Police are investigating alleged assaults by an orchard owner against migrant workers in Central Otago, including an incident where a worker says he was made to lie on the floor, stood on, and sworn at.
Another Pacific Island worker alleged he had his ear pulled by the same man, while others say he regularly called the workers names including calling one man “lazy arse”.
There was an “atmosphere of fear” at the farm they were assigned to, the workers told investigators from the Human Rights Commission, but they didn’t know how to report their problems, and so they stayed quiet for six months, until they moved north earlier this year.
An investigation by Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo found that migrant horticulture workers are living in cold, damp and overcrowded housing, have been denied paid sick leave after falling ill and have faced excessive restrictions placed on them by employers.
Just a thought for a Saturday morning (and the application of a fair amount to hindsight).
I think the Labour Party has done remarkably well after their 2020 landslide victory, managing all the 65 hyper egos that constitute the parliamentary party.
A number of these egos were new to the rigours of parliamentary life, swept in on the wave of popular approval for the way the Coalition handled the pandemic.
Inevitably (with hindsight again) some of these egos will ignore Keith Holyoak’s advice to ‘breathe through your nose.’
That only one has crashed and burned is testament to a well-managed ship of state, to which much praise must go to the PM and her office. If only one ‘misfit’ got through the selection process and made it into the House this shows, IMO, good management processes.
Superb, if you compare this with other parties, with particular reference to the Upfendoff case, where the selection panel knew of the candidate’s short-comings but chose not to tell the electorate.
It really can’t be easy to manage a large number of new and inflated egos in the context of the routine of government. So, generally, well done, Labour.
While we get distracted by brazen nutjobs, there may be stealth lunacy creeping in the back door.
Christo-fascism has destroyed the GOP in America and riddled Australia's Liberals. By stealth or by arrogance, they don't care, they just want power. Are we subject to the same steady takeover from delusional cult members?
For those who remain, they will be faced with rebuilding the trust of a public weary of political scandals.
And for Labor, there's only so long they can wallow in their opponent's misfortune.
The challenge it faces is to rebuild the trust the nation puts in politicians to govern transparently.
Ex PM Morrison's machinations are an object lesson in how to circumvent democratic conventions, and undermine trust in all politicians and political institutions.
By stealth or by arrogance, they don't care, they just want power. Are we subject to the same steady takeover from delusional cult members?
An almost perfect description of the Critical Theory Cult … Wokedom relatively weak among the wider population … but dominant among cultural, political & administrative elites … a self-interested top-down authoritarian PMC vanity project guaranteed to create new forms of social injustice … in key respects, the antithesis of traditional liberal, universalist, egalitarian Social Democracy.
Ironically, you’re – at the very least – Cult-adjacent.
– constitute a deep and rapidly growing threat to the security of the United States, including the January 6th insurrection against democratically elected government
Obviously the next infection target of Christian nationalists, as distinct from your tiresome rebukes of people with different opinions to you, is the US military.
There's plenty of literature on this if you care to read it, but the fundamental is clear: 48 hours before the attack on Congress, ten former secretaries of defence on January 4th published a letter in The Washington Post, essentially warning the military to stay out of the election results. This is just two days before Biden was supposed to be confirmed, and Congress was stormed.
On the same day, Admiral Stavridis, former Supreme Commander of NATO and a Senior Executive in Carlyle Group one of the largest private equity funds and a major investor in the military-industrial complex. He wrote a column in Time magazine supporting the letter of the ten former secretaries.
President Trump was clear about what he was doing holding up a Bible and preparing the military to smash up those who protested against him.
Nope, the military aren't going to be woke-ified. They are going to be Christian Nationalised. And then there is no going back to democracy at all.
Cult-adjacent. Misdirection and plain shitforbrains methinks. Ridiculous.
I grew up in these clown-cults. I have 8 years consecutive as a merit student in scripture union and the more I learned the more I was at war with these hypocrites, these abusers, these Sunday trumpet blowing dandies.
A group I’d crawl over broken glass to get away from.
I've been critical of the infiltration of school boards by the religious for years and sat on boards myself to help negate their influence.
There was a list published in the media 15 or so years ago of a list of 40 or so wealthy fundamentalist Americans who decided that New Zealand was the appropriate bolt-hole – and small enough to influence government – that they would move here. I recall there was one who had bible messages on his burger chains cups, etc on the list and about 5 had been granted residency under at that point
I also recall ACT having to suddenly sort out quite a few candidates for one election some years back as well as 5 or 6 were not NZ residents.
I try hard not to fall down conspiracy rabbit holes but I do suspect with the plethora of American style politics and policy's – three strikes, pay less tax, anti-government, increasing homelessness and putting homeless in motels a la The Florida Project and so on it has been going on for a while.
I've hunted a few times for that list thinking I should see how many have residency now but have never been able to find it again.
YesD.O.S The Evangelical mob tried to take over a School in Rotorua, but the staff and parents managed to avoid that, in the 90s We had a couple on our Board, and when I read them the secular rules for NZ schools I became Satan's sister lol. Those folk are dispersed now and people became wary of their affiliations. I would like to see that List. There may be a few surprises.
Wow, thanks for giving me a heads up about 'The Platform.' Never heard of it before. Taking in what the opposition is up to is always good. I found this disturbing article regarding Dame Anne Salmond being cancelled. This type of shit needs to be addressed by Labour if we expect to win the next election. If such a venerated person with much mana can be trampled over with impunity, what chance do the rest of us have? More votes for ACT?
"Reality is just not the point".. Yet the Platform interviewed the main protagonists of the Stuff – Fire and Fury doco, and at least attempted to test them, question them and get their side of the story, which I thought is a basic of journalism to get both sides. Something which stuff appeared to go out of their way not to do.
And you can literally find angry commentary made in any protest, at the extreme ends. Have we forgotten about Hone Harawira? At least he was usually given right of reply by the mainstream media.
I'm at a loss to understand how it can be called fair, even believable journalism. Taking sound bites from people, putting them alongside scary music and 1984 imagery, with biased expert commentary who make tenuous links is, dare I say it Alex Jones stuff.
Don't really see them hounding the media off the scene though. The angry, middle-aged woman was an eye-opener – most of all, to herself, I imagine, were she to watch the footage. That's quite disturbing.
We all listened to that garbage first hand, day in, day out. You can deny it was the stuff of the protest all you like but it came out of the mouths of family, friends, former friends, flatmates and other persons starting with F. Then they concentrated the stupid on parliament grounds till it was stupid fuck plus.
A steady stream of implied threats "you shall pay", "you will see", and absolute nonsense "you're a government shill", "Jabcinda's a man", "where's Clark" while they 'flood the zone' aka send you all manner of bullshit earnestly pleading you read some incoherent toddlers 'research' or listen to endless clips where they trot out some knee surgeon to talk viruses to an avon salesperson for two fucking hours.
Perhaps you think we didn't hear the underlying message:
'Loss of trust in state institutions'
'Loss of trust in corporations'
'Loss of trust in science'
'Poor mental health funding'
'Institutionalised minority bashing'
and 'sociopathic white supremacists co-opt locally aggrieved persons and promise 'freedom' in exchange for sanity, social standing and reality'.
to be honest many of the rabbit (rabid) hole fallers aren't aggrieved about anything. They have never protested in their lives or stood up against power or previously made a stand.
It is as weird as shit as to why they have suddenly turned vociferous spouting nonsense they know little about, quoting charlatans as truth-seekers and continually calling me and others sheep all the while displaying cultish behaviour.
You do really get a sense of the algorithms in the social media space moving from drip-feeding knowing you are pregnant before your husband does five or six years ago to a torrent of self perpetuating dribble once you have dipped your toes in the conspiracy water. I used to get a nice and surprising mix of different recommendations in my various feeds that were useful. The algorithms are definitely much more aggressive and focussed now than they used to be. I started noticing this a few years back after a family member was killed in a workplace accident. On their birthday and anniversary of their death family would get inundated with advertising for the workplace they died in causing further anguish and reminders to the point we just don't go online if we can help it those days. Their name. death and the workplace are forever linked together in internet land.
I notice it only takes one query about something now to get advertising around that item and how connected it is across the different platforms – look something up in a retail shop – within less than an hour you are getting ads on Facebook or youtube or Stuff for the same or similar items.
I have no doubt with facial recognition you will be starting to see advertising in places like movie theatres targeted to the actual shopping habits of the people who are at that session.
The speed, accuracy and intenseness of the algorithms needs to be tempered in some way – maybe a compulsory randomness and apposite generator built in that maybe generates 50% of the recommendations to stop the spiraling.
You make interesting and valid points. Yes, some of the grievances were fictional (many, in fact), but the underlying angst (whatever the cause) was there to be tapped into.
I was contemplating the algorithm issue recently. Spying is all, of course, about money (pissant proxy power) and power (information being power).
Corporations make a lot of money herding us into easily reachable demographics so all this spying is not going to stop unless governments legislate themselves a spine (lol) or public backlash is so great it affects bottom line (more likely) or – we build something better?
Until I see a better model where we get useful info piped to us but are not spied on constantly… I'm all for making spying online illegal until a legal case for each case can be made. NOT a financial case, a case for the 'greater good'.
Some kind of filter that lets our computer know – this is a public service vs – this is a public nuisance. Perhaps.
