There are always clues in people’s behaviour. One a blog like this it is always interesting to see what questions people answer and which they never come back to.
He has been quite particular since it was signed on what he is emphasising, over and over again (with minor refinements). he has focused very early on on the 2005 withdrawal clause (no bad jokes please) and is very sure it remains in the agreement ten years later. And he can’t see why anyone would worry about the investor relations clauses which are of course the very clauses the opponents are MOST worried about.
It is all designed to back Labour into a corner and to paint the deal as the best thing we could ever have hoped for.
This can help (but doesn’t completely resolve) the kinds of issues Trotter raises.
“Because if, just for the sake of argument, I belonged to the New Zealand United States Council, a body committed to “fostering and developing a strong and mutually beneficial relationship between New Zealand and the United States.” And if, as an American member of the Council, I was a strong “advocate for the expansion of trade and economic links between the two countries including a comprehensive free trade agreement achieved either bilaterally or in the context of an expanded Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.” Well, you know, I would feel like Exeltium, and Hooton, were really giving me great value for my money.
Not that I have any way of knowing who – if anyone – has contracted Hooton to sell the TPP to an apprehensive New Zealand electorate. But, if I were the editor of a major New Zealand newspaper, then I’m pretty damned sure I’d be asking one of my best reporters to find out.
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/20/spinning-spinning-spinning-are-matthew-hootons-tpp-musings-personal-or-professional/#sthash.FRdDjrq7.dpuf
Hooton reckons Labour are on an ’emotional journey’ because the TPP is really not that bad and certainly not the black hole of despair we all thought it was 😉
Given your outrage and the abuse of the OIA system Matthew, are you going to actively lobby for a law change? And given, you know what motivates people to abuse the law, how do you suggest we deal with it?
are you going to actively lobby for a law change? Or at east issue a Press Release calling for Ministers and officials to face imprisonment. Hell ask for it to be retrospective, and name Groser as your first target?
You misunderstand Tracy. Hooton was a proud pioneer in the techniques of flouting the spirit and intent of the OIA, whilst eventually complying with the letter of the law after leading the ombudsman a merry dance. He now expects us to accept that he is a man of principle, as he acts outraged by the behaviour of those who widened the trail he helped to blaze.
Hooton: Maybe exclude ministers? So officials will stand up to ministers when asked to do illegal things?
Nope. Still wouldn’t happen. Ministers rely on officials to assist them to avoid releasing uncomfortable or damaging info. This government is never going to legislate to make that a serious problem for their officials.
No tax on sugar.
The cheerleaders for the food industry are delighted.
Profits for big sugar beat our kids’ health.
No wonder Key says we don’t get sued by big business.
His government bows down to them.
yes interesting doctors are saying that a referral for obesity is not going to do anything
imo for what it is worth
….all kids should be taught vege gardening and how to make easy cheap vegetarian meals using lentils , rice, potatoes, vege soups, pasta, eggs, porridge
…and meat dishes using cheap cuts of meat( eg slow cooking stewing steak, liver, kidneys…)…curries and spices for taste
…gluten free flour, olive oil and butter for cooking….and water/ milk/tea/coffee for drinking
…with the emphasis that home cooking is best
taxes and red warning stickers should be put on products…soft drinks and anything supposedly healthy bought with excessive amounts of sugar eg. milo , baked beans,
…exercising /walking for an hour a day is also good…especially when so much time is spent on computers
I have no complaint with your suggestions but the “obesity problem” is NOT with the consumers.
The multi-national criminals peddle poisons in the guise of the “free market.”
I see no difference between tobacco and alcohol profiteers and fast food, sugar, and fizzy drink peddlers of death.
They KNOW what they sell KILLS.
They bribe the media and government to block any restrictions on their “right” to kill. They are the food version of the American gun lobby. “Poison foods don’t kill, only eating them does.”
I blame everyone who has voted for the election winners every three years, for voting in the governments that have implemented the policies to cause this….
Supply side, voodoo economics whatever term you use it’s been proven to be an abject failure with decades of evidence to debunk this trickle down meme.
And the ‘comfortable’ middle class count their profits from real estate and still believe the neo-liberal lie about there being no such thing as society.
Sadly, it appears the zeitgeist will only change once catastrophic climate change or a serious economic collapse slaps them in the face.
Until then, selfish New Zealanders will care more about celebrities, reality TV and sport than the needs of their fellow humans and the planet they live on.
What happened to that kind place that NZ used to be?
Those are easy lines to throw out there, but I am coming around to agree…
… have had cause, in our community of late, to wonder about its base standards and drivers. There have been two events, one around children’s sports, the other about neighbour issues, which have led to this. Both events had factors intertwined with how they were dealt with which were very much from the me-me-me, self-interest driver programme. The end results were disappointing and reflective of today’s society’s drivers.
