”Comment: Whenever Māori try to assert any rights to water it’s treated by politicians as scandalous or a complete non-starter. There usually follows vague accusations of apartheid and special rights being granted to a minority. This reeks of hypocrisy because a racial minority has already grabbed property rights over water and they’ve been doing so for the past three decades. That minority is Pākehā farmers. ”
The ruling caste of older white men needs to be mitigated.
"But study after study after study has shown that the increased stocking rates and higher volumes of fertiliser, with higher water take by dairy farmers, has contributed to higher nitrate levels in the water that is left"
In a week it will be the one year memorial of the brutal, but perhaps not random, murder of Poli on Tatakamotonga beach:
Polikalepo Kefu, or Poli, was well recognised for his tireless devotion to a wide range of human rights causes.
The Red Cross described him as a shining star in the Pacific, and globally, who will be remembered and cherished for his dedication to equality for all…
The New Zealand Green Party Pacific spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said Poli was a kind and gentle soul.
"We worked together during the COP21 Paris Climate Treaty process, so that's where we met and I bumped into Poli at a couple of other meetings as well," said Tuiono.
"Poli's work was focusing on supporting LGBTQ+ communities, our trans whanau."
Poli helped negotiators understand that marginal communities, particularly in the Pacific, were more harshly struck by the impacts of the climate crisis, said Tuiono.
Transgenderism has traditionally found expression across Oceanic States (I use this term rather than Pacific Islands after reading Tongan essayist and poet Epeli Hau’ofa who suggests the former label reinforces colonial attitudes). Some of the terms I have found include:
…If there is this substantial and varied historical recognition, identifiable across this vast region, where is the division coming from?
Sadly, it seems, from the West.
In Tonga specifically the threat is two-fold: outmoded neocolonial-influenced (but unenforced, according to Amnesty International) laws on sodomy and transvestitism that can see leiti whipped and imprisoned for 10 years, and perhaps more insidiously, a recent rise in an evangelical form of Christianity from the United States.
The normalization of violence against trans Tongans is evident in this account beginning at the 28 minute mark on the Leitis in Waiting documentary film that the VeniVidiViti piece references. A trailer freely available on YouTube has snippets from around 1minute 20seconds, but it's only two and a half minutes in full and gives other examples of the evangelical gender essentialists in action, so well worth the watch:
Mataele (President of the Tonga Leitis Association before Kefu) “One of my eldest brothers was always hard on me to get me to speak like a man, walk like a man – you know talk like a man and all that. But I couldn't really do it.
“We got to the point that you put a rope on my neck, and throw the rope out of the sight of the hands, and pull it. To try and get me to speak in a man's voice, you know. And it went a bit too far that it almost choked me, you know. And I think I'm – that scar has always been with me.”
The court was told {Inoke Silongo F.}Tonga admitted to police he had killed Polikalepo Kefu, 47, after they went to buy a bottle of spirits, Matangi Tonga reported.
Kefu instead drove to the beach where he allegedly made sexual advances towards {ISF} Tonga, a claim the judge said were “impossible to accept” after he considered the scale of the attack and Kefu’s injuries.
“The defendant became angry and in a prolonged attack he twice attempted to strangle Poli, for about 12 minutes, before slamming him on the road, then strangled him for about 5 more minutes, before bashing him with a rock more than 30 times,” the paper said.
“The defendant then rested for a couple of minutes before dragging Poli’s body to the water line, hoping it would be washed out to sea. He admitted that he intended to beat Poli to death”.
{ISF}Tonga was a meth addict, brought up in a broken family and had been sniffing benzene, the court heard.
None of the evidence brought up in court was enough for {ISF} Tonga to get the toughest punishment allowed under Tonga law: the death penalty which is hanging by the neck.
It is a odd exercise in compassion to be glad that a killer escaped the death penalty that they were all too ready to lay on another without even a trial first. More for the benefit (or at least diminished detriment) of Tongan society than the person themselves. And anyway; Poli wouldn't have wanted it himself, the TLA being more about dialogue and advocacy than vengeance. The Gay Panic Defense attempt has the stench of USAn evangelicalism all over it though.
"A trailer freely available on YouTube has snippets from around 1minute 20seconds, but it's only two and a half minutes in full and gives other examples of the evangelical gender essentialists in action, so well worth the watch:"
I have watched the trailer, but not the documentary but will do if you post a link on here sometime in the future.
One point I will note about your comment, is that "gender essentialists" seems to be a derogatory term for those who retain an understanding of the effect of material body reality. In that way, I would fit that description, but would question the derogatory nature of it. "Evangelical" – given the Tongan context and the large part religion plays in the culture, may be an unnecessary descriptor, unless your point was that adherence to a strict religious doctrine harms those who don't follow expected expressions of male behaviour.
While I maintain the importance of the recognition of biology sex in society, and legislation, I also (and always have) supported the right of everyone to personal expression. Men may fit the stereotype of what these 'Evangelicals' consider manly – and there nothing instrinsically wrong with that, but they should also be able to break those stereotypes with full society acceptance. In the trailer, it is men in a very traditionalist religious culture who are unable to adjust their beliefs that are causing harm.
Make sure that you are clear in recognising that aspect of this particular documentary.
As regards the pageant, many women object to the objectification of the body in beauty pageants, and have often written or legally protested outside of venues over decades. This trailer shows a father getting on stage to shame a contestant. Not something I've been aware of happening in all the decades of protests at women's pageants. Once again, a result perhaps of the culture, and that individual's idea not only of acceptable masculinity but also of ego and misplaced pride. Familial abuse writ large and public.
On a side note, I was thinking of the promotion and acceptance of drag kids – like "Desmond is Amazing", (given that I believe that drag is an adult entertainment trope, that exaggerates and caricatures aspects associated with women in a demeaning way) with the justified (to my mind) criticism of child beauty pageants. Both objectify and sexualise children with the excuse of entertainment and self-expression.
In the trailer, 1:54 "We're known as chefs, decorators, do the dirty areas, clean up the house, help the mothers…".
