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Open mike 20/11/2019

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 am, November 20th, 2019 - 78 comments
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78 comments on “Open mike 20/11/2019”

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  1. mosa 1
    20 November 2019 at 7:46 am

    First debate of the U.K election campaign 8pm ( 9am our time )

    Only Johnson and Corbyn too take part.

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/election-debate-itv-live-stream-watch-tonight-johnson-corbyn-when-time-a9208656.html

  2. Blazer 2
    20 November 2019 at 7:55 am

    What a difference John Campbell makes on TVNZ Mornings.

    A huge upgrade.Had Carmel Sepuloni on this morning and asked the right questions.

    Carmel's not too dusty …either.

  3. francesca 3
    20 November 2019 at 8:16 am

    The Swedish rape case dropped for the third time .

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/19/world/europe/sweden-julian-assange.html

     

    :‘My assessment is that all investigative measures that can be taken have been taken. But… the evidence is not strong enough to file an indictment.’

     

    Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/19/julian-assange-rape-case-dropped-swedish-prosecutors-11181739/?ito=cbshare

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUK | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MetroUK/

    • francesca 3.1
      20 November 2019 at 9:06 am

      A fuller quote

      "Deputy Chief Prosecutor Eva-Marie Persson said the alleged victim’s complaint was credible. However, she added: ‘My assessment is that all investigative measures that can be taken have been taken. But… the evidence is not strong enough to file an indictment.’"

      As the NYT observes, this clears the way for the US extradition case.

      Thats the end of my commenting for the day, people to see, life to be lived ,wish Assange had the same freedom

      • Kevin 3.1.1
        20 November 2019 at 10:29 am

        So just now they realise the 'evidence' was not strong enough.

        How convenient.

        • McFlock 3.1.1.1
          20 November 2019 at 2:32 pm

          Not enough for an indictment for rape, alone.

          Of course, there was still enough evidence to charge him for rape alongside the lesser sexual assault offences that he ran the clock out on.

          There's a certain poetry that his desire to avoid those charges put him in a worse situation than if he'd been found guilty. Bit of a Greek tragedy, there.

           

      • Sabine 3.1.2
        20 November 2019 at 10:32 am

        Well i guess it goes to serve as a warning to others. 

        Don't consent to a thing you don't intend to do. Poeple might take offense. Or even better, don't fuck without a condom when you agreed to only fuck with a condom in a country that has 'consent' laws. 

        For a supposedly intelligent man he has shown absolute fucking poor decision making when it comes to sex and sex partners. 

        Question: would he be were he is now had he not decided that he can just fuck any which way he wants to and his partners pleasure, comfort, and consent be damned. 

        in fact this reminds me of the lamentations of my neighbourgh who got a ticket for a parking in a non parking spot. Who is at fault? She for parking were she ought not too – ‘her parking’ as she calls it – even tho there is plenty of legal parking about. Or the ticket man who does what is his job to do and hands her a ticket – after he gives her a warning and asks her to move the car – which she refused to do on account of ‘her parking’.

        this guy would have had a completely different life had he decided to keep his willy in the trousers or maybe he could have shoved an aspirin between his knees. I think some call this personal responsibility.
        Especially if you know that someone is out to get him.

        • Brigid 3.1.2.1
          20 November 2019 at 11:55 am

          So Sabine you think this " ‘My assessment is that all investigative measures that can be taken have been taken. But… the evidence is not strong enough to file an indictment.’"

          Should say " ‘My assessment is that all investigative measures that can be taken have been taken. But… the evidence is not strong enough to file an indictment but someone in a little country at the bottom of the globe says he's guilty of rape under Swedish law. Similarities to a parking infringement is given as proof’"

          Have you advised the Swedish authorities?

          • Sabine 3.1.2.1.1
            21 November 2019 at 12:59 pm

            Nah, 

            My assesment is simple that had he engaged his brain rather then his penis he might not be in the predicament he is today. 

             

             

    • Adrian Thornton 3.2
      20 November 2019 at 9:16 am

      Thanks for that update Francesca,that is good news I guess,  however I get a little depressed whenever I hear news about Assange, it just reminds me how easily led and manipulated so many good people on the Left have become, and you can be sure that the same gullible ones who turned on Assange with such vitriol are the same ones who buy lock stock and barrel into the CIA/FBI fueled Russiagate rubbish.

       

  4. Sanctuary 4
    20 November 2019 at 9:07 am

    Worth watching. Promotional gold for NZ.

     



  5. Jimmy 5
    20 November 2019 at 9:20 am

    Great for tourism

  6. WeTheBleeple 6
    20 November 2019 at 9:35 am

    Solar breakthrough. Industrial heating processes once too hot for solar now an option. This is very good news. I've heard people argue if Tiwai was off the grid we'd have capacity for an electric fleet. Well it looks like we might (in future) have our cake and eat it too.

    https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/19/business/heliogen-solar-energy-bill-gates/index.html

  7. Adrian Thornton 7
    20 November 2019 at 9:57 am

    Great to see at least one politician taking  a moral stand on the right wing Bolivian coup'…seems our own lot are more interested in perceived optics than taking any boring old moral and/or ethical stand on international affairs…

    Bernie Sanders' Stance on Bolivia Matters

    https://www.truthdig.com/articles/bernie-sanders-stance-on-bolivia-matters/

  8. Sabine 8
    20 November 2019 at 10:30 am

    who would have thought that people might not want to pay a ransom note just because the shitty one in the shitty house feels the need to feel bigly. Or something.

    Oh well, I guess we will all in due time learn to appreciate our new over lords, same as the other overlords but with better food. 

     

    https://news.yahoo.com/china-signs-defense-agreement-south-005403276.html

  9. Agora 9
    20 November 2019 at 11:23 am

    Leonardo da Vinci’s personal vineyard has been re-created

    https://www.economist.com/node/21774512?fsrc=rss%7Ceur

  10. Dukeofurl 10
    20 November 2019 at 11:42 am

    New draft electoral boundaries published 

    https://vote.nz/map/index.html?id=6&modified=20191115033549

    New electorate in South Auckland – Flat Bush . But some others keep their name or similar and have big changes

    • Dukeofurl 10.1
      20 November 2019 at 12:04 pm

      Usual gerrymandering from last maps. Taranaki is divided into 3 .  Whanganui like Timaru is cut off from its traditional hinterland

      Central North Island electorates wander off to  unnconnected areas

      Queenstown is cut off from rest of central Otago and  remains mostly with Southland.

      New Flatbush includes Conifer Peninsula and Up to Mission Hieghts , yet Botany has part of Flatbush near Motorway and part of  Howick on coast ,but excludes Whitford

      North Shore , I havent looked closely but Bennetts old electorate wanders from Back of Henderson across the Upper Harbour to Rosedale by the motorway…just weird.

  12. Peter 12
    20 November 2019 at 2:11 pm

    Gerry Brownlee got up as a cunning stunt when Jacinda Ardern attempted to answer a question.  He succeeded.

  13. McFlock 13
    20 November 2019 at 3:26 pm

    All those dead rats and other animals on the West Coast? Tests for 1080 came back negative.

    So no idea on the cause. Next best theory is maybe casualties of floods and stormy weather.

