Teaching kids to be robust so they can handle things, put things into perspective?
Must have been a generation that missed out on that. You know the generation that has it that a discussion document in a draw in a government office means that in a short number of years New Zealand will be an apartheid state, there'll be two equal Parliaments running the country and Maori will own most of the land.
The same generation which has it that we definitely won't be able to open our mouths for fear of being chucked in jail for "hate speech." Over something Dennis Frank quotes (below) from Russell Palmer:
"At this point it's not a law, it's not an act, it's not even a bill. Instead, it's a discussion document aimed at seeking opinions before the ministry comes up with a law change".
They are just sayings meaning roughly the same thing. ie. don't get hurty feelings…..a few people on this blog should take note.
" Like water off a ducks back" is another along the same lines as don't let it get to you.
As for the snowflake one and shattering, they're not meant to be taken too literally, else a saying like "ÿou can't have your cake and eat it too" is pretty useless. I can imagine you saying What's the point of having cake if you cant eat it !
Today Ms Bligh dismissed Mr Newman's reaction to what she called "bit of fun" while Treasurer Andrew Fraser told him to "have a cup of concrete" and harden up.
"At this point it's not a law, it's not an act, it's not even a bill. Instead, it's a discussion document aimed at seeking opinions before the ministry comes up with a law change".
"The Justice Ministry's discussion document largely focuses on the problems of the current laws and what the new laws aim to do, but – and this is perhaps one reason for the confusion – most of it largely does not give the specific wording of what is being proposed. This makes reading the document somewhat like having a set of directions without knowing where you're going to end up. However, in the second appendix is a chart which includes the six proposed changes to be made, what the current laws are like, and a section of notes on each proposal".
He then delineates the six with admirable precision. You may have wondered about the prospect of insults producing prosecutions. Kiwi males have long been in the habit of insulting aussie males & vice versa. Sadly the prospect of such legal entertainment seems dim. The two bunches of dimwits don't seem to hate each other. To get the police prosecutor & attorney general musing over the prospect, there would have to be a threat issued: `you guys come across the ditch, we'll give you a whack around the earhole'.
Discerning hatred will be the challenge: emotions can be evident to many, but the evidence is subjective. The only objective proof is if someone says/writes "I hate [this group]" where this group is identified by a generally-recognised cultural or ethnic label. Contempt & ridicule are mentioned. I don't hate suit-wearers, but I have viewed them with contempt since the 1960s and do express that view on a sporadic basis – but don't recall hating them since I was a teenager. Nor do I suggest that citizens eliminate the social problems they continue to cause by eliminating the offenders!
So prosecutions are likely to hinge on a combination of behaviours & attitudes becoming evident to the authorities mentioned above. "To be considered a hate crime, communication must intentionally incite/stir up, maintain or normalise hatred using abuse, insults or threats (including inciting violence) against at least one of the groups identified in proposal 1. For a successful prosecution, it would have to include all four of these things."
Yeah. While paranoia is understandable in the circumstances, it ain't reasonable. Folks ought to relax & take a balanced approach. Good law will only come from consideration of all sides of the issue, then careful deliberation.
Another not so academic consideration is that; if NZ signs up to international treaties, we are obliged to abide by them eventually.
But, lost in the din around the Incitement to Hatred and Discrimination discussion, is this complimentary discussion that I was barely aware of. It runs until the 6th of August too:
Aotearoa New Zealand is home to people from over 213 different ethnic groups, who speak over 150 languages, and belong to different faith communities. About a quarter of New Zealand’s population was born overseas and about a quarter identify as disabled. We are a superdiverse nation and over the next twenty years we are expected to become even more diverse…
Strengthening social cohesion involves changing attitudes and behaviours and is, therefore, a complex process. We need evidence-informed actions. The Government has a leadership role to play, but to make a real difference we will need to work collectively – individuals, communities and organisations across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors – from grassroots campaigns and community-led programmes right through to changes to wider policy settings and legislative safeguards. We all have a role to play.
Social cohesion is not about making all New Zealanders the same. We want our communities to value and welcome diversity, and to be able to share and discuss different points of view in a constructive and respectful way.
Yeah – that was just the page I happened to have open at the time; Sacha. I probably should have gone back a few levels for a better link.
It is mentioned on the discussion document government published page. But is easily skimmed past. I certainly wouldn't say that the last month since these discussions were opened to the public have been Aotearoa's most impressive display of social cohesion ever.
That's just another part of the problem. That judgement lies with Police.
Example: most rapes don't even get from Police to court, let alone conviction. And that's been on the books for a while.
So wait until they are to start making marginal calls about group 'incitement'. Then put it to Police Prosecutions, then Crown Law. Then a public jury of ordinary folks.
In that case, your comparison with rape is off, because rape doesn't involve freedom of speech issues. It should be at a low bar.
Setting hate speech at a higher bar is because there is an inherent conflict between the right to free speech and restricting speech that causes public harm (be it hate, porn, violence, incitement, etc).
That doesn't make it unenforceable. It just means that any prosecutions should be a slam dunk, because what was said was well over the line.
The group most hated in New Zealand since the 1993 legislation (which included no discrimination based on employment status) has been beneficiaries – which enabled the continuing poverty of the "brown" underclass. It also fed the 2005 election debate – across the board tax cuts (advantaging white men the most) or the WFF tax credits which helped poorer browner families (just not those on benefits).
Class-based hatred is so 19th century? Hating the rich has been a thing since then too, though. However calls for violence against them, not so much…
I do agree, however, that there's such a thing as institutionalised violence – mental, not physical, and beneficiaries were the target. Getting a court to accept such reasoning would be a fascinating legal challenge.
Institutionalised violence – where a majority use its determination of policy to oppress "weaker" groups. Maori from their land, middle class law and order managing the underclass (drug use offences so much higher for some than among the middle class). Those on benefits paying back grant money out of future benefits while those with student loans borrow their living costs but do not pay anything back until they find work.
Is public support of this institutionalised violence, hate speech, the National Party/ACT Party manifesto or social media comments by their support base?
"GCSB Minister Andrew Little said that the foreign intelligence agency has established links between Chinese state-sponsored actors known as Advanced Persistent Threat 40 (APT40) and malicious cyber activity in New Zealand. The GCSB had "worked through a robust technical attribution process" to establish its conclusions, Little said."
Well okay, but since the attacks happened in March, why this now?? Spooks don't take four months to report identification of source, do they? One would think tracking a virus normally takes hours or days, not weeks or months. Are the bureaucrats sitting on the reporting process? Or is it that the govt has known the source all these months and only just now issued its delayed reaction due to some obscure diplomatic coordination requirement emanating out of Five Eyes?? I don't get it.
China was suspected/blamed back in March. Now NATO-EU and Five Eyes have all concluded this was the case and said so at the same time.
The GCSB has worked through a "robust attribution process" and if the results were different to that derived by the others we would have said so and explained why they were wrong …
Presumably there is some signature identifying “APT40” known to the USA – whose own motive is to infer western tech vulnerability with use of Chinese suppliers (to broaden trade sanctions on security grounds).
When you've seen three key industries in your big brother Australia smashed by retaliatory trade tariffs, you'd pause, get your allies in order, and then front it.
We are now very likely to get a strong Chinese response that will affect our economy.
"Despite the strong language, there are no signs of fresh sanctions against China. In contrast, new sanctions were placed on Russia for the recent SolarWinds campaign which many experts believe was less serious than the Microsoft Exchange campaign linked to China."
That's the bit from the BBC report you linked that interests me. Why does the Biden administration believe punishing Putin and not Xi is a good idea?? Or perhaps they are simply giving Xi a window of opportunity to respond first.
So is there a proposal of wealth transfer from those who have worked all their lives to pay those 16 Billion we paid in Corporate welfare called housing equality because there is now no money for social housing?
Many of todays 50-60 year old have not had their first house until they were 30, but now they are being taxed to make sure the 18 year old gets their foot on the property ladder because successive governments have failed to maintain and build housing?