I didn't see Sharma's latest offering on this morning's TV3 "The Nation", but I did see the debate. Janet Wilson, Judith Collin's former press secretary, was the only one who was mildly reasonable. The young PR woman had no idea what she was talking about. But the piéce de resistance was Josie Pagani – the woman who has spent the last 10 years wreaking revenge on Labour because they failed to pamper her inflated ego.
Venom dripped from her mouth, particularly towards Jacinda Ardern. She claimed Labour had been asking for it because their back-benchers have nothing to do but sit around all day twiddling their thumbs. That is a lie! I have seen back-benchers in various stages of exhaustion over the years because they have so much to do. They all have background portfolio responsibilities and are expected to sit on several select committees .
No-one raised the communication difficulties everyone has experienced since the start of the pandemic. Oh no, that would spoil the punch-up.
Or…was always heading Right. While white-anting Labour for all she was worth. TBH I'd never heard of her until 2 elections ago. I asked on the Standard about her…and really, her true Blue colour was pretty much known
I would think it is more accurate to say that Pagani can validly use Jim Anderton's comment. "I didn't leave the Labour Party. The Labour Party left me".
The party moved in different directions of course. I Jim's case it moved to the centre. In Pagani's case I imagine she thinks that the Party has moved to a rather odd combination of hard left opinions and racism.
That would seem to be an accurate description as far as I can see.
Blairite=BlairRight. He will never be forgiven for the Iraq war….incipient privatisation of the NHS (which Liz Truss supports) ….cozying up to Murdoch…etc etc
Blair? Wasn't he the UK PM Ms Ardern worked for as a "senior policy adviser"?
Ah yes "She then moved overseas to London, where she worked as a senior policy advisor for British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the UK Cabinet Office."
Blairites are instantly recognizable by their resemblance to Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series – one of the finest satirical political vignettes of the last century.
You can imagine what Pagani thinks; I can only imagine what you think and since you’re commenting here, only relevant is what you think and write here – hiding behind other people’s thoughts or feelings is weak and pathetic and reeks of cowardice. Be a real man and tell us how you really feel about the Labour Party …
I voted for them in quite a lot of the elections in the last 40 or so years. In fact I voted for them in 1981, 1984, 1987, 1999 and 2002. Why not recently? Because they are quite useless and they have been a disaster for New Zealand.
I wanted to be able to vote for them in 2017, because no Government should have more than 3 consecutive terms, but I thought they were completely incapable of forming a decent Government. I have been proved right.
That isn't a moral description of course. An alternative word would be competent. It is a Government that does, on time and at a reasonable price, carry out the activities required of it. It also only does the things that are required and are beneficial to society.
I regard these sort of things as ones which demonstrate that the current lot are incapable of doing a decent job.
Kiwibuild. The amalgamation of the Polytechs, Providing an effective health system. Reducing homelessness. Providing suitable roading. Reducing violence in communities. Providing sensible public transport. etc, etc.
And again. Your name is most apt in the sense of your most accurate observations.
Jacinda got elected and hung in through plenty of grim times and then had some luck with the final circumstances.
But also it worked because of a lack of complication in some of her thoughts and presentation of them. And sure she’s a post Key figure rather than a partisan firebrand, but she’s done well on many many things.
Not Just Kansas; Women Motivated to Vote in States with Repro Rights at Risk
As we detailed in our analysis last week, the electorate in Kansas changed dramatically in the days after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision leaked. Kansans turned out in record numbers in the primary and delivered a victory for abortion rights, a win fueled by Democrats out registering Republicans by 9 points since the Dobbs decision was announced, with a staggering 70% of all new registrants being women.
Now, as we move ahead through additional state primaries and toward the midterm elections, there is evidence that what happened in Kansas isn’t an outlier. In states like Wisconsin and Michigan where reproductive rights are at stake this year, we’re seeing a meaningful gender gap in registration, whereby women are out-registering men by significant margins. In states like Rhode Island and New York where reproductive rights are protected by Democratic leaders in government, no gender gap exists.
Republican crises of conscience aren't much help now, but good to see some have a conscience:
Collins revealed that he had sleepless nights after learning that doctors refused to extract the fetus from a 19-year-old woman whose water broke at 15 weeks of pregnancy.
…
"That weighs on me," Collins remarked. "I voted for that bill. These are affecting people and we're having a meeting about this. That whole week I did not sleep."
There's also lot of angry Dad's now motivated to vote against GOP.
I had hoped their implosion/division (Truth vs Trump) would seal the GOP's fate – so I could shallowly have a told you so moment to some TS authors, but attacking women's rights might be the actual straw that breaks the elephants back.
I have given the Sharma McAnulty relationship a bit of thought. McAnulty was a list MP for a term and he was selected as a junior whip. In the 2020 election he won the seat of Wairarapa and became an electorate MP and a chief government whip. Sharma and McAnulty are of similar age and they possibly clashed.
I do think that McAnulty did not have enough time in Parliament to have been the wisest pick to become a chief government whip. I do think that Sharma needed to be careful about anything he states.
I would like to see an independent inquiry into how McAnulty handled Sharma.
Sharma is the electorate MP for Hamilton West. Sharma is no slacker when it comes to proving he can work hard and for the benefit of people. Medical school and some surgical training is not for the faint hearted.
Getting into medical school is hard enough in the first place let alone the rigours of what comes next. Obviously many excellent candidates don't make the cut to even train to be doctors. Undoubtedly many who miss out would have made fine doctors.
That's why, when some doctor 'goes astray' and does something bewilderingly dumb, or shows human frailties beyond expectation, we see clearly that the qualities we wish all doctors had are not present in all of them.
We ascribe some sort of 'super person' status to them. We give them the benefit of the doubt – "oh, but he's a doctor, he wouldn't do that."
Two eye doctors have been in the news in the past week to do with terrible incidents. Another in the past fortnight has made the news for 'inappropriate behaviour' to do with female patients.
One shocking case most clearly demonstrating a 'fall from grace' involved a young doctor. For all the effort, dedication and intelligence to get to be a doctor, how could it be as it was and end as it did?
Doctors are not god. I have read enough Health and Disability Commission decisions to know that. I also read about the conduct of doctors in the media.
Look, I get that you don't like Sharma – but please stick to the actual facts.
Sharma is indeed an electorate MP for Hamilton West, just as McAnulty is for Wairarapa.
Sharma is male, he's a Doctor of medicine, they all think they are god. They only have to be in an organization for five minutes to expect to be in charge of everything.
He probably expected to have an important role and hasn't been promoted above his competency. All nurses can identify the type.
When I was in hospital earlier this year I said to the nurse… "but the surgeon said such and such." The nurse gave me a piercing look and said in all seriousness… "Don't take any notice of the surgeons. They haven't a clue what is going on."
I had the impression it was the nurses who run the hospitals, not the doctors and surgeons.
When it came to the care an ex partner received from a DHB the nursing staff showed diligence and the doctors made error after error. Went in for a simple op, had 3 surgeries in a week and the third surgery was for a treatment injury. Returned from surgery moribund and died 3 hours later.
You can see by the way Sharma has conducted himself that he is unscrupulous.
He lied about travel allowances and ramped everything up to 11. The whips office is there to help him, but he was unhappy and again here he is unhappy. Even in this he is behaving not as someone who has a shred of legitimacy, but someone who is trying to spread shit everywhere. He’s made claims and thrown insults and perjoratives, drip fed things and not provided evidence.
He’s performing a hit job, nothing more.
Im sure there are a lot of people who voted for him who are feeling particularly betrayed. But again the clear message is that this is about him. I mean the piece in Stuff comparing him to Rishi Sunak, the billionaire who propped up Boris, shows the grandiosity of his support and its lack of morals.
If there was a basis for anything more I’m sure it will happen. Currently there’s nothing.
Labour needs to select a strong candidate in Hamilton West and fight the good fight.
He knows that Labour won’t give him the oxygen of a case. Politically it’s hard to know what motivates him.
But the lady who defended him based on ethnicity reminded me of Morgan Godfrey pining for a Maori PM and thinking Shane Jones was the closest chance, despite everything.
I don’t think he’s worried about his financial future, but maybe MPs life is more exciting than GP practice and he’d like it to continue.
I too have given the Sharma McAnulty relationship a bit of thought.
I have concluded all I know is stuff through various media and to make some judgement about how MacAnulty operates as whip or any other role is presumptuous. Or is that 'preposterous.'
The context of your comment "Politics is about team play and not ego play," reads as though a judgement has been made about and he is unsuitable for his job.
An independent inquiry into how McAnulty handled Sharma? How about independent inquiries on every MP who is bad mouthed by someone?
They're starting to work out (slowly) that a guy who promises "hundreds of pages" of evidence and delivers none, a guy who makes private messages public, a guy who secretly records his colleagues, a guy who is too busy to speak to the PM or caucus but suddenly available for media on his own terms …
Sharma could sharpen up his team skills. The government needs to show transparency on what transpired between McAnulty and Sharma. Having a big ego is not the way to go. Dealing with the facts is the way to go.
I do think there is a difference between an electorate and a list MP when it turns to custard. One requires a by election the other is a space on a list.
The sort of politician NZ needs to heal the deep division and damage embedded into our country over the past 5 years……..
Where's that Nicolamania (nice) quote come from, and does columnist Cloe Willetts, or indeed National's Nicola Willis, have an opinion on the nature and cause(s) of "the deep division and damage" now apparently "embedded into our country"?
