Cowardly Museum management kissing up to a homophobic and misogynistic ideology. It could have supported science and tolerance.
"The spectre of J.K. Rowling’s belief in biological sex, her defence of gay people and her concern for women’s rights may indeed make a handful of employees at Auckland Museum feel uncomfortable and unsafe. They’ve been well-trained. The common rhetoric within trans activism is that to mention the facts of biological sex is hate speech and causes literal harm to vulnerable transgender people. It’s an inherently fragile and precarious position to decide your own safety is determined by everyone in society adopting your world view. It also reeks of authoritarianism.
Auckland Museum is not some quaint faith-based private venture. It’s a rate-payer funded public institution with a natural history department and it has cancelled an exhibition because of its links to someone who believes in biological sex. What’s next? If the Auckland Museum wants to run an exhibition on the wonders of evolution will they withdraw because fundamentalist creationist Christians declare they are “deeply uncomfortable”? Will an exhibition that focuses on astronomy not astrology be cancelled when they receive hand-wringing emails from staff members who strongly identify as Sagittarius or Gemini and lament the deterioration of their safe space."
They probably should focus on dinosaur exhibitions, Egyptphemera, and curating their exhibitions and ensure there is still a museum to interpret contentious current events in a century from now.
The question is are they able to make decisions independent of the pressures of gender identity activists.
I haven't read the Spinoff piece so don't know in this situation, but we know that there is significant coercion from gender identity activists in NZ and abroad. People lose their jobs and careers over this. Does the threat of career loss count as force?
Did you read the subbstack article? I thought Garwhoungle explained clearly what the issues are with the museum's role and the decision they made.
"The question is are they able to make decisions independent of the pressures of gender identity activists. "
The question is are they able to make decisions independent of the pressures of any activists? For example, those who hold strong views about Te Tiriti o Waitangi?
Translations leave more than enough room for plenty of mistakes .Maori only had the Maori version to sign most Maori could not read or write as they relied in verbal history repeated through constant repetition .But Northern Maori had built the first schools and understood English probably better than most of the early settlers 'sailors and soldiers. They were not happy with the treaty. Since the treaty Maori have been gaslighted and bullied dehumanizing to make it easy to keep Maori on the bottom of the heap so Maori have no power keeping Maori impoverished destroying Maori culture by the imperialist vultures who have taken everything leaving Maori with intergenerational poverty.While the imperialists have had intergenerational wealth.Transactions between Maori and European started off as good but when phase 2 of colonization takes place European settlers defrauded Maori out of vast tracks of land knowing full and well how valuable that land was.Insider trading that would be called today.Maori didn't have independent legal advise on any land transaction until the 1880's only because religious leaders stepped in because they could see Maori were being fleeced another crime.
And some might object to a revised presentation – because it doesn't fit with their understanding of the topic. There are different understandings of the Treaty – much though the radical left might decry them.
Someone can always object to something about an exhibition. Especially when they are designed to provoke interest, discussion and challenge perceptions.
I read it. It describes the " museum’s" decision to support staff who felt the exhibition would make them feel unsafe. That seems reasonable, supporting your staff that way.
“In which Auckland Museum cancels a natural history exhibition because of associations with the author of Harry Potter.”
In which Auckland Museum cancels a natural history exhibition because of concerns of staff.
if it's reasonable to base curation policy on staff needs to feel safe, does that apply to religious staff who are upset about some of the science in the museum?
How about women staff who feel unsafe with an exhibition based on the art of the misogynistic Picasso?
It would be up to "the museum" to decide in those instances, wouldn't it, as they did with this issue. Perhaps if staff felt a Picasso exhibition would make them feel unsafe, the museum would make the same decision. It's up to them, I suppose.
Gosh. So if there is a staff member who is 'uncomfortable' with a display on the Treaty – it should immediately be cancelled?
How about climate change? – there's certainly a lot of controversy about that one – and many different perspectives are likely to be held within an organization. No displays on that topic, either.
I doubt there would be a single painting in the Auckland art gallery which *isn't* open to controversy of one kind or another. Should we shut down all of those exhibitions, then.
They, I presume, know more about it than we do, given it's their bread and butter and they know the ins and outs, the behind the scenes details, better than us.
Great. I look forward to your unequivocal support when any Museum, gallery or other space decides to cancel something you care about. After all, it will be a decision that they make "knowing more about it than we do"
Personally, as a ratepayer in Auckland, I do feel that I have a mandate to criticise what I see as poor-quality decision-making, unduly influenced by a loud minority of staff.
UK Studio Tour’s success demonstrates the Money Magic of Harry Potter [7 Nov 2023]
Looming large over the future of Fantastic Beasts, and Harry Potter itself, is J.K. Rowling. The author has become a divisive figure among some fans amid accusations of transphobia because she has argued against "erasing the concept of sex" when discussing gender issues.
This particular facet of 'trans' makes for some strange bedfellows.
A little humility goes a long way, imho, regardless of where you (assert you) are on the sociopolitical spectrum, and whatever unequivocal Bs you might have in your bonnet.
Climate Change is Climate Change. There is only one perspective. It exists and its going to get worse. A person can choose to accept the overwhelming scientific evidence or they can be wilful and stupid and claim it either doesn't exist or not caused by human behaviour. They are categorically wrong so their so-called perspective is null and void.
It would be up to "the museum" to decide in those instances, wouldn't it, as they did with this issue. Perhaps if staff felt a Picasso exhibition would make them feel unsafe, the museum would make the same decision. It's up to them, I suppose.
