Open mike 20/03/2021

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, March 20th, 2021 - 98 comments
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98 comments on “Open mike 20/03/2021 ”

  1. Ad 1

    Anyone have any useful inside word on why Robertson is taking so long to announce his house-price-cooling mechanisms?

    After our emotional binge-purge cycle week of downer Christchurch earthquake and massacre commemorations, followed by Auckland's euphoria about winning the America's Cup, surely this government is now able to throw us some actual policy once more?

    • Sabine 1.1

      surely it is just a week away…..any day now.

    • David 1.2

      Just an opinion but wondering if the government is having to recalibrate its response having spent so much political capital on its handling of Auckland’s yo-yo lockdown and the likelihood of entering a double dip recession at the end of the month.

      • AB 1.2.1

        No – they'll stay the course because it has produced world-leading outcomes, has been very popular and also extremely resistant to being undermined by the "economy first" loons who try to use clever-sounding language like "yo-yo lockdowns" that are really just grotesque (and intentional) over-simplifications of the complexities of pandemic management. In short – "all good".

    • Ad 1.3

      … and after a bit of asking around, the announcements are this Tuesday. Its going to be quite a fast week in tax legislation sausage-making.

      • RedLogix 1.3.1

        Well as I've repeatedly stated the reason why NZ tilted so far toward property investment is because the alternatives failed my generation. So when I read this:

        Orr noted the need for people to look for “alternative places to invest”.

        I can't help but think that words are cheap.

        • Ad 1.3.1.1

          First year out of school I blew my wages on 4,000 Equiticorp shares because they were going to take over BHP and rule the earth from there.

          Lesson learned.

          • Stuart Munro 1.3.1.1.1

            Snap – but I'd only bought Yates & Bisley's – Equiticorp swallowed them of course.

    • Pat 1.4

      Its not inside info, nor does it inform as to why Robertson is sitting on his hands but it does indicate next week….finally.

      https://www.interest.co.nz/property/109549/government-says-next-weeks-housing-policy-announcement-will-be-part-stick-part

    • Muttonbird 1.5

      Given the ever changing situation I'd say they are waiting to see what happens now the rate of returnees and their foreign cash is slowing, and the money from the Covid wage and business support is drying up. Demand side might have had its throat cut.

      They've shown they don't want to make decisions on this unless as a last resort because it scares the horses so much whenever anyone suggests tampering with the golden egg of property investment.

      It's just Mums and Dads giving it a go, don't you know. They've worked so hard all their lives and deserve to not pay tax on property gains, just like the next man. This is New Zealand, after all.

  2. Anker 2
    • AB 100+++++

    an issue that is concerning me is the gender self I’d bill.

    I think this will mean anyone can change their sex on their birth certificate, no questions asked. I get the process trans people have to go through is very difficult, but that is the nature of their predicament, ie they want to change sex because the sex they were born feels wrong for them.

    but the gender self I’d bill opens up entry into women’s domains eg public toilets, for anyone and there is nothing to stop pedofiles, sex offenders and rapists changing their sex to become a woman. Of course these people can choose to transition and go through the process as it is the become a woman, but that in itself is somewhat protective against predictors using it to gain access to women and children.

    I do think it is absurd that anyone can change their sex on their birth sex certificate no questions asked and I am interested to hear others views on this.

    someone called Grace Miller posted a link with comments from trans activists the other day that showed comments from them saying kill all terfs, really nasty stuff. Grace if you are around can you let me know what country those trans activists were from? I am scared to talk about this issue (not on this forum where I can be anonymous, but in public because of the potential for threats of violence and vitriol

    • RedLogix 2.1

      After a decade of being firmly informed that gender is nothing more than a 'social construct' and that human biology is of little to no importance – I must confess to watching the logical conclusion of this ideology being played out both confusing and sad.

      • Anker 2.1.1
        • Yes it is all sad.

        if gender is a social construct (which I don’t believe), then that would surely mean that boys who are born male and brought upas boys would remain men, because it’s all socially constructed.

        if we support diversity and I do, the men who transition to women are trans women. They have a very different experience and have different biology and still maintain an advantage of strength. The are different from women who are born women, have wombs female anatomy etc. trans women are different from women but different doesn’t mean inferior. It means different. Still worthy as people.

        • Rosemary McDonald 2.1.1.1

          Trans women are trans women. Trans men are trans men. Simple, really.

          • KSaysHi 2.1.1.1.1

            I'm really worried about this too. The idea of a male prisoner/or about to be convicted suddenly declaring himself female to take advantage of being placed with vulerable women turns my stomach as much as a newly identified woman being forced into a male prison. There needs to be a clear demarkation and a pieces of paper don't cut it.

    • weka 2.2

      one of the key points to get across to women in particular is that changing the law to make it easier for trans people will impact legally on women, but also socially. i.e. the culture will change as well as the legals. How women are allowed to set boundaries will be challenged. This is already happening overseas. It's complicated further by the push to allow non-binary people into women's spaces even if they are male.

      I say get across to women, because most women are supportive of trans rights (rightfully so), and don't realise that there is a conflict of rights here that needs public discussion. And those women are the ones that need to be talking about it before the law changes.

      The implications of the changes aren't well understood, in part because of the fast social changes that are happening that most people aren't keeping up with eg male bodied people identifying as women and doing no medical or even social transitioning. This means that any male person will be able to identify as a woman, or even as female, if they choose irrespective of if they are trans or not. It's not simply about official documents, this will be across society. The definition of trans is broadening too.

      It's also not well understood because of the intense pressure to suppress debate. People lose their jobs, careers, family and friends over this in the US and the UK.

      • weka 2.2.1

        It's also important to look at the issue as a conflict of rights that needs a resolutio for *both sides. We can uphold the needs and rights of women and trans people, but only imo if we are allowed to talk about it.