What is the point being made here? If it is that they ask for more roles in society, then fair play to them, everyone should be able to participate fully, but this may be a societal and religious doctrine problem rather than an imported prejudice from the west. Alternatively, it could be read as they are considered of the same worth as those that usually do those tasks – women – and don't want to be relegated to that lowly status. The full documentary would probably expand.
The approach that men or women have to meet stereotypical expectations of personal expression is a problem.
The denial of the distinct and separate reality of living in biological sexed bodies creates another problem.
Don't conflate the two, because it is intellectually dishonest.
Adding the accusation of homophobia into this already conflated perspective, is also problematic.
Let me be clear, I do not condone the use of violence, threats, intimidation in any form.
Be clear with both your assessment of the situation, and your identification of the issues, and your suggestions for solutions, and I – like many other GC women – will engage in good faith.
But I will push back against vague implications that any who speak on this topic are violent, transphobic people who are responsible for murders committed by individuals in traditionalist societies who have little in common with me.
Buy the DVD, or find someplace that streams it online. I don't know anywhere you can watch it entirely for free. Poli is in it, but the focus is far more on Mataele.
While I do regard Gender Criticals as being essentially Gender Essentialists, was this ever Not About You!
It's more that your comment lacks clarity, and has vague suggestions, so is hard to follow, to see what your point is, or what is the information you wish to share.
The dramatisation of the comment is exampled by emotive language and sentences like: "!!Trigger Warnings from this point on!!".
"The normalization of violence against trans Tongans"…"but it's only two and a half minutes in full and gives other examples of the evangelical gender essentialists in action, so well worth the watch"
Implies that the act of violence you prefaced with, is an example of evangelical gender essentialists in action. Equating "gender essentialists" with that murder.
There is no evidence that you have provided that believing in the material reality of biological sex gave impetus to that murder.
"While I do regard Gender Criticals as being essentially Gender Essentialists, was this ever Not About You!"
Very sad that Poli was murdered as he sounds like a great guy who was well liked and must respected for his work.
I am a little confused about the point of your story though. It sounds like Poli was gay? Not Trans? His murder happened when a young guy from. a broken home, who was a meth addict and had been sniffing Benzene, violently attacked Poli. The murdered alleges that Poli made advances to him, which the judge did not believe. Whether or not it was the case, the situation never justifies a sustained attack that lead to murder., but it sounds to me like the murderer lost the plot due to substance abuse.
I understand your mixed feelings that the young man didn't get the death penalty. It sounds like this was because it was a first offence, his background and his family paying reparations. But shocking the injuries he inflicted on Poli.
My understanding is that the murder rate for trans gender people in NZ is lower than ci people. The last Trans person to be murdered was in 2010 in Upper Hutt. The victim was beated to death afterr a drug deal when wrong. Murder is shocking
How on earth could the judge determine advances were not made?
Perhaps the murderer lost the plot due to constant abuse by the victim.
"Very sad that Poli was murdered as he sounds like a great guy who was well liked and must respected for his work." This can be applied to many sexual abuses.
Perhaps the murderer lost the plot due to constant abuse by the victim.
I don't know anything; could be completely wrong, I appal violence in all its forms, including state sanctioned murder.
So much ew, from your comment! You freely state you don't know anything, yet leap to the conclusion that Poli was a serial abuser (because they were LGBTQ+ advocate?).
The judge dismissed that unsubstantiated notion because this was Poli! If there is one person in Tonga who could have had their pick of consensual lovers it was him. Angry meth-heads aren't as attractive as they think they are. Even if the voices in his head convinced the murderer that they were being hit on, this was a grotesquely disproportionate response!
The gossip is that ISFT was at a party of a cousin of Poli's and was going to drive to get more booze, while already being intoxicated. Poli happening to be around, sober, and; being the socially conscious sort he was, offered to drive him there instead (more out of regard for road safety than any affection for ISFT who was reportedly every kind of asshole about it).
What happened after that is impossible to say for certain, but ISFT seemed to be a frequent watcher of Evangelical TV (when they could focus their eyes enough), with all the homophobia that brings. Poli would have to have a self destructive urge that was never observed by anyone previously to want to stick his dick in that amount of crazy!
"What happened after that is impossible to say for certain, but ISFT seemed to be a frequent watcher of Evangelical TV (when they could focus their eyes enough), with all the homophobia that brings. "
And a heavy drug user by all accounts, with high drug intoxication at the time of the murder.
How did you get from this account the information to add: "Gender Essentialists" – which is, as you say, your reframing of "Gender Critical" to Evangelists, instead of more accurately stating: "Drug-Abusing Evangelist"?
You’ve made “Gender Essentialists” the noun, and evangelical only an adjective. A surmise not supported by the information you have provided.
Were your other questions not genuine then Molly? Well at least that saves me the bother of addressing them when I could be spending time with whānau.
L for Lesbian
G for Gay
B for Bi
T for Trans
Q for Queer
+ for all the others omitted from this initialism, because it is already too long. Say; Intersex; NonBinary; Culturally embedded names that are difficult to render exactly into English eg; Leitis & Takatāpui.
I used to argue for Q+ as being briefer. And (already being a broad term) not giving primacy to the LGB&T people of this loosely aligned cluster of communities (some of) which act in solidarity with each other. But the thrice damned Qanon cult put an end to that notion.
(All my questions are genuine in that I ask in the hopes I get a well reasoned response, but that does not often occur. So, I use that phrase to indicate to others that I would like a genuine answer.
Which you gave, thank you. I’ll work on the wording.
Perhaps “If you are willing, will you give a genuine answer to this question?” but that sounds clunky. Genuine question – do you have a suggestion?)
What does Queer mean that isn't covered by L, G and B?
Why do you think a support movement for L, G and B would add to its acronym a term that has such negative connotations historically for them to represent a group that they are not part of?
Still no definition of Queer BTW.
As for the +, surely most of your examples fit under the ever expanding T. Isn't it a form of cultural segregation to make the T applicable to a particular culture and put all the others in a +?
Intersex is another example of appropriation that has real world impacts.
Might be briefer but a bit nonsensical in terms of providing support and assistance. Everyone has different challenges and needs.
LGB people are same-sex or both sex-attracted. It is their sexual orientation that categorises them.
