First we learn the reality of American-style feedlots for cattle in New Zealand. Now Rachel Stewart says there is a an even darker side to Kiwi farming.
Just maybe we can get some momentum to end animal cruelty in New Zealand as people realise the repugnant practices that produce animals for consumption by humans.
We need to end factory farming. Clean Green NZ is a cruel joke.
Hard to believe that passes local water quality laws. How do they get the effluent redistributed in spring, evenly across the fields? Must have impressive pond filtration and solid storage to last the winter. Is that on an inland marine clay soil? Not sure how else they would stop leaching. Workers would risk death by drug overdose during stormy weather. But as always, don’t panic, go organic!
The feed lots really disturbed myself and my girls. When we first saw it on the TV, we thought it was a story from overseas. But nope it’s here, and it’s all about making as much $$$$$$$$$ as possible.
I wonder if David Parker and Damo are still ‘flatting’ together in Welly when Parliament sits? If so they have much to discuss and sort out, because feed lots is not the type of NZ we are proud of or want to be a part of.
Yep Damien needs to get his priorities right – he isn’t a farmers advocate he is a bloody minister. Time he started caring about the environment or his legacy will be shit imo.
Trotter loses plot, re-invents ACT: “the zeitgeist – the “spirit of the times”. If ever there was a moment for someone to lift up the banner of freedom – it is now. Combine the defence of free markets with the defence of free speech and Act – proudly rebranded as “The Freedom League” – might once again aspire to Prebble’s electoral success.” http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/
“The Social Contract”, Rousseau, in 1762: “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” So will invoking antique liberationist philosophy currently work politically? In a culture where everyone believes they actually are free spirits?
Trotter may have got more milage from using Orwell as the basis for reminding us of the threat from the left. At least there’s a substantial political tradition there from the most recent century past. He’d get more traction for ACT if he tossed free love into the mix with free speech & free markets, pushing the nostalgia button for many political players still alive. And how about free money as well? That’d rope in lots more!!
“He’d get more traction for ACT if he tossed free love into the mix with free speech & free markets, pushing the nostalgia button for many political players still alive. And how about free money as well? ”
Suggest you reread Trotter’s piece if thats what you took from it
Trotter forgets the time he lead the outcry when Harawira was blocked from speaking at Auckland Law School in may 2011 by a ‘breach of the peace’ from campus Young nats……
The benefits of biodiversity and heritage strains of crops, illustrated yet again for the umpteenth time. A variety of corn in Mexico that has a legume-like ability to fix its own nitrogen. Combine this trait with the benefits of other more commercial strains and there’s a big potential for reduced fertilizer use, with flow-on benefits for better water quality from reduced run-off and reduced GHG emissions.
I find this all arse about face. Heritage breeds generally discarded for the industrial production. Have to pollute to grow. Find heritage breed that reduces pollution – oh let’s genetically modify to get that trait. No thought apart from commercial imo. The thinking that fucked us up will not save us.
Better off doing this type of thing
“Three hundred years ago, when early American colonists took a look at the food gardens in Native American villages, they often saw a unique companion planting plan – sweetcorn, climbing beans and pumpkins or squash being grown together in the same plot.” https://www.growveg.com.au/guides/companion-planting-three-sisters-garden-plans/
I kinda take the view that the entire spectrum of techniques have something to contribute, but there is no one silver bullet magic answer.
I agree that corporate industrial farming has become an out-of-control Frankenstein’s monster. But let’s not lose sight of the way corporate industrial farming is good at maximising output given the various input price signals and constraints. Where we’ve fallen down is failing to impose appropriate price signals and constraints on things like energy use, pollution, animal welfare, border controls etc etc. One of the good and bad results of this state of affairs is that food is now awesomely cheap by historical standards, but it also makes it very hard for those that want to do things in a heritage way to actually make a living at it.
Is it cheap compared to yesteryear? If we grow and eat seasonally, locally and communally then it seems that would be very cost effective. But im in the country not the city so my view may be jaundiced.
A quick search didn’t show up a good illustrative article that’s NZ specific, but I’m pretty sure I have seen stuff indicating NZ trends are similar to the US. The sites I regularly visit also occasionally feature pieces about how meagre the financial returns are from small scale labour intensive farming.
Yeah, there’s significant differences city to country on this. Not least that many country people derive a lot of pleasure from producing food, almost to the extent that income from it is just a bonus. Whereas city folk the pleasure is generally just around eating, with a small part of the population getting something out of feeling virtuous from paying extra for organic and/or ethical.
I worry that with the ongoing worldwide drift from rural to urban and simple population increase pressures it’s going to be ever harder to preserve the few small pockets of heritage we still have. Especially since many of the areas with significant heritage resources overlap a lot with population growth pressure and overlap with where climate change is going to hit hardest.
Yes good points. I know a lot of seed savers and the heritage seeds are treasured. Going to be useful I think. Not sure about keeping them up in that seed vault in Norway though.
Seeds are useful, but the value in the heritage is the whole ecosystem involved which might be lost with a focus on just the seeds. For example, there’s no guarantee just the seeds will carry the symbiotic micro-organisms that do the actual nitrogen fixing.
Robert G
Keep the seeds viable and fresh and you keep coming up with stuff to remind us what we could all be doing if we stopped tapping. Keep coming with info on – The Riverton Chronicle.
Here in Riverton we are operating a heritage vegetable seed saving network that “employs” growers across the region (and beyond) to keep the lines fresh. Our heritage fruit net is even more grounded, preserving the remnant orchards, grafting from them and creating new heritage orchards cared for by the communities from which the scions came, and providing grafted trees to individuals (about 5 000 so far) to plant at home. Keep it fresh and alive and involve people in the process; those things “belong” to all of us and spreading responsibility and stock is the best insurance against loss, Imo.
Likewise ‘economic efficiency’. Of course it’s usually good to do things ‘efficiently’, though often that’s confused with cost savings achieved through cutting pay. Labour-saving technology like information technology has not enabled reductions in working hours, because the greater the competition between organisations, the more likely it is to mean that we just have to do more in the same working day. A microwave oven may save you time at home, allowing you to do other things as you wish, but in a fast-food restaurant it just means each worker has to produce more meals in a given time. We have always to ask: efficient for whom? Does it give us more time, or just speed up the treadmill? And as the case of the disposable plastic spoon reminds us, what is ‘cost-effective’ in money terms can be an absurdly wasteful and polluting use of resources. In the public sector, much cost cutting in the name of ‘efficiency’ merely reduces service quality and distracts services from their core purposes, so that schools teach to the test and hospitals reduce patient care and send patients home too early so as to free up beds. It encourages vacuous nonsense from management about ‘leveraging our skillsets to meet the challenge of competition going forward’, and suchlike, eroding professionals’ commitments to doing what is best for clients, patients and students, and other workers’ desire to do their job well. It can produce stress, disaffection and burn-out in workers – too busy to care for themselves and family or to have time for friends. We have to weigh all these things up in the different spheres of economic life and limit and regulate competition accordingly.
Yet, in addition to that still rather instrumental view of our environment, we should not forget its beauty and richness. Being able to appreciate and enjoy it is an important part of well-being, and we should not apologise for these values simply because they don’t fit with a narrow economic perspective. As Ruskin said, ‘there is no wealth but life’.
Destroying the environment as we have been is going to cost us far more than the apparent savings that industrial farming brought about.
Turnbull is in trouble; he survived a confidence vote yesterday by only 7 votes, but more resignations and defections keep the pressure on. Dutton might force his way in as PM for a short while, but it won’t last.
And of Turnbull resigns Parliament as many have suggested it will likely force an election:
Threatening an early election appears to be the only card Turnbull has left to keep his caucus in line. Good times for Bill Shorten who can confidently tell his caucus to work hard, keep smiling and let the Libs gift them Government.
You got it. But the threat will only have a short life-span, it seems. Dutton established sufficient support to try again soon. It hinges on how many of the seven who are most likely to switch to him see advantage in doing so prior to an election, rather than waiting.
The PM can call an early election to stymie the plot, but would he do so with current polling making him a dead-cert loser?? And likely to get rolled in the aftermath, so a double loser. So as a ploy, not very effective. Which is why Oz political commentators call him dead man walking.
A weak leader, but is Dutton any better? I doubt it. If I were Turnbull, I’d be in liaison with all the likely contenders other than Dutton right now, offering them a deal in which I’d rebuild in collaboration with them and offer resignation in advance while they sort out amongst themselves who ought to fight Dutton to take over.
Under that scenario, Turnbull gets to prove he can be a real centrist leader, go out from a position of strength having developed a credible alternative to Dutton & Shorten – if he gets them back close to parity with Labour in the polls.
What was the margin of Tumbulls victory over Abbott back in 2016 ?
10 votes. His recent margin is 13 votes.
In Aussie politics its all about the numbers , you either have more than your opponent or you dont. End of story.
All this waffle about another challenge …. it could happen but they dont really have time and who would that challenger be, its not going to be Dutton again.
No it wasnt, it was 13 votes.( what you mean was if ‘7 voters change sides’)
However Turnbull only won the vote against Abbott a few years back by 10 votes.
His margin has never been great but its plenty in the scheme of things.
remember in NZ Brash supposedly won the leadership against English by ONE vote.
If old Mal is rolled, he does the honourable thing resigned from the House of Representatives which would he has more morals and ethics than the current lot or the nuclear option, but I somehow don’t think Mal is that type of person.
Shorten is not popular with public either and that’s even at the grassroots level of the Australian Labour Party as well. As he is seen as numbers man that rolled Rudd and later Gillard.
Albo has the popular vote among the grassroots and the greater voting public, but hasn’t got the Party vote and head office support which is a damm shame as Albo is a true battler from the working class.
Mal and Albo come solo parent homes both working class backgrounds, but they both took different paths later in life.
I don’t think Julie wants the job, as for Mal and the Mad Monk they come from to totally different spheres within the Lib’s and that’s the problem.
Mal is a true a Lib probably more Social Liberal who would rather give someone a leg up, open minded forward thinking and science/ technology evidence base than the right wing bible bashed based conservatives like the Mad Monk.
There is a lot of old money in both NSW and Vic compared to the other states and would there some religious stuff as aka the Catholics in Vic and Protestants of NSW etc thrown in just to keep everyone on their toes.
Manafort guilty on 8 counts, mistrial on the remaining 10 counts. So the prosecution can try him again on those 10 counts. Plus Manafort’s got another trial coming up in DC. The guilty finding on those 8 counts with that backdrop has to really up the pressure on him, so we may yet see him flip.
Also in Trump’s bad news week is that Christopher Steele, author of the Trump dossier had a defamation claim against him from three Russian oligarchs thrown out
Yep – this is part of colonisation. The fact that more police are coming on just fills me with foreboding cos we know they racially profile.
The great kauri are dying, the rivers are sick, the land is degraded and abused – these plus the prison pop and all the other negative stats from longevity to employment that affect Māori are SYMPTOMS – of what? The continued colonisation of Māori. The continued othering and disrespect. The continued desecration of mana. Be warned kiwiland.
Thanks marty. When I saw Anzac on the news last night it really struck a chord with me, very powerful what he said. Opened the door to reality for viewers I hope. Speaking as a pakeha I think we have to do what we can to help – and that doesn’t mean telling Māori what to do.
As I think has been talked about on here previously that might involve discussing and changing things based from korero on the marae. Officials going to the marae for help and solutions to fix this, not the other way round.
The great kauri are dying, the rivers are sick, the land is degraded and abused – these plus the prison pop and all the other negative stats from longevity to employment that affect Māori are SYMPTOMS – of what? The continued colonisation of Māori. The continued othering and disrespect. The continued desecration of mana.
It is all the inevitable result of capitalism and the All against All society that it produces.
Colonisation cant be attributed for say so many Maoris in prison. The vast majority are law abiding and I have been told by maori who have one of their whanau in a gang, that they just think they are a fool.
Yes , huge amounts of land were lost from colonization policies, so not so much remains. With Maori and jails its the other way around. Very small proportion are involved in criminal activity.
One of the big issues Mueller’s investigation has lifted the lid on is just how soft the US has become on white-collar crime, helped along by getting distracted to focus on “terrorism”. Routine inability to keep things in perspective, or calculated strategy by white-collar crims, and the pollies and judges they buy?
Really hard to comprehend, this. I often worked with Greg during his first few years in the TVNZ newsroom, found him invariably in good humour & developed an easy rapport with him right from the start. So very sad for his family.
There must be a deep back-story to this – wonder if it will ever come out. He became adept at presenting with both flair & goodwill to the audience. Huge loss for TVNZ.
Yes, Cinny, enough of that myself in the distant past to wonder if he’d been carrying an affliction from childhood. The macho stance was widely used as repression in my generation but Greg being that much younger I can but guess how much it applied to him.
Bobby McFerrin hams up here about problems he has faced I think and tells us how to keep on top. You can be dressed for success, get it and still not feel right. I think Robin Williams is in this vid too. Don’t Worry Be Happy
Yes Cindy, we are very good at hiding it until something or someone tiggers it off again and it’s then a race back down the rabbit hole just little bit further than last time until we turn around and pop back out of the rabbit or we pass the LD.
LD is a Military term for Line of Departure when one is about to commit than attack or counter attack on a enemy position or also known as the point of no return. I only got as far as the FUP (Form Up Point) which is just the before the LD where you do your final checks before you get ready to cross the LD. My FSGT cross his LD and the NT Police nick me before I completed my final checks before I cross the LD.
