Their consultancy contracts have 'hollowed out the Public Service, which is one of the pillars of the Westminster system'.
The questions that Australian legislators raise are ones NZ government should be asking here and now. Part of their slipperiness is that tey are not corporations, but set up as massive partnerships.
More mundane than that: making moolah for themselves coming and going. There seems to be breakdown where they contribute to legislation, while on-selling insider info to big corps (also their customers) affected by the laws/policy under development.
Much of their government income is inaccessible, hidden inside things like the Defense budget spend on AUKUS. The openly-accessible contracts suggest $10bi of government income in the past 10 years.
And they've become the ticket clipper for Aussie organisations needing to interface with government (entry to money talks requires a big4 financial case).
Plus they write their own contracts and deliverables, and you can guess what that means.
Victoria University of Wellington politics professor Dr Lara Greaves tells The Front Pagepodcast as parties grapple for swing voters, they’re unlikely to do anything that might spook those in the centre.
Sheeple milling around in the middle of the paddock do get spooked by those seeking to deviate them. Consequently, doesn't matter how many global crises start to happen, they just keep on circling. To impress these centrists, the Nat/Lab duopoly must pretend no crises are actually happening, and issue policies accordingly. Bland + bland = ok.
“Studies like the New Zealand election study have shown that the group that tends to be less committed partisan and more likely swing voters are women. There’s some motivation kicking around there and around trying to appeal to those.”
She doesn't even mention the Women's Party. Perhaps she's not a woman? Just pretending? Being an academic locked into a silo could explain it – no idea what's happening in the big wide world outside your comfortable niche in there.
What this means is that voters looking for bold or radical changes to the current status quo are unlikely to find what they’re looking for in anything that’s being offered by the main parties right now.
Gosh, you mean things will stay the same as usual? Folks will be surprised. Changes come & go constantly, but democracy keeps sheeple stuck in the same rut forever. All good, because their mental health depends on it. More smoke from the Nats, more mirrors from the Labs, more sameness will persist. Avoid all progress!
Putting 12-year-old ram raiders in jail is obviously exciting stuff for Labour folk. One can imagine them jumping up & down with glee in anticipation. Tough on crime!
You mean Labour are being disingenuous? Pretending to imprison them while knowing judges will never act in accord with an act of parliament and make it happen? I suppose one would call that the judicial subversive theory of democracy. Could spice up the campaign if journos tell it like it is!
And this from a progressive kind of person who'd likely vote Labour:
Chief Children’s Commissioner Judge Frances Eivers says she is “frustrated” to see the Government’s plans to build more “prison-like facilities” for young offenders – the exact opposite of what she and successive commissioners before her have called for
She may feel frustration, but it won't stop Labour copying National! No way. Centrist sheeple will nervously eye the two packs closing in on them from either side. Just the slightest gap between them, and the sheeple will instantly transform into bolters and shoot thro the gap to freedom…
The new Children and Young People’s Commission comes into being today, replacing the Office of the Children’s Commissioner and taking on the role of standing up for and advocating for the rights of children and young people.
The move follows a controversial law change last year on oversight of Oranga Tamariki facilities, including taking sole responsibility away from the independent Children’s Commissioner, which critics said meant young people will feel less comfortable coming forward with complaints.
The move was opposed by all parties aside from Labour,
well, so as long as these new facilities don't promote under age fight clubs.
"What this means is that voters looking for bold or radical changes to the current status quo are unlikely to find what they’re looking for in anything that’s being offered by the main parties right now."
You can't vote for a revolution. Witness Douglas's reforms of the '80'’s.
Foolishly, it has taken a while for me to come to this conclusion too. Neo-liberalism and it's handmaid, incrementalism is far too familiar and comfortable for these pollies and our Public Servants.
We need a significant change where resilience and self reliance, as a nation, are encouraged, where there is no need for welfare for working people, housing is decent and rents are linked to wages, not seen as an investment vehicle and foodbanks are a thing of the past.
So far the corporate owned identitarians (of all faith and leanings) and other Aunt Lydia's have succeeded in making enough people believe that they are safe from such unpleasantness so as long as they believe and invest heavily in hopium and copeium. Both readily available online, and please tick all the appropriate boxes for the suits and their enforces to be re-selected as deliverer of hopium and copeium.
We don't have to. There's absolute necessity to provide a positive alternative. That's why I put up my website (alternative Aotearoa) after the gfc when it became obvious that neither the left nor the right were willing to learn the resilience lesson.
A global financial crisis is insufficient to shake mainstreamers out of their mental lethargy. Likewise the global climate crisis. Sheeple aren't problem-solvers. They always need someone competent at solving problems to engage on their behalf.
Political parties all agree that problem-solvers are troublemakers, therefore the system must be made to discriminate against them. It's the only sure way to protect the system and ensure that its dysfunction continues.
So you can see why the native rebel thing is escalating both here & in the USA. Just heard ex-presenter (Morning Report) being interviewed by Corin Dann about the Disinformation Project. It has been exploring the sub-culture & seems to have produced some kind of report. I'll see if I can find it.
Founded in February 2020, the Disinformation Project helps organisations, journalists, academics, policy makers, and civil society to identify, understand and meaningfully respond to information disorders. Read more about defining disinformation.