TQ+ may or may not include LGB people, but are a a completely different category system. The changing focus of many original LGB organisations have actually eliminated LGB concerns or recognition from their work and activism. Many modern organisations don't even use the words same-sex attraction anymore. A very prominent one in the UK, has even likened same-sex attraction to sexual racism. So, to be honest the present LGBQT+ movement – for all intents and purposes just T activism, no matter how many letters and numbers are included. Latest iteration being 2SLGBTQ+.
Conflating all is like setting up a sporting organisation for rugby players, yachties, recreational knitters and calling it "Sportys".
Do you really think that the Mormons (not necessarily literal Church of LDS, more a common catch all term for Americanised Evangelists and their followers in te Moana Nui) care whether someone is gay or trans before judging them according to their own doctrine? Public whipping and 10years in prison is still the punishment (too rarely meted out for their preferences) for either crime. It was enough that Poli advocated for Leitis, it is irrelevant whether they were also; a trans man, eNBy, or had intimate relationships with Leitis, as well.
You quite evidently don't understand my mixed feelings, because I don't have them. I am unequivocally glad that the death penalty was not enacted. However some in the #justice forpoli circles are less sure of that, and I guess I have been accustomed to arguing against them in the past year to the extent that I do so preemptively nowadays.
It is actually quite hard to know the trans murder rate in Aotearoa. For one thing, until recently, most trans people have been misgendered on official documents and in court rooms. Often their families burn (or more rarely) bury them under names they have not used in years in spite of any wishes they may have expressed while yet living. I have been to too many memorials this past decade!
Take Zena Campbell for example – was she murdered in 2018? Not according to the courts, despite being strangled by her partner in an argument beforehand. But being a trans drug user with mental health issues the case didn't even reach trial.
Lots of trans people in NZ just disappear, but most weren't public figures so I am not going to mention any names here. Are they dead, overseas, starting over in another town – who can say? The police sure aren't (or haven't historically been) very interested in finding out.
But that is all ignoring all the far more common deaths by suicide. If your life is a constant stream of; abuse, abandonment, assault, and homelessness, then many make the arguably rational choice to end the misery. It is not for me, but I find it hard to condemn those who "take the easy way out".
Though they have taken their own lives, trans suicides have to my mind been murdered by a society that (even if it professes to not actually want them dead – because that might make them look bad, if nothing else) would really prefer that they didn't exist.
Fragility of mental health of people in the transgender community needs to be addressed. I believe it should be by professionals in the mental health and therapy professions that can explore the many different and diverse reasons an individual has for not being well.
An assumption that is is external society, is as harmful an assumption that it is not. Especially on an individual level, where many other factors come into play. Quality exploratory therapy would help here. Unfortunately, our Mental Health services are below par for all NZers in terms of access, and quality. Our high suicide rates are indicative of this failing.
Our high suicide rates are indicative of this failing.
According to the above article,
The Royal College of GPs says about a third of doctors' visits are now related to mental health, while the number of calls to police for mental health problems, attempted suicides and suicides has risen – to an average of more than 200 recorded nationally every day in the past three months.
That needs to be said again…an average of more than 200 attempted suicides every day for the past three months. What the actual fuck?
How's the Wellbeing thing going Jacinda?
I have scanned a couple of the Herald articles in this series and have not read if any of these terribly sad and distressed people are trans, and if so it is because society that (even if it professes to not actually want them dead – because that might make them look bad, if nothing else) would really prefer that they didn't exist…that drove them to absolute despair.
Temp ORary might see this failure to focus on the mental distress of trans people as yet another example of society's rejection of that particular community's needs.
I'd like Temp ORary to to step back a little from trans issues and acknowledge there are a shitload of truly miserable people out here in the world and a suicidal person's gender fucking identity is most likely not the root cause of their despair.
Thanks Temp. I wasn't able to open your 2 minute clip,so I was commenting on the link's about Poli's case you sent. If people in Tonga are being imprissoned for being Trans or gay, then that is 100% wrong and good for Poli for advocating about it. I hope they continue his work. Sad.
Zena Campbell was not the victim of murder, or so the judge thought having view the autopsy results. Her boyfriends case was dismissed.
Another reason why the Dept of Stats should be very careful about how it gathers it's imformation. We need good data around homicide and suicide. To date we don't have. The only research in NZ I trust is the Dunedin Multi disciplinary study. But I don't think they have released any info on this.
There have also been indications that the study referred to used the CTS (Conflict Tactics Scales). The Wikipedia page states that:
“CTS is one of the most widely criticized domestic violence measurement instruments due to its exclusion of context variables and motivational factors in understanding acts of violence. The National Institute of Justice cautions that the CTS may not be appropriate for IPV research “because it does not measure control, coercion, or the motives for conflict tactics.”
Temp Zena's boyfriend was arrested by the police and charged with her murder. The case got thrown out because of the findings of the autopsy as copied from the link I posted elsewhere on this thread.
Asphyxial signs were normally present after such a form of strangulation if it was prolonged enough to cause death, and Campbell did not show those signs, she said in her report.
Spark's post-mortem findings showed Campbell had methadone, oxazepam, Ritalin, alcohol and cannabis in her blood.
But you are free to disagree with the autopsy and the Judges decision to through this out of court.
This man needs to be extradited,otherwise it just signals NZ is a safe haven for people that do not want to defend themselves where alleged crimes are committed.
More like yet another example of our supreme court confirming our status as redneck backwater. Can you imagine the PC doing what our bunch of clowns at the SC have done? We're an international laughing stock.
I see there was a story on Stuff yesterday about a new bridge in the Manawatu. It was finished, ahead of schedule, early this year. However no one is allowed to use it because there is an agreement with the local Iwi to have a blessing, and an opening, in June. Meanwhile any vehicle that is larger than a small van has to take a long diversion that adds about 45 minutes to their trip.
Why can't we just let people use the bridge and have the official opening later. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that something sensible like that has been done. Then we could celebrate the fact that a piece of infrastructure was, miracle of miracles, finished ahead of the planned time.
Nope. You still don't appear to have read it. Some quotes from the story.