Sorry for using Military terminology it’s the only way I can describe it to someone and actually I one step further in that I use the Military planning formula called the Military Appreciation Process or MAP which scared my treatment team and when I was down at the clinic last year my partner ( now my wife) mentioned to the staff at meeting which became a light bulb moment for staff at why we are so good at it than civilians.
Indeed @ Cinny and to all the comments below. He was/is a good bugger.
Alison Mau (though she doesn’t claim to be ‘best buddies’ on Stuffed) has summed things up well.
( In my view: Decent, Humble, Intelligent, Social, Spiritual, and not at all Egotistical). Something didn’t feel quite right leaving Te Puke last Saturday
“This, to my mind, is what lies at the heart of Megan V’s original tweet. The assumption that young girls are “in their prime” and therefore free to be pursued and used by adult men who require control in a relationship in order to feel comfortable in it.
Evidence that the trend is substantial lies in the various independent initiatives emerging. Classic niche marketing: when the niche becomes evident, entrepreneurs compete to fill the vacuum. LibDems spot the trend & wonder if they really are dead in the water (or do they flog the dead horse yet again to see if it will leap up & run).
None of which would matter under FPP, if it weren’t for the fact that both major parties are sick nigh unto death themselves!
Fletcher Building in red, posts $190m loss, no dividend for shareholders
(maybe they should also add no company taxes for taxpayers in NZ)
Apparently that is mostly due to their unusually low tender that John Key was involved with to Sky City for the conference centre that has been a balls up for taxpayers from the word go. from wiki
Proposed convention centre[edit]
In May 2013, the Government came to a deal with SkyCity to build a convention centre worth $402 million in exchange for gambling concessions. The concessions would allow SkyCity to install an extra 230 poker machines, 40 gambling tables, as well as a further 12 gaming tables that could be substituted for automated table game player stations (but not poker machines). SkyCity would also receive an extension to their casino licence, from its expiry in 2021 until 2048. In exchange, SkyCity would be required to meet the full costs of the convention centre project.[13]
Describing the benefit for New Zealand, Economic Development Minister, Steven Joyce said the convention centre would add an estimated $90 million a year to the local economy, create 1,000 jobs during construction and 800 jobs once the centre is running.[13]
Cost overruns[edit]
In 2015 it was announced that the anticipated cost of the convention centre had increased by $70 to $130 million, to a total maximum of $530 million. Prime Minister John Key said he was considering making up the shortfall by giving SkyCity public tax money to finish the project – as it would be an “eyesore” if the extra funding was not made available.[14] Two days later on 12 February, following criticism in the media and in Parliament, the Prime Minister described the use of taxpayer funds as the “least preferred option”.[15] Subsequently, on 15 February, it was announced that instead of seeking funding from the government for project over-runs, SkyCity would instead be allowed to build a convention centre which was slightly smaller, so that total costs would remain about $400 million
better than it looks, as revenue is up slightly to $9.5 bill and cash is around $660 mill.
Because of the writeoffs they had to go back to their banks who then screwed them for $150 mill ‘to refinance’ their borrowing.
They still paid $85 mill in tax, according the financial report – as you would expect as they are ‘still rolling in it’ on a cash basis
All good then when the banks get $150 mill for refinancing while the tax payers only get 85 mill (if you are correct) and the shareholders get nothing? sarcasm.
Fletchers has been destroying shareholder wealth since Hugh ran it and it was split up.
So many Sirs have been involved Trotter,Deans,Norris …none of them could run a bath.
Some of their acquisitions beggar belief…lame dupe overpayers.
New board appointments the usual shuffle of the old boy network pack.(includes women)
It was a whole slew of banks , At 30 June 2018 the Group had a $925 million syndicated
revolving credit facility on an unsecured, negative pledge and
borrowing covenant basis, with ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited,
MUFG Bank Limited, Bank of New Zealand, Commonwealth Bank
of Australia, Citibank N.A., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation Limited, Bank of China (New Zealand) Limited,
China Construction Bank (New Zealand) Limited and Westpac New
Zealand Limited.
Knew ANZ would be in there somehow:) surprise surprise… JK just pops up everywhere when smaller folks and the public and even the corps lose money and banks make a killing.
So does anyone know when did the extra gambling concessions come in for Skycity? Because the deal was agreed in 2013 and my guess is the gambling concessions were near instant, while 5 years later, in 2018 and we still don’t have the convention centre and even when built we don’t get that extra large convention centre that was promised.
Meanwhile sounds like they already have the extra gambling and no doubt the government will bend over backwards to extend it to 2048, even though we are never going to get that extra large convention centre that the whole deal was based on but instead a smaller cheaper one, that is too small for the large conferences. Not that I believe in the conference centre anyway as most of the time they are just corporate welfare jobs.
Sounds like the F-ing bottle water fiasco, the corporate gets free water rights straight away but doesn’t even have to provide the unspecified paltry jobs going to anybody until they get full water capacity…
And it sounds like the deal is now bringing down Fletchers profits too and their shareholders some of whom might be Kiwisaver’s, aka the poorest working class people in NZ and of course Fletchers is one of the biggest snowflakes whining they can’t get any staff cheap enough or why should they bother to train anybody or take a long term view on labour and plan for their contracts.
Im just worried that as part of deal Key and Joyce did, that the ratepayers/taxpayers will have to cover some of the shortfall.
The chips may not be down till the place opens and like a magic act the curtain is pulled back to reveal all.
Then they can queue up and collect their million dollar handouts from WINZ (maybe should be WInzC work, income NZ Corporates) and of course unlike the WINZ loans they don’t have to pay it back when they get on their feet…
Also racist to discriminate so NZ taxpayers via the government should have to give freely to anybody asking for a handout so maybe
WINC (work, income, new Corporates, ) and since they are expecting avalanche of them with our TPPA and our new infrastructure agency, maybe (work, income, new Corporates, welcome in New capitalists)…
One point I’ve come to understand over the years is that it’s impossible to negotiate a ‘market wage’ if you don’t what the market is actually paying and the majority of people actually don’t know, don’t have the connections to find out and don’t know where else to look.
In the seventies everyone discussed each others income freely – or at least they did in my workplaces. Think that changed during the eighties with the onset of neoliberalism & the privacy laws brought in to make it hard for pay info to become public knowledge.
There’s been a corporate strategy of privatisation for much longer, actually. The radical notion that capitalism could flourish by identifying individuals as unique emerged as a re-boot strategy in the aftermath of WWII. It fostered consumerism within the USA in the fifties, then produced individualism as a cultic trend in the sixties, which morphed via hedonism in the seventies into the globalising of neoliberalism in the eighties. All of the above specifically designed to oppose the rampant collectivism of the earlier decades of the 20th century, and the class-consciousness it had produced.
So whereas opposition to privatisation has been primarily based on ideology & economic policy grounds, there’s a deeper cultural trend driving it, of which privacy laws are a symptom – designed to operate like blinkers on a farm-horse, to force everyone into mental silos so common interests can be defeated.
On that point I have to totally agree DtB. It’s become common for employment contracts to actually forbid employees from discussing wages with each other.
For all the Trump fanbois and fangirls that are trying to minimise, deflect and distract by whining about the Dems and Clinton and what else isn’t being covered over in the post specifically about the Cohen and Manafort news, here’s a piece that includes some of the other big news of today in US politics.
The turd tornado’s very first supporter in the House, Duncan Hunter of San Diego, has just been indicted for misappropriating a quarter-mil in campaign funds, thereby putting a completely safe Repug seat in play.
Don of the Deadbrains’ own administration says their new EPA initiative will cause around 1400 premature deaths every year from pollution.
Yet another of the scaly orange swampking’s odious creatures, Larry Kudlow, has been busted for links to white supremacists.
Looking forward to Morrissey’s take on the dreadful Greg Newbold and his grim outbursts on Mora’s Panel.
Even more interesting was Mora’s attempts to stop Joe Bennett ‘s efforts to challenge Newbold’s repulsive views.
I’m on the case, Ed. I heard Newbold—can anyone believe he’s a PROFESSOR?—and was amazed at how incoherent he was. He’s just not up to it.
A transcript will be up tomorrow some time. In the meantime, here’s a snatch of Professor Newbold’s learned conversation….
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Bloody rubbish. Absolute rubbish. Absolute bloody rubbish, the bloody lot. If you strengthen whanau ties with Maori all you’re doing is strengthening gang affiliations.
….Awkward pause….
JIM MORA: You could say the same about Pakeha offenders.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
JIM MORA: Is there research about interventions?
PROFESSOR [believe it or not] GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s Canadian ones….
REBEKAH WHITE: So we haven’t researched Integrated Centre Management in New Zealand?
Good morning Newshub I keep a sharp eye on all my offspring for signs of depression
Mike I all ways talk to them and support them with love and care.
I bet that’s people are trying to blame Eco Maori for all the emotion’s being release at the Justice reforming summit you should have seen it coming Blame me for a unjust system that you and your tipuna imposed on us for 200 year’s .
What I will say to te emotional tangata whenua is don’t rock the government’s Waka to much because the main cause of the prison population increase was national if you throw to much emotions around national will use it as a weapon to try and sink the Labour Waka so be cool we don’t need a repeat of 2008 and the last 9 year’s of money transference to the wealthy.
Phil Colins Mama is awsome song his music is cool Musician Sports people and all the people who make our films doco ex these people are the people who change the Papatuanuku culture to a less divided world do not accept raciest unhumane people views and back equality.
Ka kite ano Try losing your mother at 9
Good evening Newshub There are a lot of ruff tangaroa in Australia and a storm going down in America this is the problem with the democratic systems both country’s and NZ go so far with policy’s to mitigate climate change they get voted out and the neo liberals capitalist throw those policy’s out there cots and start to burn OUR environment
we will never beat climate change unless all the left voters stand up and keep the neo capitalist out of power.
The air traffic control tower in Wellington will become a land mark for Wellington and Aotearoa Its a awsome building .
The new Britsh weather satellite is a tool that will help forecast the weather more accurately ka pai .
Ka kite ano P.S the sandflys are still swarming I ignore them they are nothing compared to Eco Maori
The Crowd Goes Wild Mulls and Makere thats cool that the Black Ferns will play the opening game for the All Blacks test thats good for wahine mana .
I see te Ngati pakeha maori is out is he interviewing people in his jandles lol
Ka kite ano P.S I’m quite good at applying te rubber —- on some people
by Don Franks This talk was given to the Wellington Anti Capitalist Alliance, fifteen years ago. The ultimate weapons of mass destruction so far seen on this planet have been used just twice, 60 years ago this month. August 6 and August 9 1945 witnessed the US atomic bombing ...
After I noticed that my name had been taken yet again in vain by my friendly antagonist Tom Hunter over at No Minister, I went over to see what the fuss was about. Nothing much, but then I discovered a post about the Operation Burnham Inquiry by Psycho Milt. I ...
The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 was extended today, until December 1st or the tenth sitting day following the resumption of Parliament after the election. It seems like a necessary extension. While we currently have eradicated the virus in New Zealand, it is still banging at the door, and ...
One of the government's key policies - extracted by NZ First as part of its coalition agreement - is the "Provincial Growth Fund": $1 billion a year spent on creating jobs in rural New Zealand. Yesterday the Auditor-General issued a report on the fund, finding that it lacks transparency, and ...
The Warehouse, one of New Zealand's biggest retailers, has decided to stop selling coal. Good. Coal is a dirty, polluting fossil fuel, and the less of it we have out there, the better. Retailers choosing not to sell it sends a clear message that this is not a fuel we ...
The labour market statistics have been released, and they show that unemployment actually dropped last quarter. All told, there are 111,000 unemployed - 15,000 fewer than when the government took office. But before anyone thinks that the pandemic hasn't put people out of work, remember that this is for ...
Judy KavanaghI’m OK with wearing a CovidCard. But are you? There’s no point me doing it alone.The author modelling a (fake) CovidCard. I didn’t know much about the CovidCard proposal until I read Dave’s latest blog post. You would wear the card visibly on your person. It ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzWhy can’t I use the battery from my electric car ...
As many good things come in threes (as the saying goes), we are happy to announce a third partnership between Skeptical Science and other websites. Fakebook.eco in Brazil is joining Klimafakten.de in Germany and Nauka o Klimacie in Poland to leverage translated rebuttal material and to make the information readily available in other ...
This interview on RNZ with Ross Tucker, the scientist who headed a review of transgender athletes playing in women’s rugby, discusses the findings of the review and what it means for women in sports. The review that World Rugby undertook had a broad range of independent experts and included a ...
Siouxsie WilesThe restrictions in place for metropolitan Melbourne now are in some ways stricter than those that were in force during New Zealand’s COVID-19 lockdown. A curfew is in place and most people have to wear masks when they leave their home – neither of which happened in New ...
On Friday the Hit and Run inquiry delivered a devastating report which found that NZDF had systematically misled Ministers over civilian deaths. The report called into question civilian control of the military (and indeed, military control of the military), a fundamental principle of our democracy. So you'd expect our politicians ...
Let's Do This Again: What else can Jacinda do in a political environment so bereft of imagination and courage but seek a continuance? If she trades upon the extraordinary personal qualities that she has, miraculously, carried with her into the office of Prime Minister, then I, for one, will offer ...
