Open mike 21/03/2025
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6:00 am, March 21st, 2025 - 45 comments
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On the 19th of March, ACT announced they would be running candidates in this year’s local government elections. Accompanying that call for “common-sense kiwis” was an anti-woke essay typifying the views they expect their candidates to hold. I have included that part of their mailer, Free Press, in its entirety. ...4 hours ago - Spread a Little Happiness
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Yesterday outgoing Ombudsman Peter Boshier published a report, Reflections on the Official Information Act, on his way out the door. The report repeated his favoured mantra that the Act was "fundamentally sound", all problems were issues of culture, and that no legislative change was needed (and especially no changes to ...1 day ago - A new US humanitarian agency must operate without political blinders
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- Dave’s Cats
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- Pressure grows for commonsense correction on safe local speeds
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- Maybe there’s a connection?
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- Pictures Tell The Story
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- Daddy
Daddy, are you out there?Daddy, won't you come and play?Daddy, do you not care?Is there nothing that you want to say?Songwriters: Mark Batson / Beyonce Giselle Knowles.This morning, a look at the much-maligned NZ Herald. Despised by many on the left as little more than a mouthpiece for the National ...6 days ago - Monday 17 March
Employers, unions and health and safety advocates are calling for engineered stone to be banned, a day before consultation on regulations closes. On Friday the PSA lodged a pay equity claim for library assistants with the Employment Relations Authority, after the stalling of a claim lodged with six councils in ...6 days ago
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- Mercury Lane, and Auckland Transport’s habitual failure
When the City Rail Link opens (circa 2026), all signs point to it immediately being a huge success. It will be transformational for Auckland, with ripple effects across the city. Thousands of people an hour will pour in and out of the new and upgraded stations. So, as well as ...6 days ago
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- Release: Govt’s continued lack of action on Gaza condemned
Hundreds more Palestinians have died in recent days as Israel’s assault on Gaza continues and humanitarian aid, including food and medicine, is blocked. ...1 day ago - Release: National at sea over Defence jobs
National is looking to cut hundreds of jobs at New Zealand’s Defence Force, while at the same time it talks up plans to increase focus and spending in Defence. ...2 days ago
- Release: National standards returning by stealth
It’s been revealed that the Government is secretly trying to bring back a ‘one-size fits all’ standardised test – a decision that has shocked school principals. ...2 days ago
- Release: Kiwis still struggling as economy stumbles along
Kiwis aren’t feeling any better off despite figures showing a very slight growth in GDP in the December quarter. ...2 days ago
- Greens call for compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe
The Green Party is calling for the compassionate release of Dean Wickliffe, a 77-year-old kaumātua on hunger strike at the Spring Hill Corrections Facility, after visiting him at the prison. ...3 days ago - Another failed ETS auction, another indictment on the Govt’s climate credibility
The ETS auction’s failure today is yet another clear sign that the Government is failing us all on climate action. ...3 days ago
- Release: Luxon quick to give away principled position on nukes
Christopher Luxon seems to have thrown New Zealand’s principled anti-nuclear advocacy under a bus. ...3 days ago
- NZ must act on Israel’s slaughter of children
The Green Party is calling on Government MPs to support Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence and illegal actions in Palestine, following another day of appalling violence against civilians in Gaza. ...4 days ago
- Release: Still no certainty for disability communities
One year on from the Government’s abrupt and callous changes to disability funding, the community still has no idea what the future holds. ...4 days ago
- Green Party backs volunteer firefighters in their call for ACC recognition
The Green Party stands in support of volunteer firefighters petitioning the Government to step up and change legislation to provide volunteers the same ACC coverage and benefits as their paid counterparts. ...4 days ago
- Stand Up for Palestine: A Call to Action Against Israels Treacherous Attack
At 2.30am local time, Israel launched a treacherous attack on Gaza killing more than 300 defenceless civilians while they slept. Many of them were children. This followed a more than 2 week-long blockade by Israel on the entry of all goods and aid into Gaza. Israel deliberately targeted densely populated ...5 days ago
- MP Views: Living Strong, The Economy, Servicing Our Nation, The Golden Egg, and 4 Year Terms
Living Strong, Aging Well There is much discussion around the health of our older New Zealanders and how we can age well. In reality, the delivery of health services accounts for only a relatively small percentage of health outcomes as we age. Significantly, dry warm housing, nutrition, exercise, social connection, ...5 days ago - Shane Jones has no shame
Shane Jones’ display on Q&A showed how out of touch he and this Government are with our communities and how in sync they are with companies with little concern for people and planet. ...7 days ago