        • Rosemary McDonald 2.2.1.1

          Agree with 'look at the issue as a conflict of rights' and we need to be able to have these discussions without the shit-slinging that's been going on.

          What really rips my proverbials are headlines like…

          Man Gives Birth!!!

          Clearly rubbish and fantasyland stuff. Simply calling yourself a man doth not make it true, especially if you choose to suspend the blockers and get pregnant. It seems that for this woman being a man was a lifestyle choice, a passing fad. Unbelievable that such a person could claim on one day to have been 'born into the wrong body'/'assigned the wrong sex at birth', then on a subsequent day employ that same 'wrong' body to do what nature intended of that 'assigned' sex.

          We need to put in place protections for the words we use to describe biological sex (woman, female, girl, man, boy, male) and ensure that we all agree on the words that describe gender. And make damn sure that we know there's a difference between the two.

          • RedLogix 2.2.1.1.1

            What really rips my proverbials are headlines like…

            Underpants or knickers? devil

        • Sabine 2.2.1.2

          we are going to end up with two 'somethings' – Men and Others. And nothing much will change.

          • McFlock 2.2.1.2.1

            The current list, as far as I can see:

            • Women
            • Men
            • Transwomen
            • Transmen
            • and, for people worried about bathroom signage, disabled.
            • weka 2.2.1.2.1.1

              say that on social media and you will be schooled in why it is wrong, and if you persist you will be labelled a terf. If you're famous or have a large reach, you'll mostly likely experience some version of cancel culture. Otoh, the fact that you are a bloke will protect you somewhat. As Sabine said, nothing much has changed.

              • McFlock

                meh.

                The bathroom thing gave it away, I would have thought. Some of these labels can be subgroups or included alongside other labels, and signs on toilet doors don't stop the door being used by someone who doesn't suit that sign (from whatever perspective).

    • millsy 2.3

      Probably the best thing to go would be to make the current process easier. I would also have the birth gender listed on the birth certificate as well, bringing into line with name changes and the legal fiction of adoption.

      I do not think changing gender/sex should be as simply as filling in a form online and using your credit/debit card.

      • Anker 2.3.1
        • Thanks for your perspective everyone. Weka, I know we have had different opinions at times, but I really appreciate your point of view on this issue.

        yes women’s voices are being silenced by trans activists, with postings full of vitriol and death threats. In the 70s most men I knew heard our voices about the patriarchy and the impact on us.

        so much of the women’s movement has been tied up with our biology. A woman’s right to choice, contraception, the cervical cancer enquiry, maternity leave. Rape of women by men, undervaluing of women’s sports, in part because we are physically weaker.

        Mc flook, I take your point about toilets. However as someone who suffered an attempted rape in a public toilet, I am very uncomfortable with any person with male genitalia, male hormones, denser muscle mass and large height/frame being given freedom to enter female toilets. Public toilets are places where we are quite vulnerable.

        I know a male friend of mine who is quite tall was told at some sort of men’s group, to be very aware of what it’s like for women who is walking alone. Subsequently he acts accordingly.

        I would hope that men who are trans would also bare this in mind

        I AM ASKING PEOPLE TO WRITE TO THEIR MPS TO REGISTER THEIR OPPOSITION TO THIS BILL

        i have written. I am terrified that my name will be leaked and that I will face a huge backlash. I ll keep you all posted

        • McFlock 2.3.1.1

          That is also part of why trans women do not want to be forced to use male toilets.

          • weka 2.3.1.1.1

            yes, this is the conflict of rights and needs. In the UK where there are male and female toilets, the female toilets are being converted to gender neutral and the male toilets are being left as is. There's so much bullshit in that that cannot be be wiped away by asserting that trans women need safe spaces too. Obviously they do, but why are women's rights being eroded to do that? You can treat that as a rhetorical question and I'll just quote Sabine again "we are going to end up with two 'somethings' – Men and Others. And nothing much will change."

            • McFlock 2.3.1.1.1.1

              Most of the gender neutral toilet complaints seem to be that blocks have been divided into toilets vs urinals rather than gender, e.g. the old vic.

              The argument seems to be that women can't use the urinals, so they only get 24 spaces vs the men having access to 42 (18 of those being urinals).

              Sounds bad, until one reads that the number of toilets was doubled in that reno, and half a dozen of them aren't stuck in the gents.

              Also saves front of house staff from trying to shut toilets to men for ten minutes to clear the queue outside the ladies (which was a thing that regularly had to happen at one venue I used to work.)

              I mean, the world being what it is there might be places that just swapped the women's sign with "unisex" and left the men's as is. Didn't see any examples, though.

              Come to think of it, the toilets in the theatre I'm involved with are unisex and wheelchair accessible. Little rooms with their own sink and door and toilet. No urinals whatsoever.

    • Jan Rivers 2.4

      Great to see this issue getting an airing on here. I think the question is really the government's to answer. And it goes like this. We are being presented with self-id as a trifle. Nothing to worry about. A convenience for males who identify as women (and vice versa) to not have to go through the 'humilation' of having any criteria associated with their decision to be regarded as a woman. But looked at through my eyes is that the government is making the category of woman a contested category – based on a feeling when this has never been the case before.

      If women who have had an ontological category to describe themselves – by sex – that has served to lessen and to measure discrimination and to fight for inclusion in mainstream society then how can it possibly be right that that category is nullified without any public discussion and consultation, risk or impact assessment.\? How can it be possible that making the category into a category of self-identification will have zero or inconsequential impacts? Well the answer is it doesn't. If sex as a category is nullifed then doing this without a public consultation or explaining why it's also great for women is surely a fundamental departure from the Bill of Rights Act. Luckily there is a likely solution David Parker is currently putting through legislation to make governments who act against the Bill of Rights subject to a legal remedy. I think women and them men who support them need to take a judicial review on this issue.