  14. Exkiwiforces 14
    20 November 2019 at 3:48 pm

    These two links are part of 4 part series host by the ABC's Alan Kohler who does the nightly finance report on the 7o'clock weekday news. It's quite interesting watch at what is happening here in Oz atm, with NZ's economy is very similar to Oz right now, you could drop the word Australia and insert New Zealand to get the same result.

    Atm the Australian economy isn't all beers and skittles and I won't be advising anyone to make the move over here right now unless you have a big bag full of money to fall back on if and when we do go under.

    Part 1: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-18/what-is-happening-with-the-australian-economy/11715748

    Part 2: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-19/how-australia-became-the-world-record-holder-for/11719624?section=business

  15. Gosman 15
    20 November 2019 at 4:34 pm

    On the request of Drowsy M. Kram here is a discussion about the term "indigenous" and why it is Eurocentric.

    Here was the request:

    "My question ["Indigenous people" a ridiculous concept?  How so?]  preceded yours. You responded to my question with several questions of your own.

    Your response or (if you prefer) ‘answer’ seems to be that you think "indigenous people" is a ridiculous concept because it is "Eurocentric".

    Could you please lead me (briefly) through your line of reasoning (maybe on Open Mike), because I’m genuinely not following it.

    As Incognito points out (and I agree), not all eurocentric concepts are ridiculous, so what is it about this one (the origins of which can be traced to classical Greek culture a few centuries B.C.) that irks you so?"

    The answer to your question about how is the term both ridiculous and Eurocentic was in the questions I asked you (Which were "Who are the indigenous people of England, France, and Germany?").

    The fact is there is no pure indigenous people really in Europe and neither can there be. There have been too many people intermingling with each other and sharing both their cultures and their DNA with each other. The English are no more "Indigenous" to England than the Germans are to Germany.  Even the Celtic people are not “indigenous” in the modern sense of the word to the places they live in now.

    That then leads on to how the term came to be used given it's irrelevance in the continent from which spawned the concept. The background to this is basically a people became Indigenous to an area at the moment the Europeans "discovered" them living in an area. Hence Black African Tribes are deemed indigenous to Southern Africa despite only migrating to the area around 1000 or so years ago (in many places less time than Anglo-Saxons have lived in England). This is why the term "Indigenous" is Eurocentric. It only makes sense through a European World view.

     

    • Drowsy M. Kram 15.1
      20 November 2019 at 5:00 pm

      Gosman, thanks for taking this to OM and for setting out your reasoning so expansively.  Personally I find the "Indigenous peoples" concept easy to understand and so quite useful, and wonder if you would find synonymous terms [First peoples, Aboriginal peoples or Native peoples] equally ridiculous.

      If I'm understanding your reasoning, you consider "indigenous people" to be a ridiculous concept because it is not relevant to "the continent from which spawned the concept."

      IMHO that's not good reason to label a concept 'ridiculous', so we’ll have to agree to disagree.

      • Gosman 15.1.1
        20 November 2019 at 5:16 pm

        [My humble apologies! I was meant to reply but instead overwrote your comment. In my defense, it was a ridiculous comment but that doesn’t make it right – Incognito]

        • Drowsy M. Kram 15.1.1.1
          20 November 2019 at 5:28 pm

          Your definition of 'ridiculous term/concept‘ appears to be one that "is not universal and has different applications depending on what part of the World you are in."

          We clearly have different world views; what seems 'ridiculous' to you just seems normal (in common use all over the world) and sensible to me.  Still happy to agree to disagree.

          • In Vino 15.1.1.1.1
            20 November 2019 at 7:41 pm

            I would suggest that Gosman has a nit-picking point, but is probably well aware of the below, and indulging in his usual diversionary, tergiversatory and provocative behaviour.

            Basically (explaining what I think Gosman already knows bloody well) the term 'indigenous' is now used to apply to populations afflicted by European colonialism over the last 600 years or so, when with superior technology, Europeans took over and colonised just about every country in the world.

            At school, I learned that the French word for 'Native' (the word normally used until late 1960s) was 'Indigène', so at first I saw 'indigenous' as simply a synonym.  But no – I have since understood that it is used for any people conquered by European colonialists.  ('Native' is now so tainted that it is almost gone from our vocabulary, and we instead use 'indigenous' for plants and animals, where 'native' used to be a perfectly good, non-pejorative term.)

            Gosman, silly nit-picking is not a big achievement.

            • solkta 15.1.1.1.1.1
              20 November 2019 at 7:59 pm

              Yes, 'native' is one of those words like 'mankind', only used by the old  and ignorant. 

              • In Vino …
                20 November 2019 at 8:12 pm

                Thank God I am old! 

              • Anne …
                20 November 2019 at 8:35 pm

                And what pray tell me is wrong with the word "mankind"?  It is usually used  when the topic under discussion refers to a specific species called mankind. Are you suggesting we use humankind?  Too much of a mouthful thank-you.

                And yeah… I'm old too. 🙂

                • solkta …
                  20 November 2019 at 8:53 pm

                  What is wrong with 'mankind' is exactly the same thing that is wrong with 'native'. They were used in a time when people of colour were considered inferior to white people and women were considered inferior to men. As social relations change language changes as a reflection.

                  You must have a very small mouth to be overcome by two more letters.

                  • In Vino …
                    20 November 2019 at 9:34 pm

                    Personally, I prefer 'personkind' – a warmer term than that clinical 'human' one.  In fact, 'human' should be changed to 'huperson', leading us to the beautifully multisyllabic 'hupersonkind'.

                    How blessedly correct we would then be!

                    • Anne …
                      20 November 2019 at 10:30 pm

                      Its quite funny how we all have different reactions to nomenclature. 

                      I have never thought of ‘mankind’ in the same way as solkta. It was used in an historical or scientific sense in my day. Our teachers and superiors talked of mankind… learning to make tools for hunting and receptacles for storing food etc. It was never seen as an expression of gender inequality so I will continue to use it when it is the appropriate term.

                • Paaparakauta …
                  20 November 2019 at 8:57 pm

                  What's wrong with ‘womankind’ ? If you wish to avoid gender ‘human’ does the job nicely.

                  [You are using too many different aliases and e-mail addresses. This raises suspicions with Moderators on this site. Please explain yourself – Incognito]

            • Drowsy M. Kram 15.1.1.1.1.2
              20 November 2019 at 11:13 pm

              Thanks In Vino, that makes sense.  Would "First peoples" be a 'safer' term, i.e. less/not pejorative and typically less disputable given recent advances in molecular anthropology?

              • In Vino …
                20 November 2019 at 11:32 pm

                First from when, as Gosman would ask?   Maybe 'Previous people' or, if that sounds like zombies, 'Prior people' adds an aura of importance…  but I doubt if any term will be safe for long in our very woke era.

                • McFlock …
                  21 November 2019 at 12:07 am

                  Actually, I'm beginning to think that maybe Gossies' approach is itself "Eurocentric". Looking at some of the historically-disputed areas around China, we see the same relationaships between the invading and occupying culture, and the pre-existing culture of that area.

                  Despite the earnest wishes of the EDL, Europe isn't under threat of being occupied any time soon. So to use a term in the vein of "indiginous" is farcical, because the term is a distinction between two or more ethnic populations in the same land, and the extant one that was there earliest is usually the one with least power in that land.