- Release: National botches health funding numbers
Health Minister Simeon Brown’s claim that the Government has put $16.68 billion into the health system over three years is wrong. ...1 week ago
- Government tramples on the rights of disabled migrant children
The Green Party is condemning the Government’s move to tighten access to visas for disabled children. ...1 week ago
- Release: Auckland needs second harbour crossing
Labour supports Minister Chris Bishop’s call for input on the second Waitematā Harbour crossing. ...1 week ago
- Speech: Barbara Edmonds’ speech to NZ Investment Summit 2025
I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak to you today about how we make overseas investment work for all New Zealanders. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour does not support PPPs for prisons
Labour does not support the private ownership of core infrastructure like schools, hospitals and prisons, which will only see worse outcomes for Kiwis. ...1 week ago
- Dunedin Futures report should be a wake-up call
The newly released report on the South Dunedin Future Programme must be a wake-up call for our Government. ...1 week ago
- Release: Members’ Bill makes wage theft a crime
Workers will now be able to go to the Police and report their employer if they are not being paid wages they’re owed. ...1 week ago
- Missed opportunity to stop the stealing of Māori land
The Green Party is disappointed the Government voted down Hūhana Lyndon’s member’s Bill, which would have prevented further alienation of Māori land through the Public Works Act. ...1 week ago
- Release: Labour supports sanctions against Israel’s illegal occupation
The Labour Party will support Chloe Swarbrick’s member’s bill which would allow sanctions against Israel for its illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories. ...1 week ago
- Release: Govt procurement plan cuts wages and trashes the environment
The Government’s new procurement rules are a blatant attack on workers and the environment, showing once again that National’s priorities are completely out of touch with everyday Kiwis. ...1 week ago
- Procurement proposals pose risk to people and planet
The Green Party is concerned by the impact the Government’s proposed changes to procurement processes could have on people and planet. ...1 week ago
- Just six Government MPs needed to pass Unlawful Occupation of Palestine Sanctions Bill
With Labour and Te Pāti Māori’s official support, Opposition parties are officially aligned to progress Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick’s Member’s Bill to sanction Israel for its unlawful presence in Palestine. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour’s approach to Māori economy benefits all
Under Labour, the Māori economy went from strength to strength according to the latest report released by MBIE. ...2 weeks ago
- 20 Years of Success Down the Drain: Govt Gut Whānau Ora
Te Pāti Māori extends our deepest aroha to the 500 plus Whānau Ora workers who have been advised today that the govt will be dismantling their contracts. For twenty years , Whānau Ora has been helping families, delivering life-changing support through a kaupapa Māori approach. It has built trust where ...2 weeks ago
- Green Party launches petition to allow Pacific whānau visa-free access
The Green Party is launching a petition calling on the Government to extend visa-free travel to visitors from Pacific Island nations. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour welcomes reinstatement of Heath NZ board
Labour welcomes Simeon Brown’s move to reinstate a board at Health New Zealand, bringing the destructive and secretive tenure of commissioner Lester Levy to an end. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ’s Public Health system dealt yet another blow
This morning’s announcement by the Health Minister regarding a major overhaul of the public health sector levels yet another blow to the country’s essential services. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Chris Hipkins’ State of the Nation address
Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa It is a great pleasure to be here with you this morning. ...2 weeks ago
- NZ First Introduces Bill to Remove Woke ‘DEI’ Regulations from Public Service
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill that will ensure employment decisions in the public service are based on merit and not on forced woke ‘Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion’ targets. “This Bill would put an end to the woke left-wing social engineering and diversity targets in the public sector. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour outlines priorities of next Govt
The next Labour Government will prioritise jobs, health and homes so Kiwis and Kiwi businesses have the opportunity to thrive. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Refreshed team to drive Labour’s 2026 priorities
Labour leader Chris Hipkins has unveiled a new economic team as part of a caucus reshuffle. ...2 weeks ago
- Release: Labour calls for end to police referrals to Destiny programmes
Police have referred 20 offenders to Destiny Church-affiliated programmes Man Up and Legacy as ‘wellness providers’ in the last year, raising concerns that those seeking help are being recruited into a harmful organisation. ...2 weeks ago
- Good Riddance: Prebble Resigns from Waitangi Tribunal
Te Pāti Māori welcomes the resignation of Richard Prebble from the Waitangi Tribunal. His appointment in October 2024 was a disgrace- another example of this government undermining Te Tiriti o Waitangi by appointing a former ACT leader who has spent his career attacking Māori rights. “Regardless of the reason for ...2 weeks ago
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No feed items found.