Another proposal from those who have never done a normal everyday wage job in their lives. How would they know what so many out there have to face. Having a government job with extended leave, sick leave, guarantied pension….hallo! I mean the majority has no such luxury. Paid for by the taxpayer no less! But they now have the audacity to espouse these theories that will affect the ones who actually contribute to the GDP of this country.
Really? Seriously? Are they living in another world or something? The wealth divide is created by the very same governments that pay them to come up with another idea how to get the remaining middle class into a dependant poor state. You will not lift anybody up by having everybody poor.
How about taxing those who have paid the dividends to the corporates financed curtesy of the taxpayer and will be an burden for at least 2 generations? There was some noise for a while that the fraudulent taking of the corporate support will be investigated, but no one actually believes that it will happen. Meanwhile we pay money meant for victims to the gangs. Build houses, get the money of the fraudsters and build houses for goodness sake.
Lets stop pretending everything is just a matter of milking more from those who work and we are fine.
That is the best idea here in an age,After '87 share market crash, Gordon McLaughlin I think did an in depth analysis and wrote a large essay (maybe North and South) not sure how to link but in the interweb somewhere.
Alternatively, you could argue that the rebuild cost plus a certain % should be the base value of any house. This would rectify the market very quickly as those houses build some 30 or more years ago would be not tradeable at 1 mil plus.
Trusts should be taxable at all levels. Its fraud by another name.
That's a tough area because although IRD can be called on to judge charitable purpose for donee organisations, mostly that's handled by DIA through the Charities Service. Important work though.
It's just a rehash of TOP policy (taxing equity in property ownership).
No government would apply it, because it has the perverse incentive of encouraging people to borrow against equity to buy more property to reduce their tax liability.
But the emotions dragged out of the home owning class at their doing anything to reduce growing inequality because of overvalued land values are just as concerning as poor policy proposals.
The problem is if the government devalues land, a lot of banks will demand their cash straight away.
To just have those who actually work and try to make it trough this jungle of deceit and lies pay for exactly that lot will change the next elections 100%.
Not during the term of the mortgage they won't – and if the person is making (and likely to remain doing so) the repayments they will renew. A bank flooding the market with homes for sale because of a valuation downturn would destroy itself.
You're talking about homeowners, not all workers mate.
Meanwhile we pay money meant for victims to the gangs.
Nice misleading headline and quite befitting this silly rant of yours. Don’t let facts get in the way of a good spin, inside your head. Feeling dizzy yet?
Gangs are just that. No other country in the world would recognize gangs as a legitimate source to deliver value for any taxpayer money spent. NONE. Good god, now we are entering the stage where the perpetrator becomes the victims keeper!
Yip,that's one of the reasons I'll never qualify as a leftie, anyone who is thick enough to think that someone who rises to the top of the fucking mongrel mob is not a dishonest ,violent selfserving low life is at best a gullible fool,
I am very much a social democrat but this government is not, despite their assertions. Justice would be one area that does not gel very well if we give money to gangs and/or billions to companies never to be paid back under the so called honor system.
Only naive people believe good intentions are all one needs and yet the freedom for those basics to have a framework for all has to be defended or fought for. Look at south Africa, Intentions good, outcome…not so much.
“A huge congress of the 'Socialist International' took place in 1951 in Frankfurt and the resultant declaration opposed any form of Bolshevik communism and Stalinism.”
The call for freedom, equality, justice and solidarity originates in old humanistic thoughts. It is central for the Christian idea of man, it has been the battle-cry of the French Revolution, it is reflected in the legal foundations of the United Nations, the UN's two Human Rights Covenants of 1966, and finally it also forms the core values of social democracy.
It is a dim-witted accusation and doubling down doesn’t it make it a better one. Do you take your cues from the same sources as Foreign Waka, by any chance, because it certainly looks that way?
Dimwitted ! Abuse is the last gasp of the losing side.
Na I did a bit of reading ,I get it that some in the police backed the idea ,plus others, and have decided all on my little lonesome that it's a fucking idiotic idea.
And it sure ain't making it easy being openly labour in my neck of the woods I tell ya.
Calling out your comment as dim-witted is not abuse, but if you’re that easily offended, I’d better back off from questioning your debatable reasoning and your dubious sources.
You’re entitled to your beliefs and opinions, which you seem to get straight from MSM headline writers and spin doctors who write the press releases and SM messages for National and ACT. I prefer critical analysis based on and informed by evidence although a good rant is necessary, from time to time.
You’re so close with your “the perpetrator becomes the victims [sic] keeper!”, yet so far.
Regardless of whether you see merit in the approach of financing the poacher to become gamekeepers it should be admitted that the optics of such a decision open up the advocates to serious questioning….and rightfully so imho
That would be a fair comment if the questioning were less partisan and more open-minded to what this is about. So far, it is mostly reflexive stereotyping and labelling with very little analysis. Very similar to many of the ‘debates’ we seem to be having nowadays, e.g., about (the) hate speech law. I get that most of those pundits have no interest in questioning let alone challenging their own engrained biases and therefore avoid genuine debate like a gang tangi. Lazy thinkers with regressive ideas.
And that is all bullshit…again….there must be numerous Iwi (or other) groups with less direct connections to the gangs that are crying out for that sort of funding to assist their communities.
While the likes of the Mongrel Mob and Black Power may be SMEs in comparison to the 501 influenced multi-nationals the fact remains their business model is drugs based and this is a braindead proposition in the wider publics eyes.
The fact this administration constantly creates sticks for its own back will be its undoing…not the competence of the opposing argument.
Sure, it is all BS again, which makes for a compelling and persuasive judgement.
I know that many law-abiding citizens view gangs as nothing but drug peddlers and sources of crime and misery. With such a blinkered view it is only logical and morally imperative to take a hard line on gangs, which means no State support for any gang associates and their affiliates and further demonising and excluding them from normative society. The same dim-witted thinking leaves no room for considering, even for a moment, that including gangs in approaches and strategies that could lead to better outcomes for all involved, i.e. for all society. I can understand all these things and yet not buy into the same thinking because it has not delivered much to write home about thus far except providing useful ammo for certain political ‘gangs’, their leaders, and their associates and affiliates. Maybe building a few more prisons is the right answer? Serco won’t mind 😉
What was the Human Rights Commissioner thinking when he gave a $200 koha?? Very bad optics; he must have lost his mind …
Agree Pat. Giving koha is different from being given $$$$ of Govt funds. I found nothing untoward about the HRC giving koha, in acceptance of a reciprocal concept of hosting.
As others say the optics, at the very least of giving a gang that has caused so much damage to society access to significant govt funds, are able to be questioned and I don't blame people for doing just this.
… there must be numerous Iwi (or other) groups with less direct connections to the gangs that are crying out for that sort of funding to assist their communities.
What a load of bullshit and ignorance. History and research proves this would only fuel the problems these ACT dickwits think they would solve! Perhaps if the party of selfish tax-dodgers and rorters paid their fair share of tax, NZ could seriously begin to deal to poverty – the real problem. The only surprise is that they aren't pushing gun rights to implement the Duterte solution (/sarc).
The greatest irony is that the announcement was made from the premises of a supplier of the county's most harmful drug!!!
The greatest irony is that the announcement was made from the premises of a supplier of the county's most harmful drug!!!
There is a bit or a lot of that 'taking battle with one's own agenda' going on these days either through non-consultation on issues that are deserving of consultation, both in central and local govt or disrupting events when brave souls want to consult.
Life's ironies abound. I suspect this undermining/battling of the ACT agenda was inadvertent.
Like? "Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i' the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me." — Casca
Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose?" — Mercutio
"So, again, good night. I must be cruel only to be kind. Thus bad begins and worse remains behind." — Hamlet
The game's afoot: follow your spirit, and upon this charge cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'" — King Henry V
It's posturing shiite – their existing policy is that anyone on Job Seeker Benefit goes onto an electronic (restricted spending) card after the first 4 weeks of cash benefit (eftpos card).
