Can I suggest to whoever is responsible for the site you have linked to that it is almost impossible to read. The blog is not improved by having incredible fussy backgrounds to the words.
What a tremendous effort to compile all that data. Wow!
And Hooton/Farrar/Key must be in panic mode to feel the need to lie and twist like a scrap of paper in a norwester.
“Obama had that kind of effect on people, back then. Often they weren’t listening too closely to what he was saying, because they loved the way he was saying it. ”
I guess that is why Key gets away with it. When we read a transcript of Key’s words the often defy meaning. And on reflection they are so ambiguous that they are useless.
Often it is the way someone presents that is remembered. Andrew shows passion whereas Key shows blah blah blah.
tc and miravox, Yes I think so. It came to mind when local Christchurch commentator Johhny Moore (son of ex-mayor Garry) opined in a non-conclusive way as to the perplexing manner of this “white privilege” call.. It led me to think.. well here is a local white chap who has made good to a reasonable extent and he is being told he is the product of white privilege. But the problem is that Christchurch is effectively white, and he has made himself within this white community. So how can it be?
She’s pretty pale in Christchurch, not a lot of diversity.
Six out of seven people in greater Christchurch identify as European The majority of greater Christchurch residents identified as European at the 2013 Census (85.9 percent). This ranged from 93.8 percent in Waimakariri district to 83.9 percent in Christchurch city.
There’s white privilege right there! Let’s just vanish the 10 or more percent who aren’t Pākehā/European (which appears to be what you’ve just done)
Then I guess he’s talking about privilege when comparing himself with his peers. Who are Pakeha/European.
So he probably has an incomplete and poorly made point. That 10 percent of the population doesn’t just disappear from the community – just his community of interest.
As a Pākehā from a poor background who also had ‘made good’, I’m fully aware that someone without my ethnicity would not have had the same life chances.
This discussion is not worth having on the grounds you’ve laid out.
“So he probably has an incomplete and poorly made point.”
Vto has a substantial history on ts of misrepresenting current affairs. He doesn’t link, but many is the time I’ve chased it up and then found out that what was being reported was different to what vto is claiming. Just saying.
WIth the second one, seeing as how you and I disagree substantially on the topic, I’ll suggest that you just look at the claims by vto about Michelle A’Court and how later someone goes and looks up what she really said. But in the meantime there was a whole bunch of heated conversation based on vto’s interpretation of her, which later people felt was a misrepresentation. Happened with the first link too, only about Ansell.
By the time of the second one it was a pattern from vto, of making a comment about sexism or racism (or white privilge) based on something he read or heard in the media that he doesn’t link to. Then there is much conversation until someone goes and looks it up and finds it wasn’t as he said. There are more recent examples, I can’t remember the topics so don’t have any key words to look up.
I’ve just googled to see what the Johnny Moore thing is about. Can’t find it. Perhaps vto would like to clarify.
With the first comment VTO may have made a genuine mistake about Ansell and then gone off on his own tangent because of that. You may think it was more malicious than that but I don’t think so.
With the second re: A’Court, VTO made a couple of brief comments about things which stood out to him; again possibly skewed by his own interpretation but again it didn’t seem like deliberate misrepresentation.
And both examples were from 2013. I mean, how long do we want to hold grudges for around here.
I don’t think it’s malicious. But vto does have a pattern of making these statements without linking and then later we find out that it’s not quite what he claimed. So when he does it now, I’m cautious until I see an actual link.
It’s not a grudge, it’s a response to his continuing to mislead. I’d say he’s done it in the past year, probably the past 6 months.
edit, it’s pretty easily resolved by vto linking to what he has read/heard and is referring to.
miravox, I laid the point out for a theoretical questioning of the “white privilege” claim. You may have missed that subtlety ..
How can it apply if a community is totally white?
A second question, in further exploration, is “doe white privilege apply if the community is, say, 90% white?” And if so, how? How does a white person take advantage of their whiteness if 90% of everybody else is also white?
…. it is another of those logic type questions which will fly over the top of some heads around here in fury at the lack of uncritical acceptance of latest fashion…..
Please give an example of a totally white community so we know what you are referring to.
“How does a white person take advantage of their whiteness if 90% of everybody else is also white?”
Firstly, it’s not about taking advantage of. This is an example of you not understanding the core concept you are trying to argue against. Until you get this right, your arguments won’t make sense.
Secondly, white privliege exists if for instance they benefited from land and resources stolen from the 10%.
Please put up a link to what you are talking about re Moore so we can understand what you are talking about.
…. it is another of those logic type questions which will fly over the top of some heads around here in fury at the lack of uncritical acceptance of latest fashion…..
Not really. You haven’t presented any logic yet. All you’ve done is argued against something you don’t yet understand the logic of.
miravox, I laid the point out for a theoretical questioning of the “white privilege” claim. You may have missed that subtlety ..
How can it apply if a community is totally white?
IMO white privilege (and male privilege) is steadily eroding in power (though very present of course), being gradually replaced by a slightly more multi-racial and less gendered class privilege/elite privilege that is in ascendance.
Social liberalism and improvement in diversity in action, lol.
“How can it apply if a community is totally white?”
I really didn’t miss the lack of subtlety of you defining the community as white when it isn’t.
I also didn’t miss you redefining the community as 90 percent white. Maybe, as you appear interested in the question, then maybe you should have done a little fact-finding about lives of Mr Moore’s community of interest compared with the community of interest that now includes that extra 10 percent.
” it is another of those logic type questions which will fly over the top of some heads around here in fury at the lack of uncritical acceptance of latest fashion”
Don’t kid yourself. It really isn’t uncritical acceptance of the latest fashion. Apart from looking at people with clear access to things like money, health and education, for me it’s being aware of where I come and how that impacts on the chances I had, compared with others with similar backgrounds but who are not me – some get more chances, some get fewer chances based on things like being in the majority club (just an example, I’m not defining a community here).
In addition to miravox’s point, you might want to try running that one past Kāi Tahu. Who not only have marae in the city but were there before all the white people. Quite a long time before.
Christchurch doesn’t exist in a vacuum, neither does privilege. Even if Chch were totally white (a pretty weird concept), Chch’s prosperity is part of NZs, and Chch’s prosperity is built on injustices done to Iwi over the last 200 years.
Vto, do us all a favour and either acknowledge that you simply don’t understand what privilge is in a political context, or admit you want white men to retain theirs.
Is your gender constantly sexualised? Does your gender do unpaid volunteer work to stay at home with the kids? Is your gender at far greater risk of sexual and domestic violence? Does your gender have less opportunity in the workplace? Does your gender recognise the inequality they face, and are therefore more likely to support other groups who face similar inequalities?
Surprise surprise, ex-mayors son doesn’t realise just how fucking advantaged he is because of his own privileged background and upbringing, denies being privileged.
