke up and the Warsaw pact folded.

                The Russian Federation did a series of military interventions in Chechnya, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and other places by the mid to late 90s. That was what caused the ex-soviet and e-warsaw pact states to want to go through the difficult process to join NATO.

                That X or Y "was very definitely led to believe" simply doesn't make a promise or commitment. It certainly isn't the basis for international politics. What happened was that east Germany had grabbed its independence and wanted to join West Germany to (amongst other things) get the military cover of NATO.

                That was where Gorbachev for the Soviets and his advisers were when these 'assurances' were made. It was raised as a topic for inclusion in the treaty – but 4 out of 17 members of NATO can't make policy for NATO. It also wasn't relevant in the context of a treaty that was mostly about the schedule of the slow withdrawal of Soviet (and later Russian) troops and spooks from a reunited Germany.

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_the_Final_Settlement_with_Respect_to_Germany#Russian_claims_of_unwritten_assurances

                The only relationship to international politics of these assurances is that it is simply a convenient way to invent a non-existent grievance for political purposes.

                Amplify a bit of bullshit from vague talks on the periphery of meetings on a completely different topic (that did actually get written agreements), and boost it to the status of a broken commitment

                If you want modern examples of the manufactured grievance process – just look at Trump and his 'stolen election' of 2020.

                I can't see any difference between Trump's grievances and the Putin's manufacture of a promise grievance in Russia that he has been running ever since he was Yeltsin's sidekick.

                Both are bullshit for the simple-minded who prefer fantasy to digging into facts that make up historical events.

  4. Muttonbird 4
    20 January 2024 at 8:19 am

    You get the feeling the leaking of the report on the Treaty principles bill was deliberate by Goldsmith/National.

    Essentially, this is one coalition partner briefing against another. The hope was to expose Seymour's crank ideologies which even the Nats can't stomach, to have it out there right before the hui today at Tūrangawaewae, and to be able to repeat the line that the bill is going to the first reading at which point it will be ceremonially burned.

    Bonus effect, putting Seymour back in his box with a warning not to come up with policy ever again. Someone really threw him under the bus there.

    • SPC 4.1
      20 January 2024 at 8:45 am

      It may also be a reaction to Brash's involvement with ACT and his call for the end of the Maori electorates, all while Seymour is pushing the one all encompassing "New Zealanders" language, without reference to Maori, in the Treaty re-write.

    • Incognito 4.2
      20 January 2024 at 10:31 am

      Interesting hypothesis.

      Whoever leaked it wants to influence if not control the narrative. And they already succeeded, e.g., https://thespinoff.co.nz/atea/19-01-2024/leaked-treaty-bill-will-radically-change-tone-of-tomorrows-hui-says-ngarewa-packer.

      This Machiavellian manipulation of people and political discourse is intrinsically polarising and divisive. It is very similar to the narrative that was created and surrounded He Puapua and how this sank many a debate & policy proposal even before they got off the ground.

      NZ people should be aware by now, after years of DP and recent orchestrated waves of mis- and dis-information, that they are being manipulated 24/7.

    • Tony Veitch 4.3
      20 January 2024 at 12:17 pm

      putting Seymour back in his box

      Significantly, Seymour said on TV1 news last night that the Natz might just be a little braver when it comes to returning his bill to the house after the select committee hearings!

      Seymour has Luxon's measure – he only has to threaten to leave the CoC for Luxon to cave in! All he (Luxon) wants is his knighthood, but he sure doesn't want to go down in NZ history as the biggest failure as a PM. His ego (Luxon's) will see Seymour through!

  5. Morrissey 5
    20 January 2024 at 9:28 am

    "Slava Ukraini Slava Heroyam" no

    At the 9:40 mark of the following video, Mark Ames explains the 1941 origin of that salute….

    • joe90 5.1
      20 January 2024 at 10:01 am

      Is every shill for Poots a POS with a dodgy AF past?

      And Ames’s treatment of Russian teenage girls is documented with frightening glee. In the book he recounts one evening with an expat investment banker pal and what he thought were three 16-year-old girls:

      “When I went back into the TV room, Andy pulled me aside with a worried grin on his face. ‘Dude do you realize…do you know how old that Natasha is?’ he said.

      “‘Sixteen?’

