Understandable if rich ole Bill owned the network, perhaps. Just weird. "The same number of people believe the pandemic is being used to force people into getting vaccinations."
Probably mean them commies in govt. SloMo & his suits, who they recently elected. "A new Essential poll has revealed the proportion of people who believe coronavirus conspiracy theories. One in five people believe the media and government are exaggerating the death toll to scare the population. Two in five think the virus was engineered and released from a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan".
Still, I doubt anyone ever accused Australians of being rational. They seem to be becoming a lot more Australian than usual, though.
"The same number of people believe the pandemic is being used to force people into getting vaccinations."
Tell me, do you believe that an eventual covid19 vaccine should be entirely voluntary, without any kind of legal, social or economic coercion? Or do you think there should be negative incentives to increase uptake?
Does your position change if the vaccine is rushed to market with little testing?
Does it change if efficacy is unclear?
Do you think adverse reaction reporting will be better with covid than normal or worse?
No, I'm not an anti-vaxxer. But I'm also not going to write off concerns about covid vaccine use at the medical, social and political levels. The people raising concerns might seem stupid to some but the questions above are legitimate and need to be addressed at some point. Taking a vaccination is god approach won't help and will further polarise people.
(also, let's not forget the third party, nefarious actors in the debate. It's pretty clear that the trolls are there, and I would guess astroturferers as well).
btw, I think you will find that there are plenty of left wing voters who are in the subculture concerned about vaccination generally, and how it will be handled with covid specifically.
If a vaccine is developed, I wouldn't make people take it accept in the case of travel, all incoming people would need proof of vaccination and so world any exiting kiwis that wish to return.
I'm sure the PM will explain it patiently for people who need more time to get it, but if we get another outbreak and there's an effective vaccine with not nearly as many adverse effects as covid19 has, there are only a couple of options that stop us turning into UK/US/Sweden:
L4 no exemptions.
L4 with exemptions for vaccinated people.
Compulsory vaccination without L4.
If you can think of another variation that won't result in thousands of dead, sing out.
I understood what you meant McFlock. I am pointing out that mandatory and compulsory vaccination brings large societal issues and this is part of why the anti-vaxxers are all over covid. The polarisation will increase until there is a meeting ground.
Let's not forget it's not the anti-vaxxers in NZ that have dropped general vaccination rates, it's the neoliberal fuckery with the health system that has limited access. This is why the MoH isn't overly worried about anti-vaxxers.
true in some contexts. If we look at vaccination discussions on TS they tend to be the more heated ones and that's without the third party troll element. On FB and twitter it tends to be a shit show, so I would say that we have lost a large part of our ability to have the conversations.
Beyond that, most 'anti-vaxers' are often ordinary people with legitimate concerns about where society is going but not necessarily the frame work to discuss those in because of poor science literacy. My observation is that hating on them is radicalising them.
Somewhere like NZ, we still have a good chance of finding ways to both address concerns about vaccination and gain relatively high rates without having to use authoritarianism.
It's less authoritarian to offer a vaccine than it is just put everyone into level 4 without an opt-out.
As far as I can see, the discussion here has included compulsory vaccination only for people coming into the country. Personally, I favour compulsory quarantine, as vaccination records can be falsified.
As far as I can see, the discussion here has included compulsory vaccination only for people coming into the country.
Is that what you were meaning in this conversation? I thought you and I were talking about the NZ population.
Personally, I favour compulsory quarantine, as vaccination records can be falsified.
I favour quarantine until we have longer term data on efficacy of the vaccine. I'd be surprised if we have that at the point that it starts being rolled out overseas.
The MAGA crowd are dead against taking a vaccine. They have this twisted idea that a vaccine is used to control people and that Covid tests are designed just to collect a persons DNA.
Probably part of the reason Covid is running rampant over there, trump and his dimwitted supporters.
Yes. Vaccination is already a fact of life if you want to travel extensively. I carry two passports … the usual kiwi one, and my separate vaccination booklet. Yellow fever is the big one, but they’ll check for typhus and Hepatitis A as well.
Not all borders demand to see your vaccination booklet, but if you want to get home without dramas ….
I wouldn't be surprised if some employers require people to have the COVID vaccination (assuming there is one that is effective, safe, available and affordable), especially in some places or industries. Even if an employer cannot legally require existing employees to get a vaccination (can't see that happening but then again, maybe in some occupations it should), new employees could be required to have it or at least preferred. There may be exceptions for medical reasons perhaps.
My bet is that there will be no vaccine, it is much more likely that there may well be a treatment much like Aids. Too many victims have gotten the virus a second time in particular the U.S. sailors on their ship, which may prove that if you get over it but go back into or stay in an infected environment you have not acquired immunity.
It’s important to hold an acute awareness of why you got into this stuff in the first place. Whatever your individual ideological position, you got into this because you want to actually change things; to change the world, to cause a movement away from humanity’s unhealthy patterns and toward health. It’s not about petty vendettas against opposing factions or subfactions or individuals who don’t see things exactly the same way you do. And your energy expenditure should reflect this.
Generally, people in dissident circles are under the delusion that this whole thing is about having the perfect beliefs in your head. That if you can just have exactly the right opinions about what’s going on, you “win” in some way, so a ton of energy goes toward finding what looks like the very best set of opinions and arguing with anyone who sees things a tiny little bit differently. And that’s just not what this is about.
This thing is about changing the world, and changing you. That’s it. If you’re not actually, concretely doing one of those two things in any given moment while engaging in dissident circles, you’re just participating in another nerdy hobby group, with about as much consequence.
Goggle summary says about the publisher behind the link:
Medium (website) – Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Medium_(website)
Medium is an online publishing platform developed by Evan Williams and launched in August 2012. It is owned by A Medium Corporation. The platform is an …
Owner: A Medium Corporation
CEO: Evan Williams
Founder(s): Evan Williams
Employees: 85 (May 2017)
Holacracy · freeCodeCamp · Electronic publishing · Social journalism
The reason why this is important is that no single individual can hold an sufficiently complete and sane view of the world in their head. Reality is too damned complicated for that … we actually need other people, with all of their confounding, contradictory disagreeable ideas and beliefs in order to arrive at sane, functional plans of action.
Controlled or otherwise, the fabric of politics is aggression. Pretty primitive stuff. To engage politically, one has to be fighting for or against something *clue-word, "fighting”
I quite like fighting, although I prefer tai chi to hard combat. Strength, tone, concentration, ability to be present can be built in the process, as well as the clarifying of ideas and intent.
I'm less convinced that politics *has to be this way though. Isn't there politics in everything, even the human endeavours that avoid fighting for or against?
Yes. Much more so than all the known alternatives.
But never forget this, effective political operators, for all the positional games they play, ultimately know how to make the deal. And deals are negotiated.
Of course the alternative to the description of nerdy hobby groups is to be conservatively in favour of the status quo. My impression of National is they resist even considering "progressive" changes. Especially the big issues like Climate change, or social imbalances.
So I would like to see myself as championing valuable change. And I am not ashamed of that even though I can't do much about it.
China is covering up again in Northern China the new outbreak is far worse than the figures they are providing the WHO.
All other outbreaks around the world show a rapid increase followed by a slow decline.
The figures for the last 10 days show 1420 new cases every day for 10days no change.
Very suspicious no increase no decline but exactly the same number.
The National party want us to start bringing in students from overseas by July ,put them into isolation .why waste resources if one of those students need hospital care or are asymptomatic then we could be back to square one.
The National party want us to start bringing in students from overseas by July ,put them into isolation .why waste resources if one of those students need hospital care or are asymptomatic then we could be back to square one.
You don’t happen to have a link for that, do you?
I find your choice of words an odd one. What do you mean by “waste resources”? You do know that visitors to and guests in and of our country do receive medical attention and healthcare when required, don’t you? International students pay for mandatory health insurance AFAIK. How and why should an overseas student be seen differently from a returning Kiwi, who could equally be asymptomatic?
What exactly is the problem with not being able to link?
I presume you mean this:
The MP [Dr Shane Reti] is proposing to reopen the border to international students for the second semester in July, if they undergo quarantine, and "if we open the border in a protected way … our arrivals card has to be perfect".
Yes, I understand that a returning Kiwi is coming home to the Motherland but what difference does that make to the health risks involved?
At least you’re open and honest about your biased and binary attitude towards education of international students. I’d say it is much more than what you make it out to be but that’s a different conversation and a different reason for refusing people entry into the country or a VISA to study here. FYI, the NZ universities are non-profit institutions and they are operating with a 3% operating surplus guideline set by TEC.
Oh dear – he has never realised that he has run the hero to zero trajectory. Perhaps we could refer the british media to our own Marist school cluster which looks like it may have been going for only about a week before everyone was asked to isolate.
Think tank report wanting more foreign direct investment.. Rather than us saving up and owning our own stuff
This think tank has had a number of reports quoted in stuff. They operate under the university of auckland but I wondered just how independent they are and who is funding them. They list at least one foundation partner who has given support who looks like they may be an overseas based hedge fund manager . A quick google and he looks like he may also have been the beneficiary of being able to buy sensitive NZ land by bunging some money to a local school (Not a policy I have ever been in favour of? ) Is there any conflict of interests?
Good research RedBaronCV (Curriculum vitae or CoronaVirus?)