/
Equality can feel like oppression. But it’s not. What you’re feeling is just the discomfort of losing a little bit of your privilege — the same discomfort that an only child feels when she goes to preschool and discovers that there are other kids who want to play with the same toys as she does.
if there were no other communities against which to compare your ‘totally white community’ then the answer to your rhetorical question might be to compare the level of privielege in various sectors of the white community…. which might be interesting
however, as it stands, if there are non-whites living in close proximity to your ‘totally white community’ (as is the case in Christchurch), then you should look closely at the vaidity of your definition of ‘totally white community’
in Christchurch it’s possible that some whites may have fewer privileges than other whites, it’s also possible that some non-whites in the city may have greater privileges than whites
but if you are talking about Christchurch the socio-economic and demographic indicators show which communities are more privileged and which are less privileged…. and it isn’t rocket science to say that the ‘whites’ are the main beneficiaries of white privilege
on refelection…..i’m not sure there is actually any value in debating the rhetorical question that you have posed
Generally speaking the answer is yes IMO. Think of gated communities that have restricted access, literally and figuratively. In addition, special privilege that members of a certain community enjoy will have to be ‘defended’ against the rights & demands of other communities and the ‘dangerous and hostile’ outside world at large. I hope this answered your question.
How appallingly rich is that ? Love Perks Hide ultimately proved himself a prime example of the bludger his boldly vaunted perkbusting was directed against. Not so much lion to lamb as wolf in sheeps’ clothing.
Without having to think too hard about it I’d say that if anyone in NZ’s modern political history resembles Trump it’s Love Perks Hide. Mostly because of that big, irresponsible, ‘know-it-all’ mouth.
Rodney Hide has an obsessive hatred of Winston Peters going back to the Wine Box saga of the 1990s. I guess it stemmed from his years as an employee of the mad, bad business tycoon, Alan Gibbs.
Corporate media attack dog no.1 has been let loose on WP. More to follow!
Maori have launched legal action that could sink one of the world’s largest ocean sanctuaries.
Te Ohu Kaimoana, the Maori Fisheries Trust, has filed proceedings at the High Court in Wellington to prevent the Government establishing the Kermadec ocean sanctuary, north-east of New Zealand.
I wonder what Bradley Ambrose is going to do with his nice little $8,000 windfall?
I can’t imagine he is going to go ahead with suing John Key if he has to put up his own money. He wanted $38,000 and at the moment he’s only up to about $8,000.
I have been told that organisation collecting the donations hands over all the money, regardless of whether they reach the target. Can anyone confirm that?
Perhaps he could pass it on the Hager.
I don’t have the slightest sympathy for Ambrose, and I wouldn’t care in the slightest who it was he recorded.
He tells us that he left the recording device on the table “by accident”.
He said he had no intention of recording anything they said.
He made no attempt to get Key told about the recording device.
When he got it back he could have erased it, couldn’t he?
Instead he tried to sell it to the NZ Herald. When the turned hi down, probably because they thought, in my view correctly, that it had been recorded illegally he tried to sell it to a broadcasting organisation. The also turned him down, probably because they also believed it had been recorded illegally.
Recorded by accident? If you believe that I would suggest I can give you a very good deal on that harbour bridge in Auckland. You sound credulous enough to buy it.
Hickey explains well but pulls his punches with the conclusion to protect his Gnat mates. What he should have said is:
1. Once National came to power it ordered/lent on Kiwibank to back off on lower interest rates so allowing it and the 4 big Aussie banks to up their profits at the cost of the NZ public.
2. The 5 banks are now further gouging the NZ public by not passing on the Reserve Bank rate cuts in order that they can keep their profits up so that they can pay for the $4 billion of bad dairy debts coming up-loans which in many cases they should never have made.
It makes Andrew Little’s comments look entirely reasonable.
1. Once National came to power it ordered/lent on Kiwibank to back off on lower interest rates so allowing it and the 4 big Aussie banks to up their profits at the cost of the NZ public.
I don’t think that’s exactly the case. English will have been looking to maximise profits from KiwiBank to bolster his weak looking surplus.
Extracting more money from Kiwis was the way to make the government’s accounts look more healthy.
“Extracting more money from Kiwis was the way to make the government’s accounts look more healthy.”
Hard to see how that occurred, particularly during Cullen’s tenure. The bank had never paid a dividend until last year. It had taken a lot of taxpayer supplied capital and hung on to every penny it made until then. You will also note from the story that it has been a major burden on the Post Office. I trust that no one who is keen on Kiwibank will object to the postage on a letter going up from 80 cents to a dollar shortly?
All in a good cause comrade. http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/68029919/Kiwibank-pays-its-first-dividend-of-21-million-to-Government
That I am happy to agree with.
The fact that your first two paragraphs were about Kiwibank made me assume that the rest of the comment was still on the same restricted subject.
Sorry, I screwed that comment up in the editing.
It should have said that Kiwibank is no longer a burden on the Post Office.
It used to be and would have drained Post Office accounts in earlier years and may have contributed to a drawdown in funds leading to an increase in postal rates.
I don’t think they have ever handed over any money to the Post Office.
Stop talking bullshit, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Kiwibank was never a burden on NZ Post. Even when it was founded it immediately began subsidising the infrastructure costs of NZ Post branches.
NZ Post’s decline has been entirely due to reducing mail volumes, if it wasn’t for Kiwibank helping amortise its costs NZ Post would be in far worse straits.
Establishment racketeer pisses and moans about snake-oil salesmen and their scams destroying the Republican party.
Mike Murphy is a longtime Jeb Bush friend and loyalist, and he’s also the guy who ran Right to Rise, the Super PAC that blew through $100 million in an epically futile effort to sell Bush to the masses. So it’s understandable that he might be a little bitter about the success of Donald Trump, who almost single-handedly destroyed Bush.
…Still, Murphy adds, the problem with our current antiestablishment climate isn’t that people aren’t correctly identifying problems. It’s that the problem-solvers they’re turning to are bigger snake-oil hustlers than the ones they’re turning away from….Let’s think through Trump, Murphy says. “He doesn’t understand the presidency. You don’t call up the head of Mexico and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to build a fabulous wall with first-class gold toilets and you’re gonna pay for it.’…He has no understanding of presidential powers. He has no understanding of Congress. It’s like putting a chimp in the driver’s seat of a tractor.”
….”Then the problem becomes how are we the world’s reserve currency anymore? We get away with a lot of shit because people think we have a stable system….We borrow a lot of f — ing money. Because people think the number one safest instrument in the world is the U.S. Treasury bond. And if we start making reality-show clowns in charge? Run on the American bank. You think the pissed-off steelworker in Akron has trouble now? Wait until we have a financial collapse and they take 25 percent off the dollar. He’ll be serving hot dogs in an American restaurant in China.”