      “‘No! No, she’s fif-teen. Fif-teen.’ Right then my pervometer needle hit the red. I had to have her, even if she was homely.”

      https://archive.li/zxeku#selection-2851.3-2871.242

      • Morrissey 5.1.1
        20 January 2024 at 10:23 am

        Mark Ames is not a "shill for Poots", he's an independent journalist who actually lived in Russia.

        And yes, like a lot of people, he had a dodgy personal life when he was much younger. So he's on a par with the likes of Clinton, the Bushes (père et fils), Trump, and no doubt nearly every other male in the U.S. regime, and the Russian regime too.

        Now, how does that in any way affect the fact that the "Slava Ukraini" salute is a fascist salute?

        • UncookedSelachimorpha 5.1.1.1
          20 January 2024 at 11:24 am

          Ames is 100% a shill for Poots, in my opinion. I always laugh when people writing about Ukraine are experts / journalists "formerly / currently based in Moscow".

          Here is Vatnik Soup's summary of Ames

          Like a good Putin puppy, he obediently promoted the Kremlin line that russia wouldn't invade Ukraine, right up to the day russia ordered its tanks across the border. Why listen to someone about russia and Ukraine, who got something as fundamental as that utterly wrong?

          If the "imminent invasion" farce is anything like Russiagate, some of the sleazier "imminent invasion!" hacks will soon start tweeting out how they were never fooled, mocking those who were. Whatever the case, no career will suffer for lying & psychic-driving the public again.

          Feb 15, 2022 · 12:27 PM UTC

          • Morrissey 5.1.1.1.1
            20 January 2024 at 12:25 pm

            Having lived in Moscow certainly gives him more credibility than almost anyone you read, that's for sure. But that alone is not enough, of course, otherwise such outré cases as the hapless scammer Bill Browder would qualify as an expert.

            Yes, like the rest of us, Ames cannot predict the future. He got that wrong. The weight and seriousness of his journalism, however, imparts authority and credibility to his work.

            Your use of the lame "Poots" slur is a re-run of the even lamer, just as unfunny, slinging off at the Orangeman from 2016-20.

            • Sanctuary 5.1.1.1.1.1
              20 January 2024 at 4:21 pm

              "…Having lived in Moscow certainly gives him more credibility than almost anyone you read,…"

              I guess that made William Joyce the most accurate reporter on Nazi Germany.

              • Morrissey …
                20 January 2024 at 4:29 pm

                False analogy. Nazi Germany was in no way the same as modern Russia. Are you aware that it was the Soviet Union that defeated Germany? Or does that mean nothing to you?

                And Mark Ames is a serious and respected commentator, unlike Lord Haw Haw.

                • lprent …
                  20 January 2024 at 4:34 pm

                  And Mark Ames is a serious and respected commentator, unlike Lord Haw Haw.

                  Nope – he acts exactly like Lord Haw Haw. He was the clown at the eXile.

                  I much preferred John Dolan’s War Nerd work and still do because he usually knows what he is talking about.

                  • Morrissey …
                    20 January 2024 at 4:42 pm

                    No, he does not. The closest thing we've got to Lord Haw Haw is the Australian Mark Regev.

                    • lprent …
                      20 January 2024 at 4:51 pm

                      For those who can read, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Regev

                      I have no idea why a aussie born israeli propagandist is relevant to a americian born clown and propagandist for russia. But I'm sure that some smooth talking image has a undocumented connection that Morrissey believes because it is on video…

                      I think that Morrissey would be struck dumb if he ever had his youtube connection removed. His brain would be unable to function.

        • gsays 5.1.1.2
          20 January 2024 at 3:52 pm

          "Now, how does that in any way affect the fact that the "Slava Ukraini" salute is a fascist salute?"

          Because when you cant debate the subject you attack the messenger.

          Often with a thought terminating cliche such as "shill for poots".

          It's cancel culture as practiced by the 'left'.

          • Morrissey 5.1.1.2.1
            20 January 2024 at 4:25 pm

            Because when you cant debate the subject you attack the messenger.

            Here's a remarkable instance of that from a couple of hours earlier today:

            what you’re wanking about …. when you want to spin propaganda to the weak-minded – which is probably why you like them some much …. a [sic] idiotic plonker like you appear to be …. as you seem to stupidly think …. Now I realise that you are rather completely illiterate about the difference between things like what a commitment or treaty or anything else in the world of diplomacy is. You have already made that crystal clear in previous comments. … Basically you appear to have vacated your native intelligence and scepticism in favour of a religious dedication to being faithful to a conforting blanket of stupid propaganda. …

            And worst of all, because this one transcends simple abuse:

            BTW: I really don’t value Noam Chomsky much as a authority….

            https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-20-01-2024/#comment-1985731

      • Cuato9 5.1.2
        21 January 2024 at 9:01 am

        You realize you're quoting from Ames's satirical writings, from their satirical Moscow paper and book The eXile right? It was known for its offensive satire, but it was satire as everyone knows. Surely you're not the type who's pretending ignorance in order to use ad hominem to distract from Morrissey's point about the origins of the ukrainian salute.

