I heard a quick promo on the radio the otherday which Hosking was talking to Roberson about such figures. Hosking asked -what about Australia which is 'higher'.
Robertson queried where he got his numbers from, but really should have a better answer which I can do now
1. Iron Ore prices have jumped up dramatically in last 9 months, flows to GDP
2.Iron Ore etc
3. Tourism In normal times Australia a 'net tourism exporter' as it residents travel much more than us ( more competition means their airfares for equivalent routes are cheaper). Covid has meant the boost to domestic tourism is greater, but a few areas more affected than others. And of course international tourism is a bigger part of NZ economy , more like 4-5% nothing like the inflated number 20% the 'industry' claims…that would make foreign tourists a $40 bill input …laughable.
We have shortages within the workforce and growth, then why are industries, some contributors here and the government doing all they can to suppress any wage growth ? The nurses battle just to name one.
I wait to read that we need to keep interest rates down for those with debt.
You are mistaking growth, as an increase on returns on investment, ie profits. A good thing. With an increase in wages, ie wage inflation. A bad thing.*
*(mainly because it cuts into growth in profits. A very bad thing).
Yes. "One Roof' earlier this year was running opinion columns by person, who very little was said. A look at linkedin showed he was the Founder and former CEO of 'The Property Council', hardly a mere 'commentator'
The Herald also seems to be running stories by staff who either joined them from 'Property Press' or are moonlighting/ contra deal
I'm ready…a mix of Russian Red and two other Kiwi garlic strains going into a 3m2 lovingly prepared bed. Up here, I guess I should have planted earlier…but I'm a bit of a stickler for the solstice ritual. Have warned the neighbours there could be naked dancing and music….
Three weeks ago I bunged three cloves of shop bought garlic into a yogurt pot to see if they'd grow. Two are well over 10 cm and the one I thought had failed is up about 4cm. Last years crop was a fizzer due to drought and us not having collected enough water to maintain even minimum hydration. This year…our cups runneth over…77000 litres stored up. Still picking outdoor tomatoes.
Armed with a search warrant, Italy’s police wildlife unit entered the house of a suspected cactus trafficker, finding more than 1000 rare cacti poached from Chile's Atacama Desert in a locked room.
The collecting of huia feathers comes to mind. The great thing about plants though, is their potential for propagation; from one rare (poached) plant can come thousands. Standing a huia feather in a glass, however, results only in disappointment.
Indeed, I suspect many plants here have come from a single imported specimen, in many cases the intransigent position of MPI has created a black market and prevented the mass propagation of endangered species many of which stand pretty much zero chance of surviving in the 'wild' here.
Something I saw in NT Times this morning about US 'labour shortage', which sort of reflects what the industry groups are claiming here – but they want the migrant tap of cheaper labour to be turned back on.
However as NY Times points out , a lot more people have quit there jobs this year , as last year was a holding pattern for those who feel underpaid or dont like their job anymore
"By some estimates, more than five million fewer people quit last year than would otherwise be expected, as some workers, riding out the labor market’s convulsions, stuck with jobs they may have wanted to leave anyway"
So the mirage of labour shortage , often meaning not 5-10 people applying only 1 or 2, is just a consequence of the labour force stability last year ( apart from those that lost their job) and a higher turnover in last 6 months
Only one quote suggested that Hubbard was taking someone else's place. Difficult to see, as no other woman in NZ seems to have qualified for her weight class.
But far be it for me to suggest that your desire to exclude a trans personbe critical of a trans person's gender from a competition should remain unexpressed.
It's not excluding trans people, it's excluding trans women from a particular category, not sport generally. We exclude men from women's sports. Straight people can be excluded from gay and lesbian space. Paheka from Maori spaces and so on. Exclusion isn't inherently bad.
"be critical of a trans person's gender"
No-one cares about gender, the issue is biological sex.
The trip from women wanting to discuss the fairness issues of trans women and other biological males in women's sports, to 'bigots want to exclude trans people from sport and should stfu' is a big one.
Lots of people think that Hubbard should compete based on biological sex. That means not in the women's competition, because the reason we have women's separate from men's sport is fairness due to physical differences between the two sexes. There’s plenty of research and analysis out now on how males retain male advantage despite medication to alter hormones.
Instead of expecting women to be disadvantaged to make way for trans women and other males, we should be retaining women's rights and looking at how to create sports that will work for trans people. And non-binary, because that's what's coming up next.
I just forgot most of the many levels on which this debate has become utterly pointless.
So sure, Hubbard has taken someone else's place for the Olympics (even though nobody else from NZ qualified for that weight class), and will have an unfair advantage over other Olympic competitors (even though her record suggests she seems to be on a par with other Olympic-qualifiedwomen weightlifters in her class), and excluding transwomen from a category isn't exclusion at all. She should have seperate but equal events, I guess.
if it's pointless why are you here? It matters a great deal to many women. You can ignore the arguments all you like, but please don't pretend that you don't know what they are or that they don't exist.
"and excluding transwomen from a category isn't exclusion at all"
excluding transwomen from the category of women is exclusion, just like we exclude other males.
Let's just cut to the chase. The end point here is that women would not be able to have female only space if we are no longer allowed to name our own class. You may not care about that (still surprises me though), but it's supreme bullshit to say this is about fairness if you are elevating trans women at the expense of women. Because that just looks like the same old sexist shit all over again.
I made a comment because the regrettable leftish tendency to oppose injustice jumped the gun on my better judgement. Tends to happen when I read links that don't seem to be based on an impartial selection of facts – I'd still like to see who missed out because Hubbard qualified for the Olympics in her weight class.
If you still think the trans recognition movement is about "elevating" transwomen above other women rather than addressing the basic othering and exclusion of transpeople (and the entire damned spectrum of nonbinary people), or don't see why that is important, no worries.
In twenty years probably nobody will get what the fuss was about.
If you still think the trans recognition movement is about "elevating" transwomen above other women rather than addressing the basic othering and exclusion of transpeople (and the entire damned spectrum of nonbinary people
I neither said that nor believe that. Read it again. What I said is that you, and lefties in general, can’t claim to be supporting trans people out of fairness while removing women’s rights. That you as a man think you know better than feminists what women’s rights entail and whether there is a conflict of rights, fundamentally undermines any position of being on the side of justice.
as for othering, what strikes me as significant about that comment, apart from the gall of lecturing a politicised woman on it, is that I’m guessing you are in favour of sex blindness, similar to how liberal Americans like the idea of colourblindness. It just doesn’t work.
…regrettable leftish tendency to oppose injustice …
Just so there's no confusion…the "injustice" you're referring to is towards Hubbard? From the gender critical who object to male- bodied transwomen athletes competing against women in women's sport?
Any possibility you could, for a nanosecond or two, put yourself in the shoes of these young women…
You are doing that thing again where you are inserting your comments after the comment that you are replying to rather than in chronological order. This is making the discussion hard to follow. I note that you only do this when discussing this issue and it seems an unfair advantage to do this with what are not moderator comments.