Bomber yesterday anticipated a Ministry of Truth. Any minister could easily find that job to be quite a hot seat, eh? I advise postmodernism as the default position for any such Labour minister aspiring to be a role model of truth: "We in Labour believe in make it up as you go along. Consequently the truth is whatever seems to be in the common interests of our members at the time. It's called democracy."
Alternative (on-line) media want the status of MSM without the responsibility – their freedom of speech.
They couch it as our "freedom of speech", because we can comment on their sites – and there is a new regime proposed whereby they have to moderate hate speech and have annual reviews as to their more effective management of this.
I can't recall that showing up in recent polls. Oh right, "Women's Rights Party"?
I can't see that it is registered for this election. It must be heading up towards the deadline to get on the ballot. Ummm timetable. They probably have until
Noon, Friday 15 September
Nominations closefor candidates
At that point they print the ballot. However a party needs to do everything before that because they have to have things like a logo gazetted, minimum number of members, officers elected etc.
That seems a more likely reason about why she didn't mention it.
Animal justice has an extremely paw logo. And “NewZeal”, for those with long memories, was the name adopted once upon a time for the political project of now US domiciled ex=ACT vice president, aging crackpot and conspiracy theorist Trevor Loudon – the ZAP inspired ground zero of NZ cookers.
Poorly promoted, an uncompetitive national team, a general lack of interest, and the opening match to be likely played in pouring rain in a half empty, gloomy and out of date Eden park because Auckland inexplicably still lacks a modern 25,000-30,000 seat indoor stadium – FIFA must be regretting giving NZ co-host rights for the woman's soccer world cup. Let's look into the looming debacle.
Poorly promoted because the whole tone of the promotion of this tournament is NZ fans should be grateful and turn up, and if they don't it is the fans fault and because of some sort of misogynistic reason. But as women's rugby showed, a team that engages with its fans, is humble and – above all – is competitive then the fans will come out. The lack of a decent indoor stadium to replace Eden park for league, union and soccer in Auckland – where it has just rained more or less continuously for nine months – is a disgrace. New Zealanders don't go to stadium events much anymore because the stadium experience is stuck in the late 1990s (that includes the terrible music, presumably signed off by a boomer executive). Going out to sport is a habit. Like many things to do with rugby union (the main users of stadiums) arrogance, greed and complacency has killed their audience.
Don't be surprised if all matches are switched to Australia at short notice.
Some expensive suit in Australia just cancelled the Common Wealth game cause it costs to much. Maybe in reality people just don't have money to go to Auckland and watch soccer. Maybe soccer really is not on the top list of peoples mind atm.
Any other town has that fabulous stadium that you talk of? If so, the question is not why did Auckland rate payer not pay for another stadium, but the question is why is the Opening Game held in a bad venue when NZ has better, and above all why should the Auckland Rate Payer fund private venture when the town is broke.
The bickering over a long, long overdue stadium to replace Eden Park & Mt. Smart is beyond belief. Major projects of any sort in Auckland appear to always get bogged down in ridiculous resets. But that isn't the fault of NZ Soccer.
the “expensive suit” BTW was the premier of Victoria.
Part of the problem is that while Mt Smart is owned by the Ratepayers of Auckland, Eden Park is not.
Eden Park is owned by a private Trust and is supported by very rich and powerful sporting type people with excellent political connections. The Trust has a voracious appetite for ratepayer and taxpayer funds and the political clout to extract them.
Over the last 30 odd years Eden Park has grown from a daytime sporting venue to a massive entertainment complex. It sits in the middle of a largely heritage zoned residential area. It has good public transport links which is its main redeeming feature, but it still requires massive road closures to manage crowds for a big event.
Eden Park will want to hang on to this investment and privilege so any attempt to replace it will be extensively (and expensively) contested.
It's easy to simply say Auckland should have a modern 30,000 seat stadium. And imagine it. Only 30,000 when the (few) big matches at Eden Park attract 50,000?
There seem to be simply too many competing interests for such a new stadium. Getting everyone on the same page seems impossible. Of course there is the accommodation of a desired rectangular area for football sports and a circle/oval for cricket.
We want the stadiums and consequent environments, experiences and events we see overseas.
Arsenal Football Club, London; 19 home games a year, average attendance 60,000.
Green Bay Packers in Wisconsin USA, a state of nearly 6 million, with Milwaukee the biggest city with 600,000. 10 home games average attendance 76,000.
A sports stadium as a social facility, a generator of commercial and economic activity, a viable financial investment, a 'nice to have'? We want a Ritz de la Ritz stadium experience? Eden Park is a dump?
Auckland could have a modern international quality stadium. All it needs is the chief proponents to come up with a couple of billion. Ratepayers obviously need to be out of that demand loop.
You must be a rugby fan Sanc-a bit too negative mate, you will be rivalling Ad soon.
I'm going to a couple of WC games in Dunners (at the excellent roofed newish stadium) and looking forward to the soccer very much. I think there are many people in the same boat. More kids play soccer than rugby at school now.
I don't think you can blame NZ for the weather. They play Premier League soccer in driving snow sometimes in England.
But you are right about Auckland and its stadiums. A mate of mine texted me yesterday saying how pissed off he was that the two cricket tests against Australia will be played outside Auckland. (I invited him to come and watch with me at Hagley Park). But this is because there are wonderful cricket grounds in Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Napier, Alexandra, Tauronga and so on while Eden Park is a terrible cricket venue, and, as you say, is not that impressive as a rugby/football venue.