      • weka 2.4.1

        Thanks Jan. That sounds a bit more promising than I'd been thinking. Nice summing up too. I'd add that there are two issues here: one the changing of sex as a category and two the suppression of debate. If what's being proposed is such a great idea why can we not talk about it?

        • Sabine 2.4.1.1

          because it ain't great.

          Women are beings with very particular 'side effects'. One is we are menstruating, then we fall pregnant and then we give birth.

          So we are now 'people who menstruate'.

          We are pregnant persons.

          And then we go straight to Mum. Lol.

          We are 'people, persons, Mums. We are never women. And if someone takes offense at say menstruating people being called people rather then women, they are called all sorts of things. And yet, only biological women will ever menstruate.

          but one bit after one bit, the discriptive word of 'women' is replaces by 'people, persons, others, but we are no longer mentioned as women. This however is not happening to men. And that is an issue, and the reason to me is simply not to elevate trans men or trans women, but to disapear and muddle us into one group. That will be the other group of, women, trans, disabled, others. All with less rights then men of course.

          In the french language men are “il” and women are ‘elle’. So a group of women doing something would be ‘Elles sont/font’ etc, and a group of men is Ils sont, Il font etc. But if there is one man in a group of women they suddenly become ‘ils’.

          Funny how that always works out in eradicating women as a group of people with their own set of identifiers and needs.

          ,

          • Sacha 2.4.1.1.1

            What do you call females who do not menstruate?

            • Sabine 2.4.1.1.1.1

              i have not menstruated since my womb was cut out due to cancer, but i would still call myself a women. Is that what you are talking about? Or are you talking about transwomen? I would call them women too, but again, that is just me.

              • Sacha

                Yes, that is what I meant. I remember feminists of past decades strongly resisting defining gender by biology.

                • Sabine

                  I really don't care about any such thing, if you want me to care about some stuff that some feminists or not feminists thought in the previous decades you must link to it for me to read so that i can understand where your thinking comes from, or else your comment is again just a wee little snark/reminder as to please define your view of women as a women and what consists of women. Besides, there are a heep of older women past meno pause who also don't bleed anymore, and i guess you would still call them women?

                  But the only people on this planet to menstruate, or get pregnant are still women. Not people, not persons, not anything else but biological women. So others maybe want to keep that in mind when they try to play gotcha games as to what is or is not a women. We are fairly easily identified.

                  Also i would call ‘females’ women. Just you know.

                  • Sacha

                    I would. I cannot remember the whole reading list for the introductory Feminist Studies paper led by Rosemary Novitz at Canterbury University in the late 1980s but it was pretty comprehensive at the time. Some thinking seems to have done a 180 since.

                    • Sabine

                      i was told at fifteen that women will get married and have children and thus don't need education. 🙂 – very early 80s.

                      Nothing has changed. We are still where we were then. It is just that those that are women, disabled, queer, trans, of color, intersex, they/them etc are all now 'other/people/persons/'. Rather then their own thing.

                      And all the 'others' will have the same few rights they had before. Only as much as they are granted by the ruling class who really don't care what you and i identify as. We are either cost centres, or profit centers. And once we internalise and understand that we may actually get the conversation to where it needs to be, what it means to be human, Ein Mensch sein, erst, und dann die eigen gemachte Idenditaet.

                • weka

                  "I remember feminists of past decades strongly resisting defining gender by biology."

                  Feminists have rightly resisted biological determinism, which is an ideology that says because (only) women can bear children this is what they are for, or must do (the GCF view is that gender is wholly a construct designed to control the reproductive labour of women for the purposes of power holding men. I don't agree fully with that, but their philosophy does bring things into start contrast).

                  Also, the word gender can mean sex or gender ID, I'm not sure which you meant.

                  Acknowledging the reality of biological sex isn't biological determinism. We don't have to define women solely by biology, but biology is a core component of being female. This is why my position is that trans women are trans women. I'm good with trans women defining themselves as a separate class from men, as well as understanding how they differ from women.

                  • Sacha

                    the word gender can mean sex or gender ID

                    Gender never meant the same as sex when I studied. One was biological and the other socially constructed. It was the only useful way to describe the variety of ways women experienced different cultures around the world.

            • weka 2.4.1.1.1.2

              "What do you call females who do not menstruate?"

              Women.

            • Anker 2.4.1.1.1.3

              females who don't menstruate are females, women. If they are too young to menstruate they are girls.

          • Anker 2.4.1.1.2

            agree about the language Sabine. It is ridiculous and it takes away part of what defines us as women.

      • Anker 2.4.2

        Wow Jan, that is helpful to know. Thank you.

      • solkta 2.4.3

        It intrigues me how you try to define this an issue between "women" and "them men who support them" (sic) presumably against the rest of men when there are many cis women feminists driving change. These discussions mostly present to me as a split within Feminism.

        • weka 2.4.3.1

          yes, there's definitely a split within feminism. And the left.

          Jan was saying that the women who aren't ok with self-ID being introduced without even talking to women about it (and the men who support those women) will be able to take legal action.

          • solkta 2.4.3.1.1

            Jan was saying that the women who aren't ok with self-ID

            No that is not what she said. She just spoke of "women".

            I think women and them men who support them…

            She is talking about cis women as though they are a cohesive group when they are not.

            And she only made a vague assertion as to the relevance of the Bill of Rights. She didn't even say what section of the Act is applicable.

            • weka 2.4.3.1.1.1

              "I think women and them men who support them need to take a judicial review on this issue."

              Do you think Jan means literally all women, or that she means the women who object to self-ID? Because if you think the former, you're doing #notallwhatever, and that would just be naff.