Solkta, not quite sure what you mean. I can go into the back end and reply directly to a comment when the reply buttons have run out and this will show my comments as a reply in the Replies tab, and will put my comments ahead of other commenters in the same stream I think.
But I haven't been doing that tonight, I've just been on my mobile and laptop replying as per normal in the front end. Can you please explain a bit better what you are seeing (I think there are issues with the mobile version and if this is another one I will pass it on to Lynn).
it's supreme bullshit to say this is about fairness if you are elevating trans women at the expense of women.
ok, fair call. "at the expense of" vs "over".
It's still a bullshit framing that will be reduced to the history books and a few social conservatives in a couple of decades.
As for the rest, I don't just listen to transwomen on this. I listen to other women who disagree vehemently with anything close to your position, and throw the t-acronym you dislike about with free abandon. I listen to Rosemary, who referred me to fecking youtube comments about "genetic manipulation" and "axes" for some damned reason. I even try to listen to you, and reflect upon the points you make.
But the thought of being referred to youtube comments and tweets with highly selective evidence for the next couple of months just makes me very tired.
Your comment at 9.02pm is showing directly after McFlock's at 7.33pm that it replies to but before Rosemary's comment at 7.50pm and another of McFlock's at 8.25pm.
The same thing was happening the last time i commented on this issue a couple of weeks ago and i mentioned it in reply to you then.
That’s weird. I suspect it’s when I’m on the mobile version and logged in. I get a reply button on the mobile that I don’t get on my laptop. It’s not anything I am doing intentionally (and I don’t remember reading a comment from you on this before but if you have a link handy it would be helpful to look at another example).
ok, just tested it. It's something the mobile version is doing (not me). And it happens whether I am logged in or not. So it should also happen with anyone using the mobile version where a thread has run out of replies on the desktop version but there are still reply buttons on the mobile version.
edit, just noting that the mobile version doesn’t have time stamps on each comment like in the desktop version.
You have been trying really hard to put words in my mouth and i really don't appreciate it. You have been behaving like RL.
All i have been saying is that LGBTQ spaces are for all LGBTQ people. If L people want to have a separate space then that space can't be within LGBTQ space, ie Pride.
Also, inserting your posts out of time sequence is making all this hard to follow. As these aren't moderation notes this seems unfair.
@McFlock, I hadn't seen that comment from you the other day either. Ironically, one of things I was hoping from posting Hilton's tweet is the kind of discussion you brought to bear on it, but unfortunately it got derailed early on.
If Hilton is cherry picking problematically (rather than her just tweeting some charts she was working on that day), I'd like to know. Sometimes it's easier to get someone to explain charts than to figure it out myself (I don't have that background), so I laid down a challenge.
Imo, she's worth following because she does usually explain better what her argument is.
The other irony is that if there hadn't been such a massive suppression of debate, I'd be putting up researches and clear posts on the topics and we could be wrangling with the issues in the comments, rather than me dropping stuff I find on twitter randomly in OM or DR and us talking past each other.
Assuming of course I could get past the elephant in the living room of why there are no feminists posting about feminism here. So you might understand then why I'm tetchy about the whole thing.
For one thing, in the extended chart she's looking at one result in all weight classes and controlling for age.
Seems to me, if you're looking at a sport that has its main divisions by weight, maybe control for that? If the arguments are that two groups have people of different weights, then neglecting to control for that factor creates a chart that's misleading. The primary questions are whether a 130kg trans woman has an advantage over another non-trans woman, and whether weight classes reflect the participants. If the weight classes for the Masters are divided by the blank lines, then some classes consist of only a 5kg spread in weight, while the SHW class Hubbard is in has something like a 40kg spread between the four competitors.
She has a fair call about Hubbard's age, but then Precious Mackenzie was getting weightlifting medals for NZ in his 40s. So not sure one datapoint means anything.
The other way in which the masters seem to be an aberration in the apparent spread between the gold medalists and the following three competitors, compared to e.g. the panpacs or the 2019 world champs (and dayum that was a fascinating googlehole). In the world champs Hubbard came 6 out of 19, with not one opponent under 100kg as far as I can see, with at least a couple heavier than her.
But I don't see the last ten years of the IWF world champs all in a line, just the one with a lot of people in it for the fun. Might skew the spread a bit.
edit: hell of a google digression to get a handle on it, though – wikipedia, competition score pdfs, all sorts of sports websites. Interesting – didn’t know people kept such data online.
there's a whole thesis to be written on how left wing men have abandoned the concept that women get to have their own politics while at the same time upholding the right of trans women to have their own politics. It's almost like it wasn't real and all the time it was just men supporting women where their interests aligned, not because women a deserving of a full place in society. Of course such a thesis won't be written at the moment because the punishments in academia are too severe. Not even going to be a post on TS.
yes. Its the apparently the largest NZ team in weightlifting…. as those going met the standard and in separate classes. I wonder why so many qualified.
never mind, the pitchforks and hoods are being passed to the mob ,out to protect the purity of womenhood.
The men and womens groups of that american group of bigots had this as their creed
'This organisation is not anti-jew, anti-catholic nor anti-negro BUT we restrict our membership to native born, white, protestant, gentile American citizens.' …plus White supremacy.
Change a few words and we are back in the 1920s.
These are the possible women classes, Hubbard is the selectee in 87 kg and over, in spite of lies told in Rueters link.
45 kg (99.2 lb) (non-Olympic)
49 kg (108 lb)
55 kg (121 lb)
59 kg (130 lb)
64 kg (141 lb)
71 kg (157 lb) (non-Olympic)
76 kg (168 lb)
81 kg (179 lb) (non-Olympic)
87 kg (192 lb)
87 kg and over (191 lb+)
[you’re going to have to up your game in this debate. I couldn’t make much sense of your previous comment, and this one is not much better. What lies? If you are going to make a claim of fact, you have to back it up. There’s an expectation that in controversial topics you will do this in real time, not after being asked. The reason for this is to stop people just dropping in bullshit and slurs that derail or flame instead of debating the issues.
Please reread the Policy especially the bit about not using tone or language that has the effect of excluding others. If you want to make the argument that gender critical women are the same as the KKK (I think this is what you are doing), then you will have to make the argument, credibly, and back it up. You cannot just call feminists nazis on TS.
I’m leaving your comment, but know that you’re now using up my moderator time for the second time in a few days and I’ve got short patience for regulars here being so disrespectful of the boundaries and kaupapa of the site. And yes I will do the same moderation if gender critical people start with the same kind of slurring, derailing, non-debate bullshit. – weka]
Im not your student or subordinate and dont have to justify my view the lies told in mere Reuters link. – no context from the story added , no mention why its important , just a drive by link tossed there along with STFU.
Wheres this person who was left out because Hubbard was selected ? Wheres the beef ?
'understanding' is the new 'safety', a cliche used to dismiss opinions or inclusion that dont align with the 'right outlook' on gender
Feedback: some of your comments are really hard to parse. Honestly, I have to read them three times to understand what you mean.