(BTW I don't like Queenstown as a cricket venue due to the perpetual noise from aircraft. That will change when they build Tarras International Airport)
Sure it could have been better promoted, as a rare chance to see top level football locally. And it will be, once it gets going.
And it is a pity the FF are not as good a team as they have been (competitive as 2011, 2015 and 2019), and we have a poor record with coverage of the sport here (only recently a Phoenix women's team and is there any media coverage of the provincial football league as they do with women's rugby…I got to watch WH and SG play at local club level – Central League).
AE would be back for another go (rather than at Louisville) if they were on the ascent rather than decline.
FIFA would see this as promoting the game down under.
But the idea of having and using a smaller indoor stadium because it might rain … what if a larger stadium was sold out …
And it is a pity the FF are not as good a team as they have been
So they had better not get complacent, just because they beat a team ranked higher than Philippines and Switzerland (apologies to the needle for borrowing his motivation method).
Simpson was all professional on rnz morning report shortly after 8, co-ordinating the relevant info for commuters and city workers. She refused to be drawn to speculate, saying that was for the police, and came across as 100% credible and competent.
The constant refusal of the MSM to note the partisan political links of Sunny Kaushal when seeking commenting on crime has gone from wilful ignorance to downright conspiratorial.
Analysis of how (in Australia) cash rate increases promote energy price increases and further inflation. The idea that cash rate increases have promoted rental price hikes has taken hold in Australian political commentary as well.
Golly, just got a first hand account of the downtown incident this morning from my God daughter and niece – she was walking to work and was right outside when it happened. Had to take cover and hide until armed police escorted them away. Astonishing stuff.
David Seymour can't resist trying to 'foreshadow' blame on the government for the tragedy while at the same time pretending to be responsible about… not jumping to conclusions.
There will be a time to ask how such a thing could happen, how it could have been stopped, and what should happen to stop it happening again. That time is when all the facts are known, and carefully analysed. Rushing to conclusions often makes things worse.
The questions posed by Seymour are perfect for a rabid crowd he wants to appeal to and the incident, tragedy, is an ideal vehicle to stir them up. It would be terrible for everything in the country to be calm, peaceful and settled.
On one festering cesspool online blog site they're into it. Naturally Arden is dragged in with scorn and blame. And crime and punishment, and all sorts of opportunistic racist stuff is being chucked round.
Mark Mitchell will be planning his attack for today and while making out it's about 'informing the public' he'll be trying to maximise his chance to grandstand and rouse more neanderthals.
Seymour wants offenders to be able to have legal access to weapons which kill many more people, like semi-automatics, instead of shotguns. That is literally ACT's policy, and demonstrated by Seymour's votes in Parliament, opposing gun reform.
And before you say they are only a small part. 2 battalions of neo-nazi's in the Ukraine army is 2 to many. That's not even pointing out the Wagner group or other Russian far right groups.
Let's not forget when this is over – weapons in the hands of these people is going to be a problem for years to come.
But sure lets pretend that far right are not a problem.
Police Commissioner Costner says he was a 24 yo with a home detention sentence, for primarily domestic violence, but with an exemption to work at the construction site. He did not hold a gun licence.
A few questions need to be answered from this. Like how the heck did he get hold of a gun? And why the hell was he given home detention in the first place? And where was the monitoring?
I wonder how Judge Stephen Bonnar KC if feeling tonight?
I went to https://archive.is/, pasted in your nzherald address into the search function, and it pulled up the above cevKP link. Hopefully that works as a link in TS, as it's the first time I've had a go.
Yup, appears to have worked just fine. Now to read on.
Well, I've got a bit more respect for Luxon and a lot more understanding of what makes him tick. He was a cypher before, possibly still is. Thanks for the link, ianmac.
A lot of effort to reassure us Luxon is not in politics as a social conservative, but as someone who merely wants more effective management of the economy.
I read that Luxon's an OK, results-driven executive, trained at Unilever, renowned for their all-rounder exec training. He is warm with his work team, but worships at Mammon's altar (shareholder returns), and will sacrifice all to reach his target.
He has an element of social consciousness developed by his upbringing, and by Unilever's holistic management approach.
The thinness in Luxon's world view seems to be in his capitalist, growth-mentality position. He drank the 90's market cool-aid, and never grew out of that way of thinking.
When I inputted your herald address into the archive.is website SEARCH function (further down the page, not the archive dialogue box), it popped up with the cerKV link I put at the top of my comment. That should take anyone clicking on it to the archived article (if someone has bothered to archive it) – as it took me when I clicked on it on editing my comment after posting, as a check.
I just meant, you can give this a go yourself when next bringing TS readers your tasty pay-walled treats.
Quite balmy in Palmy North today, for this time of year.
‘We are damned fools’: scientist who sounded climate alarm in 80s warns of worse to come [19 July 2023]
“There’s a lot more in the pipeline, unless we reduce the greenhouse gas amounts,” Hansen, who is 82, told the Guardian. “These superstorms are a taste of the storms of my grandchildren. We are headed wittingly into the new reality – we knew it was coming.”
He said the record heatwaves that have roiled the US, Europe, China and elsewhere in recent weeks have heightened “a sense of disappointment that we scientists did not communicate more clearly and that we did not elect leaders capable of a more intelligent response”.
“It means we are damned fools,” Hansen said of humanity’s ponderous response to the climate crisis. “We have to taste it to believe it.”
