It's starting to pick up now during this current bushfire season and the extreme weather pattern we are currently having which is effecting every part of Oz atm.
Australian's by nature are a independent bunch of people and the same goes with their thinking, but they really do hate it when some or a bunch of high brow over educate bunch of tossers talks down to them/ forcing it down the throat to the average ocker and tells what to do and how they should do it etc.
The average ocker likes to think for themselves and look at the available evidenced (there has been some really interesting graphs coming out of BOM, ABARES atm and some TV reports the ABC's Landline and News/ 730 Report) or when CC starts to impact on the lives of the average ocker before they like to make a decision IRT CC.
The is tide on CC is slowly changing here in Oz as people across all sectors of Australia are starting to realise that CC is real and are now start to feel the effects of CC.
For example we in the Northern part of Australia by now should've had at least over a metre of rainfall, but its dry as a dingo's backside and though it green atm. Mowing atm feels like being sandblasted by down wash by a CH47 Chook or CH53 Sea Stallion or Jet Prop wash of C130 on a duster airfield/ LZ in the Sandpit from head to toe atm.
The Pollies are slowly starting to feel the heat now with the current/ extreme weather due to CC related events and if they are not seen to be doing something about it and just not tinkering around the slides, but meaningful actions. They well be throwed out of office. It happen to John Howard at a federal level and if ScoMo and his mob keeps up its current rate of effort up atm, then he and his bunch of Muppets will be out of a job.
So man y Federal governments have called in the last decade all based around addressing climate change in one form or another, that it's really hard to see the horizon of change.
You will have seen our government do the full pre-Christmas dump of its Carbon Bill consultation, getting ready to ram it through in March 2020.
Hard to see anyone getting away with that at an Australian Federal level if the ALP were in power.
Barring a major city losing several suburbs to fire, it still feels like Australia's political discourse has a while to go on this.
I have a gut feeling this might be the year/ fire season that CC finally sinks in for awful lot of Australians. We were bloody luck up here in Darwin/ rural area of Darwin this fire season with only houses/ buildings being lost, but it was very F**king close and the law of averages will catch up with us on the fire line sooner or later. Which I've been writing up an end of action report for our NT Bushfire brigade at Dundee Beach/ Bynoe Harbour Area, but weather it gets notice and action is going to be another thing.
We just spoken to the father in-law at Sussex Inlet about 30mins ago and the only Rd to Sussex Inlet is now cut and are now on ember alert. About the same time heard that the town of the former post war labour leader Ben Chifley Lithgow, is on the western side of the Blue Mountains is now on ember alert and this town is quite large probably the size of Nelson I think.
I haven't read the NZ carbon bill as yet, but Shaw and Peters have done good job all consider.
I'm head to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test, via Sydney on Christmas Day and its going to interesting week for me.
I've just sent an email from a brief write up I did for the folks at home in the NZ and I think it might make a good post for the readers here on the 'The Standard" to have understanding on the conditions that we face over in Oz during the fire seasons. It's picture and video heavy, well one video and a number of pictures on the conditions I face on the weekend of the 14 September 2019.
Here in Brisbane we are only getting through with air conditioning. For many days this past month there have been vast, ominous smoke clouds that render everything a sombre orange, darkening into an apocalyptic red in the sunset.
Yes it’s my sense from socialising that most people are uneasily aware that life as they knew it is changing. And this will fairly quickly reflect into the political scene.
Who could imagine any Brisbane summer without air conditioning?
Forest fires, temperature rise, and the accelerated collapse of the Murray-Darling seem like more effective public discourses into State and Federal politics about the environment than railing against coal mining.
Is this the moment that public mood alters enough in Australia?
Here's another more direct answer to your question Ad:
People are getting anxious and "this is not normal" — the phrase employed by New South Wales Liberal Minister Matt Kean to describe the apocalyptic skies above Sydney — could well become the catch cry of this summer.
Liberal insiders know it is a hot issue and they know voters are increasingly looking to the Government to do something "more".
At a recent meeting of Liberal MPs and senators, the party's federal director Andrew Hirst identified climate change and the economy as the biggest issues confronting the country.
This is probably worth a post in itself: the Dutch government has been ordered to do much more than it has been about climate change, after a six year legal fight.
The court ruled that the government had explicit duties to protect its citizens’ human rights in the face of climate change and must reduce emissions by at least 25% compared with 1990 levels by the end of 2020.
Hopefully that sends a shudder through a number of other governments.
In part it reads, "Ardern’s response to the unimaginable horror of the Christchurch massacre was more or less flawless in both tone and content. The dignity and solidarity she showed with victims was matched with the courage to act decisively on reforming New Zealand’s gun laws.
In a year where many leaders fled from scrutiny or cashed in on the kind of sentiments that lead to incidents like Christchurch, Ardern showed what leadership that pushes back against the worst parts of society really looks like."
On Radionz this morning. Needs to be heard though you will not like what you hear. Doesn't fit to a kind and practical rule. There are a lot of images on the Radionz site. There isn't a link set up yet.
8:10 Ian Urbina – Human stories of crime on the high seas
Photo: supplied / Penguin
From pirates to people smugglers, enslaved crews and dodgy fishing practices, the world's oceans are home to widespread and largely unchecked illegality.
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Ian Urbina has spent five years documenting the lawless behaviour flourishing on the high seas in his book The Outlaw Ocean.
He's also set up a non-profit journalism organization called The Outlaw Ocean Project dedicated to publishing more stories about life and conditions on board the global shipping fleet.
It's a failure on a massive scale. Were our political leaders a little more ecologically literate, they'd have recognised and cultivated our marine resources to enrich our nation. Instead they brought in the lowest common denominator – slave fishermen – and the agricultural research that underpins our farming sector was, shamefully, never replicated for our fisheries.
The two most common elements in the universe arehydrogen, and stupidity. ~ Harlan Ellison
Australia is going through a climate change Chernobyl, every single Australian state is suffering through a record early bush fire season and record breaking heat wave. Shockingly flying foxes are dying on their perches.
After watching the mini-series on Prime I was struck by the similarity, with the current crisis in Australia.
Just like the flying foxes in Australia, the mini series depicted birds falling from the sky to lie flapping on the ground in their death throes.
After the Chernobyl explosion, Soviet political leaders were in deep denial as the reactor core was open to the air and lumps of radioactive graphite was scattered on the ground and roof of the plant.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, (famous for holding up a lump of coal thoughtfully shellacked by his coal industry backers to stop him getting soot on his hands), like some unconcerned Soviet nuclear industry apparatchik, holidays in Hawaii.
The depth of denial plumbed by Scott Morrison dwarfs that of the Soviets.
Gorbachev didn't hold up a lump of (decontaminated) graphite to declare "This is graphite– don't be afraid!"
The US military is in the middle of a recruitment crisis. At this point finding anyone who isn't smoking pot, can pass a basic intelligence test, and has a baseline fitness level is incredibly difficult for them.
I'm guessing that they decided if one part of the recruitment criteria had to be softened it was psychological – yikes – what are they doing in that country?
Edit
The House is produced for RNZ with funding from Parliament. I noticed a highlight on Radionz about PM Jacinda from The House and hadn't heard about this before. This piece is a speculative piece and gives explanation and interpretation about something that may never happen. Interesting, but I wonder what sort of focus on our reality and priorities for matters calling for explanation that journalists developing their own stories will show, especially when it is through RNZ, RadioNZ.
This is the piece. Can you impeach a prime minister?
They conclude that we can't end up in the USA bog, a hopeful note! We no speak Americano In summary, New Zealand doesn’t require an impeachment process because prime ministers serve at the pleasure of Parliament (and their own party), and are easy to get rid of it they start getting all ‘high crimes and misdemeanours’ (which refers to abuse of power).
New Zealand has had a few prime ministers who were bullies (there’s a big statue of one of them holding forth in Parliament’s front yard), but getting rid of them is as easy as a simple majority in the House. Just ask Marilyn Waring.
And this fits in with a very interesting piece on falsehood in information releases by governments and gives a view of what is happening in Russia by someone who knows. It would give background learnings to many ponderings on this blog.
Book written: This is not Propaganda – Adventures in the war against Reality. (Some of the best information we get is coming after books have been written and bring together disparate information for the public. I am amazed at the huge numbers of fiction authors at present. These days the reality books by people devoted to finding out and explaining what’s going on are really exciting!)
9:25 Peter Pomerantsev: 'when information is a weapon, everyone is at war' How can we build up a more truthful picture of the world in the era of fake news, trolls, Trump and Putin? This is the question at the heart of Peter Pomerantsev's new book This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality.
Pomerantsev is a Soviet-born journalist, author and TV producer who's spent much of his life in Britain after his dissident parents were forced out of the USSR by the KGB. He's also a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics.
(Audio link to come if I get time, otherwise see audio list for Saturday Morning..)
I remember another interview with Kim some years ago when Pomerantsev was pushing a very similar line and promoting his book "Nothing is true and everything is possible"
I followed up and read other stuff of his but also this..to me.. interesting critique by Mark Ames in 2015
A real cast of characters here, the Chandlers, (particularly Chris, a kiwi billionaire) Browder, The Legatum Institute, the nutty ex Polish foreign minister Sikorski, married to Anne Applebaum, a colleague of Pomerantsev's
Sorry its a long read, but its always good to "pressure test" a story when there appears to be an agenda, which most often there is…from all sides.