How corrupt are the New Zealand Police? This corrupt: On 10 February 2019, Police attended a family harm incident. The suspect attempted to run the attending officers over in a driveway with his car, narrowly missing them, before fleeing the scene. A short pursuit followed, ending when the suspect stopped ...
Parliament's triennial Review of Standing Orders was released today, and it contains a number of welcome, if minor, improvements. The ones that caught my are: A move to encourage "pre-legislative engagement" - the government consulting widely on legislation before it is introduced - by promising easier passage (e.g. with ...
Lauren Vargo, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonGlaciers around the world are melting — and for the first time, we can now directly attribute annual ice loss to climate change. We analysed two years in which glaciers in New Zealand melted the most in at least four ...
Caroline Shaw, Anja MizdrakE-bikes are everywhere. Sales are booming and predicted to overtake sales of new cars in a few years. There were three times as many e-bikes and e-scooters imported into NZ in 2019 alone as there are e-cars in the entire country. You can’t go out in ...
New Zealand First is facing a difficult struggle to get re-elected, but Josh Van Veen, who was once a researcher for Winston Peters, argues that there is still a very significant section of cultural conservatives who oppose mass immigration and political correctness and might yet be won back over to ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk Many Americans these days seem unable to avoid controversy on practically any topic, so why not embrace the discord and wade into the especially volatile arena of nuclear energy? Advocates claim it’s the only way to meet global climate goals, ...
Can we trust New Zealand’s military? There must now be serious doubt, given the landmark report released on Friday concluding the investigation into allegations made in the book Hit and Run by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson about a 2010 SAS killing raid in Afghanistan. The most recent Colmar Brunton ...
In New Zealand, we've just had the report of the Hit and Run inquiry, which found that a New Zealand led raid had accidentally killed civilians, including a child. meanwhile, around the same time, the British SAS was conducting its own raids in Afghanistan, and theirs were a hell of ...
In addition to establishing a process for setting emissions reductions plans, the Zero Carbon Act established a process for managing the risks of climate change. The first part of this is the preparation of regular risk assessments, looking at the risks to our economy, society, environment, and ecology. The first ...
Over on The spinoff, Amnesty International's Meg de Ronde has a response to Friday's release of the Hit and Run report. And in response to Attorney-General David Parker's claim that the government was being "transparent" by releasing the report, its titled "we shouldn’t have to work this hard to get ...
Story of the Week... Opinion of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... SkS Week in Review... Story of the Week... Rising Seas Could Menace Millions Beyond Shorelines, Study FindsAs climate change raises sea levels, storm surges and high tides will ...
There's an election next month, so you'd be expecting political parties to be telling us what they stand for and what they'd do if they'd win. But while the Greens have given us a detailed policy platform, and National has talked about roads and austerity, Labour, currently leading the polls ...
"Who's youse accusin' of innference?" Without the timely intervention of a team of top American political consultants and campaign experts, Boris Yeltsin would never have won his second term as President of the Russian Federation. The Russians waited 20 years to return the favour.WHEN IT COMES to the disinformation game, ...
As polling day in the American presidential election draws closer, things are looking bad for Donald Trump. The polls show that he is tracking well behind his Democrat rival. Most people assume that the President will be striving might and main to avoid what looks increasingly likely to be a ...
Our health professionals do an amazing job. Image credit: Wikipedia – Cardiac surgery. Finally, I have got back to these rankings. A long period in hospital and computer problems meant the June 2020 rankings were abandoned. Now, with a new personal defibrillator implanted in my chest and a new hard ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, July 26 through Sat, Aug 1, 2020Editor's ChoiceThe four types of climate denier, and why you should ignore them allThe shill, the grifter, the egomaniac and the ideological ...
Over the last few days, reports have emerged of people travelling from New Zealand and testing positive for Covid-19 upon arrival at their destination. First in South Korea and now in Australia. What might these positive tests mean?They’re false-positives As Toby Morris and I have explained before, there are ...
Former National Minister - Wayne MappYou could tell that the Hit and Run book by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson was right on the money by the way former National Party Minister of Defence, Wayne Mapp, reacted to its now largely vindicated claims.Even though the recent inquiry into ...
So, the Hit and Run inquiry has reported back, and found some appalling shit at NZDF and NZSIS. And while they quibble a few of the details - the name of a dead child - they basicly uphold Hager and Stephenson's version of events. The SAS went to those villages. ...
We are failing to think though the interdependencies in an economy. We miss economist Bryan Philpott (1921-2000). I miss him personally – we used to have such great discussions – but this column is about how the nation misses his economic experience and wisdom. We tend to ...
Michelle Boag - LeakerThe Heron report (PDF) was released yesterday, and it was a bit disappointing to say the least. It correctly found that former National Party president Michelle Boag and National Party MP Hamish Walker were politically motivated in leaking peoples private medical information, but didn’t look further into ...
On different trajectories and from different ends of the political spectrum, last night’s One News/Colmar Brunton poll has the Green Party and ACT converging around the five percent mark. And, as odd as it may sound, they head into the election campaign with a lot in common.Putting the Greens and ...
Janet Stephenson, University of OtagoA proposed multibillion-dollar project to build a pumped hydro storage plant could make New Zealand’s electricity grid 100% renewable, but expensive new infrastructure may not be the best way to achieve this. New Zealand’s electricity generation is already around 80% renewable, with just over half ...
Truth In Advertising: Labour, it would seem, is the party that knows nothing about running the economy right up until the moment that it does. HOW DID LABOUR acquire its reputation for being a poor economic manager? As with most things political and historical, it’s a long story.In the beginning, the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Government rulemakers looking to decide how much money to spend to avoid adding more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere need a good estimate of what a warming climate will cost in social damages, for example through more extreme weather events. That point makes ...
Fact Check: New Zealand’s own relationship with China might, however, be salvageable if our own Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade was willing to equip its minister, Winston Peters, with a few facts. Legislating for the protection of national security – the very action our Foreign Minister is decrying – ...
I hope we can all agree that charging only certain returning expats for isolation costs is the right call. Instead of a blanket fee, which may have resulted in a small number of Kiwis deciding not to return home because of financial reasons, the Government has chosen to implement a ...
Back at the beginning of this government, the Greens made a foolish decision to support the Electoral Integrity Act - demanded by Winston Peters to keep his own backbench in line as part of his coalition deal with Labour - as an act of good faith within the coalition. It ...
SATURDAY AUGUST 1Artefact (Prime, 7.30pm). The series presented by Dame Anne Salmond screened on Māori Television, but is totally worth revisiting if you saw it the first time. Dame Anne tells the stories of taonga that highlight the history of Aotearoa. Further reading: this 2013 interview with Dame Anne by the lovely ...
Have unions and the Government sold workers short with their attempt at fixing the so-called “Hobbit Law”? Unionist Ian Powell argues that the union movement has been outmanoeuvered, and the Government has agreed to a new piece of anti-worker legislation that retains the principles of the previous National Government’s hated ...
Most of the claims made by anti-fluoride propagandists are simply wrong. Image source:Fluoridation and the ‘sciency’ facts of critics Anti-fluoride propagandists continually cite studies from areas of endemic fluorosis in their arguments against ...
An article in the EETimes suggests that advances in autonomous vehicles are not moving as quickly as expected because those working on them have confused complicated problems with complex ones. Engineering can only take you so far in complex worlds. Complicated systems tend to have fairly predictable inputs, processes and outputs. Complex systems (like ...
Last week, after Judith Collins announced that National would be cruel and vicious to kiwis caught overseas by the pandemic, and rob them at the border if they returned home, Labour looked like it was falling all over itself to cry "me too". But now, it looks like kindness has ...
If entry into New Zealand from abroad is safe, it should be allowed. People arriving from places that are Covid-free, or no more risky than New Zealand, and who get here on flights that do not intersect with risky places, should return to normal travel arrangements. Currently, the Cook ...
Liz SlootenScientists from the University of Otago, working with colleagues from around the world, have found that New Zealand right whales are doing much better than right whales in other parts of the world. The research was published as the feature article in the journal Marine Ecology Progress ...
Back in 2019, the government asked for a comprehensive, independent review of the Resource Management Act and associated legislation. That review has now reported back and recommended a complete repeal and re-enactment. Despite the headlines, this is not a "scrapping" - we're still going to have a resource management law, ...
By Associate Professor Mik Black, Department of Biochemistry, University of OtagoThe increased availability of complex biological data sets means that analysis and computation are becoming critically important skills for New Zealand’s future scientists. Because of this, we need to be doing everything we can to help our students develop ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIs humanity doomed? If in 2030 we have not reduced ...
Britain's spy agencies are supposedly overseen by various watchdogs, including the investigatory powers tribunal. But it turns out that MI6 at least has contempt for those watchdogs, and attempted to interfere with the operations of the tribunal by concealing evidence from its judges: MI6 has been accused of “inappropriate interference” ...
Daphna Whitmore So far this year over 7.4 million people have died from preventable communicable diseases. There were 4.3 million children who died under the age of five. Nearly one million people have died of HIV/AIDS in the past six months. A similar number of people have died from malaria ...
Four weeks ago I wrote about the last time a sizable asteroid hit our planet – the ‘Tunguska Event’ of 1908, when an object about 50 metres across exploded above the Siberian taiga – but smaller cosmic rocks shoot close by Earth fairly frequently. In the past 42 hours ...
Last month, China imposed a new "national security law" on Hong Kong. The law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment for secession, subversion, and "colluding with foreign forces" - which basicly means peacefully advocating for democracy or independence. It has been used to crush peaceful protests and interpreted by the ...
Powerful Connection: Neoliberalism is the antithesis of everything that has traditionally been associated with the feminine aspects of human nature. Kindness and compassion, nurturance and inclusiveness: such qualities have no place in the neoliberal order. When Jacinda proclaimed her determination to practice the “politics of kindness”, she was, wittingly or ...
The bad news: Jacinda Ardern still wants to bill exiled kiwis for returning home. The good news: it would require a law change, which the Greens won't back, so she'll need to go grovelling to National. The other good news: she's running out of time to do it. This ...
. . For the mainstream media, today (22 July) was even a better day than yesterday. More Sex. More Politics. More Sex AND Politics. Yesterday, the msm dealt with Andrew Falloon. The obscure backbench MP had been found to have sent pornographic images to at least four women. The woman’s ...
If you want to understand what is happening in this year’s election campaign, it’s worth looking to the past for guidance. Colin James delves into recent contests and finds some interesting parallels. July 28 is 53 days before the 2020 election. Just 53 days before the 2017 election ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Jeff Masters Wildfires burned much less acreage in the U.S. than average during the first half of the year, but with hot and dry conditions expected over much of the nation in the coming months, fire activity is likely to ramp up. ...
Today a full bench of the High Court is hearing Andrew Borrowdale's challenge to the legality of the COVID-19 lockdown. That lockdown ended two months ago, so the point seems moot - but it was never about ending it. Instead, as Andrew Geddis points out, its about a key principle ...
So far, this has been a relatively policy-free election campaign. The government has been trying to keep a low profile, on the basis that anything they say will only piss someone off, so better to say as little as possible. When its not knifing its leader, National has promised roads, ...
I hardly ever comment on polls, because horse-race politics is superficial and boring and most changes are statistically meaningless and so unworthy of attention (let alone the excitement they provoke amongst mathematically illiterate political journalists desperate to fill airtime). But we've now had two polls in a row showing Labour ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on its inquiry into the operation of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020. As you'd expect, they find that the law was "necessary and appropriate", but would like to see a permanent replacement providing for health emergency powers as the Health ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... John Cook in the News... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... Major new climate study rules out less severe global warming scenariosAn analysis finds the most ...
It hasn’t taken long for the advent of Judith Collins as National party leader to change the tone of the political debate. After several days of headlines and airwaves dominated by reports of a National MP sending pornographic images to young women, the National leader had had enough of that ...
Don Franks An already fired up general election looks like getting even edgier. When final votes have been counted, a rather unlikely coalition government now seems possible As National and Labour implode with sexual proclivities while New Zealand First fling their last toys from the cot, others show more maturity. ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, July 19 through Sat, July 25, 2020Editor's ChoiceThe Climate Expert Who Delivered News No One Wanted to Hear From 2009: How a scientist known as the “father of global ...
There’s ultimately two key narratives overall that are seeking to take front row in order to reshape the world as a whole going forward from the COVID pandemic. The first is a very desperate attempt to reimpose “a return” to what is perceived as “the old normal”, quite impossible. ...
Henry Anderson-Elliott, University of CambridgeOn the morning of August 31 2017, I didn’t meet a remarkable polar bear. It was my third week of fieldwork-based out of Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, studying the conservation of the bears on the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Having spent a few days transcribing interviews in ...
SUNDAY JULY 26Country Calendar (TVNZ 1, 7.00pm). Tonight, kiwifruit growing in the King Country. Crazy!Normal People (TVNZ 1, 10.30pm). Holy cow, if you thought it was slow on a binge-watch, imagine what it's like in weekly doses. Nevertheless, it's like Richard Linklater's Boyhood – you don't really see the scope of ...
With the June 2020 quarter showing underemployment increasing, the Green Party is calling for a Guaranteed Minimum Income and an increase to the abatement threshold to ensure everyone has a dignified income. ...
