Open Mike 20/09/2016

Written By: - Date published: 6:00 am, September 20th, 2016 - 287 comments
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287 comments on “Open Mike 20/09/2016 ”

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  1. Manuka AOR 1
    20 September 2016 at 6:24 am

    Keith Olbermann on Trump, – 176 remarks by the US Republican presidential nominee.
    http://www.vox.com/2016/9/14/12919744/trump-keith-olbermann

  2. Paul 2
    20 September 2016 at 6:26 am

    Reporter Chris Chang interviews 22-year-old Chloe Swarbrick who wants to be the mayor of Auckland.

    http://tvnz.co.nz/q-and-a-news/chloe-swarbrick-wants-auckland-s-top-job-video-6493381

    Build The Surge For Chloe Swarbrick!
    Chris Trotter
    http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/09/19/build-the-surge-for-chloe-swarbrick/

    • Manuka AOR 2.1
      20 September 2016 at 7:09 am

      I agree with Chris T. Chloe is like a young Helen, and somewhere down the line she will very likely have a significant role in shaping the future for many.

      • Colonial Viper 2.1.1
        20 September 2016 at 8:19 am

        A 22 year old who wants to be Mayor of Auckland, how horrific.

        Well, John Key always wanted to be PM since he was a boy. Why not support those who want political power ahead of all else?

        • marty mars 2.1.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 9:05 am

          I have to agree cv. Not about the power bit.

          • save nz 2.1.1.1.1
            20 September 2016 at 2:27 pm

            Not so sure about Chloe’s pro development endorsements. Her policy reads like the Young Natz on the property development roundtable.

        • Leftie 2.1.1.2
          20 September 2016 at 9:25 am

          “John Key always wanted to be PM since he was a boy” rofl yeah right, more like when the currency trading puppet was told by his American string pulling masters.

          • Puckish Rogue 2.1.1.2.1
            20 September 2016 at 9:33 am

            Yes because the very idea of someone having a previous career before becoming a politician is so unbelievable these days

            • Leftie 2.1.1.2.1.1
              20 September 2016 at 9:41 am

              No, its not at all Puckish Rogue. You know John key’s back story doesn’t seem to add up. Too much of a Crosby Textor fabrication maybe? and since when has anyone from the Herald, like John Roughan for instance, been honest and told the truth?

              • Puckish Rogue …
                20 September 2016 at 10:13 am

                Dude you probably think 9/11 was a conspiracy, that there’s something up with chemtrails and that the moon landings were faked so I’m comfortable with you thinking theres something up with John Keys backstory

                (Don’t worry about those black helicopters over your house, its totally coincidental)

                • Leftie …
                  20 September 2016 at 12:34 pm

                  Is that the best you can do? What black helicopters? And I don’t have any “9/11, chemtrails and moon landings” conspiracy theories and it’s pretty obvious that you are not “comfortable” either Puckish Rogue.

                • Stuart Munro …
                  20 September 2016 at 12:45 pm

                  2 planes 3 buildings mate – something ain’t right there.

                  • Bob …
                    20 September 2016 at 1:50 pm

                    You’ll need a bit more detail than that, otherwise 10 pin bowling is impossible! (1 ball, 10 pins, something ain’t right there…)

                    • gsays …
                      20 September 2016 at 2:06 pm

                      hi bob, why did wtc tower 7 collapse?

                      the one the bbc reprted as having collapsed, before the tower collapsed.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 2:18 pm

                      A plane ain’t a bowling ball Bill – the pins don’t destroy a ball but a plane that hits a building isn’t much more than a cloud of debris. Now I wasn’t there – don’t know everything about it – but the official story does not come close to explaining what happened.
                      Any particular reason you played the false analogy card?

                    • Bob …
                      20 September 2016 at 3:21 pm

                      Stuart
                      “WTC 7 collapsed because of fires fueled by office furnishings. It did not collapse from explosives or from diesel fuel fires.” Conspiracy theorists have long pointed to the collapse of the 47-story structure as key evidence that the U.S. government orchestrated or abetted the 9/11 attacks” http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/design/a3524/4278874/

                      So the 10 pin bowling analogy stands.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 3:44 pm

                      Not remotely Bob – for your bowling ball to be a credible analogy the plane would need to be substantially intact – enough to support a hypothesis that its kinetic energy contributed materially to the collapse. High rise buildings do not collapse from office materials fires – they rarely collapse at all because fire is one of the things they are designed to withstand.

                      You’ll have to do better than that.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:26 pm

                      …for example, you don’t appear to understand the meaning of “kinetic”.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:28 pm

                      There’s a zero percent chance that office fires caused the collapse of WTC7.

                      Popular Mechanics, and the NIST report, have it demonstrably wrong.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:35 pm

                      This lame chiropracter has fuck all engineering competence either, for that matter. Otherwise their takedown of NIST’s analysis would be delivered using Maths in an appropriate technical journal.

                    • McFlock …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:52 pm

                      It’s okay, apparently zero percent has a margin for error that’s just as wide as 50/50 lol

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:26 pm

                      OAB, this “lame chiropractor” knows quite a bit about mechanics, and NIST have it 100% wrong.

                    • marty mars …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:52 pm

                      cv trying to be intellectual yet remaining idiotic is a fail – you rely on others expertise, own up to that one mate, save yourself some OAB learning which I’m sure is coming, deservedly so imo.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:58 pm

                      of course I rely on others’ expertise, I ain’t no genius level savant.

                    • gsays …
                      20 September 2016 at 6:25 pm

                      wicked!
                      set fire to a few la-zy-boys, and down comes a 47 story building, 7 hours later.

                      who woulda thunk.

                  • One Anonymous Bloke …
                    20 September 2016 at 4:05 pm

                    No Stuart, it is you who “has to do better than that”: your incompetence at reading a detailed engineering analysis (such as NIST’s report on WTC7, for example) is evidence of nothing.

                    Your comments clearly reveal said incompetence, in case you’re wondering.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:24 pm

                      Charming –

                      A Popular Mechanics article that addresses none of the the anomalies the collapse raises is enough to satisfy you?
                      It is, as the article reports a unique event. There have been numerous high rise fires around the world and none of them caused collapses. Done any firefighting OAB? Thought not.

                      Do you suppose any of those buildings contained office furnishings? You know they most probably did.

                      To cause a structural failure of the steel encased in concrete columns requires very high temperatures. These typically do not occur for sustained periods in office block fires. The fuel is exhausted or fails to burn in such a way as to maintain the 1000 degree plus temperatures for long enough. To obtain the effect would have required the building to act somewhat like a chimney or blast furnace – blast furnaces being a contrivance invented because ordinary fires do not reach temperatures that melt steel. Had the building chimneyed video would have shown this.

                      The clincher is probably the conjecture about the decibel level of thermite charges – no witness reports of explosions the report claims. Human attention is a focused phemonon and people on the spot at the time may have been slightly distracted. But an engineer would look for robust physical evidence rather than bystander conjecture.

                      But since you’re so pro OAB – you’d better tell us something to enlighten us.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:28 pm

                      I note that NIST ≠ Popular Mechanics, despite the latter’s established credibility.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:37 pm

                      Still nothing evidence based OAB – put up or shut up.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:42 pm

                      No Stuart, I’ve cited NIST’s WTC7 analysis. If you can’t demonstrate it’s flawed using appropriate engineering calculations your reckons have no standing.

                      I’m happy to let them speak for me in this matter.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:27 pm

                      OAB the NIST analysis of the WTC7 failure is completely wrong.

                      Get it into your head.

                      That report is not to be relied upon.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 6:06 pm

                      …I seen it! Or at least, Jesse Ventura seen it, and he’s inphalloble!

                  • One Anonymous Bloke …
                    20 September 2016 at 4:50 pm

                    Long on rhetoric, short on Maths. Pack a sad, Stu.

                    Personally, I’m pretty sure US foreign policy was a contributing factor (not as much as the lame tanties of wannabe hero boys who think daesh are the solution, but still), and the buildings collapsed exactly as the various engineering reports describe.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:55 pm

                      Still seen no maths from you OAB.

                      Can’t debate with someone too frightened to put up any evidence – but that would require you to have read and understood the NIST report. And I don’t think the NIST report is the basis of your disagreement for some reason.

                      So what’s your beef?

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:02 pm

                      My confidence in NIST is based on:

                      1. Common sense.

                      2. My personal experiences with engineering software.

                      3. In this context, I know what kinetic means, and you don’t.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:06 pm

                      So – you go with the establishment view without trying to understand the evidence. Congratulations – you probably wouldn’t have understood it anyway.

                      ‘Common sense’ is neither abundant nor shared.

                      Engineering software is neither here nor there.

                      I know perfectly well what kinetic means – but I’m so impressed by your dishonest attempt at one-upmanship.

                      .

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:20 pm

                      1. It would take far too many engineers to be part of the conspiracy.

                      2. It would be horribly expensive and time consuming to concoct the false software required.

                      3. You used the word first, apparently blissfully unaware of the fact that thermal expansion is kinetic.

                      The stupid consequences of stupid US foreign policy fail do not require a giant conspiracy of civil and structural engineers.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:40 pm

                      Let’s be clear here – I don’t have all the evidence on 9/11 – it’s not really a big deal for me, but I have read the substance of shortcomings of the NIST report.

                      The first and largest is that NIST is not a professional engineering body – it was a political assemblage like FEMA, and thus it didn’t follow the kinds of processes that engineers usually would. Most specifically it had a tight timeframe to report in, whereas engineers usually want to get to the bottom of things however long that might take.