Pomerantsev is a great mate of Bill Browder who has a similar message
More recent to the Ames article, the Browder (also rather breathlessly interviewed by Kim)story has come under closer scrutiny, by various unrelated figures. The most recent appearing in Der Spiegel.
The link below also has links for a fuller discussion .
Even our own secretive kiwi Chandler brothers, who made millions out of Russia appear in this story
Useful interview of Aussie environmental scientist Bill Hare by Amy Goodman. He's part of a team that developed a tracker that is predicting 2.8 degrees Celsius (or more) of warming by 2100. He pans both Scomo's Liberals and the ALP – his point being that resistance to action in Australia is essentially political.
That's no surprise though. The whole purpose of right-wing parties is to protect an economy that acts as a conveyor belt transporting money to the top of the wealth-power pyramid. Genuine action means that all that surplus money sloshing around at the top will have to be appropriated to fund the transition to carbon-neutral economies without creating massive hardship for those dependent on industries being phased out – as well as to fund managed retreat from localities that will become uninhabitable.
Have to add how good it is to see 63 year-old woman who has let her hair go grey fronting a news show and striking a note of high seriousness.. Having recently seen the waffly sentimentalist John Campbell surrounded by a bevy on blondes in their 30's on the execrable 'Breakfast' show, or the endlessly self-referential narcissism of Seven Sharp, Amy seems particularly sane.
I hear Australians saying it's the right, but also the left (union history), and the powerful lobbies from various industries. Unlike NZ where we have a pro-action left and centre left, and business increasingly ready to get on board despite the recalcitrants like Fed Farmers and Fonterra.
No he didn't. He simply said that the ALP was no better, with the implication being that they are subject to the same pressures from economic interests.
We stand for organized terror – this should be frankly admitted. Terror is an absolute necessity during times of revolution. Our aim is to fight against the enemies of the Soviet Government and of the new order of life. We judge quickly. In most cases only a day passes between the apprehension of the criminal and his sentence. When confronted with evidence criminals in almost every case confess; and what argument can have greater weight than a criminal's own confession?
OOh. Those movements born in fire and harsh coercion, will continue to smoulder and become too hot for people to handle. Cruel and callous cannot create a society fit for humans, animals or plants. No New Order from this background can be welcomed by decent, free human beings as a way of living.
Cruel and callous cannot create a society fit for humans, animals or plants. No New Order from this background can be welcomed by decent, free human beings as a way of living
Hollow words from you, yet I agree, at your expense, though still can't quite fathom how you managed to dodge this bullet when the debate about treatment of women has been raging for the past few days.
Is there no end to this hysterical, historical sexual accusation witchhunt thing?
That 27 year old who has held a woman by the neck for heightened sexual effect, he is still not named is he. And he definitely killed that silly woman, and he is responsible for the force that she died from. Why isn't his name openly available, or has NZ suddenly become too dainty to cope with sexuality? We are a farming nation, and live by procreation.
[fixed the internal link. You have to us the link html or button or it reverts back to the post – weka]
I totally agree that action should have been taken on that absolutely disgusting comment by Greywarshark the other night on OM 19 Dec. And that is far from the first time we have had comments from Grey along similar sanctimonious, shallow lines.
I was also shocked by Grey's comment yesterday at 3.1 on Open Mike 20 Dec that
"Someone intoning about safety on the roads on radio this morning (in a foreign accent – Canadian I think one less job for a born NZer). Realistic xenophobia!"
As noted in my response at /open-mike-20-12-2019/#comment-1674783;, that 'someone' was most probably none other than Julie Anne Genter as our Associate Minister of Transport. JAG was interviewed yesterday morning on RNZ's Nine to Noon programme re the Government's new multi-billion dollar road safety plan called Road to Zero aimed at cutting road deaths by 40 per cent by 2030.
But Grey's view appears to be that 'this was someone with a foreign accent taking up a Nzer's job; and therefore "realistic zenophobia" is apparently justified!
But as usual, Grey just sprays and walks away with no response to your and others' reactions to her/his OM 19 Dec comment, nor to mine yesterday on OM 20 Dec.
And here she is back today, with her comments currently totaling 7 of the 30 so far today (as of about 30 mins ago). Well I suppose it keeps the comment numbers up if not the quality; but IMO it is not really surprising that over the last 10 or so months a noticeable number of long term commenters no longer participate here regularly, including myself. In my case, this type of behaviour/comment is a big turnoff and one of the major factors, but not the only one, as to why I no longer participate as much as I did. I certainly do not want to be associated with such prejudice and attitudes as displayed in these two very recent comments by Grey.
I'm aware there are issues. It's harder to moderate in places like OM and DR where the expectation is that as long as people don't break the main rules they can post abhorrent beliefs and arguments (there is a limit). It's the robust debate ethic and the theory is that commenters will then argue why the beliefs/argument are abhorrent (as you did over the xenophobia issue).
If she was making those rape culture comments under a post of mine she would get warned then banned (have done so in the past) because I write to create a good discussion space. But then reasons why I'm not writing on those topics (and why there are no other regular feminist authors here) are the elephant in the living room of TS.
If the community wants more moderation on topics like this it has to support the moderators and authors.
Just caught up on the comment and replies. I think that people did exactly what was needed: named the problems with the comment and pushed back clearly. I'm grateful because Grey has been commenting like that for a while and has generally not been responded to. I find reading those comments as a moderator easily the worst part of the job, it makes things way easier if the commentariat responds.
I raised it again today mainly because I can't see how someone posting about 'Cruel and callous' not befitting society and humanity one day, can post cruel and callous comments a couple of days previous, showing a distinct lack of humanity, and expect to be taken seriously on any level at all.
I honestly took it as an example of daytime drinking not being for everyone if it allows the natural nasty to come through in such an ignorant and spiteful way, but really, there's no excuse for that. Glad he got called out for it by a few others, too.
I have also found some of Grey's comments recently quite shocking – the full blown rape apologist and rape culture remarks and the misogynist language in particular. He/she made some similar remarks on open mike back in November 28 under the Assange thread (can't link sorry on my phone).
I am really annoyed at veutoviper. I have not advanced myself as a woman so she has chosen to break the rule that good bloggers here don't penetrate others' pseudonyms. Which is strange as she always holds herself up to be exemplary in everything.
Secondly there is the matter of free speech. I consider that my points are relevant and not unreasonable. The state of politics and the way that there is an oppressive PC control on speech from those who find that interacts with their advanced sensitivities means that matters can't be faced and discussed as they need to be.
The PC brigade and those concerned with 'nice' and right-as-taught expression apart from that chosen as the official line, results in a shutting down of full discussion with the ability to be objective and see and speak to the unsatisfactory state of affairs. Trying to look at things as they are while this 'moral outrage' from the cognoscenti who have made a group decision that they are right, and there is one way to consider anything, theirs seems paramount. The carping continues regularly iterated from the passive aggressive controllers.
If women can't strongly speak out on matters that should be looked at closely, not with a prepared reaction agreed to by the Sisters Union, they are being silenced and pushed out by these other women, who wish to be moral dictators. This reminds me of how Ettie Rout was treated after she conducted her campaign against sexually transmitted disease caught from sexual congress by soldiers in WW1. And I am sure that the sisters here won't see the parallel. Scorn and outrage is your response to the challenge of different ideas.
So I have responded to all the comfy chair warriors, and those who want a harmonious little coterie. I haven't in the past because I thought that some different thoughts were needed but i see you are determined to squash them. You have your wish.
Calling a murder victim "that silly girl" and historic sexual abuse/assault "hysterical" and a "witch hunt" isn't "different thoughts", it's just fucking wrong. It negates the devastating impact on victims and cheapens the suffering of all innocents. They don't need squashing, they just need not to be said in the first instance.
I'm not sure that "that silly girl" wasn't accurate – of course we don't have the full details, but certainly the defense were trying to suggest that Millane was up for bdsm with complete stranger. That seems unwise to me – not that it excuses the murderer one iota – but that reposing that much trust without cause is frankly dangerous. It is not uncommon for murder victims have done things that might be considered imprudent, and saying so isn't an endorsement of the crime.
'silly girl' is a pejorative commonly used to undermine women, it's not a phrase used to convey imprudence. Millane was an adult not a girl.
I didn't follow the details of the trial. Leaving aside the defence's argument was there any evidence that Millane wanted to be strangled during sex by a stranger on this date? I mean actual evidence here, not hearsay and rumour.
Without thinking too much about the stats, I'm wondering if the risk assessment is similar to say tourists going on a trip to an active volcano. I didn't see too many people calling them silly girls and boys. Partly because it would be grossly insensitive, but also because we just don't think about it like that. So why think about Grace Millane in that way?
to put that another way, it's possible to have a conversation about the politics of personal responsibility without using terms that start the conversation by victim blaming.
It might not be out of order, although I’m not seeing that given her age, and we don’t know what her choice was, so it’s kind of a moot point. But there’s no need to use language to describe her in ways that diminish her as a person. Talk about her actions and whether they were wise, but there’s still the bigger picture of rape culture and victim blaming.
The defense produced several witnesses that claimed Millane wanted asphyxiation and BDSM during sex (in general, not specifically with respect to the encounter with the accused). Dunno whether that counts as evidence or hearsay and rumour. The prosecution produced witnesses that said the accused engaged in non-consensual asphyxiation and domination. Again, dunno whether that counts as evidence or hearsay and rumour.