The Nicolamania quote comes from the comments to the article and appears to reflect the general opinions of the target audience. It is obviously a puff piece to bolster the professional but homely/family image of the deputy leader of the National party. And of course they will have an opinion on the nature and causes, its all the Ardern govts fault.
Ruth Richardson's favourite recipe left in the microwave for 25 years and now ready to eat (apparently). The clever bit is that 25 years on 'high' doesn't spoil the meal, because when you open the container it's always empty. Someone else ate it ages ago. All that matters is the mountain of blather that surrounds, justifies and transcendentally sanctifies the (notional) meal with a pseudo-religious zeal.
I don't understand the reluctance to have an inquiry, even if there is not much to inquire into, as it's a well-understood mechanism in politics to take the heat out of things.
Maybe Ardern is hoping that the Greens will provide a distraction soon, when they have their big vote between James Shaw and checks notes James Shaw.
it's a well-understood mechanism in politics to take the heat out of things.
Well, yes. But it requires an agreed understanding of the issue – in effect, of the simple meaning of words.
If (for example) there's an allegation that MP X spent public money on a private trip, which has happened in Parliament before, then there is something to investigate. Concrete facts. The answer is usually "it was against the rules", or "it was technically within the rules but not a good look".
But the issue Sharma claims is "bullying" is defined by him as "something that happens to me". He has rejected any suggestion at all that he might ever have been at fault during the past 2 years, despite the testimony of his own staffers. Therefore, there is no possible outcome to an "independent inquiry" that will satisfy Gaurav Sharma. He is never going to accept a finding that (for example) …
"party whips did not behave in a way that is any different from their predecessors, but these expectations should now be updated for a modern workplace" … and also "Sharma had demands of his staff that created unnecessary stress, and that should have been handled better."
That kind of outcome, balanced but with mild criticism, would get a very predictable response from a man who has no self-awareness whatsoever. He is the only victim, and an "independent inquiry" must say so.
Anything else, and he'd be demanding an "independent inquiry" into the "independent inquiry", which was carried out by a Labour stooge, etc, etc, etc.
Labour/Ardern have given up on him, and so he's not worth any more of their time. That judgement is hard to argue with.
"Sharma suggested some of the most powerful offices in Parliament were working to enforce a culture of fear and bullying where MPs felt that they could not speak freely.
He named “the whip’s office, the offices of the leaders of various parties, along with the Office of the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister's Office”.
Those leaders alongside Parliamentary Service were allowing for the bullying of MPs and staff members, which he said had become “rampant”. No evidence to support this claim was provided.
He said Parliamentary Service was led by people whose self-interest was stopping it from upholding the proper running of Parliament. He went further, saying the service itself was being “used” by party whips to “bully and harass their MPs”."
(italics added)
So there should be an inquiry into Parl Service, the offices of leaders of at least 2 parties, and the whips. That makes it bigger than even the Francis report.
And all based on claims by one unhappy MP who consistently refuses to offer evidence.
It doesn't get anywhere near the threshold required. There's a reason courts have pre-trial hearings and don't clog up the system with every vexatious litigant. The world does not revolve around one angry man.
Well, I guess you either have the inquiry and come to a swift resolution, or, you continue to down-play the accusations and allow the festering boil to grow.
If Ardern had taken this to an inquiry, no-one would be talking about this now, as we all know inquiries are like working groups – a lengthy sentence to obscurity.
However, a mistake was made with Ardern's decision-making, and the 'threshold' you refer to will soon be breached.
Not a threshold of evidence, but a threshold of perception.
And with humans, perception is ultimately more powerful than mere 'evidence'.
Chess: if you read what Observer says above you surely can see that an inquiry would be a joke.
Sharma’s ego and sense of entitlement have got out of hand; he has, in reality, made a fool of himself. Labour are well rid of him.
Hoskin with his attempt to smear Jacinda as a liar via his ZB interview with Sharma, should hang his head in shame, though I guess he doesn’t know the meaning of the word.
Good luck to Provost on her new appointment. The morale in the police is not that great when it comes to being degraded or reporting incidents of bullying amoung the ranks.
Raising the middle finger to NZTA one more time, Bevan Woodward gets a judicial review going against the decision to not even trial cycling over the Auckland Harbour Bridge, despite a direct request from the Minister of Transport.
Yeah. As a tax and/or ratepayer (not sure which side will be picking up the legal bills) I'm not exactly enthralled by his crusade.
And, as someone who regularly travels around Auckland and sees the behaviour of both motor vehicle drivers (not just cars – buses, vans, motorcycles), AND cyclists (some of whom seem to have an active deathwish) – I am firmly on the side of Waka Kotahi.
Opening up a single lane on the Auckland Harbour Bridge to cyclists, on the proposed trial basis (i.e. without any significant safety infrastructure) really is opening the gates to a multiple-victim tragedy.
NZTA needs to deliver sunlight and the High Court is the best place for it. Let's see the chance to see their design consultants shredded.
NZTA have actively conspired to kill a cycleway over the harbour for the best part of 15 years.
They have found technical reasons to kill at least four proposals. The first of which didn't require NZTA funding and which Bevan Woodward led himself. Each time NZTA ensured there was little for the Minister to defend and much in the public arena for ZB listeners to froth about. They are obviously waging a successful war against this Minister.
NZTA and indeed Kiwirail and AT have managed to generate cycleways on every other major arterial in Auckland including the motorways and railways, but not the Harbour Bridge.
Roche the NZTA Chair is well overdue for replacing as is most of the Board – particularly after multiple fiascos and blowouts this term: Transmission Gully, Northern Gateway, Waikato Expressway, and a comprehensive inability to enable national network resilience in a wet winter.
The number of times I've been on a major infrastructure job and some 50 year old dork comes up and says "Nah mate this is crap I would have done it this way cos my mate is an Injinuur', never fails to amaze me.
We have had four feasible and costed proposals already.
The wind shear was easily accounted for on Grafton Bridge when they put shields on it, same on the Crimson Cycleway, same on multiple others.
When it is necessary to stop traffic on the Auckland Harbour Bridge for wind, they do so. Happens every year.
There is no money,we are already an at risk economy with our CA deficit blowout,and serious questions are being asked about the quangos (ratings).
The NZ $ depreciated >4 % this week alone over 15% in the last 12 months.when you can come up with a single project that will be delivered on time and under budget,and without significant underestimated problems for maintenance or design f/ups.And at the end of the day it has no economic advantage.
Rutherford also said there was Physics and stamp collecting,as it is physically impossible to ride a pushbike carbon free (the respiration problem) there are better opportunities for investment.
So if NZTA have worked effectively, in partnership with other agencies, to implement cycleways alongside other highways (Northwestern, etc.) – it's hardly feasible to say that they are anti-cycleways. Perhaps, just perhaps, they really do have a point that this one is too dangerous and/or disruptive to the regular flow of traffic. Perhaps, indeed, 'A bridge too far'
If an NZTA engineer was instructed to, they would put a canal system for yachts on the top of Mt Cook. They've bored through basalt 10 metres thick at Waterview, formed curved lanes 20 metres in the air at 90 degree curves at Pt Chev, designed whole new rail+road tunnels for the Waitemata, and are currently designing underground rail systems multiple kilometres long at over $500m a kilometre in Light Rail.
That they have found a unique design problem that is too hard for them is preposterous.
There's no doubt these things are expensive. The Petone and Riverlink systems are stupendous, and the New Lynn to Avondale one was up there. So price it up team.
Why we can't just put in a PT option to get cycles across the harbour bridge at 1 millionth of the cost, beats me!
It would be cheap and easy to put in a cycle shuttle, looping from outside the old AHB offices at Northcote Point, across the bridge, off at Shelly Beach Road and with drop off and pick up at Curran St.
Run it every 10 minutes (or more frequently if the demand picks up), during peak hours, and every 30 minutes the rest of the time. Run more frequent services on weekends and/or public holidays to accommodate the recreational cyclists.
Cyclists cycle up to the pick up point at Northcote point and from the drop off point in Westhaven. Functionally exactly the same as the many overseas models where you cycle to the train station, load your bike, and cycle again when you get off.
Virtually no infrastructural changes required. Cyclists can demonstrate the actual demand in both short and long term. Which gives actual figures for planning for a long term cycle-path in association with the already-in-planning new harbour crossing.
Actually implementing it (and running it fees free for the first couple of years) would probably be cheaper than a single court case.
Every step you walk up Albert Street in Auckland's CBD, now costs us about $1.5 million. Whatever cost-effective is. Get your Gold Card ready for that one in 2025.
Listening now, but haven't forgotten that Eaqub headlined in 2012 about why people should rent, not buy. I bet anyone who listened to him is damn sorry.
He subsequently did a volte-face and bought in 2017.
Economists, by and large, aren't really terribly good at predicting what is going to happen.
I think that that GFC experience is reinforcing the NZ belief that house-price corrections are short term.
IIRC, the drop in the property market started in 2008, and had substantially recovered by 2010. NZ was in a very different situation than the US – we didn't have their sub-prime loan issue.
The elephant in the room, that I don't think he addressed, was the Government imposed lending criteria – which is a factor throttling the mortgage lending by the commercial banks. And what changes a National / Act goverment might make.
The political instability he forecast, doesn't fill me with optimism.