I hope that our efficacious and tenacious legal and justice systems are checking to see whether these overseas 'invest-us' are getting value for money. /sarc
thank you GW. I spend a lot of my time wondering who pulls the strings. I'll go with corona virus as the cv is historical but i don't want to trouble the mods!
I've actually gone off and had a skim through some of their papers. What they do not appear to be is
– peer reviewed
– evidence based. although they do reference other publications – it's hard to know how selective this referencing might be
– whether these are academics operating within their expertise or not. I've seen elsewhere lawyers writing as if they were experts on how to format the advanced statistical modelling of virus transmission when the understanding is trite.
_ if these are “discussion papers” where and when is the feedback taken
Really it looks like academics who may be way outside their lane writing a blog and hiding behind a think tank designation/branding. to diseminate prefered political ideas/
Twitter and face book and the standard are likely better informed.
Personally I’ve always wondered where Mr Gluckman was as the Nact science advisor when Nact where doing all the drug testing and moving people out of their homes because of so called “P” contamination.
Think tank report wanting more foreign direct investment..
That $US 4 trillion Congress has given to US corporations is a lot of money that's going to be looking for somewhere to be in a world decimated by the depression that's coming straight at us.
edit – To clarify – I think there will be a lot of pressure to align with US business interests.
Well the heath app is here. I see they are making no promises about deleting the contact details . Just where you went after 21 days. And it looks like the data is on offshore servers.
Honestly I'm just going to take a photo of the businesses I'vr gone into – that will show where I have been.
And how long before there is discrimination – no app and you are not allowed in?
With that app, where you went is stored only on your phone. They get your contact details on their server.
And there have already been businesses trading for weeks that will not let you in the door without verifying you have logged into one of several other apps.
Yep I understand that but at the end of level two or level one when the tracing is no longer needed then they should delete the contact details on their server otherwise some new bad actor (Maybe Act gets elected) changes the rules and decides that it can be used for other purposes.
Are they going to enshrine these rules so an 80% majority is required to change them – thought not!
Well the “you must use an app” is a form of discrimination – no poor people need apply ? They can do without my money then. And if they have been trading for weeks then have they been breaking the lockdown rules?
The MOH shouldn't have stacks of data on me. I've opted out of everything plus I have the ultimate weapon. I belong to a long lived family that goes to the doctor about twice in an adult lifetime. I haven't been for years.
I don’t mind paper records – somebody stands on them or loses them pretty quickly in my experience. It’s the electronic stuff that hangs around.
Well that answers a few questions so why doesn't the health department put it on it's website? Looks like taking a photo of where I go (one in one out) is just as good as the app so why didn't they tell us that ages ago – instead of people like me just doing it and the government wasting money on the app. And for what it's worth I'm not interested in enriching Amazon even marginally with web hosting fees.
Just gone in and read the app FAQ on the MOH website. Well as far as I can see they have failed at the first step of being "transparent". Who developed this app. Peter Thiel – someone else? Are they a developer who may leave a trapdoor in the app so they can harvest data. Do they have a track record for respecting data privacy or not? Do they pay their taxes or just stuff it in tax havens?
Why is an email address necessary to use the app? Who apart from the contract tracing service is harvesting this email address? How do households who share an email address get along? Honestly if it is phone based why does it not simply record a phone number on the base so they can do a "call me text" to the phone owners they want to contact.
And of course they can't help themselves – they want extra information to collate -from the website below are these statements. And who reads the fine print and they are already saying that they are going to update it.
27.3. Aggregate demographic information of Consumers, including approximate age range, gender, and ethnicity, is captured to provide reporting on the usage of the CCTA by different segments of the population. This data is used to inform wider Ministry efforts about the equity of the overall technology response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
33.1. when recording their contact details for upload to the Ministry (other than the email address required for registration) they may choose what contact and identification details they include;
No I'm not anxious – I work in tech related fields – but it seriously annoys me when people stand up and go it's safe, nobody can see it and when you look closely that is simply not the case. Health seems particularly prone to this particular delusion. In particular terms of use can be changed unilaterally without options being given to delete the data. Or the whole contact tracing service could be sold (right wing government anyone?)
Think Facebook Cambridge Analytica, the creator of the digital face recognition who just helped themselves to private photos on the web. We should not be naive about data use and aggregation
And don’t forget that within the last few decades at various times abortions, homosexuality single parents unemployed, various ethnic groups have had to deal with their behaviour being either outright criminalised or the state has acted as if they basically were. Put not your trust in princes.
I agree. Credible information is reassuring but hard to find. Having done some work on health IT privacy, it is more advanced in thinking than some other areas. Not often well-explained though.
Totally agree RB. Anyone in receipt of a main benefit should seriously think twice about this, and it's not paranoia. Back in the 1970s the public were encouraged to dob in solo mums for putting a packet of chocolate biscuits in their supermarket trolley. The modern version of this you really don't want WINZ to find out you've been into a cafe or- heaven forbid, a cinema- because that's evidence that a)you're clearly being given too much money and more scarily b) you're lying about your disability if you're capable of leaving the house. Many people in the UK have been affected by the latter so it's a perfectly reasonable thing to consider.
No way will I ever trust any sort of tracking app created by anyone, yet alone the government. I'll sign in hard copy, but not electronic. Anyway, I don't have mobile data, so moot.
Good to see I have friends and it's not just me.The less info the govt has the better.
BTW as per the above – the solo parents who may be on a benefit or even families on a benefit are likely to be told they have to covid vaccine their kids – we'll get the usual rubbish about how they are slack parents and have to be told what to do.. Me I'd vaccinate all the parents who don't pay or play (look after their kids) then if it has some unusual side effects ….
<i>She [Professor Carolyn King] began her career in Oxford, and was studying weasels in 1971, when she was asked to come and help us get rid of stoats in New Zealand.
She wrote the first ever book on predators in New Zealand Immigrant Killers in 1984 and then The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals (1990), she’s is now working on the third edition.
"I am very concerned about the possibility of people getting carried away by genetic modification. There's a lot of talk about gene drives, modified genes that can be introduced to a population. They're trying some in Australia for example with the Daughterless Carp Program and these are fish that can produce sons but not daughters. So if you have a whole population with one gender, than sooner or later the population will die out, without you having to set traps or poisons..</i>
Is it possible some National Party leaning folk at Colmar Brunton or TVNZ might leak the result of their poll to Farrar or National Party HQ to allow them to strategise ahead of the release at 6:00pm tomorrow?
The fish people know a thing or two about targeting the vulnerable.
In its final 20 minutes, the documentary film AKA Jane Roe delivers quite the blow to conservatives who have weaponized the story of Jane Roe herself—real name, Norma McCorvey—to argue that people with uteruses should have to carry any and all pregnancies to term.
[…]
But those filmmakers, and the rest of the pro-life evangelical community, have another curveball coming. In the final third of director Nick Sweeney’s 79-minute documentary, featuring many end-of-life reflections from McCorvey—who grew up queer, poor, and was sexually abused by a family member her mother sent her to live with after leaving reform school—the former Jane Roe admits that her later turn to the anti-abortion camp as a born-again Christian was “all an act.”
“This is my deathbed confession,” she chuckles, sitting in a chair in her nursing home room, on oxygen. Sweeney asks McCorvey, “Did [the evangelicals] use you as a trophy?” “Of course,” she replies. “I was the Big Fish.” “Do you think you would say that you used them?” Sweeney responds. “Well,” says McCorvey, “I think it was a mutual thing. I took their money and they took me out in front of the cameras and told me what to say. That’s what I’d say.” She even gives an example of her scripted anti-abortion lines. “I’m a good actress,” she points out. “Of course, I’m not acting now.”
I read it and really felt for the restaurant staff . They didn't deserve to be dragged into some political statement not of their own making. But that's a Nat behaviour – no care for anyone else
Of course boosting a specific facebook campaigns numbers might be the point?
Robert Guyton, it might help to be able to read the link. The bits after the question mark can mean a lot of things to the web-site. In this case they appear to be showing that you came from facebook.com with a specific advertising campaign number. I don't know what utm_source=facebook.com, utm_content, utm_medium=social and utm_campaign mean specifically to that publisher (I can guess) but in some cases this can reveal information about how you came to that page.
In really dumb cases somebody encodes a user name and password into the url parameters and somebody else posts it elsewhere, though I haven't seen one of these for long time.
Though the parameters can lead to different pages, Sacha's rule of thumb is usually right because most sites don't do that.
Every lefty should be messaging Nat mp's saying "they won't vote national if Simon is removed, he is a fighter who will claw support back like he did last year" I'm rooting for you Simon, I'm almost certain he's a Labour party supporter! Hang on comrade! You're the best thing to ever happen to Labour!
it's kind of where the culture is at too. There's a taboo about talking about the sometimes severe limits of the biomedical model of psychiatry. That combined with 30 years of neoliberalism and health cuts is a potently bad brew.
Agree that the funding cuts haven't helped but really the predilection to medicate goes way back….my personal experience of the service is if you don't have forceful advocacy (and to a degree even if you do) then the easy option is the only option
Clarification…personal means family member in case anyone was wondering
Food prices increased by 4.4% average, with "grocery food prices" increasing 4.2%. Not sure how they got there because if I look at my weekly shopping my calculation comes to an increase that sits at double digits. And I am not the only one saying this.
With wages seeing a freeze and thousands loosing their job lets see how this looks in 3 months time. Any money needs to stretch even further, its even worse for people on any type of benefit.