"immaturity" is just a more sensitive way of making the assumption that a Tinder date is more dangerous for women than the way we dated twenty or thirty years ago. Not so sure about that.
Secondly, even if it is more dangerous than meeting someone in a bar or at a party, there's still more than enough opportunity to avoid putting the focus of responsibility upon the victim. "Silly girl" is a pretty callous and dismissive way to describe someone who was murdered.
Feel free to see the defence's argument without the benefit of the victim's testimony as unwise, and though you say "we don't have the full details", accept this rejected trial position as a valid reason to call GM that stupid girl.
Using that logic, I suppose it's okay to call out that kiwi lass in Ausralia who fell off a balcony trying to flee that aussie creeps apartment following a tinder date?
Or the girl in a short skirt who walks in to a bar full off men?
Actually I think the girl in Oz showed a lot of sense – though shouting to the neighbours or setting a fire might have worked better than climbing.
There used to be bars in NZ (and may still be) where that dress decision would almost inescapably bring certain consequences – the downstairs bar of the British in Lyttleton used to be such a venue. No defense for attackers, but a place most women would do well to avoid.
Not sure what you want grey. You have the freedom here to post your thoughts and others have the freedom to respond as they see fit. If you don't like the responses you can modify how you communicate, but you appear to be saying you want to say what you want and have people like what you say. It doesn't work like that.
If your views are relevant and not unreasonable then argue them and see how they stand up to political analysis of your peers. What I see yesterday is you dropping a controversial comment and then walking away. You can't have it both ways. Either we have robust debate here or we don't.
"Our children are unable to speak our language and understand our culture,” she said. “They are taken to state-run orphanages and are completely indoctrinated.
“I’m afraid this will turn into mass extermination. There’s nothing better to describe what’s happening in Xinjiang than concentration camps. What are we waiting for? Mass executions and gas chambers before we take action? What is it going to take to have the leaders of world communities – particularly Western democratic countries like Australia – to act? Executions? Is that what it’s going to come down to?”
I was going link to that myself. Truly one of the more disturbing things I've read in a while.
One of the consequences of the concept creep which our outrage culture has indulged in for so long, that when finally faced with the truly outrageous and evil … we are at a loss for words and a meaningful response.
The first thing that came to mind with the Australian PM holidaying in Hawaii while Australia is imploding with bush fires and enduring extreme heat was the saying "Nero Fiddled while Rome Burned". Seems very apt today and another ominous example of history repeating itself. I envisage Australian climate refugees coming here by the boatloads in the not too distant future – the irony of it. Because we are hopefully a civilised country we will accept them.
If I was the Australian PM I would start treating our PM and country with the respect it deserves. He is going to have to do some grovelling/negotiating in the future to the NZ Government on behalf of his country's citizens so as to enable them to have a safe haven here. Meanwhile the country is frying and their Government is still in denial and thrall to the coal industry. God help them.
Can I just give a shoutout on the retirement of Brian Gaynor, the well respected NZHerald business journalist.
I always felt that he put the interests of New Zealand first, and always wanted business to grow in the national interest and not just in self-interest.
He was always clear that overseas ownership of business and land here just holds New Zealand back. He was very rarely in favour of privatization.
And he was resolute in holding bad directors to account and wanting high-quality industry-experienced directors to govern their businesses well.
Finally, he had a broad horizon with some historical depth. In his last column today he rails against Muldoon for killing the Superannuation scheme an bemoans how much more powerful and secure we would be as a society we would have been. But still praises NZSuperfund as a good start, even if not perfect.
Sure hope they get a decent replacement who seeks to bring the interests of business back to the long term interests of New Zealand.
"No one was given an explanation, no one ever consulted with me or my wife or offered any help to my daughter or apologised to her."
Five years later, after the father had left the community, he finally took action after learning more about the law.
When the police became involved, late Gloriavale leader Hopeful Christian – a convicted sexual offender himself – brought the mother into a meeting with the Servants and Shepherds, all men of authority.
"Nev [Neville Cooper aka Hopeful Christian] told them that it was her fault, that she had not looked after my daughter properly or she wouldn't have seduced this old guy. He also spoke about forgiveness – that they all need to forgive Just, including my daughter."
The daughter who seduced the old guy was 9 years old.
The instigator of the childish "Turn Ardern" campaign is Colin Wilson, a 66 year-old pale male from Canterbury. What a surprise (not). I bet he feels emasculated and scared when he sees Greta's photo as well. The poor chap needs therapy.
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Megan Valére SosouMarket gardening site of the Itchèléré de Itagui agricultural cooperative in Dassa-Zoumè (Image credit: Megan Valère Sossou) For the residents of Dassa-Zoumè, a city in the West African country of Benin, choosing between drinking water and having enough ...
Buzz from the Beehive Melissa Lee – as may be discerned from the screenshot above – has not been demoted for doing something seriously wrong as Minister of ...
Morning in London Mother hugs beloved daughter outside the converted shoe factory in which she is living.Afternoon in London Travelling writer takes himself and his wrist down to A&E, just to be sure. Read more ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – The recent announcement of the University Advisory Group, chaired by Sir Peter Gluckman, makes very clear where the Government’s focus and priorities lie. The remit of the Advisory Group is that Group members will consider challenges and opportunities for improvement in the university sector including: ...
Eric Crampton writes – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand desperately wants to find reasons to have workstreams in climate change. It makes little sense. They’ve run another stress test on the banks looking to see if they could find a prudential regulation case. They couldn’t. They ...
Rob MacCullough writes – Pundits from the left and the right are arguing that National’s Fast Track Bill that is designed to speed up infrastructure decisions could end up becoming mired in a cesspool of corruption. Political commentator ...
Looking at the headlines this morning it’s hard to feel anything other than pessimistic about the future of humanity.Note that I’m not speaking about the future of mankind, but the survival of our humanity. The values that we believe in seem to be ebbing away, by the day.Perhaps every generation ...
Swabbing mixed breed baby chicks to test for avian influenzaUh oh. Bird flu – often deadly to humans – is not only being transmitted from infected birds to dairy cows, but is now travelling between dairy cows. As of last Friday, Bloomberg News reports, there were 32 American dairy herds ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
What is it with the mining industry? Its not enough for them to pillage the earth - they apparently can't even be bothered getting resource consent to do so: The proponent behind a major mine near the Clutha River had already been undertaking activity in the area without a ...
Photo # 1 I am a huge fan of Singapore’s approach to housing, as described here two years ago by copying and pasting from The ConversationWhat Singapore has that Australia does not is a public housing developer, the Housing Development Board, which puts new dwellings on public and reclaimed land, ...
Buzz from the Beehive Reactions to news of the government’s readiness to make urgent changes to “the resource management system” through a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) suggest a balanced approach is being taken. The Taxpayers’ Union says the proposed changes don’t go far enough. Greenpeace says ...
I’m starting to wonder if Anna Burns-Francis might be the best political interviewer we’ve got. That might sound unlikely to you, it came as a bit of a surprise to me.Jack Tame can be excellent, but has some pretty average days. I like Rebecca Wright on Newshub, she asks good ...
Chris Trotter writes – Willie Jackson is said to be planning a “media summit” to discuss “the state of the media and how to protect Fourth Estate Journalism”. Not only does the Editor of The Daily Blog, Martyn Bradbury, think this is a good idea, but he has also ...
Graeme Edgeler writes – This morning [April 21], the Wellington High Court is hearing a judicial review brought by Hon. Karen Chhour, the Minister for Children, against a decision of the Waitangi Tribunal. This is unusual, judicial reviews are much more likely to brought against ministers, rather than ...
Both of Parliament’s watchdogs have now ripped into the Government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāMy pick of the six newsey things to know from Aotearoa’s political economy and beyond on the morning of Tuesday, April 23 are:The Lead: The Auditor General,John Ryan, has joined the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Sarah SpengemanPeople wait to board an electric bus in Pune, India. (Image credit: courtesy of ITDP) Public transportation riders in Pune, India, love the city’s new electric buses so much they will actually skip an older diesel bus that ...
The infrastructure industry yesterday issued a “hurry up” message to the Government, telling it to get cracking on developing a pipeline of infrastructure projects.The hiatus around the change of Government has seen some major projects cancelled and others delayed, and there is uncertainty about what will happen with the new ...
Hi,Over the weekend I revisited a podcast I really adore, Dead Eyes. It’s about a guy who got fired from Band of Brothers over two decades ago because Tom Hanks said he had “dead eyes”.If you don’t recall — 2001’s Band of Brothers was part of the emerging trend of ...
Buzz from the Beehive The 180 or so recipients of letters from the Government telling them how to submit infrastructure projects for “fast track” consideration includes some whose project applications previously have been rejected by the courts. News media were quick to feature these in their reports after RMA Reform Minister Chris ...
It would not be a desirable way to start your holiday by breaking your back, your head, or your wrist, but on our first hour in Singapore I gave it a try.We were chatting, last week, before we started a meeting of Hazel’s Enviro Trust, about the things that can ...
Calling all journalists, academics, planners, lawyers, political activists, environmentalists, and other members of the public who believe that the relationships between vested interests and politicians need to be scrutinised. We need to work together to make sure that the new Fast-Track Approvals Bill – currently being pushed through by the ...