Rosemary didn't tell anyone to STFU in the opening comment, she made the point that women are being told to not talk about the issues and she linked to an article discussing that.
Wheres this person who was left out because Hubbard was selected ? Wheres the beef ?
Women have already lost out competing against Hubbard. Hubbard will be competing against female athletes again, with Hubbard's male bodied advantage. That's the beef.
'understanding' is the new 'safety', a cliche used to dismiss opinions or inclusion that dont align with the 'right outlook' on gender
what does that even mean? this is a classic example of you saying something but not explaining.
You can assert independence from boundaries on TS, but I will continue to moderate, and across the board the thing that it ends up being about is wasting moderator time. There's only so many times I'm going to ask for you to up your game and support your assertions before I just start putting in short, and then increasing bans. You can say some abhorrent things here, but there are rules around how you do that. I've explained well enough where the boundaries, ball is in your court.
no context from the story added , no mention why its important , I prefer brevity, ghostwhowalksnz, and letting the link speak for itself. My personal opinion on the matter would be indicated by the "I guess its tough shit for female athletes."
Golly gosh…this is akin to a Year 8 English class on comprehension.
No one cares about your views on gender purity, or the cliches used to exclude others who dare to different. Hubbard is doing what she wants to do whether you like it or not
I think the main thing is this was basically created by the IWF rule change and the pressure should be on them to change their rules. Hubbard is elegable and NZ selectors should follow the selection rules of their sport. Other sports will probably follow the consensus trend emerging from that process eventually.
The New Zealand Medical Council are threatening doctors with terminating their employment if they have the temerity to criticise the vaccine rollout. Shades of East/ Germany/ the Soviet Union .All free speech regarding the vaccine rollout has been cancelled.We are not a country that welcomes both sides of an argument being presented, and the public making up its own mind. No informed consent here ! The Death of Democracy!!!
If you read that article, you’ll see that you’re barking up the wrong tree and that you have the wrong end of the stick.
There are plenty of experts, including medics, who are criticising the Government without fear of losing their jobs, e.g., the Plan B group and Professor Des Gorman come to mind.
I take a dim view of commenters who spread misinformation here.
Thanks Rosemary – Dr Thornley (of Plan B fame?) is a signatory; say no more. There were two news items on the PlanB website in April, but nothing since then.
Succumbed to the 'relentless pressure' – get my first jab of this experimental vaccine next week. Maybe it'll be the end of me, and yet I can hardly wait – weird eh?
The council has received 13 complaints about medical staff from the public this year – although that included instances of multiple complaints about the same doctor.
I agree and I don’t know why the letter was even brought into it other than as a distraction and diversion from the utter nonsense spouted by Historian Pete.
Some commenters here have a habit of shovelling all shit into their favourite pet wheelbarrow to confirm their ingrained conscious and sub-conscious biases. SSDD.
That discusses "a letter" but fails to provide a link to it?
Attached photo shows supporters outside the courthouse for the section 23 case , and it requires little in the way of effort to find the Ngai Kaitiaki Tuku Ihu website.
Honest and unbiased reporting would encourage readers to actually read the 'offending' letter and make their own minds up as to the appropriate response.
I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that any doctor who actively dissuades people from using a tested and safe vaccine during a pandemic is unfit to practise medicine and deserves to be struck off.
Sure, if they can documentclear levels of harm, especially if that harm is in the same order of magnitude or greater than from covid, they're whistleblowers.
You fail to mention said doctors are peddling misinformation about Covid 19 which I am sure is contrary to the ethical standards expected of such people. Any doctors who behave like that deserve to be struck of the medical register forthwith.
Can you please point to the investigation and reasons why the Council is investigating doctors for potentially spreading misinformation around Covid-19? Thank you in advance.
This letter…written in April and signed by 40-odd members of MC who all appended their MC registration numbers. This I saw as an indication of their integrity and willingness to put their reputations on the line. ( You might have noticed I have a thing about folks opining anonymously.)
I understand more have since signed. IMHO there is certainly nothing in that letter that warrants such a response from the Medical Council. (I hope there is another letter somewhere that merits such censure.) A link within the article would have helped.
This is the only such letter that I've read. I had to go looking for it and it was by chance I found it. Well, not quite…I read the decision from the case Sue Grey took to the court over Section 23 of the Medicines Act which forced an immediate response from Government to rectify the 'anomaly.' Fascinating stuff if holding truth to power is one's thing.
There was a time, not long since, when folks here would do likewise and dig a little deeper into the scary, shouty headlines dealt up by MSM. Having personally been a victim of such I make a real effort to fact check.
I have no detailed knowledge of the MC investigation. In any case, Historian Pete made all sorts of weird and wild accusations without rhyme or reason. I don’t think he’s a genuine historian. Do you?
Firstly, I have witnessed the biggest suppression of news and debate that has occurred in New Zealand since the 1952 Waterfront Strike. I can remember the NZBC around 2005 refusing to air a topic on the grounds that they were unable to present both sides of the story. Now it is par for the course that only one side is presented .The New Zealand public have a right to hear both sides. I have neither seen on TV{Tova Obrien anyone?} nor read in newspapers ie the Herald, any reasonable coverage of the views of those opposed to the" Vaccine' rollout. This is a suppression of free speech. How can these Doctors have a professional debate when they are closed down in all avenues. They have the courage to speak out at a significant risk to their professional careers. They have a credo to live up to: To do no harm. And the Pfizer jab is to them not in the interests of their patients.So they refuse to be gagged.
Secondly My own reseach on the topic has lead me to believe that firstly the jab is not a vaccine.A vaccine immunises the patient and prevents transmission.The Pfizer jab does neither. A plethora of toxic side effects is occuring after the " vaccination", especially the second one, which includes death. This is occurring far more frequently than would have occurred if the rollout had not happened at all . The Authorities are doing a sterling job of suppressing the real deaths happening being revealed to the public. However the TRUTH is slowly being revealed. Resistance is growing as we speak .This toxic Experimental "vaccine" has been established in haste, and many throughout the world now fear that long term it will result in unaccepable casualties ..
So, the death of free speech, and the termination of informed consent. And serious harm to a large number of the public. A determined group of Doctors acting on their conscience .I know whose side I'm on!!!
Professional debates do not happen in the media, generally. So no suppression there.
Professional debate between scientists involves evidence. The moonbats have none, so no suppression there.
The news media is supposed to disseminate news, not moonbat theories, otherwise the nightly news would headline whatever the local crazy person was yelling in the street. So no suppression there.
Your own research has led you to make some interesting claims, including "The Authorities are doing a sterling job of suppressing the real deaths happening being revealed to the public." I'm glad that you have managed to compromise this veil of official secrecy with your own research, which doubtless includes unearthing evidence buried in youtube videos. They can bury the corpses, but they can't censor online content, eh! /sarc
Intriguing PoV. Personally think it's OK that these determined doctors won't be getting immunised against COVID-19 – just hope their patients will be OK.