              • solkta

                I think she is trying to frame the issue as women against the patriarchy when it is not.

                • weka

                  it is actually. The GCF central position is that exactly (not sure where Jan fits into that specifically). This doesn't mean all women agree, but it's a coherent and consistent political argument. You can disagree with that (feel free to make the argument), but it's not helpful to misrepresent their views.

                  • solkta

                    So am i misrepresenting her views or not? You seem to be saying i probably aren't but then telling me that i am.

                    • weka

                      I think you are. Jan can say what she meant, but imo you are saying she is trying to obscure the fact that women/feminists are divided over the issue (I don't think she is, I think you are reading something that isn't there). You also said her framing was wrong, I disagree, I think her framing is consistent with GCFs views.

        • Anker 2.4.3.2

          What is a cis woman? Who coined this term? I am a women. End of story.

          I hear trans women saying they are real women. Guess what, I have never thought of my self as a real women. I am a women. I was born female because I had female sex genetalia, which is because I have XX chromosome. Men have an XY chromosome. There are some very rare exceptions.

          By allowing any man to change their sexual identity on their birth certificate worries me greatly. Whoever the women who support this are, they have failed to understand that this will mean there is nothing to prevent, rapists, sex offenders and paedophiles from changing their birth certificate to say they are women. If you can't see this is a problem, then please re-think it through.

          Women who support this change cannot be aware of the radical trans activists and the bullying that has been going on when women speak up on this issue in the UK and the US.

          Men wanting to be women, isn't women's problem. We have enough to contend with as it is.

          And by the way when I have met trans men or women I have always been pleasant and respectful as I do when I meet any new people.

          • Sacha 2.4.3.2.1

            there is nothing to prevent, rapists, sex offenders and paedophiles from changing their birth certificate to say they are women

            Why on earth would they bother? Being men is not stopping them.

            • weka 2.4.3.2.1.1

              Self-ID will give a legitimacy to men in women's spaces that doesn't currently exist. That men already abuse those boundaries is not a good reason to open the boundaries and give them a way to have a free pass. I don't think the issue is the birth certificate so much as the social/cultural change that is happening as legal self-ID is brought in. It's already getting hard for women to run women's only spaces. There are activists in the UK who want all sex based rights removed at the legal level. That's not only about trans people, that affects everyone. Men of course are generally less concerned about that change than women.

              • Sacha

                Self-ID will give a legitimacy to men in women's spaces that doesn't currently exist. That men already abuse those boundaries is not a good reason to open the boundaries and give them a way to have a free pass.

                Are you saying that trans women are men?

                • weka

                  no, I'm saying that non-trans males will take advantage of self-ID.

                  There are additional issues around TW access to women's spaces that are segregated on the basis of sex not gender. And non-binary males, there seems to be this idea that they should have access to women's spaces too, which I've yet to see a good explanation for.

                  • weka

                    for example, there's a general increasing problem with men videoing women in changing rooms and toilets (as tech make this easier to do). In the UK department stores have started saying that men who ID as women can use the women's changing rooms. Do I really need to explain how this increases access for offenders?

                  • Sacha

                    So trans men would be welcome in safe spaces defined by sex rather than gender?

                    • weka

                      that would be up to them. Where it conflicts with other groups' rights, then there needs to be discussion about how to manage that (rather than the the suppression of discussion that's been going on for years now).

                      I can see TW and women sharing some spaces for instance, and then each group also having sex segregated space. The problem currently is the dismissal of women's rights and needs and the dismissal of biological sex category as important.

          • solkta 2.4.3.2.2

            Oh, so you are only disrespectful when you write online. Denying somebody's identity is about as disrespectful as it comes. There are good reasons why this subject generates anger.

            I see the transgender thing as basically where the homosexual thing was forty years ago. Back then there was still a significant number of people who still believed that homosexuality did not really exist as sexuality and that it was only a fetish or a mental illness that needed therapy. Most people today accept the fact that some people are gay and that is just the way it is. When the likes of Brian Tamaki roll out that bigotry now most people roll their eyes, have a bit of a laugh, and carry on.

            There is a lot more to human biology than genitals and chromosomes. Brains are also biological.

            • weka 2.4.3.2.2.1

              will you call a woman cis when she doesn't identify as that?

            • McFlock 2.4.3.2.2.2

              This latest restatement of old arguments over the last few days is very tiring. Been generally trying to limit my exposure this time, on the basis that it's the last blast before the legislation changes. It's the anti-smacking thing all over again, I'm hoping.

              • Anker

                False equivalence mcflook and whoever suggested it the homosexual law (which I have always supported). I don’t think the majority of women have been consulted about this at all.

                also from what I have seen women who have contested it get taken down with death threats and vitriol.

                It’s a bit nearer, although not the same ifI decided I was a different ethnicity, say Maori. If I really felt that was my identity. I don’t think that would be accepted. My partner is Maori and while I am Whanau I am pakeha, definitely not part of the tribe.

                • McFlock

                  Because trans activists don't get death threats and vitriol?

                  The other day a NZ trans woman I follow on twitter was talking about how a NZ "gender critical" organisation had linked to people doxxing her. So it goes both ways.

                  As for the level of consultation all around, keep telling yourself that – it's a common refrain for the less popular side. Don't worry, as the legislation nears, it's tailor made for the nats to go consulting all over the place. Get a really good rabble going. The Tamakis will do their part, too.

                  Then we'll see if "most" people still give a damn.

                  • Anker

                    I am sorry to hear about this experience. Excuse my ignorance, but I don't know what doxxing means. Who were the gender critical organisation.?

                    • McFlock

                      It means publicising someone's personal information, especially on a forum where the only reasonable expectation is harrassment of the person, their family, and their employer.