Part of the ugly reality of Covid. 1000 FBU employees layed off. I struggle with the minimising covid deaths policy of the Labour led government when this is the trade off.
"We have to make some very difficult decisions which include looking at reducing the number of people we employ by approximately 10%. This will equate to around 1,000 positions across New Zealand."
Every country is seeing the same thing, ppl losing jobs, we are one of the few coming out of lockdown, infact we've had one of the shorter lock downs. Every one is feeling pain and disruption, again, saving lives is saving the economy.
Feel bad for the ones to be laid off but really what does Fletcher's think they are doing. The board & executive had to be really pushed to make even small $ cuts in their very large wages , there have been very strong signals about the levels of money to be spent on government infrastructure – so why not look to at least be creating half time jobs for those who may want this. Then they have at least some income plus half a week to do other work etc and be available when the infrastructure spend comes through
Yup, the wheels have come off ERC. When will they pull the plug? Next week, when National may or may not have new Leader? Imagine Simon surviving the challenge and then being kicked out of his sandpit.
"In New Zealand the UBI was raised during the last election campaign by Gareth Morgan and The Opportunities Party – TOP – and it’s back again pushing for it, (although Morgan is no longer the party leader) saying this is an important transitional period in people’s lives and they need support.
None of the parties in Parliament have picked it up so far.
Max Rashbrooke writes about economic inequality and is a 2020 JD Stout Fellow at Victoria University.
He says UBI is not the answer – not because he thinks we'll end up with a workless society, but because the system is hugely draining on the economy."
Yesterday Winston Peters focussed his attention on the important matter at hand. Tweeting. Like the former, and quite possibly next, orange POTUS, from whom he takes much of his political strategy, Winston is an avid X’er.His message didn’t resemble an historic address this time. In fact it was more reminiscent ...
Buzz from the Beehive A significant decline in natural gas production has given Resources Minister Shane Jones an opportunity to reiterate his enthusiasm for the mining and burning of coal. For good measure, he has praised an announcement from Genesis Energy that it will resume importing coal. He and Energy ...
“Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to look at who is funding them. The political parties are legally obliged to make ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Here is my subjective ranking on a “most-left” to “most-right” scale of most of our major NZ Universities, with some anecdotal (and at times amusing) evidence to back up the claim.Extreme Left Auckland University of TechnologyEvidenceThe ...
Eric Crampton writes – I hadn’t thought about this one until a helpful email showed up in my inbox.It’s pretty obvious that income tax thresholds should automatically index with inflation – whether to anchor the thresholds in percentiles of the income distribution, or to anchor against a real ...
Jacqui Van Der Kaay writes – Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National ...
Gary Judd writes – The Dean of the law school at the Auckland University of Technology is someone called Khylee Quince. I have been sent her social media posting in which she has, over the LawNews headline “Senior King’s Counsel files complaint about compulsory tikanga Maori studies for ...
Cleo Paskal writes – WASHINGTON, D.C.: ‘Many of us have received phone calls from [the opposing camp] telling them if they join the camp they will be given projects for their wards and $300,000 [around US$35,000] each’, says former Malaita Premier Daniel Suidani. The elections in Solomon Islands aren’t ...
With hindsight, it was inevitable that (a) Hamas would agree to the ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt and Qatar and that ( b) Israel would then immediately launch attacks on Rafah, regardless. We might have hoped the concessions made by Hamas would cause Israel to desist from slaughtering thousands more ...
Placards and mourners outside the Kilbirnie Mosque following the Christchurch terror attack: MSD has terminated the Kaiwhakaoranga service, which has been used by 415 families since the attacks. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The Government’s pledge to only cut ‘back office’ staff rather than ‘frontline’ services is on increasingly shaky ground, with ...
There’s been a few smaller public transport announcements over the last week or so that I thought I’d cover in a single post. Fareshare I’ve long called for Auckland Transport to offer a way to enable employer-subsidised public transport options. The need for this took on even more importance ...
Parliament’s speaker had no option but to refer Green MP Julie Anne Genter to the Privileges Committee for her behaviour in the House last Wednesday evening. The incident, in which she crossed the floor to wave a book and yell at National Minister Matt Doocey, reflects poorly on Genter and ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Who likes being sneered at? Nobody. Worse yet, when the sneerer has their facts all wrong, and might well be an idiot.The sneer in question is The adults are in charge now, and it is a sneer offered in retort to criticism of this new Government, no matter how well ...
When in government, Labour pushed to extend the Parliamentary term to four years, to reduce accountability and our ability to vote out a bad government. And now, they're trying to do it through the member's ballot, with a Four-Year Parliamentary Term Legislation Bill. The bill at least requires a referendum ...
A ballot for a single Member's Bill was held today, and the following bill was drawn: Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill (Hūhana Lyndon) The bill would prevent the government from stealing Māori land in breach of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. It ...
Simeon Brown, alongside Wayne Brown, is favouring a political figleaf now in exchange for loading up tens of millions in extra interest costs on Auckland ratepayers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s is pushing back hard at suggestions from Local Government Minister Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown ...
Buzz from the Beehive One headline-grabber from the Beehive yesterday was the OECD’s advice that the government must bring the Budget deficit under control or face higher interest rates. Another was the announcement of a $1.9 billion “investment” in Corrections over the next four years. In the best interests of ...
Chris Trotter writes – Had Zheng He’s fleet sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks of the Ming Dynasty, among the largest and most sophisticated sailing vessels ever constructed, would have failed ...
David Farrar writes – Two articles give a useful contrast in balance. Both seek to be neutral explainer articles. This one in the Herald on Social Investment covers the pros and cons nicely. It links to critical pieces and talks about aspects that failed and aspects that are more ...
The tikanga regulations will compel law students to be taught that a system which does not conform with the rule of law is nevertheless law which should be observed and applied…Gary Judd KC writes – I have made a complaint to Parliament’s Regulation ...
The future of Te Huia, the train between Hamilton and Auckland, has been getting a lot of attention recently as current funding for it is only in place till the end of June. The government initially agreed to a five year trial, through to April 2026, but that was subject ...
TL;DR: Hamas has just agreed to Israel’s ceasefire plan. Nelson hospital’s rebuild has been cut back to save money. The OECD suggests New Zealand break up network monopolies, including in electricity. PM Christopher Luxon’s news conference on a prison expansion announcement last night was his messiest yet.Here’s my top six ...
A homicide in Ponsonby, a manhunt with a killer on the run. The nation’s leader stands before a press conference reassuring a frightened nation that he’ll sort it out, he’ll keep them safe, he’ll build some new prison spaces.Sorry what? There’s a scary dude on the run with a gun ...
Hi,I know it’s been awhile since there’s been any Webworm merch — and today that all changes!Over the last four months, I’ve been working with New Zealand artist Jess Johnson to create a series of t-shirts, caps and stickers that are infused with Webworm DNA — and as of right ...
The OECD’s chief economist yesterday laid it on the line for the new Government: bring the deficit under control or face higher Reserve Bank interest rates for longer. And to bring the deficit under control, she meant not borrowing for tax cuts. But there was more. Without policy changes—introducing a ...
After a hiatus of over four months Selwyn Manning and I finally got it together to re-start the “A View from Afar” podcast series. We shall see how we go but aim to do 2 episodes per month if possible. … Continue reading → ...
In 2008, the UK Parliament passed the Climate Change Act 2008. The law established a system of targets, budgets, and plans, with inbuilt accountability mechanisms; the aim was to break the cycle of empty promises and replace it with actual progress towards emissions reduction. The law was passed with near-universal ...
Buzz from the Beehive Local Water Done Well – let’s be blunt – is a silly name, but the first big initiative to put it into practice has gone done well. This success is reflected in the headline on an RNZ report:District mayors welcome Auckland’s new water deal with ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate ConnectionsA farmworker cleans the solar panels of a solar water pump in the village of Jagadhri, Haryana Country, India. (Photo credit: Prashanth Vishwanathan/ IWMI) Decisions made in India over the next few years will play a key role in global ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – The Children’s Minister, Karen Chhour, intends to repeal Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989 because it creates conflict between claimed Crown Treaty obligations and the child’s best interests. In her words, “Oranga Tamariki’s governing principles and its act should be colour ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. ...
Brian Easton writes – This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be (I will report on them ...
TL;DR:Winston Peters is reported to have won a budget increase for MFAT. David Seymour wanted his Ministry of Regulation to be three times bigger than the Productivity Commission. Simeon Brown is appointing a Crown Monitor to Watercare to protect the Claytons Crown Guarantee he had to give ratings agencies ...
The gloves are off. That might seem to be the undertone of surprisingly tough talk from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministers. Winston Peters, the foreign minister, may be facing legal action after making allegations about former Australian foreign minister Bob Carr on Radio New Zealand. Carr had made highly ...
I could be a florist'Round the corner from Rye LaneI'll be giving daisies to craziesBut, baby, I'll wrap you up real safe Oh, I can give you flowers At the end of every dayFor the center of your table, a rainbowIn case you have people 'round to stay Depending on ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to May 12 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Finance Minister Nicola Willis will give a pre-budget speech on Thursday.Parliament sits from Question Time at 2pm on ...
The price of the foreign affairs “reset” is now becoming apparent, with Defence set to get a funding boost in the Budget. Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed that it will be one of the few votes, apart from Health and Education and possibly Police, which will get an increase ...