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Anyone seen anything solid and positive for New Zealand come out of the Prime Minister's negotiations with India?
Same as the Infrastructure Summit.
I'd be interested in Darien Fenton's opinion on this. I certainly saw nothing other than waffle. I'm not sure our 'officials' and Masters of the Universe (in Bizzniss and Gummint) actually understand the Indian psyche.
I'd be more interested in Parliament holding Luxon and Peters to account for a whole lot of expensive jetting around the world for zero taxpayer return.
These guys earn pretty good coin off us, make big play of their executive-level credentials and dealmaking capacity, and we ought to get some results out of them by now.
I'm getting to the point where I don't care what colour party is in power, I just expect someone to fucking deliver something real.
To play devil's advocate, maybe Peters has avoided, delayed or lessened a shit storm that may have been coming out way…
Possibly. Winston's worst mistake thus far is hitching His wagon to a team of lame horses called Jabba the Hutt Shane and His Ngati Ranana daughters.
From curmudgeon to rabbit hole. I had hoped he'd have aimed for something better as His legacy. Oh dear, how sad, never mind
For me it's less Jones as a disappointment but the craven doing of the donor's wishes. While I'm aware this isn't new, but just far more blatant, revealing and tragic this time.
Talleys, Phillip Morris and their ilk.
Still, if we get roll on, roll off ferries…
I don't disagree.
I could have told previous efforts at an FTA were tantamount to pissing in the wind
It's not 'best practice' to piss on people and then expect them to fawn all over you.
Not much has changed. Nothing in fek
Yeah but he got a sound bite , I bet there's more than a few out there who think an fta is 60 days away, so lying national pms job is done as per usual.
A real "I never imagined leopards would eat my face" moment as a University of Southern California professor discovers that in fact freedom of speech is important and does need protecting:
Trump has turbocharged the attacks on free speech at US universities. I have seen it first-hand
Very refreshing after years of wading through screeds of "'Freeze peach' is just fascists wanting to say hateful things!" comments under Free Speech Union posts. "You have freedom of speech, just not freedom from consequences" may sound sensible and socially responsible when people who share your views are imposing "consequences" on people you despise, but it turns out not to be so great when you suddenly find that it's now people who despise you who are dishing out "consequences" – in this case, the removal of millions of dollars in federal funding.
You've turned that around, constitutionally, Milt. The US First Amendment protects free speech in universities from Government intervention, except under specific conditions of Title VI.
According to US constitutional law
"Under Title VI, the government may not cut off funds until it has conducted a
None of which has happened under Trump, and this cutting off of funds is illegal, and no protection of Free Speech.
Also, your choice of meme is incorrect. Leopard ate my face refers to a crying woman having her face eaten, after voting for the leopard ate my face party. Columbia University did not endorse Trump, or vote for Trump in any physical way.
we're past the point of what is legal. The administration will do whatever it can get away with, that's the point of breaking down conventions and overloading people. We had the practice run in 2016 – 2020, now they're doing it for real.
Hopefully some of the legal actions will hold, especially where it's clear the presidents' actions are unpopular.
But I think you have missed the point. Attacks on academic freedom have been going on for years and the liberal left was a key actor in that. Cancel culture and No Debate have been liberal strategies.
The leopard is attacks on freedom of expression
The woman having her face ripped off is academics who previously supported cancel culture and No Debate and don't like it now that it is being done to them. Many academics 'voted' for removal of rights to speak, protest, do research etc of the people they disagreed with.
Nope. The US administration is having to backtrack frequently at this early stage because they simply aren't following the legislation and the legal rules.