So I read the Weekly Standard post and after all his pissing and moaning about snake-oil salesmen and their scams destroying the Republican party, Murphy concludes –
But ever the happy warrior, Murphy tries to take a sanguine view. “If we have real, creative destruction here with Trump, and we have Armageddon or worse, out of the ruins will come new successes. New movements. And eventually, new rackets.”
“And I’ll be in on them,” Murphy says with a half-smile. “I admit it, I’m a racketeer.”
Koch Bros of Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held company by revenue in the US – mainly oi l- but equally could be soft drink the way the unthinking masses guzzled down what they were responsible for promoting.
Well, although they have managed to stretch out something they could have covered in 300 words into 14 pages they haven’t said very much. People who commented here about the proposal shouldn’t get to excited. Fainting at the idea of paying anything that could be lived on at even the most basic level seems to be the order of the day.
Well how about this one.
From what this says, and what Grant Robertson has been saying, everyone getting National Super is going to take a massive hit.
Anyone trying to stay alive with only National Super as their income might as well get used to buying cat food and going to bed very early on cold days.
Won’t worry Grant of course. He will be getting about 4 times this amount being put into his Super fund every year.
Fascinating reading. Pros and Cons explained. good on futureofwork@labour.org.nz
Wonder how long it will be before English/Hooton/Key/ etc attack it particularly since it is Labour’s work.
Can imagine them all sat around the table with Crosby and Textor teleconferencing in, brainstorming soundbite “off the cuff” remarks to try and ridicule Labour’s constructive ideas, comme d’habitude.(I am so weary of seeing this, saying it in French makes it easier to bear.)
According to the app below, had the Syrian conflict occurred here 57,234 people, 11,447 a year, would have died, over 3 million would be without potable water, nearly 2.5 million would be in need of health care, 1.8 million without sufficient food, over 2.2 million would be displaced, nearly 1 million would be refugees and another half million would be without adequate shelter.
.The vast destruction of China's forests, leveled after decades of logging, floods and conversion to farmland, has become a story of recovery, according to the first independent verification published in today's Science Advances by Michigan State University (MSU) researchers.
But
In the future, it is important to quantify how much China’s forest gain and improved carbon sequestration may be a loss for places like Madagascar, Vietnam and Indonesia. Those are among the countries that are chopping down their forests to sell products to China. And the global increase in greenhouse gases and loss of biodiversity may have just changed addresses.
Viña noted more research is needed to document the broader impacts of forest degradation and recovery around the world. He also noted that the voracious appetite for natural resources — both timber and the agricultural products grown on converted forestland — is not just China’s issue.
“We are all part of the problem one way or another,” he said. “We all buy products from China, and China has not changed their imports and exports of wood at all. What has changed is where timber is coming from.”
They forgot to include New Zealand and Canada in the above list of where the timber is now coming from. Success for China – but hardly a success for the rest of the world.
China imported softwood logs and lumber valued at 498 million dollars during the month of November in 2015. This was 26% lower than the same month in 2014 and the third lowest monthly level in three years
The reduced demand for both overseas and domestic wood products in 2015 has been a consequence of the slowdown in the Chinese economy, which has not only reduced construction activities but also consumer spending on home remodeling and furniture.
Also of note is that “value added” thing the left keep talking about (although I’m not sure why those imports would go up when the economy is going down the hole):
It is interesting to note that the Swedish and Finnish sawmills, which are selling into the high-end market in China, actually increased their shipments to China during 2015 as compared to 2014.
This open-for-business, under-new-management cliché-pockmarked government of Christopher Luxon is not the thing of beauty he imagines it to be. It is not the powerful expression of the will of the people that he asserts it to be. It is not a soaring eagle, it is a malodorous vulture. This newest poll should make ...
The latest labour market statistics, showing a rise in unemployment. There are now 134,000 unemployed - 14,000 more than when the National government took office. Which is I guess what happens when the Reserve Bank causes a recession in an effort to Keep Wages Low. The previous government saw a ...
Three opinion polls have been released in the last two days, all showing that the new government is failing to hold their popular support. The usual honeymoon experienced during the first year of a first term government is entirely absent. The political mood is still gloomy and discontented, mainly due ...
National's Finance Minister once met a poor person.A scornful interview with National's finance guru who knows next to nothing about economics or people.There might have been something a bit familiar if that was the headline I’d gone with today. It would of course have been in tribute to the article ...
Rob MacCulloch writes – Throughout the pandemic, the new Vice-Chancellor-of-Otago-University-on-$629,000 per annum-Can-you-believe-it-and-Former-Finance-Minister Grant Robertson repeated the mantra over and over that he saved “lives and livelihoods”.As we update how this claim is faring over the course of time, the facts are increasingly speaking differently. NZ ...
Chris Trotter writes – IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in acknowledgement of electoral victory: “We’ll govern for all New Zealanders.” On the face of it, the pledge is a strange one. Why would any political leader govern in ways that advantaged the huge ...
Bryce Edwards writes – The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 10:06am on Wednesday, May 1:The Lead: Business confidence fell across the board in April, falling in some areas to levels last seen during the lockdowns because of a collapse in ...
Over the past 36 hours, Christopher Luxon has been dong his best to portray the centre-right’s plummeting poll numbers as a mark of virtue. Allegedly, the negative verdicts are the result of hard economic times, and of a government bravely set out on a perilous rescue mission from which not ...
Auckland Transport have started rolling out new HOP card readers around the network and over the next three months, all of them on buses, at train stations and ferry wharves will be replaced. The change itself is not that remarkable, with the new readers looking similar to what is already ...
Completed reads for April: The Difference Engine, by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling Carnival of Saints, by George Herman The Snow Spider, by Jenny Nimmo Emlyn’s Moon, by Jenny Nimmo The Chestnut Soldier, by Jenny Nimmo Death Comes As the End, by Agatha Christie Lord of the Flies, by ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Have a story to share about St Paul’s, but today just picturesPopular novels written at this desk by a young man who managed to bootstrap himself out of father’s imprisonment and his own young life in a workhouse Read more ...
The list of former National Party Ministers being given plum and important roles got longer this week with the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Paula Bennett as the chair of Pharmac. The Christopher Luxon-led Government has now made key appointments to Bill English, Simon Bridges, Steven Joyce, Roger Sowry, ...
Newsroom has a story today about National's (fortunately failed) effort to disestablish the newly-created Inspector-General of Defence. The creation of this agency was the key recommendation of the Inquiry into Operation Burnham, and a vital means of restoring credibility and social licence to an agency which had been caught lying ...
Holding On To The Present:The moment a political movement arises that attacks the whole idea of social progress, and announces its intention to wind back the hands of History’s clock, then democracy, along with its unwritten rules, is in mortal danger.IT’S A COMMONPLACE of political speeches, especially those delivered in ...