This government is a idiot for seeking to suppress further 1-off territory attacks, when lage, powerful armed terror groups like Mongrel Mob are growing unchecked and attacking in towns and cities at will.
Such misdirected nonsense from this government and Police on terror groups.
Where do you get your information from? Pretty dodgy to say the least.
From your comment, it sounds as thought there is only one gang in NZ and that they are armed to the gills and in the midst of a shooting war with all and sundry.
Hate to disabuse you of your fantasies but some reading suggests the 501 seeded gangs are more heavily armed (weapons arrive with drugs from South America) and NZ's numerous other gangs are no doubt just as lethal. It also seems you work on other very misguided assumptions that are not worth addressing as it is obvious you have more than a few mind-blocks.
By the way, when were you last terrorised by an armed Mongrel Mob Member? Was it when you didn't pay for the drugs you received or was it after you shot up their pad?
Odd you should mention this. Last night I was dealing with my disabled brother who has discovered a very recent bullet hole in his house. Police have told them they know who it was but no action can be taken.
About 20 years ago when some pissed prospects decide leave the party at the pad down the road and invite themselves into our flat and proceed to start smashing the place up.
Since Labour came into office in 2017 gangs have recruited 2660 new members, an increase of just under 50 per cent. We now have over 8,000 – that's equivalent to the entire town of Kawerau. All facts on the record.
Plenty of our small towns have gangs as the primary organising power of their society. Including places like Kawerau.
This is the product of the policy of Australia's Liberal coalition government, therefore the product of the people of Australia, and literally the product of Australian society.
Thousands of criminals, trained by Australia, have been exported to New Zealand in the last 6 years. With them they bring sophisticated networking, fundraising and recruitment practice, all nurtured in Australia. They also bring their anger, magnified.
NZ has become a dumping ground for the failures of a morally corrupt Australian society and this is the primary reason for an increase in organised crime violence here.
Add to this their export of real terrorism in the form of murderous white supremacy, which we have known bubbles away in Australia under the radar since its colonisation, by criminals.
Yes there's a wee bit of that. But they are our people doing this crime, our people are the criminals, and apart from the Comancheros they came back to fully formed gangs ready to expand – which they are doing big time.
And there's no way the Ardern government isn't responsible for effectively policing them.
You only have to look to some Latin American nations, Mexico leaps to mind, as to what happens when govts fail to police gangs.
Two years ago I had a very interesting Mexican colleague (I think I mentioned him here in a thread before) who explained to me in detail one night over dinner, how two of his business partners were in separate incidents, both kidnapped, ransomed and murdered. We’re talking legit, tech based, middle-class professionals – specifically targeted for purely monetary gain and no other reason. Needless to say this is also the reason why he now lives in Australia.
You will read this and feel nothing – having it retold by someone who lived through it first hand is deeply chilling. And if NZ imagines that it's immune to this kind of collapse of social moral structure it would be deluding itself.
Difficult for me to imagine a modern NZ government of any flavour being kind/friendly to individuals or groups that indulge in kidnapping or other serious crimes in NZ, but your imagination may be more 'vivid' than mine.
Suspect that the NZ police and MPs are concerned about the types and level of crimes carried out by gangs in NZ, from the Mongrel Mob to triad-type and white-supremacist gangs.
No it bloody doesn't. The fact of so many left wingers openly siding with criminal gangs who inflict nothing but misery on their own people is a testament to a dismal moral degeneracy I find very hard to understand.
A gun sick nation. USA a fourth-world nation and soon emulating Nigeria probably.
[second time removed the following text from user name: “Timely warning”]
I haven’t done anything to my user name – don’t know why it should be different. Thanks for adjusting incognito. I see now – will do. Very timely warning eh.
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Introduction Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) has revolutionized the field of translation by harnessing the power of technology to assist human translators in their work. This innovative approach combines specialized software with human expertise to improve the efficiency, accuracy, and consistency of translations. In this comprehensive article, we will delve into the ...
In today’s digital age, mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Among the vast array of portable computing options available, iPads and tablet computers stand out as two prominent contenders. While both offer similar functionalities, there are subtle yet significant differences between these two devices. This ...
A computer is an electronic device that can be programmed to carry out a set of instructions. The basic components of a computer are the processor, memory, storage, input devices, and output devices. The Processor The processor, also known as the central processing unit (CPU), is the brain of the ...
Voice Memos is a convenient app on your iPhone that allows you to quickly record and store audio snippets. These recordings can be useful for a variety of purposes, such as taking notes, capturing ideas, or recording interviews. While you can listen to your voice memos on your iPhone, you ...
Laptop screens are essential for interacting with our devices and accessing information. However, when lines appear on the screen, it can be frustrating and disrupt productivity. Understanding the underlying causes of these lines is crucial for finding effective solutions. Types of Screen Lines Horizontal lines: Also known as scan ...
Right-clicking is a common and essential computer operation that allows users to access additional options and settings. While most desktop computers have dedicated right-click buttons on their mice, laptops often do not have these buttons due to space limitations. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on how to right-click ...
Powering up and shutting down your ASUS laptop is an essential task for any laptop user. Locating the power button can sometimes be a hassle, especially if you’re new to ASUS laptops. This article will provide a comprehensive guide on where to find the power button on different ASUS laptop ...
Dell laptops are renowned for their reliability, performance, and versatility. Whether you’re a student, a professional, or just someone who needs a reliable computing device, a Dell laptop can meet your needs. However, if you’re new to Dell laptops, you may be wondering how to get started. In this comprehensive ...
Two-thirds of the country think that “New Zealand’s economy is rigged to advantage the rich and powerful”. They also believe that “New Zealand needs a strong leader to take the country back from the rich and powerful”. These are just two of a handful of stunning new survey results released ...
In today’s digital world, screenshots have become an indispensable tool for communication and documentation. Whether you need to capture an important email, preserve a website page, or share an error message, screenshots allow you to quickly and easily preserve digital information. If you’re an Asus laptop user, there are several ...
A factory reset restores your Gateway laptop to its original factory settings, erasing all data, apps, and personalizations. This can be necessary to resolve software issues, remove viruses, or prepare your laptop for sale or transfer. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to factory reset your Gateway laptop: Method 1: ...
“You talking about me?”The neoliberal denigration of the past was nowhere more unrelenting than in its depiction of the public service. The Post Office and the Railways were held up as being both irremediably inefficient and scandalously over-manned. Playwright Roger Hall’s “Glide Time” caricatures were presented as accurate depictions of ...
Roger Partridge writes – When the Coalition Government took office last October, it inherited a country on a precipice. With persistent inflation, decades of insipid productivity growth and crises in healthcare, education, housing and law and order, it is no exaggeration to suggest New Zealand’s first-world status was ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – In 2022, the Curriculum Centre at the Ministry of Education employed 308 staff, according to an Official Information Request. Earlier this week it was announced 202 of those staff were being cut. When you look up “The New Zealand Curriculum” on the Ministry of ...
Chris Bishop’s bill has stirred up a hornets nest of opposition. Photo: Lynn Grieveson for The KākāTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate from the last day included:A crescendo of opposition to the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill is ...
Monday left me brokenTuesday, I was through with hopingWednesday, my empty arms were openThursday, waiting for love, waiting for loveThe end of another week that left many of us asking WTF? What on earth has NZ gotten itself into and how on earth could people have voluntarily signed up for ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past week’s editions.State of humanity, 20242024, it feels, keeps presenting us with ever more challenges, ever more dismay.Do you give up yet? It seems to ask.No? How about this? Or this?How about this?Full story Share ...
Determining the hardest sport in the world is a subjective matter, as the difficulty level can vary depending on individual abilities, physical attributes, and experience. However, based on various factors including physical demands, technical skills, mental fortitude, and overall accomplishment, here is an exploration of some of the most challenging ...