                      And no, I'm not going to name names, because that would:

                      • A) simply continue the damage caused by that organisation's actions; and
                      • B) be irrelevant to the main point that this stuff happens in both directions.
              • weka

                ironically, it's tedious as fuck having left wing men still and again telling women how to do our own politics. Calling us bigots might be new, but the lack of support when it doesn't suit the menz isn't. I guess what's also new is that it's so up front now, but it still beggars belief and I’d love to hear an explanation of the progressive philosophy that trans people are entitled to equity and justice but women suddenly aren’t.

                I'd really encourage you to follow some of the left wing GCFs on twitter. I don't have a good sense of how this is going to play out in NZ, because we're very different than the UK, but the first thing to understand is that there are progressive women with strong class analysis who are saying, hang on, there are issues here. Many of them were previously very supportive of trans issues.

                And yes, the right will play this like an easy fiddle. This is going to harm the left at time when we really can't afford it.

                • McFlock

                  I follow one or two. But as soon as shit like "men dressed as women" comes out, the follow stops. Turns out that really thins the number of follows.

                  Sure, I've chosen a side. I made the best call I could. My own position has evolved. I've listened to trans women and trans men (like the ones mocked in this thread), I've read and reread the more considered responses of some GCFs. I've been to talks from paediatricians talking about how to engage with and treat trans youth. I've listened to the parents of trans kids, and their journey.

                  I'm not an expert, but neither is this just a trivial knee-jerk position I've taken with zero thought.

                  And I speak on the topic because it's been requested, as an indication they're not alone.

                  • Anker

                    Who are the trans women and what was the mocking?

                    • McFlock

                      Who, specifically, have I listened to? yeah, nah. Not going to open them to harrassment or me to identification.

                      As for the mocking, this comment is dripping with it.

                  • Anker

                    Ok, I was wanting to check that you didn't feel I had been mocking because that is not what I intend. I realise I probably don't have the right language for these discussions.

                    I think its fine for you to put your point of view across as a man. You have obviously put a lot of time into finding out stuff.

                    However, I think the voices of women need to be heard and prioritized.

                    I think Weka has framed it quite well. That Trans women and women who were born and raised as women and have internalized very different

                    messages about themselves and their identity need to be prioritized. You will never know what it's like to live with the fear that we face everyday and live with our bodies. That is our experience.

                    I also want to let you know how the language being used about women in some quarters, wherever it comes from, I find de humanizing. People with vaginas, people who are menstruaters, Terfs, Cis women.

                    Terfs is a perjorative term, meant to shut down and stigmatize women who have a different point of view.

                    You may have been going through this debate for some time, but I am knew to it. My main objection is the gender self id bill and the language being used about women with the xx chromosomes biology. As I said I find this dehumanizing and frankly insulting.

                    • McFlock

                      No, as far as I can see you haven't been mocking anyone at all.

                      I certainly have no idea about the extent of your lived experience. Just as I have no idea about the extent of the lived experiences of trans people who have been assaulted because of their trans status as well as those dangers that face their transitioned gender.

                      Some of the terms used are malicious or dismissive. I have tried to get away from using "terf", for example, even though the only term in the acronym that seems like it might be inappropriate in some instances is "radical". But that's the call and using that term isn't conducive to productive discussion, so it's an adaptation I need to make. "Gender critical", on the other hand, seems to me to be far to… sterile? It sort of reduces the position to an abstract debate on identity, rather than the desired outcome of stating who should use what door and the ability to confront and humiliate someone who doesn't seem to match the label.

                      I've always viewed "cis" as simply meaning "not queer" (i.e. non-LGBTQITFTvTs…). Mostly as a tool for describing my own perspective, what I have experience of and not. "Cis man" basically replaces a massive paragraph.

                      The thing about XX chromosome biology is that not every woman has it. Sure, dramatic cases might be very rare indeed, but they exist in NZ. Often having been crudely "corrected" by surgery as infants. I've met some of them. Making biological sex binary in order to debate transsexual issues is simply repeating the assumption that led to those surgeries. It strikes me as paradoxical to ignore someone else's existence in order to protect one's own identity.

                      I have a lot of time for you and Weka. I do try to take on board your comments, with possible exceptions if I'm tired/grumpy/having a stupid day (for those instances, I apologise).

                  • weka

                    yeah I find the men in dresses thing both bigoted and really unhelpful to discussion. Unfortunately the definition of trans being broadened so that it does now cover men in dresses (cross dressing men rather than say males with gender dysphoria or males with a strong sense of femaleness internally to the point of identity), or the male prisoners trying to ID their way out of male prisons or into women's prisons. I cut the GCFs some slack on this because on twitter shorthand is often a necessity, and many of those women tried for years to talk more evenhandedly and have given up. But there are plenty of bigots in GCF and GC twitter.

                    • McFlock

                      transsexual/gender vs transvestite?

                      Especially confusing as trying to negotiate social mores can make transvesticism(sp?) as sort of "cover story" for someone who wishes to fully transition – Eddie Izzard comes to mind.

                      The prison thing is definitely a problem, but it's a security problem. If someone's a danger to other prisoners, as shown by their history, don't put them with vulnerable prisoners. Doesn't matter if they're in the same building.

            • Anker 2.4.3.2.2.3
              Actually Solkta, I feel the gender self I’d proposed law disrespects my identity.
              I am a woman. I have a woman’s body. I have XX chromosomes. I once menstruated, had children, have female hormones, went through menopause, am a smaller stature than men and this is all part. Of who I am. So too is my personality. I talk more than men, because overwhelmingly women use more words that men. I have been socialised to think more about relationships and be more empathetic. The proposed bill tells me that is irrelevant cause any man can be a woman. They don’t have to transition. AsJan said earlier that nullifies what being a woman is and I find that very hurtful.
              What did I say that denied anyone’s identity? I know there are people who feel they are the wrong sex and want to transition.
              Sacha why sex offenders might want to bothe changing their sex on their birth certificate so that when the go to prison, they go to a women’s prison. Or they get to be in a women’s ward in a hospital. Or can’t be challenged when they use female toilets, or get to go to female only workout areas in gyms, saunas, changing rooms. There would be a lot of secondary gain for these men.
              • Sacha

                I know there are people who feel they are the wrong sex and want to transition.