"Manawatū councillors have said the Rangitīkei council is responsible for the bridge remaining unused because it entered an agreement with local iwi that an opening ceremony would be held in June, and no traffic could pass until then."
"But Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson said the Manawatū council managed the contract and had advised it was working to a June opening date."
""The June date was always part of the agreement that they entered into with Rangitīkei District Council with regard to iwi."
Whether it was Manawatu or Rangitikei or both Councils who are responsible appears to be in dispute but nobody is blaming NZTA.
I wonder if there is any central government agency which could possibly settle the dispute about who is the lead iwi negotiator out of the Manawatu and Rangitikei councils. Probably will have an NZ in the name, its a bridge so probably a Transport in there now if only we had that last letter.
Its a conundrum, NZT_.
Now of course if this agreement could be found it would have to be one of the parties to this agreement. Oh well, too bad nobody could possibly find such a document. I guess it will just have to wait for the agreed date.
I'm really wary of taking this story as the full picture.
For example, here in Auckland we had local board members blaming the delay of a community facility on the lack of local iwi approval for the park. This was said without any qualification, and received the usual grumbling and muttering in the attendees.
I spoke to the local iwi representatives, a couple of weeks later. At that time, they had received no request from council or any of their representatives about the aforementioned park.
While the local board member was accurate in stating that approval had not been given – he was also deliberately omitting that fact that approval had not yet been sought.
Council agreed with iwi that pou would be erected before the bridge opened.
There's a few questions that arise from that article:
When they decided to speed up the construction, did they inform Ngāti Hauiti, given that the construction of a pou, often relies on a limited pool of artisans and has a limit to how fast it can be delivered? If they did, what discussion happened then, and what was the result?
How long ago did the Manawatū council contact Ngāti Hauiti to see about opening the bridge for traffic and their intention not to meet the agreement they had with them?
Rangitikei council seems to think that they will have a resolution within a couple of weeks. Is their relationship with local iwi better than Manawatu?
There's a few more, including allowing Ngāti Hauiti to have time to arrange huis, and discuss the change. We wouldn't approach a councillor on a new development and expect a decision before it has been discussed at council meetings, why expect a statement from Ngāti Hauiti unless we know that huis have been held, and a decision made.
Iwi are often consulted when it suits and accommodated when their perspective fits into the proposal without too much bother. It is when agreements are publicly brushed aside in such a way that you see how much power they actually hold.
Good on Putin. He has followed the advice that Republican Senator George Aiken once gave to Lyndon Johnson about the Vietnam War. Just say that you have won!
“Declare the United States the winner and begin de-escalation.”—Senator George Aiken (R-VT) offering advice to President Lyndon Johnson on October 19, 1966 on how to handle the politics of reducing the U.S. commitment in Vietnam.
I see the Putin is, very sensibly in my view, doing exactly that with respect to Mariupol.
I wish Lyndon had tried it though. It would have saved me a lot of time getting involved in protests, and more importantly a hell of a lot of lives of the people involved on both sides of the war.
Putin (and Zelensky) clearly need to be given the Nobel Peace prize. That's the shortest way out as on awarding the Nobel Peace prize to Henry Kissinger (and Le Duc Tho) for a ceasefire in 1973 the Vietnam war ended in 1975.
I wonder which of them would play the Le Duc Tho role and decline the award?
Be a great idea though if it would persuade Putin to pull out of Ukraine wouldn't it? Surely we can find a New Zealand MP to nominate them. Or perhaps we could talk Lloyd Geering into doing it. He's apparently eligible to do so and at 104 ought to be the oldest nominator.
Here's a young Russian POW in Ukraine talking about how he got there. There's proof of who he is in his own you tube channel (linked in the link).
An enormous clusterfuck, that's all the attempt on Kiev was. There's no 4D chess going on, no special move going to surface. No mastermind, no master strategy. Putin's a fucking idiot and so is his fan club.
What happens when the truth starts to dawn on these Russian people. Will they apologise for their stupidity or hang on to their brainwashed beliefs? The latter I suspect. They are no different to our own stupid people who disappear down rabbit -holes and refuse to accept reality.
I mourn just as much for those young Russian soldiers as I do the Ukrainians who are being needlessly killed to satisfy the desires of a bunch of power hungry psychopaths in the Kremlin.
Trucks rolling up on and loading up from appliance stores.
Had never even fired his weapon.
Training consisted of a long walk with body armor on.
Rounding up citizens and putting them in basements.
Looting personal apartments.
Poorly supplied (implies Ru thought it would simply take Kiev and resupply there).
No idea where he was, or why, or what he was doing.
Tank gets hit. Lays off to the side in shock listening to commanders screams till they stopped.
Asks for help. Is surprised he is not murdered, tortured, or his balls roast on a tanks grill. Gets fed, gets to phone mother. Was (unwitting, and seemingly witless) part of Bucha massacre.
Tamati Coffey introduced The Rotorua District Council Representative Arrangements Bill. Restructuring RDC into non-proportional Maori wards (resulting in more Maori councillors than is proportionate to the general population).
National and Act have made hay, of course. However, there have been very significant left politicians and ex-politicians who have come out strongly against it (in the submissions process). And a public storm has been ignited (tens of thousands of submissions, I understand)
And, now David Parker, with his Attorney General's hat on – has said it's discriminatory under the Bill of Rights.
Regardless of the pros and cons – Labour really needed to have resolved this in-house, before the legislation was introduced. [Yes, I know that's what select committees are for – but for politically sensitive bills – they need to be run by the lawyers first….]
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Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
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Another case for Three Waters reform.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/act-argues-for-continued-minority-rule?utm_source=Friends+of+the+Newsroom&utm_campaign=3651342188-Daily+Briefing+22.04.2022&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-3651342188-47886425
”Comment: Whenever Māori try to assert any rights to water it’s treated by politicians as scandalous or a complete non-starter. There usually follows vague accusations of apartheid and special rights being granted to a minority. This reeks of hypocrisy because a racial minority has already grabbed property rights over water and they’ve been doing so for the past three decades. That minority is Pākehā farmers. ”
The ruling caste of older white men needs to be mitigated.