                      There was a lot of computer modelling – but computer modelling is not necessarily reflective of reality. Even among impartial operators there is a temptation to adjust data points until you arrive at the solution you desire – a criticism that was made of climactic models that predicted global warming.

                      The prevailing engineering criticism of the NIST report considers the collapse anomalous. The building imploded symetrically – this is not an easy feat to achieve – the leading experts on it, demolitions engineers, build very complex firing plans to achieve it, and their impression of film of the building is generally that it was demolished.

                      If it were demolished the support beams would typically be cut with thermite charges or hexagen cutting bars. This would produce the symmetrical implosion that a randomly occurring natural fire would be unlikely to replicate.

                      Such a demolition would leave ample chemical and particulate evidence. There is evidence of thermite microspheres consistent with demolition, but it is contested, a debate which I imagine neither of us is qualified to parse.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:46 pm

                      a criticism that was made of climactic models that predicted global warming.

                      Svante Arrhenius’ adjusted the data of his global circulation models until they produced warming, and that’s the reason they accurately predicted the consequences of the greenhouse effect?

                      Or are you talking about the models the IPCC cites, which predict the lower range of consequences?

                      Or are you just galloping with Mr. Gish?

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 6:01 pm

                      My confidence in NIST is based on:

                      1. Common sense.

                      2. My personal experiences with engineering software.

                      3. In this context, I know what kinetic means, and you don’t.

                      No, you’re wrong. You should have zero confidence in NIST. They have got it wrong when it comes to WTC7. Their analysis is faulty in the extreme.

                      There is zero chance that WTC7 collapsed due to fires.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 6:11 pm

                      A computer model is not evidence.

                      The capacity to adjust results makes them deservedly suspect.

                      But the object of climactic modelling was originally to understand the interrelations of complex systems, not to produce evidentiary quality outcomes to sway a political debate.

                      They were useful for that. More refined models eventually become predictive and reliable – but those of us who are not climate scientists cannot determine how reliable they are.

                      We do better with robust concrete data like glacier shrinkage, vegetation patterns, weather event frequency and so forth.

                      & CV agreed – the thing about NIST is that they were a Bush creation, and Bush was not overattached to the truth, as various WMD pronouncements established.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 6:12 pm

                      @CV

                      Funny how you are confident in your opinion of NIST’s work and then fail to summarise it.

                      Or perhaps you’re dishonest as opposed to incompetent, in which case I suppose it’s not really funny, eh.

                      My personal experience of your unethical rhetoric suggests the latter, but that doesn’t really matter: Occam’s Razor provides your inability to present the Maths involved as sufficient to support the former hypothesis, and charity does the rest.

                      @Stuart: Arrhenius didn’t use a computer.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 6:25 pm

                      Cheap shots and no content – I neither know nor care who Arrhenius is.

                      Occam’s razor – principals are not to be multiplied beyond necessity – excludes him.

                      You want math when the evidence is microspheres.

                      Disingenuous.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 6:55 pm

                      @Stuart – Svante Arrhenius published his model of the atmosphere in 1896. Everything he predicted has occurred, within the limits of accuracy provided by the model.

                      This is the sense of George Box’s aphorism – “all models are wrong, some are useful”.

                      To criticise NIST’s model as not describing the exact minutiae of the collapse of WTC7 is indicative of a fundamental misunderstanding of what models are for: they assist curiosity.

                      Of course, in the stupid world where engineers are in league with the Illuminatii this cuts no ice. Still, maths, eh. Got any?

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 7:17 pm

                      Thanks – always good to know.

                      But no, – I don’t have any maths on building 7. Nor do I need any.

                      What math explains the presence of thermite microspheres?

                      If they were present in large quantities as some chemists and engineers state then no amount of modelling can overturn the presumption that thermite explosives were present.

                      NIST made no such tests.

                      http://journalof911studies.com/volume/2008/Ryan_NIST_and_Nano-1.pdf

                      I’d love, personally, to have been in a position to check out samples for myself, but what I have is hearsay from two groups of engineers. One group has a potential political motive to support the establishment story, the other may be provocative trouble makers for all I know. Still, NIST should have done the tests.

                      There were the Moscow apartment bombings of 1999 as a precedent, and the buildings in the Twin Towers district were plausible targets for anarchist terrorist demolition.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 7:27 pm

                      To criticise NIST’s model as not describing the exact minutiae of the collapse of WTC7 is indicative of a fundamental misunderstanding of what models are for: they assist curiosity.

                      Actually, engineering modelling (aka simulation) is used to determine how engineering structures will perform under different loading, stress and event scenarios.

                      It is used to help determine many things from ‘buildability’, normal engineering performance, materials cost reduction and of course, evaluation of the design in catastrophic failure.

                      “Assisting curiosity” is a quaint idea though.

                    • One Anonymous Bloke …
                      20 September 2016 at 7:28 pm

                      Yes, you are not an expert on thermite, nor iron rich spheres. That being so, see point 1 on the number of engineers who would have to be bribed forever to keep them quiet and incurious.

                      No, actually, yawny yawn yawn, believe whatever you like and say a prayer for poor old Schiller and the dummheit.

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 7:55 pm

                      I think you underestimate the effect of the media consensus at the time – it was about two years before any media could look critically at anything the Bush administration did.

                      Whether by chance or by design Bush had the perfect situation to launch his middle eastern adventures, which at least in terms of the Iraq invasion seem not to have been justified by the events of 9/11.

                      No, I’m not an expert on thermite microspheres, but I could probably determine their presence or absence. This was an important historical event as well as a crime scene, I’d expect it to have been explored thoroughly – but the NIST report does not give that impression. Nor am I alone in saying so.

                      The bribery thing is perhaps not as clear as black and white. After a time a report tends to be accepted. You seem to claim some kind of academic mantle but your acceptance of it is based on its authority, not its content. You haven’t checked the math, and I presume no-one has bribed you. Engineers are busy, and 9/11 truth fixations are probably not career enhancing.

                      But something is anomalous about it being the only highrise to have collapsed due to fire. People will continue to look for evidence – and the chance that Bush manufactured this event as blithely as he manufactured Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction makes the search somewhat consequential.

          • North 2.1.1.2.2
            20 September 2016 at 9:03 pm

            Yeah I always figured that in the absence of a provenance in National Party circles in his youth that was always a bunch of Crosby Textor shit, like the salary donated to charity. No provenance, no proof. Part of the package the country was sold when Michelle Boag and The Roundtable imported him.

            Yeah, he was so into politics that he can’t remember what he was thinking in ’81. Nothing apparently.

            • Leftie 2.1.1.2.2.1
              21 September 2016 at 10:21 am

              +1 North. Yes, you are onto it. It’s surprising how people who should know better (i.e CV) still have their eyes closed to the spin.

  3. b waghorn 3
    20 September 2016 at 7:29 am

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11713057

    Looks like we’re about to find out if mccullys corruption bares fruit.

    • Colonial Viper 4.1
      20 September 2016 at 8:18 am

      Try supporting the Left in general lol

      • marty mars 4.1.1
        20 September 2016 at 8:38 am

        What do you mean? You are not left and in fact you act like you spit on the left from your exhalted position of judgment.

        • Colonial Viper 4.1.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 8:42 am

          How are you enjoying Left Wing support of the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary.

          That’s what I mean.

          • marty mars 4.1.1.1.1
            20 September 2016 at 8:57 am

            Good point – it’s good pāhekā get to nut out their side. Middle class conservation and indigenous rights have pretty much always been in conflict and with the effects of climate change being felt AND the denial of government to do actual meaningful things many people of the left will be faced with stark and uncomfortable choices and decisions. As a Māori activist I also feel the toughness of those choices and I’m her to say that are FALSE. The dicotomy is not true both can be protected but it will take a change of attitude. The one that needs to change is that indigenous rights are expendable – they arent.

    • marty mars 4.2
      20 September 2016 at 8:36 am

      Yeah I give the guy ups for giving it a go – good lesson about g-translate. And a lesson about seeking help real help if you want to get it right.

      • vto 4.2.1
        20 September 2016 at 8:47 am

        marty mars, that this guy made an effort like this must be encouraging for the future don’t you think? Combine this with the generation coming through now who have been raised with far more te reo and te ao maori and the older bigotries must be beginning to disappear.

        • marty mars 4.2.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 9:08 am

          Yes it is encouraging. I hope people reach out and offer the guy a course. Imagine him coming back next election being fluent or much better than his current level.

    • Gangnam Style 4.3
      20 September 2016 at 9:40 am

      Agree BM, fuck the media vilifying this guy, big ups & a ‘Kia Ora’ from me.

    • You_Fool 4.4
      20 September 2016 at 11:13 am

      Maybe this might be true if he actually tried. Getting “some Maori woman” in the office to translate his bio is not much of a try, and the fact it appears that he doesn’t even know this women or what she does speaks even more volumes of his mindset and level of commitment to the betterment of society.

  5. Nic the NZer 5
    20 September 2016 at 8:14 am

    Bill mitchell on Basic Income guarantees.

    http://bilbo.economicoutlook.net/blog/?p=34448

  6. Colonial Viper 6
    20 September 2016 at 8:17 am

    UK, Danish military admit to air striking Syrian Government Army

    The US, Brits and the Danes have admitted their involvement in a prolonged US airstrike which killed 62 Syrian Army soldiers, wounded over 100 and destroyed Syrian army equipment and installations.

    The airstrike hit a Syrian Government forward operating base which had been besieged on all sides by ISIS/ISIL for the last 2 years.

    Immediately after the western airstrike the militants launched an attack and overran the Syrian Government base, leading to accusations that the US had in this case acted as the ISIL airforce.