        • joe90 5.1.2.1
          21 January 2024 at 12:16 pm

          but it was satire

          And when Ames articulated his violent misogyny in a 2000 interview. Was that satire, too?

          /

          He spoke about his sex life in Moscow. “Russian women, especially on the first date, expect you to rape them,” said Mr. Ames. “They’ll go back home with you and say, ‘No, no, no,’ and if you’re an American, you’ve been trained to respect the ‘No,’ because you’re afraid of sexual harassment or date rape, and so you fail over and over. But it took me a while to learn you really have to force Russian girls, and that’s what they want, it’s like a mock rape. And then you come back here and you’re really freaked out–because you don’t know if that actually exists deep in all women’s psyches, that that’s what they all want. All relations between guys and girls is basically violent, I think. It’s all war.”

          https://observer.com/2000/06/from-russia-with-lust/

    • lprent 5.2
      20 January 2024 at 4:33 pm

      Whoever this Mark Ames is, in at least one thing he is mainly noticeable as a lying idiot. Hardly something I'd expect from 'journalist'. Sounds more like just another propagandist who can't look things up.

      You simply don't know how to do basic research. You and Ames obviously require your information to mashed and fed up like pap for a toddler.

      The prompt and the response have been around since at least the 19th century. It took me minutes to dig this out.

      It was widespread during the short lived Ukrainian republic from 1917 to 1921. Was banned by the Soviets. For some reason it becomes popular whenever the Russians aren't around.

      https://kyivindependent.com/the-origins-of-slava-ukraini/
      https://strommeninc.com/what-does-slava-ukraini-mean-and-what-does-the-reply-heroyam-slava-mean/

      I didn't bother to get a look at your video mostly because it sounds like you're describing people fist-pumping (like the ones after the liberation of Kherson). I suggest you need to look at NZ rugby fans and players who do that frequently when they have victories. Are they fascists as well?

      Knowing your level of blind obedience to ideological propaganda – I suspect that you'd probably say yes.

      • Morrissey 5.2.1
        20 January 2024 at 4:50 pm

        I suggest you need to look at NZ rugby fans and players who do that frequently when they have victories. Are they fascists as well?

        Are you really trying to claim some sort of equivalence between actual Nazis and football fans? Argumentum ad absurdum is rarely a good strategy.

        • lprent 5.2.1.1
          22 January 2024 at 1:01 am

          Argumentum ad absurdum is rarely a good strategy.

          Indeed – that was what I just said about your argument about fascist salutes. According to you, it seems like the fascists own certain body motions.

          Do you have a genetic basis or that you were just making an absurd argument?

          Should dancers, pop-stars, rugby fans (and many other people) using a common body action all be regraded as fascists because a notorious fuckwit – morrissey said that certain body movements were genetically programmed to only be done by fascists?

          Or are you just being a simple fuckwit who has no knowledge about the common usages of body actions.

  6. Dennis Frank 6
    20 January 2024 at 9:47 am

    Triads happening all over:

    Saturday marks the first of three major events for te ao Māori, all within three weeks. Iwi and hapū across the motu will meet on three separate occasions to kōrero and wānanga about the Government’s proposed policies on the Treaty of Waitangi and te reo Māori use.

    The annual events of Rātana and Waitangi Day are usually pivotal moments in the cultural and political calendar. Marking the start of the political year, they provide platforms for the celebration of te ao Māori and foster dialogue between iwi Māori and te Kāwangatanga (the Government).

    But this year, another event has been added to the calendar, Hui-ā-Motu, called by the Kīngitanga to “unify the nation and hold the Government to account”.

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/three-major-events-about-to-unfold-in-the-new-governments-relationship-with-maori/Y7CYY7RQVZFUTBBODLSQVQBXVU/

    So Maori have upgraded their sociopolitical stance from the trad dyad. Neptune's trident becomes relevant as a useful symbol! Each of the three prongs correlates with each special occasion in their triad. Any competent astrologer will tell you that Neptune represents our innate spirituality so the spiritual basis of politics is being activated at our primary ethnic interface.