                They are transitioning gender.

                I hope you find peace without denying other people theirs.

                • Anker

                  That is a nice sentiment honestly it is Sascha.

                  but it’s not really the point. I feel my identity as a women is under attack. My biology is being reduced to being a menstruater or a person with a vagina. If I raise concerns about this I am called a reef. I am being told I am a cis woman. Where did this term come from? I didn’t agree to it. I have huge concerns that men will use the gender I’d bill for secondary gain. I read of the experience of women and lesbians overseas being canceled, losing their jobs, having the nastiest vitriol thrown at them. It’s happened here too, someone I know participated in an event stand up for women event and on her fb page someone wrote I hope you die.

                  I also experienced a very nasty assault on a public changing room. I want to preserve those spaces for women.

                  so no not a lot of peace for me.

                  And actually I feel for people who are transitioning. And people who are in men’s bodies who identify as women I will respect that when I come across them. But I don’t support the idea that they change the sex on their birth certificate. No questions asked.

                  • Sacha

                    My biology is being reduced to being a menstruater or a person with a vagina.

                    But who is doing that? Does not seem to be trans women.

                    I also experienced a very nasty assault on a public changing room.

                    Sorry to hear that. Was it by a man?

                    • Anker

                      I am taking your comment about my assault is genuine. Thank you.

                      "Your question "was it by a man?" I must say has a bit of a gotcha feel.

                      But anyway I will do my best to answer. The person who attempted to rape me was of male statute and had a male voice, wore male clothing. I assumed he was a man, although he wore a white mask with black line drawn on it. I am pretty sure he had male genitalia because when I tried to hit him in the balls, I felt what I think was his testicle. He then punched in me in the face. The adrenalin was really pumping in my body and so I tried to pull his mask off. That is when he panicked and struggled to keep it on. While that was happening I managed to escape.

                      The idea of people being able to self id as women, no questions asked,and legitimately be in a change room or womans toilet terrifies me. If you believe that some men who are sex offenders want try and do that and have legitimate access to women and girls getting changed then I don't think that is considering women.

                      I

                      If you think not having the gender self id bill will mean transitioning women can't change their birth certificate at some point, then that is incorrect too.

  3. Graeme 3

    The tourism industry was the focus of two speeches by ministers yesterday, one a pathway to the future, and the other a cautionary tale from the recent past.

    In Queenstown Stuart Nash outlined the Government's near future aspirations for the industry,

    It include four main principles:

    • Resetting and rebuilding tourism to be more sustainable, as the industry cannot simply return to business as usual.
    • Ensuring Aotearoa is seen as one of the world’s most aspirational travel destinations.
    • Recognising that costs and negative impacts associated with tourism must be mitigated or priced into the visitor experience so ratepayers and taxpayers are not bearing the cost of hosting visitors
    • More partnership between the government and the tourism industry, including with businesses and workers.

    Mr Nash said the industry could not return to the status quo, but that would not mean hard-hit communities would be left behind.

    "Regions heavily reliant on international tourism, dare I say it overly reliant on international tourism, should have a range of alternatives, because we don’t want to be in this situation again," he said.

    Probably not what a lot of operators who didn't see this disruption coming wanted to hear, especially those who had been appropriating the commons and domestic products to sell at profit to the highest payer. But also what many operators and communities have wanted to see for a long time.

    Meanwhile Damien O'Conner was talking to farmers at the Field Day in Fielding. In it he presented a cautionary tale about not getting too cocky during the good times and then getting caught out in the inevitable downturn. Sounds like he was pretty blunt. He hits the nail on the head here.

    Export sectors had to realise that they faced risks and needed to be humble, he said.

    “While we had warning signals through Sars of the possibility of pandemics and interruptions to international travel, it probably wasn't built into their business models,”

    The response from National's David Bennett was apoplectic

    National's agriculture spokesman David Bennett, who was at the event, said O’Connor’s comments about the tourism industry were “disgusting”.

    “The borders are closed through Government policy which they have no control over,” Bennett said.

    “They have been asking for a bubble with Australia for months and the Government hasn't acted, and then he blames the sector for getting cocky, it's disgusting, it shows he has no regard for what business is like.”

    Mr Bennett, businesses don't plan to fail, they fail to plan. Which is what happened to a lot in tourism. These comments typify the National approach to business planning, when things go wrong, Government handout. Seems rather strange that the pretty communists are now the party of individual and business responsibility.

    • Sabine 3.1

      Well looking at the panic last year, we can honestly state that the Government also failed to include any pandemic planning into their plans. Sadly the tax payer will always bail out the government and with it these Suits who in their life have no idea what the fuck they are actually talking about.

      “While we had warning signals through Sars of the possibility of pandemics and interruptions to international travel, it probably wasn't built into their business models,”

      This applies to the Government too.

      Btw, so we let tourism industry die – unless its rich lister coming to a rich listers event paid for by tax dollars.

      then we let the horticulturist die, after all i guess the minister can buy his fruit n wine from overseas, after all he is on a 200.000 dollar wage a year + perks and for that he don't have to do anything other then blame businesses for a locked up country and world.

      Who next? Who next do we not need to help because they should have two years of wages, of leases, of taxes, of licensing fees, and other compliance costs tucked away?

      Who?

      and who profits of this disaster capitalism?