    Russia immediately called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council; the US said that such a meeting was unnecessary and that it was a “stunt” by Russia.

    https://www.rt.com/uk/359856-uk-hit-syria-troops/

      • Colonial Viper 6.1.1
        20 September 2016 at 8:45 am

        IMO there is no way US target intel could have mistaken a long held Syrian Govt base beseiged on all sides by ISIS for years, for an ISIS position.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 6.1.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 8:52 am

          SNAFU. Friendly fire is a thing.

          Does the rt report mention that the bombing ceased as soon as the Russians updates the “intel”.

          Or did you leave that part out?

          Do you know anyone personally who has the level of prescience and control you regularly ascribe to the US military?

          • Colonial Viper 6.1.1.1.1
            20 September 2016 at 9:10 am

            Yes, after 4 attack runs over 20 minutes, the Western attack stopped. The position was then immediately overrun by an ISIS/ISIL offensive.

            Do you know anyone personally who has the level of prescience and control you regularly ascribe to the US military?

            Fire control is a basic element of military operations.

            These attacks are monitored by NATO and the US in real time by satellite. It wasn’t some squad or platoon which was hit as a target of opportunity and then later found out to be friendly.

            It was a long standing forward base.

            In addition, it appears that the target would also have been reviewed and cleared by Australians, Danes and Brits.

            IMO the Pentagon has wanted from day one the ceasefire Kerry signed with Lavrov a few weeks ago to fail.

            • One Anonymous Bloke 6.1.1.1.1.1
              20 September 2016 at 9:15 am

              🙄

              “Fire control”

              Which works 100% of the time, eh. In my opinion, your opinion of the Pentagon is informed by little but Russian “news” reports.

              • Colonial Viper …
                20 September 2016 at 9:39 am

                RAF reaper drones were used in the attack. These drones have extremely high tech, high resolution sensors used for correctly identifying targets.

                A Syrian Govt base isn’t a rag tag bunch of guys with AK47s on a goat track.

                • McFlock …
                  20 September 2016 at 1:09 pm

                  Nor is daesh.

                  I doubt you could tell the difference between the sides, even with a drone as good as you think they are in optimal viewing conditions.

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    20 September 2016 at 1:13 pm

                    It’s a fucking static base McFlock that the Syrian Government had been defending from for fucking years; the Americans have also hit Syrian forces in this same immediate area with airstrikes prior to 2016.

                    • McFlock …
                      20 September 2016 at 1:23 pm

                      It’s a frontline target. Get the camera angle off by a degree when you estimate its position, it’s fucked. If nobody tells the yanks that it’s friendly, it’s fucked. If it’s misidentified as enemy rather than dodgy third party with a common enemy, it’s fucked. If the yanks fail to pass on to the controllers that it’s friendly, it’s fucked. If the controllers fuck up the fire mission or plug the wrong numbers into the gps, it’s fucked.

                      The don’t get targeting data from the intrinsic intelligence of the universe.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 1:33 pm

                      Full of excuses.

                      Time for the US to open up to a full investigation of the incident.

                      Meanwhile, the US aircover for ISIS has meant that ISIS has now gained a critical firing position over a key Syrian Govt airbase.

                    • McFlock …
                      20 September 2016 at 1:43 pm

                      I’m sorry that the real world isn’t as perfect as you are.

                      If you reckon you can do better, you’re a fool.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 1:59 pm

                      Listen up dickhead, I’m not a forward air controller or an air mission planner.

                      In fact, let’s see the US present to the UN Security Council their story of what really happened. Instead of avoiding it. Or minimising it.

                    • McFlock …
                      20 September 2016 at 2:57 pm

                      Oh, so you’re a theatre critic or a eunuch: you know what needs to be done, you can tell people where they went wrong, you know when you’ve seen it done badly, but you can’t do it yourself.

                      You demand the US “open up to a full investigation” of how they bombed troops that were incredibly close to the guys you’re happy for them to bomb (close enough to be overwhelmed “immediately” afterwards), and yet your total response to comments about the Syrians and/or Russians bombing a routine aid convoy with the appropriate permissions and notifications is zero.

                      We don’t need to see up your kilt to know which side you dress to, do we…

                    • Psycho Milt …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:16 pm

                      He hasn’t said anything about it, but to be fair, the various western democracies involved in the attack on Syrian government forces killed military personnel of a murderous dicatorship, while the authoritarian nationalist regime involved in the attack on an aid convoy killed humanitarian aid workers. Obviously a person is going to rate one of those incidents as much worse than the other, and CV has done his rating…

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:23 pm

                      Don’t propagandise about Assad’s “murderous regime” when the West is drowning in culpability for the destruction of the Syrian state.

                      The West greenlit and supported the Turkish/Saudi/Qatari fuelled+funded war in Syria which has killed 400,000 to 500,000 Syrians now.

                      Various estimates has the US supplying roughly US$1B of aid to anti-Assad islamist fighters per year, over the last 4 years.

                    • McFlock …
                      20 September 2016 at 4:28 pm

                      While the russians and syrians just bomb hospitals and relief convoys. Got that.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 5:25 pm

                      let’s see what happens after Nov 8.

                    • Psycho Milt …
                      20 September 2016 at 6:29 pm

                      Don’t propagandise about Assad’s “murderous regime” when the West is drowning in culpability for the destruction of the Syrian state.

                      The basis for that “stability” you’re so keen on in Syria was the efficient and ruthless torture and murder of the Assad regime’s opponents and anyone associated with them. For my money, that warrants the term “murderous dictatorship.” Your imaginings of how the uprising against that murderous dictatorship was somehow a plot by Western governments, on the other hand, doesn’t warrant some bullshit exercise in false equivalence.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      20 September 2016 at 6:57 pm

                      Psycho Milt, I don’t particularly give a flying fuck if in fact Assad was disappearing hundreds of protestors into his secret prison system.

                      The US/Saudi/Turkey/Qatar used that – and their own agent provocateurs – to provide a pretext to fuel an illegal, geopolitically motivated war of regime change via Jihadist proxies. A war which has killed 400,000 to 500,000 Syrians, displaced several million more, and left an entire country on the verge of imploding just like the other Clinton pet project, Libya.

                      That’s the real fucking crime here.

                      Maybe someone even as morally blind as you can finally figure out where the truly “murderous regimes” lie in this picture.

                    • Psycho Milt …
                      21 September 2016 at 6:25 am

                      That’s the real fucking crime here.

                      Imaginary crimes you’ve convinced yourself of aren’t the “real” crime when compared to actual real crimes. And I don’t need lectures on morality from someone who thinks a friendly fire incident against military personnel is a duplicitous attack that warrants a lengthy diatribe while a friendly fire incident against an aid convoy isn’t worth a mention.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      21 September 2016 at 7:38 am

                      So its not a real crime that the US and NATO have allowed NATO member Turkey to fund, restock, regroup and rearm head chopping Islamist fighters across Turkish borders for the last four plus years?

                      Thats a real crime which has caused tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of Syrian deaths.

                      And no mate, despite your delusions, its very real, up to and including the ISIS oil tankers crossing the Turkish border, inconvenient as these facts may be to your stupidly misplaced outrage.

                    • Psycho Milt …
                      21 September 2016 at 7:40 am

                      You really have developed false equivalence to a kind of art form.

                    • Colonial Viper …
                      21 September 2016 at 7:58 am

                      http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKCN11Q1NR

                      UN rows back from calling attack on aid convoy as being due to an airstrike, Russia/Syria deny involvement of air forces, say that attack damage to convoy not consistent with blast damage and cratering of an airstrike.

                      However it seems that some people still remain too quick to swallow the over-simplified anti-Assad, anti-Russian feed of the corporate MSM

            • McFlock 6.1.1.1.1.2
              20 September 2016 at 9:19 am

              A base that was right on the front line, close enough to immediately fall to daesh.

              You can’t have it both ways. Either it was close enough to be taken immediately, or it was far enough away to be clearly not daesh.

              • Colonial Viper …
                20 September 2016 at 9:36 am

                Huh? It was a long standing forward base which was overrun by ISIS/ISIL straight after the US destroyed its fighting capability.

                • McFlock …
                  20 September 2016 at 10:04 am

                  Indeed. Which means daesh must have been fucking close, no?

                  • Colonial Viper …
                    20 September 2016 at 11:07 am

                    Yes probably within 5km. Outside of machine gun/sniper range but well inside mortar range.

                    • McFlock …
                      20 September 2016 at 12:22 pm

                      Well within. Closer than Syrian reinforcements.

                      Could you tell the difference? So you rely on the guys on the ground communicating their position to you. When that has to happen through three or more seperate command structures, mistakes will be made.

        • Stuart Munro 6.1.1.2
          20 September 2016 at 11:26 am

          US friendly fire casualties are so high that the screwup is quite likely.
          http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2002/04/generals_apathy.html

          Estimates put US friendly fire at between 25 and 40% of their casualties. The Brits, who are our usual model, managed closer to 3% in the Falklands.

          Good outfit to stay away from in combat – though it’s often air-ground rather than ground – ground.

          • McFlock 6.1.1.2.1
            20 September 2016 at 12:24 pm

            the old joke from WW2 was “When the English fly over, the Germans hit the ground. When the Germans fly over, the English and Americans hit the ground. When the Americans fly over, everyone hits the ground”.

    • Garibaldi 6.2
      20 September 2016 at 8:42 am

      Another blatant example of American stupidity and duplicity. Just watch all the anti Russian rhetoric drown out what has actually happened.