We went hard and we went early in our health response to COVID-19, and we did everything we could to cushion the economic impact too. In fact, we can fill every letter of the alphabet with the steps we took to fight COVID-19 and ensure we were in a position ...
Investing in our people, backing businesses, and upgrading infrastructure and housing throughout the country - it's been another week of progress for New Zealanders as we deliver our plan to recover and rebuild. ...
July was another busy month, packed with key investments aimed at progressing our economic recovery as we rebuild New Zealand. We extended support for businesses, helped create jobs through local infrastructure projects, and kept working to clean up our waterways so Kiwis can access safe clean water. Check out the ...
The Green Party is calling for the Defence Force Chiefs in place between 2010-2017 to front up and explain how dishonesty, process and policy failures within the Defence Force led to ‘a series of incorrect statements in briefings to ministers and public releases’ regarding alleged breaches of international torture prevention ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
Thanks to our strong health response, New Zealand’s economy is more open than many other countries. But as COVID continues to surge around the world, the economic consequences of the virus will continue to be a challenge, which is why we have a detailed plan to help New Zealand bounce ...
The Green Party are ensuring that New Zealanders who were overseas when COVID-19 hit will not be charged for the cost of isolation or quarantine if they return home to live. ...
It's been another week of creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and investing in infrastructure up and down the country - all of which are helping to keep our economy moving post-COVID-19. ...
Law changes to end tenure review and provide for better management of Crown pastoral lands in the South Island high country were considered by Parliament today with the first reading of the Crown Pastoral Land Reform Bill says Minister for Land Information, Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party have secured legislative amendments in a bill expected to pass third reading this week, to ensure better rules for school teachers and staff, so they can de-escalate children with diverse needs and cognitive differences, such as autism, rather than using unnecessary and often traumatising force. ...
New Zealand needs to be more aggressive in pursuing economic opportunities and resist the short-term thinking affecting some of its major industry, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says.Mr Peters told Wellington Chamber of Commerce members this morning that the planned closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will have ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters has ridiculed the National Party "circus", with the politician saying it was in "chaos" after the resignation of another MP.Rangitata MP Andrew Falloon announced on Monday he would retire from politics after he allegedly sent inappropriate pornographic images to a young woman. Following a ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters today outlined what he saw as the requirements to re-open New Zealand's borders for tourists and travellers. If New Zealand was dealing solely with an Australian state such as Tasmania, we wouldn't need a vaccine, said Mr Peters, but these moves were complicated by the ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters appears to have prompted last-minute alterations to proposed legislation for commercial landlords and their tenants. Mr Peters told reporters on Wednesday said that he was making sure the proposed bill was in step with what the parties had actually agreed to. He said he ...
Associate Minister for State Owned Enterprise and New Zealand First List MP Shane Jones attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the new NZ Post "super depot" in Wellington. The state-owned postal service, which got $280 million from the Coalition Government last month, is expanding its operations to handle surging parcel volumes. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First CHECK AGAINST DELIVERYIntroduction Good afternoon. Welcome to you all here today and party supporters watching from around the country. We appreciate your hard work keeping New Zealand First strong; thank you for keeping the faith. Sixty-three days out from Election Day, ...
The diversity of conservation boards around Aotearoa is increasing with 47 appointments to 14 of the 15 conservation boards across New Zealand announced today by the Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage. ...
The Green Party is honoured to be remembering former co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons today at a public memorial service in the heart of Wellington at the Cathedral of St. Paul’s. Following her passing in March, this celebration of her life brings together her friends, family and colleagues to honour her life ...
Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage has announced a $2.5 million boost for South Westland to help a regional alliance of local businesses and government agencies provide nature based jobs. ...
Investing in infrastructure is one major way we can create jobs, stimulate the economy, and keep New Zealand moving post COVID-19. That's why this week we rolled out a massive number of infrastructure announcements - in Tairāwhiti, Wairarapa, Otago, Southland and more! ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters says the National Party’s Auckland Transport announcement today is a breath-taking plan on the never never. While it is promising to see that National all of a sudden has rediscovered railways in Auckland, including trains ...
The Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media has congratulated the Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB) programme on its major milestone of connecting more than 1 million New Zealand households and businesses to UFB. “This milestone has been 10 years in the making and demonstrates the popularity of the UFB network. “Uptake ...
Landmark legislation passed today puts New Zealand on track to saving thousands of lives and having a smokefree generation sooner rather than later, Associate Health Minister, Jenny Salesa says. The Smokefree Environments and Regulated Products (Vaping) Amendment Bill regulates vaping products and heated tobacco devices. “There has long been concern ...
A discriminatory law that has been a symbol of frustration for many people needing and providing care and support, has been scrapped by the Government. “Part 4A of the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Amendment Bill (No 2) was introduced under urgency in 2013 by a National Government,” Associate ...
Kiwi motorists are set to reap the benefits of a more competitive fuel market following the passing of the Fuel Industry Bill tonight, Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods says. “This Act is where the rubber meets the road in terms of our response to the recommendations made in the ...
The Government has delivered on its promise to New Zealanders to modernise tenancy laws with the passing of the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill 2020 today, says Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing), Kris Faafoi. “The Residential Tenancies Act 1986 was out-dated and the reforms in the RTA modernise our ...
New rules to protect and restore New Zealand’s freshwater passed into law today. Environment Minister David Parker and Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor welcomed the gazetting of the new national direction on freshwater management. “These regulations deliver on the Government’s commitment to stop further degradation, show material improvements within five years and ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointment of Jeremy Clarke-Watson as New Zealand’s new Consul-General in Los Angeles. “New Zealand and the United States share a close and dynamic partnership, based on a long history of shared values and democratic traditions,” Mr Peters said. “Mr Clarke-Watson is a ...
Victims of family violence can end a tenancy with two days’ notice Landlords can terminate tenancies with 14 days’ notice if tenants assault them Timeframe brought forward for limiting rent increases to once every 12 months Extension of time Tenancy Tribunal can hear cases via phone/video conference Reform of New ...
Two employment schemes – one new and one expanded – going live today will help tens of thousands of people continue training on the job and support thousands more into work, the Government has announced. Apprenticeship Boost, a subsidy of up to $12,000 per annum for first year apprentices and ...
The Government is funding a significant infrastructure package at Omokoroa which will create 150 new jobs and help transform the Western Bay of Plenty peninsula, Urban Development Minister Phil Twyford announced today. Phil Twyford says the Government is investing $14 million towards the $28 million roading and water package. This ...
The Bill allowing the Government to recover some costs for managed isolation and quarantine passed its third reading today, with charges coming into force as soon as regulations are finalised. Putting regulations into force is the next step. “The COVID-19 Public Health Response Amendment Bill and its supporting regulations will ...
Today’s unemployment data shows the Government’s plan to protect jobs and cushion the blow for businesses and households against the economic impact of COVID-19 was the right decision, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. Stats NZ said today that New Zealand’s unemployment rate in the June quarter – which includes the ...
A new role of New Zealand Reading Ambassador for children and young people is being established, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern and Minister for Internal Affairs and for Children, Tracey Martin announced today. The Reading Ambassador, announced at a Celebration of Reading event at ...
Community Law Centres will receive a funding boost to meet the increased need for free legal services due to COVID-19, Justice Minister Andrew Little said. The $3.5m funding is for the next three financial years and is additional to the almost $8 million for Community Law Centres announced in Budget ...
New Zealand has joined Canada and Chile in a new trade initiative aimed at increasing women’s participation in global trade. Trade and Export Growth Minister David Parker, together with Canada’s Minister for Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade Mary Ng, Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrés Allamand, and Chile’s Vice ...
Building owners around New Zealand have benefited from the latest round of Heritage EQUIP funding with grants totalling $2,230,166. “The Heritage EQUIP grants for seismic strengthening assist private building owners to get the professional advice they need to go ahead with their projects or support them to carry out the ...
• New paediatric facilities, including a Special Baby Care Unit • Up to 50 extra inpatient beds • New lab facilities Northland babies and their whānau will soon have access to improved hospital care when they need it with Health Minister Chris Hipkins today confirming new paediatric facilities and more ...
People walking and cycling between Featherston and Greytown, or along Wellington’s Eastern Bays will soon have a safe shared path, as part of a $220 million shovel-ready cycleways package announced by Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter. “During lockdown we saw many more families and kids out on their bikes, ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today extended New Zealand’s condolences following the death of Vanuatu’s High Commissioner to New Zealand, Johnson Naviti, who passed away yesterday afternoon in Wellington. “Our thoughts are with the High Commissioner’s family and colleagues during this difficult time. This is a terrible loss both to ...
The Government has today set out the regional allocations of the $761 million Three Waters stimulus and reform funding for councils announced by Prime Minister Hon Jacinda Ardern this month. "I want to thank Councils around the country for engaging with the Central Local Government Steering Group who have been ...
Students with high and complex learning needs, as well as their teachers and parents, will benefit from a substantial increase to Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding, Associate Education Minister Martin announced today. “Nearly $160 million will go towards helping these students by lifting their base support over the next four ...
Funding for innovative projects to connect Kiwis with affordable, safe and wholesome food, reduce food waste, and help our food producers recover from COVID-19 has been announced today by Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “COVID-19 has seen an increasing number of families facing unprecedented financial pressure. Foodbanks and community food service ...
Eight shovel-ready projects within Kāinga Ora large-scale developments, and the Unitec residential development in Auckland have been given the go-ahead, Minister for Housing Dr Megan Woods announced today. Megan Woods says these significant infrastructure upgrades will ensure that the provision of homes in Auckland can continue apace. “The funding announced ...
The Government is funding a new separated walking and cycleway path along Napier’s Chambers and Ellison streets to provide safer access for local students and residents across Marine Parade and State Highway 51, Transport Minister Phil Twyford and Police Minister Stuart Nash announced today. Funding of $2.7 million has been ...
More than 13,000 people have been employed so far thanks to the Coalition Government’s Provincial Growth Fund, Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones has today announced. The number of jobs created by Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) investments has outstripped the 10,000 jobs target that the Government and Provincial Development Unit ...
Scientists and innovative fishing operators from Stewart Island and Fiordland to Nelson, Marlborough and Wellington have been honoured in the first ever Seafood Sustainability Awards. Fisheries Minister Stuart Nash has congratulated the winners of the inaugural Seafood Sustainability Awards held at Parliament. “The awards night honours six winners, from a wide ...
The Government is providing an investment totalling more than $100 million for regions to protect against and mitigate the effects of climate change, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones have announced. Six regions will receive funding from the $3 billion allocated to infrastructure projects from the ...
Three major local projects at Te Kuiti and Otorohanga have been given the money to get moving after the impact of Covid 19, says the Minister of Māori Development Hon Nanaia Mahuta. The projects range from a Sports Centre for Te Kuiti, a redevelopment of the Otorohanga Kiwi House and ...
The Coalition Government has extended three New Zealand Defence Force deployments to the Middle East and Africa by two years, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “These deployments promote peace in the Middle East and Africa by protecting civilians and countering the spread of ...
The release of the National Climate Change Risk Assessment shows that the progress this Government has made to solve the climate crisis is essential to creating cleaner and safer communities across New Zealand. “Because of this report, we can see clearer than ever that the action our Government is taking ...
The second round of the Community Resilience Fund is now open for applications for sport and recreation organisations experiencing financial hardship between 1 July and 30 September 2020. “The fund opens today for five weeks – closing on September 6. The amount awarded will be decided on a case-by-case basis ...
Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage today declared Rakitū Island, off the coast of Aotea/Great Barrier Island, predator free. “I’m delighted to announce that with rats now gone, Rakitū is officially predator free. This is a major milestone because Rakitū is the last DOC administered island in the Hauraki Gulf Marine ...
The Provincial Growth Fund is investing $8.75 million to restore significant historic sites at Ōhaeawai in the Far North, upgrade marae and fund fencing and riparian planting. Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones made the announcements following a service at the historic St Michael’s Anglican Church at Ōhaeawai today. Just ...
The Chatham Islands will receive close to $40 million for projects that will improve its infrastructure, add to its attraction as a visitor destination, and create jobs through a planned aquaculture venture, Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones has announced. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the islands, first ...
The Government is delivering more initiatives to reduce energy hardship and to give small electricity consumers a voice, Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods said today. “In addition to the initiatives we have already delivered to support New Zealand families, we are responding to the Electricity Price Review with further ...
Government, iwi, NGOs and rehabilitation groups are working together to turn around the fortunes of the nationally endangered hoiho/yellow-eyed penguin following a series of terrible breeding seasons. The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage helped launch the Five Year Action Plan at the annual Yellow-Eyed Penguin symposium in Dunedin today. “I ...
The membership of the Tourism Futures Taskforce has now been confirmed, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced at an event at Whakarewarewa in Rotorua today. “The main purpose of the independent Tourism Futures Taskforce is to lead the thinking on the future of tourism in New Zealand,” Kelvin Davis said. Joining ...
More than $300 million in funding has been approved to protect strategic tourism businesses, drive domestic tourism through regional events and lift digital capability in the tourism industry, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. A $400 million Tourism Recovery Package was announced at Budget 2020, and with today’s announcements is ...
From 2021 permits will be required for New Zealanders wanting to export hard-to-recycle plastic waste. The Associate Minister for the Environment, Eugenie Sage, today announced the requirements as part of New Zealand’s commitments to the Basel Convention, an international agreement of more than 180 countries which was amended in May ...