The Pfizer vaccine was 79 percent effective against the Delta variant and 92 percent against the Alpha variant at least 14 days after the second dose. The AZ vaccine was 60 percent effective against the Delta variant and 79 percent against the Alpha variant.
Earlier, Public Health England released similar study results. The study said two full doses of the Pfizer vaccine reduced the chance of hospital admission for the Delta variant infection by 96 percent. Two doses of the AZ vaccine lowered the risk of the infection progressing to a serious disease by 92 percent.
You undermine your own credibility by attributing every single climatic event to CC. Tornados have been occuring in NZ for as long as it has been above the waves and they are common in one form or another in almost every country in the world, and as for heavy rain and floods, if you believe that they are only a recent addition to weathers numerous variations, you are really dreaming. Even last weeks large floods in Canterbury are merely proof of how the Plains were formed over millennia. If you want to be believed you must first of all be believable.
You undermine your own credibility by attributing every single climatic event to CC.
Yes Adrian, I sometimes undermine my credibility, here and elsewhere.
As to whether I attribute "every single climatic event to CC", others can judge the credibility of that charge. Fwiw, I believe that "attributing every single climatic event to CC" is as silly as suggesting that there is no causal link between climate trends (and the frequency and/or severity of extreme weather events), and global warming. Time will tell.
It’s called “attribution science” and New Zealand researchers have been working on it since 2009, Niwa’s principal climate scientist, Dr Sam Dean, says.
The problem has been that getting an answer has taken many months, by which time people have moved on, he says. But two pieces of work are under way that may produce answers “within days after an extreme weather event”.
“Attribution has a really strong role in communicating with people the idea that climate change is the here and now. It's not something for the distant future,” Dean says.
“I spent years talking about what might happen in the year 2100 if we don't mitigate climate change and that's still true, but it disengages with people. It's much more powerful to [show that we] live in a different world now. We've already had more than a degree of warming and that is affecting everything – from ecosystems to floods to heat waves to droughts.”
Climate Change Indicators: Weather and Climate Rising global average temperature is associated with widespread changes in weather patterns. Scientific studies indicate that extreme weather events such as heat waves and large storms are likely to become more frequent or more intense with human-induced climate change. This chapter focuses on observed changes in temperature, precipitation, storms, floods, and droughts.
Suppression of free speech. Decades ago, when MMP was mooted we held a public meeting to explain it. Quite a good turn-out, and worked well as we sat and listened and took it in. The time was well-used and the understanding was enhanced as we did not give any time to the FPP proponents who gnashed their teeth.
No-thinking types like them did not want us to waste our time exercising our minds about possible worthy changes to the political process. We also had a very firm woman time-keeper of a Liberal persuasion who was interested in a well-controlled meeting which enabled informed discussion.
The types 'agin-it' just want to choose their weapons and hit people over the head to stop them daring to divert their minds from the very satisfactory system they have decided they like and want to retain.
Listen Shit-For-Brains, there is no alternative evidence on the pros and cons for vaccination, but what there is a job offer going on your preferred planet and you and your dopey flat-earthers should be right on to it as it needs qualified expendables to join them. See Jenny at 9 at 3.00pm. Bon voyage and good riddance.
Historian Pete- the first job of the historian is to get the dates right; otherwise, anything you say afterwards is somewhat blighted by doubt as to your actual knowledge, doubt of your proofreading skills and doubt as to your right to appropriate the title of historian.
The Waterfront Dispute (that it was a strike is actually itself disputed) took place in 1951.
All hail to the “suppression of free speech” when the nut-bars turn up. I s'pose you support Donald Trump and believe the presidential election was stolen from him.
Do you believe the moon landing was a fake and that the American government was responsible for the World Trade Centre terrorist attacks? Or worse still do you believe it was a false flag and it never happened at all?
Geez… you need brain surgery on the one and only brain cell you possess.
A. Non-stop ads on TV exhorting us all to buy oversized 4 wheel drive utes.
Or,
B. A plan to shift the planet further away from the sun so that we can all continue to enjoy driving them well into the future.
Scientific American
A Modest Proposal: Let’s Change Earth’s Orbit
What’s the worst that could happen?
Maddie Bender, June 18, 2021
….Sure, it’s a Sisyphean task in which humanity is Sisyphus and the boulder being eternally pushed uphill is Earth itself. But at least we’d get to keep driving our sweet SUVs! I say we get to work.
And can we get rid of that annoying 22 degree tilt in the earth's axis please? I get an awful crick in my neck compensating, and the four seasons are a nuisance and a bore.
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Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
The coalition Government is beginning its fight to lower building costs and reduce red tape by exempting minor building work from paying the building levy, says Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk. “Currently, any building project worth $20,444 including GST or more is subject to the building levy which is ...
Proposed changes to tax legislation to prevent the over-taxation of low-earning trusts are welcome, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The changes have been recommended by Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee following consideration of submissions on the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill. “One of the ...
Assalaamu alaikum. السَّلَام عليكم In light of the holy month of Ramadan, I want to extend my warmest wishes to our Muslim community in New Zealand. Ramadan is a time for spiritual reflection, renewed devotion, perseverance, generosity, and forgiveness. It’s a time to strengthen our bonds and appreciate the diversity ...
Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
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I learned a new word this morning: sponcon
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018800326/undeclared-sponcon-causing-political-and-editorial-headaches
One Roof…AKA the marketing arm of the NZ economy
GDP was up 1.6% in Q2-2021, our economy is on FIRE!
lol….very good
I heard a quick promo on the radio the otherday which Hosking was talking to Roberson about such figures. Hosking asked -what about Australia which is 'higher'.
Robertson queried where he got his numbers from, but really should have a better answer which I can do now
1. Iron Ore prices have jumped up dramatically in last 9 months, flows to GDP
2.Iron Ore etc
3. Tourism In normal times Australia a 'net tourism exporter' as it residents travel much more than us ( more competition means their airfares for equivalent routes are cheaper). Covid has meant the boost to domestic tourism is greater, but a few areas more affected than others. And of course international tourism is a bigger part of NZ economy , more like 4-5% nothing like the inflated number 20% the 'industry' claims…that would make foreign tourists a $40 bill input …laughable.
We have shortages within the workforce and growth, then why are industries, some contributors here and the government doing all they can to suppress any wage growth ? The nurses battle just to name one.
I wait to read that we need to keep interest rates down for those with debt.
You are mistaking growth, as an increase on returns on investment, ie profits. A good thing. With an increase in wages, ie wage inflation. A bad thing.*
*(mainly because it cuts into growth in profits. A very bad thing).
Yes. "One Roof' earlier this year was running opinion columns by person, who very little was said. A look at linkedin showed he was the Founder and former CEO of 'The Property Council', hardly a mere 'commentator'
The Herald also seems to be running stories by staff who either joined them from 'Property Press' or are moonlighting/ contra deal
I wonder if that too is sponcon ?