  7. Richard Rawshark 7
    20 September 2016 at 8:23 am

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/84436652/immigration-new-zealand-tells-danish-woman-in-nelson-silke-larsen-she-must-go

    If your not wealthy, chinese and donating millions to National you can fuck off, we don’t care you created a wifi network and are a extremely highly university skilled IT person who made the area connected which helps business, in fact everyone, we don’t count that sort of thing here.

    Donations lady and if you havn’t got one for us you can fuck off..eh?

    This fucking government is FUBAR.

    • framu 7.1
      20 September 2016 at 10:04 am

      “Larsen originally came to New Zealand on a long term business visa with plans for a personal development business which did not work out. Instead, she got involved with community projects, including helping to get internet access for rural areas.
      Larsen said the problem was although she had a degree [a PhD in telecommunications], she was not actively using that degree to earn more than $45,000 which meant she did not qualify as a skilled immigrant. ”

      reporting on immigration issues is routinely utter shit. This likely has very little to do with MPs and much more to do with a failure to meet policy or a failure to carry out required steps under the visa category

      in short – never believe a single article about immigration.

  8. Richard Rawshark 8
    20 September 2016 at 8:32 am

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11713072

    This will be up soon everywhere, for the fact probably that Hekia is leaving for a study of privatisation in the us under the disguise of education research..

    We gonna have to pay for our kids educations soon..and on the minimum wage..

    Is it time to get the AR-15 out yet, I need protection from my government..one thing the US got right maybe, just.., gun laws. I got to protect myself and kids from these psychopaths surely.

    Global funding eh, so do we put our kids up for something, is that like crowd funding? Like a photo on the internet.., a stunning pic of your kid and see how much you get for it?

  9. Richard Rawshark 9
    20 September 2016 at 9:42 am

    It’s getting bad in NZ when old hippies are getting so pissed off with the actions of the government and what this once caring land has become, that he actually experiences emotions of anger.

    The dude is not impressed.

  10. greywarshark 10
    20 September 2016 at 10:15 am

    Declining NZ – 1st world to 5th? Stop the rot! Stop the rort!
    3 Fish stocks unknown – information faulty.
    MPI making deals to try and get some precise information thru observers, upsetting level playing field.
    30% of catch may be thrown back – probably dead or maimed – as it is presently uneconomic to harvest.
    Quota system not working for the health of sea harvest – but no 💡 to introduce newer appropriate and necessary legislation.
    4 People in severe pain and left unable to work and earn after having metal-on-metal hip replacements. World recall by Johnson and Johnson (a trusted company and brand) after metalosis from the two metals cobalt and something else (my ignorance would be similar to those of the recipients who would rely on the integrity of supply
    company and their specialists).

    Specialists were advised about recall but government does not make it mandatory for them to advise their clients. 500 of these hip-ops supplied to NZ, about 400 used and about 25 applying to sue for their rightful share of payout from Johnson and Johnson to help with their disablement and suffering, now and almost certainly, in future. ACC rules allow suing for punitive and exemplary damages but still the decision of the Courts is needed. Don’t know why. Again ignorance would be widespread amongst all who haven’t training in this particular field of sorrows. Believed that many people still not informed about having a toxic implant inside them. E&OE

  11. Muttonbird 11
    20 September 2016 at 10:36 am

    Would this be the same union power Rodney Hide and Dirty Politics David Farrar said is dead?

    http://www.newshub.co.nz/politics/teachers-vote-overwhelmingly-against-global-funding-2016092010

    Hide had a grizzle piece in The Horrid on Sunday about how his holiday as a wee boy was ruined because of Cook Straight ferry workers’ industrial action and presumably sees all worker representation evil as a result.

    Under the current government policy of floating bizarre and discredited ideas for industry and public consumption before sniffing the wind and canning said idea, unions have never had it better.

    • Puckish Rogue 11.1
      20 September 2016 at 10:51 am

      Well of course the unions would reject anything the National government said, I don’t think anyone would surprised about the teachers unions putting ideology above kids best interests

      • Richard Rawshark 11.1.1
        20 September 2016 at 10:54 am

        Could say that about National! PR. Exactly that.

        • Puckish Rogue 11.1.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 11:02 am

          Yup

          • Pasupial 11.1.1.1.1
            20 September 2016 at 11:51 am

            What PR? Do you actually agree that Key’s Nat government are; “putting ideology above kids best interests”? Or did you just not understand RR’s comment?

            Either way does not convince me to pay heed to anything you have to say on the topic of education.

      • TonyP 11.1.2
        20 September 2016 at 11:13 am

        You got it round the wrong way. We’re putting childrens best interests before National Party ideology. Just remember that teachers working conditions are children’s learning conditions. Make it too hard for teachers to do their job and the children are the ones that suffer.

        • Muttonbird 11.1.2.1
          20 September 2016 at 11:21 am

          Indeed, and 99% of teachers agreed this is the case.

          There could hardly be a more convincing ‘get stuffed’ to Hekia Parata.

          I sometimes wonder if she has forgotten where she came from.

        • Puckish Rogue 11.1.2.2
          20 September 2016 at 11:38 am

          The unions are doing whats best for their members as they’ve always done, not whats best for the kids

          • Muttonbird 11.1.2.2.1
            20 September 2016 at 11:43 am

            You have a peculiar Pink Floyd view of the world no doubt fashioned from where you get your opinions. That somehow NZ teachers are out to destroy kids.

            • Puckish Rogue 11.1.2.2.1.1
              20 September 2016 at 11:49 am

              Destroy kids no, put teachers interests ahead of kids interests, yes

              • Muttonbird …
                20 September 2016 at 11:57 am

                Still no evidence of that provided by you. 99% against global funding isn’t some sort of anomaly. There could not be a greater mandate rejecting Parata’s, the current government’s, and your opinion unless it were 100%.

                As You_fool describes below, how can the entire teaching profession be wrong, while one proven incompetent minister who never taught a classroom in her life, and uses google for education policy, be right?

                • Puckish Rogue …
                  20 September 2016 at 12:02 pm

                  Oh please, NCEA was the end of the world, Tomorrows Schools was the end of the world, I’m guessing it was the end of the world when NZ changed to metric and the dollar

                  The teaching unions default position when it comes to National or change is the same, against it (whatever it is)

                  • Muttonbird …
                    20 September 2016 at 12:34 pm

                    NZ has slid in international rankings with all these changes. Teachers I guess want to arrest a further slide. You be the judge – it’s what you like to do.

                  • Stuart Munro …
                    20 September 2016 at 1:08 pm

                    Novapay PR – and every other lamebrained educational disaster the Gnats have come up with – stupid wasteful ideas that have not advanced education. The Gnats have long since burned any shreds of credibility they could have had with teachers and thus the unions, as democratic organisations, are obliged to oppose their every ill-conceived whim.

                  • DoublePlusGood …
                    20 September 2016 at 1:15 pm

                    NCEA and Tomorrow’s Schools were both incompetent mismanagement of the education system, and so is this. It was correctly rejected by the teacher’s union.

            • srylands 11.1.2.2.1.2
              20 September 2016 at 6:39 pm

              No they are not trying to destroy kids. But the interests of the kids and the teachers most certainly do not coincide.

              • Muttonbird …
                20 September 2016 at 7:07 pm

                Right. And I suppose Hekia Parata’s interests and the kids’ are one and the same?

              • Red Hand …
                20 September 2016 at 7:23 pm

                Why not ? They are all self-optimising individuals in a free market. Just teach the “kids” how to think rationally and get the perfect information “they need” and all’s sweet. And grades achievement skills too, for “teacher’s ” sake.

            • North 11.1.2.2.1.3
              20 September 2016 at 9:27 pm

              And unions having in their membership real human beings who have kids prefer to proceed without thought for their children. Puleez !

          • TonyP 11.1.2.2.2
            20 September 2016 at 12:01 pm

            How is a funding regime that will see schools having to balance numbers of teachers and support staff against ever increasing operational costs thus seeing class sizes increase and support staff numbers dropping in the children’s best interests.

      • Muttonbird 11.1.3
        20 September 2016 at 11:15 am

        What evidence do you have that National’s ideological experimentation is in childrens’ best interests? Because they say it is? There doesn’t seem to be any grounding in research of successful practice in their adoption of failed overseas trials.

        The current government’s strategy toward public service is to throw any old idea at it in the hope it will stick. Where education is concerned however it’s not a case of it being broken, because the teaching and the curriculum is fine, it’s the neoliberal policy of keeping the disenfranchised crushed which makes home life in certain communities very hard for kids to study in.

        No, your response here is a parroting of noted anti-worker collective shills like Slater, Hooton, Farrar, and Hide. It would be good if you could have a thought of your own once in a while.

      • You_Fool 11.1.4
        20 September 2016 at 11:21 am

        It always surprises me that we train up people to teach our kids, ensuring that they have the best skills, knowledge and techniques to teach the next generation and then routinely ignore them on how best to actually do the job of teaching.

        • In Vino 11.1.4.1
          20 September 2016 at 5:20 pm

          Yes… And may I point out to Poxish Rogue that the PPTA did NOT oppose NCEA, despite the reservations of many members. By and large PPTA has supported NCEA. PPTA does not automatically oppose every proposed change.
          Poxish Rogue demonstrates an abysmal ignorance of what motivates good teachers. Engaging with their students and caring about them is the first element. And the vast majority of those good teachers belong to and support the PPTA, just to forestall the crap argument that the union is only there to protect incompetent teachers. Good teachers want to protect their students from pernicious, ideologically-based Government policies that have shown no benefits overseas, and will fight tooth and nail to do so.