The policies of the last 30 years have embedded themselves in the base structures of our society now and I know we are worse off because of it.
A starting point to understand how our culture has been turned from empathy and altruism to the naked individualism of today is the documentary ‘The Century of Self’ by Adam Curtis.
This is a hugely interesting social change to observe vto. I would love to discuss at length but have to dash out the door. I see it all around too and have experienced several neighbourhood incidents to highlight this slide from collective care to self promoting concerns, among individuals and within communities.
Ugly and sad stuff. It alienates, isolates and breaks down life affirming bonds. I find it absolutely depressing.
Key calls Kelvin Davis’ mission a “publicity stunt”, and so do his media parrots;
And Andrew Little lets Nadine Chalmers Ross get away with it unscathed.
Tuesday 20 October 2015
For some weeks now, Labour M.P. Kelvin Davis has been on the notorious Christmas Island detention centre, trying hard to speak up for the inmates there. The government of course has been utterly disparaging of his efforts, dismissing them as a “publicity stunt”. The government’s media parrots have also assiduously worked at undermining Davis. An example of this occurred just before the seven o’clock news this morning on One’s pisspoor Breakfast program…..
NADINE CHALMERS-ROSS: Doesn’t Kelvin Davis swooping in like a super-hero not end up looking like a bit of a publicity stunt?
In response to that nasty little provocation, Labour “leader” Andrew Little said something unmemorable.
Meanwhile, one of the detainees at the Christmas Island detention centre did something that Little seems frightened of doing: he spoke plainly and honestly in response to Key’s call for the detainees to come straight “home”, and bypass Christmas Island. Key of course is parroting the Australian government’s line that “home” for these people is New Zealand rather than Australia, which is their real home.
John Key, the detainee said, is “full of rubbish.”
Maybe the Labour front bench should be replaced with a line-up of these detainees. They couldn’t do a worse job.
I’ve been composing a little piece about this on and off over the last thirty-six hours. I’ll put it up soon.
The most interesting part about this is the way people have expressed sympathy for poor little Scotland, compared to the lack of sympathy for big bad France four years ago after a far, far worse display from Joubert.
Of course, I and millions of disgusted rugby fans (most of them French, naturally) have been on Joubert’s case for the last four years. My most recent comment was earlier this month….
+1 – they can do the 2nd best thing and actually meet and (listen) to what she has to say. Likewise other high profile capable people like Nicky Hager, who have knowledge on the subject.
I mean what do Labour have to lose? And a lot more to gain to appear to be ‘fair and reasonable’ at actually educating themselves about issues and since Kelsey have won in court they could get a few ideas.
Apparently the notion that a comedian’s idea of “greatest” might not exactly be a compliment hasn’t occurred to them, and of course they missed the part where he described the Prime Minister as a dick.
John Oliver’s contribution to New Zealand current affairs reporting far outweighs Fairfax’s feeble dreck.
In the article to which OAB refers, it reads-“Key said he was unprepared for the types of questions he was asked, and did not listen to Hauraki so had no idea what to expect.
He said he answered the questions because ‘what else do you do’. ”
What else does a Prime Minister do? He gets information from his aides as to what kind of show, what kinds of questioning and discusses the format and scope of the show.
A Prime Minister then makes it clear that he is not some sort of instant celebrity but the most senior elected politician in New Zealand, the latest holder in a post that demands gravitas and dignity.
The Prime Minister then refuses on grounds of dignity, respect and mana to answer such questions.
That’s what he does.
Oh yes, he then gives his event organiser one hell of a shellacking for putting him in there.
But our Prime Minister is different. He knew what kind of questioning he would get. He likes risk and instant response situations. He has shown he does not care for dignity or appropriate behaviour.
Did you Matthew, or the PR company for which you work – Exceltium – ever lobby against New Zealand legislating for more controls on lobbyists, such as a Register of Lobbyists, or a ‘Code of Conduct’ for Lobbyists?
Thousands of homes across Auckland have been stripped of heritage protection, according to new maps presented to councillors at a confidential briefing on Friday.
Entire suburbs, including Mission Bay, Kohimarama, St Heliers, Takapuna, Milford and Belmont, have virtually no heritage protection, leaving them open for demolition.
Other suburbs, notably Grey Lynn, have had their historic character areas increased. Parts of Westmere have been recognised for their collective value of bungalows.
The maps also highlight anomalies. Several streets of villas in Mt Eden and Balmoral – Grange and Fairview Rds and Marsden Ave – are only partially protected.
Several blocks of Art Deco apartments on Jervois Rd in Herne Bay have missed out on protection.
Councillors and Local Board chairs were given a copy of the maps on Friday and five days to provide feedback at a confidential session of the Unitary Plan committee on Wednesday. The maps will be finalised and approved at Wednesday’s meeting.
The elected representatives have been forbidden from sharing the information with Aucklanders, whose homes and neighbourhoods could be affected.