As for that Act activist. Chris “Climate Hysteria" Baillie and his denier stance…this kind of idiot will never accept that our Earth..is heating very rapidly. A dangerous fool.
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Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
MONDAYSheriff Seymour rode slowly down the main street of Dodge on his faithful white horse Atlas Network.He liked what he saw.Children were being fed free lunches prepared by kind people who collected the scraps from an offal rendering plant.“Very strongly flavoured liver, such as ox liver, can be soaked overnight ...
Once upon a time it was all about being an astronaut, a firefighter or doctor; but these days kids have their sights set on becoming vloggers or YouTubers.That’s according to a 2019 study by Lego that surveyed 3000 children between the ages of eight to 12 from the US, the ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. From the moment I started high school and realised almost every other girl in my year was at least partially interested in what the boys were up to, I realised that I would be single for life. The feeling wasn’t one of ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Selina Alesana Alefosio.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.On a bright Sunday morning from her grandparent’s home in Pito-one, I spoke with ...
The White Lotus star reflects on her life in TV, including the local ad reference that doesn’t work in Australia, and her bananas co-star on Neighbours.Morgana O’Reilly was scrolling her phone next to her sleeping son on an idle Saturday morning when she got the call confirming that she ...
Claire Mabey explores the pros and cons of puff quotes on book covers.In January, Publishers Weekly put out an article by Sean Manning – publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship US imprint – in which he said he’d “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.The ...
New Zealand’s Entomological Society is hosting its annual bug of the year contest. Here are some of the insects in the running. For some reason – perhaps humans’ inherent competitiveness, the idealisation of democracy, the need to demarcate winners and losers – one of the best ways to get people ...
A journey along the border, with words and illustrations by Bob Kerr.The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.The Sunset Limited leaves Union Station New Orleans on time at nine in the morning. We ...
Neville Peat is the 2024 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in nonfiction. He’s written 56 books, mostly on natural history; this excerpt is from The Falcon and the Lark: A New Zealand High Country Journal, first published in 1992. The falcon wintering on the Rock and ...
It was a light-hearted gesture Greta Pilkington will be forever grateful for – thanks to an Aussie rival who jumped in when the Olympic sailor couldn’t be at her own graduation.Pilkington, then 20, had been leading a double life – while qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the ILCA ...
I was born in the back of my grandfather’s ute, by an overgrown windbreak in a remote place called Wahi-Rakauyou can’t find on a map. I was born a girl but given the man’s name Harvey, as my dad always wanted a violent-minded boy to one day help him ...
“We’re not here to interfere in people’s property rights,” Ngāi Tahu’s Te Maire Tau has told the High Court.Tau, a historian, Upoko (traditional leader) of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and a university professor of history, is the lead witness in a case designed to force the Crown to recognise the tribe’s rangatiratanga ...
Pacific Media Watch Trump administration officials barred two Associated Press (AP) reporters from covering White House events this week because the US-based independent news agency did not change its style guide to align with the president’s political agenda. The AP is being punished for using the term “Gulf of Mexico,” ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin editor France’s top diplomat in the Pacific region says talks around the “unfreezing” of New Caledonia’s highly controversial electoral roll are back on the table. The French government intended to make a constitutional amendment that would lift restrictions prescribed under the Nouméa Accord, which ...
By bringing these global voices to the fight for free expression in New Zealand, we’ll continue to protect and expand our culture of free speech, says Nathan Seiuli, the Free Speech Union's Events Manager. ...
The issue is no longer a hypothetical one. US President Donald Trump will not explicitly suggest death camps, but he has already consented to Israel’s continuing a war that is not a war but rather a barbaric assault on a desolate stretch of land. From there, the road to annihilation is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cecelia Cmielewski, Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University To be selected as the artist and curator team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale is considered the ultimate exhibition for an artistic team. To have your selection rescinded, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia is bearing down on the northwest coast of Australia and is likely to make landfall early Friday evening. It’s a monster storm of great concern to Western Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Ireland-Piper, Associate Professor, ANU National Security College, Australian National University A Victorian government decision to allow dingo culling in the state’s east until 2028 has reignited debate over what has been dubbed Australia’s most controversial animal. Animals Australia, an animal welfare ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Overnight, Robert F. Kennedy Jr was confirmed as the secretary of the US Health and Human Services Department. Put simply, this makes him the most influential figure in overseeing the health and wellbeing of more ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard eight hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.It was another work from home day for the Justice Committee, the only people in Room 3 being security guards, committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Juris Teivans/Shutterstock In Australia, fatal road crashes are climbing again, especially since the pandemic, and despite years of attempts to reduce road trauma, the numbers ...
In its eagerness to appease supporters of Israel, the media is happy to ride roughshod over due process and basic rights. It’s damaging Australia’s (and New Zealand’s?) democracy.COMMENTARY:By Bernard Keane Two moments stand out so far from the Federal Court hearings relating to Antoinette Lattouf’s sacking by the ...
“The reality is we’re getting poorer. The government this year is leaning heavy on chasing economic growth, which is absolutely the right thing to do.” ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 The Vegetarian by Han Kang (Granta, $28) Han Kang’s astounding novel was based on an ...
This new docuseries about two single comedians looking for love is also a joyful celebration of female friendship. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. “How many people do you think are boning right now?” Kura Forrester asks Brynley Stent as the bright ...