                • Drowsy M. Kram …
                  21 November 2019 at 12:30 am

                  'First' as in the first people to arrive/settle in a given region/island, including any descendants through to present day.  Could be a can of worms, but worthwhile at least trying to develop acceptable terms (for each region/island) IMHO.

                  https://bccampus.ca/2019/10/11/first-nations/

                  I (still) don't consider "indigenous people" to be a ridiculous concept – 'difficult/complex' possibly; 'ridiculous' no.

                  • Gosman …
                    21 November 2019 at 9:01 am

                    Why is it worth while? It is only worthwhile if you think there is some benefity to tie a particular group to a geographic area and bestow upon them special rights based on that link.

              • McFlock …
                20 November 2019 at 11:53 pm

                In North America especially the generally preferred expression seems to be "first nations". Really rubs in the "we had developed societies you guys tried to obliterate" factor.

                • Drowsy M. Kram …
                  21 November 2019 at 12:54 am

                  Could Gossie's 'reasoning' be: Once assimilation is complete, concepts such as indigenous peoples, first peoples/nations, aboriginal peoples or native peoples (and any 'special' rights/privileges deriving from distinctive cultural practices/beliefs) will be irrelevant?  Oh, what a 'perfect' world.

                  • Gosman …
                    21 November 2019 at 8:59 am

                    You keep avoiding my question about who are the indigenous people in Europe. There is an argument to be made that there are some in the far north (The Sámi) however even in this case the DNA evidence suggests that there may well have been a pre-existing culture and people that mixed with later peoples. Certainly the Celtic, Germanic and Slavic people of Northern, Western, Central, and Eastern Europe were not "indigenous" to the areas that they now call home. Maybe the Greeks have a claim to be indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean. It is a push though given there is evidence that the Greeks today are not the same as the Greeks of the Minoan era.

                    • Drowsy M. Kram …
                      21 November 2019 at 10:49 am

                      Gosman, I don't know enough about the topic of indigenous people in Europe to answer your question (so can only cut and paste), but the accounts you're providing suggest that it's difficult to tell.

                      "In Europe, present-day indigenous populations as recognized by the UN are relatively few, mainly confined to its north and far east. Notable minority indigenous populations in Europe include the Basque people of northern Spain and southern France, the Sami people of northern Fennoscandia, the Nenets, Samoyedic and Komi peoples of northern Russia, and the Circassians of southern Russia and the North Caucasus."
                      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Indigenous_peoples_of_Europe

                      You and I live in NZ – do you think that the concept of people that are indigenous to NZ (or Australia) is "ridiculous"?

                      To reiterate, I don’t find the concept of ‘indigenous people‘ ridiculous – rather I find it useful. No doubt there are other concepts that you consider ridiculous and I consider useful – there may even be a few concepts that you consider useful and I consider ridiculous. smiley

                    • Gosman …
                      21 November 2019 at 11:54 am

                      This is a facinating discussion. I would like to continue it on today's OM.

            • Gosman 15.1.1.1.1.3
              21 November 2019 at 8:48 am

              Thank you for making the point. The term "indigenous" doesn't mean what many people think it means (which is the original people of a particular area). It means instead people who were occupying a particular area when they Europeans first came in to contact with them.

  16. Eco maori 16
    21 November 2019 at 8:44 am

    Kia Ora Breakfast. 

    Birds are fascinating creatures they play a big positive role in our environment.

    Its great to see the Koala being treated with care and kindness.

    Ka kite Ano 

  17. Eco maori 17
    21 November 2019 at 10:49 am

    This is the technology we need to grow to turn our plastic waste into a valuable commodity. This system gives us the opportunity to keep plastics in a closed loop system. Use recycled we need closed loop system for everything we use. 

     

    Australian recycling technology aims to handle all plastics

    Australian scientists have developed a technology they say could make all plastic recyclable, as the country grapples with how to deal with its waste crisis.

    The patented technology was created by Dr Len Humphreys and Sydney University Professor Thomas Maschmeyer, who say it could process plastics that cannot currently be recycled.

    Australians throw out 3.5 million tonnes of plastic each year, but currently only about 10 percent of it is recycled.

    The rest is either burned, buried or shipped overseas

    Dr Humphreys said the Cat-HTR technology he and his co-founder patented was different from existing plastic-to-oil technologies like pyrolysis, which is a process that involves heating materials at a very high temperature.

    Unlike traditional physical recycling, it does not require plastics to be separated according to type and colour, and can recycle anything from milk cartons to wetsuits and even wood by-products.

    It also means plastic products can be recycled again and again

    Ka kite Ano link below. 

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/world/403699/australian-recycling-technology-aims-to-handle-all-plastics

  18. Eco maori 18
    21 November 2019 at 11:52 am

    Sugar should be banned to our fuel tanks our tamariki consume way to much of the stuff. 

    Later on in their lives once their bodys system have been wrecked by sugar the real problems start diabetes heart problems that's the reality of high sugar consumption. 

    Sweet spot: Norwegians cut sugar intake to lowest level in 44 years

    Norway has had a sugar tax since 1922 and more recently has created separate taxes for confectionary and sugary drinks

    The directorate’s annual report on the Norwegian diet said that average annual consumption of sugar had plummeted from 43kg to 24kg per person between 2000 and 2018 – including a 27% reduction in the past decade – to a level lower than that recorded in 1975.

    Norway has had a generalised added sugar tax – introduced at the time as a means of raising revenue for the state, rather than reducing the consumption of what critics call the “pure, white and deadly” substance – since as early as 1922

    Ka kite Ano link below. 

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/20/norwegians-cut-sugar-intake-to-lowest-level-in-44-years

    • Sabine 18.1
      21 November 2019 at 11:56 am

      nah, mate, sugar is doing nothing wrong. 

      What should be banned is selling sugary drinks cheaper then milk or water. 

      And what should be done is getting parents to understand that if they make the children, and if they birth the children then they have to actually raise them, feed them, clothes them. 

      Non of that is the fault of sugar. 

      If we continue to demand stuff be banned because grown ass adults don't give a shit aobut their children we will have no more food/drink etc left and the world be littered with starving children. 

  19. Eco maori 19
    21 November 2019 at 6:28 pm

    Kia Ora 1 News. 

    I think that's a great idea compulsorily reduncy income insurance some. 

    Yes report it to the police if you get scammed so they know the scam and worn others about it. 

    Ka kite Ano 

     

     

  20. Eco maori 20
    21 November 2019 at 6:53 pm

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News. 

    Gambling is a big problem for some tangata whenua I have seen the effects of people putting all their money in those machines. 

    Awsome that Whakatane Iwi is getting there Taonga back from Auckland University. I believe in the Maori version of old taonga wairua.

    There are some great programs on Maori TV they give me a sore face. 

    Ka kite Ano 

  21. Eco maori 21
    22 November 2019 at 8:46 am

    Kia Ora Breakfast. 

    Our economy is based on housing the old saying As Safe As Whare. 

    We have stopped the single use of plastic bags that should be just the start on our journey to a closed loop system. 

    Its good to see A huge multi nation company held accountable for their Actions. 