The allure of sport transcends age, culture, and geographical boundaries. It captivates hearts, ignites passions, and provides unparalleled entertainment. Behind the spectacle, however, lies a fascinating world of financial investment and expenditure. Among the vast array of competitive pursuits, one question looms large: which sport carries the hefty title of ...
Introduction Pickleball, a rapidly growing paddle sport, has captured the hearts and imaginations of millions around the world. Its blend of tennis, badminton, and table tennis elements has made it a favorite among players of all ages and skill levels. As the sport’s popularity continues to surge, the question on ...
Abstract: Soccer, the global phenomenon captivating millions worldwide, has a rich history that spans centuries. Its origins trace back to ancient civilizations, but the modern version we know and love emerged through a complex interplay of cultural influences and innovations. This article delves into the fascinating journey of soccer’s evolution, ...
Tinting car windows offers numerous benefits, including enhanced privacy, reduced glare, UV protection, and a more stylish look for your vehicle. However, the cost of window tinting can vary significantly depending on several factors. This article provides a comprehensive guide to help you understand how much you can expect to ...
The pungent smell of gasoline in your car can be an alarming and potentially dangerous problem. Not only is the odor unpleasant, but it can also indicate a serious issue with your vehicle’s fuel system. In this article, we will explore the various reasons why your car may smell like ...
Tree sap can be a sticky, unsightly mess on your car’s exterior. It can be difficult to remove, but with the right techniques and products, you can restore your car to its former glory. Understanding Tree Sap Tree sap is a thick, viscous liquid produced by trees to seal wounds ...
The amount of paint needed to paint a car depends on a number of factors, including the size of the car, the number of coats you plan to apply, and the type of paint you are using. In general, you will need between 1 and 2 gallons of paint for ...
Jump-starting a car is a common task that can be performed even in adverse weather conditions like rain. However, safety precautions and proper techniques are crucial to avoid potential hazards. This comprehensive guide will provide detailed instructions on how to safely jump a car in the rain, ensuring both your ...
Graham Adams writes about the $55m media fund — When Patrick Gower was asked by Mike Hosking last week what he would say to the many Newstalk ZB callers who allege the Labour government bribed media with $55 million of taxpayers’ money via the Public Interest Journalism Fund — and ...
Note: this blog post has been put together over the course of the week I followed the happenings at the conference virtually. Should recordings of the Great Debates and possibly Union Symposia mentioned below, be released sometime after the conference ends, I'll include links to the ones I participated in. ...
The following was my submission made on the “Fast Track Approvals Bill”. This potential law will give three Ministers unchecked powers, un-paralled since the days of Robert Muldoon’s “Think Big” projects.The submission is written a bit tongue-in-cheek. But it’s irreverent because the FTAB is in itself not worthy of respect. ...
One Could Reduce Child Poverty At No Fiscal CostFollowing the Richardson/Shipley 1990 ‘redesign of the welfare state’ – which eliminated the universal Family Benefit and doubled the rate of child poverty – various income supplements for families have been added, the best known being ‘Working for Families’, introduced in 2005. ...
Buzz from the Beehive A few days ago, Point of Order suggested the media must be musing “on why Melissa is mute”. Our article reported that people working in the beleaguered media industry have cause to yearn for a minister as busy as Melissa Lee’s ministerial colleagues and we drew ...
1. What was The Curse of Jim Bolger?a. Winston Peters b. Soon after shaking his hand, world leaders would mysteriously lose office or shuffle off this mortal coilc. Could never shake off the Mother of All Budgetsd. Dandruff2. True or false? The Chairman of a Kiwi export business has asked the ...
Jack Vowles writes – New Zealand is said to be suffering from ‘serious populist discontent’. An IPSOS MORI survey has reported that we have an increasing preference for strong leaders, think that the economy is rigged toward the rich and powerful, and political elites are ignoring ‘hard-working people’. ...
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. ...
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. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
The Government’s newly announced review of methane emissions reduction targets hints at its desire to delay Aotearoa New Zealand’s urgent transition to a climate safe future, the Green Party said. ...
The Government must commit to the Maitai School building project for students with high and complex needs, to ensure disabled students from the top of the South Island have somewhere to learn. ...
Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey and his Government colleagues have made a meal of their mental health commitments, showing how flimsy their efforts to champion the issue truly are, says Labour Mental Health spokesperson Ingrid Leary. ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Refreshed health guidance released today will help parents and schools make informed decisions about whether their child needs to be in school, addressing one of the key issues affecting school attendance, says Associate Education Minister David Seymour. In recent years, consistently across all school terms, short-term illness or medical reasons ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is streamlining high-level oceans management while maintaining a focus on supporting the sector’s role in the export-led recovery of the economy. “I am working to realise the untapped potential of our fishing and aquaculture sector. To achieve that we need to be smarter with ...
Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson is speaking at the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress in Adelaide, promoting New Zealand wool, and outlining the coalition Government’s support for the revitalisation the sector. "New Zealand’s wool exports reached $400 million in the year to 30 June 2023, and the coalition Government ...
The Government is making legislative changes to make it easier for new early learning services to be established, and for existing services to operate, Associate Education Minister David Seymour says. The changes involve repealing the network approval provisions that apply when someone wants to establish a new early learning service, ...
Changes to the Resource Management Act will align consenting for coal mining to other forms of mining to reduce barriers that are holding back economic development, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The inconsistent treatment of coal mining compared with other extractive activities is burdensome red tape that fails to acknowledge ...
Trade, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay has concluded productive discussions with ministerial counterparts in Beijing today, in support of the New Zealand-China trade and economic relationship. “My meeting with Commerce Minister Wang Wentao reaffirmed the complementary nature of the bilateral trade relationship, with our Free Trade Agreement at its ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today paid tribute to Singapore’s outgoing Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Meeting in Singapore today immediately before Prime Minister Lee announced he was stepping down, Prime Minister Luxon warmly acknowledged his counterpart’s almost twenty years as leader, and the enduring legacy he has left for Singapore and South East ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. While in Singapore as part of his visit to South East Asia this week, Prime Minister Luxon also met with Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and will meet with Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Giovanni E Ferreira, NHMRC Emerging Leader Research Fellow, Institute of Musculoskeletal Health, University of Sydney Last week in a post on X, owner of the platform Elon Musk recommended people look into disc replacement if they’re experiencing severe neck or back pain. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Hayward, Emeritus Professor of Public Policy, RMIT University anek.soowannaphoom/Shutterstock NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey caught the headlines yesterday, courtesy of a blistering speech condemning the latest GST carve-up. New South Wales, he claimed, would be A$11.9 billion worse off over the ...
While police are "broadly in favour", the government's proposed anti-gang laws are facing pushback from lawyers, rights groups and former gang members. ...
By Miriam Zarriga in Port Moresby Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived at Kokoda Station, Northern province, at the start of his state visit to Papua New Guinea. Both Albanese and Prime Minister James Marape will meet with the locals and the Northern Provincial government before they begin their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Chris Wallace, Professor, School of Politics Economics & Society, Faculty of Business Government & Law, University of Canberra Shutterstock An important principle was invoked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week in defence of the government’s Future Made in Australia industry ...
By Patrick Decloitre, RNZ Pacific correspondent French Pacific desk Security forces reinforcements were sent from France ahead of two rival marches in the capital Nouméa today, at the same time and only two streets away one from the other. One march, called by Union Calédonienne party (a component of the ...
A poll last August found that just 16% of New Zealanders oppose bringing back the ‘Three Strikes’ law. The nationwide poll of 1,000 New Zealanders was commissioned by Family First NZ and carried out by Curia Market Research. ...
The solo show from Ana Scotney is both sprawling and intimate, and a must-see, writes Mad Chapman. In the opening moments of Scattergun: After the Death of Rūaumoko, writer and performer Ana Scotney lays out the groundwork, literally. Silently moving around the square stage, Scotney is not so much dancing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Who makes the words? Why are trees called trees and why are shoes called shoes and who makes the names? – Elliot, age 5, Eltham, Victoria Good question Elliot! Let’s start with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne at amRawpixel.com/Shutterstock Roles of health professionals are still unfortunately often stuck in the past. That is, before the ...