Question….how does 3 Waters impact irrigation takes?
Answer….. it doesn't. Nor does it have any impact on rivers either.
Thats my reading of it….and yet dairy is cited.
Never let the facts get in the way of a good story.
"Nor does it have any impact on rivers either."
Did you read the article?
"But study after study after study has shown that the increased stocking rates and higher volumes of fertiliser, with higher water take by dairy farmers, has contributed to higher nitrate levels in the water that is left"
Yes, but Three Waters only applies to reticulated supply, waste water and storm water. It's influence beyond population centres is minimal.
In a week it will be the one year memorial of the brutal, but perhaps not random, murder of Poli on Tatakamotonga beach:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/441799/killing-of-humanitarian-in-tonga-shocks-wider-community
https://venividiviti.wordpress.com/2020/05/28/waiting-in-vain-changing-attitudes-to-transgender-women-in-tonga/
!!Trigger Warnings from this point on!!
The normalization of violence against trans Tongans is evident in this account beginning at the 28 minute mark on the Leitis in Waiting documentary film that the VeniVidiViti piece references. A trailer freely available on YouTube has snippets from around 1minute 20seconds, but it's only two and a half minutes in full and gives other examples of the evangelical gender essentialists in action, so well worth the watch:
Mataele (President of the Tonga Leitis Association before Kefu) “One of my eldest brothers was always hard on me to get me to speak like a man, walk like a man – you know talk like a man and all that. But I couldn't really do it.
“We got to the point that you put a rope on my neck, and throw the rope out of the sight of the hands, and pull it. To try and get me to speak in a man's voice, you know. And it went a bit too far that it almost choked me, you know. And I think I'm – that scar has always been with me.”
https://www.kanivatonga.nz/2021/10/polikalepo-kefus-killer-avoids-death-penalty/
It is a odd exercise in compassion to be glad that a killer escaped the death penalty that they were all too ready to lay on another without even a trial first. More for the benefit (or at least diminished detriment) of Tongan society than the person themselves. And anyway; Poli wouldn't have wanted it himself, the TLA being more about dialogue and advocacy than vengeance. The Gay Panic Defense attempt has the stench of USAn evangelicalism all over it though.
"A trailer freely available on YouTube has snippets from around 1minute 20seconds, but it's only two and a half minutes in full and gives other examples of the evangelical gender essentialists in action, so well worth the watch:"
I have watched the trailer, but not the documentary but will do if you post a link on here sometime in the future.
One point I will note about your comment, is that "gender essentialists" seems to be a derogatory term for those who retain an understanding of the effect of material body reality. In that way, I would fit that description, but would question the derogatory nature of it. "Evangelical" – given the Tongan context and the large part religion plays in the culture, may be an unnecessary descriptor, unless your point was that adherence to a strict religious doctrine harms those who don't follow expected expressions of male behaviour.
While I maintain the importance of the recognition of biology sex in society, and legislation, I also (and always have) supported the right of everyone to personal expression. Men may fit the stereotype of what these 'Evangelicals' consider manly – and there nothing instrinsically wrong with that, but they should also be able to break those stereotypes with full society acceptance. In the trailer, it is men in a very traditionalist religious culture who are unable to adjust their beliefs that are causing harm.
Make sure that you are clear in recognising that aspect of this particular documentary.
As regards the pageant, many women object to the objectification of the body in beauty pageants, and have often written or legally protested outside of venues over decades. This trailer shows a father getting on stage to shame a contestant. Not something I've been aware of happening in all the decades of protests at women's pageants. Once again, a result perhaps of the culture, and that individual's idea not only of acceptable masculinity but also of ego and misplaced pride. Familial abuse writ large and public.
On a side note, I was thinking of the promotion and acceptance of drag kids – like "Desmond is Amazing", (given that I believe that drag is an adult entertainment trope, that exaggerates and caricatures aspects associated with women in a demeaning way) with the justified (to my mind) criticism of child beauty pageants. Both objectify and sexualise children with the excuse of entertainment and self-expression.
In the trailer, 1:54 "We're known as chefs, decorators, do the dirty areas, clean up the house, help the mothers…".
What is the point being made here? If it is that they ask for more roles in society, then fair play to them, everyone should be able to participate fully, but this may be a societal and religious doctrine problem rather than an imported prejudice from the west. Alternatively, it could be read as they are considered of the same worth as those that usually do those tasks – women – and don't want to be relegated to that lowly status. The full documentary would probably expand.
The approach that men or women have to meet stereotypical expectations of personal expression is a problem.
The denial of the distinct and separate reality of living in biological sexed bodies creates another problem.
Don't conflate the two, because it is intellectually dishonest.
Adding the accusation of homophobia into this already conflated perspective, is also problematic.
Let me be clear, I do not condone the use of violence, threats, intimidation in any form.
Be clear with both your assessment of the situation, and your identification of the issues, and your suggestions for solutions, and I – like many other GC women – will engage in good faith.
But I will push back against vague implications that any who speak on this topic are violent, transphobic people who are responsible for murders committed by individuals in traditionalist societies who have little in common with me.
Molly
Buy the DVD, or find someplace that streams it online. I don't know anywhere you can watch it entirely for free. Poli is in it, but the focus is far more on Mataele.
While I do regard Gender Criticals as being essentially Gender Essentialists, was this ever Not About You!
It's more that your comment lacks clarity, and has vague suggestions, so is hard to follow, to see what your point is, or what is the information you wish to share.
The dramatisation of the comment is exampled by emotive language and sentences like: "!!Trigger Warnings from this point on!!".
"The normalization of violence against trans Tongans"…"but it's only two and a half minutes in full and gives other examples of the evangelical gender essentialists in action, so well worth the watch"
Implies that the act of violence you prefaced with, is an example of evangelical gender essentialists in action. Equating "gender essentialists" with that murder.
There is no evidence that you have provided that believing in the material reality of biological sex gave impetus to that murder.
"While I do regard Gender Criticals as being essentially Gender Essentialists, was this ever Not About You!"
Which was my point.
Very sad that Poli was murdered as he sounds like a great guy who was well liked and must respected for his work.