Once the committee has made changes behind closed doors, the maps will be forwarded to the independent hearings panel for the Unitary Plan and made public.
Only submitters to the pre-1944 heritage rules in the proposed plan are allowed to give feedback.
The city’s growth and housing shortage is putting pressure on the council to relax heritage and density controls in the Unitary Plan, with the independent hearings panel not convinced controls on pre-1944 houses were justified.
After applying a blanket demolition control across the city’s pre-1944 houses, teams of council staff and contractors have assessed every house covered by the rules in the proposed plan.
The council planners can’t wait to turn the suburbs into the wreck of 1990’s CBD for cash. In particular make the ability to create 3 story mansions, high rise apartments blocks, large, ugly and without any heritage merit as well as being unaffordable to most families, and have poor sun and outdoor living, houses built right up to the boundary with concrete walls. Welcome to Chatswood in the city. Thanks dumbo Auckland council, lobbyists and commissioners for making Auckland the worlds least liveable city under secrecy.
I guess the Governments actions on TPP endorse this sort of disgusting behaviour of secret deals.
Government and council planner policy, open the floodgates to immigration and foreign investment, get rid of planning regulations and bank the cheques for 5 years until the leaky lawsuits start coming in. Wow what a strategy!
Oh and no public transport either with all the new houses so Kiwis are forced further out have to leave home hours earlier, increase air pollution into our city and spend less time with their families. Good one! NOT.
The reason that immigrants want to live in Auckland may possibly be because it is the way it is right now with space around houses for outside activities, gardens, and for children to play etc -something many of them have never had. If all that is taken away with only terrace houses and apartments on offer why would people want to move to Auckland? It will then be just like every other large city in the world. Why do they want to move to Auckland in the first place? – we should find that out for starters. The other thing to consider is the residents of Auckland right now – they are the ones who have built the city, paid rates for decades and they like it the way it is. Why are their views not being considered? Why are they of less importance than some future immigrants? Why ruin our city to cater for some faceless foreigners a long way down the track and to line the pockets of some greedy developers? And as for the young people wanting a home, why can’t they do what young people did a few decades ago – move further out and create new areas like Conifer Grove etc. NZ has a lot of land, why would families want to be squashed up in apartments – Apartments are suitable for singles, couples and maybe some retirees and that is fine, but why allow suburban neighbourhoods to be destroyed – I would imagine most of these new apartments and terraces will be in places where sea-views are to be had, and I would also imagine that none of them will be in any way cheap or affordable for a young family. A while ago I heard on the radio that a study had been done on new entrants at school and it was found that children who lived in apartments had delayed physical skills and development compared to children who live in a house with land. Can’t give a link, just something I heard. Maybe someone else heard it and can provide a link?
Hosted by Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham, tune in to get your up to-the-minute election results, with special guests including Chris Hedges, Kardinal Offishall, and former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford.
All of Atlantic canada has gone to the Liberals so far, that is 30 of the 170 seats needed for a majority. This includes the canine states, New Foundland and Labrador 🙂 Could this be a landslide..
If Labour NZ did something as extensive as this they’d be onto a winner. (Would pay to make sure you could click straight back to where you were on the list from whatever policy you’ve clicked on to read in detail without having to start scrolling back down the whole list to find your place again.)
Thanks for that Ovid. I was feeling sorry for the one Green candidate who wasn’t showing up at all on either column. I hope she scrapes in but people may be determined to get rid of Harper this time that it’s all in for that cause. You would have thought that Canada would have a Green presence by now. I notice in the people’s declaration song against Harper that joe90 put up that environment was mentioned.
“Experience shows that many of the 608 arbitration awards that have become known, have overridden national law and hindered States in the sovereign determination of fiscal and budgetary policy, labour, health and environmental regulation, and have had adverse human rights impacts, also on third parties, including a “chilling effect” with regard to the exercise of democratic governance.”
Officially known as Investor State Dispute Settlement or ISDS, corporate courts bring us closer to a private international system of law which threatens the whole basis of human rights and democracy. De Zayas says:
Goldman Sachs not making enough in NZ so it is off to Oz
” Goldman Sachs is looking to shift its New Zealand-based securities business across the Tasman.
Goldman bosses Andrew Barclay and Simon Rothery informed staff this morning of a proposal to make changes to the firm’s securities trading, settlements and clearing functions in New Zealand.
“In early 2016 we are proposing to relocate our New Zealand-based market trading activities and implement an integrated coverage model from Sydney,” Barclay and Rothery said.
“From a psychological perspective, though, the people backing Trump are perfectly normal. Interviews with psychologists and other experts suggest one explanation for the candidate’s success — and for the collective failure to anticipate it: The political elite hasn’t confronted a few fundamental, universal and uncomfortable facts about the human mind.
We like people who talk big.