    Don't expect anyone in the Greens to comprehend such deep Green thinking – democracy forces them into the shallows inexorably, so they huddle in the middle ground not too far from the sheeple. Don't expect politicos to be capable either (possible exception: Margaret Mutu). Spirituality is tacit in contemporary society. As Kahneman pointed out, the tacit realm is where the primary action is. It only becomes explicit in social movements when circumstances are catalytic. Now, maybe…

  7. David Rivers 7
    20 January 2024 at 10:38 am

    Re Trickdown's comments, the reason Labour lost to the financial power group was that it hung onto the liberal right idea of no capital gains tax.

    [TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]

  8. Tricledrown 8
    20 January 2024 at 11:08 am

    ACT Seymour is fanning racial division from the wagging the dog. With a small minority he has managed to damage years of progress and harmony.

    Maori have suffered 180 yrs of constant belittling scapegoating theft of land denigration of culture the intergenerational forced poverty .

    European settlers have had the benefit of the stolen land creating intergenerational wealth while suppressing those whose land it should still be with recompense for all losses including social status.

    If Maori had retained those lands Maori wouldn't be at the bottom of the heap.

    Then you get these Johnny come lately who promote the rule of law and land right's but it never applied to Maori now or then.

    As Jew Seymour should know better the Germsn govt had to pay $70 billion to the Jewish people for stealing their wealth. And return all art gold etc stolen by a white racist regime.

    Yet we have a White Jew perpetrating a removal of rights of a Minority because they signed a treaty which protected Maori right's but weren't dealt with by court's legally Maori weren't given proper legal representation in sale of land. then confiscated land was illegal.

    But Jews in Europe didn't have a treaty with Hitler but get much better compensation.

    While Maori signed a treaty that gave them the same property rights.But settlers defrauded and illegally confiscated land.

    Then when NZ set up parliament

    Only male landowners were allowed to vote but Maori were mostly landowners giving them a majority which was supposed to be followed under the treaty.

    No Europeans illegally undemocratically gave Maori land owning Males only 2 seats in Parliament.

    Now Seymour wants to disband the Maori seat's Maori Language protocols etc.

    After 180 years of deliberately dehumanizing Maori. A Jewish man is courting /dog whistling white supremacists to further dehumanise Maori.

    [Comments such as yours are fanning division. Comparing ACT with Nazi Germany and Seymour with Hitler is an example of this. Seymour has claimed Māori ancestry; does this make him a ‘White Māori’? Your dim-witted labels are not arguments, as you seem to believe. Instead, they’re fuel on the fire of division & hatred.

    You’re in Pre-Mod until you’ve shown that you have understood this Mod note and given hard evidence to support your claim that David Seymour is a “White Jew” – Incognito]

    • SPC 9.1
      20 January 2024 at 1:18 pm

      For 60 years, Fred and Donald claimed Swedish ancestry. They are of the Bavarian Drumpf family.

      Donald is teetotal, no one in Munich has anything in common with him these days.

    • Green Hammer 9.2
      20 January 2024 at 9:54 pm

      I think Joe90 is saying that the 2024 election will be a stolen election.

      Nice one Joe!

  10. Ed 10
    20 January 2024 at 1:39 pm

    Over 10000 people congregate at Tūrangawaewae marae to participate in a national hui called by Kiingi Tuuheitia.

    Does not feature in the top 17 stories on the Herald online.

    Speaks volumes about our corporate mainstream media.

    • SPC 10.1
      20 January 2024 at 1:58 pm

      I once asked Tapu Misa to write about Maori issues when a columnist at the Herald, so someone was.

  12. joe90 12
    20 January 2024 at 2:29 pm

    The last sundown town siren, warning non-whites to leave the town before dark, was sounded in October 2023.

    https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2023/10/09/minden-sun-down-siren-to-remain-silenced/71083858007/

  13. Pat 13
    20 January 2024 at 3:40 pm

    A second piece advocating 'localism' (subsidiarity) as opposed to centralisation for the day. (the first being..https://www.pundit.co.nz/content/the-prime-ministers-biggest-challenge)

    Brendon Harre

    "Left-wing progressives should relearn the lesson that has been long known to social policy people that if housing is unaffordable, it is just about impossible to make progress on any other social issue. The solution is building a lot more houses, all types of houses, as the — The Housing Crisis is the Everything Crisis — explains so well (H/T Chris Harris).