I am a little confused about the point of your story though. It sounds like Poli was gay? Not Trans? His murder happened when a young guy from. a broken home, who was a meth addict and had been sniffing Benzene, violently attacked Poli. The murdered alleges that Poli made advances to him, which the judge did not believe. Whether or not it was the case, the situation never justifies a sustained attack that lead to murder., but it sounds to me like the murderer lost the plot due to substance abuse.
I understand your mixed feelings that the young man didn't get the death penalty. It sounds like this was because it was a first offence, his background and his family paying reparations. But shocking the injuries he inflicted on Poli.
My understanding is that the murder rate for trans gender people in NZ is lower than ci people. The last Trans person to be murdered was in 2010 in Upper Hutt. The victim was beated to death afterr a drug deal when wrong. Murder is shocking
I don't wish violence on anyone.
How on earth could the judge determine advances were not made?
Perhaps the murderer lost the plot due to constant abuse by the victim.
"Very sad that Poli was murdered as he sounds like a great guy who was well liked and must respected for his work." This can be applied to many sexual abuses.
Perhaps the murderer lost the plot due to constant abuse by the victim.
I don't know anything; could be completely wrong, I appal violence in all its forms, including state sanctioned murder.
The dude spent over a quarter of an hour beating someone to death.
Brigid
So much ew, from your comment! You freely state you don't know anything, yet leap to the conclusion that Poli was a serial abuser (because they were LGBTQ+ advocate?).
The judge dismissed that unsubstantiated notion because this was Poli! If there is one person in Tonga who could have had their pick of consensual lovers it was him. Angry meth-heads aren't as attractive as they think they are. Even if the voices in his head convinced the murderer that they were being hit on, this was a grotesquely disproportionate response!
The gossip is that ISFT was at a party of a cousin of Poli's and was going to drive to get more booze, while already being intoxicated. Poli happening to be around, sober, and; being the socially conscious sort he was, offered to drive him there instead (more out of regard for road safety than any affection for ISFT who was reportedly every kind of asshole about it).
What happened after that is impossible to say for certain, but ISFT seemed to be a frequent watcher of Evangelical TV (when they could focus their eyes enough), with all the homophobia that brings. Poli would have to have a self destructive urge that was never observed by anyone previously to want to stick his dick in that amount of crazy!
"What happened after that is impossible to say for certain, but ISFT seemed to be a frequent watcher of Evangelical TV (when they could focus their eyes enough), with all the homophobia that brings. "
And a heavy drug user by all accounts, with high drug intoxication at the time of the murder.
How did you get from this account the information to add: "Gender Essentialists" – which is, as you say, your reframing of "Gender Critical" to Evangelists, instead of more accurately stating: "Drug-Abusing Evangelist"?
You’ve made “Gender Essentialists” the noun, and evangelical only an adjective. A surmise not supported by the information you have provided.
Genuine question, as have so far been unable to get a coherent answer, what does the Q and + stand for?
Were your other questions not genuine then Molly? Well at least that saves me the bother of addressing them when I could be spending time with whānau.
L for Lesbian
G for Gay
B for Bi
T for Trans
Q for Queer
+ for all the others omitted from this initialism, because it is already too long. Say; Intersex; NonBinary; Culturally embedded names that are difficult to render exactly into English eg; Leitis & Takatāpui.
I used to argue for Q+ as being briefer. And (already being a broad term) not giving primacy to the LGB&T people of this loosely aligned cluster of communities (some of) which act in solidarity with each other. But the thrice damned Qanon cult put an end to that notion.
(All my questions are genuine in that I ask in the hopes I get a well reasoned response, but that does not often occur. So, I use that phrase to indicate to others that I would like a genuine answer.
Which you gave, thank you. I’ll work on the wording.
Perhaps “If you are willing, will you give a genuine answer to this question?” but that sounds clunky. Genuine question – do you have a suggestion?)
What does Queer mean that isn't covered by L, G and B?
Why do you think a support movement for L, G and B would add to its acronym a term that has such negative connotations historically for them to represent a group that they are not part of?
Still no definition of Queer BTW.
As for the +, surely most of your examples fit under the ever expanding T. Isn't it a form of cultural segregation to make the T applicable to a particular culture and put all the others in a +?
Intersex is another example of appropriation that has real world impacts.
https://differently-normal.com/2021/10/25/the-invention-of-intersex/
"I used to argue for Q+ as being briefer. "
Might be briefer but a bit nonsensical in terms of providing support and assistance. Everyone has different challenges and needs.
LGB people are same-sex or both sex-attracted. It is their sexual orientation that categorises them.
TQ+ may or may not include LGB people, but are a a completely different category system. The changing focus of many original LGB organisations have actually eliminated LGB concerns or recognition from their work and activism. Many modern organisations don't even use the words same-sex attraction anymore. A very prominent one in the UK, has even likened same-sex attraction to sexual racism. So, to be honest the present LGBQT+ movement – for all intents and purposes just T activism, no matter how many letters and numbers are included. Latest iteration being 2SLGBTQ+.
Conflating all is like setting up a sporting organisation for rugby players, yachties, recreational knitters and calling it "Sportys".
Anker
Do you really think that the Mormons (not necessarily literal Church of LDS, more a common catch all term for Americanised Evangelists and their followers in te Moana Nui) care whether someone is gay or trans before judging them according to their own doctrine? Public whipping and 10years in prison is still the punishment (too rarely meted out for their preferences) for either crime. It was enough that Poli advocated for Leitis, it is irrelevant whether they were also; a trans man, eNBy, or had intimate relationships with Leitis, as well.
You quite evidently don't understand my mixed feelings, because I don't have them. I am unequivocally glad that the death penalty was not enacted. However some in the #justice forpoli circles are less sure of that, and I guess I have been accustomed to arguing against them in the past year to the extent that I do so preemptively nowadays.
It is actually quite hard to know the trans murder rate in Aotearoa. For one thing, until recently, most trans people have been misgendered on official documents and in court rooms. Often their families burn (or more rarely) bury them under names they have not used in years in spite of any wishes they may have expressed while yet living. I have been to too many memorials this past decade!