A new poem by Freya Turnbull. Hunger Song – After Kaveh Akbar (Untitled With Hunger And Matcheads) I hold my age in ripped fishnet hold an empty vessel oldyoung body cracks like gunshot like killa i was a father ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dominik Koll, Honorary Lecturer, Australian National University View of the Pacific Ocean from the International Space Station.NASA Earth must have experienced something exceptional 10 million years ago. Our study of rock samples from the floor of the Pacific Ocean has found ...
Troy Rawhiti-Connell reviews Kia Tupu Te Ara, a documentary chronicling the meteoric rise of Aotearoa’s groundbreaking metal band. “Two brothers attempt to storm the world of thrash metal with the Māori language, despite the fact they’re both still teenagers,” reads the synopsis of Kent Belcher’s documentary, Kia Tupu Te Ara. ...
Three freelance writers have been awarded grants to work on their ambitious journalism projects. In January, The Spinoff announced the Vince Geddes In-Depth Journalism Fund, supported by the Auckland Radio Trust (ART). The fund was established to provide much-needed financial and editorial support to talented freelance journalists, empowering them to ...
ABC asks about the opaqueness and unaccountablity of the Big Four consultantcy firms which have 'infiltrated' Australian governments (15 min).
Their consultancy contracts have 'hollowed out the Public Service, which is one of the pillars of the Westminster system'.
The questions that Australian legislators raise are ones NZ government should be asking here and now. Part of their slipperiness is that tey are not corporations, but set up as massive partnerships.
Presumably to obstruct democratic representation of the people by those in parliament, by providing advice contrary to the manifesto.
More mundane than that: making moolah for themselves coming and going. There seems to be breakdown where they contribute to legislation, while on-selling insider info to big corps (also their customers) affected by the laws/policy under development.
Much of their government income is inaccessible, hidden inside things like the Defense budget spend on AUKUS. The openly-accessible contracts suggest $10bi of government income in the past 10 years.
And they've become the ticket clipper for Aussie organisations needing to interface with government (entry to money talks requires a big4 financial case).
Plus they write their own contracts and deliverables, and you can guess what that means.
Much more muddling thro the middle: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/the-front-page-why-have-our-major-parties-become-so-risk-averse/C7FGUURER5BUZCXWFL4NUNSGTQ/
Sheeple milling around in the middle of the paddock do get spooked by those seeking to deviate them. Consequently, doesn't matter how many global crises start to happen, they just keep on circling. To impress these centrists, the Nat/Lab duopoly must pretend no crises are actually happening, and issue policies accordingly. Bland + bland = ok.
She doesn't even mention the Women's Party. Perhaps she's not a woman? Just pretending? Being an academic locked into a silo could explain it – no idea what's happening in the big wide world outside your comfortable niche in there.
Gosh, you mean things will stay the same as usual? Folks will be surprised. Changes come & go constantly, but democracy keeps sheeple stuck in the same rut forever. All good, because their mental health depends on it. More smoke from the Nats, more mirrors from the Labs, more sameness will persist. Avoid all progress!
Labour's mirroring of National's ram-raid policy initiative has gotten interesting: https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132572766/new-ram-raid-law-to-charge-12-year-olds-new-offence-with-up-to-10-years-jail
Putting 12-year-old ram raiders in jail is obviously exciting stuff for Labour folk. One can imagine them jumping up & down with glee in anticipation. Tough on crime!
I suspect the purpose of the policy is otherwise.
It's to be able to bracelet home the 11-12 year olds if they ram raid
Basic psychology.
Hone notes Johnny next door is housebound for ramraiding, so he refuses an offer to ramraid for a gang the next week.
You mean Labour are being disingenuous? Pretending to imprison them while knowing judges will never act in accord with an act of parliament and make it happen? I suppose one would call that the judicial subversive theory of democracy. Could spice up the campaign if journos tell it like it is!
They'll be allowed out to go to school.
And this from a progressive kind of person who'd likely vote Labour:
She may feel frustration, but it won't stop Labour copying National! No way. Centrist sheeple will nervously eye the two packs closing in on them from either side. Just the slightest gap between them, and the sheeple will instantly transform into bolters and shoot thro the gap to freedom…
Did the Childrens Commissionaire not got axed?
Ah, i see it is a new and improved childrens Commisioner.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/childrens-commissioner-no-more-as-new-oversight-children-and-young-peoples-commission-launches/FZRQYYLOEJAJFO4SAWMW6UOCEE/
well, so as long as these new facilities don't promote under age fight clubs.
"What this means is that voters looking for bold or radical changes to the current status quo are unlikely to find what they’re looking for in anything that’s being offered by the main parties right now."
You can't vote for a revolution. Witness Douglas's reforms of the '80'’s.
Foolishly, it has taken a while for me to come to this conclusion too. Neo-liberalism and it's handmaid, incrementalism is far too familiar and comfortable for these pollies and our Public Servants.
We need a significant change where resilience and self reliance, as a nation, are encouraged, where there is no need for welfare for working people, housing is decent and rents are linked to wages, not seen as an investment vehicle and foodbanks are a thing of the past.
How far further do we have to fall?
Until we again feel hunger, cold, and fear.
So far the corporate owned identitarians (of all faith and leanings) and other Aunt Lydia's have succeeded in making enough people believe that they are safe from such unpleasantness so as long as they believe and invest heavily in hopium and copeium. Both readily available online, and please tick all the appropriate boxes for the suits and their enforces to be re-selected as deliverer of hopium and copeium.