  4. Adrian Thornton 4

    I remember well over thirty years ago, taking leaflets from Uyghur activists, reading them and over the years wondering why the various New Zealand governments had never mentioned these poor people and their plight while we were all being encouraged to consume..no gorge ourselves on cheaply made goods of every description that we all well knew where often being manufactured in the most appalling of condition and often by children….from China our shining new trading partner…thanks Labour and Helen Clark!

    …cut to 2021, China now is a world super power, many of it's children who for the past thirty years have been diligently studying at western universities throughout the world have now returned home, in the twinkling of an eye China now not only has the largest manufacturing capacity in the world, it now also has the trained intellectual power to exploit it, next minute China has 5G technology and all that implies.

    And how has the west reacted to this new power base threatening their corporate monopolies, well one way it seems is to suddenly become aware of the plight of the Uyghur's, not because any western power base gives even the slightest flying fuck about the Uyghur's, no of course they have cynically co-opted this story only to whip up anti Chinese sentiment among their lazy thinking citizens.

    Unfortunately for the Uyghur, their new allies will only in the end sully and muddy the waters in the fight for their rightful cause….as I have said many times here "if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas", though that being said I have no idea how much control the Uyghur have over who represents them on the world stage?

    This article make sobering reading….

    The ‘Independent’ Report Claiming Uyghur Genocide

    'It was brought to you by a sham university and neocon ideologues lobbying to punish China for U.S. interests.'

    https://consortiumnews.com/2021/03/19/the-independent-report-claiming-uyghur-genocide/

    • RedLogix 4.1

      Oh good. So no problem allowing independent journos and investigators into the region to have an extended and unfettered look about then. /sarc

      • Siobhan 4.1.1

        …reading Adrian's comment he doesn't seem to be questioning that abuse of Urghurs occurs..it reads to me more like an observation of what we are willing to ignore when it suits our wallet…and how the second our stock exchange and supposed intellectual superiority falters we're more than happy to listen to crazy homophobes on a mission from God…whos research is based on cherry picked spread sheets…good causes being co opted for the wrong reasons is always problematic, because you can be sure, should the tide change this issue (and the Urghurs) will be dropped like a hot potato…as for "independent journos and investigators" I absolutely agree..unfortunately I'm not sure there are any that would meet the particular requirements and agendas of our western world leaders..

        "His widely-cited reports were not published in peer-reviewed journals overseen by academic institutions, but rather, by a D.C.-based CIA cut-out called the Jamestown Foundation and “The Journal of Political Risk,” a publication headed by former NATO and U.S. national security state operatives."..from Adrians link…in the unlikely event you didn't read it.

        from wiki…"A 2019 article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (a liberal-conservative German newspaper) described Zenz's research methods on Tibetans as unconventional and exciting little interest in the professional world."

        Is there any other issue we would rally behind when the accademic paper isn't peer reviewed…from a guy whos day job is "with the distance learning focused bible college Columbia International University where Zenz also serves as a lecturer."

        • RedLogix 4.1.1.1

          Interesting how often it's decided that because we disagree with someone on one thing (eg their views on same sex relationships), we therefore conclude everything else they say must be wrong.

          In other words leaping from 'Zenz is a bit of an extremist' to 'there isn't anything untoward happening in Xinjiang' is not an argument.

          The entire matter can be readily settled as I implied above – open, trusted investigation.

          • Siobhan 4.1.1.1.1

            short of repeating myself…you seem to not be understanding the points being made.

            But sure, if what you take from our comments is…'there isn't anything untoward happening in Xinjiang'..go for it..

  5. Adrian Thornton 5

    "The entire matter can be readily settled as I implied above – open, trusted investigation."

    Aahh yeah, that was the entire point of my comment… now that US/Western corporate/govts/media have got involved for all the wrong reasons (seriously, do you think any of them give a shit about the Uyghur people?), and that they, as the investigation I linked to above quite clearly shows, immediately muddy the waters using their modus operandi of misinformation, propaganda and half truths, so having a "open, trusted investigation" on this subject becomes more and more difficult.

  6. Muttonbird 6

    Ultra-gammon and workplace bully, Jeremy Clarkson, underlines his own and his followers fading relevancy by revving up in The Sun about Meghan Markle.

    So fragile are they, the belief is she is trying to take down the monarchy. This mirrors the complaints from the alt-right the world over. That any challenge to white patriarchal dominance is to be crushed.

    I think she just wants to shine a light on the arcane structure of monarchistic Britain in the hope it will sometime get with the 21st Century.

    In claiming Markle will soon be on a Playboy's yacht, Clarkson has Diana-ised her. Perhaps he wishes her dead in a high speed car crash too…

    https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/entertainment/2021/03/jeremy-clarkson-unleashes-on-silly-little-meghan-markle-predicts-she-will-be-on-playboy-s-yacht-soon.html

    • mauī 6.1

      The YouGov poll data also says that since the interview Harry's overall favourability rating has gone negative for the first time ever. Suggesting that the UK public is probably more alt-right than you think and don't appreciate woke ideas infiltrating their institutions.

  7. Muttonbird 8

    Major strawberry grower Perrys Berrys calls it quits amid labour shortage.

    Sorry, Francie, you've had 12 months to come up with a plan to get your strawberries picked by locals. But you were waiting on the government to deliver foreign workers to you, cheap, like you always had.

    Question is, why in your eyes are local workers not as good as foreign workers? Such a mystery…

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/major-strawberry-grower-perrys-berrys-calls-it-quits-amid-labour-shortage/EVV3WCSJJQBJUGZ4FTKPAJ56QE/

  8. velcro 10

    I remember at the old Athletic Park, women regularly and cheerfully used the men's toilet.