      • Draco T Bastard 11.1.5
        20 September 2016 at 6:12 pm

        It’s National and its support puppets that are putting ideology above the well-being of our children and society in general.

  12. Richard Rawshark 12
    20 September 2016 at 10:51 am

    Just read an article, drone with arms could lift toddler..

    imaginings of dirty old pedies in raincoats lining up at hobby shops comes to mind.

    I mean why do they print articles like that? Some sick Journo having a fantasy moment?

    I know you know what..some jobsworth is going to have to make a law/bylaw now, stating all drones have to have a , ” CAUTION do not lift toddlers or young children, dogs cats or your grandma with this device” warning sticker placed on them.

    • vto 12.1
      20 September 2016 at 11:19 am

      the issue is not that.

      the issue is when are drones going to be able to lift adults….. and become our own personal flying devices …. coming soon to a store near you …

  13. greywarshark 13
    20 September 2016 at 11:31 am

    Interesting series on Stuff Nation. They put out an invitation for people to contribute. Why not have a go and say how yiu find NZ its highs and lows.
    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/84158436/New-Zealand-is-no-paradise-it-is-brutal

    This is part of Part One of Five by Katherine Dolan who has left NZ looking for something better.

    It would be good if people could see it as from a female who feels and sees it both as a female,and a NZr who assesses that we all should expect better. And also not be like some of the commenters who look at themselves, their own family and locale which they find satisfactory, and who then reject it as being untrue. There is an opportunity to see beyond our own little personal understandings to the truth of the bigger picture.

    Part one of New Zealand is no paradise: Sex, Drugs and Denial, a five-part series about growing up hating New Zealand by Katherine Dolan, written for Stuff Nation.
    And after being homeless in Canada, swaddled in black in Saudi Arabia and living hand to mouth in the Balkans, why do I still consider my New Zealand a uniquely lonely and uncomfortable place?

    I say “my New Zealand” because the place I grew up perhaps no longer exists. I hope it doesn’t, because rural New Zealand in the 1980s and ’90s was a puritanical, misogynist, authoritarian, anti-intellectual, alcohol-dependent society that specialised in casual brutality.
    I grew up in a New Zealand that worshipped the Spartan virtues: stoicism, masculinity, physical strength, group cohesion, terseness.

  14. Muttonbird 14
    20 September 2016 at 11:32 am

    Pony-tail guy wields the TPP as a threat to the US in his most recent speak/slur on the world stage.

    My question is if he’s that afraid of Chinese influence in the region, why doesn’t he address the massive influence of cheap, laundered, and ill-gotten Chinese money flooding into the New Zealand residential property market?

    Yet again, dropped-soap guy says one thing yet does another and fails to recognise he doesn’t stand for the people of the Asia Pacific region at all.

    http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/313728/john-key-warns-us-of-risks-in-failing-to-ratify-tpp

    • Garibaldi 14.1
      20 September 2016 at 12:14 pm

      It would be interesting to know if there has been more to this trip he is on than batting for his former enemy and parading around the UN …. maybe Bilderberg?

      • Muttonbird 14.1.1
        20 September 2016 at 12:22 pm

        Not sure on that.

        What I do know is the international community don’t take him seriously. Obama is on record wondering why Australia listens to him. Clark is tainted in UN circles because of her association with Key and his anti-worker government.

        • alwyn 14.1.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 2:18 pm

          “What I do know is the international community don’t take him seriously”
          Really? Do you have anything other than your overactive imagination to justify this, and the comments that follow this, statement?
          Helen Clark certainly seemed very grateful for Key’s supporting he candidacy on TV last night? Is there something you know that she doesn’t?
          Obama certainly didn’t to seem to hold the views you subscribe to when he was overheard talking to the Australian PM did he?

          • Muttonbird 14.1.1.1.1
            20 September 2016 at 2:26 pm

            Obama did hold the views I subscribe to. He questioned Turnbull on wether he listened to the New Zealanders, and followed by saying Key was a great guy to play golf with. Damned by faint praise on the second part, for sure.

            John Key fluffers can’t read between the lines.

          • North 14.1.1.1.2
            20 September 2016 at 9:46 pm

            Fair enough that you query there Alwyn but what we’ve got here is a ‘machine’. Dear Helen, whom (for my sins) I’d re-vote for at the drop of a hat…..reasons later…..is part of that ‘machine’. “Hate and damn you today, hold you close and kiss you tomorrow.” There’s nothing as mind-altering as power/the prospect of it.

            To wit, Marigold Barry when asked why she was standing in North Shore, was it?…… produced the howler that she she had “a great deal to offer……” Hmm, Hmm…..Ahem.

    • Muttonbird 15.1
      20 September 2016 at 12:10 pm

      Looks like shit.

      Next.

      • The Chairman 15.1.1
        20 September 2016 at 1:15 pm

        I like it.

        It looks modern. It’s practical, cost efficient and environmentally friendly.

        • Muttonbird 15.1.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 1:22 pm

          What is wrong with an actual train? Countless developed and developing countries use them and have used them for many decades since the beginning of the industrial revolution. They are a very efficient form of transport, local, public, and otherwise.

          That New Zealand has not kept up with this technology is our own fault and one which must be paid for now.

          • The Chairman 15.1.1.1.1
            20 September 2016 at 1:27 pm

            “What is wrong with an actual train?”

            This can compliment the rail network where it is more cost effective and practical to do so.

            • Sabine 15.1.1.1.1.1
              20 September 2016 at 2:01 pm

              especially if you import some steel from china that comes with a ‘good quality’ certification. Yeah, cheap must be good and practical.

              in saying that, Wuppertal has had a sky gondola since the beginning of the last century, mainly due to the roads being so small that a tram or bus would not pass. its quite awesome fun taking a trip over the Wupper.

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuppertal_Suspension_Railway

              • The Chairman …
                20 September 2016 at 2:12 pm

                It’s cost effective because of its simplistic design and ease to install.

                • Draco T Bastard …
                  20 September 2016 at 7:17 pm

                  Interestingly enough, I think you’ll find that it’s harder to install than a good underground. People simply won’t want them mucking up their skyline.

                  • The Chairman …
                    20 September 2016 at 7:27 pm

                    The rate burden that comes with going underground would soon entice them to change their mind.

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      20 September 2016 at 7:58 pm

                      Possibly or they’ll just stop everything.

                      NZers always seem to choose the short-term cheap, worst option and long term most expensive option. It doesn’t help when the politicians keep telling us we can have things ever cheaper.

        • BM 15.1.1.2
          20 September 2016 at 2:17 pm

          Good idea, Looks a hell of a lot cheaper than rail.

          • Muttonbird 15.1.1.2.1
            20 September 2016 at 2:28 pm

            Love to see the data on what it can handle peak time.

            • mauī 15.1.1.2.1.1
              20 September 2016 at 2:51 pm

              It can pickup 8 people at a time, about as much use as building a mini van only lane on the motorway. Stupid.

              • The Chairman …
                20 September 2016 at 3:03 pm

                32,000 people into the CBD per hour, or 64,000 people per morning peak with all seated or 120,000 people with standees.

                http://www.skycabs.co.nz/documents/AucklandStrategyForeword.pdf

                • maui …
                  20 September 2016 at 3:39 pm

                  So 4,000+ sky cabs reaching the cbd every hour. Sorry I can’t see it. Then there’s the issue of keeping something with so many moving parts running freely. Any human error or emergency in one cab holds up the whole system and everyone is left dangling in the air. Potential nightmare scenarios are high.

                  • The Chairman …
                    20 September 2016 at 6:35 pm

                    Due to their simplistic design they are low maintenance.

                    Nonetheless, one would assume they would have procedures in place in the event of a breakdown. For example, units would have an auxiliary motor or could be pushed or towed by another unit.

                    • Draco T Bastard …
                      20 September 2016 at 8:00 pm

                      Due to their simplistic design they are low maintenance.

                      LOL

                      Your not actually buying that BS are you?

                      Or, to put it another way:
                      Due to them being in the open, salt saturated air of Auckland, they’ll be bloody high maintenance.

                    • The Chairman …
                      21 September 2016 at 7:34 am

                      Simplistic designs tend to be more low maintenance as there is generally less to go wrong.

                      The lifespan and overall maintenance requirements of the network itself will largely come down to the construction materials used. One would expect they will be aware of the elements, thus requirements.

          • alwyn 15.1.1.2.2
            20 September 2016 at 2:32 pm

            It would probably be like the monorail that used to run in Sydney.
            They finally scrapped it in 2013, from memory.
            It was estimated to be about 40% more expensive than even light rail would have been. I think the idea that it would be “cheaper than rail” would prove to be someone’s wet dream.
            Of course the cost estimate would probably be like the one some of the Wellington Regional Council candidates have. They just claim that we could have light rail at half the cost determined in an evaluation of the idea. Bloody idiots the lot of them.

            • BM 15.1.1.2.2.1
              20 September 2016 at 6:15 pm

              No train expert here, but the big advantage to me is that you wouldn’t have to construct a rail corridor through Auckland, this could be tacked onto the side of existing roads or run up the middle.

          • The Chairman 15.1.1.2.3
            20 September 2016 at 2:43 pm

            It’s got great potential.

  16. The Chairman 16
    20 September 2016 at 12:03 pm

    New Zealanders paid $1.3 billion dollars more in council rates in 2015 than in 2009.

    Since 2009, increases at a national level have outstripped both population growth and inflation.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/84015499/local-government-rates-are-up-government-funding-is-down

  17. The Chairman 17
    20 September 2016 at 12:04 pm

    I like it.