COMMENTARY:By Malcolm Evans Last week’s leaked New York Times staff directive, as to what words can and cannot be used to describe the carnage Israel is raining on Palestinians, is proof positive, since those reports are published verbatim here in New Zealand, that our understanding of the conflict is ...
In the case of New Zealand, the results confirm that there is no popular support for the vicious austerity program being imposed by the National Party-led government, which is backed in all fundamental respects by the opposition Labour Party. ...
The ‘Vampire’ singer has never visited our part of the world, but that might all be about to change. We assess the evidence.Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour is pulling in massive crowds as it whips around the US and Europe, even helping to catapult regular supporting act Chappell Roan ...
Testing of drinking water in rural Canterbury over the weekend by Greenpeace revealed that several public town supplies were reaching levels of nitrate above 5 mg/L - the threshold which a growing body of scientific evidence has linked to increased ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rohan Fisher, Information Technology for Development Researcher, Charles Darwin University It may come as a surprise to hear 2023 was Australia’s biggest bushfire season in more than a decade. Fires burned across an area eight times as big as the 2019–20 Black ...
Responding to the Government’s announcement of changes to resource management laws, Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director, Jordan Williams, said: “These changes are a step in the right direction in terms of removing ideological and unworkable ...
More than two years after the Human Rights Council called for the establishment of a national human rights commission, such a body has yet to be formed. ...
Comment:An emergency management system with wide variations in performance, significant capability gaps, funding shortfalls and above all a setup that is not meeting the needs of New Zealanders at times of crisis. The Government’s inquiry into the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events in the North ...
Welcome to the whirring wonders of one brain trying to align its actions with its beliefs within a system it thinks is evil. My brain has been spiralling in a woke conundrum ever since I found out a bookshop I’ve never been to was shutting down. Good Books, a bookshop ...
We repeat our call for criminal justice policy to be based on evidence, something the three strikes regime neglects to recognise – with no evidence that it either reduces crime or assists with rehabilitation. ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor in Honiara With only four more seats in the 50-member Parliament yet to be officially declared, there is no outright winner in the Solomon Islands elections. As of Monday, the two largest blocs in the winner’s circle, independents and the incumbent Prime Minister Manasseh ...
Two/fiftyseven is a multi-purpose space hidden in the heart of Wellington that is paving a way for sustainable building and responsible landlording in Aotearoa and beyond.By 2060 the world is predicted to double its entire building stock, which equates to building an entire New York City every 34 days, ...
Popstars wasn’t just a reality television revolution, it was also a huge moment for Y2K fashion.It’s 25 years since girl group TrueBliss was formed on New Zealand national television, breaking new ground for both the reality television industry and the shiny clothing industry. With the first episode on NZ ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Pepping, Associate Professor in Clinical Psychology, Griffith University Marvin / Shutterstock Are all single people insecure? When we think about people who have been single for a long time, we may assume it’s because single people have insecurities that make ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By William Geary, Lecturer in Quantitative Ecology & Biodiversity Conservation, The University of Melbourne Trismegist san, Shutterstock Landscapes that have escaped fire for decades or centuries tend to harbour vital structures for wildlife, such as tree hollows and large logs. But these ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Gladstone-Gallagher, Lecturer in Marine Science, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau Shutterstock/S Curtis Why are we crossing ecological boundaries that affect Earth’s fundamental life-supporting capacity? Is it because we don’t have enough information about how ecosystems respond to change? Or ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Matthew Crocker, PhD Student in Economics, Deakin University Here’s something for the board of the Reserve Bank of Australia to ponder as it meets next month to set interest rates. It has pushed up rates on 13 occasions since it began its ...
As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a charity director outlines how she’s saving for retirement and buying secondhand. Want to be part of The Cost of Being? Fill out the questionnaire here.Gender: Female Age: 45 Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: Charity director, mum of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sophie Yates, Research Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Many Australians with disability feel on the edge of a precipice right now. Recommendations from the disability royal commission and the NDIS review were released late last year. Now a ...
It’s been called a failed experiment and a judicial straightjacket but the government says the revised three strikes law will be a more workable regime, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Three ...
New Zealand’s Palestinian community and Palestinian Youth Aotearoa are voicing alarm and disappointment with the lack of factual rigour present during the Israeli Ambassador’s appearance as a guest on TVNZ’s Q+A With Jack Tame Sunday (21/04). ...
Both ACT leader David Seymour, who played a key role in drawing up the assisted dying law, and hospice leaders say it's time the legislation was changed. ...
Public submissions on proposed gang control laws are being heard today. Rising gang membership has been cited as rationale for a crackdown – but what do we actually know about how many people belong to gangs in New Zealand?What’s all this then?A rise in the number of gang ...
Climate activists are setting their sights on an unpopular target, and hoping to bring lots of the public with them. It’s hard to miss the Majestic Princess: the enormous cruise ship, docked at Auckland’s Prince’s Wharf, looms over the nearby buildings. The ship, which can fit nearly 6,000 people, ...
Opinion: We’ve kicked the tyres on the perception NZ’s economy is in a parlous state compared to Australia. We take a quick tour of relative trends in GDP, housing markets, labour markets, trade, the fiscal situation, and the outlooks for inflation and interest rates. We find the cyclical positions of ...
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Re harmful speech
https://twitter.com/glukianoff/status/1416737342421970945
Well yeah, life hurts it's hard sometimes people can be arseholes and sometimes shit goes wrong.
The saying is about teaching kids to be robust and not to worry or place to much wait on what people might say.
Teaching kids to be robust so they can handle things, put things into perspective?
Must have been a generation that missed out on that. You know the generation that has it that a discussion document in a draw in a government office means that in a short number of years New Zealand will be an apartheid state, there'll be two equal Parliaments running the country and Maori will own most of the land.
The same generation which has it that we definitely won't be able to open our mouths for fear of being chucked in jail for "hate speech." Over something Dennis Frank quotes (below) from Russell Palmer:
"At this point it's not a law, it's not an act, it's not even a bill. Instead, it's a discussion document aimed at seeking opinions before the ministry comes up with a law change".
It's a drawer, not a draw that you can paint any way you like.
A "short number of years" – you mean not while the current government is in office or any National successor.
Given most land is privately owned or public Crown land, there is no chance Maori iwi can own most of the land.
Well, that was an artful segue. /sarc
The new modern versions of "sticks and stones" seems to be either:
harden up snowflake or
have a cup of concrete
Err, if snowflakes were hard they would shatter. And still melt.
The concrete one sounds a wee bit weird.
They are just sayings meaning roughly the same thing. ie. don't get hurty feelings…..a few people on this blog should take note.
" Like water off a ducks back" is another along the same lines as don't let it get to you.
As for the snowflake one and shattering, they're not meant to be taken too literally, else a saying like "ÿou can't have your cake and eat it too" is pretty useless. I can imagine you saying What's the point of having cake if you cant eat it !
You've obviously been speaking with my dietician lol
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/have-a-cup-of-concrete-and-harden-up-fraser-tells-newman-20110526-1f5ds.html
Ah, the land of colourful phrases.
They really do have a knack for it.
Russell Palmer of RNZ has clarified the govt hate speech law proposals here: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/proposed-hate-speech-laws-what-you-need-to-know/MVWR2D7MNZXJCD7FEUUUDQCH4A/
"At this point it's not a law, it's not an act, it's not even a bill. Instead, it's a discussion document aimed at seeking opinions before the ministry comes up with a law change".
"The Justice Ministry's discussion document largely focuses on the problems of the current laws and what the new laws aim to do, but – and this is perhaps one reason for the confusion – most of it largely does not give the specific wording of what is being proposed. This makes reading the document somewhat like having a set of directions without knowing where you're going to end up. However, in the second appendix is a chart which includes the six proposed changes to be made, what the current laws are like, and a section of notes on each proposal".