Stuck In The Middle With You:As Christopher Luxon feels the hot breath of Act’s and NZ First’s extremists on the back of his neck and, as he reckons with the damage their policies are already inflicting upon a country he’s described as “fragile”, is there not some merit in reaching out ...
The unpopular coalition government is currently rushing to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act. The clause is Oranga Tamariki's Treaty clause, and was inserted after its systematic stealing of Māori children became a public scandal and resulted in physical resistance to further abductions. The clause created clear obligations ...
Buzz from the Beehive The government’s official website – which Point of Order monitors daily – not for the first time has nothing much to say today about political happenings that are grabbing media headlines. It makes no mention of the latest 1News-Verian poll, for example. This shows National down ...
It Takes A Train To Cry:Surely, there is nothing lonelier in all this world than the long wail of a distant steam locomotive on a cold Winter’s night.AS A CHILD, I would lie awake in my grandfather’s house and listen to the traffic. The big wooden house was only a ...
Packing A Punch: The election of the present government, including in its ranks politicians dedicated to reasserting the rights of the legislature in shaping and determining the future of Māori and Pakeha in New Zealand, should have alerted the judiciary – including its anomalous appendage, the Waitangi Tribunal – that its ...
Dead Woman Walking: New Zealand’s media industry had been moving steadily towards disaster for all the years Melissa Lee had been National’s media and communications policy spokesperson, and yet, when the crisis finally broke, on her watch, she had nothing intelligent to offer. Christopher Luxon is a patient man - but he’s not ...
Chris Trotter writes – New Zealand politics is remarkably easy-going: dangerously so, one might even say. With the notable exception of John Key’s flat ruling-out of the NZ First Party in 2008, all parties capable of clearing MMP’s five-percent threshold, or winning one or more electorate seats, tend ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is ...
Luxon will no doubt put a brave face on it, but there is no escaping the pressure this latest poll will put on him and the government. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political ...
This is a re-post from The Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler In the wake of any unusual weather event, someone inevitably asks, “Did climate change cause this?” In the most literal sense, that answer is almost always no. Climate change is never the sole cause of hurricanes, heat waves, droughts, or ...
Something odd happened yesterday, and I’d love to know if there’s more to it. If there was something which preempted what happened, or if it was simply a throwaway line in response to a journalist.Yesterday David Seymour was asked at a press conference what the process would be if the ...
Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
Responding to the long-awaited release of judges’ special allowances, including free air travel and hotels for spouses, generous sabbaticals, and access to limousines, Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Alex Murphy said: “In what world does your employer ...
Analysis - The United States has unveiled plans to boost the weapons trade with Australia and the UK, on the same day that Winston Peters is expected to sketch NZ's position on AUKUS. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrea Carson, Professor of Political Communication, Department of Politics, Media and Philosophy, La Trobe University Since Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament referendum in October 2023, diverse commentaries have sought to explain why it failed. But what does an analysis of media ...
Lawyers representing two iwi as well as the Māori Women’s Welfare League on Wednesday asked the Court of Appeal to overturn last week’s High Court decision on the Waitangi Tribunal’s decision to summons Children’s Minister Karen Chhour. The Tribunal is currently investigating the Government’s decision to repeal section 7AA of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Albanese government will introduce legislation to ban deepfake pornography and provide more funding for the eSafety Commission to pilot age-assurance technologies. The contribution of internet sites to gender-based violence was one major issue ...
Average ordinary time hourly earnings, as measured by the Quarterly Employment Survey (QES), increased 5.2 percent in the year to the March 2024 quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. Annual wage cost inflation, as measured by the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dimitrios Salampasis, FinTech Capability Lead | Senior Lecturer, Emerging Technologies and FinTech, Swinburne University of Technology Clem Onojeghuo/Unsplash In the digital era, the job market is increasingly becoming a minefield – demanding and difficult to navigate. According to the Australian Bureau ...
As of the March 2024 quarter, we can now look back on 20 years of data related to youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET), as collected by the Household Labour Force Survey (HLFS), according to figures released by Stats NZ today. "The ...
Thousands of workers attended public events in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch today to celebrate International Workers’ Day (May Day), but union representatives are urging caution and vigilance over the Government’s blatantly "anti-worker" ...
The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in the March 2024 quarter, compared with 4.0 percent in the previous quarter, according to figures released by Stats NZ today. ...
The PSA is warning the Government that the sensitive information of New Zealanders held by various agencies will fall into the wrong hands if the latest round of proposed cuts goes ahead. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Talitha Best, Professor of Psychology, CQUniversity Australia Victoria Rodriguez/Unsplash How do sugar rushes work? – W.H, age nine, from Canberra What a terrific question W.H! Let’s explore this, starting with some of the basics. What is sugar? ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karinna Saxby, Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne MART PRODUCTION/Pexels Increasing income support could help keep women and children safe according to new work demonstrating strong links between financial insecurity and domestic violence. ...
ANALYSIS:By Olli Hellmann, University of Waikato When New Zealanders commemorate Anzac Day today on April 25, it’s not only to honour the soldiers who lost their lives in World War I and subsequent conflicts, but also to mark a defining event for national identity. The battle of Gallipoli against ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark A Gregory, Associate Professor, School of Engineering, RMIT University The telecommunications industry faces a major shakeup following the release of the post-incident report on last November’s 12-hour Optus outage. Telecommunications companies will have to share more information with customers during future ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Bookseller Confessional, in which we get to know Aotearoa’s booksellers. This week: Eden Denyer, bookseller at Unity Books Auckland.Weirdest question/request you’ve had on the shop floorA mother came in looking for anything we might have on Alaskan bison as that was her little boy’s ...
NZCTU Economist Craig Renney said new data released by Statistics New Zealand shows the need for Government to act now, with unemployment rising from 3.4% to 4.3%. ...
The outpouring of anger over Maiki Sherman’s hyperbolic presentation of this week’s ‘nightmare’ poll is itself an overreaction, argues Stewart Sowman-Lund. Politicians love nothing more than to pretend they don’t care about polls. This week, deputy prime minister Winston Peters said he didn’t give a “rat’s derriere” about a TVNZ ...
Asia Pacific Report Ngāti Kahungunu in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay region has become the first indigenous Māori iwi (tribe) to sign a resolution calling for a “ceasefire in Palestine”, reports Te Ao Māori News. Reporter Te Aniwaniwa Paterson talked to Te Otāne Huata, who has been organising peace rallies ...
By Dale Luma in Port Moresby “We want grants and not concessional loans,” is the crisp message from Papua New Guinea businesses directly affected by the Black Wednesday looting four months ago. The businesses, which lost millions after the January 10 rioting and looting, say they need grants as part ...
Happy May Day. Join a union. Q: What’s worse than a staff break room where the only place to sit and have a cup of tea is on a teetering stack of old pornography magazines? A: Your boss replacing the magazine stacks with chairs that are “heartily encrusted with ...