A listing of 26 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 28, 2024 thru Sat, May 4, 2024. Story of the week "It’s straight out of Big Tobacco’s playbook. In fact, research by John Cook and his colleagues ...
Yesterday I received come lovely feedback following my Star Wars themed newsletter. A few people mentioned they’d enjoyed reading the personal part at the beginning.I often begin newsletters with some memories, or general thoughts, before commencing the main topic. This hopefully sets the mood and provides some context in which ...
April 30 was going to be the day we’d be calling Mum from London to wish her a happy birthday. Then it became the day we would be going to St. Paul's at Evensong to remember her. The aim of the cathedral builders was to find a way to make their ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Can’t remember the last book by a Kiwi author you read? Think the NZ government should spend less on the arts in favor of helping the homeless? If so, as far as Newsroom is concerned, you probably deserve to be called a cultural ignoramus ...
Eric Crampton writes – Grudges are bad. Better to move on. But it can be fun to keep a couple of really trivial ones, so you’re not tempted to have other ones. For example, because of the rootkit fiasco of 2005, no Sony products in our household. ...
A new report warns an estimated third of the adult population have unmet need for health care.Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāHere’s the six key things I learned about Aotaroa’s political economy this week around housing, climate and poverty:Politics - Three opinion polls confirmed support for PM Christopher Luxon ...
Today is May the fourth. Which was just a regular day when my mother took me to see the newly released Star Wars at the Odeon in Rotorua. The queue was right around the corner. Some years later this day became known as Star Wars Day, the date being a ...
Buzz from the Beehive Much more media attention is being paid to something Winston Peters said about former Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr than to a speech he delivered to the New Zealand China Council. One word is missing from the speech: AUKUS. But AUKUS loomed large in his considerations ...
Is the economy in another long stagnation? If so, why?This is about the time that the Treasury will be locking up its economic forecasts to be published in the 2024 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update (BEFU) on budget day, 30 May. I am not privy to what they will be ...
The annual list of who's been bribing our politicians is out, and journalists will no doubt be poring over it to find the juiciest and dirtiest bribes. The government's fast-track invite list is likely to be a particular focus, and we already know of one company on the list which ...
In the weeks after the October 7 Hamas attacks on Southern Israel I wrote about the possible 2nd, 3rd and even 4th order effects of the conflict. These included new fronts being opened in the West Bank (with Hamas), Golan … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is one of the oldest truisms that there is never a good time for MPs to get a pay rise. This week’s announcement of pay raises of around 2.8% backdated to last October could hardly have come at a worse time, with the ...
David Farrar writes – Newshub reports: Newshub can reveal a fresh allegation of intimidation against Green MP Julie-Anne Genter. Genter is subject to a disciplinary process for aggressively waving a book in the face of National Minister Matt Doocey in the House – but it’s not the first time ...
The Treasury has published a paper today on the global productivity slowdown and how it is playing out in New Zealand: The productivity slowdown: implications for the Treasury’s forecasts and projections. The Treasury Paper examines recent trends in productivity and the potential drivers of the slowdown. Productivity for the whole economy ...
Winston Peters’ comments about former Australian foreign minister look set to be an ongoing headache for both him and Luxon. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts and , along with regular guests on Gaza and ...
These puppet strings don't pull themselvesYou're thinking thoughts from someone elseHow much time do you think you have?Are you prepared for what comes next?The debating chamber can be a trying place for an opposition MP. What with the person in charge, the speaker, typically being an MP from the governing ...
The land around Lyme Regis, where Meryl Streep once stood, in a hood, on the Cobb, is falling into the sea.MerylThe land around Lyme Regis, around the Cobb that made it rich, has always been falling slowly but surely into the sea. Read more ...
Buzz from the Beehive Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters was bound to win headlines when he set out his thinking about AUKUS in his speech to the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. The headlines became bigger when – during an interview on RNZ’s Morning Report today – he criticised ...
The Post reports on how the government is refusing to release its advice on its corrupt Muldoonist fast-track law, instead using the "soon to be publicly available" refusal ground to hide it until after select committee submissions on the bill have closed. Fast-track Minister Chris Bishop's excuse? “It's not ...
As pressure on it grows, the livestock industry’s approach to the transition to Net Zero is increasingly being compared to that of fossil fuel interests. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / Getty ImagesTL;DR: Here’s the top five news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above ...
The New Zealand Herald reports – Stats NZ has offered a voluntary redundancy scheme to all of its workers as a way to give staff some control over their “future” amidst widespread job losses in the public sector. In an update to staff this morning, seen by the Herald, Statistics New Zealand ...
On Werewolf/Scoop, I usually do two long form political columns a week. From now on, there will be an extra column each week about music and movies. But first, some late-breaking political events:The rise in unemployment numbers for the March quarter was bigger than expected – and especially sharp ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: TVNZ says it is dealing with about 50 formal complaints over its coverage of the latest 1News-Verian political poll, with some viewers – as well as the Prime Minister and a former senior Labour MP – critical of the tone of the 6pm report. ...
Muriel Newman writes – When Meridian Energy was seeking resource consents for a West Coast hydro dam proposal in 2010, local Maori “strenuously” objected, claiming their mana was inextricably linked to ‘their’ river and could be damaged. After receiving a financial payment from the company, however, the Ngai Tahu ...
Alwyn Poole writes – “An SEP,’ he said, ‘is something that we can’t see, or don’t see, or our brain doesn’t let us see, because we think that it’s somebody else’s problem. That’s what SEP means. Somebody Else’s Problem. The brain just edits it out, it’s like a ...
Our trust in our political institutions is fast eroding, according to a Maxim Institute discussion paper, Shaky Foundations: Why our democracy needs trust. The paper – released today – raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand’s political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency ...
This article was prepared for publication yesterday. More ministerial announcements have been posted on the government’s official website since it was written. We will report on these later today …. Buzz from the BeehiveThere we were, thinking the environment is in trouble, when along came Jones. Shane Jones. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop, today released his decision on twenty recommendations referred to him by the Wellington City Council relating to its Intensification Planning Instrument, after the Council rejected those recommendations of the Independent Hearings Panel and made alternative recommendations. “Wellington notified its District Plan on ...
Rape Awareness Week (6-10 May) is an important opportunity to acknowledge the continued effort required by government and communities to ensure that all New Zealanders can live free from violence, say Ministers Karen Chhour and Louise Upston. “With 1 in 3 women and 1 in 8 men experiencing sexual violence ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government will be delivering a more efficient Healthy School Lunches Programme, saving taxpayers approximately $107 million a year compared to how Labour funded it, by embracing innovation and commercial expertise. “We are delivering on our commitment to treat taxpayers’ money ...
New research on the impacts of extreme weather on coastal marine habitats in Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay will help fishery managers plan for and respond to any future events, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. A report released today on research by Niwa on behalf of Fisheries New Zealand ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters will lead a broad political delegation on a five-stop Pacific tour next week to strengthen New Zealand’s engagement with the region. The delegation will visit Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Tuvalu. “New Zealand has deep and ...
There has been a material decline in gas production according to figures released today by the Gas Industry Co. Figures released by the Gas Industry Company show that there was a 12.5 per cent reduction in gas production during 2023, and a 27.8 per cent reduction in gas production in the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins tonight announced the recipients of the Minister of Defence Awards of Excellence for Industry, saying they all contribute to New Zealanders’ security and wellbeing. “Congratulations to this year’s recipients, whose innovative products and services play a critical role in the delivery of New Zealand’s defence capabilities, ...
Welcome to you all - it is a pleasure to be here this evening.I would like to start by thanking Greg Lowe, Chair of the New Zealand Defence Industry Advisory Council, for co-hosting this reception with me. This evening is about recognising businesses from across New Zealand and overseas who in ...
It is a pleasure to be speaking to you as the Minister for Digitising Government. I would like to thank Akolade for the invitation to address this Summit, and to acknowledge the great effort you are making to grow New Zealand’s digital future. Today, we stand at the cusp of ...
New Zealand is urging both Israel and Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire to avoid the further humanitarian catastrophe that military action in Rafah would unleash, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The immense suffering in Gaza cannot be allowed to worsen further. Both sides have a responsibility to ...
A new online data dashboard released today as part of the Government’s school attendance action plan makes more timely daily attendance data available to the public and parents, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. The interactive dashboard will be updated once a week to show a national average of how ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced Rosemary Banks will be New Zealand’s next Ambassador to the United States of America. “Our relationship with the United States is crucial for New Zealand in strategic, security and economic terms,” Mr Peters says. “New Zealand and the United States have a ...
The Government is considering creating a new tier of minerals permitting that will make it easier for hobby miners to prospect for gold. “New Zealand was built on gold, it’s in our DNA. Our gold deposits, particularly in regions such as Otago and the West Coast have always attracted fortune-hunters. ...
Minister for Trade Todd McClay today announced that New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will commence negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA). Minister McClay met with his counterpart UAE Trade Minister Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi in Dubai, where they announced the launch of negotiations on a ...
New Zealand Sign Language Week is an excellent opportunity for all Kiwis to give the language a go, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. This week (May 6 to 12) is New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) Week. The theme is “an Aotearoa where anyone can sign anywhere” and aims to ...
Six tertiary students have been selected to work on NASA projects in the US through a New Zealand Space Scholarship, Space Minister Judith Collins announced today. “This is a fantastic opportunity for these talented students. They will undertake internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center or its Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where ...