Our GFC experience was moderate however there was much activity/concern behind the scenes including RBNZ support.
Assume the Gov imposed lending criteria you are referring to are CCCFA changes from Dec last year….the banks had already begun a self imposed tightening prior …the CCCFA isnt the reason banks are currently reticent…fear of loses is.
Agree that if he is correct about fragmentation of the political centre then it dosnt exactly encourage stability.
GFC is different as we had the CHCH earthquakes,which brought into NZ a significant injection of free capital (insurance) the 42 billion was entered on the capital account (not current account) and made the government look good.
But the house prices in London (and for most of the rest of the UK) did the same thing – drop after the GFC, and then a fairly quick (couple of years) correction back to almost the same pre- GFC level.
The UK BOE dropped interest rates in 2008 to 2% (from 5.5% and variable mortgages of 7.5%) In 2009 they dropped it to 0.5% where it stayed for 7 years (mortgages 2.5%)
Lots of wasted money,and huge future costs (opex) for the ratepayers with concrete money shredders such as the conference centre (or worse with the stadium)
Lots of wasted money, the wrong things built in the wrong places, the training/employment opportunities wasted, lost investment in future proofed infrastructure.
No current belief from people that house prices will continue to fall (they think any corrections are short term and temporary)
Major throttle on house sales is ability to get a mortgage (controlled by by Reserve Bank).
Covid housing boom driven by RBNZ flooding housing market with cheap money. Major, major, error.
SE is keen on much more active intervention from government in banking. Culture problem in Wellington. RBNZ will be forced to change (not only in NZ)
Believes that there will be a long-term change, making it much harder to get a mortgage – so money flows away from housing to other investments. [Not sure *why* he thinks this]
Political division between renters/owners and population shift (no dominant generation). So fragmented, rather than a single dominant group to appease.
No 'centre' (group where interests overlap). Changes of government more frequent. Lots of reversal of policies as government change.
Politically there is a consensus that there is a problem. Debating over the solutions. Move from empathy to action. (Positive)
Wants to see a land tax. For everyone (no exemptions).
Housing policy is all inter-related. No 'one thing' you can do.
Underbuilt for 40 years. Not building fast enough. Moving towards medium density.
Problem: Most housing is being built for owner-occupiers. Not enough emphasis on renters, affordable housing, etc.
Places like Gisborne – rental stock is actually shrinking.
Immigration. Covid showed that house price increases don't have to be tied to immigration! But it is a driver, and is unpredictable (boom/bust)
Expecting to see a bust on the house-building side. Not enough people, with very high incomes (i.e. can get a mortgage), who want to buy. Affordable housing isn't economic to build.
Auckland – lose people to provinces, gain from international migration. So rents (comparatively) low, right now. But may change quickly and unpredictably.
1/3 of income should be spent on housing – most people renting spend more, and is expensively supplemented by the govt. (Affordability going to be a major issue for people retiring with a mortgage, or paying rent)
Tenancies Act reform has improved things for renters, but not enough.
An answer is Institutional Landlords (build to rent) want long term tenancies (no turnover). cf Britain.
Most rental stock in NZ is mum & dad landlords. Not really in the business of being a landlord – business is really capital gain – tenants are a sideline.
NZ not ready culturally for rent control (Muldoon era).
Longer term – the answer is govt and/or institutional landlords for affordable housing.
Short-term Accommodation supplement needs to be indexed annually (more expensive, but encourages to find a better solution).
That’s a nice summary. But that doesn’t mention the incentives.
Almost all politicians own property and are benefiting from the price rises. For them there is no crisis which directly and urgently affects them. Similarly across the country there has been and is a lack of will to fix the problem as it is simply not a problem for many and for most decision makers.
As a society there is no real urgency, no real incentive for urgency, irrespective of who is in charge.
If insurance becomes unaffordable you think there will be urgent action. There was urgent action during the pandemic. There has been some action on inflation. We have participated on some group action on Ukraine.
Politically it doesn’t hurt anyone enough and personally it scarcely affects the political class (negatively) at all.
Yeh let alone when the forces of the reaction arrive and cancel density, public transport and urban planning.
Nice thread discussion, but I’ll believe any significant action after it is built and in use.
Oh I agree, there was a lot which was left out.
I was just covering what was said – for those who don't have time to listen to a 30 minute interview.
Agree that most politicians belong (by default) to the wealthy, older, and therefore property owning classes. Even youngsters like Swarbrick have bought after getting a parliamentary pay cheque.
It seems that increasing uninsurability (not just price increases, but areas which are uninsurable at any price) – is likely to become an issue. But I don't know what action the government could take – apart from reinforcing the pressure to just move away from the problem zone. I don't want to see taxpayers paying for managed retreat for multi-millionaires!
However, no one is denying that France (and the rest of Europe) is in the grip of a major drought, and there has been significant effects on the river systems.
Worst drought in more than 500 years is forecast to continue through until the end of October but not to worry, only one arm of a stretch of France's longest river has run dry.
/
Bit late for this loltastic insight, but the platforms new expert on ‘Maori Gone Craaazy’ is none other than Graham Adams from (formerly of) the Democracy Project where he hyperventilated about poor old Michael Bassett.
It rather does line up the crossover between the far right and the Democracy project with its Victoria University logo the first thing on the page.
Oh lol: Bryce Edwards, Karl Du Fresne, Marty’s Bradbury and head honcho Sean Plunket. Wonder if you’re allowed to call people a c— on the platform as Plunket famously did on his last job. No token Maori as yet? Plunket made it fairly clear in his first inter with Greive that he is not fussed by the Treaty at all.
It’s the whole Democracy Project team with Geoff Miller and Michael Bassett too.
Whatever Peter Fraser might have done, writing for something like the platform wouldn’t have been one. But emulating one’s heroes is often a bad idea!
but it may have slightly more credibility than Whaleoil , even if much of the underlying philosophy is similar.
This may be the media moment Bernard Hickey was concerned about. Or it might not. Certainly none of the ‘fart tax’, groundswell lot will be admitting they were part of the climate change problem and they’re not newly arrived…
A Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida has said he would have sent FBI agents home "in a body bag" if they had raided his home the way they searched Mar-a-Lago.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
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 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
"One thing you can be sure of is, we're wrong"
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/2018854207/the-rise-of-the-market-economy
Modern day slavery NZ : Its here…and a disgusting blight on our Orchards,Vineyards and Farms.
Kiwis wouldnt ever put up with working for these scum bags…..
National fuckwits Blinglish and sir Key said that Kiwis dont WANT to work !
Indeed, not for these type of maggot….
Please…. Stand Up for our Brother and Sister Workers !
Just a thought for a Saturday morning (and the application of a fair amount to hindsight).
I think the Labour Party has done remarkably well after their 2020 landslide victory, managing all the 65 hyper egos that constitute the parliamentary party.
A number of these egos were new to the rigours of parliamentary life, swept in on the wave of popular approval for the way the Coalition handled the pandemic.
Inevitably (with hindsight again) some of these egos will ignore Keith Holyoak’s advice to ‘breathe through your nose.’
That only one has crashed and burned is testament to a well-managed ship of state, to which much praise must go to the PM and her office. If only one ‘misfit’ got through the selection process and made it into the House this shows, IMO, good management processes.
Superb, if you compare this with other parties, with particular reference to the Upfendoff case, where the selection panel knew of the candidate’s short-comings but chose not to tell the electorate.
It really can’t be easy to manage a large number of new and inflated egos in the context of the routine of government. So, generally, well done, Labour.
Morning everyone.
https://twitter.com/Claire_M/status/1413049938586578944
And those cats were only having a cat nap! But they can be very heavy sleepers 🐱https://media.tenor.com/WpzY3WQvRNgAAAAM/cat-sleep.gif
With cats it is mind over matter, especially when they want to be fed and use the Force on their hapless
ownersfeeders & carers.While we get distracted by brazen nutjobs, there may be stealth lunacy creeping in the back door.
Christo-fascism has destroyed the GOP in America and riddled Australia's Liberals. By stealth or by arrogance, they don't care, they just want power. Are we subject to the same steady takeover from delusional cult members?
https://twitter.com/ChristineMilne/status/1559751229185871872
THe FBI investigation for sex crimes at the Southern Baptist Convention is the play to watch.
Unprecedented and right into the heart of darkness.
God forgives all for a vote and a token fee.
Those who feel they only answer to a higher authority often behave very lowly.
Supply-Side Jesus may agree, but most NZ Christians don't.
Ex PM Morrison's machinations are an object lesson in how to circumvent democratic conventions, and undermine trust in all politicians and political institutions.
.
An almost perfect description of the Critical Theory Cult … Wokedom relatively weak among the wider population … but dominant among cultural, political & administrative elites … a self-interested top-down authoritarian PMC vanity project guaranteed to create new forms of social injustice … in key respects, the antithesis of traditional liberal, universalist, egalitarian Social Democracy.
Ironically, you’re – at the very least – Cult-adjacent.
Bullshit.
Things Christian Nationalists do that liberals don't. Hold my beer.