The building and construction sector is still showing strong growth, with the number of new dwellings consented up more than 8 per cent compared to last year, reflecting a welcome confidence in the Government’s COVID-19 response package, Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa says. “While it is still too ...
Brooke van Velden – newly-minted Deputy Leader of the Act Party – spoke at a community event last Monday night in Epsom, Auckland, which was attended by several Euthanasia-Free NZ supporters. Unfortunately Ms van Velden’s presentation was heavy ...
“Labour’s plan is to win the election at all costs by politicising the border and keeping New Zealanders in a state of fear,” says ACT Leader David Seymour. “It’s putting politics above people by locking the border and wrecking the economy ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Many stories told by latest unemployment figures, Bloomfield says return of community transmission almost inevitable, and major tenancy reform package passes.First of all, it’s pretty clear that the top-line unemployment figure going down is a misleading picture of the state ...
Annaleese Jochems and Paul Little review new fiction by New Zealand authors David Coventry and Carl NixonAnnaleese Jochems on Dance Prone: David Coventry’s second novel Dance Prone is the story of a post-hardcore band touring through the American Southwest – a roadie novel. Initially its chief pleasures are similar ...
New Zealand needs to review its handling of Covid-19 'to do better next time' as global diseases are going to keep coming, warns Helen Clark. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark wants a full review into New Zealand's preparedness and handling of the Covid-19 pandemic - and is calling for the next government ...
On the campaign trail, Judith Collins is fully embracing every 'you're only about roads' barb people throw at her National Party leader Judith Collins couldn't have picked a more on-brand venue. The building was blue. The audience was blue. And the parking was free. Collins continued her roll-out of tunnelling announcements ...
Kiwi Winter Olympian and mountain explorer, Janina Kuzma, has become a film-maker, shining a light on gutsy female freeskiers. Sometime about now, Janina Kuzma would have been skiing down the shrinking faces of the world’s last tropical glaciers in Papua, Indonesia. The two-time Winter Olympian should have been filming the third movie in ...
The Health Minister expresses confidence in a troubled board that continues to be rocked by resignations. David Williams reports Chris Hipkins is putting a brave face on ructions at the Canterbury District Health Board, despite another senior resignation yesterday and divisions within the board itself becoming painfully obvious. The Health ...
How do we discourage politicians from gambling with our futures? Nicholas Agar looks at the 'Hail Mary' tactic, arguing politicians must own their misjudged forecasts Recent polls suggest this could be a very one-sided general election. It is useful to be forewarned about some of the tricks available to aspiring ...
It's time to lay extreme partisanship aside and for parties to prove their ingredients are worthy - not just that their packaging makes us feel good, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell Extreme partisanship has always perplexed me. I’m not judging but perhaps, as an opinion writer, I’ve come to hold my own opinions ...
On the 75th anniversary of the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we must redouble efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons once and for all, write Vincent Ochilet of the ICRC and Niamh Lawless of the New Zealand Red Cross.Today marks the 75th anniversary of the use of atomic ...
There are no incumbents in the south Auckland seat of Takanini, for this is a completely new electorate. Justin Latif goes to meet some of the voters, and the fascinating bunch desperate for their support. The name of New Zealand’s newest electorate can be traced back to a prominent Te Ākitai ...
The prime minister is no free-market ideologue or social traditionalist, but there is a conservative streak to her leadership, and that delights committed conservative Liam Hehir. Jacinda Ardern has advised us not to expect a whole lot of big promises from Labour this year. The announcement was undoubtedly frustrating for ...
How does a 4 percent unemployment figure gel with estimates that soon there will be whole neighbourhoods of people in South Auckland without work? A shock drop in official unemployment numbers caps off the "weirdest quarter" in New Zealand's economic history. "Beware" and "unbelievable" were the first words Kiwibank's chief economist Jarrod ...
Internal Revenue officials are moving ahead with plans to consult on and, eventually, adopt recommendations from the Tax Working Group on environmental taxes. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison will unveil on Thursday a cyber security package to give greater protection to critical Australian infrastructure and bolster the powers of the Australian Federal Police to pursue criminal networks on the dark web. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra A rumour that Victoria’s high profile chief health officer Brett Sutton was quitting caused a flurry in state government circles on Wednesday afternoon. Sutton has been one of the medical hardliners during the pandemic, at ...
Parliament has just passed a new law that will leave renters with a sense of relief. But many landlords aren’t too pleased. What’s all this then?The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill passed under urgency this evening. It amends existing law around renting to increase rights for tenants. According to associate housing minister ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Noble, Education Policy Fellow, Mitchell Institute, Victoria University From tomorrow (Thursday, August 6) only children of permitted workers will be able to attend childcare in Melbourne, which is under stage 4 restrictions. Parents and providers have been waiting to understand what ...
Gone By Lunchtime’s Toby Manhire, Annabelle Lee-Mather and Ben Thomas denounce new poll results that very slightly contradict their opinions.The height of the summit for the National Party? A poll came out last week with Labour at 53%, and that was considered good news for Judith Collins and the Strong ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Melatos, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Sydney Virgin Australia’s plan to sack about 3,000 of its 9,000 staff, axe its budget brand Tigerair, streamline its fleet to only Boeing 737s and suspend long-haul international flying indefinitely should come as no ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benjamin Reilly, Professor, University of Western Australia In international affairs, words are bullets, according to an old diplomatic saying. If so, Australia in recent years has begun firing new ammunition. In his address to the Aspen Security Forum today, Prime Minister Scott ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aisling Rayne, PhD candidate, University of Canterbury Whakapapa [genealogy] binds tākata whenua [people of the land] to the mountains, rivers, coasts and other landscapes, linking the health of the people with that of the environment. Like humans, species have whakapapa that ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gabriel da Silva, Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering, University of Melbourne The Lebanese capital Beirut was rocked on Tuesday evening local time by an explosion that has killed at least 78 people and injured thousands more. The country’s prime minister Hassan Diab ...
The MacDiarmid Institute DiscoveryCamp gives Māori and Pasefika high school students a taste of life as a scientist. Teuila Fuatai finds the experience often leads to much more. Eden Skipper loves eeling. “It is a family tradition,” he says proudly. The 22-year-old of Ngāi Tahu descent grew up on the east ...
Te Tari Taiwhenua, Department of Internal Affairs, has announced Allot Limited as the new service provider for the Digital Child Exploitation Filter (DCEF) from 1 August 2020. The filter operates as a service provided to most New Zealand Internet ...
In the wake of National’s leadership woes, The Spinoff sat down with the party’s most popular face in recent history to talk Covid-19, Judith Collins – and why he thinks our border should be more ‘flexible’.John Key is confident about our country’s future.In part, that’s because he tunes in each ...
The new National Policy Statement and National Environmental Standard for Freshwater, gazetted by the Government today, is a significant step forward in reducing pollution in our rural and urban waterways caused by intensive farming and through regional ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David McCooey, Professor of Writing and Literature, Deakin University In our series Art for Trying Times, authors nominate a work they turn to for solace or perspective during this pandemic. One day in 1984, a friend and I went to have lunch ...
Data released by Stats NZ today shows the impact of Covid-19 on New Zealand jobs during the June quarter was disproportionately felt by women. Mary Jo Vergara from KiwiEconomics breaks down what it all means.Women have historically fared well in times of war and crisis. During the Second World War, ...
The Sir Julius Vogel Awards last Thursday were meant to be a celebration of some of our best genre writers. It didn’t turn out that way, as Casey Lucas, one of the winners, explains. This is the story of how the nominees and recipients of the 2020 Sir Julius Vogel ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Craig Jeffrey, Director and CEO of the Australia India Institute; Professor of Development Geography, University of Melbourne In recent days, the Indian government approved a new education policy — the first for 34 years. The policy comes after an expert group produced ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Elliott, Executive Director, National COVID-19 Clinical Evidence Taskforce, and Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University With cases of COVID-19 on the rise, many Australians are asking: what happens if I test positive? With no known cure ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Professor Marcia Langton, Foundation Chair in Australian Indigenous Studies, University of Melbourne This is an edited transcript of the 2020 Thea Astley Address delivered by Marcia Langton at the Byron Writers Festival. It’s a longer read at 4,500 words. You can listen ...
As Auckland business leaders and the city’s economic development agency hold a day-long summit to thrash out a Covid-19 economic recovery plan, Finance Minister Grant Robertson is singing from a different song- book. He reckons NZ’s economy is doing well and “ … as we look ahead, there are ...
The National Party says it would create a new Auckland Transport-like authority and green-light a second Terrace tunnel National Party leader Judith Collins has announced National would give greater government funding for the Wellington region's existing transport plan and for a new agency to end the region's transport bickering. Collins made ...
Latest from the Beehive – The public debt is among the victims of the Covid-19 epidemic. According to the 2020 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update, in the current year and the next two fiscal years, operating deficits (operating balance before gains and losses) average around $28 billion while net core ...
The latest round of economic data won’t carry Judith Collins and the National Party into the promised land, and she’ll need to come up with something else to save her chances, writes political commentator Ben Thomas.The government has delivered an economic miracle! How else to describe today’s labour market statistics ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage John PerryFrom Masaya, Nicaragua An extraordinary leaked document gives a glimpse of the breadth and complexity of the US government’s plan to interfere in Nicaragua’s internal affairs up to and after its presidential election in 2021. The plan,[1] a 14-page extract from a ...
The Cook Islands language video.Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk The Cook Islands episode in AUT’s Pacific language video series – “Adapting to a changing world, shaping resilient futures” – is out now. The video is narrated in Cook Islands Māori (with English subtitles) to acknowledge the language being celebrated in ...
Community Law Centres welcome the additional Government funding announced to help address increased demand for free legal services due to COVID-19. Minister of Justice Andrew Little today announced an additional $3.47m over three years for Community ...
New Zealand’s unemployment rate has just fallen, defying experts and flying in the face of everything we expected. But according to Stats NZ, the devil is in the detail.What’s all this then?In a bizarre turn of events, New Zealand’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate has actually fallen from 4.2% to 4% ...
The outgoing immigration minister, Iain Lees-Galloway, has told MPs income criteria imposed on residents who want their parents to join them are "far too high". ...
Auckland Action Against Poverty is calling on the Government to increase abatement thresholds and lift benefits to liveable levels to support people affected by the growth of unemployment due to COVID-19. “Unemployment numbers do not tell us whether ...
A national survey of public drinking fountains around Aotearoa, recently undertaken by RefillNZ , has shown that, on average, there is only one drinking fountain for every 3,303 people and as few as one fountain for every 17,000 people in the worst-affected ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andreas Ortmann, Professor, UNSW Sweden has become something of a cautionary tale for what happens when you attempt to tackle coronavirus without lockdowns. In The Conversation last week The Grattan Institute’s Stephen Duckett and Will Mackey said its freer approach caused almost ...
In the June 2020 quarter, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell to 4.0 percent, down from 4.2 percent last quarter, while underutilisation rose, Stats NZ said today. ...
A conference on Auckland and the Covid-19 crisis hears calls for flexibility from the Government, including a loan to fund big projects and allowing foreign students into university quarantine Former Prime Minister John Key is urging the Government to throw out the rulebook and give Auckland Council a big, interest-free ...
Pacific Media Centre Newsdesk The safe reopening of entry points into six Pacific Islands countries amid the covid-19 pandemic is being discussed at a meeting in Fiji this week. The virtual roundtable is being convened by the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank with representatives from Solomon Islands, Kiribati, ...
The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union is welcoming confirmation from the National Party that income tax bracket indexation remains party policy. However, suggestions that the National Party has no plans to cut income taxes will come as a major disappointment ...
The Executive Director of the New Zealand Maori Council, Matthew Tukaki, has said unemployment in New Zealand will rise significantly over the next quarter and the figures out today are just the tip of a very fast-moving iceberg. Tukaki has said ...
Aggrieved members of the Firearms Community - from all over Canterbury and beyond - will once again take to the streets of Ashburton in good numbers this Saturday, 8th August. They continue to protest against the government’s Firearms Law Firearms ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hazel, Senior Lecturer, School of Animal and Veterinary Science, University of Adelaide What does a pandemic smell like? If dogs could talk, they might be able to tell us. We’re part of an international research team, led by Dominique Grandjean at ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Smith, Senior Lecturer in American Politics and Foreign Policy, US Studies Centre, University of Sydney Americans were alarmed last week when their president suggested on Twitter that the November 3 presidential election should be delayed because mail-in ballots would be fraudulent. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Mullan, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong According to 2016 Census data, 3.5% of Australians have limited English proficiency. When they’re receiving health care, it’s essential these Australians have access to interpreters. Research has shown professional interpreters facilitate effective ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Aliza Werner-Seidler, Senior Research Fellow in Mental Health & Clinical Psychologist, UNSW Access to mental health support has never been more important, as Melburnians are hit with a stage 4 lockdown and much of the rest of Australia braces for a potential ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Osman, Scientist, Energy Efficiency & Renewables, CSIRO Yesterday, Australia’s eastern states felt a vicious cold snap, and these wintry blasts make hunkering down in isolation at home a little easier. But as the temperature rises at home, so does our carbon ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alan Brent, Professor and Chair in Sustainable Energy Systems, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington CC BY-NDClimate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Prestridge, Senior Lecturer, Griffith University In early July, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced government school students in prep to Year 10 — in Metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire —would learn from home for term three. Students in Years 11 and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Georgia Cervin, Honorary Research Fellow, University of Western Australia The new Netflix documentary Athlete A details how Larry Nassar, the US women’s gymnastics team doctor, was brought to justice after sexually abusing hundreds of gymnasts. Since its release, gymnasts around the world ...