Bugger! It’s going to be a long day today.
Y'all have prepared the beds for the garlic of course? Homegrown is so much more effective at warding off the evil 'fluences.
Already planted my Russian Red garlic!
I'm ready…a mix of Russian Red and two other Kiwi garlic strains going into a 3m2 lovingly prepared bed. Up here, I guess I should have planted earlier…but I'm a bit of a stickler for the solstice ritual. Have warned the neighbours there could be naked dancing and music….
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qcPS-J0HTg
Planted our garlic six weeks ago to (hopefully) harvest before garlic rust gets chance to take hold. Plants are already 10cm high.
Three weeks ago I bunged three cloves of shop bought garlic into a yogurt pot to see if they'd grow. Two are well over 10 cm and the one I thought had failed is up about 4cm. Last years crop was a fizzer due to drought and us not having collected enough water to maintain even minimum hydration. This year…our cups runneth over…77000 litres stored up. Still picking outdoor tomatoes.
Garlic, onions, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, you name it. My dreams are more lucid than Nostradamus’s!
Cactus smuggling. It's a thing.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/garden/300337908/rare-poached-cacti-found-in-italian-raid-and-sent-home-to-native-chile
Poached cactus! Imagine!
Acquired taste.
Nopales.
Definitely an acquired taste. I gave them a good go when I worked in Tijuana, but just couldn't get there.
There's money in rare plants and plenty of it, every now and then you can get a peak on Trademe ie the plant that went for 27K the other week.
There are a number of amazing private collections in NZ that sit under the radar lest MPI get wind of them.
The collecting of huia feathers comes to mind. The great thing about plants though, is their potential for propagation; from one rare (poached) plant can come thousands. Standing a huia feather in a glass, however, results only in disappointment.
Indeed, I suspect many plants here have come from a single imported specimen, in many cases the intransigent position of MPI has created a black market and prevented the mass propagation of endangered species many of which stand pretty much zero chance of surviving in the 'wild' here.
There's money in cacti…prime Far North Real estate, complete with ready to harvest crop.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-woman-caught-smuggling-succulents-and-endangered-cacti-into-new-zealand/7COM2VJ6FAZWMQ24G53RCN2R6Q/
finally, something that almost certainly won't be smuggled in someone's pants.
McFlock @ (3.4) … Or tucked up inside their rear end!
well, that's an ouchie…
Never say Neve.
Talking of cactuses/cacti reminded of Cactus Kate and started my wondering what that prickly persona was up to.
Reading between the lines, it seems CK wants to demote the Prime Minister and the First Man and replace them with their daughter.
Be careful what you wish for Kate. One day it might come true.
Something I saw in NT Times this morning about US 'labour shortage', which sort of reflects what the industry groups are claiming here – but they want the migrant tap of cheaper labour to be turned back on.
However as NY Times points out , a lot more people have quit there jobs this year , as last year was a holding pattern for those who feel underpaid or dont like their job anymore
"By some estimates, more than five million fewer people quit last year than would otherwise be expected, as some workers, riding out the labor market’s convulsions, stuck with jobs they may have wanted to leave anyway"
So the mirage of labour shortage , often meaning not 5-10 people applying only 1 or 2, is just a consequence of the labour force stability last year ( apart from those that lost their job) and a higher turnover in last 6 months
Celebrations afoot at the news that local 'lassie' Laurel scores another first place.
I guess its tough shit for female athletes, who can just go and stfu.
Really …and who else made the qualifying mark ?…what would you know about weightlifting any way
The NZ team includes 3 female and 2 male in differing categories
Take your own advice !
You are making little sense. Again. Did you actually read the links provided?
I guess not.
Only one quote suggested that Hubbard was taking someone else's place. Difficult to see, as no other woman in NZ seems to have qualified for her weight class.
But far be it for me to suggest that your desire to
exclude a trans personbe critical of a trans person's gender from a competition should remain unexpressed.It's not excluding trans people, it's excluding trans women from a particular category, not sport generally. We exclude men from women's sports. Straight people can be excluded from gay and lesbian space. Paheka from Maori spaces and so on. Exclusion isn't inherently bad.
"be critical of a trans person's gender"
No-one cares about gender, the issue is biological sex.
The trip from women wanting to discuss the fairness issues of trans women and other biological males in women's sports, to 'bigots want to exclude trans people from sport and should stfu' is a big one.
So nobody wants to exclude Hubbard from the event?
are you being stupid or a smart arse?
Lots of people think that Hubbard should compete based on biological sex. That means not in the women's competition, because the reason we have women's separate from men's sport is fairness due to physical differences between the two sexes. There’s plenty of research and analysis out now on how males retain male advantage despite medication to alter hormones.
Instead of expecting women to be disadvantaged to make way for trans women and other males, we should be retaining women's rights and looking at how to create sports that will work for trans people. And non-binary, because that's what's coming up next.
I just forgot most of the many levels on which this debate has become utterly pointless.
So sure, Hubbard has taken someone else's place for the Olympics (even though nobody else from NZ qualified for that weight class), and will have an unfair advantage over other Olympic competitors (even though her record suggests she seems to be on a par with other Olympic-qualified women weightlifters in her class), and excluding transwomen from a category isn't exclusion at all.
She should have seperate but equal events, I guess.if it's pointless why are you here? It matters a great deal to many women. You can ignore the arguments all you like, but please don't pretend that you don't know what they are or that they don't exist.
"and excluding transwomen from a category isn't exclusion at all"
excluding transwomen from the category of women is exclusion, just like we exclude other males.
Let's just cut to the chase. The end point here is that women would not be able to have female only space if we are no longer allowed to name our own class. You may not care about that (still surprises me though), but it's supreme bullshit to say this is about fairness if you are elevating trans women at the expense of women. Because that just looks like the same old sexist shit all over again.
I made a comment because the regrettable leftish tendency to oppose injustice jumped the gun on my better judgement. Tends to happen when I read links that don't seem to be based on an impartial selection of facts – I'd still like to see who missed out because Hubbard qualified for the Olympics in her weight class.
If you still think the trans recognition movement is about "elevating" transwomen above other women rather than addressing the basic othering and exclusion of transpeople (and the entire damned spectrum of nonbinary people), or don't see why that is important, no worries.
In twenty years probably nobody will get what the fuss was about.
I neither said that nor believe that. Read it again. What I said is that you, and lefties in general, can’t claim to be supporting trans people out of fairness while removing women’s rights. That you as a man think you know better than feminists what women’s rights entail and whether there is a conflict of rights, fundamentally undermines any position of being on the side of justice.
as for othering, what strikes me as significant about that comment, apart from the gall of lecturing a politicised woman on it, is that I’m guessing you are in favour of sex blindness, similar to how liberal Americans like the idea of colourblindness. It just doesn’t work.
@McFlock
…regrettable leftish tendency to oppose injustice …
Just so there's no confusion…the "injustice" you're referring to is towards Hubbard? From the gender critical who object to male- bodied transwomen athletes competing against women in women's sport?