It takes time for the cases to come to judgement, and like 2016-2020, the administration will probably lose many if not most cases taken to the courts. As it is, they're having to routinely retract their actions from injunctions with immediate effect. This morning I was reading about about 25,000 federal employees from about 5 federal institutions having to be be reinstated. This is within 2 months of the shock and awe program starting.
Probability of embedding legislation to retroactively validate – pretty much zero. Apart from the legal issues of retroactive legislation, by the time it comes up for a vote across both houses, the mid-terms will have happened. I don't think that voters are going to be too impressed with the recession and increased cost of living.
It is more of an issue for those of us who rely upon the US as a reliable ally in their external operations who will have the issues. There the executive does have actual control. NZ and Aussie and everyone else who relied on the US as a ally really need to dump that presumption. The US is electing instability into their monarchy.
I don't altogether share this widespread faith in the mid-terms. If they're held at all (not the certainty so many seem to think), they're likely to be manipulated before, during and after to whatever extent the current gang reckon they can get away with to retain their hold on Congress.
I think you are using a false meaning for the word "liberal" when you write "Cancel culture and No Debate have been liberal strategies".
They are not liberal as the word was traditionally used. The definition in various dictionaries is "willing to understand and respect other people’s behaviour, opinions, etc., especially when they are different from your own; believing people should be able to choose how they behave" (OED) or "willing to understand and respect other people’s behaviour, opinions, etc., especially when they are different from your own; believing people should be able to choose how they behave" (Merriman-Webster).
It may have been associated with left-wing views but, when there is a left wing wing that includes the Cancel Culture, it is certainly not able to be described as "Liberal".
The Economist magazine proudly proclaims that it is a Liberal newspaper. Whether it is left wing is arguable.
I agree – it's an attack on free speech. But until recently, university academics were quite happy for political opponents to suffer 'consequences' for expressing views the academics don't like. Now, suddenly, 'consequences' for speech are recognisably a bad thing, now that the 'consequences' are happening to them.
Legitimate 'consequences' for an act of free speech include vigorous disagreement, insults and ridicule, i.e. any act of free speech can be seen as an invitation of free speech in return – which is why equality of speech, and the distribution of the power to speak, matters so much in these debates, but it is mentioned so little.
Beyond that, 'consequences' for free speech should be a tightly-defined legal matter and require demonstrable intent to incite material harm to the target of the speech.
I think you are straw-manning somewhat in reference to 'academics' who have failed to consider what happens when the boot is on the other ideological foot, I doubt any serious thinker on the topic is unaware of that problem. It's also undeniable that right-wing champions of free speech show less commitment to it when they have the power to restrict or punish speech they don't like, calling into question the depth of their original commitment.
A rule for thee, but not for me, is very evident on the right, even here in NZ. The Free Speech Union, for example.
Here's FSU opinion, framing sate-funded Blenheim College, who 'makes parents sign a Statement of Belief stating marriage only exists between a woman and a man. A staff member tells a transgender student “god doesn’t make mistakes” while refusing to use their preferred pronouns and threatening them with suspension for wearing a uniform that matches their gender' as free speech equivalent to Destiny Church's library invasion.
And here's the rebuttal.
Trump threatened Columbia University with losing Federal funding if they didn't crack down on "anti-semitism". Columbia University cracked down on protests and Palestinian activists. Trump took their Federal funding anyway.
When Trump wants to hurt someone or something, he makes up some bogus reason to make them dance on a string, so they dance on a string and he does the hurtful thing anyway. The hurt was the point, the dance was just the icing on the cake.
hate being that person, but I've been saying for years that if we use such tactics the right will use them against us when they have the power to do so. And it's not like academia wasn't warned. I just hope it's not too late, and that they actually want to value freedom of expression not just continue to value the expressions they approve of.
Can't say I'm hopeful. In my experience, academics are no better than anyone else at accepting they were wrong about something and need to change their view of it.
Nor me – mental rigidity is a tricky/sticky trap, at least in my experience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigidity_(psychology)
Yes, the "taken irrevocable actions because of it" is a big one. That's very hard to pull back from.
Yeah…the whole carnivore thing is a classic example of rigid thinking…
..that is almost farcical in parts…
..it is a given that processed meat causes cancer…
..but carnivores insist that their bacon will be pulled from their dead/cold hands..