He then delineates the six with admirable precision. You may have wondered about the prospect of insults producing prosecutions. Kiwi males have long been in the habit of insulting aussie males & vice versa. Sadly the prospect of such legal entertainment seems dim. The two bunches of dimwits don't seem to hate each other. To get the police prosecutor & attorney general musing over the prospect, there would have to be a threat issued: `you guys come across the ditch, we'll give you a whack around the earhole'.
Discerning hatred will be the challenge: emotions can be evident to many, but the evidence is subjective. The only objective proof is if someone says/writes "I hate [this group]" where this group is identified by a generally-recognised cultural or ethnic label. Contempt & ridicule are mentioned. I don't hate suit-wearers, but I have viewed them with contempt since the 1960s and do express that view on a sporadic basis – but don't recall hating them since I was a teenager. Nor do I suggest that citizens eliminate the social problems they continue to cause by eliminating the offenders!
So prosecutions are likely to hinge on a combination of behaviours & attitudes becoming evident to the authorities mentioned above. "To be considered a hate crime, communication must intentionally incite/stir up, maintain or normalise hatred using abuse, insults or threats (including inciting violence) against at least one of the groups identified in proposal 1. For a successful prosecution, it would have to include all four of these things."
Legal academic despairs.
https://twitter.com/Publicwrongs/status/1416930574002921475
Yeah. While paranoia is understandable in the circumstances, it ain't reasonable. Folks ought to relax & take a balanced approach. Good law will only come from consideration of all sides of the issue, then careful deliberation.
Another not so academic consideration is that; if NZ signs up to international treaties, we are obliged to abide by them eventually.
But, lost in the din around the Incitement to Hatred and Discrimination discussion, is this complimentary discussion that I was barely aware of. It runs until the 6th of August too:
https://social-cohesion.citizenspace.com/social-cohesion/public-consultation/consultation/subpage.2021-06-24.6598578873/
[fixed typo in user name]
So it's official despite the url. Interesting.
Yeah – that was just the page I happened to have open at the time; Sacha. I probably should have gone back a few levels for a better link.
It is mentioned on the discussion document government published page. But is easily skimmed past. I certainly wouldn't say that the last month since these discussions were opened to the public have been Aotearoa's most impressive display of social cohesion ever.
https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/key-initiatives/proposals-against-incitement/#cohesion
It was at the bottom of that page. They have certainly kept it quiet.
If a law is going to be that hard to enforce, and even harder to prosecute and convict, it sets itself up as bad law from the outset.
It's it high bar so as not to waste time and resources chasing minor stuff.
That's just another part of the problem. That judgement lies with Police.
Example: most rapes don't even get from Police to court, let alone conviction. And that's been on the books for a while.
So wait until they are to start making marginal calls about group 'incitement'. Then put it to Police Prosecutions, then Crown Law. Then a public jury of ordinary folks.
Unenforceable law should not be law.
So a possible law change shouldn't be discussed if there might be marginal calls involved?
We're discussing just fine.
Fair call.
In that case, your comparison with rape is off, because rape doesn't involve freedom of speech issues. It should be at a low bar.
Setting hate speech at a higher bar is because there is an inherent conflict between the right to free speech and restricting speech that causes public harm (be it hate, porn, violence, incitement, etc).
That doesn't make it unenforceable. It just means that any prosecutions should be a slam dunk, because what was said was well over the line.
The group most hated in New Zealand since the 1993 legislation (which included no discrimination based on employment status) has been beneficiaries – which enabled the continuing poverty of the "brown" underclass. It also fed the 2005 election debate – across the board tax cuts (advantaging white men the most) or the WFF tax credits which helped poorer browner families (just not those on benefits).
But little about that in this legislation.
Class-based hatred is so 19th century? Hating the rich has been a thing since then too, though. However calls for violence against them, not so much…
I do agree, however, that there's such a thing as institutionalised violence – mental, not physical, and beneficiaries were the target. Getting a court to accept such reasoning would be a fascinating legal challenge.
Institutionalised violence – where a majority use its determination of policy to oppress "weaker" groups. Maori from their land, middle class law and order managing the underclass (drug use offences so much higher for some than among the middle class). Those on benefits paying back grant money out of future benefits while those with student loans borrow their living costs but do not pay anything back until they find work.
Is public support of this institutionalised violence, hate speech, the National Party/ACT Party manifesto or social media comments by their support base?
"GCSB Minister Andrew Little said that the foreign intelligence agency has established links between Chinese state-sponsored actors known as Advanced Persistent Threat 40 (APT40) and malicious cyber activity in New Zealand. The GCSB had "worked through a robust technical attribution process" to establish its conclusions, Little said."
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/447239/government-points-finger-at-china-over-cyber-attacks
Well okay, but since the attacks happened in March, why this now?? Spooks don't take four months to report identification of source, do they? One would think tracking a virus normally takes hours or days, not weeks or months. Are the bureaucrats sitting on the reporting process? Or is it that the govt has known the source all these months and only just now issued its delayed reaction due to some obscure diplomatic coordination requirement emanating out of Five Eyes?? I don't get it.
China was suspected/blamed back in March. Now NATO-EU and Five Eyes have all concluded this was the case and said so at the same time.
The GCSB has worked through a "robust attribution process" and if the results were different to that derived by the others we would have said so and explained why they were wrong …
Presumably there is some signature identifying “APT40” known to the USA – whose own motive is to infer western tech vulnerability with use of Chinese suppliers (to broaden trade sanctions on security grounds).
When you've seen three key industries in your big brother Australia smashed by retaliatory trade tariffs, you'd pause, get your allies in order, and then front it.
We are now very likely to get a strong Chinese response that will affect our economy.
"Two hours ago, China expressed outrage at the accusations it paid criminal groups to carry out cyber hacks, including the Microsoft breach and ransomware attacks. Beijing called the claims "a huge lie," "slander" and "ridiculous," and threatened devastating consequences, according to a post in China's English-language Global Times." https://www.newsroom.co.nz/8things/furious-china-threatens-retaliation-as-nz-and-allies-blame-it-for-cyber-attacks
Whoopee! Perhaps a covert donation to Groundswell? With a bit of belt & road advice: "give them a belting, guys, send them down the road"…
Make fun all you like, but Biden is fronting this for allies, including ourselves, who have been attacked.
They are unified because this really is economic war — just minus the blood and body count.
A bit more context here.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-57889981
"Despite the strong language, there are no signs of fresh sanctions against China. In contrast, new sanctions were placed on Russia for the recent SolarWinds campaign which many experts believe was less serious than the Microsoft Exchange campaign linked to China."
That's the bit from the BBC report you linked that interests me. Why does the Biden administration believe punishing Putin and not Xi is a good idea?? Or perhaps they are simply giving Xi a window of opportunity to respond first.
So is there a proposal of wealth transfer from those who have worked all their lives to pay those 16 Billion we paid in Corporate welfare called housing equality because there is now no money for social housing?
Many of todays 50-60 year old have not had their first house until they were 30, but now they are being taxed to make sure the 18 year old gets their foot on the property ladder because successive governments have failed to maintain and build housing?
Another proposal from those who have never done a normal everyday wage job in their lives. How would they know what so many out there have to face. Having a government job with extended leave, sick leave, guarantied pension….hallo! I mean the majority has no such luxury. Paid for by the taxpayer no less! But they now have the audacity to espouse these theories that will affect the ones who actually contribute to the GDP of this country.
Really? Seriously? Are they living in another world or something? The wealth divide is created by the very same governments that pay them to come up with another idea how to get the remaining middle class into a dependant poor state. You will not lift anybody up by having everybody poor.
How about taxing those who have paid the dividends to the corporates financed curtesy of the taxpayer and will be an burden for at least 2 generations? There was some noise for a while that the fraudulent taking of the corporate support will be investigated, but no one actually believes that it will happen. Meanwhile we pay money meant for victims to the gangs. Build houses, get the money of the fraudsters and build houses for goodness sake.