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    4 days ago
  • Bernard’s six stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it:  We want our country to be a ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    4 days ago
  • National’s clean car tax advances
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Government funding bailouts
    Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Two offenders, different treatments.
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    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    4 days ago
  • Treaty references omitted
    Ele Ludemann writes  – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • The Ghahraman Conflict
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    4 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 15
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop: Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The day Wellington up-zoned its future
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    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Weekly Roundup 15-March-2024
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    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    4 days ago
  • That Word.
    Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • The Hoon around the week to March 15
    Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Labour’s policy gap
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    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #11 2024
    Open access notables A Glimpse into the Future: The 2023 Ocean Temperature and Sea Ice Extremes in the Context of Longer-Term Climate Change, Kuhlbrodt et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society: In the year 2023, we have seen extraordinary extrema in high sea surface temperature (SST) in the North Atlantic and in ...
    5 days ago
  • Melissa remains mute on media matters but has something to say (at a sporting event) about economic ...
     Buzz from the Beehive   The text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary.  It can be quickly analysed ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    5 days ago
  • The return of Muldoon
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    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Will the rental tax cut improve life for renters or landlords?
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Geoffrey Miller: What Saudi Arabia’s rapid changes mean for New Zealand
    Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
    Democracy ProjectBy Geoffrey Miller
    5 days ago
  • Racism’s double standards
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • It’s not a tax break
    Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • The Plastic Pig Collective and Chris' Imaginary Friends.
    I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • Who is responsible for young offenders?
    Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on National’s fantasy trip to La La Landlord Land
    How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
    5 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 14
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop: The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • No, Prime Minister, rents don’t rise or fall with landlords’ costs
    TL;DR: Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Cartoons: ‘At least I didn’t make things awkward’
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
    5 days ago
  • Solving traffic congestion with Richard Prebble
    The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    5 days ago
  • I Think I'm Done Flying Boeing
    Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    5 days ago
  • Invoking Aristotle: Of Rings of Power, Stones, and Ships
    The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
    6 days ago
  • Van Velden brings free-market approach to changing labour laws – but her colleagues stick to distr...
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    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • Why Newshub failed
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    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Māori Party on the warpath against landlords and seabed miners – let’s see if mystical creature...
    Bob Edlin writes  –  The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they  follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
    Point of OrderBy Bob Edlin
    6 days ago
  • There’s a name for this
    Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago
  • Echoes of 1968 in 2024?  Pocock on the repetitive problems of the New Left
    Mike Grimshaw writes – Recent events in American universities point to an underlying crisis of coherent thinking, an issue that increasingly affects the progressive left across the Western world. This of course is nothing new as anyone who can either remember or has read of the late ...
    Point of OrderBy poonzteam5443
    6 days ago
  • Two bar blues
    The thing about life’s little victories is that they can be followed by a defeat.Reader Darryl told me on Monday night:Test again Dave. My “head cold” last week became COVID within 24 hours, and is still with me. I hear the new variants take a bit longer to show up ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • Bernard's Top 10 @ 10 'pick 'n' mix' for March 13
    TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Angus Deaton on rethinking his economics IMFLocal scoop: The people behind Tamarind, the firm that left a $500m cleanup bill for taxpayers at Taranaki’s Tui oil well, are back operating in Taranaki under a different company name. Jonathan ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    6 days ago

  • Positive progress for social worker workforce
    New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 hours ago
  • Minister confirms reduced RUC rate for PHEVs
    Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April.  ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • Trade access to overseas markets creates jobs
    Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand.  Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago
  • NZ and Chinese Foreign Ministers hold official talks
    Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    21 hours ago
  • Kāinga Ora instructed to end Sustaining Tenancies
    Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber: Growth is the answer
    Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Singapore rounds out regional trip
    Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships.      “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Minister van Velden represents New Zealand at International Democracy Summit
    Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Insurance Council of NZ Speech, 7 March 2024, Auckland
    ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland  Acknowledgements and opening  Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho.  Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau  My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Five-year anniversary of Christchurch terror attacks
    Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says.  “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024
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    4 days ago
  • Early visit to Indonesia strengthens ties
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country.   “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • China Foreign Minister to visit
    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week.  “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
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    5 days ago
  • Minister opens new Auckland Rail Operations Centre
    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
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    5 days ago
  • Celebrating 10 years of Crankworx Rotorua
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    5 days ago
  • Government delivering on tax commitments
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Significant Natural Areas requirement to be suspended
    Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
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    5 days ago
  • Government classifies drought conditions in Top of the South as medium-scale adverse event
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    5 days ago
  • Government partnership to tackle $332m facial eczema problem
    The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced.  “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
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    5 days ago
  • NZ, India chart path to enhanced relationship
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level.   “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
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    5 days ago
  • Ruapehu Alpine Lifts bailout the last, say Ministers
    Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
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    6 days ago
  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
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  • Govt takes action to drive better cancer services
    Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
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    6 days ago
  • Work begins on SH29 upgrades near Tauriko
    Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Fresh produce price drop welcome
    Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024.  “Lower fruit and vege ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago
  • Statement to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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  • Speech to the 68th United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68)
    Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all.  Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
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    6 days ago
  • Government backs rural led catchment projects
    The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
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  • Speech to Auckland Business Chamber
    Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction.   Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
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    7 days ago
  • Commission’s advice on ETS settings tabled
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    1 week ago
  • Government lowering building costs
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  • Trustee tax change welcomed
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    1 week ago
  • Minister’s Ramadan message
    Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness.  It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
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    1 week ago
  • Minister appoints new NZTA Chair
    Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
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    1 week ago
  • Speech to Life Sciences Summit
    Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology.  It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
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    1 week ago
  • Progress continues apace on water storage
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    1 week ago
  • Government agrees to restore interest deductions
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    1 week ago
  • Minister to attend World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium
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    1 week ago
  • Pacific Language Weeks celebrate regional unity
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    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

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