    Ka kite Ano 

     

     

  22. Eco maori 22
    22 November 2019 at 5:07 pm

    Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute. 

  23. Eco maori 23
    22 November 2019 at 6:31 pm

    Kia Ora 1 News. 

    I was told about the mass mice problems. 

    Orange dust storm in Australia. 

    Im not surprised about the amount of CCT cameras I have seen them going up all over the place. 

    Ka kite Ano 

     

     

  24. Eco maori 24
    22 November 2019 at 6:47 pm

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News. 

    Its great to see 20 indigenous tangata meeting in Aotearoa. 

    Ka kite Ano 

  25. Eco maori 25
    23 November 2019 at 3:54 pm

    Some Eco Maori Music For The Minute. 

  26. Eco maori 26
    23 November 2019 at 6:29 pm

    Kia Ora 1 News. 

    Its was a good day in Kaikoura. 

    We must pay respect to our Tipuna. 

    It looks like Steven vist to Aotearoa is a good thing. 

    Luck there was not more causalitys with that train crash I'm very careful on the roads now days 

    Those old costumes bring back the past lol. 

    Ka kite Ano 

     

     

  27. Eco maori 27
    23 November 2019 at 6:50 pm

    Kia Ora Te Ao Maori News. 

    Condolences to Michael Wi whanau for their loss. 

     

    That's awesome a Wai testing kit that is only $50.

    Ka kite Ano 

     

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    The whole world is on edge over a coronavirus outbreak that started in early December in Wuhan City, China. The virus is thought to have first infected people working at a seafood and live animal market. So what could the original source have been? There’s no official word yet, but ...
    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    5 days ago

  • Simon’s Philippine jaunt: #LittleBoysPlayingToughguys
    Not too far back, Simon Bridges the Leader of the Opposition and National Party, went on an excursion to China. This was arranged not by MFAT (NZ’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade), but by their MP Jian Yang – a man who also just happened to “forget to mention” ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    5 days ago

  • Will Turia ever forgive Labour?
    Dame Tariana Turia with former PM John KeyWhat is it about Tariana Turia’s grudge against the Labour Party? Not content with attacking the Government over Whānau Ora funding, which was increased by $80 million in 2019, she has now made it personal by saying that Jacinda Ardern is out of her ...
    The Jackal
    5 days ago

  • What are the recent fluoride-IQ studies really saying about community water fluoridation?
    Scaremongering graphic currently being promoted by Declan Waugh who is well known for misrepresenting the fluoride science This graphic is typical of current anti-fluoride propaganda. It is scare-mongering, in that it is aimed at undermining community ...
    Open ParachuteBy Ken
    5 days ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #3, 2020
    Biography of a policy metric Bård Lahn performs a sweeping literature review to present the history of our notion of a "global carbon budget" and how this number has come  to encapsulate a massive amount of scientific research into a useful, easily grasped tool in our policy skill set.  A ...
    Skeptical Science
    5 days ago

  • Oxfam Report: Time to Care – Unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis
    January 2020 Economic inequality is out of control. In 2019, the world’s billionaires, only 2,153 people, had more wealth than 4.6 billion people. This great divide is based on a flawed and sexist economic system that values the wealth of the privileged few, mostly men, more than the billions of ...
    Closing the GapBy Tracey Sharp
    6 days ago

  • How to avoid being a cunt to hospo workers’
    Working hospo is hard mahi for many reasons, from long hours and gruelling high-volume weekends to customers who treat us as their servants. There are always lovely and polite customers who treat hospo workers with respect and kindness but, throughout my 15-years in the biz, I’ve collected a number of ...
    PosseBy chloeanneking
    6 days ago

  • 2019-nCoV (the new coronavirus): Should we be concerned, and will there be a vaccine?
    Probably yes to both but don’t panic yet. There is a plan. What is this virus? 2019 novel coronavirus, aka 2019-nCoV, belongs to a family of viruses called coronavirus. These are very common viruses that infect a wide range of animals including humans and can cause mild to severe disease, ...
    SciBlogsBy Helen Petousis Harris
    6 days ago

  • The Chinese coronavirus outbreak: what are the options for vaccines and treatments?
    By now you’ve probably heard of the coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan City, China. The number of cases is rising, up to about 300 with six deaths. Cases have been reported in several more Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in Japan, Thailand, and South Korea. ...
    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    6 days ago

  • Educating New Zealand’s future workforce
    Judy Kavanagh Do you remember your first day at school? The education I received was for a very different world than the world of today. Along with huge social shifts there have been big changes in the New Zealand economy and the work people do. There are occupations unheard of ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    6 days ago

  • A casual attitude towards transparency
    Back in December, when the government was introducing new secrecy legislation on an almost daily basis, I posted about the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The Bill establishes a new class of public entity, "special purpose vehicles", which collect and spend public money and enjoy statutory powers. Despite this, they ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Against a carbon bailout
    If we are to avoid making the planet uninhabitable, we need to cut carbon emisisons fast. Which basicly means putting the fossil fuel industry - coal, gas, and oil - out of business. But this means that the banks and other lenders who have bankrolled the industry's environmental destruction will ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Still a criminal industry
    More evidence that the fishing industry suffers from pervasive criminality, with Forest & Bird highlighting some odd numbers in the annual statistics:The Annual Review Report For Highly Migratory Species Fisheries 2018/19 (Pg 4, Table 4) showed only 4% of commercial long lining trips for tuna and swordfish reported non-fish bycatch ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    6 days ago

  • Controversy? Or Manufactroversy?
    A few days ago, New Zealand’s Minister of Education announced the wider release of a resource on climate change, which was initially trialled at a Christchurch school during 2018. According to the Minister, children will learn about “the role science plays in understanding climate change, aids understanding of both the response ...
    SciBlogsBy Alison Campbell
    6 days ago

  • The emerging coronavirus outbreak in China
    By now you’ve probably heard of the new virus causing an outbreak of severe pneumonia in China. The question on most people’s minds is, how worried should we be, especially as hundreds of millions of people will soon be travelling across China and beyond to visit family for the Lunar ...
    SciBlogsBy Siouxsie Wiles
    7 days ago

  • How did climate change get so controversial?
    An excerpt from the book Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, released Feb 25. Our human brain is poorly equipped to deal with a threat like climate change. Over millions of years, we’ve evolved to avoid life-threatening dangers like predators jumping out of bushes. We’ve survived by quickly detecting and avoiding immediate, short-term ...
    Skeptical Science
    7 days ago

  • Farmers are ruining Canterbury’s rivers
    Its summer, so people naturally want to go for a swim. But in South Canterbury, you can't, because the rivers are full of toxic goo:As of Monday, the Waihi River at Wilson Street footbridge, Geraldine, the Waihao River at Bradshaws Bridge, and three spots on the Opihi River - at ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • Sack Shane Jones
    Late last year, NZ First was caught trying to enrich itself from public office, with a dodgy forestry company linked to a number of NZ First figures sticking its hand out repeatedly for government money. Regional Economic Development Minister shane Jones' "explanations" were patently unconvincing, and his recusal from deciding ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    1 week ago