Feel worried. Shane Jones and a couple of his Cabinet colleagues are about to be granted the power to override any and all objections to projects like dams, mines, roads etc even if: said projects will harm biodiversity, increase global warming and cause other environmental harms, and even if ...
Bryce Edwards writes- The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. ...
Michael Bassett writes – If you think there is a move afoot by the radical Maori fringe of New Zealand society to create a parallel system of government to the one that we elect at our triennial elections, you aren’t wrong. Over the last few days we have ...
Without a corresponding drop in interest rates, it’s doubtful any changes to the CCCFA will unleash a massive rush of home buyers. Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The six things that stood out to me in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate on Monday, April 22 included:The Government making a ...
Sunday was a lazy day. I started watching Jack Tame on Q&A, the interviews are usually good for something to write about. Saying the things that the politicians won’t, but are quite possibly thinking. Things that are true and need to be extracted from between the lines.As you might know ...
In our Weekly Roundup last week we covered news from Auckland Transport that the WX1 Western Express is going to get an upgrade next year with double decker electric buses. As part of the announcement, AT also said “Since we introduced the WX1 Western Express last November we have seen ...
TL;DR: The six key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 29 include:PM Christopher Luxon is scheduled to hold a post-Cabinet news conference at 4 pm today. Stats NZ releases its statutory report on Census 2023 tomorrow.Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivers a pre-Budget speech at ...
A listing of 29 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 14, 2024 thru Sat, April 20, 2024. Story of the week Our story of the week hinges on these words from the abstract of a fresh academic ...
The ability of the private sector to quickly establish major new projects making use of the urban and natural environment is to be supercharged by the new National-led Government. Yesterday it introduced to Parliament one of its most significant reforms, the Fast Track Approvals Bill. The Government says this will ...
This is a column to say thank you. So many of have been in touch since Mum died to say so many kind and thoughtful things. You’re wonderful, all of you. You’ve asked how we’re doing, how Dad’s doing. A little more realisation each day, of the irretrievable finality of ...
Identifying the engine type in your car is crucial for various reasons, including maintenance, repairs, and performance upgrades. Knowing the specific engine model allows you to access detailed technical information, locate compatible parts, and make informed decisions about modifications. This comprehensive guide will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ...
Introduction: The allure of racing is undeniable. The thrill of speed, the roar of engines, and the exhilaration of competition all contribute to the allure of this adrenaline-driven sport. For those who yearn to experience the pinnacle of racing, becoming a race car driver is the ultimate dream. However, the ...
Introduction Automobiles have become ubiquitous in modern society, serving as a primary mode of transportation and a symbol of economic growth and personal mobility. With countless vehicles traversing roads and highways worldwide, it begs the question: how many cars are there in the world? Determining the precise number is a ...
Maintaining a safe and reliable vehicle requires regular inspections. Whether it’s a routine maintenance checkup or a safety inspection, knowing how long the process will take can help you plan your day accordingly. This article delves into the factors that influence the duration of a car inspection and provides an ...
Mazda Motor Corporation, commonly known as Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automaker headquartered in Fuchu, Aki District, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. The company was founded in 1920 as the Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., and began producing vehicles in 1931. Mazda is primarily known for its production of passenger cars, but ...
Your car battery is an essential component that provides power to start your engine, operate your electrical systems, and store energy. Over time, batteries can weaken and lose their ability to hold a charge, which can lead to starting problems, power failures, and other issues. Replacing your battery before it ...
In most states, you cannot register a car without a valid driver’s license. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. Exceptions to the RuleIf you are under 18 years old: In some states, you can register a car in your name even if you do not ...
Mazda, a Japanese automotive manufacturer with a rich history of innovation and engineering excellence, has emerged as a formidable player in the global car market. Known for its reputation of producing high-quality, fuel-efficient, and driver-oriented vehicles, Mazda has consistently garnered praise from industry experts and consumers alike. In this article, ...
Struts are an essential part of a car’s suspension system. They are responsible for supporting the weight of the car and damping the oscillations of the springs. Struts are typically made of steel or aluminum and are filled with hydraulic fluid. How Do Struts Work? Struts work by transferring the ...
Car registration is a mandatory process that all vehicle owners must complete annually. This process involves registering your car with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and paying an associated fee. The registration process ensures that your vehicle is properly licensed and insured, and helps law enforcement and other authorities ...
Zoom is a video conferencing service that allows you to share your screen, webcam, and audio with other participants. In addition to sharing your own audio, you can also share the audio from your computer with other participants. This can be useful for playing music, sharing presentations with audio, or ...
Building your own computer can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to get a high-performance machine tailored to your specific needs. However, it also requires careful planning and execution, and one of the most important factors to consider is the time it will take. The exact time it takes to ...
Sleep mode is a power-saving state that allows your computer to quickly resume operation without having to boot up from scratch. This can be useful if you need to step away from your computer for a short period of time but don’t want to shut it down completely. There are ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
The National Government’s proposed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act will mean tenants can be turfed from their homes by landlords with little notice, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson is calling on all parties to support a common-sense change that’s great for the planet and great for consumers after her member’s bill was drawn from the ballot today. ...
A significant milestone has been reached in the fight to strike an anti-Pasifika and unfair law from the country’s books after Teanau Tuiono’s members’ bill passed its first reading. ...
New Zealand has today missed the opportunity to uphold the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, says James Shaw after his member’s bill was voted down in its first reading. ...
Today’s advice from the Climate Change Commission paints a sobering reality of the challenge we face in combating climate change, especially in light of recent Government policy announcements. ...
Minister for Disability Issues Penny Simmonds appears to have delayed a report back to Cabinet on the progress New Zealand is making against international obligations for disabled New Zealanders. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
“China remains a strong commercial opportunity for Kiwi exporters as Chinese businesses and consumers continue to value our high-quality safe produce,” Trade and Agriculture Minister Todd McClay says. Mr McClay has returned to New Zealand following visits to Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai where he met ministers, governors and mayors and engaged in trade and agricultural events with the New ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has completed a successful trip to Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines, deepening relationships and capitalising on opportunities. Mr Luxon was accompanied by a business delegation and says the choice of countries represents the priority the New Zealand Government places on South East Asia, and our relationships in ...
New Zealand is demonstrating its commitment to reducing global greenhouse emissions, and supporting clean energy transition in South East Asia, through a contribution of NZ$41 million (US$25 million) in climate finance to the Asian Development Bank (ADB)-led Energy Transition Mechanism (ETM). Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts announced ...
The Government is today releasing a list of organisations who received letters about the Fast-track applications process, says RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop. “Recently Ministers and agencies have received a series of OIA requests for a list of organisations to whom I wrote with information on applying to have a ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister David Jonathan Boldt as a Judge of the High Court, and the Honourable Justice Matthew Palmer as a Judge of the Court of Appeal. Justice Boldt graduated with an LLB from Victoria University of Wellington in 1990, and also holds ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford will lead the New Zealand delegation at the 2024 International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) held in Singapore. The delegation includes representatives from the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) Te Wehengarua and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Te Riu Roa. The summit is co-hosted ...
A stopbank upgrade project in Tairawhiti partly funded by the Government has increased flood resilience for around 7000ha of residential and horticultural land so far, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones today attended a dawn service in Gisborne to mark the end of the first stage of the ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters will represent the Government at Anzac Day commemorations on the Gallipoli Peninsula next week and engage with senior representatives of the Turkish government in Istanbul. “The Gallipoli campaign is a defining event in our history. It will be a privilege to share the occasion ...
Science, Innovation and Technology and Defence Minister Judith Collins will next week attend the OECD Science and Technology Ministerial conference in Paris and Anzac Day commemorations in Belgium. “Science, innovation and technology have a major role to play in rebuilding our economy and achieving better health, environmental and social outcomes ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon held a bilateral meeting today with the President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The Prime Minister was accompanied by MP Paulo Garcia, the first Filipino to be elected to a legislature outside the Philippines. During today’s meeting, Prime Minister Luxon and President Marcos Jr discussed opportunities to ...
The Government has announced that $20 million in funding will be made available to Westport to fund much needed flood protection around the town. This measure will significantly improve the resilience of the community, says Local Government Minister Simeon Brown. “The Westport community has already been allocated almost $3 million ...
The Government is proud to support the first ever Repco Supercars Championship event in Taupō as up to 70,000 motorsport fans attend the Taupō International Motorsport Park this weekend, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. “Anticipation for the ITM Taupō Super400 is huge, with tickets and accommodation selling out weeks ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced an increase to the Rates Rebate Scheme, putting money back into the pockets of low-income homeowners. “The coalition Government is committed to bringing down the cost of living for New Zealanders. That includes targeted support for those Kiwis who are doing things tough, such ...
The Coalition Government is investing in a project to boost survival rates of New Zealand mussels and grow the industry, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has announced. “This project seeks to increase the resilience of our mussels and significantly boost the sector’s productivity,” Mr Jones says. “The project - ...
Benefit figures released today underscore the importance of the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and have 50,000 fewer people on Jobseeker Support, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “Benefit numbers are still significantly higher than when National was last in government, when there was about 70,000 fewer ...
The Government’s commitment to doubling New Zealand’s renewable energy capacity is backed by new data showing that clean energy has helped the country reach its lowest annual gross emissions since 1999, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand’s latest Greenhouse Gas Inventory (1990-2022) published today, shows gross emissions fell ...
