”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).
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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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The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Climate denial is dead. Renewable energy denial is here. As “alternative facts” become the norm, it’s worth looking at what actual facts tell us about how renewable energy sources like solar and wind are lowering the price of electricity. As ...
SIR GEOFFREY PALMER is worried about democracy. In his Newsroom website post of 27 January 2025 he asserts that “the future of democracy across the world now seems to be in question.” Following a year of important electoral contests across the world, culminating in Donald Trump’s emphatic recapture of the ...
The Government hasn’t stopped talking about growth since the Prime Minister made his “yes” speech at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week. But so far, the measures announced would seem hardly likely to suddenly pitch New Zealand into the fast-growth East Asian league. The digital nomad announcement hardly deserved ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Someone defames you anonymously online. Can you find out who it is? Maybe. There are legal avenues to seek a court order that an internet host reveal the identity of the person. One of them is called a Norwich Pharmacal order, but as Hugh Tomlinson KC points out, it only ...
The results of the 2025 Mood of the Workforce survey have been released, with working people revealing deep concerns regarding their work lives, housing, health care, and perceptions of the coalition government in Aotearoa New Zealand.Christopher Luxon has signalled that National may campaign on asset sales in the next election, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University Greece’s government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart. The “earthquake swarm” is also affecting other ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne The Western Australian state election will be held on March 8. A Newspoll, conducted January 29 to February 4 from a sample ...
She’s back behind the wheel, and this time, she wants to find out what it is that makes us tick. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. After a prolific career on stage and screen, 83-year-old Miriam Margolyes is on the road again. ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel. Real Poet Every word earned its place and so did he, so should you. Real poet lives in the capital but writes himself into the Mackenzie country golden hour, man of the paper land, he neglects to mention his pollen ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Understanding Te Tiriti by Roimata Smail (Wai Ako Press, $25) No better time to get ...
The committee has published this list to inform the public about its work, and to give clarity to submitters who have contacted the committee asking if they will be invited to make an oral submission. ...
Alex Casey and Gabi Lardies dissect their Laneway 2025 experience. Gabi Lardies: Hi Alex :))))))) Congratulations on not getting sunburnt. Everyone I talked to at Laneway yesterday was braving the sun for one thing. Charli XCX. How was your brat experience?Alex Casey: We will talk about the rest of ...
The US President's suggestion, which sparked enormous debate globally, has been labelled as a threat, not a proposal, by the Federation of Islamic Associations. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Interior of Auckland South Men’s Prison.Getty Images Prisons are not colourful places. Typically, they are grey or some variation of a monochrome colour scheme. But increasingly, ...
FICTION1Tree of Nourishment (Kāwai 2) by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)Interesting to note that the author of the biggest-selling New Zealand novel in Waitangi Week is Māori (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai, and Ngāti Kahungunu).2 Kāwai: For Such a Time as This (Kāwai 1) by Monty Soutar (David ...
Remembering the renowned New Zealand writer, who died on February 5, 2025. The Stopover When the trout rise like compassion It is worth watching when the hinds come down from the hills with a new message it will be as well to listen. – Brian Turner Poet, environmentalist, sportsman, journalist, ...
Survivors can choose to have former High Court judge Paul Davison assess their individual claims to tailor payments to their personal circumstances. ...
Are we too modest when it comes to celebrating our putrid plant life?She’s beauty. She’s grace. She smells like a decaying corpse and lurks in the backrooms of Auckland Zoo, wallowing tragically in a bucket. In recent weeks an Australian corpse plant named Putricia has captured the noses and ...
Politicians from the coalition government received a frosty reception at Waitangi this year, but Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says the pōwhiri that received so much attention was just one part of many events throughout the week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Allen, Postdoctoral research associate, Griffith University A humpback whale mother and calf on the New Caledonian breeding grounds.Mark Quintin All known human languages display a surprising pattern: the most frequent word in a language is twice as frequent as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Keogh, Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University Jordan Mailata is an Australian-born NFL star who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive left tackle. This position favours very tall, heavy and strong athletes who ...
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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.
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.