Vote 2023.
"hopium and copeium"
Excellent!
This election bought to you by unobtanium.
How far further do we have to fall?
We don't have to. There's absolute necessity to provide a positive alternative. That's why I put up my website (alternative Aotearoa) after the gfc when it became obvious that neither the left nor the right were willing to learn the resilience lesson.
A global financial crisis is insufficient to shake mainstreamers out of their mental lethargy. Likewise the global climate crisis. Sheeple aren't problem-solvers. They always need someone competent at solving problems to engage on their behalf.
Political parties all agree that problem-solvers are troublemakers, therefore the system must be made to discriminate against them. It's the only sure way to protect the system and ensure that its dysfunction continues.
So you can see why the native rebel thing is escalating both here & in the USA. Just heard ex-presenter (Morning Report) being interviewed by Corin Dann about the Disinformation Project. It has been exploring the sub-culture & seems to have produced some kind of report. I'll see if I can find it.
Ah, that wasn’t hard: https://thedisinfoproject.org/
Bomber yesterday anticipated a Ministry of Truth. Any minister could easily find that job to be quite a hot seat, eh? I advise postmodernism as the default position for any such Labour minister aspiring to be a role model of truth: "We in Labour believe in make it up as you go along. Consequently the truth is whatever seems to be in the common interests of our members at the time. It's called democracy."
Alternative (on-line) media want the status of MSM without the responsibility – their freedom of speech.
They couch it as our "freedom of speech", because we can comment on their sites – and there is a new regime proposed whereby they have to moderate hate speech and have annual reviews as to their more effective management of this.
More importantly, listen to Suzie Ferguson's new RNZ podcast series Undercurrent to understand why we as a society need to monitor online 'free speech' forums around NZ political life.
I can't recall that showing up in recent polls. Oh right, "Women's Rights Party"?
I can't see that it is registered for this election. It must be heading up towards the deadline to get on the ballot. Ummm timetable. They probably have until
At that point they print the ballot. However a party needs to do everything before that because they have to have things like a logo gazetted, minimum number of members, officers elected etc.
That seems a more likely reason about why she didn't mention it.
Incidently we have a few new party changes.
Applications to register a political party and logo
PARTY NAME &
ABBREVIATION
Animal Justice Party
Applications to change a party name or logo
PARTY NAME,
ABBREVIATION
OR LOGO
Animal justice has an extremely paw logo. And “NewZeal”, for those with long memories, was the name adopted once upon a time for the political project of now US domiciled ex=ACT vice president, aging crackpot and conspiracy theorist Trevor Loudon – the ZAP inspired ground zero of NZ cookers.
The party applied on the 11th July and the application is underway.
Poorly promoted, an uncompetitive national team, a general lack of interest, and the opening match to be likely played in pouring rain in a half empty, gloomy and out of date Eden park because Auckland inexplicably still lacks a modern 25,000-30,000 seat indoor stadium – FIFA must be regretting giving NZ co-host rights for the woman's soccer world cup. Let's look into the looming debacle.
Poorly promoted because the whole tone of the promotion of this tournament is NZ fans should be grateful and turn up, and if they don't it is the fans fault and because of some sort of misogynistic reason. But as women's rugby showed, a team that engages with its fans, is humble and – above all – is competitive then the fans will come out. The lack of a decent indoor stadium to replace Eden park for league, union and soccer in Auckland – where it has just rained more or less continuously for nine months – is a disgrace. New Zealanders don't go to stadium events much anymore because the stadium experience is stuck in the late 1990s (that includes the terrible music, presumably signed off by a boomer executive). Going out to sport is a habit. Like many things to do with rugby union (the main users of stadiums) arrogance, greed and complacency has killed their audience.
Don't be surprised if all matches are switched to Australia at short notice.
Some expensive suit in Australia just cancelled the Common Wealth game cause it costs to much. Maybe in reality people just don't have money to go to Auckland and watch soccer. Maybe soccer really is not on the top list of peoples mind atm.
Any other town has that fabulous stadium that you talk of? If so, the question is not why did Auckland rate payer not pay for another stadium, but the question is why is the Opening Game held in a bad venue when NZ has better, and above all why should the Auckland Rate Payer fund private venture when the town is broke.
The bickering over a long, long overdue stadium to replace Eden Park & Mt. Smart is beyond belief. Major projects of any sort in Auckland appear to always get bogged down in ridiculous resets. But that isn't the fault of NZ Soccer.
the “expensive suit” BTW was the premier of Victoria.
Part of the problem is that while Mt Smart is owned by the Ratepayers of Auckland, Eden Park is not.
Eden Park is owned by a private Trust and is supported by very rich and powerful sporting type people with excellent political connections. The Trust has a voracious appetite for ratepayer and taxpayer funds and the political clout to extract them.
Over the last 30 odd years Eden Park has grown from a daytime sporting venue to a massive entertainment complex. It sits in the middle of a largely heritage zoned residential area. It has good public transport links which is its main redeeming feature, but it still requires massive road closures to manage crowds for a big event.
Eden Park will want to hang on to this investment and privilege so any attempt to replace it will be extensively (and expensively) contested.
Eden Park is also set in the middle of a host of powerfully politically connected NIMBYs – who hobble any significant development.