Lets stop pretending everything is just a matter of milking more from those who work and we are fine.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/125796416/tax-on-all-housing-needed-to-fix-distortion-of-social-fabric
They are too late: the 10 year bright line test greatly decreases outing capital circulation other than for a handful.
St John et at should have concentrated on IRD powers to unwind trusts. That's where 90% of our private wealth is.
IRD are making some moves against faux charity trusts, but it's the tip of the iceberg.
Re: Trusts
That is the best idea here in an age,After '87 share market crash, Gordon McLaughlin I think did an in depth analysis and wrote a large essay (maybe North and South) not sure how to link but in the interweb somewhere.
Alternatively, you could argue that the rebuild cost plus a certain % should be the base value of any house. This would rectify the market very quickly as those houses build some 30 or more years ago would be not tradeable at 1 mil plus.
Trusts should be taxable at all levels. Its fraud by another name.
Trusts with a charitable purchase disbursing well are a strong societal good.
Arguably using a trust to protect family intergenerational wealth is also useful.
But so many are tax minimization instruments pure and simple. They need legal attack from the state.
Ad, can you please fix your name typo on next comment from same device
Yes apologies fat fingers
And arguably not. We did fine with an estate tax prior to 1991.
That's a tough area because although IRD can be called on to judge charitable purpose for donee organisations, mostly that's handled by DIA through the Charities Service. Important work though.
It's just a rehash of TOP policy (taxing equity in property ownership).
No government would apply it, because it has the perverse incentive of encouraging people to borrow against equity to buy more property to reduce their tax liability.
But the emotions dragged out of the home owning class at their doing anything to reduce growing inequality because of overvalued land values are just as concerning as poor policy proposals.
The problem is if the government devalues land, a lot of banks will demand their cash straight away.
To just have those who actually work and try to make it trough this jungle of deceit and lies pay for exactly that lot will change the next elections 100%.
Not during the term of the mortgage they won't – and if the person is making (and likely to remain doing so) the repayments they will renew. A bank flooding the market with homes for sale because of a valuation downturn would destroy itself.
You're talking about homeowners, not all workers mate.
Nice misleading headline and quite befitting this silly rant of yours. Don’t let facts get in the way of a good spin, inside your head. Feeling dizzy yet?
Gangs are just that. No other country in the world would recognize gangs as a legitimate source to deliver value for any taxpayer money spent. NONE. Good god, now we are entering the stage where the perpetrator becomes the victims keeper!
Yip,that's one of the reasons I'll never qualify as a leftie, anyone who is thick enough to think that someone who rises to the top of the fucking mongrel mob is not a dishonest ,violent selfserving low life is at best a gullible fool,
I am very much a social democrat but this government is not, despite their assertions. Justice would be one area that does not gel very well if we give money to gangs and/or billions to companies never to be paid back under the so called honor system.
Only naive people believe good intentions are all one needs and yet the freedom for those basics to have a framework for all has to be defended or fought for. Look at south Africa, Intentions good, outcome…not so much.
https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/ghana/10519.pdf
“A huge congress of the 'Socialist International' took place in 1951 in Frankfurt and the resultant declaration opposed any form of Bolshevik communism and Stalinism.”
The call for freedom, equality, justice and solidarity originates in old humanistic thoughts. It is central for the Christian idea of man, it has been the battle-cry of the French Revolution, it is reflected in the legal foundations of the United Nations, the UN's two Human Rights Covenants of 1966, and finally it also forms the core values of social democracy.
What on Earth has self-ID as Lefty got to do with the price of fish?
What's fish got to do with me calling anyone a daft gullible leftie for thinking giving money to the mob is a good idea. ?
It is a dim-witted accusation and doubling down doesn’t it make it a better one. Do you take your cues from the same sources as Foreign Waka, by any chance, because it certainly looks that way?
Dimwitted ! Abuse is the last gasp of the losing side.
Na I did a bit of reading ,I get it that some in the police backed the idea ,plus others, and have decided all on my little lonesome that it's a fucking idiotic idea.
And it sure ain't making it easy being openly labour in my neck of the woods I tell ya.
Calling out your comment as dim-witted is not abuse, but if you’re that easily offended, I’d better back off from questioning your debatable reasoning and your dubious sources.
Iran – Hizbollah in Lebanon and the Shia militias in Iraq.
USA – countless groups many different nations (Mujahadeen, Contras etc)
You’re entitled to your beliefs and opinions, which you seem to get straight from MSM headline writers and spin doctors who write the press releases and SM messages for National and ACT. I prefer critical analysis based on and informed by evidence although a good rant is necessary, from time to time.
You’re so close with your “the perpetrator becomes the victims [sic] keeper!”, yet so far.
Regardless of whether you see merit in the approach of financing the poacher to become gamekeepers it should be admitted that the optics of such a decision open up the advocates to serious questioning….and rightfully so imho
That would be a fair comment if the questioning were less partisan and more open-minded to what this is about. So far, it is mostly reflexive stereotyping and labelling with very little analysis. Very similar to many of the ‘debates’ we seem to be having nowadays, e.g., about (the) hate speech law. I get that most of those pundits have no interest in questioning let alone challenging their own engrained biases and therefore avoid genuine debate like a gang tangi. Lazy thinkers with regressive ideas.
And that is all bullshit…again….there must be numerous Iwi (or other) groups with less direct connections to the gangs that are crying out for that sort of funding to assist their communities.
While the likes of the Mongrel Mob and Black Power may be SMEs in comparison to the 501 influenced multi-nationals the fact remains their business model is drugs based and this is a braindead proposition in the wider publics eyes.
The fact this administration constantly creates sticks for its own back will be its undoing…not the competence of the opposing argument.
Sure, it is all BS again, which makes for a compelling and persuasive judgement.
I know that many law-abiding citizens view gangs as nothing but drug peddlers and sources of crime and misery. With such a blinkered view it is only logical and morally imperative to take a hard line on gangs, which means no State support for any gang associates and their affiliates and further demonising and excluding them from normative society. The same dim-witted thinking leaves no room for considering, even for a moment, that including gangs in approaches and strategies that could lead to better outcomes for all involved, i.e. for all society. I can understand all these things and yet not buy into the same thinking because it has not delivered much to write home about thus far except providing useful ammo for certain political ‘gangs’, their leaders, and their associates and affiliates. Maybe building a few more prisons is the right answer? Serco won’t mind 😉
What was the Human Rights Commissioner thinking when he gave a $200 koha?? Very bad optics; he must have lost his mind …
Well I hope youre feeling happy in your superiority of thought….and therein lies the problem.
Meanwhile in the real world…
Agree Pat. Giving koha is different from being given $$$$ of Govt funds. I found nothing untoward about the HRC giving koha, in acceptance of a reciprocal concept of hosting.
As others say the optics, at the very least of giving a gang that has caused so much damage to society access to significant govt funds, are able to be questioned and I don't blame people for doing just this.
Possibly, in the ‘real world’, these do exist, I wouldn’t know, obviously. But they could perhaps read this: https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/about-the-justice-sector/proceeds-of-crime-fund/. Or maybe they did and applied, but were not approved because they didn’t meet all criteria? Or maybe they applied too late, after the deadline closed? Or maybe they didn’t apply at all for funding and then started to throw rubber gumboots? Some must have been successful though: https://www.justice.govt.nz/justice-sector-policy/about-the-justice-sector/proceeds-of-crime-fund/#listofinitiatives.
But of course, it’s all bullshit, again 🙁
It's an envy tax. Read the comments on the article. It would be a very hard sell for any government.
Ugly spin
https://twitter.com/RyanSproull/status/1417224152365207577
War-tearing Palestinians off the lands they are living on sought by Israel for settling its citizens on, would be more accurate.
… and where shall we be when everyone has "cancelled" everything else?
When nobody can even talk about it!
There's always the RSA. Tears in the beers.