Take Zena Campbell for example – was she murdered in 2018? Not according to the courts, despite being strangled by her partner in an argument beforehand. But being a trans drug user with mental health issues the case didn't even reach trial.
Lots of trans people in NZ just disappear, but most weren't public figures so I am not going to mention any names here. Are they dead, overseas, starting over in another town – who can say? The police sure aren't (or haven't historically been) very interested in finding out.
But that is all ignoring all the far more common deaths by suicide. If your life is a constant stream of; abuse, abandonment, assault, and homelessness, then many make the arguably rational choice to end the misery. It is not for me, but I find it hard to condemn those who "take the easy way out".
Though they have taken their own lives, trans suicides have to my mind been murdered by a society that (even if it professes to not actually want them dead – because that might make them look bad, if nothing else) would really prefer that they didn't exist.
Fragility of mental health of people in the transgender community needs to be addressed. I believe it should be by professionals in the mental health and therapy professions that can explore the many different and diverse reasons an individual has for not being well.
An assumption that is is external society, is as harmful an assumption that it is not. Especially on an individual level, where many other factors come into play. Quality exploratory therapy would help here. Unfortunately, our Mental Health services are below par for all NZers in terms of access, and quality. Our high suicide rates are indicative of this failing.
Unfortunately, our Mental Health services are below par for all NZers in terms of access, and quality.
And the Herald, bless them, are on a mission to bring this to the fore…as if we needed to be told there was a crisis.
Our high suicide rates are indicative of this failing.
According to the above article,
The Royal College of GPs says about a third of doctors' visits are now related to mental health, while the number of calls to police for mental health problems, attempted suicides and suicides has risen – to an average of more than 200 recorded nationally every day in the past three months.
That needs to be said again…an average of more than 200 attempted suicides every day for the past three months. What the actual fuck?
How's the Wellbeing thing going Jacinda?
I have scanned a couple of the Herald articles in this series and have not read if any of these terribly sad and distressed people are trans, and if so it is because society that (even if it professes to not actually want them dead – because that might make them look bad, if nothing else) would really prefer that they didn't exist…that drove them to absolute despair.
Temp ORary might see this failure to focus on the mental distress of trans people as yet another example of society's rejection of that particular community's needs.
I'd like Temp ORary to to step back a little from trans issues and acknowledge there are a shitload of truly miserable people out here in the world and a suicidal person's gender fucking identity is most likely not the root cause of their despair.
Keep up the good work. 😉
Hey Rosemary. You too.![wink wink](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/wink_smile.png?x42494)
Thanks Temp. I wasn't able to open your 2 minute clip,so I was commenting on the link's about Poli's case you sent. If people in Tonga are being imprissoned for being Trans or gay, then that is 100% wrong and good for Poli for advocating about it. I hope they continue his work. Sad.
Zena Campbell was not the victim of murder, or so the judge thought having view the autopsy results. Her boyfriends case was dismissed.
Another reason why the Dept of Stats should be very careful about how it gathers it's imformation. We need good data around homicide and suicide. To date we don't have. The only research in NZ I trust is the Dunedin Multi disciplinary study. But I don't think they have released any info on this.
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/crime/murder-charge-against-paddy-woods-dismissed/
The Dundedin multi-disiplinary study has some critiques worth looking at. Particularly on how they recorded their violence statistics.
Link to study findings – US Department of Justice pdf:
https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/170018.pdf
Link to what I consider some valid criticisms:
https://fair.org/extra/not-all-domestic-violence-studies-are-created-equal/
Particularly in regards to the use of CTS. I'm repasting part of a comment I made on this in 2018:
Thanks Molly. Appreciate you posting
Temp Zena's boyfriend was arrested by the police and charged with her murder. The case got thrown out because of the findings of the autopsy as copied from the link I posted elsewhere on this thread.
Asphyxial signs were normally present after such a form of strangulation if it was prolonged enough to cause death, and Campbell did not show those signs, she said in her report.
Spark's post-mortem findings showed Campbell had methadone, oxazepam, Ritalin, alcohol and cannabis in her blood.
But you are free to disagree with the autopsy and the Judges decision to through this out of court.
A dangerous precedent alright!
This man needs to be extradited,otherwise it just signals NZ is a safe haven for people that do not want to defend themselves where alleged crimes are committed.
'Dangerous precedent': Kris Faafoi faces pressure from European, Australian politicians to stop extradition | Stuff.co.nz
Australia HUH
So they are going to stop 501s
Yeah right.
More like yet another example of our supreme court confirming our status as redneck backwater. Can you imagine the PC doing what our bunch of clowns at the SC have done? We're an international laughing stock.
I see there was a story on Stuff yesterday about a new bridge in the Manawatu. It was finished, ahead of schedule, early this year. However no one is allowed to use it because there is an agreement with the local Iwi to have a blessing, and an opening, in June. Meanwhile any vehicle that is larger than a small van has to take a long diversion that adds about 45 minutes to their trip.
Why can't we just let people use the bridge and have the official opening later. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that something sensible like that has been done. Then we could celebrate the fact that a piece of infrastructure was, miracle of miracles, finished ahead of the planned time.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/rnz/300570304/frustration-building-over-11m-new-bridge-sitting-idle
Your saying NZTA should break their agreement?
It isn't NZTA. Try reading the story.
Sorry, my bad.
Your saying Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency should break their agreement?
Nope. You still don't appear to have read it. Some quotes from the story.
"Manawatū councillors have said the Rangitīkei council is responsible for the bridge remaining unused because it entered an agreement with local iwi that an opening ceremony would be held in June, and no traffic could pass until then."
"But Rangitīkei mayor Andy Watson said the Manawatū council managed the contract and had advised it was working to a June opening date."
""The June date was always part of the agreement that they entered into with Rangitīkei District Council with regard to iwi."
Whether it was Manawatu or Rangitikei or both Councils who are responsible appears to be in dispute but nobody is blaming NZTA.
I wonder if there is any central government agency which could possibly settle the dispute about who is the lead iwi negotiator out of the Manawatu and Rangitikei councils. Probably will have an NZ in the name, its a bridge so probably a Transport in there now if only we had that last letter.