  • BIG idea physics
    This morning I’ve been having a quick look through some documentation from The Ministry of Education on proposed changes to NCEA Level 1 Science. For those not familiar with the NZ secondary education system, a typical student would complete NCEA level 1 at the end of year 11.  In this ...
    SciBlogsBy Marcus Wilson
    1 week ago

  • Revolution in New Zealand? Not Even Close!
    No Fires Thanks, We're Kiwis: For the moment, in those close-to-home places where revolutions are born, there may be tetchiness and resentment, frustration and complaint, but nowhere is anybody uttering the cry that will bring a New Zealand revolution into being: “We have found the way to make tomorrow better ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #3
    Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... 'It's heart-wrenching': 80% of Blue Mountains and 50% of ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Britain exits the European Union and takes a sharp right turn
    by John Smith  Britain’s exit from the imperialist bloc known as the European Union (EU) is now irreversible. The crushing electoral defeat of the Labour Party has dismayed many workers and youth who had placed their hopes in Jeremy Corbyn, its left-wing leader. This article assesses these historic events, neither of which ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    1 week ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #3
    A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jan 12, 2020 through Sat, Jan 18, 2020 Editor's Pick The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees Bristlecone pines have survived various catastrophes over the millennia, and they ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • How climate change influenced Australia’s unprecedented fires
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections, and has been adapted into a new myth rebuttal on climate-wildfire connections with the short URL sks.to/wildfires Australia’s frightening bushfires, which kicked off an early fire season in September 2019, have already had cataclysmic effects, and the continent is still just in the early ...
    Skeptical Science
    1 week ago

  • Gender Identity Ideology – A Partial Bibliography of Online Coverage
    This great resource has been contributed to Redline by Janie Doebuck. Janie made some notes on the bibliography: 1) It is by no means exhaustive. There are tons more gender critical posts, essays, articles, podcasts, youtube videos, etc. online. 2) There are links in the bibliography that are behind paywalls. There ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    2 weeks ago

  • About those biased Oscar Nominations
    There’s been a lot written about the 2020 Oscar Nominations and their apparent lack of diversity. It’s true, there are in fact no women nominated for the Best Director and very few nominees of colour across the board. But is this a result of a biased process or a symptom ...
    The Jackal
    2 weeks ago

  • How New Zealand media reports chronic pain
    Hemakumar Devan Around three million New Zealanders access news media (both paper and online) every week. Yes, you heard that right! So, the potential for news media to shape public health beliefs is common sense. As chronic pain affects one in five New Zealanders, we wanted to find out how ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    2 weeks ago

  • Still Waiting For American Democracy.
    Unfinished Republic: Though the United States' crimes against democracy are legion, most Americans are blissfully unaware of them. The brutal realities of American life: the officially sanctioned violence; the refusal to hold racists accountable for their actions; the seemingly endless tragedy of African-American suffering; of which White America is the ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 weeks ago

  • In Outrage Over Its Bunk Science, Goop Finds Fuel for Growth
    Michael Schulson For years, experts have said that Goop, the wellness and lifestyle brand founded by the actor and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow, markets pseudoscience and overblown cures. And for years, despite the criticism, Goop has just kept growing. Now the company, which was valued at $250 million in 2018, ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    2 weeks ago

  • Tobacco Excise Taxes and the Smokefree 2025 Goal: Some Ways Forward
    Janet Hoek, Richard Edwards, George Thomson, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson Debate over tobacco tax increases has intensified as research indicates potentially conflicting policy directions. On the one hand, excise tax increases continue to stimulate quit attempts among smokers yet, on the other hand, they may lead to financial hardship for ...
    SciBlogsBy Public Health Expert
    2 weeks ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #2, 2020
    Conflation and how to fix it VIa AMS,  Raul Lejano looks at what in a layperson's thinking would be called conflation— confusion and blending of entirely different topics— when people think about climate change. Ideology and the Narrative of Skepticism  (open access) starts with some arguably frightening false connections between the science and ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 weeks ago

  • ‘Cranky Uncle’ smart phone game will show you how to disarm climate deniers
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bud Ward (Image: Courtesy of John Cook) When it comes to climate change, it seems every family has its own version of the proverbial Cranky Uncle. An uncle, cousin, grandparent, in-law, neighbor, whatever. Just think back to the recent holiday season’s large ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 weeks ago

  • Science in the ’20s – part 1
      Outrageous, immoral or downright dangerous. That’s a description of the lifestyle of women “flappers” in the 1920s. Could it apply to science (and scientists) in the 2020s? Actually, you could look back at the past decade and see those, or similar terms, used about some science and scientists. Sometimes ...
    SciBlogsBy Robert Hickson
    2 weeks ago

  • Postscript: Citizenship Granted.
    I am pleased to say that I have been granted NZ citizenship. I need to do the ceremony for things to be official, but the application was a success. I now join my son as a dual NZ-US citizen. To be fair, very little will change other than the fact ...
    KiwipoliticoBy Pablo
    2 weeks ago

  • Hard News: Music: Morales is coming
    It will be no secret to longtime readers that I, Russell Brown, love the disco.   So I'm pretty excited by the fact that one of the greats of the game is returning this summer – and also pleased to say I have tickets to give away.Legendary mixer and DJ ...
    Public Address
    2 weeks ago

  • The WHO Vaccine Safety Summit – from someone who was actually there
    The conspiracy I saw a new conspiracy theory flying around the other day. According to the conspiracy (that seems to originate from Del Bigtree), the World Health Organization have been ‘caught on camera’ questioning the safety of vaccines. Gosh this sounds as though someone was a mole at a ...
    SciBlogsBy Helen Petousis Harris
    2 weeks ago

  • The timely death of the British Labour Party
    Below is an article submitted to Redline by Alec Abbott  At its inception, the British Labour Party was a vehicle for the propagation of racist and imperialist views within the working-class. Such views are still widespread in the party, as they are in Europe’s Social-Democratic parties, though, in the case of ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    2 weeks ago

  • Mystery China pneumonia outbreak likely caused by new human coronavirus
    Connor Bamford, Queen’s University Belfast Since December 2019, there has been a cluster of 59 cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, eastern China. The pneumonia is associated with a previously unidentified coronavirus related to the deadly SARS virus. Seven of those cases are thought to be serious, and one person – ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    2 weeks ago

  • Yes, koalas are cute – but should we bring them to NZ? Errm, no
    It’s been hard to miss the extreme fires raging across Australia and the tragic plight of the animals – human and otherwise – affected by the fires’ insatiable spread. I know I’ve been captivated and concerned by the tales of how Australia’s famous wildlife has been coping. Koalas approaching cyclists ...
    SciBlogsBy Sarah-Jane O'Connor
    2 weeks ago

  • National’s negative campaigning
    Anybody who looked into the Dirty Politics saga knows all too well that honesty is often in short supply within the National Party. You would think that after the exposure the John Key government received over their untruthful attack politics, the National Party would learn from its "mistakes" and leave ...
    The Jackal
    2 weeks ago

  • Ending the government’s charade over water
    For the past decade, the government has been responding to the obvious Treaty issues raised by water allocation with the mantra that "no-one owns water". But last year, the Waitangi Tribunal ruled that actually, Māori owned it, and that those rights had never been extinguished. They recommended that iwi bring ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 weeks ago