The Government is bringing the earthquake-prone building review forward, with work to start immediately, and extending the deadline for remediations by four years, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “Our Government is focused on rebuilding the economy. A key part of our plan is to cut red tape that ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and his Thai counterpart, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, have today agreed that New Zealand and the Kingdom of Thailand will upgrade the bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership by 2026. “New Zealand and Thailand have a lot to offer each other. We have a strong mutual desire to build ...
RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Transport Minister Simeon Brown have today announced the Coalition Government’s intention to extend port coastal permits for a further 20 years, providing port operators with certainty to continue their operations. “The introduction of the Resource Management Act in 1991 required ports to obtain coastal ...
Today’s announcement that inflation is down to 4 per cent is encouraging news for Kiwis, but there is more work to be done - underlining the importance of the Government’s plan to get the economy back on track, acting Finance Minister Chris Bishop says. “Inflation is now at 4 per ...
Asia Pacific Report From France to Australia, university pro-Palestine protests in the United States have now spread to several countries with students pitching on-campus camps. And students at Columbia and other US universities remain defiant as campuses have witnessed the biggest protests since the anti-Vietnam war and anti-apartheid eras in ...
Analysis by Dr Bryce Edwards, Democracy Project (https://democracyproject.nz)New Zealand Government’s Fast Track legislation. Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government ...
Tara Ward talks to presenter Naomi Toilalo about the new TV show that turns food waste into a three course feast. Naomi Toilalo is standing in the warehouse at Good Neighbour Tauranga, helping unpack the two-and-a-half tonnes of rejected food that will arrive at the community support hub that day. ...
Scout is our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Scout’s human, Avril, for her support. Dog name: Scout (named after the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird – she inherited the independent spirit ...
Megan Alatini takes us through her life in TV, including ‘terrible’ daytime TV, the class of Carol Hirschfeld and her most embarrassing TrueBliss moment. When she responded to a vague newspaper ad asking “do you have what it takes to be a popstar?” 25 years ago, Megan Alatini never guessed ...
A new exhibition in Wellington showcases the faces behind your local goods and services. Back in 1977, when I was a fine arts student at the University of Canterbury, I took a series of photographs of Christchurch shopkeepers. The photos were for a calendar – a project for my end ...
Toomaj and his resistance to tyranny through his songs have become an icon for the youth of Iran, so his sentence has hit the nation hard. Toomaj Salehi is not the first artist to pay the price for standing with the people. ...
My cousin Dylan and I spotted these big eels under the bridge that summer. We watched them lounging under the dark weed, facing into the flow of water, their mouths frozen open. Dylan and I couldn’t stop thinking about those eels. The night we went down to the creek, we ...
Newsroom, home of satire. My long-running weekly satirical series The Secret Diary has moved to Newsroom and will appear every Saturday, with Victor Billot’s wildly popular satirical Odes continuing to appear every Sunday. Diaries, Odes – while serious political columnists toil at meaningful opinions and stroke their chins to an ...
Tara Ward unravels the many nuanced layers of a cartoon about talking dogs.This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. It’s not often an episode of a children’s cartoon has adults sobbing into their sleeves, but that’s exactly what happened this week when ...
Working as a doctor in developing countries to help communities achieve better health outcomes is nothing short of a life goal for Jessica Tater. The University of Otago medical student has her sights firmly set on joining the international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) when she qualifies ...
There’s an island in the far reaches of Auckland’s territory, sitting off the tip of the Coromandel Peninsula, 30 minutes by air from the city or four hours on the slow boat. Aotea Great Barrier is off-grid, it has a population of fewer than a thousand people … and most ...
Asia Pacific Report An Australian author and advocate, Jim Aubrey, today led a national symbolic one minute’s silence to mark the “blood debt” owed to Papuan allies during the Second World War indigenous resistance against the invading Japanese forces. “A promise to most people is a promise,” Aubrey said in ...
Asia Pacific Report The Freedom Flotilla is ready to sail to Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. All the required paperwork has been submitted to the port authority, and the cargo has been loaded and prepared for the humanitarian trip to the besieged enclave. However, organisers received word of an “administrative ...
Pacific Media Watch Palestine solidarity protesters today demonstrated at the Auckland headquarters of Television New Zealand, accusing the country’s major TV network of broadcasting “propaganda” backing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. About 50 protesters targeted the main entrance to the TVNZ building near Sky Tower and also picketed a side ...
Opinion by Lynley Hood. Forty years on from my 1985 Fulbright Grant, my disquiet over the war in Gaza evoked some troubling questions. The answer to my first question – What is the primary purpose of the Fulbright Programme? – was on the Fulbright NZ website. It says: US Senator, ...
The ministers responsible for green-lighting major projects need to be open about potential conflicts of interest, says Transparency International. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University It has been a particularly distressing start to the year. There is little that can ease the current grief of individuals, families and communities who have needlessly lost a loved one to men’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gregory Moore, Senior Research Associate, School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences, The University of Melbourne Lichen, the first described example of symbiosis.AdeJ Artventure/Shutterstock Once known only to those studying biology, the word symbiosis is now widely used. Symbiosis is the intimate ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kim Hemsley, Head, Childhood Dementia Research Group, Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University Olena Ivanova/Shutterstock “Childhood” and “dementia” are two words we wish we didn’t have to use together. But sadly, around 1,400 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Whiteford, Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University The government’s Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee has just published its second report. It was set up by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth in 2022 to provide: ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Queensland state election will be held in October. A YouGov poll for The Courier Mail, conducted April 9–17 from a sample ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Naeni, PhD candidate at Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation, Deakin University There’s been much talk in recent months about what a possible second Donald Trump presidency in the United States could mean for Europe, Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ...
A brief round-up of submissions on the controversial proposed law. This is an excerpt from our weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. Sign up here. Last week, submissions on the controversial Fast-track Approvals Bill closed just hours after the government released a list of stakeholder organisations who were sent letters advising how they could ...
A poem from Robin Peace’s new collection Detritus of Empire: feather / grass / rock. Cereal giving I see a woman’s hands, see her curious hands break a stalk as she walks through the tall prairie, the savannah, the steppe, wherever it was. See her idly bite the grass that ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Hemingway’s Goblet by Dermot Ross (Mary Egan Publishing, $38)A handsomely produced (debossed cover, lovely ...
The Commissioner's decision validates the longstanding efforts of the local community and ensures that Awataha Marae will be managed to serve the needs of the local community, particularly for hosting tangihanga. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tristan Salles, Associate professor, University of Sydney Examples of Australian landscapes.Unsplash Seventy thousand years ago, the sea level was much lower than today. Australia, along with New Guinea and Tasmania, formed a connected landmass known as Sahul. Around this time – ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Felicity Castagna, Lecturer, Creative Writing, Western Sydney University Day Day Market, ParramattaPhoto: Garry Trinh I live on the edge of Parramatta, Australia’s fastest-growing city, on the kind of old-fashioned suburban street that has 1950s fibros constructed in the post-war housing boom, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Ryan, Teaching Fellow in Economics, University of Waikato GettyImagesfatido/Getty Images There is an ongoing global debate over whether the high inflation seen in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic can be lowered without a recession. New Zealand is not ...
The ‘Wicked Game’ heartthrob is in his late 60s now. That didn’t stop him putting on a lively, goofy and very sparkly show. Apart from ‘Wicked Game’, which graces a sultry playlist of mine simply called 💋, my last sustained Chris Isaak listening session took place when I was about ...
Analysis - Two ministers were stripped of portfolios in a warning to Cabinet, drama broke out at the Waitangi Tribunal, and the gang patch ban bill ran into opposition. ...
Tara Ward makes an impassioned plea for some vital pop culture merch. In April 1999, I became obsessed with a new reality television show called Popstars. Every Tuesday night, five strangers transformed into music royalty before my very eyes as Joe, Keri, Carly, Erika and Megan were chosen to form ...
PNG Post-Courier In the early hours of ANZAC Day, aerial photographs captured an impressive gathering of Australians and Papua New Guineans at Isurava in the Northern (Oro) Province. The solemn dawn service yesterday was held at a site steeped in history, where some of the fiercest battles of World War ...
The PSA is shocked that Oranga Tamariki has used the cost cutting drive to downgrade its commitment to Te Ao Māori and remove many specialist Māori roles. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Kemish, Adjunct Professor, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland There can be no more powerful symbol of the relationship between Australia and Papua New Guinea than the prime ministers of these neighbouring countries walking together on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sharon Robinson, Distinguished Professor and Deputy Director of ARC Securing Antarctica’s Environmental Future (SAEF), University of Wollongong, University of Wollongong Andrew Netherwood Over the last 25 years, the ozone hole which forming over Antarctica each spring has started to shrink. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Viktoria Kahui, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Economics, University of Otago Getty Images/Amy Toensing Biodiversity is declining at rates unprecedented in human history. This suggests the ways we currently use to manage our natural environment are failing. One emerging concept focuses on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Timothy Colin Bednall, Associate Professor in Management, Swinburne University of Technology marvent/Shutterstock Finding the best person to fill a position can be tough, from drafting a job ad to producing a shortlist of top interview candidates. Employers typically consider information from ...