Liberals haven't:
– waged a successful multi-decade battle to stop reproductive autonomy for 150 million people
The End of Roe v. Wade Was a Spiritual Victory for Conservative Christians – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
– stacked the Supreme Court with hard right and under-qualified judges, fully altering US politics to the hard right for multiple generations
How the Christian right took over the judiciary and changed America | Abortion | The Guardian
– constitute a deep and rapidly growing threat to the security of the United States, including the January 6th insurrection against democratically elected government
The Growing Threat of Christian Nationalism in the U.S. | Time
How Christian nationalism paved the way for Jan. 6 | National Catholic Reporter (ncronline.org)
– constitute a deep threat to religious freedom for all in the United States
The Supreme Court’s Christian Nationalist Theatrics | The New Republic
Christian Nationalism Is ‘Single Biggest Threat’ to America’s Religious Freedom – Center for American Progress
– form US extremist camps that enable US terrorists to undertake massive terror attacks
The White Christian Nationalism Behind the Worst Terrorist Attack in American History ‹ Literary Hub (lithub.com)
It’s Time to Talk About Violent Christian Extremism – POLITICO
Obviously the next infection target of Christian nationalists, as distinct from your tiresome rebukes of people with different opinions to you, is the US military.
There's plenty of literature on this if you care to read it, but the fundamental is clear: 48 hours before the attack on Congress, ten former secretaries of defence on January 4th published a letter in The Washington Post, essentially warning the military to stay out of the election results. This is just two days before Biden was supposed to be confirmed, and Congress was stormed.
On the same day, Admiral Stavridis, former Supreme Commander of NATO and a Senior Executive in Carlyle Group one of the largest private equity funds and a major investor in the military-industrial complex. He wrote a column in Time magazine supporting the letter of the ten former secretaries.
President Trump was clear about what he was doing holding up a Bible and preparing the military to smash up those who protested against him.
Nope, the military aren't going to be woke-ified. They are going to be Christian Nationalised. And then there is no going back to democracy at all.
Cult-adjacent. Misdirection and plain shitforbrains methinks. Ridiculous.
I grew up in these clown-cults. I have 8 years consecutive as a merit student in scripture union and the more I learned the more I was at war with these hypocrites, these abusers, these Sunday trumpet blowing dandies.
A group I’d crawl over broken glass to get away from.
I've been critical of the infiltration of school boards by the religious for years and sat on boards myself to help negate their influence.
There was a list published in the media 15 or so years ago of a list of 40 or so wealthy fundamentalist Americans who decided that New Zealand was the appropriate bolt-hole – and small enough to influence government – that they would move here. I recall there was one who had bible messages on his burger chains cups, etc on the list and about 5 had been granted residency under at that point
I also recall ACT having to suddenly sort out quite a few candidates for one election some years back as well as 5 or 6 were not NZ residents.
I try hard not to fall down conspiracy rabbit holes but I do suspect with the plethora of American style politics and policy's – three strikes, pay less tax, anti-government, increasing homelessness and putting homeless in motels a la The Florida Project and so on it has been going on for a while.
I've hunted a few times for that list thinking I should see how many have residency now but have never been able to find it again.
YesD.O.S The Evangelical mob tried to take over a School in Rotorua, but the staff and parents managed to avoid that, in the 90s We had a couple on our Board, and when I read them the secular rules for NZ schools I became Satan's sister lol. Those folk are dispersed now and people became wary of their affiliations. I would like to see that List. There may be a few surprises.
https://twitter.com/LewSOS/status/1560752338276519937
Debate me, bro!
Idiots.
https://twitter.com/TonyStuart55/status/1560758072385359872
Tony Stuart.
Nicky Hagar's "Dirty Politics" names Wanganui National Party member Tony Stuart as the man behind the Keeping Stock political blog.
Keeping Stock is a right-wing blog and Mr Stuart is also frequently on Twitter under the same name."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/whanganui-chronicle/news/wanganui-man-outed-in-hagers-book/VZWAHDM3WDZ4WQ5I25WPOXR4DA/
Wow, thanks for giving me a heads up about 'The Platform.' Never heard of it before. Taking in what the opposition is up to is always good. I found this disturbing article regarding Dame Anne Salmond being cancelled. This type of shit needs to be addressed by Labour if we expect to win the next election. If such a venerated person with much mana can be trampled over with impunity, what chance do the rest of us have? More votes for ACT?
https://theplatform.kiwi/opinions/will-maori-have-the-whip-hand-for-key-three-waters-jobs
"Reality is just not the point".. Yet the Platform interviewed the main protagonists of the Stuff – Fire and Fury doco, and at least attempted to test them, question them and get their side of the story, which I thought is a basic of journalism to get both sides. Something which stuff appeared to go out of their way not to do.
Fire and Fury literally showed the protestors in their own words. And interviewed some of them.
They seemed stunned, confused, lost.
There's no pleasing some people![sad sad](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/sad_smile.png?x42494)
And you can literally find angry commentary made in any protest, at the extreme ends. Have we forgotten about Hone Harawira? At least he was usually given right of reply by the mainstream media.
I'm at a loss to understand how it can be called fair, even believable journalism. Taking sound bites from people, putting them alongside scary music and 1984 imagery, with biased expert commentary who make tenuous links is, dare I say it Alex Jones stuff.
Don't really see them hounding the media off the scene though. The angry, middle-aged woman was an eye-opener – most of all, to herself, I imagine, were she to watch the footage. That's quite disturbing.
We all listened to that garbage first hand, day in, day out. You can deny it was the stuff of the protest all you like but it came out of the mouths of family, friends, former friends, flatmates and other persons starting with F. Then they concentrated the stupid on parliament grounds till it was stupid fuck plus.
A steady stream of implied threats "you shall pay", "you will see", and absolute nonsense "you're a government shill", "Jabcinda's a man", "where's Clark" while they 'flood the zone' aka send you all manner of bullshit earnestly pleading you read some incoherent toddlers 'research' or listen to endless clips where they trot out some knee surgeon to talk viruses to an avon salesperson for two fucking hours.
Perhaps you think we didn't hear the underlying message:
'Loss of trust in state institutions'
'Loss of trust in corporations'
'Loss of trust in science'
'Poor mental health funding'
'Institutionalised minority bashing'
and 'sociopathic white supremacists co-opt locally aggrieved persons and promise 'freedom' in exchange for sanity, social standing and reality'.
Contrary to popular opinion, we are not asleep.
"locally aggrieved persons"
to be honest many of the rabbit (rabid) hole fallers aren't aggrieved about anything. They have never protested in their lives or stood up against power or previously made a stand.
It is as weird as shit as to why they have suddenly turned vociferous spouting nonsense they know little about, quoting charlatans as truth-seekers and continually calling me and others sheep all the while displaying cultish behaviour.
You do really get a sense of the algorithms in the social media space moving from drip-feeding knowing you are pregnant before your husband does five or six years ago to a torrent of self perpetuating dribble once you have dipped your toes in the conspiracy water. I used to get a nice and surprising mix of different recommendations in my various feeds that were useful. The algorithms are definitely much more aggressive and focussed now than they used to be. I started noticing this a few years back after a family member was killed in a workplace accident. On their birthday and anniversary of their death family would get inundated with advertising for the workplace they died in causing further anguish and reminders to the point we just don't go online if we can help it those days. Their name. death and the workplace are forever linked together in internet land.
I notice it only takes one query about something now to get advertising around that item and how connected it is across the different platforms – look something up in a retail shop – within less than an hour you are getting ads on Facebook or youtube or Stuff for the same or similar items.
I have no doubt with facial recognition you will be starting to see advertising in places like movie theatres targeted to the actual shopping habits of the people who are at that session.
The speed, accuracy and intenseness of the algorithms needs to be tempered in some way – maybe a compulsory randomness and apposite generator built in that maybe generates 50% of the recommendations to stop the spiraling.
You make interesting and valid points. Yes, some of the grievances were fictional (many, in fact), but the underlying angst (whatever the cause) was there to be tapped into.
I was contemplating the algorithm issue recently. Spying is all, of course, about money (pissant proxy power) and power (information being power).
Corporations make a lot of money herding us into easily reachable demographics so all this spying is not going to stop unless governments legislate themselves a spine (lol) or public backlash is so great it affects bottom line (more likely) or – we build something better?
Until I see a better model where we get useful info piped to us but are not spied on constantly… I'm all for making spying online illegal until a legal case for each case can be made. NOT a financial case, a case for the 'greater good'.
Some kind of filter that lets our computer know – this is a public service vs – this is a public nuisance. Perhaps.
I didn't see Sharma's latest offering on this morning's TV3 "The Nation", but I did see the debate. Janet Wilson, Judith Collin's former press secretary, was the only one who was mildly reasonable. The young PR woman had no idea what she was talking about. But the piéce de resistance was Josie Pagani – the woman who has spent the last 10 years wreaking revenge on Labour because they failed to pamper her inflated ego.
Venom dripped from her mouth, particularly towards Jacinda Ardern. She claimed Labour had been asking for it because their back-benchers have nothing to do but sit around all day twiddling their thumbs. That is a lie! I have seen back-benchers in various stages of exhaustion over the years because they have so much to do. They all have background portfolio responsibilities and are expected to sit on several select committees .
No-one raised the communication difficulties everyone has experienced since the start of the pandemic. Oh no, that would spoil the punch-up.
What gets me is the media brings Pagani on as someone from the Left, where she clearly now favours the Right.
Or…was always heading Right. While white-anting Labour for all she was worth. TBH I'd never heard of her until 2 elections ago. I asked on the Standard about her…and really, her true Blue colour was pretty much known
I would think it is more accurate to say that Pagani can validly use Jim Anderton's comment. "I didn't leave the Labour Party. The Labour Party left me".