New Zealanders will be safer because of a $1.9 billion investment in more frontline Corrections officers, more support for offenders to turn away from crime, and more prison capacity, Corrections Minister Mark Mitchell says. “Our Government said we would crack down on crime. We promised to restore law and order, ...
The OECD’s latest report on New Zealand reinforces the importance of bringing Government spending under control, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The OECD conducts country surveys every two years to review its members’ economic policies. The 2024 New Zealand survey was presented in Wellington today by OECD Chief Economist Clare Lombardelli. ...
The Government has delivered on its election promise to provide a financially sustainable model for Auckland under its Local Water Done Well plan. The plan, which has been unanimously endorsed by Auckland Council’s Governing Body, will see Aucklanders avoid the previously projected 25.8 per cent water rates increases while retaining ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters discussed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and enhanced cooperation in the Pacific with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during her first official visit to New Zealand today. "New Zealand and Germany enjoy shared interests and values, including the rule of law, democracy, respect for the international system ...
The Minister Responsible for RMA Reform, Chris Bishop today released his decision on four recommendations referred to him by the Western Bay of Plenty District Council, opening the door to housing growth in the area. The Council’s Plan Change 92 allows more homes to be built in existing and new ...
Thank you, John McKinnon and the New Zealand China Council for the invitation to speak to you today. Thank you too, all members of the China Council. Your effort has played an essential role in helping to build, shape, and grow a balanced and resilient relationship between our two ...
The Government is modernising insurance law to better protect Kiwis and provide security in the event of a disaster, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly announced today. “These reforms are long overdue. New Zealand’s insurance law is complicated and dated, some of which is more than 100 years old. ...
The coalition Government is refreshing its approach to supporting pay equity claims as time-limited funding for the Pay Equity Taskforce comes to an end, Public Service Minister Nicola Willis says. “Three years ago, the then-government introduced changes to the Equal Pay Act to support pay equity bargaining. The changes were ...
Structured literacy will change the way New Zealand children learn to read - improving achievement and setting students up for success, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Being able to read and write is a fundamental life skill that too many young people are missing out on. Recent data shows that ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Canada’s refusal to comply in full with a CPTPP trade dispute ruling in our favour over dairy trade is cynical and New Zealand has no intention of backing down. Mr McClay said he has asked for urgent legal advice in respect of our ‘next move’ ...
The rights of our children and young people will be enhanced by changes the coalition Government will make to strengthen oversight of the Oranga Tamariki system, including restoring a single Children’s Commissioner. “The Government is committed to delivering better public services that care for our most at-risk young people and ...
The Government is making it easier for minor changes to be made to a building consent so building a home is easier and more affordable, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on making it easier and cheaper to build homes so we can ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards – Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)Political scientist, Dr Bryce Edwards. “Follow the money” is the classic directive to journalists trying to understand where power and influence lie in society. In terms of uncovering who influences various New Zealand political parties and governments, it therefore pays to ...
RNZ News As Israel presses ahead with strikes in Rafah and seizing the Rafah crossing from Egypt, aid agencies are sounding the alarm of a “catastrophic humanitarian situation”. Rafah was “significant” because it was the only part in Gaza that had not been terribly damaged by the conflict, United Nations ...
With funding set to be scrapped for the Hamilton-Auckland commuter train, Te Huia enthusiast Georgie Dansey argues for it to be thrown a lifeline. It’s 5.45am and the chain of my crappy old bike falls off slugging up the one hill in Hamilton. I contemplate yeeting the bike into the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Cooke, Honorary Fellow, School of the Environment, The University of Queensland We feel ecological grief when we lose places, species or ecosystems we value and love. These losses are a growing threat to mental health and wellbeing globally. We all see ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Shauna Brail, Associate Professor, Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto A shift to hybrid and remote work continues to affect worker presence in Toronto’s downtown.(Shutterstock) Downtown Toronto, the core of Canada’s largest city, continues to reel from the lingering ...
Responding to an Auditor-General's report slamming failures in the administration of the 2023 General Election, Taxpayers’ Union Policy and Public Affairs Manager, James Ross, said: ...
Productivity apps now make up a big chunk of the software market. But do they work? And why do they all have AI integrations?Despite being firmly on the record as a physical planner fan, I sometimes dream of something better than my pretty diary and its scrawled, ugly, interior ...
The Taxpayers’ Union says the Beehive need to lead by example, following reports of more than $50,000 spent upgrading video conferencing equipment and furniture in the Prime Minister’s office. Taxpayers’ Union Campaign Manager, Connor Molloy, ...
An objective list of the 50 most powerful people in New Zealand, as judged by the Spinoff Editorial Board. It’s power list season, baby, and we want in on the action. Sure, there’s the rich list and the powerful “c-suite” list and the young people with power (hmmm) but here, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thalia Anthony, Professor of Law, University of Technology Sydney ShutterstockThis article contains information on deaths in custody and the names of deceased people, and describes ongoing colonial violence towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. First Nations people in Australia ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alex Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Macquarie University Netflix Baby Reindeer’s phenomenal success has much to do with its writer and lead, Richard Gadd, who plays Donny in a tender semi-autobiographical account of sexual abuse, harassment and stalking. Gadd’s story has ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Collins, Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Newcastle KarolinaGrabowska/Pexels If you didn’t have food allergies as a child, is it possible to develop them as an adult? The short answer is yes. But the reasons why are much ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Paul Moon, Professor of History, Auckland University of Technology Ans Westra, self-portrait, c. 1963. National Library ref AWM-0705-F They try but invariably fail – those writers who believe they are capable of encapsulating in prose or verse the essence of ...
Stewart Sowman-Lund looks at the growing concern around the world in this extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. What’s all this? When Covid-19 arrived on our shores in early 2020, some argued we were too slow, or crucially, ill-prepared for a pandemic. So ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Franco Montalto, Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering and Director, Sustainable Water Resource Engineering Laboratory, Drexel University Water runs into a storm drain in a Los Angeles alley on Aug. 19, 2023, during Tropical Storm Hilary.Citizen of the Planet/Universal Images ...
The inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones has turned up a new witness who says he saw two teenagers and a small child in a high vis vest in the area where the boy’s body was found the day he died. Lachie’s body was discovered face up ...
Stories from the tenancy trenches, featuring spider infestations, cupboard rats and same-sex discrimination. Lucy’s brother was living in a damp 1930s building in Mt Eden where “he had to tie the cupboard doors closed so the rats didn’t get in”. Although he shared custody of his six-year-old son, his property ...
Simeon Brown, Chris Luxon, and Wayne Brown climbed into a hole and announced a plan to solve Auckland’s water woes. This is how it’ll work. New Zealand’s pipes are munted. They’re cracked and leaking, and struggling to handle all the extra poos excreted by our rising population. It’s a big, ...
Opinion: Nicholas Khoo looks at two key points in the high-stakes foreign policy pact debate – and asks if NZ can engage with as little drama as possible. The post Where to next for the Aukus ruckus? appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Opinion: ‘Reference-class forecasting’ is at the heart of improving pricing a project and identifying the expected timeframe but it doesn’t appear to be in use here The post ‘Think fast and act slowly’ is failing big projects appeared first on Newsroom. ...
What do a sombrero in Argentina and cognitive driving tests have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not setting up a bad joke. Hinengaro Clinic dementia clinician Gregory Winkelman has the answer on today’s episode of The Detail. “We ask a patient’s spouse or son or daughter: If you went to ...
Wellington long jumper Phoebe Edwards is back and she’s having fun again. Until this year, Edwards, a top athlete in her teens, had never competed as a senior athlete in New Zealand. In March, the 26-year-old won a national long jump title in a lifetime best of 6.28m after ...
After replacing a fifth of their caucus in just four months, the Greens’ opportunity to reset, reshuffle and refocus on the Government is quickly slipping away The post Persistent Green Party scandals delay caucus reset appeared first on Newsroom. ...
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Paranoia strikes deep into Oz: "One in eight Australians believe Microsoft founder Bill Gates is somehow responsible for the coronavirus and the 5G wireless network is to blame for spreading the disease." https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/world/utterly-baseless-one-in-eight-australians-believe-5g-spreading-covid-19
Understandable if rich ole Bill owned the network, perhaps. Just weird. "The same number of people believe the pandemic is being used to force people into getting vaccinations."
Probably mean them commies in govt. SloMo & his suits, who they recently elected. "A new Essential poll has revealed the proportion of people who believe coronavirus conspiracy theories. One in five people believe the media and government are exaggerating the death toll to scare the population. Two in five think the virus was engineered and released from a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan".
Still, I doubt anyone ever accused Australians of being rational. They seem to be becoming a lot more Australian than usual, though.
It's about the poor education system, I suspect – like America
That article is an excellent example of the Association Fallacy.
"The same number of people believe the pandemic is being used to force people into getting vaccinations."
Tell me, do you believe that an eventual covid19 vaccine should be entirely voluntary, without any kind of legal, social or economic coercion? Or do you think there should be negative incentives to increase uptake?
Does your position change if the vaccine is rushed to market with little testing?
Does it change if efficacy is unclear?
Do you think adverse reaction reporting will be better with covid than normal or worse?
No, I'm not an anti-vaxxer. But I'm also not going to write off concerns about covid vaccine use at the medical, social and political levels. The people raising concerns might seem stupid to some but the questions above are legitimate and need to be addressed at some point. Taking a vaccination is god approach won't help and will further polarise people.