  18. logie97 18
    20 September 2016 at 12:29 pm

    Kermadecs and the Foreshore.
    Is this just another instance of Key not having any knowledge of history. His tendency of governing in the now reflects his poor judgement. His allowing Smith to be anywhere near the Kermadecs issue in the first place would seem to bear this out. The sidelining of Smith from the Kermadec issue should not come as a surprise to many – remember the Foreshore issue and the disgraceful grandstanding of Smith and Peter Dunne in Nelson.

    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/treaty-of-waitangi/news/article.cfm?c_id=350&objectid=3515159

    It would also be interesting to know what Key’s own utterances on the Foreshore issue were back then – … he probably “couldn’t quite remember”.

    • Macro 18.1
      20 September 2016 at 12:34 pm

      Wow! thanks for the link – that is definitely well worth remembering, and certainly pertinent to the current clusterfuck. Smith, needs to be as far away from this as possible.

  19. Tarquin 19
    20 September 2016 at 12:51 pm

    I’m told Maori had no idea the Kermadecs existed before Cook and co turned up. Is this right?

    • Muttonbird 19.1
      20 September 2016 at 12:53 pm

      Possibly, but would they have found had Cook and co not taken their rights away?

    • inscriber 19.2
      20 September 2016 at 1:02 pm

      No it has a well documented history of Polynesian settlement or use. But it was abandoned hundreds of years before European arrival. So claims of customary use are nonsense.

      • One Anonymous Bloke 19.2.1
        20 September 2016 at 1:07 pm

        Apart from the custom of seafarers to stop there to restock etc.

        • inscriber 19.2.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 3:03 pm

          Well the archeology I’m aware of is that there is no evidence of regular journeys, that raoul was settled for a period by eastern Polynesians (not Maori) but it was abandoned in the 15th century. Apart from a small number of flakes of obsidian there’s no evidence of any kind of ongoing transit between nz and the kermadecs.

          • One Anonymous Bloke 19.2.1.1.1
            20 September 2016 at 3:21 pm

            Perhaps you can invent an alternative scenario. Aliens visited tangata whenua, perhaps…

            Alien: “What can we do for you?”
            Tangata Whenua: “Can you put these flakes on Raoul Island for us? “

      • Sacha 19.2.2
        20 September 2016 at 2:01 pm

        Irrelevant. This is about Treaty rights, not customary ones. You’re getting mixed up with the foreshore law.

    • One Anonymous Bloke 19.3
      20 September 2016 at 1:05 pm

      As discussed yesterday, they left artefacts there, so no, your source is feeding you false information. Who is it, the Prime Minister?

      • Tarquin 19.3.1
        20 September 2016 at 1:41 pm

        Polynesian people were there. I’m told they weren’t Maori. The Prime Minister is John Key – you should get out more, try Venezuela it would suit your thinking or lack there of.

        • One Anonymous Bloke 19.3.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 1:49 pm

          He tells too many lies. That’s why I wondered if he’s the one spoon-feeding you.

          Here’s RTM from the Kermadecs thread to set you straight:

          …archaeologists have found obsidian from Mayor Island in the Bay of Plenty on Raoull, the largest of the Kermadec Islands, alongside recognisably Maori artefacts…

          Now you know the facts make sure not to keep spreading the lies, there’s a dearie. You could even elect not to trust your source on other matters if you were smart.

    • adam 19.4
      20 September 2016 at 4:05 pm

      Oh do float off Tarquin.

      You race batting pillock.

      Oh wait, what new from national supporters who write on the standard…

      National party supporters default; Racist, sexist, and smug Tory scum – I’m sure I missed somthing. 😉

      • In Vino 19.4.1
        20 September 2016 at 5:26 pm

        Fraudulent through wilful ignorance and prejudice. I’m sure I have also forgotten something.

  20. joe90 20
    20 September 2016 at 1:36 pm

    #trump,I searched, for a Trump fan in Santander Spain,nobody,none, only POKEMONES. ,You are not welcome here either pic.twitter.com/Jufmh4MHae— Vicente Fox Quesada (@VicenteFoxQue) September 18, 2016

    #trump,I searched, for a Trump fan on the 4 train, nobody,none, only POKEMONES. ,You are not welcome here either pic.twitter.com/a49euMePsC— Daniel José Older (@djolder) September 19, 2016

    #trump, i searched for a trump fan in Paris, France, nobody, none, only POKEMONES, You are not welcome here either pic.twitter.com/9UcYvCcZwe— el_teorema.txt (@teoremadelmeme) September 19, 2016

    #only POKEMONES

  21. Puckish Rogue 21
    20 September 2016 at 1:37 pm

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2016/09/15/wellington-the-little-city-that-could-and-did/?ncid=tweetlnkauhpmg00000001

    “If you were to pinpoint a person and a moment in time for Wellington’s transformation, it would probably be Peter Jackson and the late 1990s.”

    Hes a good man Sir Peter

    • Gangnam Style 21.1
      20 September 2016 at 2:05 pm

      Now there’s some expert trolling, behold! Peter Jackson has certainly done all right for himself, well done him, shame he had to shaft a bunch of NZ workers to get there, & a bit disappointing he hasn’t made a decent movie in over a decade (but hey, check out that new frame rate!).

      • save nz 21.1.1
        20 September 2016 at 2:39 pm

        +1 Gangnam Style – yep we value those that help others as well as themselves in a decent society.

      • Puckish Rogue 21.1.2
        20 September 2016 at 2:41 pm

        Ok so I disagree with you on the shafting of the workers, they were treated decently.

        On the decent movie…yeah fair enough

  22. save nz 22
    20 September 2016 at 2:35 pm

    Apparently David Seymour thinks tax payers need to fund a ‘Ministry of Men’.

    How about a “Ministry of Vulnerable Men’? The Chief’s players, Tony Veitch and Nikolas Delegat can lodge complaint’s there about their appalling and unfair treatment from Women and the NZ political system. (sarc.)

    • Bob 22.1
      20 September 2016 at 3:16 pm

      He does actually make some good points:
      “A Few Stats
      Where once women were clearly marginalised, men are now behind in most social statistics. University graduates: women 60/40. Imprisonment: men 94/6. Life expectancy: women 84/80 (non-Maori), 77/73 (Maori). Suicide rate: men 74/16. We could go on. The only significant stat running against women is income (Men 53/47)”

      • McFlock 22.1.1
        20 September 2016 at 3:22 pm

        So women are better educated, imprisoned less, live longer, but still earn less? How does that work without omitting criteria that doesn’t suit your narrative?

        • Gangnam Style 22.1.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 3:27 pm

          Seymour just trolling surely, MRAs prob closely linked to ACT I would imagine.

        • Bob 22.1.1.2
          20 September 2016 at 3:43 pm

          What narrative? That David Seymour has a point?
          We have a Ministry for Women which seems to have two primary goals, gender pay equality, and reducing violence against Women. These are two very significant social ills that need addressing, but are they any more significant than our men growing up poorly educated with high imprisonment rates (I would suggest there is a link right there) and dying younger?

          • McFlock 22.1.1.2.1
            20 September 2016 at 3:55 pm

            Well, the first step would be to see whether other socioeconomic or demographic factors have a greater correlation and causal relationship than “men”, and whether those factors are being independantly addressed by other responsible ministries.

            By just ignoring the historic and current power imbalance within society and leaping upon arbitrary gender distinctions, your narrative of “what about teh menz” is shallow, venal, self-absorbed and stupid. If a targeted effort is needed, it should target the division that causes the power imbalance that causes the negative outcomes, which does not necessarily equate to the most obvious example of division within those outcomes.

            Search for the confounding variable, not the one that matches your preconceptions.

            • Bob 22.1.1.2.1.1
              20 September 2016 at 5:18 pm

              See response to Sabine below. The gender links regarding education have already been identified, perhaps the idea of a ‘Ministry for Men’ doesn’t fit your preconceptions. Or perhaps it is just because of who raised the issue…

              • McFlock …
                20 September 2016 at 9:10 pm

                You’re welcome to demonstrate the systemic issues that make your whinge du jour a male issue rather than a cultural or socioeconomic issue. Because domestic violence and income disparities are direct results of historic treatment and social relegation of women. But men were always the main populators of prison, for example, even when women were little more than property. Prison isn’t a male problem it’s a social problem . Addressing it as a male problem restricts the list of observable solutions.

        • Sabine 22.1.1.3
          20 September 2016 at 3:43 pm

          Damn, if those pesky women would just go back to the three K’s. Kinder, Kirche, Kueche.

          Surely all would be good for the poor misunderstood man that fail in all other categories other then wages. Despite being lesser educated, more often imprisoned and live shorter yet they still earn more money.

          Ministry of vulnerable men indeed. 🙂

          • Puckish Rogue 22.1.1.3.1
            20 September 2016 at 3:53 pm

            For what its worth my wife earns more then I do but its my hope that one day I can finally achieve my dream of become a kept man, living off my wifes earnings

            Sadly though its yet to happen 🙂

            • Sabine 22.1.1.3.1.1
              20 September 2016 at 4:01 pm

              average Puckish Rogue, on average women earn less then man. And i really hope that we don’t have to re-hash this truth.

              My partner also hopes he could be a kept man, however i have been telling him for years that i started working at an earlier age (cause girls will have husbands and need no stinkn higher education 🙂 ) as he did cause he got that higher education thingy, so if anyone is to be kept it would be me. But alas, i don’t really function well when kept and having to ask for stuff. So i go to work every day 🙂 and count my pennies.

              • adam …
                20 September 2016 at 4:06 pm

                Come on Sabine, PR hates women – of course he going to rehash it.