The party moved in different directions of course. I Jim's case it moved to the centre. In Pagani's case I imagine she thinks that the Party has moved to a rather odd combination of hard left opinions and racism.
That would seem to be an accurate description as far as I can see.
Anderton could make the claim with some justice – Pagani – not so much.
Labour has taken some strange turns, but it does seem to be gradually finding its way home.
Pagani, like fellow rump Blairite Starmer, inspires nothing but contempt.
Blairite=BlairRight. He will never be forgiven for the Iraq war….incipient privatisation of the NHS (which Liz Truss supports) ….cozying up to Murdoch…etc etc
Bring back Jeremy.
Blair? Wasn't he the UK PM Ms Ardern worked for as a "senior policy adviser"?
Ah yes "She then moved overseas to London, where she worked as a senior policy advisor for British Prime Minister Tony Blair in the UK Cabinet Office."
https://www.waikato.ac.nz/study/success-stories/jacinda-ardern
"Ms Ardern started out in Helen Clark's office before heading to Britain to work as a senior policy advisor in Tony Blair's government."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/22/new-zealand-election-will-37-year-old-former-blair-advisor-jacinda/
After associating with Blair became a bit embarrassing I think she toned the story down a bit.
Do you… think? Seems like pure reflex, imho, and I should know![wink wink](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.png?x42494)
Blairites are instantly recognizable by their resemblance to Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter series – one of the finest satirical political vignettes of the last century.
You can imagine what Pagani thinks; I can only imagine what you think and since you’re commenting here, only relevant is what you think and write here – hiding behind other people’s thoughts or feelings is weak and pathetic and reeks of cowardice. Be a real man and tell us how you really feel about the Labour Party …
What do I think of the Labour Party?
I voted for them in quite a lot of the elections in the last 40 or so years. In fact I voted for them in 1981, 1984, 1987, 1999 and 2002. Why not recently? Because they are quite useless and they have been a disaster for New Zealand.
I wanted to be able to vote for them in 2017, because no Government should have more than 3 consecutive terms, but I thought they were completely incapable of forming a decent Government. I have been proved right.
Does that answer your question?
At least, it is a more honest answer, thank you.
Alwyn, give us your version of "A decent Government"
That isn't a moral description of course. An alternative word would be competent. It is a Government that does, on time and at a reasonable price, carry out the activities required of it. It also only does the things that are required and are beneficial to society.
I regard these sort of things as ones which demonstrate that the current lot are incapable of doing a decent job.
Kiwibuild. The amalgamation of the Polytechs, Providing an effective health system. Reducing homelessness. Providing suitable roading. Reducing violence in communities. Providing sensible public transport. etc, etc.
It's not even about left or right.
Josie Pagani's bitter commentary on Ardern is only about one thing: "It should have been me!".
If I were a cartoonist I'd draw her at the back of the church, yelling while the voters put the wedding ring on Bride Jacinda's finger.
She once claimed to have known Britain's Prince Edward but decided he wasn't the right one for her. Not sure what P. E. thought about it. 😮
And again. Your name is most apt in the sense of your most accurate observations.
Jacinda got elected and hung in through plenty of grim times and then had some luck with the final circumstances.
But also it worked because of a lack of complication in some of her thoughts and presentation of them. And sure she’s a post Key figure rather than a partisan firebrand, but she’s done well on many many things.
Consequences.
(but why weren't they voting before?)
Not Just Kansas; Women Motivated to Vote in States with Repro Rights at Risk
As we detailed in our analysis last week, the electorate in Kansas changed dramatically in the days after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision leaked. Kansans turned out in record numbers in the primary and delivered a victory for abortion rights, a win fueled by Democrats out registering Republicans by 9 points since the Dobbs decision was announced, with a staggering 70% of all new registrants being women.
Now, as we move ahead through additional state primaries and toward the midterm elections, there is evidence that what happened in Kansas isn’t an outlier. In states like Wisconsin and Michigan where reproductive rights are at stake this year, we’re seeing a meaningful gender gap in registration, whereby women are out-registering men by significant margins. In states like Rhode Island and New York where reproductive rights are protected by Democratic leaders in government, no gender gap exists.
https://insights.targetsmart.com/not-just-kansas-women-motivated-to-vote-in-states-with-repro-rights-at-risk.html
Republican crises of conscience aren't much help now, but good to see some have a conscience:
https://www.rawstory.com/south-carolina-abortion-ban/
There's also lot of angry Dad's now motivated to vote against GOP.
I had hoped their implosion/division (Truth vs Trump) would seal the GOP's fate – so I could shallowly have a told you so moment to some TS authors, but attacking women's rights might be the actual straw that breaks the elephants back.
Accurate or not, the thought is nice.
https://twitter.com/ACarter1016/status/1558987401363689472
I have given the Sharma McAnulty relationship a bit of thought. McAnulty was a list MP for a term and he was selected as a junior whip. In the 2020 election he won the seat of Wairarapa and became an electorate MP and a chief government whip. Sharma and McAnulty are of similar age and they possibly clashed.
I do think that McAnulty did not have enough time in Parliament to have been the wisest pick to become a chief government whip. I do think that Sharma needed to be careful about anything he states.
I would like to see an independent inquiry into how McAnulty handled Sharma.
Politics is about team play and not ego play.
Unlike Sharma he was actually elected by his constituency and worked his way up through the system.
Sharma is the electorate MP for Hamilton West. Sharma is no slacker when it comes to proving he can work hard and for the benefit of people. Medical school and some surgical training is not for the faint hearted.
Doctors are not god.
Getting into medical school is hard enough in the first place let alone the rigours of what comes next. Obviously many excellent candidates don't make the cut to even train to be doctors. Undoubtedly many who miss out would have made fine doctors.
That's why, when some doctor 'goes astray' and does something bewilderingly dumb, or shows human frailties beyond expectation, we see clearly that the qualities we wish all doctors had are not present in all of them.
We ascribe some sort of 'super person' status to them. We give them the benefit of the doubt – "oh, but he's a doctor, he wouldn't do that."
Two eye doctors have been in the news in the past week to do with terrible incidents. Another in the past fortnight has made the news for 'inappropriate behaviour' to do with female patients.
One shocking case most clearly demonstrating a 'fall from grace' involved a young doctor. For all the effort, dedication and intelligence to get to be a doctor, how could it be as it was and end as it did?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Amber-Rose_Rush
Doctors are not god. I have read enough Health and Disability Commission decisions to know that. I also read about the conduct of doctors in the media.
Look, I get that you don't like Sharma – but please stick to the actual facts.
Sharma is indeed an electorate MP for Hamilton West, just as McAnulty is for Wairarapa.
Sharma is male, he's a Doctor of medicine, they all think they are god. They only have to be in an organization for five minutes to expect to be in charge of everything.
He probably expected to have an important role and hasn't been promoted above his competency. All nurses can identify the type.
When I was in hospital earlier this year
I said to the nurse… "but the surgeon said such and such." The nurse gave me a piercing look and said in all seriousness… "Don't take any notice of the surgeons. They haven't a clue what is going on."
I had the impression it was the nurses who run the hospitals, not the doctors and surgeons.
When it came to the care an ex partner received from a DHB the nursing staff showed diligence and the doctors made error after error. Went in for a simple op, had 3 surgeries in a week and the third surgery was for a treatment injury. Returned from surgery moribund and died 3 hours later.
Why take a dying person to theatre?
You can see by the way Sharma has conducted himself that he is unscrupulous.
He lied about travel allowances and ramped everything up to 11. The whips office is there to help him, but he was unhappy and again here he is unhappy. Even in this he is behaving not as someone who has a shred of legitimacy, but someone who is trying to spread shit everywhere. He’s made claims and thrown insults and perjoratives, drip fed things and not provided evidence.
He’s performing a hit job, nothing more.
Im sure there are a lot of people who voted for him who are feeling particularly betrayed. But again the clear message is that this is about him. I mean the piece in Stuff comparing him to Rishi Sunak, the billionaire who propped up Boris, shows the grandiosity of his support and its lack of morals.
If there was a basis for anything more I’m sure it will happen. Currently there’s nothing.
Labour needs to select a strong candidate in Hamilton West and fight the good fight.
I do think that Sharma is bright enough to know what defamation is.
Will McAnulty take a defamation case against Sharma?
I have not read the Sunak comparison.
He knows that Labour won’t give him the oxygen of a case. Politically it’s hard to know what motivates him.
But the lady who defended him based on ethnicity reminded me of Morgan Godfrey pining for a Maori PM and thinking Shane Jones was the closest chance, despite everything.
I don’t think he’s worried about his financial future, but maybe MPs life is more exciting than GP practice and he’d like it to continue.
I too have given the Sharma McAnulty relationship a bit of thought.
I have concluded all I know is stuff through various media and to make some judgement about how MacAnulty operates as whip or any other role is presumptuous. Or is that 'preposterous.'
The context of your comment "Politics is about team play and not ego play," reads as though a judgement has been made about and he is unsuitable for his job.
An independent inquiry into how McAnulty handled Sharma? How about independent inquiries on every MP who is bad mouthed by someone?