By Koroi Hawkins, RNZ Pacific editor Former opposition leader Matthew Wale has been announced as the second prime ministerial candidate ahead of the election in Solomon Islands tomorrow. He will face off against former foreign affairs minister Jeremiah Manele, who was announced by the Coalition for National Unity and Transformation ...
We get but one birthday a year – why not make it last as long as possible by scheduling as many meals with friends and family as you can? This is an excerpt from our weekly food newsletter, The Boil Up. How do you celebrate your birthday? Do you celebrate at ...
A Koi Tū discussion paper released today proposes sweeping changes to New Zealand’s media industry. The principal’s key author, Gavin Ellis, explains how journalists have a key role to play in making others value their role in society. This is an abridged version of a piece first published on knightlyviews.com ...
The Government’s spending cuts are again targeting support for Māori with proposed reform of the agency charged with advising on Māori wellbeing and development. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Douglas, Honorary Senior Lecturer, UNSW Aviation., UNSW Sydney The history of budget jet airlines in Australia is a long road littered with broken dreams. New entrants have consistently struggled to get a foothold. Low-cost carrier Bonza has just become the industry’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rosalind Dixon, Director, Gilbert + Tobin Centre of Public Law, UNSW Sydney Australia is finally having a sustained conversation about violence against women and what we can do about it. It is more than time. Australian women and girls continue to experience ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Stephen Duckett, Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne stockfour/Shutterstock Preliminary bulk billing data released this week shows a 2.1% rise in bulk billing up to March. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Samantha Schulz, Senior Lecturer, University of Adelaide Australia is once again grappling with how we can stop gendered violence in our country. Protests over the weekend show there is enormous community anger over the number of women who are dying and National ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University AnastasiaDudka/Shutterstock What if the government was doing everything it could to stop thieves making off with our money, except the one thing that could really work? That’s how it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Erin Harrington, Senior Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies, University of Canterbury The Conversation It seems to be a time of old favourites. This month our experts have recommended two new seasons – the second season of Alone Australia (although ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland A bright Eta Aquariid meteor photobombed this photo of comet C/2020 F8 (SWAN) in May 2020.Jonti Horner Meteors – commonly known as shooting stars – can be seen on any night of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tim Flannery, Honorary fellow, The University of Melbourne Shutterstock Current concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in Earth’s atmosphere are unprecedented in human history. But CO₂ levels today, and those that might occur in coming decades, did occur millions of years ago. ...
Winston Peters has been keen to dismiss speculation on our involvement in Aukus but will give a speech tonight on the direction of our foreign policy, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Usmar, Lecturer in Critical Media Literacies, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images With the coalition government’s ban of student mobile phones in New Zealand schools coming into effect this week, reaction has ranged from the sceptical (kids will just get ...
Hospitals around the country are not allowed to make a single hiring decision without the approval of Te Whatu Ora's head office, including for cleaners and administration staff. ...
A new report on protecting journalism and democracy in New Zealand recommends a levy be charged on global platforms like Facebook and Google to fund media firms undertaking public interest reporting. It also calls for the reinstatement of a powerful Broadcasting Commission to distribute public funding for journalism and other ...
On International Workers' Day, also known as May Day, the New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi and the wider union movement are celebrating the proud history of the labour movement during a tough time for working people. ...
From bills to beards, a walk through the former Green co-leader’s time in politics. After close to a decade in politics, James Shaw is preparing to bid farewell to parliament. Tonight will see the former minister deliver his valedictory address, certain to be a speech filled with Shaw’s trademark wit ...
Two months ago, MPs unanimously voted to give themselves a week off in Efeso Collins’ honour. On Tuesday, most were too busy to give even an hour of their time. The day Fa’anānā Efeso Collins died, parliament felt different. In a building that operates at a breakneck pace, everyone stopped ...
India’s election involves hundreds of millions of people and is a months-long affair. Here’s how voting works and what’s at stake.The biggest-ever election in world history started on April 19, with more than 10% of the world’s population eligible to vote. Elections in India, the world’s most populous country ...
Opinion: The impression from the carpark is very inviting. The area is well fenced but barred so there is easy visibility of loved ones. Inside, the spaces are welcoming and clean and staff are friendly and clearly comfortable. I am greeted by ‘Kim’. She has worked here for three years, ...
After the Christchurch earthquake, the then-national civil defence boss compared his experience to “putting a team on the rugby field who have never ever played together before”. Now, eight years later – and following a damning inquiry into the emergency response of cyclones Gabrielle, Hale and the Auckland anniversary weekend floods – ...
“I had just come off the end of a major robbery case which I had been working on for six months when I got a call on the afternoon of September 1, 1992, that some remains had been found at a building site in Devonport, so I drove over with ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A,DIV,A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Wednesday 1 May appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Comment: Journalists are very good at telling other people’s stories, but they fall well short when writing about their own profession. Perhaps that is why it is so undervalued. Every successive poll on the public’s attitude toward journalism is more alarming than the last. In the last month we have ...
Opinion: A young Māori woman and her Pacific partner arrive at their local hospital by ambulance. She has gone into labour at just under 24 weeks, but the couple haven’t recognised the symptoms – and don’t know the risks of premature birth for their baby. By the time they arrive, ...
Behind closed doors, NZ First will be arguing fiercely against any watering down of the ministerial decision-making powers in the Bill The post Bishop backtracks after fast-track backlash appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Emotional scenes played out in the Invercargill courthouse on the first two days of the coronial inquest into the death of Gore toddler Lachlan Jones, in which the boy’s mother was accused of disposing of her son’s body. The second season of Newsroom’s award-nominated podcast The Boy in the Water ...
Asia Pacific Report A Pacific civil society alliance has condemned French neocolonial policies in Kanaky New Caledonia, saying Paris is set on “maintaining the status quo” and denying the indigenous Kanak people their inalienable right to self-determination. The Pacific Regional Non-Governmental Organisations (PRNGOs) Alliance, representing some 15 groups, said in ...
Koi Tū New Zealand cannot sit back and see the collapse of its Fourth Estate, the director of Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures, Sir Peter Gluckman, says in the foreword of a paper published today. The paper, “If not journalists, then who?” paints a picture of an industry ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Foreign investment proposals with implications for Australia’s strategic or economic security will face tougher scrutiny, under a policy overhaul to be announced by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Wednesday. At the same time, the government ...
National Party Spin-Meisters telling porkies about Labour Party Polling numbers …
http://subzpsubzp.blogspot.co.nz/
(I’ll be away for rest of day, so won’t be able to engage in any debate with my Tory chumlies until tonight/tomorrow)
Can I suggest to whoever is responsible for the site you have linked to that it is almost impossible to read. The blog is not improved by having incredible fussy backgrounds to the words.
Normally, I’d have a word with the bloke, but I doubt it’d do much good, he’s known to be a particularly stubborn Geezer.