  • Northern Ireland joins the civilised world
    Same-sex marriage has finally become legal in Northern Ireland. But not through any decision of the Northern Irish Executive or Assembly, which has only just reformed after a three year walkout by the DUP; instead, Westminster made that decision for them. I've talked before about the constitutional impropriety of this, ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    2 weeks ago

  • I had an intense conversation at work today.
    Claire Cohen-Norris volunteers with Citizens Climate Lobby as a chapter founder and leader in rural New York. Her climate advocacy sprung from her drive to provide a secure, joyful and fulfilling life for her two wonderful children. It has become a life’s mission, shared with her like-minded husband and partner. Claire ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 weeks ago

  • French transport workers take on Macron over pension reform
    by John Edmundson Starting on December 5th, 2019 workers in the Parisian rail network commenced an open-ended strike in opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed changes to their pension scheme. Rail workers in the Metro Underground have, for decades, had retirement conditions that compensate them for the low wages, ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    2 weeks ago

  • What a difference the decimal point makes
    I’m back at work following a nearly three-week break over Christmas. We were fortunate to be offered a house to stay in for a week over Christmas, which enabled us to have a holiday in Dunedin and see the extended family reasonably cheaply. But the house came with a catch:  ...
    SciBlogsBy Marcus Wilson
    2 weeks ago

  • Who’s Going To Stop Him?
    Blank And Pitiless: Having ordered the assassination of the Iranian General, Qasem Soleimani, President Donald Trump promised to reduce the cultural monuments of Iran’s 3,000 year-old civilisation to rubble if a revenge attack was mounted. A breach of international law? Certainly. A war crime? Indisputably. Who’s going to stop him? Nobody.WHAT ...
    Bowalley Road
    2 weeks ago

  • A worker’s story
    This interview is from Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement (AWSM) and is the first of an ongoing series of interviews they plan to do with workers from various sectors who are having their well being and livelihoods damaged. They begin with an educator in Southland. Due to the attitude and actions ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    2 weeks ago

  • 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #2
    A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jan 5, 2020 through Sat, Jan 11, 2020 Editor's Pick Debunked Australian Bushfire Conspiracy Theories Were Pushed by Alex Jones, Murdoch Media   As unusually intense and widespread bushfires have ...
    Skeptical Science
    2 weeks ago

  • J.K. Rowling, the Seattle Library, and the Issue That Must Not Be Named
    This article was submitted to Redline by Seattle-based activist Lucinda Stoan J.K. Rowling recognizes repression when she sees it.  That’s why the author of the wildly popular Harry Potter books recently tweeted in defense of Maya Forstater. Forstater lost her job for stating that sex is real and immutable. A judge ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    2 weeks ago

  • Rules of Empire: Laws simply do not apply and “National Security” excuses all else.
    Empires rise and fall, and the American Empire is absolutely no different. But while an Empire, in order to further the footprint, it seems to pay to do one primary thing above all else: project that everything – everything – is “simply for the good of the world” at large, ...
    exhALANtBy exhalantblog
    3 weeks ago

  • Indian lessons for NZ workers – the January 8 general strike
                    by Phil Duncan On Wednesday (January 8) another massive general strike took place in India.  Some 250 million industrial workers, white-collar workers, agricultural labourers struck against the government’s economic policies and attacks on the Muslim population through new proposed citizenship rules. This ...
    RedlineBy Admin
    3 weeks ago

  • Climate Change: The action that counts
    Over on Newsroom, Professor Jacqueline Beggs writes about the action she is taking on climate change. Its the usual list: reduce meat, don't fly, consume less. I'm doing some of this myself, and none of it hurts - but the way our economic system is constructed means the impact of ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    3 weeks ago

  • Fossil fuel political giving outdistances renewables 13 to one
    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk Corporations, special interest groups, and individuals inject billions of dollars into the American political system every year. Much of the financial support in politics is concealed from public view, as some rules – and loopholes – allow “dark money” and ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 weeks ago

  • Animal response to a bushfire is astounding. These are the tricks they use to survive
    Dale Nimmo, Charles Sturt University Have you ever wondered how our native wildlife manage to stay alive when an inferno is ripping through their homes, and afterwards when there is little to eat and nowhere to hide? The answer is adaptation and old-fashioned ingenuity. Australia’s bushfire season is far from ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    3 weeks ago

  • Should I ditch my fossil-fueled car?
    Yes. Reducing the number of cars in your household, or switching from petrol/diesel to electric, will dramatically reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. It’s one of the easiest and highest-impact climate steps you can take. New Zealand is being flooded with cars The New Zealand vehicle fleet is increasing rapidly. In ...
    SciBlogsBy Guest Author
    3 weeks ago

  • Speaker: Planet History: Taking Tea with Quentin
    This interview with Quentin Crisp is part of a series of articles republished from Planet, the independent magazine I edited in the early 90s from a base at 309 Karangahape Road, along with Grant Fell, Rachael Churchward, Fiona Rae, David Teehan, Mere Ngailevu and others.Inevitably, you forget things, and over ...
    Public Address
    3 weeks ago

  • Skeptical Science New Research for Week #1, 2020
    Supply Side How are we doing with CO2 emissions? It's an important question, increasingly posed to a mixed bag of CO2 contributors who may or may not provide accurate reportage. Liu et al present a new, additional means of measurement based on satellite observations of nitrogen dioxide co-emitted from ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 weeks ago

  • Donald Trump’s strategic gamble
    There’s a meme going around the Internet at the moment claiming that Donald Trump is a bit of an idiot. To outside eyes it does seem as though the President of the United States thumbs his nose at his own countries laws and administration far too often to be taken ...
    The Jackal
    3 weeks ago

  • Is the prostitute the seller or the sold?
    Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the third part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna Whitmore. Part 1 was ...
    RedlineBy Daphna
    3 weeks ago

  • Week That Was: 2020
    We are back for 2020! From changes to Family Funded Care, to a record high number of Kiwis in construction in the trades - we're already back making progress on those long-term challenges. Read all about it and more ...
    Labour Blog
    4 days ago

  • Winston Peters: “Ihumātao deal still a long way off”
    Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters told Mike Hosking that a settlement deal regarding Ihumātao in Auckland is still a long way off. The Maori King's flag was lowered at the site near Auckland Airport yesterday, sparking suggestions an announcement of a deal could be made by Waitangi Day. Pania Newton, ...
    NZ First News
    5 days ago

  • Winston Peters accuses Gerry Brownlee of ‘politicising’ Holocaust memorial
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters is accusing Gerry Brownlee of "politicising" a Holocaust memorial event after the National MP questioned the lack of Kiwi representation there. The Yad Vashem World Holocaust Remembrance Centre in Jerusalem, Israel, is holding the World Holocaust Forum on January 23 to mark 75 years since ...
    NZ First News
    5 days ago

  • Provincial Growth Fund to help Waipukurau Pā sites attract thousands of tourists
    The Ngā Ara Tipuna - Waipukurau Pā Site Interpretation project is receiving $2.798 million from the Provincial Growth Fund. It is is expected to boost the town's employment and tourism, creating sixteen new jobs once completed and attract up to 15,000 visitors a year. Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development ...
    NZ First News
    6 days ago