OH REALLY – https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/447264/act-proposes-limiting-gang-members-freedoms.
What a load of bullshit and ignorance. History and research proves this would only fuel the problems these ACT dickwits think they would solve! Perhaps if the party of selfish tax-dodgers and rorters paid their fair share of tax, NZ could seriously begin to deal to poverty – the real problem. The only surprise is that they aren't pushing gun rights to implement the Duterte solution (/sarc).
The greatest irony is that the announcement was made from the premises of a supplier of the county's most harmful drug!!!
There is a bit or a lot of that 'taking battle with one's own agenda' going on these days either through non-consultation on issues that are deserving of consultation, both in central and local govt or disrupting events when brave souls want to consult.
Life's ironies abound. I suspect this undermining/battling of the ACT agenda was inadvertent.
The ACT leader looks every day more like the mask for comedy on a theatrical stage, or the trickster in some Shakespearean play. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/60264/21-phrases-you-use-without-realizing-youre-quoting-shakespeare
Like? "Nay, an I tell you that, I'll ne'er look you i' the face again: but those that understood him smiled at one another and shook their heads; but, for mine own part, it was Greek to me." — Casca
Nay, if our wits run the wild-goose chase, I am done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits than, I am sure, I have in my whole five. Was I with you there for the goose?" — Mercutio
"So, again, good night. I must be cruel only to be kind. Thus bad begins and worse remains behind." — Hamlet
The game's afoot: follow your spirit, and upon this charge cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'" — King Henry V
It's posturing shiite – their existing policy is that anyone on Job Seeker Benefit goes onto an electronic (restricted spending) card after the first 4 weeks of cash benefit (eftpos card).
This government is a idiot for seeking to suppress further 1-off territory attacks, when lage, powerful armed terror groups like Mongrel Mob are growing unchecked and attacking in towns and cities at will.
Such misdirected nonsense from this government and Police on terror groups.
Where do you get your information from? Pretty dodgy to say the least.
From your comment, it sounds as thought there is only one gang in NZ and that they are armed to the gills and in the midst of a shooting war with all and sundry.
Hate to disabuse you of your fantasies but some reading suggests the 501 seeded gangs are more heavily armed (weapons arrive with drugs from South America) and NZ's numerous other gangs are no doubt just as lethal. It also seems you work on other very misguided assumptions that are not worth addressing as it is obvious you have more than a few mind-blocks.
By the way, when were you last terrorised by an armed Mongrel Mob Member? Was it when you didn't pay for the drugs you received or was it after you shot up their pad?
Odd you should mention this. Last night I was dealing with my disabled brother who has discovered a very recent bullet hole in his house. Police have told them they know who it was but no action can be taken.
I'm still trying to work out what this means.
About 20 years ago when some pissed prospects decide leave the party at the pad down the road and invite themselves into our flat and proceed to start smashing the place up.
You are just stupidly ignorant.
Auckland's SH1 motorway was shut down by a gang gun exchange on Thursday night.
More gang gun violence occurred in Massey yesterday.
At least 900 people joined a gang last year – an increase of 13% on the year before.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/300193448/number-of-people-joining-gangs-increased-by-at-least-13-per-cent-this-year-police-data-shows
Since Labour came into office in 2017 gangs have recruited 2660 new members, an increase of just under 50 per cent. We now have over 8,000 – that's equivalent to the entire town of Kawerau. All facts on the record.
Plenty of our small towns have gangs as the primary organising power of their society. Including places like Kawerau.
Different reasons why:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/123699877/new-zealand-gangs-on-the-rise-why-young-kiwis-are-getting-patched
December last year there were two drive-by shootings from gangs within 24 hours – in Napier.
Police raids on gangs have increased this year, with huge hauls and Proceeds of Crime seizures.
They ride our streets in packs unimpeded. They are now so big that the governemnt has to employ them to manage the impact of the drugs they import.
Targeted assassinations by gangs, using firearms, are now much more prevalent.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/125565035/targeted-assassinations-becoming-more-prevalent-in-gang-scene
You want a discussion on the impact of terrorist groups in New Zealand, start with the armed terror groups that are embedded and expanding already.
Personally I regard them as outlaws. In the original sense of that word, and all that implies.
This is the product of the policy of Australia's Liberal coalition government, therefore the product of the people of Australia, and literally the product of Australian society.
Thousands of criminals, trained by Australia, have been exported to New Zealand in the last 6 years. With them they bring sophisticated networking, fundraising and recruitment practice, all nurtured in Australia. They also bring their anger, magnified.
NZ has become a dumping ground for the failures of a morally corrupt Australian society and this is the primary reason for an increase in organised crime violence here.
Add to this their export of real terrorism in the form of murderous white supremacy, which we have known bubbles away in Australia under the radar since its colonisation, by criminals.
Yes there's a wee bit of that. But they are our people doing this crime, our people are the criminals, and apart from the Comancheros they came back to fully formed gangs ready to expand – which they are doing big time.
And there's no way the Ardern government isn't responsible for effectively policing them.
You only have to look to some Latin American nations, Mexico leaps to mind, as to what happens when govts fail to police gangs.
Two years ago I had a very interesting Mexican colleague (I think I mentioned him here in a thread before) who explained to me in detail one night over dinner, how two of his business partners were in separate incidents, both kidnapped, ransomed and murdered. We’re talking legit, tech based, middle-class professionals – specifically targeted for purely monetary gain and no other reason. Needless to say this is also the reason why he now lives in Australia.
You will read this and feel nothing – having it retold by someone who lived through it first hand is deeply chilling. And if NZ imagines that it's immune to this kind of collapse of social moral structure it would be deluding itself.
Frightening and so true. But it seems that our government wants to make friends with gangs. I don't think being kind will be the preferred remedy.
Difficult for me to imagine a modern NZ government of any flavour being kind/friendly to individuals or groups that indulge in kidnapping or other serious crimes in NZ, but your imagination may be more 'vivid' than mine.
Four arrested face two kidnapping charges
Suspect that the NZ police and MPs are concerned about the types and level of crimes carried out by gangs in NZ, from the Mongrel Mob to triad-type and white-supremacist gangs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangs_in_New_Zealand#Race-based_gangs
Imho those convicted of kidnapping in NZ should be made an example of – NZ kidnapping rates are too high compared to Australia.
https://knoema.com/atlas/New-Zealand/Kidnapping-rate
A clever, amusing title to brighten the day. It's about a serious subject but just a pause for a smile before reading further.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018804301/money-for-the-mob-and-hoha-over-koha
They get paid by the market to bring the drugs in, and paid by the public to mitigate the damage of drugs.
Pretty sweet deal.
That sums up a lot of business in NZ Ad.
No it bloody doesn't. The fact of so many left wingers openly siding with criminal gangs who inflict nothing but misery on their own people is a testament to a dismal moral degeneracy I find very hard to understand.
👏
Here's an extremely accurate description of our "inclusive" education system. The HRRT needs to fast-track hearing IHC's complaint:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/125796031/young-lives-up-in-smoke-more-special-education-help-is-needed-at-schools
'Murica
https://twitter.com/TheTNHoller/status/1416925524065148928
Well lets hope shooting incidents do not become that common and blase in NZ.
A gun sick nation. USA a fourth-world nation and soon emulating Nigeria probably.
[second time removed the following text from user name: “Timely warning”]
I haven’t done anything to my user name – don’t know why it should be different. Thanks for adjusting incognito. I see now – will do. Very timely warning eh.
Please correct your user name next time you comment, thanks.
Maybe some actual data would help with your comparisons.
The Auckland to Hamilton train had a bad day yesterday by the sounds of it.
Train wreck of a commute: 'Bits of the train were bouncing down the tracks' – NZ Herald
No worries, we'll get it fixed and it'll go like the clappers. In the meantime a bit of the old pioneer spirit needed, and patience.
[third and last time; removed the following text from user name: “Timely warning”]
See my note above. Will do.
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That's the last time they name a service after an extinct bird.
The front fell off.