We like people who tell us that our problems are simple and easy to solve, even when they aren’t.
Basically, Sapolsky expected the troop to return to normal, with the remaining male baboons sliding into the roles of the alphas who had died.
But that didn’t happen.
Instead, the surviving male baboons were like…
Capitalism seems to be based upon myths perpetuated by the 1% in justification for them having more than anyone else.
The video on that page is a must watch as it shows the path that we as a society need to take to make life better for everyone. It includes getting rid of the hierarchy that is killing us.
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
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31 + 12 + 9 = lots of spin from Mr Hooton.
You are right, and there should be more attention to this.
Thanks for admitting it Matty, the spin that is.
Chris Trotter’ view about Hooton.
http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/20/spinning-spinning-spinning-are-matthew-hootons-tpp-musings-personal-or-professional/
Paul
There are always clues in people’s behaviour. One a blog like this it is always interesting to see what questions people answer and which they never come back to.
He has been quite particular since it was signed on what he is emphasising, over and over again (with minor refinements). he has focused very early on on the 2005 withdrawal clause (no bad jokes please) and is very sure it remains in the agreement ten years later. And he can’t see why anyone would worry about the investor relations clauses which are of course the very clauses the opponents are MOST worried about.
It is all designed to back Labour into a corner and to paint the deal as the best thing we could ever have hoped for.
This can help (but doesn’t completely resolve) the kinds of issues Trotter raises.
“Because if, just for the sake of argument, I belonged to the New Zealand United States Council, a body committed to “fostering and developing a strong and mutually beneficial relationship between New Zealand and the United States.” And if, as an American member of the Council, I was a strong “advocate for the expansion of trade and economic links between the two countries including a comprehensive free trade agreement achieved either bilaterally or in the context of an expanded Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.” Well, you know, I would feel like Exeltium, and Hooton, were really giving me great value for my money.
Not that I have any way of knowing who – if anyone – has contracted Hooton to sell the TPP to an apprehensive New Zealand electorate. But, if I were the editor of a major New Zealand newspaper, then I’m pretty damned sure I’d be asking one of my best reporters to find out.
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2015/10/20/spinning-spinning-spinning-are-matthew-hootons-tpp-musings-personal-or-professional/#sthash.FRdDjrq7.dpuf
Follow the money.
Chairman = Simon Power
Hooton reckons Labour are on an ’emotional journey’ because the TPP is really not that bad and certainly not the black hole of despair we all thought it was 😉
Hooton is working. He had his lines VERY clear and ready the moment TPP was signed.
His faux outrage at the OIA is the part where he produces credibility for the aforementioned sales pitch
thanks for the link Paul…interesting….Hooton is a master spinner
Campbell has his number too
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2015/10/16/gordon-campbell-on-labour-bashing-over-the-tpp-and-canada/
Given your outrage and the abuse of the OIA system Matthew, are you going to actively lobby for a law change? And given, you know what motivates people to abuse the law, how do you suggest we deal with it?
Add prison sentences for officials (and ministers) who don’t comply with the law.
are you going to actively lobby for a law change? Or at east issue a Press Release calling for Ministers and officials to face imprisonment. Hell ask for it to be retrospective, and name Groser as your first target?
Make it retrospective and name Hooton as the second target.
http://thestandard.org.nz/congratulations-jane-kelsey/#comment-1082926
It’s faux outrage to make himself seem like an impartial observer to give strength to his planned TPP lines.
The man couldn’t lie straight in bed.
Hooton: Add prison sentences for officials (and ministers) who don’t comply with the law.
About as likely to happen as John Key to vote Green.
Oh no, Hooton will release a press release lobbying for it,
True. Maybe exclude ministers? So officials will stand up to ministers when asked to do illegal things?
why didnt you resist?
You misunderstand Tracy. Hooton was a proud pioneer in the techniques of flouting the spirit and intent of the OIA, whilst eventually complying with the letter of the law after leading the ombudsman a merry dance. He now expects us to accept that he is a man of principle, as he acts outraged by the behaviour of those who widened the trail he helped to blaze.
Hooton: Maybe exclude ministers? So officials will stand up to ministers when asked to do illegal things?
Nope. Still wouldn’t happen. Ministers rely on officials to assist them to avoid releasing uncomfortable or damaging info. This government is never going to legislate to make that a serious problem for their officials.
he isnt serious. he is just pretending to have remorse so people will swallow his latest swill
He isn’t taken seriously, whether he is being serious or not
No tax on sugar.
The cheerleaders for the food industry are delighted.
Profits for big sugar beat our kids’ health.
No wonder Key says we don’t get sued by big business.
His government bows down to them.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1510/S00611/nz-fgc-taxpayers-union-cheer-obesity-package.htm
Radio New Zealand gets heading wrong.
Writes ‘Government tackles childhood obesity.’
Should have written ‘Government fails to tackle childhood obesity.’