  • “Common sense will prevail, not extremism” Winston Peters backs Shane Jones’ pro-meat stance
    New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is backing his MPs who have spoken out against a new climate change teaching resource that advises students to eat less meat to save the planet. The new teaching resource, announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Climate Change Minister James Shaw, tells students ...
    NZ First News
    1 week ago

  • Violent assault on paramedic highlights need for law change
    Darroch Ball MP, Spokesperson for Justice Today’s horrific violent assault of an on-duty female paramedic which rendered her unconscious is truly unsettling. “Our thoughts are with the paramedic, her loved ones and the St John’s team at Warkworth Station,” says New Zealand First Justice Spokesperson Darroch Ball. “Harsher penalties for perpetrators ...
    NZ First Press Release
    1 week ago

  • Acting PM Winston Peters confirms NZDF troops in Iraq not hit by Iranian attacks
    Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters called for calm and diplomacy following Iranian missile strikes on bases housing United States troops in Iraq, but confirmed New Zealand's base in the country was not hit. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) was earlier today investigating claims New Zealand's base in Iraq had ...
    NZ First News
    1 week ago

  • Kaikōura $10.88 million boost in tourism & business
    Fletcher Tabuteau MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10.88 million to boost business and tourism opportunities in Kaikōura, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. As part of the Kaikōura Marina Development Programme, the following two projects will receive ...
    NZ First Press Release
    2 weeks ago

  • Delivering a stable water supply to Wairarapa
    Hon. Ron Mark, New Zealand First List MP based in Wairarapa The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $7.11 million to create a sustainable water supply for the Wairarapa. The PGF will provide a $7 million investment to Wairarapa Water Limited to progress the Wairarapa Water Storage Scheme towards procurement, consenting, ...
    NZ First Press Release
    2 weeks ago

  • Housing consents hit highest level since 1974
    Housing consents have hit a 45-year high, as Statistics NZ data shows a total of 37,010 residential consents were issued in the year to November --- the first time they have breached the 37,000 mark since the mid-1970s. Statistics NZ said the trend had been rising since late 2011, when ...
    NZ First News
    2 weeks ago

  • Darroch Ball MP: “Violence against first responders is a problem on the rise”
    New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball says that a paramedic being kicked unconscious last night in an attempted burglary in Warkworth, north of Auckland, is a symptom of a larger problem. "Incidents like this are becoming more and more frequent...and it’s getting worse," Mr Ball said. The MP is pushing for ...
    NZ First News
    2 weeks ago

  • Minister Ron Mark asks NZDF to conduct fire risk assessment from defence point of view
    Defence Minister Ron Mark said there was nothing to prevent similar large-scale bushfires seen in Australia from also happening in New Zealand, and has asked the New Zealand Defence Force to conduct a nfire risk assessment from a defence point of view. The defence assessment would help prevent a disaster ...
    NZ First News
    3 weeks ago

  • PM announces election date as September 19
    The 2020 General Election will be held on Saturday 19 September, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced today. “I will be asking New Zealanders to continue to support my leadership and the current direction of the Government, which is grounded in stability, a strong economy and progress on the long term ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 hours ago

  • Provincial Growth Fund supports Waikato youth into constructionProvincial Growth Fund supports Waika...
    Two projects focussed on supporting Waikato youth into the construction industry have been given combined funding of just over $1 million from the Te Ara Mahi allocation of the Provincial Growth Fund, Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today.  The two Te Ara Mahi PGF projects announced are: ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago

  • Provincial Growth Fund supports Waikato youth into construction
    Two projects focussed on supporting Waikato youth into the construction industry have been given combined funding of just over $1 million from the Te Ara Mahi allocation of the Provincial Growth Fund, Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today.  The two Te Ara Mahi PGF projects announced are: ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 hours ago

  • New Zealand to support Pacific Public Sector Hub
    Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced New Zealand’s support for a Pacific-led hub that will strengthen public services across the region. “Strengthening public services is a core focus of New Zealand’s Pacific Reset, as efforts to improve democratic governance in the Pacific contributes to a strong, stable and more ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    8 hours ago

  • Minister pays tribute to journalist, author and broadcaster, Gordon McLauchlan
    The Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, Kris Faafoi, has paid tribute to well-known New Zealand author, journalist and broadcaster, Gordon McLauchlan, following Mr McLauchlan’s death today. “Gordon held a statesman-like place in New Zealand’s media, which was fittingly acknowledged in last year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours, when he was ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Minister wishes best of luck to those heading back to school
    As Kiwi kids and teachers return to classrooms over the coming weeks, the families of around 428,000 students will feel a bit less of a financial pinch than in previous years, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said today. “The Government’s decision to increase funding for schools that don’t ask parents for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago

  • Health staff to meet flights from China as precautionary measure
    Public health staff will begin meeting flights from China from tomorrow, to actively look for signs of the novel coronavirus and provide advice, information and reassurance to passengers. Health Minister Dr David Clark says the additional measures are being taken following the arrival of the disease in Australia, via flights ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • National Yearling Sales 2020
    National Yearling Sales at Karaka   26 January 2020    [CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY] Good morning. It is a pleasure to be here on opening day of the 2020 National Yearling Sales Series. Let us all acknowledge Sir Peter Vela and the Vela family for their outstanding contribution to the New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Government and construction industry to build big, lift productivity with Transformation Plan
    Delivering the workforce and productivity gains required to build the houses, schools, roads, rail and hospitals New Zealand needs will become easier with the Government-industry Construction Sector Transformation Plan launched today, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. “The action plan launched today delivers on the Government’s Construction Sector ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago

  • Log trains to begin on Wairoa-Napier line
    Log trains are about to start running between Wairoa and Napier following Provincial Growth Fund investment to reopen the rail line, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. The Government invested $6.2 million to reopen the mothballed rail line which was closed after significant storm damage in 2012. “With PGF ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • Minister of Defence concludes successful visit with his US counterpart
    Minister of Defence Ron Mark met with United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper today. “This was an excellent opportunity to meet with one of our closest security partners,” Ron Mark said. “The main focus of the meeting was to discuss challenges that New Zealand and the United States share ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago

  • New Zealand acknowledges ICJ decision on Myanmar
    Foreign Minister Winston Peters today acknowledged the ruling of the International Court of Justice in relation to the Rohingya people in Myanmar. The ruling ordered the Government of Myanmar to take all measures within its power to prevent the commission of acts of genocide in relation to members of the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • NZ’s trade aims advanced at Davos meetings
    A proposal to cut “trade and production-distorting subsidies” in the agricultural sector by 2030 has set out important measures to ensure a fair agricultural trading system.  Speaking after attending meetings of trade ministers in Davos, Switzerland, Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker welcomed the joint proposal from the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • Great news for New Zealanders with cystic fibrosis
    Health Minister Dr David Clark says he is delighted that PHARMAC has struck a provisional deal to fund Kalydeco – a medicine which is set to improve the quality of life for about 30 New Zealand children and adults with cystic fibrosis. “While rare, cystic fibrosis is an awful inherited ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago

  • New Zealand least corrupt country in the world
    New Zealand has regained its position as the least corrupt country in the world for the second time under this Coalition Government, says Justice Minister Andrew Little. “New Zealanders can be proud that our reputation as one of the least corrupt countries in the world has been restored,” says Andrew ...
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    5 days ago