Its a conundrum, NZT_.
Now of course if this agreement could be found it would have to be one of the parties to this agreement. Oh well, too bad nobody could possibly find such a document. I guess it will just have to wait for the agreed date.
I'm really wary of taking this story as the full picture.
For example, here in Auckland we had local board members blaming the delay of a community facility on the lack of local iwi approval for the park. This was said without any qualification, and received the usual grumbling and muttering in the attendees.
I spoke to the local iwi representatives, a couple of weeks later. At that time, they had received no request from council or any of their representatives about the aforementioned park.
While the local board member was accurate in stating that approval had not been given – he was also deliberately omitting that fact that approval had not yet been sought.
Council agreed with iwi that pou would be erected before the bridge opened.
There's a few questions that arise from that article:
There's a few more, including allowing Ngāti Hauiti to have time to arrange huis, and discuss the change. We wouldn't approach a councillor on a new development and expect a decision before it has been discussed at council meetings, why expect a statement from Ngāti Hauiti unless we know that huis have been held, and a decision made.
Iwi are often consulted when it suits and accommodated when their perspective fits into the proposal without too much bother. It is when agreements are publicly brushed aside in such a way that you see how much power they actually hold.
Lets just settle this, shall we? Those who pay have first say. The end.
Sorry, what is getting settled?
Good on Putin. He has followed the advice that Republican Senator George Aiken once gave to Lyndon Johnson about the Vietnam War. Just say that you have won!
“Declare the United States the winner and begin de-escalation.”—Senator George Aiken (R-VT) offering advice to President Lyndon Johnson on October 19, 1966 on how to handle the politics of reducing the U.S. commitment in Vietnam.
I see the Putin is, very sensibly in my view, doing exactly that with respect to Mariupol.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world/europe/300570823/putin-claims-victory-in-battle-for-mariupol-wont-storm-steel-plant
Just a pity that Lyndon hadn't done the same thing. The war in Vietnam could have been about 9 years shorter.
Mission Accomplished
I'd forgotten that one by George W.
I wish Lyndon had tried it though. It would have saved me a lot of time getting involved in protests, and more importantly a hell of a lot of lives of the people involved on both sides of the war.
Putin (and Zelensky) clearly need to be given the Nobel Peace prize. That's the shortest way out as on awarding the Nobel Peace prize to Henry Kissinger (and Le Duc Tho) for a ceasefire in 1973 the Vietnam war ended in 1975.
I wonder which of them would play the Le Duc Tho role and decline the award?
Be a great idea though if it would persuade Putin to pull out of Ukraine wouldn't it? Surely we can find a New Zealand MP to nominate them. Or perhaps we could talk Lloyd Geering into doing it. He's apparently eligible to do so and at 104 ought to be the oldest nominator.
Here's a young Russian POW in Ukraine talking about how he got there. There's proof of who he is in his own you tube channel (linked in the link).
An enormous clusterfuck, that's all the attempt on Kiev was. There's no 4D chess going on, no special move going to surface. No mastermind, no master strategy. Putin's a fucking idiot and so is his fan club.
Certainly a costly CF.
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1517054413944328193
What happens when the truth starts to dawn on these Russian people. Will they apologise for their stupidity or hang on to their brainwashed beliefs? The latter I suspect. They are no different to our own stupid people who disappear down rabbit -holes and refuse to accept reality.
I mourn just as much for those young Russian soldiers as I do the Ukrainians who are being needlessly killed to satisfy the desires of a bunch of power hungry psychopaths in the Kremlin.
And the power hungry psychopaths in the whitehouse dont you think
/
Who would believe these fantasys any more than we would believe russia's 'estimates ??
Thanks DB. All so sad for everyone, even the Mom.
Trucks rolling up on and loading up from appliance stores.
Had never even fired his weapon.
Training consisted of a long walk with body armor on.
Rounding up citizens and putting them in basements.
Looting personal apartments.
Poorly supplied (implies Ru thought it would simply take Kiev and resupply there).
No idea where he was, or why, or what he was doing.
Tank gets hit. Lays off to the side in shock listening to commanders screams till they stopped.
Asks for help. Is surprised he is not murdered, tortured, or his balls roast on a tanks grill. Gets fed, gets to phone mother. Was (unwitting, and seemingly witless) part of Bucha massacre.
Mother a blathering indoctrinated idiot.
They should get his DNA, he's also holding back.
I'm glad I wrote some of the content out before youtube blocked it.
Some legality around POW's? Social media, it's the algorithms dunnit, not us!
He also witnessed a commander saying he’d taught a wounded Ukrainian ‘to fly’ (tossed him out an eight story window).
In case we’re feeling sentimental for Pootie pie.
Does Poots have a fifth column problem?
https://twitter.com/igorsushko/status/1517316741214314500
Also five Russian enlistment offices have been set on fire (so far).
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/22/5-russian-enlistment-offices-hit-by-arson-attacks-reports-a77454
Have to say this looks like a massive own goal by the Government.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2022/04/attorney-general-david-parker-deems-rotorua-council-s-proposed-m-ori-ward-restructure-discriminatory.html
Tamati Coffey introduced The Rotorua District Council Representative Arrangements Bill. Restructuring RDC into non-proportional Maori wards (resulting in more Maori councillors than is proportionate to the general population).
National and Act have made hay, of course. However, there have been very significant left politicians and ex-politicians who have come out strongly against it (in the submissions process). And a public storm has been ignited (tens of thousands of submissions, I understand)
And, now David Parker, with his Attorney General's hat on – has said it's discriminatory under the Bill of Rights.
Regardless of the pros and cons – Labour really needed to have resolved this in-house, before the legislation was introduced. [Yes, I know that's what select committees are for – but for politically sensitive bills – they need to be run by the lawyers first….]
Finally, after 200+ years of colonisation, we hear these words. Long may it continue.
Given it's been effectively depth-charged by Parker – it's not likely to continue at all.
Today is Earth Day.
https://www.earthday.org/earth-day-2022/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/300569445/earth-day-what-you-can-do-to-help-the-environment
Would be great if everyone, treated every day, as Earth Day.
I do.