Or maybe the French tackled Julian Savea.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/287423/government-tackles-childhood-obesity
+1
yes interesting doctors are saying that a referral for obesity is not going to do anything
imo for what it is worth
….all kids should be taught vege gardening and how to make easy cheap vegetarian meals using lentils , rice, potatoes, vege soups, pasta, eggs, porridge
…and meat dishes using cheap cuts of meat( eg slow cooking stewing steak, liver, kidneys…)…curries and spices for taste
…gluten free flour, olive oil and butter for cooking….and water/ milk/tea/coffee for drinking
…with the emphasis that home cooking is best
taxes and red warning stickers should be put on products…soft drinks and anything supposedly healthy bought with excessive amounts of sugar eg. milo , baked beans,
…exercising /walking for an hour a day is also good…especially when so much time is spent on computers
(btw… i don’t follow my own advice)
add to this …teaching kids how to make salads and fruit/vege smoothies with yoghurt
Chooky,
I have no complaint with your suggestions but the “obesity problem” is NOT with the consumers.
The multi-national criminals peddle poisons in the guise of the “free market.”
I see no difference between tobacco and alcohol profiteers and fast food, sugar, and fizzy drink peddlers of death.
They KNOW what they sell KILLS.
They bribe the media and government to block any restrictions on their “right” to kill. They are the food version of the American gun lobby. “Poison foods don’t kill, only eating them does.”
That’s always been true of National. They’re the party of the rich, for the rich at everyone else’s expense.
The rise of begging in New Zealand.
What happened to that lovely place that used to be NZ?
It nows appears such a heartless place.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/nights/audio/201774947/the-rise-of-begging-in-new-zealand
I blame everyone who has voted for the election winners every three years, for voting in the governments that have implemented the policies to cause this….
vote them out
Because make no mistake – it is government policies that have caused this.
Government policies of the last 30 years.
Totally agree vto.
The biggest lie.
Trickle down economics.
Supply side, voodoo economics whatever term you use it’s been proven to be an abject failure with decades of evidence to debunk this trickle down meme.
And the ‘comfortable’ middle class count their profits from real estate and still believe the neo-liberal lie about there being no such thing as society.
Sadly, it appears the zeitgeist will only change once catastrophic climate change or a serious economic collapse slaps them in the face.
Until then, selfish New Zealanders will care more about celebrities, reality TV and sport than the needs of their fellow humans and the planet they live on.
What happened to that kind place that NZ used to be?
Those are easy lines to throw out there, but I am coming around to agree…
… have had cause, in our community of late, to wonder about its base standards and drivers. There have been two events, one around children’s sports, the other about neighbour issues, which have led to this. Both events had factors intertwined with how they were dealt with which were very much from the me-me-me, self-interest driver programme. The end results were disappointing and reflective of today’s society’s drivers.
The policies of the last 30 years have embedded themselves in the base structures of our society now and I know we are worse off because of it.
A starting point to understand how our culture has been turned from empathy and altruism to the naked individualism of today is the documentary ‘The Century of Self’ by Adam Curtis.
Will look into the doco Paul. Thanks for the tip.
This is a hugely interesting social change to observe vto. I would love to discuss at length but have to dash out the door. I see it all around too and have experienced several neighbourhood incidents to highlight this slide from collective care to self promoting concerns, among individuals and within communities.
Ugly and sad stuff. It alienates, isolates and breaks down life affirming bonds. I find it absolutely depressing.
Gotta go, but would like to return to this
Centuries of evidence actually. That’s why I’m truly amazed that the economists still push the same failed hypothesis.
Key calls Kelvin Davis’ mission a “publicity stunt”, and so do his media parrots;
And Andrew Little lets Nadine Chalmers Ross get away with it unscathed.
Tuesday 20 October 2015
For some weeks now, Labour M.P. Kelvin Davis has been on the notorious Christmas Island detention centre, trying hard to speak up for the inmates there. The government of course has been utterly disparaging of his efforts, dismissing them as a “publicity stunt”. The government’s media parrots have also assiduously worked at undermining Davis. An example of this occurred just before the seven o’clock news this morning on One’s pisspoor Breakfast program…..
NADINE CHALMERS-ROSS: Doesn’t Kelvin Davis swooping in like a super-hero not end up looking like a bit of a publicity stunt?
In response to that nasty little provocation, Labour “leader” Andrew Little said something unmemorable.
Meanwhile, one of the detainees at the Christmas Island detention centre did something that Little seems frightened of doing: he spoke plainly and honestly in response to Key’s call for the detainees to come straight “home”, and bypass Christmas Island. Key of course is parroting the Australian government’s line that “home” for these people is New Zealand rather than Australia, which is their real home.
John Key, the detainee said, is “full of rubbish.”
Maybe the Labour front bench should be replaced with a line-up of these detainees. They couldn’t do a worse job.