Welcome to Election Live for August 5, bringing you the latest on election 2020 and other breaking news. For key dates in the election season click here. For all you need to know about the cannabis referendum click here. For the assisted dying referendum click here. Get in touch at ...
The Social Services and Community Committee is calling for public submissions on the Oranga Tamariki (Youth Justice Demerit Points) Amendment Bill, which was referred to the committee on 21 July 2020. This Member’s Bill would introduce a youth demerit ...
Ryman Healthcare's plans in Australia's Covid-19 hit state of Victoria prompt a note of caution, plus the Super Fund buys New Zealand's major lab testing company ...
Open Mike 22/08/2018 
by Don Franks This talk was given to the Wellington Anti Capitalist Alliance, fifteen years ago. The ultimate weapons of mass destruction so far seen on this planet have been used just twice, 60 years ago this month. August 6 and August 9 1945 witnessed the US atomic bombing ...2 hours ago
After I noticed that my name had been taken yet again in vain by my friendly antagonist Tom Hunter over at No Minister, I went over to see what the fuss was about. Nothing much, but then I discovered a post about the Operation Burnham Inquiry by Psycho Milt. I ...16 hours ago
The COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020 was extended today, until December 1st or the tenth sitting day following the resumption of Parliament after the election. It seems like a necessary extension. While we currently have eradicated the virus in New Zealand, it is still banging at the door, and ...16 hours ago
Judy Kavanagh I’m OK with wearing a CovidCard. But are you? There’s no point me doing it alone.
As many good things come in threes (as the saying goes), we are happy to announce a third partnership between Skeptical Science and other websites. Fakebook.eco in Brazil is joining Klimafakten.de in Germany and Nauka o Klimacie in Poland to leverage translated rebuttal material and to make the information readily available in other ...2 days ago
Let's Do This Again: What else can Jacinda do in a political environment so bereft of imagination and courage but seek a continuance? If she trades upon the extraordinary personal qualities that she has, miraculously, carried with her into the office of Prime Minister, then I, for one, will offer ...2 days ago
New Zealand First is facing a difficult struggle to get re-elected, but Josh Van Veen, who was once a researcher for Winston Peters, argues that there is still a very significant section of cultural conservatives who oppose mass immigration and political correctness and might yet be won back over to ...2 days ago
As polling day in the American presidential election draws closer, things are looking bad for Donald Trump. The polls show that he is tracking well behind his Democrat rival. Most people assume that the President will be striving might and main to avoid what looks increasingly likely to be a ...3 days ago
Our health professionals do an amazing job. Image credit: Wikipedia – Cardiac surgery. Finally, I have got back to these rankings. A long period in hospital and computer problems meant the June 2020 rankings were abandoned. Now, with a new personal defibrillator implanted in my chest and a new hard ...4 days ago
Former National Minister - Wayne MappYou could tell that the Hit and Run book by investigative journalists Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson was right on the money by the way former National Party Minister of Defence, Wayne Mapp, reacted to its now largely vindicated claims.Even though the recent inquiry into ...5 days ago
We are failing to think though the interdependencies in an economy. We miss economist Bryan Philpott (1921-2000). I miss him personally – we used to have such great discussions – but this column is about how the nation misses his economic experience and wisdom. We tend to ...6 days ago
TUESDAY AUGUST 4Grand Designs UK (Three, 7.30pm). ...7 days ago
Most of the claims made by anti-fluoride propagandists are simply wrong. Image source: Fluoridation and the ‘sciency’ facts of critics Anti-fluoride propagandists continually cite studies from areas of endemic fluorosis in their arguments against ... 1 week ago
. . For the mainstream media, today (22 July) was even a better day than yesterday. More Sex. More Politics. More Sex AND Politics. Yesterday, the msm dealt with Andrew Falloon. The obscure backbench MP had been found to have sent pornographic images to at least four women. The woman’s ...1 week ago
There’s ultimately two key narratives overall that are seeking to take front row in order to reshape the world as a whole going forward from the COVID pandemic. The first is a very desperate attempt to reimpose “a return” to what is perceived as “the old normal”, quite impossible. ...2 weeks ago
The Green Party is celebrating the passing of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, calling it a win for people who rent. ...12 hours ago
We went hard and we went early in our health response to COVID-19, and we did everything we could to cushion the economic impact too. In fact, we can fill every letter of the alphabet with the steps we took to fight COVID-19 and ensure we were in a position ...2 days ago
New Zealand needs to be more aggressive in pursuing economic opportunities and resist the short-term thinking affecting some of its major industry, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says. Mr Peters told Wellington Chamber of Commerce members this morning that the planned closure of the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter will have ...2 weeks ago
The Minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media has congratulated the Ultra-fast Broadband (UFB) programme on its major milestone of connecting more than 1 million New Zealand households and businesses to UFB. “This milestone has been 10 years in the making and demonstrates the popularity of the UFB network. “Uptake ...21 mins ago
Brooke van Velden – newly-minted Deputy Leader of the Act Party – spoke at a community event last Monday night in Epsom, Auckland, which was attended by several Euthanasia-Free NZ supporters. Unfortunately Ms van Velden’s presentation was heavy ...20 mins ago
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Many stories told by latest unemployment figures, Bloomfield says return of community transmission almost inevitable, and major tenancy reform package passes.First of all, it’s pretty clear that the top-line unemployment figure going down is a misleading picture of the state ...1 hour ago
Annaleese Jochems and Paul Little review new fiction by New Zealand authors David Coventry and Carl Nixon Annaleese Jochems on Dance Prone: David Coventry’s second novel Dance Prone is the story of a post-hardcore band touring through the American Southwest – a roadie novel. Initially its chief pleasures are similar ...1 hour ago
New Zealand needs to review its handling of Covid-19 'to do better next time' as global diseases are going to keep coming, warns Helen Clark. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark wants a full review into New Zealand's preparedness and handling of the Covid-19 pandemic - and is calling for the next government ...2 hours ago
A bill giving the police the power to conduct random roadside saliva drug testing has passed its first reading. ...2 hours ago
Stringent guidelines for goods with potential military uses in countries like China are on the way. ...2 hours ago
On the campaign trail, Judith Collins is fully embracing every 'you're only about roads' barb people throw at her National Party leader Judith Collins couldn't have picked a more on-brand venue. The building was blue. The audience was blue. And the parking was free. Collins continued her roll-out of tunnelling announcements ...2 hours ago
Kiwi Winter Olympian and mountain explorer, Janina Kuzma, has become a film-maker, shining a light on gutsy female freeskiers. Sometime about now, Janina Kuzma would have been skiing down the shrinking faces of the world’s last tropical glaciers in Papua, Indonesia. The two-time Winter Olympian should have been filming the third movie in ...2 hours ago
The Health Minister expresses confidence in a troubled board that continues to be rocked by resignations. David Williams reports Chris Hipkins is putting a brave face on ructions at the Canterbury District Health Board, despite another senior resignation yesterday and divisions within the board itself becoming painfully obvious. The Health ...2 hours ago
How do we discourage politicians from gambling with our futures? Nicholas Agar looks at the 'Hail Mary' tactic, arguing politicians must own their misjudged forecasts Recent polls suggest this could be a very one-sided general election. It is useful to be forewarned about some of the tricks available to aspiring ...2 hours ago
It's time to lay extreme partisanship aside and for parties to prove their ingredients are worthy - not just that their packaging makes us feel good, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell Extreme partisanship has always perplexed me. I’m not judging but perhaps, as an opinion writer, I’ve come to hold my own opinions ...2 hours ago
The truth about the unemployment statistics, plus a fishing firm closes a Tauranga plant costing 65 jobs ...3 hours ago
How does a 4 percent unemployment figure gel with estimates that soon there will be whole neighbourhoods of people in South Auckland without work? A shock drop in official unemployment numbers caps off the "weirdest quarter" in New Zealand's economic history. "Beware" and "unbelievable" were the first words Kiwibank's chief economist Jarrod ...3 hours ago
Internal Revenue officials are moving ahead with plans to consult on and, eventually, adopt recommendations from the Tax Working Group on environmental taxes. ...3 hours ago
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra Scott Morrison will unveil on Thursday a cyber security package to give greater protection to critical Australian infrastructure and bolster the powers of the Australian Federal Police to pursue criminal networks on the dark web. ...7 hours ago
New Zealand First and the Greens are facing the reality of the 'support partner' curse ...17 hours ago
As Auckland business leaders and the city’s economic development agency hold a day-long summit to thrash out a Covid-19 economic recovery plan, Finance Minister Grant Robertson is singing from a different song- book. He reckons NZ’s economy is doing well and “ … as we look ahead, there are ...18 hours ago
The National Party says it would create a new Auckland Transport-like authority and green-light a second Terrace tunnel National Party leader Judith Collins has announced National would give greater government funding for the Wellington region's existing transport plan and for a new agency to end the region's transport bickering. Collins made ...18 hours ago
Latest from the Beehive – The public debt is among the victims of the Covid-19 epidemic. According to the 2020 Budget Economic and Fiscal Update, in the current year and the next two fiscal years, operating deficits (operating balance before gains and losses) average around $28 billion while net core ...18 hours ago
A conference on Auckland and the Covid-19 crisis hears calls for flexibility from the Government, including a loan to fund big projects and allowing foreign students into university quarantine Former Prime Minister John Key is urging the Government to throw out the rulebook and give Auckland Council a big, interest-free ...20 hours ago
Ryman Healthcare's plans in Australia's Covid-19 hit state of Victoria prompt a note of caution, plus the Super Fund buys New Zealand's major lab testing company ...1 day ago
Animal cruelty – a storm is coming
First we learn the reality of American-style feedlots for cattle in New Zealand. Now Rachel Stewart says there is a an even darker side to Kiwi farming.
Just maybe we can get some momentum to end animal cruelty in New Zealand as people realise the repugnant practices that produce animals for consumption by humans.
We need to end factory farming. Clean Green NZ is a cruel joke.
Hard to believe that passes local water quality laws. How do they get the effluent redistributed in spring, evenly across the fields? Must have impressive pond filtration and solid storage to last the winter. Is that on an inland marine clay soil? Not sure how else they would stop leaching. Workers would risk death by drug overdose during stormy weather. But as always, don’t panic, go organic!
Thanks grey for sharing this.
I have long been dismayed at the lack of shelter afforded to cattle.
Such a basic requirement and yet it seems cattle with shelter are an anomoly rather than the norm as I remember growing up.
This feedlot method is another black mark on the industry.
The only way it can be justified is through an accounting lens.
The feed lots really disturbed myself and my girls. When we first saw it on the TV, we thought it was a story from overseas. But nope it’s here, and it’s all about making as much $$$$$$$$$ as possible.
I wonder if David Parker and Damo are still ‘flatting’ together in Welly when Parliament sits? If so they have much to discuss and sort out, because feed lots is not the type of NZ we are proud of or want to be a part of.
Yep Damien needs to get his priorities right – he isn’t a farmers advocate he is a bloody minister. Time he started caring about the environment or his legacy will be shit imo.
Deer culled on Molesworth Station with 1080, DOC refused the offer of professional hunters to cull with weapons ?
Really Ngungukai? Where did you hear that please?
It’s not the nation doing this – it’s the capitalists with the government supporting them.
It’s an important distinction because it proves the lack of democracy.
Please to read this:
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/364611/julie-anne-genter-gives-birth-to-son
Congrats to the parents.
Wooo hoooooo, well done Mum 🙂
Some very good news to start the day with.
Awesome news – so happy for them – well done to everyone!!!
Great news! Big congratulations!
Another very lucky little baby who will have the best of parents. Congratulations Julie Anne Genter and her partner.
Congratulations.
Trotter loses plot, re-invents ACT: “the zeitgeist – the “spirit of the times”. If ever there was a moment for someone to lift up the banner of freedom – it is now. Combine the defence of free markets with the defence of free speech and Act – proudly rebranded as “The Freedom League” – might once again aspire to Prebble’s electoral success.”
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/
“The Social Contract”, Rousseau, in 1762: “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.” So will invoking antique liberationist philosophy currently work politically? In a culture where everyone believes they actually are free spirits?
Trotter may have got more milage from using Orwell as the basis for reminding us of the threat from the left. At least there’s a substantial political tradition there from the most recent century past. He’d get more traction for ACT if he tossed free love into the mix with free speech & free markets, pushing the nostalgia button for many political players still alive. And how about free money as well? That’d rope in lots more!!
I didn’t know people still read Trotter’s words.
Well he used to be a guest speaker at ACTs Wellington salon…
“He’d get more traction for ACT if he tossed free love into the mix with free speech & free markets, pushing the nostalgia button for many political players still alive. And how about free money as well? ”
Suggest you reread Trotter’s piece if thats what you took from it
Trotter forgets the time he lead the outcry when Harawira was blocked from speaking at Auckland Law School in may 2011 by a ‘breach of the peace’ from campus Young nats……
what do you mean he didnt say a word at all.
http://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/2011/
How bizarre!
Act’s Populist Soufflé Unlikely To Rise Twice.