It's easy to simply say Auckland should have a modern 30,000 seat stadium. And imagine it. Only 30,000 when the (few) big matches at Eden Park attract 50,000?
There seem to be simply too many competing interests for such a new stadium. Getting everyone on the same page seems impossible. Of course there is the accommodation of a desired rectangular area for football sports and a circle/oval for cricket.
We want the stadiums and consequent environments, experiences and events we see overseas.
Arsenal Football Club, London; 19 home games a year, average attendance 60,000.
Green Bay Packers in Wisconsin USA, a state of nearly 6 million, with Milwaukee the biggest city with 600,000. 10 home games average attendance 76,000.
A sports stadium as a social facility, a generator of commercial and economic activity, a viable financial investment, a 'nice to have'? We want a Ritz de la Ritz stadium experience? Eden Park is a dump?
Auckland could have a modern international quality stadium. All it needs is the chief proponents to come up with a couple of billion. Ratepayers obviously need to be out of that demand loop.
Auckland is a joke , shit stadiums that are hard to get to, no rail to the airport, a bridge that gets shut due to wind , sewage filling its harbours.
You must be a rugby fan Sanc-a bit too negative mate, you will be rivalling Ad soon.
I'm going to a couple of WC games in Dunners (at the excellent roofed newish stadium) and looking forward to the soccer very much. I think there are many people in the same boat. More kids play soccer than rugby at school now.
I don't think you can blame NZ for the weather. They play Premier League soccer in driving snow sometimes in England.
But you are right about Auckland and its stadiums. A mate of mine texted me yesterday saying how pissed off he was that the two cricket tests against Australia will be played outside Auckland. (I invited him to come and watch with me at Hagley Park). But this is because there are wonderful cricket grounds in Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Napier, Alexandra, Tauronga and so on while Eden Park is a terrible cricket venue, and, as you say, is not that impressive as a rugby/football venue.
(BTW I don't like Queenstown as a cricket venue due to the perpetual noise from aircraft. That will change when they build Tarras International Airport)
They need to develop a real cricket ground away from Eden Park.
Any hardly used golf clubs available?
2030, 2040, yeah, right.
Fact check:
Most boomers aren't into late 90 music..
They stopped listening to new stuff 10-15 years before that..
It's the mob that came after them you should be directing your ire at..
And rnz reported the opening kick is before a full house..
Yeah but my kids are 28 and 33 and they have been telling me about the odd new band for many years.
Meanwhile, tickets for Messi’s Inter Miami debut are going for a lazy $110K on a re-seller site.
https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2023/07/17/exp-messi-mania-miami-soccer-football-riddell-live-071703pseg2-cnni-business.cnn
Sure it could have been better promoted, as a rare chance to see top level football locally. And it will be, once it gets going.
And it is a pity the FF are not as good a team as they have been (competitive as 2011, 2015 and 2019), and we have a poor record with coverage of the sport here (only recently a Phoenix women's team and is there any media coverage of the provincial football league as they do with women's rugby…I got to watch WH and SG play at local club level – Central League).
AE would be back for another go (rather than at Louisville) if they were on the ascent rather than decline.
FIFA would see this as promoting the game down under.
But the idea of having and using a smaller indoor stadium because it might rain … what if a larger stadium was sold out …
So they had better not get complacent, just because they beat a team ranked higher than Philippines and Switzerland (apologies to the needle for borrowing his motivation method).
AM Show just now, looks like a cop's been shot in downtown Ak:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/police-responding-to-unfolding-incident-in-britomart-auckland/VU72UD5WX5GZJB4T6VX4AOKHEY/
Up a high-rise there was a report of someone with a gun, 13th floor (unlucky) construction zone mentioned by a reporter.
Desley Simpson fronting the media, I assume the mayor is yet to emerge, put in his hearing aid and/or turn on his phone.
Simpson was all professional on rnz morning report shortly after 8, co-ordinating the relevant info for commuters and city workers. She refused to be drawn to speculate, saying that was for the police, and came across as 100% credible and competent.
Brown at 9.15 am to Newshub, presumably after his morning coffee, said that the gunman was dead, but that was just something he'd heard. Couldn't resist sharing. Simpson vs Brown, no contest.
Nearly everyone relevant who I've heard in the media on this has been professional and careful. Wayne Brown the only exception.
PM press conference at 10.15.
Without a prepared script..brown seems largely incapable of stringing a coherent sentence together…
"… brown seems largely incapable of stringing a coherent sentence together…
Brown is incapable of stringing a coherent sentence together. More fool the idiots who voted for him.
Stuff is reporting
https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/300931378/live-auckland-shooting-multiple-people-believed-dead-police-officer-hit
Belladonna. Could you sort the Archives for today's column in the Archives please?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/christopher-luxons-self-help-path-to-power-next-stop-prime-minister/UFZA3TIWSNDMPC5KFCGHG6YB2U/
Sorry, afraid this is a bit late (both my paid job, and my unpaid parenting responsibilities have been a bit overwhelming today)
https://archive.ph/cevKP
The constant refusal of the MSM to note the partisan political links of Sunny Kaushal when seeking commenting on crime has gone from wilful ignorance to downright conspiratorial.
Analysis of how (in Australia) cash rate increases promote energy price increases and further inflation. The idea that cash rate increases have promoted rental price hikes has taken hold in Australian political commentary as well.
https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=60991
Golly, just got a first hand account of the downtown incident this morning from my God daughter and niece – she was walking to work and was right outside when it happened. Had to take cover and hide until armed police escorted them away. Astonishing stuff.