On a side issue. Morrissey, I’m surprised I haven’t seen you comment yet on Mr Joubert’s refereeing of the Scotland vs Australia match.
I’ve been composing a little piece about this on and off over the last thirty-six hours. I’ll put it up soon.
The most interesting part about this is the way people have expressed sympathy for poor little Scotland, compared to the lack of sympathy for big bad France four years ago after a far, far worse display from Joubert.
Of course, I and millions of disgusted rugby fans (most of them French, naturally) have been on Joubert’s case for the last four years. My most recent comment was earlier this month….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-13102015/#comment-1081758
Jane Kelsey should be leader of the opposition.
Just imagine if any member of the Labour Party challenged the TPPA in similar fashion.
+1 – they can do the 2nd best thing and actually meet and (listen) to what she has to say. Likewise other high profile capable people like Nicky Hager, who have knowledge on the subject.
I mean what do Labour have to lose? And a lot more to gain to appear to be ‘fair and reasonable’ at actually educating themselves about issues and since Kelsey have won in court they could get a few ideas.
She does what she does very well. Let’s leave her there.
“Every pic is a dick pic.”
John Oliver on Our Leader’s finest media moment.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=11531913
The single greatest political interview of all time, simpers Fairfax.
Apparently the notion that a comedian’s idea of “greatest” might not exactly be a compliment hasn’t occurred to them, and of course they missed the part where he described the Prime Minister as a dick.
John Oliver’s contribution to New Zealand current affairs reporting far outweighs Fairfax’s feeble dreck.
“The American late-night talk show enjoys mocking New Zealand”
He enjoys mocking Our Leader…and why not? When the raw material is readily available, he’d be a fool not to exploit it.
However, “…mocking New Zealand” might also be on the mark… His star seems to rise and rise…
A greyed out caption to the photo at the very bottom of the story is not balance.
Most people won’t read further than the headline, of those that do, two-thirds won’t read beyond the first paragraph.
“do I have a choice”? said Key. To be honest John? That was the telling bit for me.
Yeah nah. There’s no way Key would front up without an agreed format: I expect his office sought and received an assurance to that effect.
agreed.
my point of course is that he considers that being honest is dependent on whether he feels he has a “choice”
My point is that it was a scripted (or at the very least anticipated) line, not an off-the-cuff remark.
yup, got that. Thought you had mistaken my point
No, I think your point is a massive stretch.
“Key said he was unprepared for the types of questions he was asked” – so he was (typically) lying then.
Either that or his office forgot to tell him, or they told him and he forgot.
Yeah nah, he’s lying.
that he picks and chooses when he lies? Is a stretch? Okay
A more likely interpretation of his remark is that he was answering Wells’ invitation to play the “game”, that’s all.
A highly scripted “laissez faire” act, not easy, and I have to admit he (usually) pulls it off
In the article to which OAB refers, it reads-“Key said he was unprepared for the types of questions he was asked, and did not listen to Hauraki so had no idea what to expect.
He said he answered the questions because ‘what else do you do’. ”
What else does a Prime Minister do? He gets information from his aides as to what kind of show, what kinds of questioning and discusses the format and scope of the show.
A Prime Minister then makes it clear that he is not some sort of instant celebrity but the most senior elected politician in New Zealand, the latest holder in a post that demands gravitas and dignity.
The Prime Minister then refuses on grounds of dignity, respect and mana to answer such questions.
That’s what he does.
Oh yes, he then gives his event organiser one hell of a shellacking for putting him in there.
But our Prime Minister is different. He knew what kind of questioning he would get. He likes risk and instant response situations. He has shown he does not care for dignity or appropriate behaviour.
He is a ‘starlatan’.
Any reason Matthew, why the PR company for which you work – Exceltium – is NOT a member of the Public Relations Institute of New Zealand (PRINZ)?
Kind regards
Penny Bright
Matthew is VERY busy today Penny
😉
Did you Matthew, or the PR company for which you work – Exceltium – ever lobby against New Zealand legislating for more controls on lobbyists, such as a Register of Lobbyists, or a ‘Code of Conduct’ for Lobbyists?
Just asking?
Nicely.
Kind regards
Penny Bright
I hear the Canadians are going of Harper… Just NZ that still finds right-wing BS 50% appealing…
36% of the electorate that still finds… fify
I was referring to Key’s popularity rating
Yeah imagine a country getting sick of someone after leading them for 10 years (or however long its been)
‘Democracy – for developers’ under the disastrous Auckland ‘Supercity’?
Seen THIS?
______________________________________________________
Heritage protection to be slashed
Monday, 19 October 2015
The New Zealand Herald
Thousands of homes across Auckland have been stripped of heritage protection, according to new maps presented to councillors at a confidential briefing on Friday.