Those numbers aren’t displaying for me. Can anyone else see them?
Yes brilliantly Weka.
Those numbers aren’t displaying for me.
Nor me.
I’m on Apple/Firefox Desktop. Works well. Excellent facts/figures against Farrar/Hooton spin.
@ weka,
I think the number beside the month is the percentage not the date.
doh! I was expecting something more complicated.
You were not the only one; double duh!!
Me too. Treble duh!!! You’d think Feb 32 would’ve rung a bell.
What a tremendous effort to compile all that data. Wow!
And Hooton/Farrar/Key must be in panic mode to feel the need to lie and twist like a scrap of paper in a norwester.
@SwordFish
A year ago in the Roy Morgan Poll in March 2015 … Labour Party support was at 31%.
And in their most recent poll in March 2016 … support was down to 28%.
Yeap … definitely spin-doctoring. LOL.
Cherry-picking your forte ?
Try re-reading my post without the ideological blinders.
Redaction error reveals FBI did target Lavabit to spy on Edward Snowden
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/18/redaction-fbi-target-ladar-lavabit-spy-edward-snowden?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H&utm_term=162681&subid=13842748&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2
When will the US government stop persecuting whistleblowers?
Chelsea E Manning
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/18/government-persecuting-whistleblowers-insider-threat-chelsea-manning
Very good article.
Yes, he tried: what will Barack Obama’s legacy be?
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/19/yes-tried-barack-obama-legacy-gary-younge
“Obama had that kind of effect on people, back then. Often they weren’t listening too closely to what he was saying, because they loved the way he was saying it. ”
I guess that is why Key gets away with it. When we read a transcript of Key’s words the often defy meaning. And on reflection they are so ambiguous that they are useless.
Often it is the way someone presents that is remembered. Andrew shows passion whereas Key shows blah blah blah.
how can white privilege apply when the community is totally white?
Dunno more flexible interpretations/twisting/mangling of the language maybe….it’s white but not as we thought it to be ?
It probably depends where you’re drawing the boundaries around “the community”
tc and miravox, Yes I think so. It came to mind when local Christchurch commentator Johhny Moore (son of ex-mayor Garry) opined in a non-conclusive way as to the perplexing manner of this “white privilege” call.. It led me to think.. well here is a local white chap who has made good to a reasonable extent and he is being told he is the product of white privilege. But the problem is that Christchurch is effectively white, and he has made himself within this white community. So how can it be?
curiouser and curiouser …
She’s pretty pale in Christchurch, not a lot of diversity.
Six out of seven people in greater Christchurch identify as European The majority of greater Christchurch residents identified as European at the 2013 Census (85.9 percent). This ranged from 93.8 percent in Waimakariri district to 83.9 percent in Christchurch city.
http://www.stats.govt.nz/~/media/Statistics/Census/2013%20Census/profile-and-summary-reports/quickstats-about-greater-chch/quickstats-greater-chch.pdf
Effectively white???
There’s white privilege right there! Let’s just vanish the 10 or more percent who aren’t Pākehā/European (which appears to be what you’ve just done)
Then I guess he’s talking about privilege when comparing himself with his peers. Who are Pakeha/European.
So he probably has an incomplete and poorly made point. That 10 percent of the population doesn’t just disappear from the community – just his community of interest.
As a Pākehā from a poor background who also had ‘made good’, I’m fully aware that someone without my ethnicity would not have had the same life chances.
This discussion is not worth having on the grounds you’ve laid out.
“So he probably has an incomplete and poorly made point.”
Vto has a substantial history on ts of misrepresenting current affairs. He doesn’t link, but many is the time I’ve chased it up and then found out that what was being reported was different to what vto is claiming. Just saying.
What is up with this character assassination? Jeeezus. Do you think it makes you look better to slide in the knife like this?
He has a “substantial history of misrepresenting current affairs”???
Two recent examples please, or please withdraw your attack.
I don’t know of any recent ones, but I’ll post some examples later.
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-15052013/#comment-633462
http://thestandard.org.nz/will-jt-be-a-labour-mp/#comment-727094
WIth the second one, seeing as how you and I disagree substantially on the topic, I’ll suggest that you just look at the claims by vto about Michelle A’Court and how later someone goes and looks up what she really said. But in the meantime there was a whole bunch of heated conversation based on vto’s interpretation of her, which later people felt was a misrepresentation. Happened with the first link too, only about Ansell.
By the time of the second one it was a pattern from vto, of making a comment about sexism or racism (or white privilge) based on something he read or heard in the media that he doesn’t link to. Then there is much conversation until someone goes and looks it up and finds it wasn’t as he said. There are more recent examples, I can’t remember the topics so don’t have any key words to look up.
I’ve just googled to see what the Johnny Moore thing is about. Can’t find it. Perhaps vto would like to clarify.
With the first comment VTO may have made a genuine mistake about Ansell and then gone off on his own tangent because of that. You may think it was more malicious than that but I don’t think so.
With the second re: A’Court, VTO made a couple of brief comments about things which stood out to him; again possibly skewed by his own interpretation but again it didn’t seem like deliberate misrepresentation.
And both examples were from 2013. I mean, how long do we want to hold grudges for around here.
I don’t think it’s malicious. But vto does have a pattern of making these statements without linking and then later we find out that it’s not quite what he claimed. So when he does it now, I’m cautious until I see an actual link.
It’s not a grudge, it’s a response to his continuing to mislead. I’d say he’s done it in the past year, probably the past 6 months.
edit, it’s pretty easily resolved by vto linking to what he has read/heard and is referring to.
“I’ve just googled to see what the Johnny Moore thing is about. Can’t find it. “
I’m pretty sure it’s the first part of this article
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/77978865/johnny-moore-pc-police-crack-down-a-drag.html
Johnny’s done just fine despite not being from the pinnacle of Mt Privilege…
thanks.
miravox, I laid the point out for a theoretical questioning of the “white privilege” claim. You may have missed that subtlety ..
How can it apply if a community is totally white?
A second question, in further exploration, is “doe white privilege apply if the community is, say, 90% white?” And if so, how? How does a white person take advantage of their whiteness if 90% of everybody else is also white?
…. it is another of those logic type questions which will fly over the top of some heads around here in fury at the lack of uncritical acceptance of latest fashion…..
Please give an example of a totally white community so we know what you are referring to.
“How does a white person take advantage of their whiteness if 90% of everybody else is also white?”
Firstly, it’s not about taking advantage of. This is an example of you not understanding the core concept you are trying to argue against. Until you get this right, your arguments won’t make sense.
Secondly, white privliege exists if for instance they benefited from land and resources stolen from the 10%.
Please put up a link to what you are talking about re Moore so we can understand what you are talking about.
…. it is another of those logic type questions which will fly over the top of some heads around here in fury at the lack of uncritical acceptance of latest fashion…..