(also, let's not forget the third party, nefarious actors in the debate. It's pretty clear that the trolls are there, and I would guess astroturferers as well).
btw, I think you will find that there are plenty of left wing voters who are in the subculture concerned about vaccination generally, and how it will be handled with covid specifically.
If a vaccine is developed, I wouldn't make people take it accept in the case of travel, all incoming people would need proof of vaccination and so world any exiting kiwis that wish to return.
what if we end up with community transmission in NZ again? And more deaths and disability as a result?
Recruiting 🙂
what?
An old joke about getting more people into the disabled community. Philip Patson had a good version in his comedy routine.
ah, yes.
Except one of the issues here will be rushing out a vaccine and any harm done by that.
We accept all-comers.
To some degree, it would depend on the efficacy of the vaccine. We might be able to protect some if voluntary uptake is sufficient.
If not, L4 or a jab. You choose, police enforce, ankle tags if necessary.
Or if that framing is unpalatable, everyone goes into L4 again unless they get the vaccine.
this is why there are anti-vaxxers.
It's pretty simple: if there is community transmission without a vaccine, we all go back into L4 again.
If you don't want the vaccine, go back into L4. Just don't get upset that people who made a different choice get to leave their homes.
And any unintended harm from vaccine is just put down to… collateral damage, taking one for the team?
We also just take everything the pharmaceutical company says as gospel?
I'd imagine said vaccine would cost a pretty penny too.
You don't want it, you don't have to have it.
Just stay home under L4 conditions. Like we've all just done.
"You don't want it, you don't have to have it."
Let's stomp on any nuance and jump straight to fundamentalism.
This isn't a nuanced issue.
I'm sure the PM will explain it patiently for people who need more time to get it, but if we get another outbreak and there's an effective vaccine with not nearly as many adverse effects as covid19 has, there are only a couple of options that stop us turning into UK/US/Sweden:
If you can think of another variation that won't result in thousands of dead, sing out.
I am not so good at the political terms.
I imagine what you have described is on the authoritarian end of the scale.
I would imagine there would be a lot of resistance to your idea, and not just from the pro plaguers.
"Authoritarian scale".
We just came out of Level 4. That's as authoritarian as it gets. Because of a fecking pandemic.
A voluntary vaccine gives you an alternative to Level 4, but you need to take it for it to work.
It certainly will Gsays , the race to a vaccine isn't a race to save lives, its a race to make shitloads of money
I understood what you meant McFlock. I am pointing out that mandatory and compulsory vaccination brings large societal issues and this is part of why the anti-vaxxers are all over covid. The polarisation will increase until there is a meeting ground.
Let's not forget it's not the anti-vaxxers in NZ that have dropped general vaccination rates, it's the neoliberal fuckery with the health system that has limited access. This is why the MoH isn't overly worried about anti-vaxxers.
People can discuss societal issues and ethics without being anti-vax. In the same way people can have a moral framework without being religious.
And a lot of the time, either flavour is just noise drowning out more developed discussions.
true in some contexts. If we look at vaccination discussions on TS they tend to be the more heated ones and that's without the third party troll element. On FB and twitter it tends to be a shit show, so I would say that we have lost a large part of our ability to have the conversations.
Beyond that, most 'anti-vaxers' are often ordinary people with legitimate concerns about where society is going but not necessarily the frame work to discuss those in because of poor science literacy. My observation is that hating on them is radicalising them.
Somewhere like NZ, we still have a good chance of finding ways to both address concerns about vaccination and gain relatively high rates without having to use authoritarianism.
It's less authoritarian to offer a vaccine than it is just put everyone into level 4 without an opt-out.
As far as I can see, the discussion here has included compulsory vaccination only for people coming into the country. Personally, I favour compulsory quarantine, as vaccination records can be falsified.
Is that what you were meaning in this conversation? I thought you and I were talking about the NZ population.
I favour quarantine until we have longer term data on efficacy of the vaccine. I'd be surprised if we have that at the point that it starts being rolled out overseas.
bwaghorn mentioned it being compulsory for people coming into NZ.
I've simply been saying that if we get community transmission, we'll all return to level 4 except the ones who choose to vaccinate.
That's not compulsory vaccination, it's compulsory isolation with an out. Currently, there is no out for L4.
The MAGA crowd are dead against taking a vaccine. They have this twisted idea that a vaccine is used to control people and that Covid tests are designed just to collect a persons DNA.
Probably part of the reason Covid is running rampant over there, trump and his dimwitted supporters.
I confidant that enough people will voluntarily get vaccinated to get herd immunity. This is a scary bug.
Yes. Vaccination is already a fact of life if you want to travel extensively. I carry two passports … the usual kiwi one, and my separate vaccination booklet. Yellow fever is the big one, but they’ll check for typhus and Hepatitis A as well.
Not all borders demand to see your vaccination booklet, but if you want to get home without dramas ….
I've been to countries, in the past, where you couldn't enter without Cholera, Yellow fever and even TB, vaccinations.
And parents need to show proof of vaccination certs when children enter pre-school and school.
I wouldn't be surprised if some employers require people to have the COVID vaccination (assuming there is one that is effective, safe, available and affordable), especially in some places or industries. Even if an employer cannot legally require existing employees to get a vaccination (can't see that happening but then again, maybe in some occupations it should), new employees could be required to have it or at least preferred. There may be exceptions for medical reasons perhaps.
My bet is that there will be no vaccine, it is much more likely that there may well be a treatment much like Aids. Too many victims have gotten the virus a second time in particular the U.S. sailors on their ship, which may prove that if you get over it but go back into or stay in an infected environment you have not acquired immunity.
Here's an Australian worth reading
This quote in particular speaks to me .I recognise myself and others
"The mind can turn anything into a toy for the ego, and this is never more clear than in online discussion forums."
https://medium.com/@caityjohnstone/dissident-circles-too-often-become-another-nerdy-hobby-group-7bd43bdf9bf8
Well spotted!
Edited.
And this bit nuts things out well.
Generally, people in dissident circles are under the delusion that this whole thing is about having the perfect beliefs in your head. That if you can just have exactly the right opinions about what’s going on, you “win” in some way, so a ton of energy goes toward finding what looks like the very best set of opinions and arguing with anyone who sees things a tiny little bit differently. And that’s just not what this is about.
This thing is about changing the world, and changing you. That’s it. If you’re not actually, concretely doing one of those two things in any given moment while engaging in dissident circles, you’re just participating in another nerdy hobby group, with about as much consequence.
Goggle summary says about the publisher behind the link:
Medium (website) – Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Medium_(website)
Medium is an online publishing platform developed by Evan Williams and launched in August 2012. It is owned by A Medium Corporation. The platform is an …
Owner: A Medium Corporation
CEO: Evan Williams
Founder(s): Evan Williams
Employees: 85 (May 2017)
Holacracy · freeCodeCamp · Electronic publishing · Social journalism
The reason why this is important is that no single individual can hold an sufficiently complete and sane view of the world in their head. Reality is too damned complicated for that … we actually need other people, with all of their confounding, contradictory disagreeable ideas and beliefs in order to arrive at sane, functional plans of action.
Agreed .And we need to observe our combative urges , to notice them , but let them go in order to listen to other points of view
Oh but what vicious pleasures there are in adversarial flame wars
Politics is aggression.
No it's fucking not.
sorry, couldn't resist.
Controlled or otherwise, the fabric of politics is aggression. Pretty primitive stuff. To engage politically, one has to be fighting for or against something *clue-word, "fighting”
I quite like fighting, although I prefer tai chi to hard combat. Strength, tone, concentration, ability to be present can be built in the process, as well as the clarifying of ideas and intent.
I'm less convinced that politics *has to be this way though. Isn't there politics in everything, even the human endeavours that avoid fighting for or against?
Politics is controlled confrontation.
Aggression is what happens when politics fails.
Politics is passive-aggressive Machiavellian power games in a silk suit. I guess that makes it more civilised?
Yes. Much more so than all the known alternatives.
But never forget this, effective political operators, for all the positional games they play, ultimately know how to make the deal. And deals are negotiated.
Agreed, and JA has mastered the art, by being awesome at networking (aka making friends).
https://twitter.com/publicaddress/status/1262996506488889344?s=20
Grey, what's your point about the people behind the publishing platform?
Evan Williams has rock solid credentials in that space: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Williams_(Internet_entrepreneur)
Of course the alternative to the description of nerdy hobby groups is to be conservatively in favour of the status quo. My impression of National is they resist even considering "progressive" changes. Especially the big issues like Climate change, or social imbalances.
So I would like to see myself as championing valuable change. And I am not ashamed of that even though I can't do much about it.
China is covering up again in Northern China the new outbreak is far worse than the figures they are providing the WHO.
All other outbreaks around the world show a rapid increase followed by a slow decline.
The figures for the last 10 days show 1420 new cases every day for 10days no change.
Very suspicious no increase no decline but exactly the same number.
The National party want us to start bringing in students from overseas by July ,put them into isolation .why waste resources if one of those students need hospital care or are asymptomatic then we could be back to square one.
You don’t happen to have a link for that, do you?
I find your choice of words an odd one. What do you mean by “waste resources”? You do know that visitors to and guests in and of our country do receive medical attention and healthcare when required, don’t you? International students pay for mandatory health insurance AFAIK. How and why should an overseas student be seen differently from a returning Kiwi, who could equally be asymptomatic?