(how is that for a stellar example of irrational/rigid thinking..?)
"academics are no better than anyone else at accepting they were wrong about something and need to change their view of it."
I tutored Practical Philosophy for a few years.
Part of the message was to break free of an ego through being present and the mind comes to rest.
Highly educated folk struggled more than most to achieve this.
Partly, because their acquisition of knowledge had served them so well, the idea of breaking free of that was too onerous.
Interesting – so, possibly also a kind of "sunk costs fallacy," in which you've invested hugely in getting to the beliefs you have now, so ditching all that investment and starting again is difficult?
It's not an unreasonable position.
Knowledge and the desire to 'know' are strong in most of us. If yr working life consists of 'knowing', the propositon that "They who know, know not. They who know not, know" can be a hard truth to adhere to.
BHN interview Dr Gary Payinda over the attack on the public health service by Seymour.
According to Gary, one third of NZ's health issues are the result of alcohol, smoking and bad food.
There plenty of info that says that economic disparity plays a large part. The links to these reports seems to no longer work – presumably because the report has been removed.
Methinks that could have been a little differently.
New Zealanders collectively say this is the worst-performing government since 2017.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360605837/stuff-politics-live-blog
Honestly we haven't had a solid well performing government since 2008.
But the collective conclusion stands.
When will WP notice this?
Back on line again. ~4x faster WAN, but you're unlikely to notice.
Doesn't mean we don't appreciate it though
The 5 days Seymour knew about the a food in schools provider going bankrupt before the media reported it, is a breach of Ministerial responsibility.
The Education Minister only found out from news reports.
The PM has to remove Seymour from this programme and warn him to keep ministerial colleagues informed.
If I was PM, I would have doubts about his fitness to be deputy.
Luxon knew 4 days before the minister, he ain't sacking sleeezmour, he's in on it.
Given even the public knew that the Minister of Education was known to be wanting to meet Seymour – to get this problem for schools sorted – this is all
1a.inexplicable
1b.explains the inability to appear competent
2a.the PM is scared of the coalition failing and then losing his job with election defeat
2b.is just scared of Seymour, because the people with the most money want him as PM, and like Trump he respects those who have more money than he does.
The former airline manager can’t manage his own team, so it’s no wonder he cannot manage the economy either – this is not mis-management but dis-management.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/545555/rnz-to-run-new-series-of-political-polls
”RNZ is launching a new political poll, building on the former Newshub-Reid Research Poll, which ran successfully from 2009 to 2023.
RNZ chief news officer Mark Stevens said political polls were a way to gauge public sentiment within the election cycle.
"They are a snapshot in time of what New Zealanders are thinking or worried about. Reporting on those insights will help people understand and engage with our democracy as informed citizens," he said.”
Knowledge is power.
From the link:
That will make a refreshing change. I'm sick of headlines extolling supposed dramatic changes which turn out to be bullshit – in the name of clickbait or it's TV equivalent.
What does she mean with “significant changes”? Does she mean statistically significant (compared to what, e.g., the previous poll by the same polling company)? All polls report the margin of error, but that’s not the same thing. Does she mean ‘important’ or something similar? Without being clear this is just boasting and virtue signalling.
I took it to mean significant changes in the actual figures – not the current tendency to claim a party is 'soaring' or 'plunging' when the difference is only 1 or 2% from their previous poll. In other words, well within the margin of error.
The point is that significance and accuracy (and precision) have a special meaning in statistics that differs from the ‘common language’. Jo Moir and RNZ could be clearer about their intentions but I guess time will tell; I have no high expectations in this sense.
Jo Moir seems to consistently lean to the Right in her analysis.
RNZ's deputy political editor is better.
better= closer aligned to my political persuasion.
Sometimes 'for better or for worse' is objectively better or worse – for the many.
Bring Back Brian (Priestley) – what might he make of our current fourth estate.
"RNZ chief news officer Mark Stevens said political polls were a way to gauge public sentiment within the election cycle."
Also gives the churnalists an
lazyeasy write up rather than delving deeper into the substance or drivers of an issue. Bonus points for keeping us all distracted and talking about (largely) irrelevancies.