Newshub gave Sharma a platform, and then belatedly realised they should do some fact-checking:
https://twitter.com/NewshubNationNZ/status/1560769684085313538
They're starting to work out (slowly) that a guy who promises "hundreds of pages" of evidence and delivers none, a guy who makes private messages public, a guy who secretly records his colleagues, a guy who is too busy to speak to the PM or caucus but suddenly available for media on his own terms …
… just might not be a reliable truth-teller.
Has he been on the Platform yet?
I am waiting for the "shapeshifting, reptilian aliens" accusations. He has done everything else.
Sharma could sharpen up his team skills. The government needs to show transparency on what transpired between McAnulty and Sharma. Having a big ego is not the way to go. Dealing with the facts is the way to go.
Well said, there's no I in politics!
Treetop McAnulty was in Parliament for 3 years before Sharma.
Yes and as a list MP.
I do think there is a difference between an electorate and a list MP when it turns to custard. One requires a by election the other is a space on a list.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/national-deputy-leader-nicola-willis-as-youve-never-seen-her-well-survive-anything/TGOU2ON576RE3SZHUOUCZ7QT6M/
Is this Nicolamania in the making……..
Where's that Nicolamania (nice) quote come from, and does columnist Cloe Willetts, or indeed National's Nicola Willis, have an opinion on the nature and cause(s) of "the deep division and damage" now apparently "embedded into our country"?
“We’ll survive anything!” – believe it.
The Nicolamania quote comes from the comments to the article and appears to reflect the general opinions of the target audience. It is obviously a puff piece to bolster the professional but homely/family image of the deputy leader of the National party. And of course they will have an opinion on the nature and causes, its all the Ardern govts fault.
Thanks Kat, my bad – didn't search beyond the puff piece.
Ruth Richardson's favourite recipe left in the microwave for 25 years and now ready to eat (apparently). The clever bit is that 25 years on 'high' doesn't spoil the meal, because when you open the container it's always empty. Someone else ate it ages ago. All that matters is the mountain of blather that surrounds, justifies and transcendentally sanctifies the (notional) meal with a pseudo-religious zeal.
The "pyjama party movie night' image is terrifying!
The Addams family was my initial reaction!
Just to add that the current Chief Government Whip is Duncan Webb, he took on the role 14 June 2022. Webb is age 55 and has been a lawyer.
I have found in life that the right thing to do when there is a dispute which will not go away is to establish why it has occurred.
I don't understand the reluctance to have an inquiry, even if there is not much to inquire into, as it's a well-understood mechanism in politics to take the heat out of things.
Maybe Ardern is hoping that the Greens will provide a distraction soon, when they have their big vote between James Shaw and checks notes James Shaw.
I reckon it'll be James, but a week is a long time in politics.
it's a well-understood mechanism in politics to take the heat out of things.
Well, yes. But it requires an agreed understanding of the issue – in effect, of the simple meaning of words.
If (for example) there's an allegation that MP X spent public money on a private trip, which has happened in Parliament before, then there is something to investigate. Concrete facts. The answer is usually "it was against the rules", or "it was technically within the rules but not a good look".
But the issue Sharma claims is "bullying" is defined by him as "something that happens to me". He has rejected any suggestion at all that he might ever have been at fault during the past 2 years, despite the testimony of his own staffers. Therefore, there is no possible outcome to an "independent inquiry" that will satisfy Gaurav Sharma. He is never going to accept a finding that (for example) …
"party whips did not behave in a way that is any different from their predecessors, but these expectations should now be updated for a modern workplace" … and also "Sharma had demands of his staff that created unnecessary stress, and that should have been handled better."
That kind of outcome, balanced but with mild criticism, would get a very predictable response from a man who has no self-awareness whatsoever. He is the only victim, and an "independent inquiry" must say so.
Anything else, and he'd be demanding an "independent inquiry" into the "independent inquiry", which was carried out by a Labour stooge, etc, etc, etc.
Labour/Ardern have given up on him, and so he's not worth any more of their time. That judgement is hard to argue with.
Spot on observer.
Well, yes. But it requires an agreed understanding of the issue – in effect, of the simple meaning of words.
Nope – it just requires someone to say 'let's have an inquiry'.
An inquiry without terms of reference? There's a reason that never happens. As you well know.
I really don't think you're stupid so it's tiresome when you pretend to be.
There is no evidence supporting the need for an enquiry; simply wild, vindictive and bitter accusations.
Tell me what the parameters would be Chess?
B&W
The parameters would be:
An independent arbiter
He says this, and presents evidence
They say that, and present evidence
Arbiter rules
Quite easy really – should be really quick
Much quicker than what’s happening now
Of course, you do have to find a trusted, independent, arbiter
It seems you've already forgotten what Sharma has alleged.
Here's his original complaint:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/129551695/labour-mp-gaurav-sharma-launches-broadside-as-parliamentary-service-party-whips-work-through-employment-matters
"Sharma suggested some of the most powerful offices in Parliament were working to enforce a culture of fear and bullying where MPs felt that they could not speak freely.
He named “the whip’s office, the offices of the leaders of various parties, along with the Office of the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister's Office”.
Those leaders alongside Parliamentary Service were allowing for the bullying of MPs and staff members, which he said had become “rampant”. No evidence to support this claim was provided.
He said Parliamentary Service was led by people whose self-interest was stopping it from upholding the proper running of Parliament. He went further, saying the service itself was being “used” by party whips to “bully and harass their MPs”."
(italics added)
So there should be an inquiry into Parl Service, the offices of leaders of at least 2 parties, and the whips. That makes it bigger than even the Francis report.
And all based on claims by one unhappy MP who consistently refuses to offer evidence.
It doesn't get anywhere near the threshold required. There's a reason courts have pre-trial hearings and don't clog up the system with every vexatious litigant. The world does not revolve around one angry man.
Well, I guess you either have the inquiry and come to a swift resolution, or, you continue to down-play the accusations and allow the festering boil to grow.
If Ardern had taken this to an inquiry, no-one would be talking about this now, as we all know inquiries are like working groups – a lengthy sentence to obscurity.
However, a mistake was made with Ardern's decision-making, and the 'threshold' you refer to will soon be breached.
Not a threshold of evidence, but a threshold of perception.
And with humans, perception is ultimately more powerful than mere 'evidence'.
Excellent Observer.
Chess: if you read what Observer says above you surely can see that an inquiry would be a joke.
Sharma’s ego and sense of entitlement have got out of hand; he has, in reality, made a fool of himself. Labour are well rid of him.
Hoskin with his attempt to smear Jacinda as a liar via his ZB interview with Sharma, should hang his head in shame, though I guess he doesn’t know the meaning of the word.
Lock Ardern and Sharma in a shipping container overnight.
Who emerges, wins.
My bet is Ardern.
There's going to be an inquiry whether Labour thinks it's justified or not.
Sharma will now go to this Commissioner:
Former Auditor-General Appointed As Independent Commissioner For Parliamentary Standards Appointed | Scoop News
Also Boshier as Ombudsman will I think step in for Sharma and the blatant injustice of the "non-invited" job review with all others in Caucus.
Next step Employment Tribunal I expect.
Good luck to Provost on her new appointment. The morale in the police is not that great when it comes to being degraded or reporting incidents of bullying amoung the ranks.
Forget Sharma.
The most important things to New Zealanders are:
– inflation / cost of living (53%), closely followed by
– housing / price of housing (51%), followed by
– healthcare / hospitals (27%), and
– petrol prices (25%)
That was from a sample over 1000 from February this year. It won't have changed.
Got back on message Ardern and show us what good difference you are making.
Raising the middle finger to NZTA one more time, Bevan Woodward gets a judicial review going against the decision to not even trial cycling over the Auckland Harbour Bridge, despite a direct request from the Minister of Transport.
Legal challenge over Auckland Harbour Bridge cycling trial (1news.co.nz)
Bevan has spent 10 years on this already and will likely never give up.
Yeah. As a tax and/or ratepayer (not sure which side will be picking up the legal bills) I'm not exactly enthralled by his crusade.
And, as someone who regularly travels around Auckland and sees the behaviour of both motor vehicle drivers (not just cars – buses, vans, motorcycles), AND cyclists (some of whom seem to have an active deathwish) – I am firmly on the side of Waka Kotahi.
Opening up a single lane on the Auckland Harbour Bridge to cyclists, on the proposed trial basis (i.e. without any significant safety infrastructure) really is opening the gates to a multiple-victim tragedy.
NZTA needs to deliver sunlight and the High Court is the best place for it. Let's see the chance to see their design consultants shredded.
NZTA have actively conspired to kill a cycleway over the harbour for the best part of 15 years.
They have found technical reasons to kill at least four proposals. The first of which didn't require NZTA funding and which Bevan Woodward led himself. Each time NZTA ensured there was little for the Minister to defend and much in the public arena for ZB listeners to froth about. They are obviously waging a successful war against this Minister.
NZTA and indeed Kiwirail and AT have managed to generate cycleways on every other major arterial in Auckland including the motorways and railways, but not the Harbour Bridge.
Roche the NZTA Chair is well overdue for replacing as is most of the Board – particularly after multiple fiascos and blowouts this term: Transmission Gully, Northern Gateway, Waikato Expressway, and a comprehensive inability to enable national network resilience in a wet winter.
The science is against cyclists on the bridge,as the road amplifies the wind shear.
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/9/3982
Make him provide a surety against costs.