RNZ this morning for Nationals Education spokes person.
I still can't get the sharing link working.
Looking at ABC news one person has tested positive 3 times over 2 month as covid has come back twice after initial infection.
So if some body coming in from overseas and starts another cluster that could cost us way more .
What exactly is the problem with not being able to link?
I presume you mean this:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/417075/sore-throat-omitted-from-covid-19-arrival-cards
You haven’t answered how this is any different for an overseas traveller compared to a returning Kiwi.
I'm guessing it is the basic mechanics at issue. #101
The most obvious difference is a returning Kiwi is coming home.
The student is here as part of a commercial arrangement, a cog in a profit driven enterprise. That's enough for me to make a discernment.
Yes, I understand that a returning Kiwi is coming home to the Motherland but what difference does that make to the health risks involved?
At least you’re open and honest about your biased and binary attitude towards education of international students. I’d say it is much more than what you make it out to be but that’s a different conversation and a different reason for refusing people entry into the country or a VISA to study here. FYI, the NZ universities are non-profit institutions and they are operating with a 3% operating surplus guideline set by TEC.
https://www.universitiesnz.ac.nz/about-university-sector/how-nz-universities-are-funded
A returning Kiwi/NZ resident we can't refuse but we have a choice about anyone else who comes in.
Of course.
I had to walk away from this thread.
Firstly your use of Motherland, "I find your choice of words an odd one".
Then to go on and imply there was some basic racist intention behind my thinking – binary and biased.
It is the indecent rush to BAU, that motivated me, just because current funding models are not enough.
Not to fear, have I got a politician for you: Muller wants to open our border to China, right after Aussie.
China is covering up again in Northern China the new outbreak is far worse than the figures they are providing the WHO.
The figures for the last 10 days show 1420 new cases every day for 10days no change
Link or links? Thank you in advance.
Sociopath war criminal given platform on BBC to spread more lies
https://twitter.com/five15design/status/1262852969977937922?s=20
Oh dear – he has never realised that he has run the hero to zero trajectory. Perhaps we could refer the british media to our own Marist school cluster which looks like it may have been going for only about a week before everyone was asked to isolate.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/121561276/coronavirus-new-zealand-needs-to-wise-up-says-report
Think tank report wanting more foreign direct investment.. Rather than us saving up and owning our own stuff
This think tank has had a number of reports quoted in stuff. They operate under the university of auckland but I wondered just how independent they are and who is funding them. They list at least one foundation partner who has given support who looks like they may be an overseas based hedge fund manager . A quick google and he looks like he may also have been the beneficiary of being able to buy sensitive NZ land by bunging some money to a local school (Not a policy I have ever been in favour of? ) Is there any conflict of interests?
https://informedfutures.org/our-story/
Good research RedBaronCV (Curriculum vitae or CoronaVirus?)
I hope that our efficacious and tenacious legal and justice systems are checking to see whether these overseas 'invest-us' are getting value for money. /sarc
thank you GW. I spend a lot of my time wondering who pulls the strings. I'll go with corona virus as the cv is historical but i don't want to trouble the mods!
CV = Colonial Viper, cause of many historical flamewars (and much amusement)
I've actually gone off and had a skim through some of their papers. What they do not appear to be is
– peer reviewed
– evidence based. although they do reference other publications – it's hard to know how selective this referencing might be
– whether these are academics operating within their expertise or not. I've seen elsewhere lawyers writing as if they were experts on how to format the advanced statistical modelling of virus transmission when the understanding is trite.
_ if these are “discussion papers” where and when is the feedback taken
Really it looks like academics who may be way outside their lane writing a blog and hiding behind a think tank designation/branding. to diseminate prefered political ideas/
Twitter and face book and the standard are likely better informed.
Personally I’ve always wondered where Mr Gluckman was as the Nact science advisor when Nact where doing all the drug testing and moving people out of their homes because of so called “P” contamination.
Think tank report wanting more foreign direct investment..
That $US 4 trillion Congress has given to US corporations is a lot of money that's going to be looking for somewhere to be in a world decimated by the depression that's coming straight at us.
edit – To clarify – I think there will be a lot of pressure to align with US business interests.
yep US business interests will arrive here just long enough to rip us off before stuffing it into a tax haven.
Well the heath app is here. I see they are making no promises about deleting the contact details . Just where you went after 21 days. And it looks like the data is on offshore servers.
Honestly I'm just going to take a photo of the businesses I'vr gone into – that will show where I have been.
And how long before there is discrimination – no app and you are not allowed in?
With that app, where you went is stored only on your phone. They get your contact details on their server.
And there have already been businesses trading for weeks that will not let you in the door without verifying you have logged into one of several other apps.
Yep I understand that but at the end of level two or level one when the tracing is no longer needed then they should delete the contact details on their server otherwise some new bad actor (Maybe Act gets elected) changes the rules and decides that it can be used for other purposes.
Are they going to enshrine these rules so an 80% majority is required to change them – thought not!
Well the “you must use an app” is a form of discrimination – no poor people need apply ? They can do without my money then. And if they have been trading for weeks then have they been breaking the lockdown rules?
The Ministry of Health already has lots of information about us on its servers. This adds very little.
Not all businesses were banned from trading. All of them needed to record who was entering their premises.
You are welcome to stay away from all places that require you to record your presence, if that makes you feel better.
The MOH shouldn't have stacks of data on me. I've opted out of everything plus I have the ultimate weapon. I belong to a long lived family that goes to the doctor about twice in an adult lifetime. I haven't been for years.
I don’t mind paper records – somebody stands on them or loses them pretty quickly in my experience. It’s the electronic stuff that hangs around.
For those interested in answers: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/05/20/1180650/everything-you-need-to-know-about-nzs-new-covid-19-app
Well that answers a few questions so why doesn't the health department put it on it's website? Looks like taking a photo of where I go (one in one out) is just as good as the app so why didn't they tell us that ages ago – instead of people like me just doing it and the government wasting money on the app. And for what it's worth I'm not interested in enriching Amazon even marginally with web hosting fees.
That is a very good reason against, in this case. Not like that guy needs any more money.
Just gone in and read the app FAQ on the MOH website. Well as far as I can see they have failed at the first step of being "transparent". Who developed this app. Peter Thiel – someone else? Are they a developer who may leave a trapdoor in the app so they can harvest data. Do they have a track record for respecting data privacy or not? Do they pay their taxes or just stuff it in tax havens?
Why is an email address necessary to use the app? Who apart from the contract tracing service is harvesting this email address? How do households who share an email address get along? Honestly if it is phone based why does it not simply record a phone number on the base so they can do a "call me text" to the phone owners they want to contact.
And of course they can't help themselves – they want extra information to collate -from the website below are these statements. And who reads the fine print and they are already saying that they are going to update it.
27.3. Aggregate demographic information of Consumers, including approximate age range, gender, and ethnicity, is captured to provide reporting on the usage of the CCTA by different segments of the population. This data is used to inform wider Ministry efforts about the equity of the overall technology response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
33.1. when recording their contact details for upload to the Ministry (other than the email address required for registration) they may choose what contact and identification details they include;
You seem anxious. What would it take for that to change?
No I'm not anxious – I work in tech related fields – but it seriously annoys me when people stand up and go it's safe, nobody can see it and when you look closely that is simply not the case. Health seems particularly prone to this particular delusion. In particular terms of use can be changed unilaterally without options being given to delete the data. Or the whole contact tracing service could be sold (right wing government anyone?)
Think Facebook Cambridge Analytica, the creator of the digital face recognition who just helped themselves to private photos on the web. We should not be naive about data use and aggregation
And don’t forget that within the last few decades at various times abortions, homosexuality single parents unemployed, various ethnic groups have had to deal with their behaviour being either outright criminalised or the state has acted as if they basically were. Put not your trust in princes.
I agree. Credible information is reassuring but hard to find. Having done some work on health IT privacy, it is more advanced in thinking than some other areas. Not often well-explained though.
If the covid app is a sign of advanced health privacy I 'll push the opt out button.
BTW has any thought to ask if the data on the amazon server is actually encrypted and everything can be hacked
Totally agree RB. Anyone in receipt of a main benefit should seriously think twice about this, and it's not paranoia. Back in the 1970s the public were encouraged to dob in solo mums for putting a packet of chocolate biscuits in their supermarket trolley. The modern version of this you really don't want WINZ to find out you've been into a cafe or- heaven forbid, a cinema- because that's evidence that a)you're clearly being given too much money and more scarily b) you're lying about your disability if you're capable of leaving the house. Many people in the UK have been affected by the latter so it's a perfectly reasonable thing to consider.
No way will I ever trust any sort of tracking app created by anyone, yet alone the government. I'll sign in hard copy, but not electronic. Anyway, I don't have mobile data, so moot.
yep, me as well. Same reason I won't use the login on the WINZ website, nor any govt ID validation.
Good to see I have friends and it's not just me.The less info the govt has the better.
BTW as per the above – the solo parents who may be on a benefit or even families on a benefit are likely to be told they have to covid vaccine their kids – we'll get the usual rubbish about how they are slack parents and have to be told what to do.. Me I'd vaccinate all the parents who don't pay or play (look after their kids) then if it has some unusual side effects ….
Everything is fine.
https://twitter.com/UrgentAlertNews/status/1262894788610789377
Home of Dow Chemical, I saw some other footage of the flooding, it's pretty bad.