    I would suggest that Labour do a “How better localism helps New Zealand” policy investigation. Something the size and scope of its two-year “Future of Work” project that it reported on in 2016. The party should have a look at localism from all directions — not just the ‘bottom-up’ housing and infrastructure paradigm that I have discussed in this piece. For instance. What would better localism mean for Māori? The Environment? Mental health? Social housing? And so on.

    Labour should consider that making reforms to housing, infrastructure, and planning the built environment are consistent with their core values. That the fight for affordable cost-of-living dates back centuries and was a vital part of the fight for greater political rights. For instance, in the 1830s and 40s, British trade unions joined forces with progressives to campaign against the landed gentry to implement affordable food laws."

    https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/125989/brendon-harre-circles-back-and-expands-his-analysis-why-central-and-local

  14. joe90 14
    20 January 2024 at 8:56 pm

    Trotter's having a moment.

    /

    As the bicentenary of the signing of Te Tiriti looms ever nearer, the Pakeha settler state faces two, equally unpalatable choices. It will either have to accede to a Māori-led constitutional revolution, or find its own, twenty-first century equivalent of General Cameron. A Pakeha military leader prepared to shove back harder than the movement for tino rangatiratanga can push.

    https://pointofordernz.wordpress.com/2024/01/19/chris-trotter-when-push-comes-to-shove/

    • SPC 14.1
      20 January 2024 at 9:17 pm

      The (Spanish) Civil War – when a society gets the false narrative of a choice between communism or fascism? TPM or ACT? Suntan to assimilate or playrimmerspacestation whiteracestarsruleoverfromabove?

      At the moment we are being manipulated to reject the “extremes” of both centralised government of the left (diminishing capacity for state led public delivery) and an authoritarian settler dominance of the right regime as equally bad.

      It is part of the ever diminishing circle of difference between neo-liberal and neo-liberal lite alternatives being provided for democratic governance.

      A right wing populist backlash threat posed to coerce the social democratic left into silence.

    • Muttonbird 14.2
      20 January 2024 at 11:36 pm

      That is dreadful. Could be penned by Hitler himself. What an horrendous racist Chris Trotter has become. No surprise this white supremacist rubbish is platformed by his stablemate and fellow white supremacist, Bryce Edwards. VUW should be ashamed of themselves funding this shit. I’m surprised they haven’t had it taken down.

      Just one point is illustrative enough. Trotter makes the comparison between demaorification and the previous govt’s pandemic response. His theory being Māori are a disease to be eliminated…

      …horrific.

  15. joe90 15
    20 January 2024 at 9:20 pm

    Brave man, I reckon.

    @bastianallgeier@mastodon.social

    This is an article that took a lot of strength to write and I might take it down again. But I felt like it is an article that is very necessary right now.

    https://bastianallgeier.com/notes/grandpa

    bastianallgeier.comMy grandpa was a Nazi

    Jan 19, 2024, 23:57 ·

    https://mastodon.social/@bastianallgeier/111782254583131775

  16. Green Hammer 16
    20 January 2024 at 9:39 pm

    Incognito – what happened? Who do you value on this ?

  18. joe90 18
    20 January 2024 at 10:12 pm

    This has been spreading over the interwebs for a couple of weeks.

    It gets more and more awful by the update.

    https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/families-in-disbelief-after-hundreds-of-bodies-found-buried-behind-mississippi-jail

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    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    2 days ago
  • Will debt reduction trump abuse in care redress?

    Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Care report in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • Olywhites and Time Bandits

    About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    2 days ago
  • Why were the 1930s so hot in North America?

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters and Bob Henson Those who’ve trawled social media during heat waves have likely encountered a tidbit frequently used to brush aside human-caused climate change: Many U.S. states and cities had their single hottest temperature on record during the 1930s, setting incredible heat marks ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 days ago
  • Throwback Thursday – Thinking about Expressways

    Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • The Possum: Demon or Friend?

    Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    2 days ago
  • Not a story

    Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    2 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Thursday, July 25

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry published its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    2 days ago
  • A tougher line on “proactive release”?

    The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 days ago
  • 'Let's build a motorway costing $100 million per km, before emissions costs'

    TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Lester's Prescription – Positive Bleeding.

    I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    3 days ago
  • Casey Costello gaslights Labour in the House

    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

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