Wondering where to host your next BYO? Whether its a small gathering or a massive party, we’ve got some recommendations. I was first introduced to the concept of BYOs at Dunedin’s India Gardens, a legendary but sadly defunct establishment, which purveyed enormous quantities of mango chicken to Aotearoa’s drunkest future ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julien Cooper, Honorary Lecturer, Department of History and Archaeology, Macquarie University Julien Cooper The hyper-arid desert of Eastern Sudan, the Atbai Desert, seems like an unlikely place to find evidence of ancient cattle herders. But in this dry environment, my new ...
The sector says it’s hopeful her replacement Paul Goldsmith will be able to throw it a lifeline, after six months with a minister deemed missing in action, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign ...
The government can't just rely on axing public sector jobs and has to do more to cut spending, says the chief economist at a free market think tank. ...
Rock The Vote NZ, known for its advocacy for minor party unity and its role within the Freedoms NZ Coalition during the 2023 General Election, celebrates this merger as a strategic enhancement of its operational strength and outreach. ...
Nearly everyone has experienced the frustration of something you use breaking and being difficult or expensive to fix. Proposed legislation could change that. It’s been raining on and off all Sunday afternoon but people are lining up outside a building in a corner of Gribblehirst Park in Sandringham, Auckland. In ...
What does a forever relationship look like when you don’t believe in marriage? And how do you celebrate it? This essay is part of our Sunday Essay series, made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.I’m going to do it, right now. I’m going to say ...
The Prime Minister has committed to resuming direct flights to Thailand. But it’s not a promise he will be able to deliver on anytime soon. The post Prime Minister jumps the gun in Thailand appeared first on Newsroom. ...
It’s not that long ago Eliza McCartney was seriously wondering if the Paris Olympics would be her pole vaulting swansong. After years of being hounded by injury after injury, the Rio Olympics bronze medallist was still confident she would compete at her second Olympics in Paris in July, unless something ...
FICTION 1 Take Two by Danielle Hawkins (Allen & Unwin, $36.99) There’s commercial fiction, like this book, and then there’s quality fiction, quality writers, quality literature; the forthcoming Auckland Writers Festival is full of quality, and ReadingRoom has two tickets to give away to the following events: Paul Lynch (Dublin ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 26 April appeared first on Newsroom. ...
You can’t have missed the Gallipoli story as the movies, documentaries, essays and books capture what it was like for New Zealand troops in their eight-month campaign on the Peninsula. But this Anzac Day the Auckland War Memorial Museum has published a book that sheds light on a little-known aspect of the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk this week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to ...
Asia Pacific Report Chief Mandla Mandela, a member of the National Assembly of South Africa and Nelson Mandela’s grandson, has joined the Freedom Flotilla in istanbul as the ships prepare to sail for Gaza, reports Kia Ora Gaza. Mandela is also the ambassador for the Global Campaign to Return to ...
A question for our Australian commenters:
Is the dialogue about climate change getting stronger there?
It needs to get stronger here.
good question.
You would hope this would hammer the message home… Penrith expecting up to 47C
It's starting to pick up now during this current bushfire season and the extreme weather pattern we are currently having which is effecting every part of Oz atm.
Australian's by nature are a independent bunch of people and the same goes with their thinking, but they really do hate it when some or a bunch of high brow over educate bunch of tossers talks down to them/ forcing it down the throat to the average ocker and tells what to do and how they should do it etc.
The average ocker likes to think for themselves and look at the available evidenced (there has been some really interesting graphs coming out of BOM, ABARES atm and some TV reports the ABC's Landline and News/ 730 Report) or when CC starts to impact on the lives of the average ocker before they like to make a decision IRT CC.
The is tide on CC is slowly changing here in Oz as people across all sectors of Australia are starting to realise that CC is real and are now start to feel the effects of CC.
For example we in the Northern part of Australia by now should've had at least over a metre of rainfall, but its dry as a dingo's backside and though it green atm. Mowing atm feels like being sandblasted by down wash by a CH47 Chook or CH53 Sea Stallion or Jet Prop wash of C130 on a duster airfield/ LZ in the Sandpit from head to toe atm.
The Pollies are slowly starting to feel the heat now with the current/ extreme weather due to CC related events and if they are not seen to be doing something about it and just not tinkering around the slides, but meaningful actions. They well be throwed out of office. It happen to John Howard at a federal level and if ScoMo and his mob keeps up its current rate of effort up atm, then he and his bunch of Muppets will be out of a job.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-21/angus-taylor-facing-the-ire-of-liberals-wanting-climate-action/11815000
PS. Current temp at home atm, on my weather station is 38.1 degrees, with humidity at 45% and the pressure is dropping atm is around 1004.1 Hpa.
At 14.31 Local time CST
ExKiwi that sounds pretty brutal.
So man y Federal governments have called in the last decade all based around addressing climate change in one form or another, that it's really hard to see the horizon of change.
You will have seen our government do the full pre-Christmas dump of its Carbon Bill consultation, getting ready to ram it through in March 2020.
Hard to see anyone getting away with that at an Australian Federal level if the ALP were in power.
Barring a major city losing several suburbs to fire, it still feels like Australia's political discourse has a while to go on this.
I have a gut feeling this might be the year/ fire season that CC finally sinks in for awful lot of Australians. We were bloody luck up here in Darwin/ rural area of Darwin this fire season with only houses/ buildings being lost, but it was very F**king close and the law of averages will catch up with us on the fire line sooner or later. Which I've been writing up an end of action report for our NT Bushfire brigade at Dundee Beach/ Bynoe Harbour Area, but weather it gets notice and action is going to be another thing.
We just spoken to the father in-law at Sussex Inlet about 30mins ago and the only Rd to Sussex Inlet is now cut and are now on ember alert. About the same time heard that the town of the former post war labour leader Ben Chifley Lithgow, is on the western side of the Blue Mountains is now on ember alert and this town is quite large probably the size of Nelson I think.
I haven't read the NZ carbon bill as yet, but Shaw and Peters have done good job all consider.
I'm head to Melbourne for the Boxing Day Test, via Sydney on Christmas Day and its going to interesting week for me.
PS, here’s the link from the ABC’s Fire Alert updates and god bless the ABC and this the reason why we have a taxpayer funded Broadcaster.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-21/nsw-bushfire-emergency-catastrophic-warnings-greater-sydney/11815992
Amen to that; to the ABC, and to your father-in-law in Sussex.
Hi Ad,
I've just sent an email from a brief write up I did for the folks at home in the NZ and I think it might make a good post for the readers here on the 'The Standard" to have understanding on the conditions that we face over in Oz during the fire seasons. It's picture and video heavy, well one video and a number of pictures on the conditions I face on the weekend of the 14 September 2019.
Yes, do.
For contributions just send it through to:
thestandardnz@gmail.com
Here in Brisbane we are only getting through with air conditioning. For many days this past month there have been vast, ominous smoke clouds that render everything a sombre orange, darkening into an apocalyptic red in the sunset.
Yes it’s my sense from socialising that most people are uneasily aware that life as they knew it is changing. And this will fairly quickly reflect into the political scene.
Who could imagine any Brisbane summer without air conditioning?
Forest fires, temperature rise, and the accelerated collapse of the Murray-Darling seem like more effective public discourses into State and Federal politics about the environment than railing against coal mining.
Is this the moment that public mood alters enough in Australia?
Holy heck….only 2 major roads out of Sydney are open right now
Yeah, its not good atm either way.
Here's another more direct answer to your question Ad:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-21/angus-taylor-facing-the-ire-of-liberals-wanting-climate-action/11815000
This is probably worth a post in itself: the Dutch government has been ordered to do much more than it has been about climate change, after a six year legal fight.
The court ruled that the government had explicit duties to protect its citizens’ human rights in the face of climate change and must reduce emissions by at least 25% compared with 1990 levels by the end of 2020.
Hopefully that sends a shudder through a number of other governments.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/20/dutch-supreme-court-upholds-landmark-ruling-demanding-climate-action
Well deserved award to PM Ardern, by crikey.
https://www.crikey.com.au/2019/12/19/2019-person-of-the-year/
In part it reads, "Ardern’s response to the unimaginable horror of the Christchurch massacre was more or less flawless in both tone and content. The dignity and solidarity she showed with victims was matched with the courage to act decisively on reforming New Zealand’s gun laws.
In a year where many leaders fled from scrutiny or cashed in on the kind of sentiments that lead to incidents like Christchurch, Ardern showed what leadership that pushes back against the worst parts of society really looks like."
On Radionz this morning. Needs to be heard though you will not like what you hear. Doesn't fit to a kind and practical rule. There are a lot of images on the Radionz site. There isn't a link set up yet.
8:10 Ian Urbina – Human stories of crime on the high seas
Photo: supplied / Penguin
From pirates to people smugglers, enslaved crews and dodgy fishing practices, the world's oceans are home to widespread and largely unchecked illegality.
Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Ian Urbina has spent five years documenting the lawless behaviour flourishing on the high seas in his book The Outlaw Ocean.
He's also set up a non-profit journalism organization called The Outlaw Ocean Project dedicated to publishing more stories about life and conditions on board the global shipping fleet.
It's a failure on a massive scale. Were our political leaders a little more ecologically literate, they'd have recognised and cultivated our marine resources to enrich our nation. Instead they brought in the lowest common denominator – slave fishermen – and the agricultural research that underpins our farming sector was, shamefully, never replicated for our fisheries.