Big shoutout to Julie Ann Genter and her new baby.
Congratulations!
And welcome to New Zealand little one.
12yr/old Kiwi is fighting for the trademark “Slime Princess”. GiveALittle link in article.
Nickelodeon objects.
I remember many Slime episodes of What Now?
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12110802
The benefits of biodiversity and heritage strains of crops, illustrated yet again for the umpteenth time. A variety of corn in Mexico that has a legume-like ability to fix its own nitrogen. Combine this trait with the benefits of other more commercial strains and there’s a big potential for reduced fertilizer use, with flow-on benefits for better water quality from reduced run-off and reduced GHG emissions.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/corn-future-hundreds-years-old-and-makes-its-own-mucus-180969972/
Why not keep breeding the heritage breeds?
I find this all arse about face. Heritage breeds generally discarded for the industrial production. Have to pollute to grow. Find heritage breed that reduces pollution – oh let’s genetically modify to get that trait. No thought apart from commercial imo. The thinking that fucked us up will not save us.
Better off doing this type of thing
“Three hundred years ago, when early American colonists took a look at the food gardens in Native American villages, they often saw a unique companion planting plan – sweetcorn, climbing beans and pumpkins or squash being grown together in the same plot.”
https://www.growveg.com.au/guides/companion-planting-three-sisters-garden-plans/
I kinda take the view that the entire spectrum of techniques have something to contribute, but there is no one silver bullet magic answer.
I agree that corporate industrial farming has become an out-of-control Frankenstein’s monster. But let’s not lose sight of the way corporate industrial farming is good at maximising output given the various input price signals and constraints. Where we’ve fallen down is failing to impose appropriate price signals and constraints on things like energy use, pollution, animal welfare, border controls etc etc. One of the good and bad results of this state of affairs is that food is now awesomely cheap by historical standards, but it also makes it very hard for those that want to do things in a heritage way to actually make a living at it.
Is it cheap compared to yesteryear? If we grow and eat seasonally, locally and communally then it seems that would be very cost effective. But im in the country not the city so my view may be jaundiced.
A quick google turned up this:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/02/389578089/your-grandparents-spent-more-of-their-money-on-food-than-you-do
A quick search didn’t show up a good illustrative article that’s NZ specific, but I’m pretty sure I have seen stuff indicating NZ trends are similar to the US. The sites I regularly visit also occasionally feature pieces about how meagre the financial returns are from small scale labour intensive farming.
Yeah, there’s significant differences city to country on this. Not least that many country people derive a lot of pleasure from producing food, almost to the extent that income from it is just a bonus. Whereas city folk the pleasure is generally just around eating, with a small part of the population getting something out of feeling virtuous from paying extra for organic and/or ethical.
I worry that with the ongoing worldwide drift from rural to urban and simple population increase pressures it’s going to be ever harder to preserve the few small pockets of heritage we still have. Especially since many of the areas with significant heritage resources overlap a lot with population growth pressure and overlap with where climate change is going to hit hardest.
Yes good points. I know a lot of seed savers and the heritage seeds are treasured. Going to be useful I think. Not sure about keeping them up in that seed vault in Norway though.
http://time.com/5177165/climate-change-threatens-norway-seed-vault/
Seeds are useful, but the value in the heritage is the whole ecosystem involved which might be lost with a focus on just the seeds. For example, there’s no guarantee just the seeds will carry the symbiotic micro-organisms that do the actual nitrogen fixing.
Yes lots to sort if we are going to get through the fast approaching/upon us now bottleneck
Robert G
Keep the seeds viable and fresh and you keep coming up with stuff to remind us what we could all be doing if we stopped tapping. Keep coming with info on – The Riverton Chronicle.
Here in Riverton we are operating a heritage vegetable seed saving network that “employs” growers across the region (and beyond) to keep the lines fresh. Our heritage fruit net is even more grounded, preserving the remnant orchards, grafting from them and creating new heritage orchards cared for by the communities from which the scions came, and providing grafted trees to individuals (about 5 000 so far) to plant at home. Keep it fresh and alive and involve people in the process; those things “belong” to all of us and spreading responsibility and stock is the best insurance against loss, Imo.
Broom and gorse, wild lupins too and naturalised clovers and vetches should solve that issue, Andre.
Quoting Why we can’t afford the rich:
Destroying the environment as we have been is going to cost us far more than the apparent savings that industrial farming brought about.
Turnbull is in trouble; he survived a confidence vote yesterday by only 7 votes, but more resignations and defections keep the pressure on. Dutton might force his way in as PM for a short while, but it won’t last.
And of Turnbull resigns Parliament as many have suggested it will likely force an election:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-22/malcolm-turnbull-leadership-crisis-deepens/10149440
Threatening an early election appears to be the only card Turnbull has left to keep his caucus in line. Good times for Bill Shorten who can confidently tell his caucus to work hard, keep smiling and let the Libs gift them Government.
You got it. But the threat will only have a short life-span, it seems. Dutton established sufficient support to try again soon. It hinges on how many of the seven who are most likely to switch to him see advantage in doing so prior to an election, rather than waiting.
The PM can call an early election to stymie the plot, but would he do so with current polling making him a dead-cert loser?? And likely to get rolled in the aftermath, so a double loser. So as a ploy, not very effective. Which is why Oz political commentators call him dead man walking.
A weak leader, but is Dutton any better? I doubt it. If I were Turnbull, I’d be in liaison with all the likely contenders other than Dutton right now, offering them a deal in which I’d rebuild in collaboration with them and offer resignation in advance while they sort out amongst themselves who ought to fight Dutton to take over.
Under that scenario, Turnbull gets to prove he can be a real centrist leader, go out from a position of strength having developed a credible alternative to Dutton & Shorten – if he gets them back close to parity with Labour in the polls.
What was the margin of Tumbulls victory over Abbott back in 2016 ?
10 votes. His recent margin is 13 votes.
In Aussie politics its all about the numbers , you either have more than your opponent or you dont. End of story.
All this waffle about another challenge …. it could happen but they dont really have time and who would that challenger be, its not going to be Dutton again.
I read recently that if an election were held now that Dutton would likely lose his seat (Fingers crossed for Turnbull going for the nuclear option)
Red what are Labor’s key policies?
‘confidence vote yesterday by only 7 votes”
No it wasnt, it was 13 votes.( what you mean was if ‘7 voters change sides’)
However Turnbull only won the vote against Abbott a few years back by 10 votes.
His margin has never been great but its plenty in the scheme of things.
remember in NZ Brash supposedly won the leadership against English by ONE vote.
And that was after Blinglish took National to their worst defeat ever.
If old Mal is rolled, he does the honourable thing resigned from the House of Representatives which would he has more morals and ethics than the current lot or the nuclear option, but I somehow don’t think Mal is that type of person.
Shorten is not popular with public either and that’s even at the grassroots level of the Australian Labour Party as well. As he is seen as numbers man that rolled Rudd and later Gillard.
Albo has the popular vote among the grassroots and the greater voting public, but hasn’t got the Party vote and head office support which is a damm shame as Albo is a true battler from the working class.
Mal and Albo come solo parent homes both working class backgrounds, but they both took different paths later in life.
Its mostly a NSW vs Victoria thing.
Constantly happens, if one state has the leader the other state wants it. or more correctly the the big donors based in those states.
Hawke ( Vic) v Keating (NSW)
Howard -NSW v Costello -Vic ( he quite in the end rather than challenge)
Rudd -Qld v Gillard -Vic That was an usual one which lead to yo yo
Turnbull NSW v Abbott NSW that too is unusual and is reason why unresolved.
Dutton is QLD so never had a chance – he was only interested in saving his seat at election time.
This is why Bishop isnt putting hand up , shes from WA
I don’t think Julie wants the job, as for Mal and the Mad Monk they come from to totally different spheres within the Lib’s and that’s the problem.
Mal is a true a Lib probably more Social Liberal who would rather give someone a leg up, open minded forward thinking and science/ technology evidence base than the right wing bible bashed based conservatives like the Mad Monk.
There is a lot of old money in both NSW and Vic compared to the other states and would there some religious stuff as aka the Catholics in Vic and Protestants of NSW etc thrown in just to keep everyone on their toes.
This covers it off with verve :
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/the-latest-leadership-spill-proves-one-thing-democracy-is-dead-in-australia/news-story/2626e417ac7df0fdde4778959e818353
It sure does RedLogix, just watching Mal on the telly atm and I’m starting to think that Mal might go the nuclear option?
Mudoch media vehicle says…”democracy is dead”…
As if it’s not a primary component of the ‘death squad’…
With the jury due on Manafort, flipping Cohen and getting him to court in the same week is orchestrated media mastery from Mullers team.
Well played, Sir.
Manafort is convicted.
Hmm, it seems Cohen’s plea deal might not include cooperation.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/21/politics/michael-cohen-plea-deal-talks/index.html
Manafort guilty on 8 counts, mistrial on the remaining 10 counts. So the prosecution can try him again on those 10 counts. Plus Manafort’s got another trial coming up in DC. The guilty finding on those 8 counts with that backdrop has to really up the pressure on him, so we may yet see him flip.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/08/21/politics/paul-manafort-trial-jury/index.html
Also in Trump’s bad news week is that Christopher Steele, author of the Trump dossier had a defamation claim against him from three Russian oligarchs thrown out
“If that is the case, let Māori speak for us,” he told the summit. “Our people need help right now.”
Anzac Wallace at the criminal justice summit. Enough said.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2018/08/government-wants-to-lower-m-ori-prison-stats-but-hasn-t-set-specific-target.html
Yep – this is part of colonisation. The fact that more police are coming on just fills me with foreboding cos we know they racially profile.
The great kauri are dying, the rivers are sick, the land is degraded and abused – these plus the prison pop and all the other negative stats from longevity to employment that affect Māori are SYMPTOMS – of what? The continued colonisation of Māori. The continued othering and disrespect. The continued desecration of mana. Be warned kiwiland.
Thanks marty. When I saw Anzac on the news last night it really struck a chord with me, very powerful what he said. Opened the door to reality for viewers I hope. Speaking as a pakeha I think we have to do what we can to help – and that doesn’t mean telling Māori what to do.
As I think has been talked about on here previously that might involve discussing and changing things based from korero on the marae. Officials going to the marae for help and solutions to fix this, not the other way round.
Yes i agree with you and thanks for putting the comment up. I missed it last night (working).
The solutions are there – not sure if they will be palatable for our society.
It is all the inevitable result of capitalism and the All against All society that it produces.
Colonisation cant be attributed for say so many Maoris in prison. The vast majority are law abiding and I have been told by maori who have one of their whanau in a gang, that they just think they are a fool.
Yes , huge amounts of land were lost from colonization policies, so not so much remains. With Maori and jails its the other way around. Very small proportion are involved in criminal activity.
Wot you think they’re just bad do you?
The comparison is % of population compared to % of prison population btw.
One of the big issues Mueller’s investigation has lifted the lid on is just how soft the US has become on white-collar crime, helped along by getting distracted to focus on “terrorism”. Routine inability to keep things in perspective, or calculated strategy by white-collar crims, and the pollies and judges they buy?
https://www.vox.com/2018/8/21/17757636/cohen-manafort-white-collar-crime
Sad news …… TVNZ news presenter and journalist Greg Boyed has died in Europe.
Much love to all of his family and friends.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12111311
That is really sad.On the outside he looked like he had everything.
Life is full of emptiness at times.
He was one of the best journos and current affairs hosts in NZ – strictly fair and balanced. It’s deeply sad.
Fuck that is so sad. Suicide is shit. Sending love to all involved.
Really hard to comprehend, this. I often worked with Greg during his first few years in the TVNZ newsroom, found him invariably in good humour & developed an easy rapport with him right from the start. So very sad for his family.
There must be a deep back-story to this – wonder if it will ever come out. He became adept at presenting with both flair & goodwill to the audience. Huge loss for TVNZ.
Dennis, often those struggling with depression hide it so very well as they don’t want to be a bother, or feel like they’ve let anyone down.
He was fantastic at his job and well respected.
Yes, Cinny, enough of that myself in the distant past to wonder if he’d been carrying an affliction from childhood. The macho stance was widely used as repression in my generation but Greg being that much younger I can but guess how much it applied to him.
Bobby McFerrin hams up here about problems he has faced I think and tells us how to keep on top. You can be dressed for success, get it and still not feel right. I think Robin Williams is in this vid too. Don’t Worry Be Happy
He is (Robin). That’s … stunning.
Yes Cindy, we are very good at hiding it until something or someone tiggers it off again and it’s then a race back down the rabbit hole just little bit further than last time until we turn around and pop back out of the rabbit or we pass the LD.
LD is a Military term for Line of Departure when one is about to commit than attack or counter attack on a enemy position or also known as the point of no return. I only got as far as the FUP (Form Up Point) which is just the before the LD where you do your final checks before you get ready to cross the LD. My FSGT cross his LD and the NT Police nick me before I completed my final checks before I cross the LD.
Sorry for using Military terminology it’s the only way I can describe it to someone and actually I one step further in that I use the Military planning formula called the Military Appreciation Process or MAP which scared my treatment team and when I was down at the clinic last year my partner ( now my wife) mentioned to the staff at meeting which became a light bulb moment for staff at why we are so good at it than civilians.
You explained that really well Exkiwiforces.
That is so sad. One of life’s good folk.