Any possibility you could, for a nanosecond or two, put yourself in the shoes of these young women…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-_TTj14Kns
…and maybe read the comments?
Score table was reasonably close. Hardly a massive advantage.
Youtube comments gonna youtube.
@weka
You are doing that thing again where you are inserting your comments after the comment that you are replying to rather than in chronological order. This is making the discussion hard to follow. I note that you only do this when discussing this issue and it seems an unfair advantage to do this with what are not moderator comments.
Solkta, not quite sure what you mean. I can go into the back end and reply directly to a comment when the reply buttons have run out and this will show my comments as a reply in the Replies tab, and will put my comments ahead of other commenters in the same stream I think.
But I haven't been doing that tonight, I've just been on my mobile and laptop replying as per normal in the front end. Can you please explain a bit better what you are seeing (I think there are issues with the mobile version and if this is another one I will pass it on to Lynn).
ok, fair call. "at the expense of" vs "over".
It's still a bullshit framing that will be reduced to the history books and a few social conservatives in a couple of decades.
As for the rest, I don't just listen to transwomen on this. I listen to other women who disagree vehemently with anything close to your position, and throw the t-acronym you dislike about with free abandon. I listen to Rosemary, who referred me to fecking youtube comments about "genetic manipulation" and "axes" for some damned reason. I even try to listen to you, and reflect upon the points you make.
But the thought of being referred to youtube comments and tweets with highly selective evidence for the next couple of months just makes me very tired.
Test comment
Test logged out.
@weka
Your comment at 9.02pm is showing directly after McFlock's at 7.33pm that it replies to but before Rosemary's comment at 7.50pm and another of McFlock's at 8.25pm.
The same thing was happening the last time i commented on this issue a couple of weeks ago and i mentioned it in reply to you then.
That’s weird. I suspect it’s when I’m on the mobile version and logged in. I get a reply button on the mobile that I don’t get on my laptop. It’s not anything I am doing intentionally (and I don’t remember reading a comment from you on this before but if you have a link handy it would be helpful to look at another example).
ok, just tested it. It's something the mobile version is doing (not me). And it happens whether I am logged in or not. So it should also happen with anyone using the mobile version where a thread has run out of replies on the desktop version but there are still reply buttons on the mobile version.
edit, just noting that the mobile version doesn’t have time stamps on each comment like in the desktop version.
Your test comment is showing for me as out of sequence before my last comment.
The other time i was referring to was in Daily Review of 21/05.
thanks Soltka, I hadn't seen that comment before (and it's useful for me to read on terms of the conversation there as well as the threading issue).
yes, my test comments are out of chronological sequence, because I made them on my phone using the mobile version. This comment is on my laptop.
@McFlock, I hadn't seen that comment from you the other day either. Ironically, one of things I was hoping from posting Hilton's tweet is the kind of discussion you brought to bear on it, but unfortunately it got derailed early on.
If Hilton is cherry picking problematically (rather than her just tweeting some charts she was working on that day), I'd like to know. Sometimes it's easier to get someone to explain charts than to figure it out myself (I don't have that background), so I laid down a challenge.
Here's what she said later in the thread,
https://twitter.com/FondOfBeetles/status/1399673573988524035
Imo, she's worth following because she does usually explain better what her argument is.
The other irony is that if there hadn't been such a massive suppression of debate, I'd be putting up researches and clear posts on the topics and we could be wrangling with the issues in the comments, rather than me dropping stuff I find on twitter randomly in OM or DR and us talking past each other.
Assuming of course I could get past the elephant in the living room of why there are no feminists posting about feminism here. So you might understand then why I'm tetchy about the whole thing.
For one thing, in the extended chart she's looking at one result in all weight classes and controlling for age.
Seems to me, if you're looking at a sport that has its main divisions by weight, maybe control for that? If the arguments are that two groups have people of different weights, then neglecting to control for that factor creates a chart that's misleading. The primary questions are whether a 130kg trans woman has an advantage over another non-trans woman, and whether weight classes reflect the participants. If the weight classes for the Masters are divided by the blank lines, then some classes consist of only a 5kg spread in weight, while the SHW class Hubbard is in has something like a 40kg spread between the four competitors.
She has a fair call about Hubbard's age, but then Precious Mackenzie was getting weightlifting medals for NZ in his 40s. So not sure one datapoint means anything.
The other way in which the masters seem to be an aberration in the apparent spread between the gold medalists and the following three competitors, compared to e.g. the panpacs or the 2019 world champs (and dayum that was a fascinating googlehole). In the world champs Hubbard came 6 out of 19, with not one opponent under 100kg as far as I can see, with at least a couple heavier than her.
But I don't see the last ten years of the IWF world champs all in a line, just the one with a lot of people in it for the fun. Might skew the spread a bit.
edit: hell of a google digression to get a handle on it, though – wikipedia, competition score pdfs, all sorts of sports websites. Interesting – didn’t know people kept such data online.
I read his comment and decided to treat it with the contempt it deserves.
Nothing new in men deriding women. Unless they're talking about transwomen, then these men are on their side.
If it wasn't so fucking depressing it'd be hilarious.
there's a whole thesis to be written on how left wing men have abandoned the concept that women get to have their own politics while at the same time upholding the right of trans women to have their own politics. It's almost like it wasn't real and all the time it was just men supporting women where their interests aligned, not because women a deserving of a full place in society. Of course such a thesis won't be written at the moment because the punishments in academia are too severe. Not even going to be a post on TS.
Between you and me and the gatepost, I think the wee mites are shit-scared of us.
Fear begats hate and all that.
yes. Its the apparently the largest NZ team in weightlifting…. as those going met the standard and in separate classes. I wonder why so many qualified.
never mind, the pitchforks and hoods are being passed to the mob ,out to protect the purity of womenhood.
The men and womens groups of that american group of bigots had this as their creed
'This organisation is not anti-jew, anti-catholic nor anti-negro BUT we restrict our membership to native born, white, protestant, gentile American citizens.' …plus White supremacy.
Change a few words and we are back in the 1920s.
These are the possible women classes, Hubbard is the selectee in 87 kg and over, in spite of lies told in Rueters link.
45 kg (99.2 lb) (non-Olympic)
49 kg (108 lb)
55 kg (121 lb)
59 kg (130 lb)
64 kg (141 lb)
71 kg (157 lb) (non-Olympic)
76 kg (168 lb)
81 kg (179 lb) (non-Olympic)
87 kg (192 lb)
87 kg and over (191 lb+)
[you’re going to have to up your game in this debate. I couldn’t make much sense of your previous comment, and this one is not much better. What lies? If you are going to make a claim of fact, you have to back it up. There’s an expectation that in controversial topics you will do this in real time, not after being asked. The reason for this is to stop people just dropping in bullshit and slurs that derail or flame instead of debating the issues.