Not really. You haven’t presented any logic yet. All you’ve done is argued against something you don’t yet understand the logic of.
sorry weka, I have found you quite impossible of late.
IMO white privilege (and male privilege) is steadily eroding in power (though very present of course), being gradually replaced by a slightly more multi-racial and less gendered class privilege/elite privilege that is in ascendance.
Social liberalism and improvement in diversity in action, lol.
“How can it apply if a community is totally white?”
I really didn’t miss the lack of subtlety of you defining the community as white when it isn’t.
I also didn’t miss you redefining the community as 90 percent white. Maybe, as you appear interested in the question, then maybe you should have done a little fact-finding about lives of Mr Moore’s community of interest compared with the community of interest that now includes that extra 10 percent.
” it is another of those logic type questions which will fly over the top of some heads around here in fury at the lack of uncritical acceptance of latest fashion”
Don’t kid yourself. It really isn’t uncritical acceptance of the latest fashion. Apart from looking at people with clear access to things like money, health and education, for me it’s being aware of where I come and how that impacts on the chances I had, compared with others with similar backgrounds but who are not me – some get more chances, some get fewer chances based on things like being in the majority club (just an example, I’m not defining a community here).
I know where I stand in this.
“effectively white”
In addition to miravox’s point, you might want to try running that one past Kāi Tahu. Who not only have marae in the city but were there before all the white people. Quite a long time before.
Christchurch doesn’t exist in a vacuum, neither does privilege. Even if Chch were totally white (a pretty weird concept), Chch’s prosperity is part of NZs, and Chch’s prosperity is built on injustices done to Iwi over the last 200 years.
Vto, do us all a favour and either acknowledge that you simply don’t understand what privilge is in a political context, or admit you want white men to retain theirs.
Do white women have privilege?
Is there like a privilege scale?, where y can vilify z, but can’t with x?
“Do white women have privilege?”
Of course.
“Is there like a privilege scale?”
If you don’t really get the concept that’s probably an ok place to start.
“where y can vilify z, but can’t with x?”
If you think this is about vilification you’re as ignorant as vto on what privilege is. Go do your own homework.
“Is there like a privilege scale?”
If I thought you were asking a question, then maybe I would say you could begin to find your answer here…
http://thestandard.org.nz/intersections/
But I think you’re just being an arse about it.
Is your gender constantly sexualised? Does your gender do unpaid volunteer work to stay at home with the kids? Is your gender at far greater risk of sexual and domestic violence? Does your gender have less opportunity in the workplace? Does your gender recognise the inequality they face, and are therefore more likely to support other groups who face similar inequalities?
Surprise surprise, ex-mayors son doesn’t realise just how fucking advantaged he is because of his own privileged background and upbringing, denies being privileged.
/
Equality can feel like oppression. But it’s not. What you’re feeling is just the discomfort of losing a little bit of your privilege — the same discomfort that an only child feels when she goes to preschool and discovers that there are other kids who want to play with the same toys as she does.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-boeskool/when-youre-accustomed-to-privilege_b_9460662.html
vto
if there were no other communities against which to compare your ‘totally white community’ then the answer to your rhetorical question might be to compare the level of privielege in various sectors of the white community…. which might be interesting
however, as it stands, if there are non-whites living in close proximity to your ‘totally white community’ (as is the case in Christchurch), then you should look closely at the vaidity of your definition of ‘totally white community’
in Christchurch it’s possible that some whites may have fewer privileges than other whites, it’s also possible that some non-whites in the city may have greater privileges than whites
but if you are talking about Christchurch the socio-economic and demographic indicators show which communities are more privileged and which are less privileged…. and it isn’t rocket science to say that the ‘whites’ are the main beneficiaries of white privilege
on refelection…..i’m not sure there is actually any value in debating the rhetorical question that you have posed
Generally speaking the answer is yes IMO. Think of gated communities that have restricted access, literally and figuratively. In addition, special privilege that members of a certain community enjoy will have to be ‘defended’ against the rights & demands of other communities and the ‘dangerous and hostile’ outside world at large. I hope this answered your question.
“On gaining office, the lion becomes the lamb and he quickly tires of the responsibility.” So says Rodney Hide in his characterisation of Winston Peters as NZ’s Trump figure. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11608608
How appallingly rich is that ? Love Perks Hide ultimately proved himself a prime example of the bludger his boldly vaunted perkbusting was directed against. Not so much lion to lamb as wolf in sheeps’ clothing.
Without having to think too hard about it I’d say that if anyone in NZ’s modern political history resembles Trump it’s Love Perks Hide. Mostly because of that big, irresponsible, ‘know-it-all’ mouth.
Rodney Hide has an obsessive hatred of Winston Peters going back to the Wine Box saga of the 1990s. I guess it stemmed from his years as an employee of the mad, bad business tycoon, Alan Gibbs.
Corporate media attack dog no.1 has been let loose on WP. More to follow!
Shame when ‘losers’ get their own newspaper column.
Now this is the type of thing that just pisses people off:
No one claimed the Kermadecs until Britain did in 1917 which then got transferred over to NZ. Although Māori used them they never settled them which means that Māori have no standing on the creation of the sanctuary.
I wonder what Bradley Ambrose is going to do with his nice little $8,000 windfall?
I can’t imagine he is going to go ahead with suing John Key if he has to put up his own money. He wanted $38,000 and at the moment he’s only up to about $8,000.
I have been told that organisation collecting the donations hands over all the money, regardless of whether they reach the target. Can anyone confirm that?
Perhaps he could pass it on the Hager.
It depends if someone donates or pledges.
A donation is money straight into the account of who ever, a pledge is that you’ll donate money if the target is reached.
https://givealittle.co.nz/content/howgivealittleworks/terms##standard-terms
$8K is peanuts to compensate for the damage that Key did to Ambrose’s professional career.
I don’t have the slightest sympathy for Ambrose, and I wouldn’t care in the slightest who it was he recorded.
He tells us that he left the recording device on the table “by accident”.
He said he had no intention of recording anything they said.
He made no attempt to get Key told about the recording device.
When he got it back he could have erased it, couldn’t he?
Instead he tried to sell it to the NZ Herald. When the turned hi down, probably because they thought, in my view correctly, that it had been recorded illegally he tried to sell it to a broadcasting organisation. The also turned him down, probably because they also believed it had been recorded illegally.
Recorded by accident? If you believe that I would suggest I can give you a very good deal on that harbour bridge in Auckland. You sound credulous enough to buy it.
You don’t need to have “sympathy” for Ambrose to realise that the PM made a good attempt at destroying the man’s career.
Also note the DPS: who ensured everything was clear in the area where the PM was – but somehow missed a spying device (recorder) in plain sight?
That is exactly the kind of thing they are trained for FFS.