              • Puckish Rogue …
                20 September 2016 at 4:11 pm

                Interestingly enough even though my wife makes more then me (its not a great deal more to be completely honest) I pretty much the financial decisions in our household because, in her words, its “I trust you” and when it comes to decisions about our retirement its “I’m not interested in that, I’ll leave it up to you”

        • vto 22.1.1.4
          20 September 2016 at 3:54 pm

          Men definitely get the raw end of the stick as the stats show

          Are we allowed to say such yet? Or we not that advanced to recognise these things ……

          prison
          early death
          low education
          suicide

          great aint it

          • Sabine 22.1.1.4.1
            20 September 2016 at 4:06 pm

            prison? so that has got nothing to do with man offending at a higher rate?

            early death? maybe you want to complain to certain businesses that don’t implement safety for their workers, the forestry industry comes to mind for once.

            low education? Are you saying that boys in NZ are not going to the same schools as girls? Are you saying that schools in NZ are discriminating against boys? Or may it be that boys often don’t get the support they need from their families, where as girls know that if they don’t finish schools they will never ever be anything other the a min wage slave? (the boys in my partners family who have not finished school did so cause ‘school was boring’ and ‘ i am not learning anything’ and ‘i don’t need this i can be like my dad’).

            suicide: this is the one thing in NZ that always stumps me, it is such an issue and the country as a collective refuses to talk about it and do something about it. . (the mind does not understand)

            • vto 22.1.1.4.1.1
              20 September 2016 at 4:14 pm

              Good for you Sabine, at least you are starting to ask the questions that need to be asked about the hard raw life so very many men get..

              Though I do worry that there is a lack of consistency when similar such questions are put about other sectors of our population, for example your question one and Maori and prison…. we know the question is not that simple is it ….

              at least the issues are getting out there though

              cos you know, I don’t want to die early just because I’m male, nor go to prison – but that is the reality for us

              • Psycho Milt …
                20 September 2016 at 4:22 pm

                You’re not going to die early because you’re male, or go to prison because you’re male. Statistical differences at the population level tell us nothing about particular individuals, that’s why the whole “paid 12% less because you’re a woman” thing was a crock of shit. We don’t need a “sent to prison because you’re a man” crock of shit to even things out…

              • Sabine …
                20 September 2016 at 5:19 pm

                mate i have always asked the question.

                but frankly do not blame the success of the girls to the failure of the boys.

                or let me rephrase this, would the failure of your son be the result of your daughters success? or would you rather your daughter pretend to fail so your son could be successful?

                If and when women commit more crimes and are apprehended for it they will end up in prison.
                This has got nothing to do with Maori men being more likely to be arrested then white men – this has more to do with institutionalized racism, alive and very well in NZ as recent cases have shown again. btw. no girl forced that rich boy to beat a women unconscious, and no girl forced that judge to give that rich boy a slap with a very wet bus ticket.

                as for you dying early, eat well, drink in moderation, laugh a lot and you may live long, do not offend, don’t piss off popo and you will not go to prison.
                Again, this has got nothing to do with women.

                care to comment that the women despite it all still earn less then men? or is it that men should earn more cause men? 🙂

              • Colonial Viper …
                20 September 2016 at 7:09 pm

                prison? so that has got nothing to do with man offending at a higher rate?

                Ahhh, a classic victim blaming argument.

                😛

            • Bob 22.1.1.4.1.2
              20 September 2016 at 5:02 pm

              “low education? Are you saying that boys in NZ are not going to the same schools as girls? Are you saying that schools in NZ are discriminating against boys?”
              It may have a link to the ratio’s of Female/Male teachers in our system,:
              “The dominant research perspective is that connected to issued of male identity formation – specifically how boys see themselves as learners. Much of the research suggests that issues of gender identity are the most significant area to understand and address in boys’ education issues. In this approach, consideration is given to how boys perceive themselves as learners in contemporary classrooms and how this translates into educational achievement.
              It also claimed in some research that aspects of education are ‘feminised’ and inherently biased towards the achievement of girls”
              http://www.ero.govt.nz/publications/boys-education-good-practice-in-secondary-schools/introduction/
              Perhaps the boys in your family were ‘bored’ and didn’t learn anything because the teaching methods being used were not conducive to their learning requirements.
              This could be the root cause of why male incarceration rates and suicide rates are so high also. If you don’t feel like you fit in…if only we had a Ministry that could be researching these links further.

              • vto …
                20 September 2016 at 5:09 pm

                A Ministry genuinely makes sense in light of these massive issues …

              • Sabine …
                20 September 2016 at 5:26 pm

                so who is stopping the men from educating boys? Who is stopping men from going into the teaching profession? Why not more boys only schools?

                as for the teaching methods, is that the fault of girls? Or is that the fault of governments? And the fact that maybe some kids are not made for long studies? you will find if you search here that I am one who advocates for proper apprenticeships as i fully understand that not every one is made for the academics.
                But is that the fault of girls?

                I can’t and won’t comment on the suicide rates, as i stated above, i can not understand why NZ is refusing to have an open and honest discussion about it. Maybe it has to do with that stupid bull shit about ‘harden up’, have a beer mate ‘she’ll be alright’ attitude that is so prevalent in this country.

                Maybe we should just have a Ministry for Vulnerable Humans.

                But non of this has anything to do with Girls, how they do in school, how old they live and how much less they get paid then their male counterparts in equal roles.

                • Colonial Viper …
                  20 September 2016 at 7:51 pm

                  men don’t go into primary or early childhood education any more for obvs reasons.

                  • Gangnam Style …
                    20 September 2016 at 8:06 pm

                    “men don’t go into primary or early childhood education any more for obvs reasons.” – Coz the work is too hard? Can get better pay laying gravel on roads? Funny how most principals are males innit?

                  • Sabine …
                    20 September 2016 at 8:09 pm

                    what reasons?
                    and why obvious?

                    • BM …
                      20 September 2016 at 8:12 pm

                      Thought that was fairly obvious, accusations of kiddy fiddling,

                    • Stuart Munro …
                      20 September 2016 at 8:13 pm

                      Men fear career-ending accusations of paedophilia. It’s not a trivial concern.

                      Someone even made a movie about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_(2012_film)

                    • Sabine …
                      20 September 2016 at 8:26 pm

                      just sad then, how a few fuckwits have fucked it up for the men and the teaching profession. No?

                      I still believe that Gangnam Style reasons have more to do with it, namely that they pay is too lowly for men to even apply.

                      But I can see how some men may fear these accusations so much that all of the men refuse to be teachers. Especially when one considers the girls and their knobbly knees that adult male teachers must be protected from.

                      http://www.newstalk.com/New-Zealand-school-girls-told-to-wear-longer-skirts-to-create-a-good-work-environment-for-male-staff

                      “This was reportedly to ‘keep our girls safe, stop boys from getting ideas and create a good work environment for male staff’.”

                      – cause we can’t trust men and boys to behave themselves appropriatly we must cover our girls to keep them safe. Yeah, right fucking Tui.

                    • BM …
                      20 September 2016 at 8:47 pm

                      There’s also the issue of young girls using the “he touched me accusation” to get leverage over or get back at male teachers.

                      As demonstrated on this site on numerous occasions, the female is always truthful and honest and the man is always guilty.

                      Your career could be over just like that.

                    • Sabine …
                      20 September 2016 at 8:58 pm

                      seriously BM there are how many Girls accusing teachers of having touched them? In NZ?

                      when you google Girls accusing teachers of molestation what comes up are cases of teachers – male and female – of having been accused and found guilty of molestation, or sexual misconduct.
                      https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=teachers+accused+of+sexual+molestation+in+NZ&oq=teachers+accused+of+sexual+molestation+in+NZ&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.6305j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

                      I still believe that the low pay is more of an issue

                      https://www.teachnz.govt.nz/teaching-in-new-zealand/salaries/

                      Primary teacher salaries
                      The current starting salary for a primary school teacher with a Bachelor’s teaching degree is $47,039.

                      Secondary teacher salaries
                      The current entry salary for a secondary school teacher who holds registration granted by The Education Council of Aotearoa New Zealand and a New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF) Level 7 subject or specialist qualification (the qualification must have at least 72 credits at Level 7) and a recognised teaching qualification is $50,268.

                      so essentially there is not a lot of pay involved in teaching, despite a high level of qualification demanded.

                      Might it not just be that many blokes look at teaching and go nah, can’t be arsed, to hard and not enough pay.
                      but hey, i can see where ‘i might get accused of inapropriate behaviour’ seems like an nicer out instead of saying i am not paid enough to bother with the badly educated kids of others.

                    • BM …
                      20 September 2016 at 9:06 pm

                      Yeah, the pay isn’t stellar ether, other reasons include.

                      !. low pay.
                      2, Mainly Woman environment
                      3,Accusations of kiddy fiddling
                      4.Seems to be very little career prospects.
                      5. Getting hit on by kids Mothers.
                      6,Looked on with suspicion by a good percentage of the public.

                      The only positive is the amount of holidays you get.

                    • Sabine …
                      20 September 2016 at 9:18 pm

                      !. low pay. – Well maybe if men were to join the service pay would go up?

                      2, Mainly Woman environment – Maybe if men were to join the service it would be a mixed environment?

                      3,Accusations of kiddy fiddling – both men and women have been found guilty of the offense, so really that is just a cheap cop out, also cops, doctors, sales people, it people and all other sorts of people have been accused and found guilty of the offense. so maybe men should just stay at home and never leave the house without an appropriate chaperone? A mother, wife, or aunty would do. Only old women of course. Lest you get accused?