Has chump blamed Obama yet?
This sounds a good caution.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/audio/2018746935/expert-feature-professor-carolyn-king-invasive-mammals
<i>She [Professor Carolyn King] began her career in Oxford, and was studying weasels in 1971, when she was asked to come and help us get rid of stoats in New Zealand.
She wrote the first ever book on predators in New Zealand Immigrant Killers in 1984 and then The Handbook of New Zealand Mammals (1990), she’s is now working on the third edition.
But her most recent published book is called Invasive Predators in New Zealand – Disaster on Four Small Paws...
"I am very concerned about the possibility of people getting carried away by genetic modification. There's a lot of talk about gene drives, modified genes that can be introduced to a population. They're trying some in Australia for example with the Daughterless Carp Program and these are fish that can produce sons but not daughters. So if you have a whole population with one gender, than sooner or later the population will die out, without you having to set traps or poisons..</i>
Is it possible some National Party leaning folk at Colmar Brunton or TVNZ might leak the result of their poll to Farrar or National Party HQ to allow them to strategise ahead of the release at 6:00pm tomorrow?
And Bridges wants to move the caucus vote to Friday to leave less time for plotting after the poll. https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300016914/simon-bridges-considering-early-caucus-meeting-to-head-off-leadership-challenge
It's on: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/300016914/national-caucus-will-meet-on-friday-to-decide-simon-bridges-fate
Dang, what an ending to the week, one more sleep until the poll, two more sleeps until a possible roll.
Hehehe the tories can't complain that the media isn't covering them now LMAO!
Humans, huh.
https://twitter.com/NFSAonline/status/1262599231447003136
Beautiful, but heartbreakingly sad.
The fish people know a thing or two about targeting the vulnerable.
In its final 20 minutes, the documentary film AKA Jane Roe delivers quite the blow to conservatives who have weaponized the story of Jane Roe herself—real name, Norma McCorvey—to argue that people with uteruses should have to carry any and all pregnancies to term.
[…]
But those filmmakers, and the rest of the pro-life evangelical community, have another curveball coming. In the final third of director Nick Sweeney’s 79-minute documentary, featuring many end-of-life reflections from McCorvey—who grew up queer, poor, and was sexually abused by a family member her mother sent her to live with after leaving reform school—the former Jane Roe admits that her later turn to the anti-abortion camp as a born-again Christian was “all an act.”
“This is my deathbed confession,” she chuckles, sitting in a chair in her nursing home room, on oxygen. Sweeney asks McCorvey, “Did [the evangelicals] use you as a trophy?” “Of course,” she replies. “I was the Big Fish.” “Do you think you would say that you used them?” Sweeney responds. “Well,” says McCorvey, “I think it was a mutual thing. I took their money and they took me out in front of the cameras and told me what to say. That’s what I’d say.” She even gives an example of her scripted anti-abortion lines. “I’m a good actress,” she points out. “Of course, I’m not acting now.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jane-roe-confesses-anti-abortion-conversion-all-an-act-paid-for-by-the-christian-right
( alt link http://archive.li/B8tTv )
Someone told me Northland MP Matt King was arrogant. I know the world isn't going to end over his latest publicity.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12333489
I read it and really felt for the restaurant staff . They didn't deserve to be dragged into some political statement not of their own making. But that's a Nat behaviour – no care for anyone else
Dowie out, Simmonds in.
https://whatsoninvers.nz/sit-boss-looking-forward-to-new-challenge/?utm_content=buffer84e40&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR36fr4Hl4Q_Kb5Tvz9ZO59Yf1TgKS_6mNTO47sgKX46H8dh-9-PmcuUjoE
https://whatsoninvers.nz/sit-boss-looking-forward-to-new-challenge/
I see now.
look for the question mark.
The ol' eroteme, eh! Elegant!
Of course boosting a specific facebook campaigns numbers might be the point?
Robert Guyton, it might help to be able to read the link. The bits after the question mark can mean a lot of things to the web-site. In this case they appear to be showing that you came from facebook.com with a specific advertising campaign number. I don't know what utm_source=facebook.com, utm_content, utm_medium=social and utm_campaign mean specifically to that publisher (I can guess) but in some cases this can reveal information about how you came to that page.
In really dumb cases somebody encodes a user name and password into the url parameters and somebody else posts it elsewhere, though I haven't seen one of these for long time.
Though the parameters can lead to different pages, Sacha's rule of thumb is usually right because most sites don't do that.
Thanks, Nic, I knew none of that, till now. You and Sacha have delivered me a good learning' and I'm grateful for it.
Robert G @ 14
Whenever I hear a pollie talking about having "a passion" for something I turn off.
Every lefty should be messaging Nat mp's saying "they won't vote national if Simon is removed, he is a fighter who will claw support back like he did last year" I'm rooting for you Simon, I'm almost certain he's a Labour party supporter! Hang on comrade! You're the best thing to ever happen to Labour!
Simply the Best – Better Than All the Rest (thank-you Tauranga)
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12322849
https://twitter.com/rhymeswithbeg/status/1260251496345743364
https://www.tiktok.com/@austyn_farrell/video/6825242909328166149
Disturbing that the mental health services first. last and (almost) only option appears to be medication, efficacious or not.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/checkpoint/audio/2018747288/more-lives-at-risk-in-mental-health-units-grieving-parents
it's kind of where the culture is at too. There's a taboo about talking about the sometimes severe limits of the biomedical model of psychiatry. That combined with 30 years of neoliberalism and health cuts is a potently bad brew.
Agree that the funding cuts haven't helped but really the predilection to medicate goes way back….my personal experience of the service is if you don't have forceful advocacy (and to a degree even if you do) then the easy option is the only option
Clarification…personal means family member in case anyone was wondering
Food prices increased by 4.4% average, with "grocery food prices" increasing 4.2%. Not sure how they got there because if I look at my weekly shopping my calculation comes to an increase that sits at double digits. And I am not the only one saying this.
With wages seeing a freeze and thousands loosing their job lets see how this looks in 3 months time. Any money needs to stretch even further, its even worse for people on any type of benefit.
CPI is not representative…we need a new way to measure inflation …but that doesn't suit those that run the system
Everything is political.
Part of the ugly reality of Covid. 1000 FBU employees layed off. I struggle with the minimising covid deaths policy of the Labour led government when this is the trade off.
"We have to make some very difficult decisions which include looking at reducing the number of people we employ by approximately 10%. This will equate to around 1,000 positions across New Zealand."
https://www.nzx.com/announcements/353361
In the cold calculus of cost-benefit analysis, a highly pessimistic view of the economic costs of Australia’s shutdown comes to around $90 billion.
It is a small price to pay compared to the statistical value of lives the shutdown should save, around A$1.1 trillion.
It produces a simple message. The shutdown wins."
https://theconversation.com/the-costs-of-the-shutdown-are-overestimated-theyre-outweighed-by-its-1-trillion-benefit-138303
NZ will be the same
Every country is seeing the same thing, ppl losing jobs, we are one of the few coming out of lockdown, infact we've had one of the shorter lock downs. Every one is feeling pain and disruption, again, saving lives is saving the economy.
Feel bad for the ones to be laid off but really what does Fletcher's think they are doing. The board & executive had to be really pushed to make even small $ cuts in their very large wages , there have been very strong signals about the levels of money to be spent on government infrastructure – so why not look to at least be creating half time jobs for those who may want this. Then they have at least some income plus half a week to do other work etc and be available when the infrastructure spend comes through
Because our managers aren't very imaginative RedBaron, or creative. It's quite unfortunate and that is what is "ruining" NZ.
Hear hear about the management. They use the same playbook every time. I'm debating buying some shares the AGM could be a doosie .
Yup, the wheels have come off ERC. When will they pull the plug? Next week, when National may or may not have new Leader? Imagine Simon surviving the challenge and then being kicked out of his sandpit.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/121570573/coronavirus-prime-minister-defends-letter-ordering-ministers-and-officials-not-to-appear-before-covid-select-committee
"In New Zealand the UBI was raised during the last election campaign by Gareth Morgan and The Opportunities Party – TOP – and it’s back again pushing for it, (although Morgan is no longer the party leader) saying this is an important transitional period in people’s lives and they need support.
None of the parties in Parliament have picked it up so far.
Max Rashbrooke writes about economic inequality and is a 2020 JD Stout Fellow at Victoria University.
He says UBI is not the answer – not because he thinks we'll end up with a workless society, but because the system is hugely draining on the economy."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/the-detail/story/2018746923/could-a-free-money-for-all-scheme-catch-on-here
A much better proposal
Couple of late night vids for amusement (via Kos)
Kia Ora Newshub.
A 4 day week could work out.
The dolphins putting spung on their nose show me they are intelligent and have personalitys.
Ka kite Ano.
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
It looks like we are going to have A tangata government for the next election Ka pai.
I say Maori trust farms should open their eyes and see exactly how there tangata are treated.
Its good to see more wahine with moko kau.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora The Am Show.
William he is just stirring the pot to boost the viewers.
That's correct they forgot about training Kiwis it's cheaper to just import them who cares about the lower classes.
That's is cool New Zealand being 3rd in the World for charity koha.
No Kanikani in bars.
Ka kite Ano
Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News.
That's awesome all the Tangata supporting that Kuia from ponsonby who received a bad letter kia kaha.
Ka kite Ano