Entire suburbs, including Mission Bay, Kohimarama, St Heliers, Takapuna, Milford and Belmont, have virtually no heritage protection, leaving them open for demolition.
Other suburbs, notably Grey Lynn, have had their historic character areas increased. Parts of Westmere have been recognised for their collective value of bungalows.
The maps also highlight anomalies. Several streets of villas in Mt Eden and Balmoral – Grange and Fairview Rds and Marsden Ave – are only partially protected.
Several blocks of Art Deco apartments on Jervois Rd in Herne Bay have missed out on protection.
Councillors and Local Board chairs were given a copy of the maps on Friday and five days to provide feedback at a confidential session of the Unitary Plan committee on Wednesday. The maps will be finalised and approved at Wednesday’s meeting.
The elected representatives have been forbidden from sharing the information with Aucklanders, whose homes and neighbourhoods could be affected.
Once the committee has made changes behind closed doors, the maps will be forwarded to the independent hearings panel for the Unitary Plan and made public.
Only submitters to the pre-1944 heritage rules in the proposed plan are allowed to give feedback.
The city’s growth and housing shortage is putting pressure on the council to relax heritage and density controls in the Unitary Plan, with the independent hearings panel not convinced controls on pre-1944 houses were justified.
After applying a blanket demolition control across the city’s pre-1944 houses, teams of council staff and contractors have assessed every house covered by the rules in the proposed plan.
….
______________________________________
Penny Bright
The council planners can’t wait to turn the suburbs into the wreck of 1990’s CBD for cash. In particular make the ability to create 3 story mansions, high rise apartments blocks, large, ugly and without any heritage merit as well as being unaffordable to most families, and have poor sun and outdoor living, houses built right up to the boundary with concrete walls. Welcome to Chatswood in the city. Thanks dumbo Auckland council, lobbyists and commissioners for making Auckland the worlds least liveable city under secrecy.
I guess the Governments actions on TPP endorse this sort of disgusting behaviour of secret deals.
Government and council planner policy, open the floodgates to immigration and foreign investment, get rid of planning regulations and bank the cheques for 5 years until the leaky lawsuits start coming in. Wow what a strategy!
Oh and no public transport either with all the new houses so Kiwis are forced further out have to leave home hours earlier, increase air pollution into our city and spend less time with their families. Good one! NOT.
The reason that immigrants want to live in Auckland may possibly be because it is the way it is right now with space around houses for outside activities, gardens, and for children to play etc -something many of them have never had. If all that is taken away with only terrace houses and apartments on offer why would people want to move to Auckland? It will then be just like every other large city in the world. Why do they want to move to Auckland in the first place? – we should find that out for starters. The other thing to consider is the residents of Auckland right now – they are the ones who have built the city, paid rates for decades and they like it the way it is. Why are their views not being considered? Why are they of less importance than some future immigrants? Why ruin our city to cater for some faceless foreigners a long way down the track and to line the pockets of some greedy developers? And as for the young people wanting a home, why can’t they do what young people did a few decades ago – move further out and create new areas like Conifer Grove etc. NZ has a lot of land, why would families want to be squashed up in apartments – Apartments are suitable for singles, couples and maybe some retirees and that is fine, but why allow suburban neighbourhoods to be destroyed – I would imagine most of these new apartments and terraces will be in places where sea-views are to be had, and I would also imagine that none of them will be in any way cheap or affordable for a young family. A while ago I heard on the radio that a study had been done on new entrants at school and it was found that children who lived in apartments had delayed physical skills and development compared to children who live in a house with land. Can’t give a link, just something I heard. Maybe someone else heard it and can provide a link?
I hope you proof read that Hami S before releasing it. If you did, how come you couldn’t split it up into say three paras.
Canadian eastern time is 17 hours behind us so election coverage should begin at noon our time.
Elections Canada- http://enr.elections.ca/National.aspx?lang=e
CBC- http://www.cbc.ca/includes/federalelection/dashboard/index.html
CBC radio- http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/daily/2015/10/19/cbc_radio_one/?t=1445207854358
CBC stream- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWFNl0K18A4 (9.30am our time)
https://www.reddit.com/r/CanadaPolitics/
Keeping an eye on the fix – #pollwatch
https://www.reddit.com/r/canada/comments/3pdudu/reports_coming_in_from_all_over_canada_premarked/
http://www.citynews.ca/2015/10/19/voting-issues-reported-at-gta-polling-stations/
https://twitter.com/geoffnoxon/status/656194235209674752
Talking heads stream.
http://www.cpac.ca/en/
btw, the CBC election stream has started
Awesome, thanks for the links.
exciting stuff!
Vice stream.
Hosted by Fucked Up’s Damian Abraham, tune in to get your up to-the-minute election results, with special guests including Chris Hedges, Kardinal Offishall, and former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford.