Please reread the Policy especially the bit about not using tone or language that has the effect of excluding others. If you want to make the argument that gender critical women are the same as the KKK (I think this is what you are doing), then you will have to make the argument, credibly, and back it up. You cannot just call feminists nazis on TS.
I’m leaving your comment, but know that you’re now using up my moderator time for the second time in a few days and I’ve got short patience for regulars here being so disrespectful of the boundaries and kaupapa of the site. And yes I will do the same moderation if gender critical people start with the same kind of slurring, derailing, non-debate bullshit. – weka]
mod note.
Im not your student or subordinate and dont have to justify my view the lies told in mere Reuters link. – no context from the story added , no mention why its important , just a drive by link tossed there along with STFU.
Wheres this person who was left out because Hubbard was selected ? Wheres the beef ?
'understanding' is the new 'safety', a cliche used to dismiss opinions or inclusion that dont align with the 'right outlook' on gender
Feedback: some of your comments are really hard to parse. Honestly, I have to read them three times to understand what you mean.
Rosemary didn't tell anyone to STFU in the opening comment, she made the point that women are being told to not talk about the issues and she linked to an article discussing that.
Women have already lost out competing against Hubbard. Hubbard will be competing against female athletes again, with Hubbard's male bodied advantage. That's the beef.
what does that even mean? this is a classic example of you saying something but not explaining.
You can assert independence from boundaries on TS, but I will continue to moderate, and across the board the thing that it ends up being about is wasting moderator time. There's only so many times I'm going to ask for you to up your game and support your assertions before I just start putting in short, and then increasing bans. You can say some abhorrent things here, but there are rules around how you do that. I've explained well enough where the boundaries, ball is in your court.
the lies told in mere Reuters link. Specifically?
no context from the story added , no mention why its important , I prefer brevity, ghostwhowalksnz, and letting the link speak for itself. My personal opinion on the matter would be indicated by the "I guess its tough shit for female athletes."
Golly gosh…this is akin to a Year 8 English class on comprehension.
protect the purity of womenhood.
Nevermind the 1920s….your ancestors, it seems, failed to land far enough from the tree.
Come back when you've learned the difference between 'biological sex' and 'gender.'
The difference between the twain matters…especially in sex segregated sports.
No one cares about your views on gender purity, or the cliches used to exclude others who dare to different. Hubbard is doing what she wants to do whether you like it or not
Hubbard competed as a man in weightlifting.
Now Hubbard competes as a woman.
You don't see a problem with this with respect to fairness to women athletes who have always competed as women because they are, well, women?
I care about Rosemary's views.
No-one cares that Hubbard is trans, all power to them on that and living their life.
Meanwhile,
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/300319156/transgender-athletes-will-be-able-to-play-rugby-but-nz-rugby-is-unsure-who-against
Safety: biological sex actually matters when it comes to physicality.
I think the main thing is this was basically created by the IWF rule change and the pressure should be on them to change their rules. Hubbard is elegable and NZ selectors should follow the selection rules of their sport. Other sports will probably follow the consensus trend emerging from that process eventually.
The New Zealand Medical Council are threatening doctors with terminating their employment if they have the temerity to criticise the vaccine rollout. Shades of East/ Germany/ the Soviet Union .All free speech regarding the vaccine rollout has been cancelled.We are not a country that welcomes both sides of an argument being presented, and the public making up its own mind. No informed consent here ! The Death of Democracy!!!
This is a fine example why you should include a link in your comment, so that others can see what you’re on about and check for themselves.
For example, https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445179/doctors-spreading-misinformation-about-covid-19-may-lose-their-job-medical-council
If you read that article, you’ll see that you’re barking up the wrong tree and that you have the wrong end of the stick.
There are plenty of experts, including medics, who are criticising the Government without fear of losing their jobs, e.g., the Plan B group and Professor Des Gorman come to mind.
I take a dim view of commenters who spread misinformation here.
Is this the offending letter signed by the offensive Doctors?
?
Thanks Rosemary – Dr Thornley (of Plan B fame?) is a signatory; say no more. There were two news items on the PlanB website in April, but nothing since then.
Succumbed to the 'relentless pressure' – get my first jab of this experimental vaccine next week. Maybe it'll be the end of me, and yet I can hardly wait – weird eh?
What letter are your talking about? Historian Pete didn’t mention a letter!? He was also very confused.
It is not about a letter. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445179/doctors-spreading-misinformation-about-covid-19-may-lose-their-job-medical-council
I agree and I don’t know why the letter was even brought into it other than as a distraction and diversion from the utter nonsense spouted by Historian Pete.
Some commenters here have a habit of shovelling all shit into their favourite pet wheelbarrow to confirm their ingrained conscious and sub-conscious biases. SSDD.
Sacha. You did follow the link within the RNZ piece?
The link that leads to a TVNZ article? (https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/health-professionals-sign-letter-misleading-claims-around-pfizers-covid-vaccine)
That discusses "a letter" but fails to provide a link to it?
Attached photo shows supporters outside the courthouse for the section 23 case , and it requires little in the way of effort to find the Ngai Kaitiaki Tuku Ihu website.
Honest and unbiased reporting would encourage readers to actually read the 'offending' letter and make their own minds up as to the appropriate response.
This complaint process is not about that letter.
What is the nature of this criticism? Logical, I hope, given that it's coming from “doctors“.
three exclamation marks. It must be serious.
I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that any doctor who actively dissuades people from using a tested and safe vaccine during a pandemic is unfit to practise medicine and deserves to be struck off.
Sure, if they can document clear levels of harm, especially if that harm is in the same order of magnitude or greater than from covid, they're whistleblowers.
But distributors of woo should be struck off.
Dr Woo?
The crazy is bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside.
You fail to mention said doctors are peddling misinformation about Covid 19 which I am sure is contrary to the ethical standards expected of such people. Any doctors who behave like that deserve to be struck of the medical register forthwith.
You fail to mention said doctors are peddling misinformation about Covid 19 …
Exactly what is it that they are saying that amounts to "peddling misinformation", if it is the letter I linked to above that is the source?
Nope. I reads newspapers and listen to the news. Try it. You might learn something.
So you’re getting all your information from MSM??
I tried to find it on the Medical Council website (https://www.mcnz.org.nz/) but could not find anything. The closest I could find was this: https://www.mcnz.org.nz/about-us/news-and-updates/expectations-for-covid-19-vaccination-released-for-doctors-and-dentists/
Can you please point to the investigation and reasons why the Council is investigating doctors for potentially spreading misinformation around Covid-19? Thank you in advance.
This letter…written in April and signed by 40-odd members of MC who all appended their MC registration numbers. This I saw as an indication of their integrity and willingness to put their reputations on the line. ( You might have noticed I have a thing about folks opining anonymously.)
I understand more have since signed. IMHO there is certainly nothing in that letter that warrants such a response from the Medical Council. (I hope there is another letter somewhere that merits such censure.) A link within the article would have helped.