                      4.Seems to be very little career prospects. – principal? become Hekia Parata Minister of ‘Education’ at least you would be a Minister with teaching credentials?

                      5. Getting hit on by kids Mothers. – why no gay men have children in school?

                      6,Looked on with suspicion by a good percentage of the public. -you have a very low opinion of a. yourself, and b. the public

                      The only positive is the amount of holidays you get. – yei, upside.

                      t
                      but the reason there are no more men in teaching is men like yourself, as it is you who would taunt the male teacher with your bogus accusations, your bogus snide remarks and your bullshit suspicion.
                      But it lets you blame the women for not doing their job education your son or your future son should he fail in school. Cause while a man may have been better we can fully understand why no man would want that low pay, low career option, surrounded by women, low regards type o job.

                      i can see how that makes sense.

          • mpledger 22.1.1.4.2
            20 September 2016 at 7:00 pm

            The biggest thing that would help men would be to restrict alcohol – alcohol is a contributing factor in crime, early death and suicide.

            • gsays 22.1.1.4.2.1
              21 September 2016 at 9:18 am

              Hi m pledger, I read recently, a few essays on suicide in aotearoa.
              Disconnection from community seemed to be a strong factor in suicide.
              That is not to deny the part alcohol may play.
              I agree with Sabine, the silence around this issue is not helping.

          • Gabby 22.1.1.4.3
            20 September 2016 at 8:52 pm

            They’d be happier and live longer if they stayed at home and looked after their children.

      • Gabby 22.1.2
        20 September 2016 at 8:57 pm

        Does Seemore Coq know what the incarceration rates were when fewer women got degrees? I’m betting it was similar to now.

  23. joe90 23
    20 September 2016 at 3:42 pm

    The apple doesn’t fall far….

    Re-upping for Don Jr Twitter: He said his mom had "great boobs" when he toasted her at her wedding https://t.co/F6ik5S6tPE— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 20, 2016

    Also one time Don Jr got intv'd by a radio host who has said interracial sex is bad and slavery was good https://t.co/F6ik5ROSY6— Betsy Woodruff (@woodruffbets) September 20, 2016

  24. ianmac 24
    20 September 2016 at 5:21 pm

    A man who had blown up bombs in New York, and shot multiple times at the police. He is wounded and then arrested.
    An African-American is shot dead for walking or driving and is unarmed.
    Anyone else see the blatant contradiction?

    • North 24.1
      20 September 2016 at 11:23 pm

      Excellent comment Ianmac ! Whom amongst us can’t see the blatant contradiction ? “Black Lives” DON’T matter. In contrast to other rotten lives which DO matter. If only for the purposes of the show trial which follows.

  25. Colonial Viper 25
    20 September 2016 at 5:21 pm

    NZ should sell all its best food producing companies to the Chinese, that’s the way forward for this country.

  26. gsays 26
    20 September 2016 at 7:30 pm

    ahh.. i see.

    apparently its going to
    ‘ create substantial and identifiable benefit’.

    excellent, i can rest easy with paula bennett on the case.

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    Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone icon on the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    3 days ago
  • Why is the Texas grid in such bad shape?

    This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Headline from 2021 The Texas grid, run by ERCOT, has had a rough few years. In 2021, winter storm Uri blacked out much of the state for several days. About a week ago, Hurricane Beryl knocked out ...
    Skeptical Science
    3 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell on a textbook case of spending waste by the Luxon government

    Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • LXR Takaanini

    As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
    Greater AucklandBy Patrick Reynolds
    3 days ago
  • Four kilograms of pain

    Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    3 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Wednesday, July 24

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive: Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    3 days ago
  • Luxon gets caught out

    NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    3 days ago
  • A worrying sign

    Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    4 days ago
  • Are we fine with 47.9% home-ownership by 2048?

    Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloitte report for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • Let's Win This

    You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    4 days ago
  • Waimahara: The Singing Spirit of Water

    There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
    Greater AucklandBy Connor Sharp
    4 days ago
  • A major milestone: Global climate pollution may have just peaked

    This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
    Skeptical Science
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’s Oliver LewisScoop: Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Tuesday, July 23

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announced the Board of Te Whatu Ora- Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    4 days ago
  • HealthNZ and Luxon at cross purposes over budget blowout

    Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
    PolitikBy Richard Harman
    4 days ago
  • 2500-3000 more healthcare staff expected to be fired, as Shane Reti blames Labour for a budget defic...

    Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    4 days ago
  • Might Kamala Harris be about to get a 'stardust' moment like Jacinda Ardern?

    As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
    PunditBy Tim Watkin
    5 days ago
  • Solutions Interview: Steven Hail on MMT & ecological economics

    TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
    The KakaBy Steven Hail
    5 days ago
  • Reported back

    The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
    No Right TurnBy Idiot/Savant
    5 days ago
  • Vandrad the Viking, Christopher Coombes, and Literary Archaeology

    Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    5 days ago
  • Gordon Campbell On The Biden Withdrawal

    History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
    WerewolfBy lyndon
    5 days ago
  • Joe Biden's withdrawal puts the spotlight back on Kamala and the USA's complicated relatio...

    This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    5 days ago
  • Why we have to challenge our national fiscal assumptions

    A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • Existential Crisis and Damaged Brains

    What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    5 days ago
  • A speed limit is not a target, and yet…

    This is a guest post from longtime supporter Mr Plod, whose previous contributions include a proposal that Hamilton become New Zealand’s capital city, and that we should switch which side of the road we drive on. A recent Newsroom article, “Back to school for the Govt’s new speed limit policy“, ...
    Greater AucklandBy Guest Post
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Monday, July 22

    TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    5 days ago
  • 2024 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #29

    A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
    Skeptical Science
    6 days ago
  • I'd like to share what I did this weekend

    This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • For the children – Why mere sentiment can be a misleading force in our lives, and lead to unex...

    National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Order image, ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    6 days ago
  • A friend in uncertain times

    Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
    More Than A FeildingBy David Slack
    6 days ago
  • The Chaotic World of Male Diet Influencers

    Hi,We’ll get to the horrific world of male diet influencers (AKA Beefy Boys) shortly, but first you will be glad to know that since I sent out the Webworm explaining why the assassination attempt on Donald Trump was not a false flag operation, I’ve heard from a load of people ...
    David FarrierBy David Farrier
    6 days ago
  • It's Starting To Look A Lot Like… Y2K

    Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Bernard’s Saturday Soliloquy for the week to July 20

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Pharmac Director, Climate Change Commissioner, Health NZ Directors – The latest to quit this m...

    Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
    Mountain TuiBy Mountain Tui
    1 week ago
  • Flooding Housing Policy

    The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
    PunditBy Brian Easton
    1 week ago
  • A Voyage Among the Vandals: Accepted (Again!)

    As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
    A Phuulish FellowBy strda221
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā's Chorus for Friday, July 19

    An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Pick 'n' Mix for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Roundup 19-July-2024

    Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
    Greater AucklandBy Greater Auckland
    1 week ago
  • Weekly Climate Wrap: A market-led plan for failure

    TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago
  • Tobacco First

    Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
    Nick’s KōreroBy Nick Rockel
    1 week ago
  • Trump’s Adopted Son.

    Waiting In The Wings: For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
    Bowalley Road
    1 week ago
  • The Kākā’s Journal of Record for Friday, July 19

    TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSA announced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
    The KakaBy Bernard Hickey
    1 week ago

  • Joint statement from the Prime Ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand

    Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue.  We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    17 hours ago
  • AG reminds institutions of legal obligations

    Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • More young people learning about digital safety

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views.  “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    20 hours ago
  • Speech to the Conference for General Practice 2024

    Tēnā tātou katoa,  Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    23 hours ago
  • Employers and payroll providers ready for tax changes

    New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts.  “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Experimental vineyard futureproofs wine industry

    An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Funding confirmed for regions affected by North Island Weather Events

    The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Indonesian Foreign Minister to visit

    Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.   “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    1 day ago
  • Strengthening partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto

    He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Transport Minister thanks outgoing CAA Chair

    Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Test for Customary Marine Title being restored

    The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says.  “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Opposition united in bad faith over ECE sector review

    Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet.  “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Kiwis having their say on first regulatory review

    After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks.  “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government upgrading Lower North Island commuter rail

    The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    2 days ago
  • Government moves to ensure flood protection for Wairoa

    Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • PM speech to Parliament – Royal Commission of Inquiry’s Report into Abuse in Care

    Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.  At the heart of this report are the ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges torture at Lake Alice

    For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Government acknowledges courageous abuse survivors

    The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Half a million people use tax calculator

    With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis.  “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Paid Parental Leave improvements pass first reading

    Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Rebuilding the economy through better regulation

    Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • ‘Open banking’ and ‘open electricity’ on the way

    New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    3 days ago
  • Charity lotteries to be permitted to operate online

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Accelerating Northland Expressway

    The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Sir Don to travel to Viet Nam as special envoy

    Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced.    “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Grant Illingworth KC appointed as transitional Commissioner to Royal Commission

    Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024.  “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ to advance relationships with ASEAN partners

    Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane.    “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says.   “This will be our third visit to ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Backing mental health services on the West Coast

    Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • NZ support for sustainable Pacific fisheries

    New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Students’ needs at centre of new charter school adjustments

    Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    4 days ago
  • Commissioner replaces Health NZ Board

    In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today.  “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Minister to speak at Australian Space Forum

    Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum.  While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation.  “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
    BeehiveBy beehive.govt.nz
    5 days ago
  • Climate Change Minister to attend climate action meeting in China

    Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan.  “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
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    5 days ago
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