The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen, and stupidity. ~ Harlan Ellison
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-fishing/thousands-of-thai-fishermen-protest-against-tough-industry-regulations-idUSKBN1YL0VY
Some people arnt happy about it.
#IMPOTUS
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/george-conway-trump-impotus_n_5dfc6f05e4b0b2520d089ab1
The US is drawing closer to implosion via civil war. Not funny.
Ridicule works on bullies.
Thoughts on Chernobyl.
Australia is going through a climate change Chernobyl, every single Australian state is suffering through a record early bush fire season and record breaking heat wave. Shockingly flying foxes are dying on their perches.
After watching the mini-series on Prime I was struck by the similarity, with the current crisis in Australia.
Just like the flying foxes in Australia, the mini series depicted birds falling from the sky to lie flapping on the ground in their death throes.
After the Chernobyl explosion, Soviet political leaders were in deep denial as the reactor core was open to the air and lumps of radioactive graphite was scattered on the ground and roof of the plant.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, (famous for holding up a lump of coal thoughtfully shellacked by his coal industry backers to stop him getting soot on his hands), like some unconcerned Soviet nuclear industry apparatchik, holidays in Hawaii.
The depth of denial plumbed by Scott Morrison dwarfs that of the Soviets.
Gorbachev didn't hold up a lump of (decontaminated) graphite to declare "This is graphite– don't be afraid!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KoMeJB_ywY
Good Lord. The pic of him yukking it up in Hawaii as Australia burns comes to mind.
It's 1930, again.
https://twitter.com/CNNPolitics/status/1207965394817953792
https://twitter.com/adamparkhomenko/status/1208108320239702016
The US military is in the middle of a recruitment crisis. At this point finding anyone who isn't smoking pot, can pass a basic intelligence test, and has a baseline fitness level is incredibly difficult for them.
I'm guessing that they decided if one part of the recruitment criteria had to be softened it was psychological – yikes – what are they doing in that country?
Maybe someone got to the senator.
Yeah, right
Edit
The House is produced for RNZ with funding from Parliament. I noticed a highlight on Radionz about PM Jacinda from The House and hadn't heard about this before. This piece is a speculative piece and gives explanation and interpretation about something that may never happen. Interesting, but I wonder what sort of focus on our reality and priorities for matters calling for explanation that journalists developing their own stories will show, especially when it is through RNZ, RadioNZ.
This is the piece. Can you impeach a prime minister?
(Followed by a pic of PM Jacinda on a background of an old hand-written document which might be the Treaty or some Constitution.)
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/the-house/audio/2018726597/can-you-impeach-a-prime-minister
They conclude that we can't end up in the USA bog, a hopeful note!
We no speak Americano
In summary, New Zealand doesn’t require an impeachment process because prime ministers serve at the pleasure of Parliament (and their own party), and are easy to get rid of it they start getting all ‘high crimes and misdemeanours’ (which refers to abuse of power).
New Zealand has had a few prime ministers who were bullies (there’s a big statue of one of them holding forth in Parliament’s front yard), but getting rid of them is as easy as a simple majority in the House. Just ask Marilyn Waring.
And this fits in with a very interesting piece on falsehood in information releases by governments and gives a view of what is happening in Russia by someone who knows. It would give background learnings to many ponderings on this blog.
Book written: This is not Propaganda – Adventures in the war against Reality. (Some of the best information we get is coming after books have been written and bring together disparate information for the public. I am amazed at the huge numbers of fiction authors at present. These days the reality books by people devoted to finding out and explaining what’s going on are really exciting!)
9:25 Peter Pomerantsev: 'when information is a weapon, everyone is at war'
How can we build up a more truthful picture of the world in the era of fake news, trolls, Trump and Putin? This is the question at the heart of Peter Pomerantsev's new book This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality.
Pomerantsev is a Soviet-born journalist, author and TV producer who's spent much of his life in Britain after his dissident parents were forced out of the USSR by the KGB.
He's also a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Institute of Global Affairs at the London School of Economics.
(Audio link to come if I get time, otherwise see audio list for Saturday Morning..)
This is the link to the RadioNZ fishers and high seas story I referred to earlier. https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018727956/ian-urbina-human-stories-of-crime-on-the-high-seas
I remember another interview with Kim some years ago when Pomerantsev was pushing a very similar line and promoting his book "Nothing is true and everything is possible"
I followed up and read other stuff of his but also this..to me.. interesting critique by Mark Ames in 2015
A real cast of characters here, the Chandlers, (particularly Chris, a kiwi billionaire) Browder, The Legatum Institute, the nutty ex Polish foreign minister Sikorski, married to Anne Applebaum, a colleague of Pomerantsev's
https://pando.com/2015/05/17/neocons-2-0-the-problem-with-peter-pomerantsev/
Sorry its a long read, but its always good to "pressure test" a story when there appears to be an agenda, which most often there is…from all sides.
Pomerantsev is a great mate of Bill Browder who has a similar message
More recent to the Ames article, the Browder (also rather breathlessly interviewed by Kim)story has come under closer scrutiny, by various unrelated figures. The most recent appearing in Der Spiegel.
The link below also has links for a fuller discussion .
Even our own secretive kiwi Chandler brothers, who made millions out of Russia appear in this story
https://www.spiegel.de/international/world/spiegel-responds-to-browder-criticisms-of-magnitsky-story-a-1301716.html
Its as good as Shakespeare, a human drama of power and intrigue and treachery, and Russia doesn't get off the hook either
Useful interview of Aussie environmental scientist Bill Hare by Amy Goodman. He's part of a team that developed a tracker that is predicting 2.8 degrees Celsius (or more) of warming by 2100. He pans both Scomo's Liberals and the ALP – his point being that resistance to action in Australia is essentially political.
That's no surprise though. The whole purpose of right-wing parties is to protect an economy that acts as a conveyor belt transporting money to the top of the wealth-power pyramid. Genuine action means that all that surplus money sloshing around at the top will have to be appropriated to fund the transition to carbon-neutral economies without creating massive hardship for those dependent on industries being phased out – as well as to fund managed retreat from localities that will become uninhabitable.
Have to add how good it is to see 63 year-old woman who has let her hair go grey fronting a news show and striking a note of high seriousness.. Having recently seen the waffly sentimentalist John Campbell surrounded by a bevy on blondes in their 30's on the execrable 'Breakfast' show, or the endlessly self-referential narcissism of Seven Sharp, Amy seems particularly sane.
I hear Australians saying it's the right, but also the left (union history), and the powerful lobbies from various industries. Unlike NZ where we have a pro-action left and centre left, and business increasingly ready to get on board despite the recalcitrants like Fed Farmers and Fonterra.
Did Hare address that?
No he didn't. He simply said that the ALP was no better, with the implication being that they are subject to the same pressures from economic interests.
ah, yes, that's similar. Political parties, unions, industry, all resistant and with a lot of power.
Because it's Chekist day
― Felix Dzerzhinsky
OOh. Those movements born in fire and harsh coercion, will continue to smoulder and become too hot for people to handle. Cruel and callous cannot create a society fit for humans, animals or plants. No New Order from this background can be welcomed by decent, free human beings as a way of living.
Hollow words from you, yet I agree, at your expense, though still can't quite fathom how you managed to dodge this bullet when the debate about treatment of women has been raging for the past few days.
https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-19-12-2019/#comment-1674615
[fixed the internal link. You have to us the link html or button or it reverts back to the post – weka]
I totally agree that action should have been taken on that absolutely disgusting comment by Greywarshark the other night on OM 19 Dec. And that is far from the first time we have had comments from Grey along similar sanctimonious, shallow lines.
I was also shocked by Grey's comment yesterday at 3.1 on Open Mike 20 Dec that
"Someone intoning about safety on the roads on radio this morning (in a foreign accent – Canadian I think one less job for a born NZer). Realistic xenophobia!"
As noted in my response at /open-mike-20-12-2019/#comment-1674783;, that 'someone' was most probably none other than Julie Anne Genter as our Associate Minister of Transport. JAG was interviewed yesterday morning on RNZ's Nine to Noon programme re the Government's new multi-billion dollar road safety plan called Road to Zero aimed at cutting road deaths by 40 per cent by 2030.
But Grey's view appears to be that 'this was someone with a foreign accent taking up a Nzer's job; and therefore "realistic zenophobia" is apparently justified!
But as usual, Grey just sprays and walks away with no response to your and others' reactions to her/his OM 19 Dec comment, nor to mine yesterday on OM 20 Dec.
And here she is back today, with her comments currently totaling 7 of the 30 so far today (as of about 30 mins ago). Well I suppose it keeps the comment numbers up if not the quality; but IMO it is not really surprising that over the last 10 or so months a noticeable number of long term commenters no longer participate here regularly, including myself. In my case, this type of behaviour/comment is a big turnoff and one of the major factors, but not the only one, as to why I no longer participate as much as I did. I certainly do not want to be associated with such prejudice and attitudes as displayed in these two very recent comments by Grey.
I'm aware there are issues. It's harder to moderate in places like OM and DR where the expectation is that as long as people don't break the main rules they can post abhorrent beliefs and arguments (there is a limit). It's the robust debate ethic and the theory is that commenters will then argue why the beliefs/argument are abhorrent (as you did over the xenophobia issue).