Indeed @ Cinny and to all the comments below. He was/is a good bugger.
Alison Mau (though she doesn’t claim to be ‘best buddies’ on Stuffed) has summed things up well.
( In my view: Decent, Humble, Intelligent, Social, Spiritual, and not at all Egotistical). Something didn’t feel quite right leaving Te Puke last Saturday
Great article – thanks Clementine
“This, to my mind, is what lies at the heart of Megan V’s original tweet. The assumption that young girls are “in their prime” and therefore free to be pursued and used by adult men who require control in a relationship in order to feel comfortable in it.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/life-style/love-sex/106462832/psa-to-girls-under-18
We are not unique,… Canadians even have Pukeko’s…
Moorhen team building a nest in Canada Water – YouTube
Video for canadian moorhen you tube▶ 1:20
They are both a member of the Rallidae family.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moorhen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australasian_swamphen
http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/pukeko
Brainstorming a new centrist party is the latest fashion trend in UK politics: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/20/prospect-new-uk-party-grows-westminster-political-cracks-brexit
Evidence that the trend is substantial lies in the various independent initiatives emerging. Classic niche marketing: when the niche becomes evident, entrepreneurs compete to fill the vacuum. LibDems spot the trend & wonder if they really are dead in the water (or do they flog the dead horse yet again to see if it will leap up & run).
None of which would matter under FPP, if it weren’t for the fact that both major parties are sick nigh unto death themselves!
Fletcher Building in red, posts $190m loss, no dividend for shareholders
(maybe they should also add no company taxes for taxpayers in NZ)
Apparently that is mostly due to their unusually low tender that John Key was involved with to Sky City for the conference centre that has been a balls up for taxpayers from the word go. from wiki
Proposed convention centre[edit]
In May 2013, the Government came to a deal with SkyCity to build a convention centre worth $402 million in exchange for gambling concessions. The concessions would allow SkyCity to install an extra 230 poker machines, 40 gambling tables, as well as a further 12 gaming tables that could be substituted for automated table game player stations (but not poker machines). SkyCity would also receive an extension to their casino licence, from its expiry in 2021 until 2048. In exchange, SkyCity would be required to meet the full costs of the convention centre project.[13]
Describing the benefit for New Zealand, Economic Development Minister, Steven Joyce said the convention centre would add an estimated $90 million a year to the local economy, create 1,000 jobs during construction and 800 jobs once the centre is running.[13]
Cost overruns[edit]
In 2015 it was announced that the anticipated cost of the convention centre had increased by $70 to $130 million, to a total maximum of $530 million. Prime Minister John Key said he was considering making up the shortfall by giving SkyCity public tax money to finish the project – as it would be an “eyesore” if the extra funding was not made available.[14] Two days later on 12 February, following criticism in the media and in Parliament, the Prime Minister described the use of taxpayer funds as the “least preferred option”.[15] Subsequently, on 15 February, it was announced that instead of seeking funding from the government for project over-runs, SkyCity would instead be allowed to build a convention centre which was slightly smaller, so that total costs would remain about $400 million
better than it looks, as revenue is up slightly to $9.5 bill and cash is around $660 mill.
Because of the writeoffs they had to go back to their banks who then screwed them for $150 mill ‘to refinance’ their borrowing.
They still paid $85 mill in tax, according the financial report – as you would expect as they are ‘still rolling in it’ on a cash basis
All good then when the banks get $150 mill for refinancing while the tax payers only get 85 mill (if you are correct) and the shareholders get nothing? sarcasm.
Wonder if Fltecher’s refinanced through ANZ…
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/97996782/john-key-to-chair-anz-board
(if so, maybe they learn first hand about the moniker “smiling assassin”).
Fletchers has been destroying shareholder wealth since Hugh ran it and it was split up.
So many Sirs have been involved Trotter,Deans,Norris …none of them could run a bath.
Some of their acquisitions beggar belief…lame dupe overpayers.
New board appointments the usual shuffle of the old boy network pack.(includes women)
Fletchers have been subsidised by the NZ Taxpayer ever since Adam was a cowboy ?
It was a whole slew of banks ,
At 30 June 2018 the Group had a $925 million syndicated
revolving credit facility on an unsecured, negative pledge and
borrowing covenant basis, with ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited,
MUFG Bank Limited, Bank of New Zealand, Commonwealth Bank
of Australia, Citibank N.A., The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation Limited, Bank of China (New Zealand) Limited,
China Construction Bank (New Zealand) Limited and Westpac New
Zealand Limited.
MUFG is Japans largest Bank
Knew ANZ would be in there somehow:) surprise surprise… JK just pops up everywhere when smaller folks and the public and even the corps lose money and banks make a killing.
Back to the gambling concessions.
So does anyone know when did the extra gambling concessions come in for Skycity? Because the deal was agreed in 2013 and my guess is the gambling concessions were near instant, while 5 years later, in 2018 and we still don’t have the convention centre and even when built we don’t get that extra large convention centre that was promised.
Meanwhile sounds like they already have the extra gambling and no doubt the government will bend over backwards to extend it to 2048, even though we are never going to get that extra large convention centre that the whole deal was based on but instead a smaller cheaper one, that is too small for the large conferences. Not that I believe in the conference centre anyway as most of the time they are just corporate welfare jobs.
Sounds like the F-ing bottle water fiasco, the corporate gets free water rights straight away but doesn’t even have to provide the unspecified paltry jobs going to anybody until they get full water capacity…
And it sounds like the deal is now bringing down Fletchers profits too and their shareholders some of whom might be Kiwisaver’s, aka the poorest working class people in NZ and of course Fletchers is one of the biggest snowflakes whining they can’t get any staff cheap enough or why should they bother to train anybody or take a long term view on labour and plan for their contracts.
Part of John Key’s questionable legacy?
If we had the proper laws regarding corruption in place I think Key’s ‘legacy’ would have been significantly different.
Some piles of broken rock in a prison yard.
…and his so called “Rockstar Ecoomy” ?
Im just worried that as part of deal Key and Joyce did, that the ratepayers/taxpayers will have to cover some of the shortfall.
The chips may not be down till the place opens and like a magic act the curtain is pulled back to reveal all.
Can we send the corporate snowflakes asking for handouts to the budgeting advice…aka Fletchers and Sky City who can’t seem to budget very well.
http://mangerebudgeting.org.nz
https://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/centres/nz/auckland/auckland/
Then they can queue up and collect their million dollar handouts from WINZ (maybe should be WInzC work, income NZ Corporates) and of course unlike the WINZ loans they don’t have to pay it back when they get on their feet…
Also racist to discriminate so NZ taxpayers via the government should have to give freely to anybody asking for a handout so maybe
WINC (work, income, new Corporates, ) and since they are expecting avalanche of them with our TPPA and our new infrastructure agency, maybe (work, income, new Corporates, welcome in New capitalists)…
WINC WINC
😆
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/opinion-analysis/106472878/equal-pay-starts-with-equal-transparency
Actually not that bad of an idea
One point I’ve come to understand over the years is that it’s impossible to negotiate a ‘market wage’ if you don’t what the market is actually paying and the majority of people actually don’t know, don’t have the connections to find out and don’t know where else to look.
In the seventies everyone discussed each others income freely – or at least they did in my workplaces. Think that changed during the eighties with the onset of neoliberalism & the privacy laws brought in to make it hard for pay info to become public knowledge.
There’s been a corporate strategy of privatisation for much longer, actually. The radical notion that capitalism could flourish by identifying individuals as unique emerged as a re-boot strategy in the aftermath of WWII. It fostered consumerism within the USA in the fifties, then produced individualism as a cultic trend in the sixties, which morphed via hedonism in the seventies into the globalising of neoliberalism in the eighties. All of the above specifically designed to oppose the rampant collectivism of the earlier decades of the 20th century, and the class-consciousness it had produced.
So whereas opposition to privatisation has been primarily based on ideology & economic policy grounds, there’s a deeper cultural trend driving it, of which privacy laws are a symptom – designed to operate like blinkers on a farm-horse, to force everyone into mental silos so common interests can be defeated.
Theres always things people can all agree on
Yeah, like `grass is green’, `the sun rises in the east’. Perhaps a few others… 🙄
…almost feeling sorry for Michael Cheika on Saturday evening….
Philosophy 101 taught me that one can not be certain that grass is green…
…. and bananas change from green to yellow when they ripen.
Ah, but would you be willing to have award rates so that people can go into the negotiations with a good idea as to what the market rate is?
On that point I have to totally agree DtB. It’s become common for employment contracts to actually forbid employees from discussing wages with each other.
For all the Trump fanbois and fangirls that are trying to minimise, deflect and distract by whining about the Dems and Clinton and what else isn’t being covered over in the post specifically about the Cohen and Manafort news, here’s a piece that includes some of the other big news of today in US politics.
https://www.vox.com/2018/8/21/17766146/michael-cohen-guilty-plea-paul-manafort-day-explained
tl;dr
The turd tornado’s very first supporter in the House, Duncan Hunter of San Diego, has just been indicted for misappropriating a quarter-mil in campaign funds, thereby putting a completely safe Repug seat in play.
Don of the Deadbrains’ own administration says their new EPA initiative will cause around 1400 premature deaths every year from pollution.
Yet another of the scaly orange swampking’s odious creatures, Larry Kudlow, has been busted for links to white supremacists.
Must admit when I first saw you use ‘Don of the deadbrains’ the other day, I thought you meant Brash.
I might have. It works just as well. Maybe even better.
R.I.P met him a couple times was a nice enough guy http://mobile.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.php?c_id=1&objectid=12111311
Looking forward to Morrissey’s take on the dreadful Greg Newbold and his grim outbursts on Mora’s Panel.
Even more interesting was Mora’s attempts to stop Joe Bennett ‘s efforts to challenge Newbold’s repulsive views.
I’m on the case, Ed. I heard Newbold—can anyone believe he’s a PROFESSOR?—and was amazed at how incoherent he was. He’s just not up to it.
A transcript will be up tomorrow some time. In the meantime, here’s a snatch of Professor Newbold’s learned conversation….
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Bloody rubbish. Absolute rubbish. Absolute bloody rubbish, the bloody lot. If you strengthen whanau ties with Maori all you’re doing is strengthening gang affiliations.
….Awkward pause….
JIM MORA: You could say the same about Pakeha offenders.
PROFESSOR GREG NEWBOLD: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
JIM MORA: Is there research about interventions?
PROFESSOR [believe it or not] GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There’s Canadian ones….
REBEKAH WHITE: So we haven’t researched Integrated Centre Management in New Zealand?
“PROFESSOR” [allegedly] GREG NEWBOLD: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…..
MORA: [delicately] It is interesting hearing a contrarian voice from outside the Summit, Greg….
I’m not a fan of Newbold, but having never been in jail, much less in maximum security, I have to defer somewhat to his superior knowledge.
When he said ‘build more prisons’ I took that to mean build better prisons….ones less inclined to be the testosterone soak pits described by Bennett.
I’m not a fan of Newbold, but having never been in jail, much less in maximum security, I have to defer somewhat to his superior knowledge.
Did he sound knowledgeable or well read today? Here’s a sample of his “superior knowledge” on display on national radio:
When he said ‘build more prisons’ I took that to mean build better prisons
No, he meant what he said: “Build more prisons.” He supported National’s cruel and insane idea to build that mega-prison in Te Awamutu.
Life in the moral quagmire: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/cartoons/2018/08/13/gary_varvel_gary_varvel_for_aug_13_2018.html
Good morning Newshub I keep a sharp eye on all my offspring for signs of depression
Mike I all ways talk to them and support them with love and care.
I bet that’s people are trying to blame Eco Maori for all the emotion’s being release at the Justice reforming summit you should have seen it coming Blame me for a unjust system that you and your tipuna imposed on us for 200 year’s .
What I will say to te emotional tangata whenua is don’t rock the government’s Waka to much because the main cause of the prison population increase was national if you throw to much emotions around national will use it as a weapon to try and sink the Labour Waka so be cool we don’t need a repeat of 2008 and the last 9 year’s of money transference to the wealthy.
Phil Colins Mama is awsome song his music is cool Musician Sports people and all the people who make our films doco ex these people are the people who change the Papatuanuku culture to a less divided world do not accept raciest unhumane people views and back equality.
Ka kite ano Try losing your mother at 9
https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/combat-sports/106507115/joseph-parkers-fight-against-anthony-joshua-reportedly-sold-1475m-ppvs-in-uk
Good evening Newshub There are a lot of ruff tangaroa in Australia and a storm going down in America this is the problem with the democratic systems both country’s and NZ go so far with policy’s to mitigate climate change they get voted out and the neo liberals capitalist throw those policy’s out there cots and start to burn OUR environment
we will never beat climate change unless all the left voters stand up and keep the neo capitalist out of power.
The air traffic control tower in Wellington will become a land mark for Wellington and Aotearoa Its a awsome building .
The new Britsh weather satellite is a tool that will help forecast the weather more accurately ka pai .
Ka kite ano P.S the sandflys are still swarming I ignore them they are nothing compared to Eco Maori
The Crowd Goes Wild Mulls and Makere thats cool that the Black Ferns will play the opening game for the All Blacks test thats good for wahine mana .
I see te Ngati pakeha maori is out is he interviewing people in his jandles lol
Ka kite ano P.S I’m quite good at applying te rubber —- on some people