David Seymour can't resist trying to 'foreshadow' blame on the government for the tragedy while at the same time pretending to be responsible about… not jumping to conclusions.
https://www.facebook.com/davidseymourACT/posts/811644743666139?ref=embed_post
What a creep!
(Sotto voce) "soft on crime, soft on crime"
A gun register's a good start. And a watchdog for online threats.
You can bet more gun control won't be on acts agenda
The questions posed by Seymour are perfect for a rabid crowd he wants to appeal to and the incident, tragedy, is an ideal vehicle to stir them up. It would be terrible for everything in the country to be calm, peaceful and settled.
On one festering cesspool online blog site they're into it. Naturally Arden is dragged in with scorn and blame. And crime and punishment, and all sorts of opportunistic racist stuff is being chucked round.
Mark Mitchell will be planning his attack for today and while making out it's about 'informing the public' he'll be trying to maximise his chance to grandstand and rouse more neanderthals.
Yes. Its sickening. I have the same level of disdain for Mark Mitchell as I do Seymour.
Seymour wants offenders to be able to have legal access to weapons which kill many more people, like semi-automatics, instead of shotguns. That is literally ACT's policy, and demonstrated by Seymour's votes in Parliament, opposing gun reform.
That works just fine in the USA, right?
How Seymore behaves is called "Passive aggression". Nasty as if he is called on it he will feign innocence.
So the far right are having fun in Ukraine.
And before you say they are only a small part. 2 battalions of neo-nazi's in the Ukraine army is 2 to many. That's not even pointing out the Wagner group or other Russian far right groups.
Let's not forget when this is over – weapons in the hands of these people is going to be a problem for years to come.
But sure lets pretend that far right are not a problem.
He had a monitor bracelet.
Are they not suppose to report if he went away from his home detention location?
Saw one media outlet say monitored home detention can include a designated place of work. Edit: Coster has apparently just confirmed this?
Also saw a comment on another forum (not verifiable) that he'd been fired from the job at the construction site.
Thank you.
Police Commissioner Costner says he was a 24 yo with a home detention sentence, for primarily domestic violence, but with an exemption to work at the construction site. He did not hold a gun licence.
A few questions need to be answered from this. Like how the heck did he get hold of a gun? And why the hell was he given home detention in the first place? And where was the monitoring?
I wonder how Judge Stephen Bonnar KC if feeling tonight?
Possibly not that great – who'd be a judge (or a probation officer), eh?
At least Judge Bonnar was right that he won't be seeing him again!
Alex Spence's column on Luxon is out on the Herald
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/christopher-luxons-self-help-path-to-power-next-stop-prime-minister/UFZA3TIWSNDMPC5KFCGHG6YB2U/
The column does not paint a very glowing picture of a would-be PM.
He points out that Air NZ had recovered from a bad period when Luxon took over. In Claire Trevetts book a colleague of Luxon is quoted:
The getting out before a slump is par for Luxon.
In my opinion a person who is searching in Self-help books is searching for identity and this is to fill a vacuum which is his lack of authenticity.
I hope Belladonna can find this in the Archives?
Have a go yourself at finding the archived copy.
https://archive.is/cevKP
I went to https://archive.is/, pasted in your nzherald address into the search function, and it pulled up the above cevKP link. Hopefully that works as a link in TS, as it's the first time I've had a go.
Yup, appears to have worked just fine. Now to read on.
Well, I've got a bit more respect for Luxon and a lot more understanding of what makes him tick. He was a cypher before, possibly still is. Thanks for the link, ianmac.
A lot of effort to reassure us Luxon is not in politics as a social conservative, but as someone who merely wants more effective management of the economy.
Management of the economy — who for?
I read that Luxon's an OK, results-driven executive, trained at Unilever, renowned for their all-rounder exec training. He is warm with his work team, but worships at Mammon's altar (shareholder returns), and will sacrifice all to reach his target.
He has an element of social consciousness developed by his upbringing, and by Unilever's holistic management approach.
The thinness in Luxon's world view seems to be in his capitalist, growth-mentality position. He drank the 90's market cool-aid, and never grew out of that way of thinking.
When I inputted your herald address into the archive.is website SEARCH function (further down the page, not the archive dialogue box), it popped up with the cerKV link I put at the top of my comment. That should take anyone clicking on it to the archived article (if someone has bothered to archive it) – as it took me when I clicked on it on editing my comment after posting, as a check.
I just meant, you can give this a go yourself when next bringing TS readers your tasty pay-walled treats.
Quite balmy in Palmy North today, for this time of year.
And speaking of damned fools:
ACT getting real about climate change – yeah, right.
Baillie is currently ACT’s education spokesperson.
Brownlee is currently the National party's Emergency Management spokesperson.
Professor James Hansen can hold his head high..he definitely stood up !
As for that Act activist. Chris “Climate Hysteria" Baillie and his denier stance…this kind of idiot will never accept that our Earth..is heating very rapidly. A dangerous fool.
Thanks tWiggle but now I can't tell if is open?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/christopher-luxons-self-help-path-to-power-next-stop-prime-minister/UFZA3TIWSNDMPC5KFCGHG6YB2U/
Sorry ianmac, posted my reply to you here at 11.2.1.1.1.1 by mistake. Hope all is revealed…