If she was making those rape culture comments under a post of mine she would get warned then banned (have done so in the past) because I write to create a good discussion space. But then reasons why I'm not writing on those topics (and why there are no other regular feminist authors here) are the elephant in the living room of TS.
If the community wants more moderation on topics like this it has to support the moderators and authors.
Just caught up on the comment and replies. I think that people did exactly what was needed: named the problems with the comment and pushed back clearly. I'm grateful because Grey has been commenting like that for a while and has generally not been responded to. I find reading those comments as a moderator easily the worst part of the job, it makes things way easier if the commentariat responds.
Thanks to you both for raising it again today.
I raised it again today mainly because I can't see how someone posting about 'Cruel and callous' not befitting society and humanity one day, can post cruel and callous comments a couple of days previous, showing a distinct lack of humanity, and expect to be taken seriously on any level at all.
I honestly took it as an example of daytime drinking not being for everyone if it allows the natural nasty to come through in such an ignorant and spiteful way, but really, there's no excuse for that. Glad he got called out for it by a few others, too.
Thanks The Allen, Veuto and Weka.
I have also found some of Grey's comments recently quite shocking – the full blown rape apologist and rape culture remarks and the misogynist language in particular. He/she made some similar remarks on open mike back in November 28 under the Assange thread (can't link sorry on my phone).
I wrote the other day, the only benefit of this type of commentary is knowing who we share this space with.
I am really annoyed at veutoviper. I have not advanced myself as a woman so she has chosen to break the rule that good bloggers here don't penetrate others' pseudonyms. Which is strange as she always holds herself up to be exemplary in everything.
Secondly there is the matter of free speech. I consider that my points are relevant and not unreasonable. The state of politics and the way that there is an oppressive PC control on speech from those who find that interacts with their advanced sensitivities means that matters can't be faced and discussed as they need to be.
The PC brigade and those concerned with 'nice' and right-as-taught expression apart from that chosen as the official line, results in a shutting down of full discussion with the ability to be objective and see and speak to the unsatisfactory state of affairs. Trying to look at things as they are while this 'moral outrage' from the cognoscenti who have made a group decision that they are right, and there is one way to consider anything, theirs seems paramount. The carping continues regularly iterated from the passive aggressive controllers.
If women can't strongly speak out on matters that should be looked at closely, not with a prepared reaction agreed to by the Sisters Union, they are being silenced and pushed out by these other women, who wish to be moral dictators. This reminds me of how Ettie Rout was treated after she conducted her campaign against sexually transmitted disease caught from sexual congress by soldiers in WW1. And I am sure that the sisters here won't see the parallel. Scorn and outrage is your response to the challenge of different ideas.
So I have responded to all the comfy chair warriors, and those who want a harmonious little coterie. I haven't in the past because I thought that some different thoughts were needed but i see you are determined to squash them. You have your wish.
Calling a murder victim "that silly girl" and historic sexual abuse/assault "hysterical" and a "witch hunt" isn't "different thoughts", it's just fucking wrong. It negates the devastating impact on victims and cheapens the suffering of all innocents. They don't need squashing, they just need not to be said in the first instance.
I'm not sure that "that silly girl" wasn't accurate – of course we don't have the full details, but certainly the defense were trying to suggest that Millane was up for bdsm with complete stranger. That seems unwise to me – not that it excuses the murderer one iota – but that reposing that much trust without cause is frankly dangerous. It is not uncommon for murder victims have done things that might be considered imprudent, and saying so isn't an endorsement of the crime.
'silly girl' is a pejorative commonly used to undermine women, it's not a phrase used to convey imprudence. Millane was an adult not a girl.
I didn't follow the details of the trial. Leaving aside the defence's argument was there any evidence that Millane wanted to be strangled during sex by a stranger on this date? I mean actual evidence here, not hearsay and rumour.
Without thinking too much about the stats, I'm wondering if the risk assessment is similar to say tourists going on a trip to an active volcano. I didn't see too many people calling them silly girls and boys. Partly because it would be grossly insensitive, but also because we just don't think about it like that. So why think about Grace Millane in that way?
to put that another way, it's possible to have a conversation about the politics of personal responsibility without using terms that start the conversation by victim blaming.
I don't think it's out of order to suggest that her choice may have reflected a decree of immaturity.
Of course I'm not sure to what degree bdsm was even part of her decision as opposed to a self-serving narrative conjured by the defence.
It might not be out of order, although I’m not seeing that given her age, and we don’t know what her choice was, so it’s kind of a moot point. But there’s no need to use language to describe her in ways that diminish her as a person. Talk about her actions and whether they were wise, but there’s still the bigger picture of rape culture and victim blaming.
The defense produced several witnesses that claimed Millane wanted asphyxiation and BDSM during sex (in general, not specifically with respect to the encounter with the accused). Dunno whether that counts as evidence or hearsay and rumour. The prosecution produced witnesses that said the accused engaged in non-consensual asphyxiation and domination. Again, dunno whether that counts as evidence or hearsay and rumour.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12286093
"immaturity" is just a more sensitive way of making the assumption that a Tinder date is more dangerous for women than the way we dated twenty or thirty years ago. Not so sure about that.
Secondly, even if it is more dangerous than meeting someone in a bar or at a party, there's still more than enough opportunity to avoid putting the focus of responsibility upon the victim. "Silly girl" is a pretty callous and dismissive way to describe someone who was murdered.
Feel free to see the defence's argument without the benefit of the victim's testimony as unwise, and though you say "we don't have the full details", accept this rejected trial position as a valid reason to call GM that stupid girl.
Using that logic, I suppose it's okay to call out that kiwi lass in Ausralia who fell off a balcony trying to flee that aussie creeps apartment following a tinder date?
Or the girl in a short skirt who walks in to a bar full off men?
Actually I think the girl in Oz showed a lot of sense – though shouting to the neighbours or setting a fire might have worked better than climbing.
There used to be bars in NZ (and may still be) where that dress decision would almost inescapably bring certain consequences – the downstairs bar of the British in Lyttleton used to be such a venue. No defense for attackers, but a place most women would do well to avoid.
Not sure what you want grey. You have the freedom here to post your thoughts and others have the freedom to respond as they see fit. If you don't like the responses you can modify how you communicate, but you appear to be saying you want to say what you want and have people like what you say. It doesn't work like that.
If your views are relevant and not unreasonable then argue them and see how they stand up to political analysis of your peers. What I see yesterday is you dropping a controversial comment and then walking away. You can't have it both ways. Either we have robust debate here or we don't.
Info about linking received.
Mass rape in China against a Muslim minority. An activist asked,
I was going link to that myself. Truly one of the more disturbing things I've read in a while.
One of the consequences of the concept creep which our outrage culture has indulged in for so long, that when finally faced with the truly outrageous and evil … we are at a loss for words and a meaningful response.
It was only 80 years ago or so that they realised they had to invent words to describe that stuff: "genocide" and "crimes against humanity".
The first thing that came to mind with the Australian PM holidaying in Hawaii while Australia is imploding with bush fires and enduring extreme heat was the saying "Nero Fiddled while Rome Burned". Seems very apt today and another ominous example of history repeating itself. I envisage Australian climate refugees coming here by the boatloads in the not too distant future – the irony of it. Because we are hopefully a civilised country we will accept them.
If I was the Australian PM I would start treating our PM and country with the respect it deserves. He is going to have to do some grovelling/negotiating in the future to the NZ Government on behalf of his country's citizens so as to enable them to have a safe haven here. Meanwhile the country is frying and their Government is still in denial and thrall to the coal industry. God help them.
Of course they have some of the best gigs in the economy, politics, science, etc, etc, but other than that they're completely marginalised.
/
https://twitter.com/GMB/status/1207559555665801217
Donny Dotard doing his bit to encourage vegetariansim in the USA.
https://cleantechnica.com/2019/12/20/mystery-pork-will-soon-hit-the-stores/
Can I just give a shoutout on the retirement of Brian Gaynor, the well respected NZHerald business journalist.
I always felt that he put the interests of New Zealand first, and always wanted business to grow in the national interest and not just in self-interest.
He was always clear that overseas ownership of business and land here just holds New Zealand back. He was very rarely in favour of privatization.
And he was resolute in holding bad directors to account and wanting high-quality industry-experienced directors to govern their businesses well.
Finally, he had a broad horizon with some historical depth. In his last column today he rails against Muldoon for killing the Superannuation scheme an bemoans how much more powerful and secure we would be as a society we would have been. But still praises NZSuperfund as a good start, even if not perfect.
Sure hope they get a decent replacement who seeks to bring the interests of business back to the long term interests of New Zealand.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12295721
Gaynor was always forthright about how scum like Fay and Richwhite fleeced co-investors and incompetent privatising governments of an easy half billion: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12689
A rare journalist.
Aren't we past this yet?
The daughter who seduced the old guy was 9 years old.
The instigator of the childish "Turn Ardern" campaign is Colin Wilson, a 66 year-old pale male from Canterbury. What a surprise (not). I bet he feels emasculated and scared when he sees Greta's photo as well. The poor chap needs therapy.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12295954
Quite. Anyone who feels the need to add 'the man' to his twitter handle has issues.
Funny, I'd always assumed he was part of the Nat troll crew.
They all look the same. But hey..
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/1208483320406786048
A brow any lower would be a heel.
Crikey! This is front-page news (with photo!) on Stuff’s landing page too. The squeaky wheels get attention.