The number of times I've been on a major infrastructure job and some 50 year old dork comes up and says "Nah mate this is crap I would have done it this way cos my mate is an Injinuur', never fails to amaze me.
We have had four feasible and costed proposals already.
The wind shear was easily accounted for on Grafton Bridge when they put shields on it, same on the Crimson Cycleway, same on multiple others.
When it is necessary to stop traffic on the Auckland Harbour Bridge for wind, they do so. Happens every year.
There is no money,we are already an at risk economy with our CA deficit blowout,and serious questions are being asked about the quangos (ratings).
The NZ $ depreciated >4 % this week alone over 15% in the last 12 months.when you can come up with a single project that will be delivered on time and under budget,and without significant underestimated problems for maintenance or design f/ups.And at the end of the day it has no economic advantage.
1-in-100 year climate events don't wait for us to find the money.
"Since we don't have the money, we're going to have to think." – Lord Rutherford.
Rutherford also said there was Physics and stamp collecting,as it is physically impossible to ride a pushbike carbon free (the respiration problem) there are better opportunities for investment.
So if NZTA have worked effectively, in partnership with other agencies, to implement cycleways alongside other highways (Northwestern, etc.) – it's hardly feasible to say that they are anti-cycleways. Perhaps, just perhaps, they really do have a point that this one is too dangerous and/or disruptive to the regular flow of traffic. Perhaps, indeed, 'A bridge too far'
If an NZTA engineer was instructed to, they would put a canal system for yachts on the top of Mt Cook. They've bored through basalt 10 metres thick at Waterview, formed curved lanes 20 metres in the air at 90 degree curves at Pt Chev, designed whole new rail+road tunnels for the Waitemata, and are currently designing underground rail systems multiple kilometres long at over $500m a kilometre in Light Rail.
That they have found a unique design problem that is too hard for them is preposterous.
There's no doubt these things are expensive. The Petone and Riverlink systems are stupendous, and the New Lynn to Avondale one was up there. So price it up team.
Bring on the High Court.
So, not cost-effective either.
Why we can't just put in a PT option to get cycles across the harbour bridge at 1 millionth of the cost, beats me!
It would be cheap and easy to put in a cycle shuttle, looping from outside the old AHB offices at Northcote Point, across the bridge, off at Shelly Beach Road and with drop off and pick up at Curran St.
Run it every 10 minutes (or more frequently if the demand picks up), during peak hours, and every 30 minutes the rest of the time. Run more frequent services on weekends and/or public holidays to accommodate the recreational cyclists.
Cyclists cycle up to the pick up point at Northcote point and from the drop off point in Westhaven. Functionally exactly the same as the many overseas models where you cycle to the train station, load your bike, and cycle again when you get off.
Virtually no infrastructural changes required. Cyclists can demonstrate the actual demand in both short and long term. Which gives actual figures for planning for a long term cycle-path in association with the already-in-planning new harbour crossing.
Actually implementing it (and running it fees free for the first couple of years) would probably be cheaper than a single court case.
Every step you walk up Albert Street in Auckland's CBD, now costs us about $1.5 million. Whatever cost-effective is. Get your Gold Card ready for that one in 2025.
An exceptionally good interview with Shamubeel Eaqub on housing in NZ where he makes the point the political centre no longer exists.
If he is correct then that would force a fundamental change for how politics is conducted in NZ.
https://www.interest.co.nz/property/117201/economist-shamubeel-eaqub-whats-going-housing-market-and-why-hes-now-optimistic
Listening now, but haven't forgotten that Eaqub headlined in 2012 about why people should rent, not buy. I bet anyone who listened to him is damn sorry.
He subsequently did a volte-face and bought in 2017.
Economists, by and large, aren't really terribly good at predicting what is going to happen.
Economists are not alone in that.
And he was not alone in predicting property crashes post GFC….there were plenty around at the time.
I think that that GFC experience is reinforcing the NZ belief that house-price corrections are short term.
IIRC, the drop in the property market started in 2008, and had substantially recovered by 2010. NZ was in a very different situation than the US – we didn't have their sub-prime loan issue.
The elephant in the room, that I don't think he addressed, was the Government imposed lending criteria – which is a factor throttling the mortgage lending by the commercial banks. And what changes a National / Act goverment might make.
The political instability he forecast, doesn't fill me with optimism.
Our GFC experience was moderate however there was much activity/concern behind the scenes including RBNZ support.
Assume the Gov imposed lending criteria you are referring to are CCCFA changes from Dec last year….the banks had already begun a self imposed tightening prior …the CCCFA isnt the reason banks are currently reticent…fear of loses is.
Agree that if he is correct about fragmentation of the political centre then it dosnt exactly encourage stability.
GFC is different as we had the CHCH earthquakes,which brought into NZ a significant injection of free capital (insurance) the 42 billion was entered on the capital account (not current account) and made the government look good.
But the house prices in London (and for most of the rest of the UK) did the same thing – drop after the GFC, and then a fairly quick (couple of years) correction back to almost the same pre- GFC level.
The UK BOE dropped interest rates in 2008 to 2% (from 5.5% and variable mortgages of 7.5%) In 2009 they dropped it to 0.5% where it stayed for 7 years (mortgages 2.5%)
And what happened to interest rates post GFC?
lol…snap
Indeed…a huge source of stimulus and a missed opportunity
Lots of wasted money,and huge future costs (opex) for the ratepayers with concrete money shredders such as the conference centre (or worse with the stadium)
Lots of wasted money, the wrong things built in the wrong places, the training/employment opportunities wasted, lost investment in future proofed infrastructure.
Wasted investment in infrastructure such as sewage (which was replaced but not future proofed for growth constraining available land)
The government investment was less then the GST receipts for the new builds.
My takeaway points
That’s a nice summary. But that doesn’t mention the incentives.
Almost all politicians own property and are benefiting from the price rises. For them there is no crisis which directly and urgently affects them. Similarly across the country there has been and is a lack of will to fix the problem as it is simply not a problem for many and for most decision makers.
As a society there is no real urgency, no real incentive for urgency, irrespective of who is in charge.
If insurance becomes unaffordable you think there will be urgent action. There was urgent action during the pandemic. There has been some action on inflation. We have participated on some group action on Ukraine.
Politically it doesn’t hurt anyone enough and personally it scarcely affects the political class (negatively) at all.
Yeh let alone when the forces of the reaction arrive and cancel density, public transport and urban planning.
Nice thread discussion, but I’ll believe any significant action after it is built and in use.
Oh I agree, there was a lot which was left out.
I was just covering what was said – for those who don't have time to listen to a 30 minute interview.
Agree that most politicians belong (by default) to the wealthy, older, and therefore property owning classes. Even youngsters like Swarbrick have bought after getting a parliamentary pay cheque.
It seems that increasing uninsurability (not just price increases, but areas which are uninsurable at any price) – is likely to become an issue. But I don't know what action the government could take – apart from reinforcing the pressure to just move away from the problem zone. I don't want to see taxpayers paying for managed retreat for multi-millionaires!
I would.
Wait for me fellas, I'm packing …
https://twitter.com/HeberdenMarc/status/1560731076192002048
fucking scary thread. But it's not only climate change. It's land/water use and we have a lot of control over that.
A bit of controversy around these photos. Apparently they're a bit selective.
https://www.rt.com/news/560746-france-longest-river-loire-dry/
However, no one is denying that France (and the rest of Europe) is in the grip of a major drought, and there has been significant effects on the river systems.
Worst drought in more than 500 years is forecast to continue through until the end of October but not to worry, only one arm of a stretch of France's longest river has run dry.
/
Slater and the sewer.
https://twitter.com/jmkorhonen/status/1560575894975967232
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1560575888780976128.html
Bit late for this loltastic insight, but the platforms new expert on ‘Maori Gone Craaazy’ is none other than Graham Adams from (formerly of) the Democracy Project where he hyperventilated about poor old Michael Bassett.
It rather does line up the crossover between the far right and the Democracy project with its Victoria University logo the first thing on the page.
Oh lol: Bryce Edwards, Karl Du Fresne, Marty’s Bradbury and head honcho Sean Plunket. Wonder if you’re allowed to call people a c— on the platform as Plunket famously did on his last job. No token Maori as yet? Plunket made it fairly clear in his first inter with Greive that he is not fussed by the Treaty at all.
Oh lolololol
It’s the whole Democracy Project team with Geoff Miller and Michael Bassett too.
Whatever Peter Fraser might have done, writing for something like the platform wouldn’t have been one. But emulating one’s heroes is often a bad idea!
but it may have slightly more credibility than Whaleoil , even if much of the underlying philosophy is similar.
This may be the media moment Bernard Hickey was concerned about. Or it might not. Certainly none of the ‘fart tax’, groundswell lot will be admitting they were part of the climate change problem and they’re not newly arrived…
Calling your website ‘The Resistance’ also pays some homage to the potential to reject democracy openly:
Guns purchased in the US since Jan 6th potential for armed conflict increases.
Threats of seditious violence as a campaign strategy.
https://twitter.com/SpiroAgnewGhost/status/1560743271965478913
https://twitter.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1560702674760355840
https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1560323003845677059
A Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida has said he would have sent FBI agents home "in a body bag" if they had raided his home the way they searched Mar-a-Lago.
https://www.newsweek.com/florida-gop-candidate-says-hed-have-sent-fbi-home-body-bag-1735400