Interesting article by Bernard Hickey on the rapacious banks here:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11608619
Hickey explains well but pulls his punches with the conclusion to protect his Gnat mates. What he should have said is:
1. Once National came to power it ordered/lent on Kiwibank to back off on lower interest rates so allowing it and the 4 big Aussie banks to up their profits at the cost of the NZ public.
2. The 5 banks are now further gouging the NZ public by not passing on the Reserve Bank rate cuts in order that they can keep their profits up so that they can pay for the $4 billion of bad dairy debts coming up-loans which in many cases they should never have made.
It makes Andrew Little’s comments look entirely reasonable.
I don’t think that’s exactly the case. English will have been looking to maximise profits from KiwiBank to bolster his weak looking surplus.
Extracting more money from Kiwis was the way to make the government’s accounts look more healthy.
Cullen did much the same thing.
“Extracting more money from Kiwis was the way to make the government’s accounts look more healthy.”
Hard to see how that occurred, particularly during Cullen’s tenure. The bank had never paid a dividend until last year. It had taken a lot of taxpayer supplied capital and hung on to every penny it made until then. You will also note from the story that it has been a major burden on the Post Office. I trust that no one who is keen on Kiwibank will object to the postage on a letter going up from 80 cents to a dollar shortly?
All in a good cause comrade.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/68029919/Kiwibank-pays-its-first-dividend-of-21-million-to-Government
Not with KiwiBank so much, but with Cullen it was his high tax rates and high SOE power charges.
That I am happy to agree with.
The fact that your first two paragraphs were about Kiwibank made me assume that the rest of the comment was still on the same restricted subject.
“You will also note from the story that it has been a major burden on the Post Office. ”
God that’s ignorant. Kiwibank has been propping up NZ Post for years, last thing it can be called is a burden.
Sorry, I screwed that comment up in the editing.
It should have said that Kiwibank is no longer a burden on the Post Office.
It used to be and would have drained Post Office accounts in earlier years and may have contributed to a drawdown in funds leading to an increase in postal rates.
I don’t think they have ever handed over any money to the Post Office.
Stop talking bullshit, you have no idea what you’re talking about. Kiwibank was never a burden on NZ Post. Even when it was founded it immediately began subsidising the infrastructure costs of NZ Post branches.
NZ Post’s decline has been entirely due to reducing mail volumes, if it wasn’t for Kiwibank helping amortise its costs NZ Post would be in far worse straits.
Establishment racketeer pisses and moans about snake-oil salesmen and their scams destroying the Republican party.
Mike Murphy is a longtime Jeb Bush friend and loyalist, and he’s also the guy who ran Right to Rise, the Super PAC that blew through $100 million in an epically futile effort to sell Bush to the masses. So it’s understandable that he might be a little bitter about the success of Donald Trump, who almost single-handedly destroyed Bush.
Keep that in mind when you read Matt Labash’s long debriefing of Murphy as he was cleaning up the last remnants of the Right to Rise offices a month ago.
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/03/head-jebs-super-pac-tired-endless-conservative-con
So I read the Weekly Standard post and after all his pissing and moaning about snake-oil salesmen and their scams destroying the Republican party, Murphy concludes –
But ever the happy warrior, Murphy tries to take a sanguine view. “If we have real, creative destruction here with Trump, and we have Armageddon or worse, out of the ruins will come new successes. New movements. And eventually, new rackets.”
“And I’ll be in on them,” Murphy says with a half-smile. “I admit it, I’m a racketeer.”
http://www.weeklystandard.com/debriefing-mike-murphy/article/2001632
Finally, the Coke brothers lies have been swept aside. Now a majority of Americans, get climate change, and that it was made by us.
ww.hngn.com/articles/190549/20160319/record-number-americans-finally-believe-global-warming-threat-gallup-poll.htm
The “Coke” brothers? Are they people who run a soft drink company?
Koch Bros of Koch Industries, the second-largest privately held company by revenue in the US – mainly oi l- but equally could be soft drink the way the unthinking masses guzzled down what they were responsible for promoting.
Yes I assumed that. I just couldn’t resist the typo.
I like the bit in your comment after ” could be soft drink …”. That’s clever.
Good on the Greens on this issue.
Great idea from the Chief Ombudsman
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/299417/greens-back-oia-league-table-plan
+1 Adam
http://www.futureofwork.nz/background_paper_a_universal_basic_income_for_new_zealand
Labour considering a Universal Basic Income as part of the Future of Work commission.
Well, although they have managed to stretch out something they could have covered in 300 words into 14 pages they haven’t said very much. People who commented here about the proposal shouldn’t get to excited. Fainting at the idea of paying anything that could be lived on at even the most basic level seems to be the order of the day.
You are Breathtakingly good at ignoring realities alwyn. How about serious critique?
Well how about this one.
From what this says, and what Grant Robertson has been saying, everyone getting National Super is going to take a massive hit.
Anyone trying to stay alive with only National Super as their income might as well get used to buying cat food and going to bed very early on cold days.
Won’t worry Grant of course. He will be getting about 4 times this amount being put into his Super fund every year.
Fascinating reading. Pros and Cons explained. good on futureofwork@labour.org.nz
Wonder how long it will be before English/Hooton/Key/ etc attack it particularly since it is Labour’s work.
They often do more damage by innuendo – complex positions are not very viral.
Can imagine them all sat around the table with Crosby and Textor teleconferencing in, brainstorming soundbite “off the cuff” remarks to try and ridicule Labour’s constructive ideas, comme d’habitude.(I am so weary of seeing this, saying it in French makes it easier to bear.)
about 5 mins after it hits MSM is my guess
This is pretty sickening!…what does this say about a society that supports this?
‘Tigers ‘starved to death’ to make $500 aphrodisiac wine with their bones’
https://www.rt.com/viral/336303-tiger-wine-shocking-conditions/
According to the app below, had the Syrian conflict occurred here 57,234 people, 11,447 a year, would have died, over 3 million would be without potable water, nearly 2.5 million would be in need of health care, 1.8 million without sufficient food, over 2.2 million would be displaced, nearly 1 million would be refugees and another half million would be without adequate shelter.
http://www.globalpost.com/article/6747683/2016/03/17/what-it-would-look-if-syrian-civil-war-happened-your-country
+1 Joe 90
Ted Cruz 101 with Samantha Bee (slightly nsfw)
Changing the subject up, I thought Grant Robertson did pretty well on Q&A this morning. Ive never really been a fan but credit where its due.
http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/labour-s-future-work-conference-video-6453255
wasn’t a bad performance….one swallow however
China’s forest recovery shows hope for mitigating global climate change;
But
They forgot to include New Zealand and Canada in the above list of where the timber is now coming from. Success for China – but hardly a success for the rest of the world.
Lucky China or anywhere can’t have continuous growth:
http://www.arborresourcesnz.com/pine-timber-blog
Also of note is that “value added” thing the left keep talking about (although I’m not sure why those imports would go up when the economy is going down the hole):