All of Atlantic canada has gone to the Liberals so far, that is 30 of the 170 seats needed for a majority. This includes the canine states, New Foundland and Labrador 🙂 Could this be a landslide..
CBC calling it a Liberal win already and Trudeau as the new PM, meanwhile British Colombia is still voting..
A forecast based on the results so far has been announced:
The Liberal Party is expected to form a government and:
JUSTIN TRUDEAU WILL BE THE NEXT PM OF CANADA.
Three cheers for Trudeau!!!
Look at the scope and level of detail of the Canadian Liberal policy platform. Amazing.
https://www.liberal.ca/realchange/
Strewth! Now that’s a real vote for change.
If Labour NZ did something as extensive as this they’d be onto a winner. (Would pay to make sure you could click straight back to where you were on the list from whatever policy you’ve clicked on to read in detail without having to start scrolling back down the whole list to find your place again.)
The thing is that Labour DID release that much policy but they didn’t it present it nearly as well as that.
True, and that’s what I should’ve said.
Lot of verve in that joe90. Jolly good.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation projects a Liberal government
Thanks for that Ovid. I was feeling sorry for the one Green candidate who wasn’t showing up at all on either column. I hope she scrapes in but people may be determined to get rid of Harper this time that it’s all in for that cause. You would have thought that Canada would have a Green presence by now. I notice in the people’s declaration song against Harper that joe90 put up that environment was mentioned.
TTIP is a ‘revolution against international law’, says UN Expert
http://www.globaljustice.org.uk/blog/2015/oct/16/ttip-‘revolution-against-international-law’-says-un-expert#.ViLlDdgCwJc.facebook
And there’s more.
“Experience shows that many of the 608 arbitration awards that have become known, have overridden national law and hindered States in the sovereign determination of fiscal and budgetary policy, labour, health and environmental regulation, and have had adverse human rights impacts, also on third parties, including a “chilling effect” with regard to the exercise of democratic governance.”
Officially known as Investor State Dispute Settlement or ISDS, corporate courts bring us closer to a private international system of law which threatens the whole basis of human rights and democracy. De Zayas says:
Definitely worth reading the full text.
very urged to put this up for no reason at all..
At first I thought Hide had scored a film role.
But But BUT Matthew Hooton says it’s just fine
Haahhh ….. the country in which I had spent so much time and loved.
When is it a chip and not a chunk? Lol. Not talking about feesh and cheeps here.
DPMC staff behaving like pre-puberty kids being evasive:
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbotts-alcohol-preferences-remain-secret-as-penny-wong-lambasts-utopia-bureaucrats-20151019-gkd0pz.html
Thatcher talks about the problem and how her government is going to fix it, but how did things get so bad in the first place?
I went on to watch the clip of Corbyn winding up the Tories, lol.
I apologise for the crassness of the title but there you have it. That is what the Prime Minister’s office has come too.
Open letter to National voters 2: On Shaving Pubic Hair, Pissing In The Shower, Feeding Chickens…
This week: Why Don’t Economists?… presented by Marie McCahery.
It’s about banking and how the private banks create money. People may want to get hold of the earlier episodes.
Goldman Sachs not making enough in NZ so it is off to Oz
” Goldman Sachs is looking to shift its New Zealand-based securities business across the Tasman.
Goldman bosses Andrew Barclay and Simon Rothery informed staff this morning of a proposal to make changes to the firm’s securities trading, settlements and clearing functions in New Zealand.
“In early 2016 we are proposing to relocate our New Zealand-based market trading activities and implement an integrated coverage model from Sydney,” Barclay and Rothery said.
“
“From a psychological perspective, though, the people backing Trump are perfectly normal. Interviews with psychologists and other experts suggest one explanation for the candidate’s success — and for the collective failure to anticipate it: The political elite hasn’t confronted a few fundamental, universal and uncomfortable facts about the human mind.
We like people who talk big.
We like people who tell us that our problems are simple and easy to solve, even when they aren’t.
And we don’t like people who don’t look like us.”
An interesting analysis of Trump’s success.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/10/15/i-asked-psychologists-to-analyze-trump-supporters-this-is-what-i-learned/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_2_na
Well, I suppose he’s lucky he’s a big talker as he appears to be a failure at business.
and Key
We hear a lot from the RWNJs that our nature is set and that we need to cater to it and thus we need capitalism. But, that’s probably not true:
Capitalism seems to be based upon myths perpetuated by the 1% in justification for them having more than anyone else.
The video on that page is a must watch as it shows the path that we as a society need to take to make life better for everyone. It includes getting rid of the hierarchy that is killing us.
Video:
Liars of Our Time
No. 51: BINYAMIN NETANYAHU
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
“Israel is a law-abiding state.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
—Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Al Jazeera news, 4p.m., Tuesday 20 October 2015
More liars HERE….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-07062015/#comment-1026357
Awaiting your analysis of Joubert.
It will be interesting.