  • Boost for Rēkohu/Wharekauri/Chatham Islands Community Conservation
    Community conservation in Rēkohu/Wharekauri/the Chatham Islands is receiving a boost, with grants to support local projects announced today by Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “Rēkohu/Wharekauri/ the Chatham Islands are home to 20 per cent of New Zealand’s threatened bird species and 11 per cent of New Zealand’s threatened plant species. ...
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    5 days ago

  • Rātana Pā goes high-tech with UFB
    Iwi, hapu and visitors to Rātana Pā near Whanganui now have access to ultra-fast broadband following its connection, completed in time for annual Rātana celebrations, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones says. The connection and associated hardware were funded from the Provincial Growth Fund’s $21 million Marae Digital Connectivity programme, ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Govt’s strong financial management acknowledged
    The Government’s strong financial management and plan to future proof the economy with new infrastructure investment has gained further recognition from an international ratings agency. Credit rating agency Fitch has upgraded one of its main metrics assessing the Government’s books, lifting its foreign currency AA rating outlook to ‘positive’ from ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Boost in Whānau Ora funding to keep changing lives
    Whānau throughout New Zealand are set to benefit from an extra three million dollars that will go directly to Whānau Ora Commissioning Agencies, the Minister for Whānau Ora Peeni Henare announced today.  Including previous funding boosts, the Agencies will now receive $87 million this year between them.  In Budget 2019 ...
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    5 days ago

  • More people getting into work
    The December quarter benefit numbers released today show the Government’s plan to get people off the benefit and into work is starting to pay off,” Social Development Minister Carmel Sepuloni said.   “Nearly 19,000 people cancelled their benefit and went into work in the last few months of the year – ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago

  • Wairoa gets up to $6.1m to rebuild heart of CBD
    The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing up to $6.1 million to revitalise business and tourism opportunities in Wairoa, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF is funding: Up to $4.8 million for the Wairoa Integrated Business and Tourism Facility Up to $960,000 for the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Major Events support for creative and cultural events
    Creative and cultural events that highlight New Zealand’s diverse culture and build national pride are set to get a funding boost through the Major Events Fund, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford said today. The new Creative and Cultural Events Incubator, which is funded through the Major Events Fund, will open ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Classroom internet in hundreds of schools to get a boost
    The Government has begun a massive IT upgrade to provide more seamless internet access to 200 schools around the country. Te Mana Tūhono – Technology in Schools work programme will launch with a pilot of 10 smaller state schools early this year. IT equipment that gives students access to the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • Construction workforce, apprenticeships hit record highs
    Working with industry and committing to rebuild New Zealand’s infrastructure has produced a record high number of Kiwis working in the construction industry and learning trades, says Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. New figures available today from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Tertiary Education ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    6 days ago

  • NZ concludes digital economy trade talks with Singapore and Chile
    A new trade agreement concluded today helps New Zealand exporters and consumers take advantage of opportunities from digital trade.    Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker together with Chile’s Vice Minister of Trade Rodrigo Yañez and Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, have announced conclusion of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    7 days ago

  • Provincial Growth Fund to fund Waipukurau cultural development and tourism
    The Ngā Ara Tipuna -  Waipukurau Pā Site Interpretation project will receive $2.798 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to create an authentic cultural tourism experience, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today “The project will inform visitors about the history of six pā sites in Waipukurau with a combination ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • 21 new judges boost diversity, improve access to justice
    Twenty-one new District Court judges have been appointed in a move that will improve access to justice and boost diversity on the bench. The new judges include replacements for retirements and 10 new positions. Attorney-General David Parker today announced the 14 judges who can immediately be named, with the remainder ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Puhinui to Auckland Airport in 10 minutes
    Aucklanders are another step closer to getting rapid transit to the airport, with the start of construction to upgrade State Highway 20B to the airport, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. SH20B will be upgraded with additional lanes in each direction, dedicated to bus and high-occupancy vehicles between Pukaki Creek ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Advancing New Zealand’s trade agenda focus of Europe meetings
    World Trade Organisation reform, agricultural trade and a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom will be the focus of Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker’s visit to Europe this week. David Parker leaves on Tuesday for a series of meetings in the UK and Switzerland that aim ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Minister of Defence to visit counterparts in US and Canada
    The Minister of Defence, Ron Mark, departed today for the United States and Canada where he will meet with his counterparts.  While in Canada Minister Mark will meet with his counterpart, Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan.  “New Zealand and Canada are close friends, and share an instinctive like-mindedness on ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Government to deliver family carers $2000 pay rise, expand scheme to spouses this year
    The Coalition Government is delivering this year the changes to Funded Family Care the disability sector has long-asked for, says Associate Minister of Health Jenny Salesa. “Today we are announcing the details of our big changes to Funded Family Care, including an annual average pay boost of $2,246.40 for funded ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Ko te reo kua mū: Piri Sciascia
    Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta joins te ao Māori in their sorrow as they learn of the loss of one of the great orators and spokespersons of a generation – Piri Sciascia.  “The son of Pōrangahau was a staunch advocate for Māori development and served his people for over ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Minister opens new ecosanctuary at Cape Farewell
    A new ecosanctuary with a predator proof fence on Golden Bay’s Cape Farewell, which will restore a safe home for sea birds, rare native plants, giant snails, and geckos, was officially opened today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “There has been a fantastic community effort supported by the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 week ago

  • Pacific partners work together to provide additional support to Australia
    The NZDF continues to support the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as it battles fires in Victoria and New South Wales, including by transporting Republic of Fiji Military engineers from Nadi to Australia, announced Defence Minister Ron Mark. On Saturday morning a NZDF Boeing 757 will depart New Zealand to uplift ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Kaikōura $10.88 million boost in tourism & business
    The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10.88 million to boost business and tourism opportunities in Kaikōura, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. As part of the Kaikōura Marina Development Programme, the following two projects will receive PGF funding: A $9.88 million investment to begin the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Govt accounts in surplus, debt remains low
    The Government’s books are in good shape with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the five months to November. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above forecast by $0.7 billion resulting ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Auckland focus for first Police graduation of 2020
    The number of Police on the Auckland frontline is increasing with the graduation today of a special locally-trained wing of new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash says the graduation of eighteen officers from Recruit Wing 333-5 means that more than 1900 new Police have been deployed since the Coalition Government ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Wairarapa gets $7.11m PGF water boost
    The Provincial Growth Fund is putting $7.11 million into creating a sustainable water supply for Wairarapa, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The following two projects will receive Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) funding: A $7 million investment in Wairarapa Water Limited for the pre-construction development of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Progress with new Police station in Mahia
    Community safety and crime prevention in the East Coast community of Mahia has moved forward with the opening of a new Police station to serve the growing coastal settlement. Police Minister Stuart Nash has officially opened the new station, which was relocated almost 20 kilometres along the coast from the nearby ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

  • Plans to protect the future of whitebaiting announced
    With several native whitebait species in decline the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage has today released proposals to standardise and improve management of whitebait across New Zealand. “The need for action for a healthy whitebait fishery has never been greater,” Eugenie Sage said.  “Four of the six whitebait species are ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 weeks ago

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