This is the only such letter that I've read. I had to go looking for it and it was by chance I found it. Well, not quite…I read the decision from the case Sue Grey took to the court over Section 23 of the Medicines Act which forced an immediate response from Government to rectify the 'anomaly.' Fascinating stuff if holding truth to power is one's thing.
There was a time, not long since, when folks here would do likewise and dig a little deeper into the scary, shouty headlines dealt up by MSM. Having personally been a victim of such I make a real effort to fact check.
Ta
I have no detailed knowledge of the MC investigation. In any case, Historian Pete made all sorts of weird and wild accusations without rhyme or reason. I don’t think he’s a genuine historian. Do you?
The response is not about the letter.
The letter is not the source.
Then what is the source?
I sincerely hope, (as I said at https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-06-2021/#comment-1799309) that there is something else other that the letter referred to in the TVNZ piece.
Sigh. Complaints from the public about particular practitioners triggered the process.
Perhaps taking the hint from Winston, Barnaby Joyce has returned.
As if Australia hadn't troubles enough.
Firstly, I have witnessed the biggest suppression of news and debate that has occurred in New Zealand since the 1952 Waterfront Strike. I can remember the NZBC around 2005 refusing to air a topic on the grounds that they were unable to present both sides of the story. Now it is par for the course that only one side is presented .The New Zealand public have a right to hear both sides. I have neither seen on TV{Tova Obrien anyone?} nor read in newspapers ie the Herald, any reasonable coverage of the views of those opposed to the" Vaccine' rollout. This is a suppression of free speech. How can these Doctors have a professional debate when they are closed down in all avenues. They have the courage to speak out at a significant risk to their professional careers. They have a credo to live up to: To do no harm. And the Pfizer jab is to them not in the interests of their patients.So they refuse to be gagged.
Secondly My own reseach on the topic has lead me to believe that firstly the jab is not a vaccine.A vaccine immunises the patient and prevents transmission.The Pfizer jab does neither. A plethora of toxic side effects is occuring after the " vaccination", especially the second one, which includes death. This is occurring far more frequently than would have occurred if the rollout had not happened at all . The Authorities are doing a sterling job of suppressing the real deaths happening being revealed to the public. However the TRUTH is slowly being revealed. Resistance is growing as we speak .This toxic Experimental "vaccine" has been established in haste, and many throughout the world now fear that long term it will result in unaccepable casualties ..
So, the death of free speech, and the termination of informed consent. And serious harm to a large number of the public. A determined group of Doctors acting on their conscience .I know whose side I'm on!!!
Professional debates do not happen in the media, generally. So no suppression there.
Professional debate between scientists involves evidence. The moonbats have none, so no suppression there.
The news media is supposed to disseminate news, not moonbat theories, otherwise the nightly news would headline whatever the local crazy person was yelling in the street. So no suppression there.
Your own research has led you to make some interesting claims, including "The Authorities are doing a sterling job of suppressing the real deaths happening being revealed to the public." I'm glad that you have managed to compromise this veil of official secrecy with your own research, which doubtless includes unearthing evidence buried in youtube videos. They can bury the corpses, but they can't censor online content, eh! /sarc
Intriguing PoV. Personally think it's OK that these determined doctors won't be getting immunised against COVID-19 – just hope their patients will be OK.
https://health-reporter.news/study-pfizer-vaccine-works-against-gamma-variant/
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Are the MSM still giving air time to climate change deniers?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/300338071/auckland-tornado-46k-raised-for-killed-workers-family-papatoetoe-cleanup-continues
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/445149/flash-floods-from-east-cape-to-napier-more-rain-expected-around-new-zealand
You undermine your own credibility by attributing every single climatic event to CC. Tornados have been occuring in NZ for as long as it has been above the waves and they are common in one form or another in almost every country in the world, and as for heavy rain and floods, if you believe that they are only a recent addition to weathers numerous variations, you are really dreaming. Even last weeks large floods in Canterbury are merely proof of how the Plains were formed over millennia. If you want to be believed you must first of all be believable.
Yes Adrian, I sometimes undermine my credibility, here and elsewhere.
As to whether I attribute "every single climatic event to CC", others can judge the credibility of that charge. Fwiw, I believe that "attributing every single climatic event to CC" is as silly as suggesting that there is no causal link between climate trends (and the frequency and/or severity of extreme weather events), and global warming. Time will tell.
Laughable …
"Secondly My own research on the topic has lead me to believe ….. [the rantings of a disturbed mind….]
Right who left the gate open and let the crazy in?
Suppression of free speech. Decades ago, when MMP was mooted we held a public meeting to explain it. Quite a good turn-out, and worked well as we sat and listened and took it in. The time was well-used and the understanding was enhanced as we did not give any time to the FPP proponents who gnashed their teeth.
No-thinking types like them did not want us to waste our time exercising our minds about possible worthy changes to the political process. We also had a very firm woman time-keeper of a Liberal persuasion who was interested in a well-controlled meeting which enabled informed discussion.
The types 'agin-it' just want to choose their weapons and hit people over the head to stop them daring to divert their minds from the very satisfactory system they have decided they like and want to retain.
Listen Shit-For-Brains, there is no alternative evidence on the pros and cons for vaccination, but what there is a job offer going on your preferred planet and you and your dopey flat-earthers should be right on to it as it needs qualified expendables to join them. See Jenny at 9 at 3.00pm. Bon voyage and good riddance.
"The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a publicly owned company of the New Zealand Government founded in 1962. The Broadcasting Act 1976 then reformed NZBC as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ).[1] The corporation was dissolved on 1 April 1975, and replaced by three separate organisations: Radio New Zealand, Television One, and Television Two, later known as South Pacific Television. The television channels would merge again in 1980 to become Television New Zealand, while Radio New Zealand remained unchanged."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Broadcasting_Corporation
Historian Pete- the first job of the historian is to get the dates right; otherwise, anything you say afterwards is somewhat blighted by doubt as to your actual knowledge, doubt of your proofreading skills and doubt as to your right to appropriate the title of historian.
The Waterfront Dispute (that it was a strike is actually itself disputed) took place in 1951.
All hail to the “suppression of free speech” when the nut-bars turn up. I s'pose you support Donald Trump and believe the presidential election was stolen from him.
Do you believe the moon landing was a fake and that the American government was responsible for the World Trade Centre terrorist attacks? Or worse still do you believe it was a false flag and it never happened at all?
Geez… you need brain surgery on the one and only brain cell you possess.
Interesting assumption that he/she has a brain cell.
What's more crazy:
A. Non-stop ads on TV exhorting us all to buy oversized 4 wheel drive utes.
Or,
B. A plan to shift the planet further away from the sun so that we can all continue to enjoy driving them well into the future.
I did like that the actual guy was asking the Forest Service to do it. Just to add stupid icing to the stupid cake.
And can we get rid of that annoying 22 degree tilt in the earth's axis please? I get an awful crick in my neck compensating, and the four seasons are a nuisance and a bore.
Good news for you it is moving.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17657-global-warming-could-change-earths-tilt/
And rotating faster which makes my head spin…..