Obviously the museum is trusted with making decisions, so yes, it is up to them. But it's not a free for all. So would you mind explaining why you think that political safety of this kind should be the deciding factor?
I don't know what all of the factors behind the museum's decision were (though I did read the long Spinoff article when it was first suggested here). It seems that commenters here are objecting to the museums decision to can the exhibition for personal political and ideological reasons, where I am arguing that it's up to the museum – my position on the rights or wrongs of Harry Potter, the beasts he finds himself amongst, JK Rowling, activists, etc. have no place in my argument.
Up to a point. As a former metropolitan museum employee you will no doubt be aware of the constant internal dialogue around public space and serving stakeholders. I'm not really a fan of museums making hard and fast decisions around who is and isn't a stakeholder in this way. The exhibition has no political bias in it, and is not spreading factual untruths, so this is basically a political move, and it's a very dangerous thing when museums start making political moves.
I think they made a decision based on various factors; staff concerns, visitor comfort etc. and can be perceived as having a political aspect, depending upon one's politics.
All exhibitions can be perceived as having political bias.
Edit: “and is not spreading factual untruths” – it features un-true, invented creatures, does it not? Just wondering…
So the 'concerns of staff' trump the actual mission of the Museum?
What a load of cobblers.
There have been many occasions when staff in a public information role (libraries, museums, etc) are working in a space where they may not personally agree with a particular display, presentation or event.
As an information professional – you suck it up, and get on with the job.
If you have ongoing concerns about a conflict between the mission of the organization and your personal ethics – you look for another job.
You don't impose your personal ethical beliefs on the organization.
Is the requirement to ensure perfect 'staff safety' greater than their requirement to deliver information? Surely not.
Especially in the situation where 'staff safety' is only compromised by being confronted by a world-view which is different to their own. [We're not talking about them abseiling down from the rooftops, here]
This is Ethics 101 in any information science qualification. Any information professional who is unable to separate their personal identity/ethics from those of the organization they work for – is in the wrong job.
Auckland Museum will now have to figure out a way to cover any resulting holes in their budget. I do not think the Auckland Council (the funding body) will be very sympathetic to requests for additional funding – when the Museum has turned down an opportunity for what would be a highly lucrative touring exhibition. Especially in a cost-cutting environment
"The decision was ultimately based on the views of a small group of staff members who declared they were “deeply uncomfortable” with the exhibition because of the associations with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. "
A small group of staff being 'deeply uncomfortable' is hardly a reason to cancel the event.
The museum thought otherwise. Being on the spot and in full receipt of the details as I suppose they were, I guess we should credit them with the responsibility to decide fairly.
I am not so generous, Robert. I tend to agree with the author of the linked article:
"The spectre of J.K. Rowling’s belief in biological sex, her defence of gay people and her concern for women’s rights may indeed make a handful of employees at Auckland Museum feel uncomfortable and unsafe. They’ve been well-trained. The common rhetoric within trans activism is that to mention the facts of biological sex is hate speech and causes literal harm to vulnerable transgender people. It’s an inherently fragile and precarious position to decide your own safety is determined by everyone in society adopting your world view. It also reeks of authoritarianism."
Are you saying that the museum's duty is first to avoid discomfort of a very small minority of staff members before addressing the benefit of the public ?
Is that what museums are for in this new age where biological sex can be "changed" at will
"Are you saying that the museum's duty is first to avoid discomfort of a very small minority of staff members before addressing the benefit of the public ?"
No. I'm saying that the details of why the museum chose to do what they chose to do is known best to them; speculation is fun, but faulted.
"Is that what museums are for in this new age where biological sex can be "changed" at will"
I don't understand that sentence at all, sorry.
I've planted gobo and toona so far. Casana and Japanese aralia next!
The many fraught emails that went to and from between museum officials laid out their fears of public backlash
As to the second paragraph you say you don't understand
maybe I can rephrase
We live in a post modern age where words can stand in place of physical realities.
For instance "someone born male can be a woman just by declaring it"
My long experience with the natural world does not reflect this
My long experience with humans divorced from the natural world and increasingly engaged with an unreal cyber world. is not hugely surprised but somewhat dismayed by that kind of thinking
Fear of public back-lash is a reasonable consideration for the museum to entertain. It would be unreasonable to expect them not to take it into account.
As to the second…
Your example, "someone born…" doesn't interest me much and isn't part of my thinking about why a museum might reject an exhibition.
Your comment, "My long experience…" could apply to people holding the opposite view to yours, I imagine.
I happen to strongly agree with you regarding the value of connection with, and especially close observation of, the "natural world", but I'm not sure about the perils of "engaging with an unreal cyber world.", as we are doing here. I like pushing the envelope through reading/watching material from the cyber world, safe-ish in the knowledge and confidence that I have gleaned from my time spent watching seeds sprout, fish feed, clouds roil and birds warble. The question of "what is natural" must surely be the topic a discussion somewhere and would no doubt be convoluted and heated 🙂
We live in a post modern age where words can stand in place of physical realities.
For instance "someone born male can be a woman just by declaring it"
Who said that, and is the belief reality-based, i.e. the "someone born male can be a woman" bit, and/or the "just by declaring it" bit?
Imho, "someone born male" can be feminine, but not female, and there’s an application process (forms/fees) to change one's 'sex-marker' and/or ‘gender’.
I acknowledge the flood of problems in the 6 months since a new self-ID process replaced the Family Court process. Maybe our new govt will address 'the issue' in due course – could be right up their alley.
It's interesting that the new hydra headed confabulation is doing nothing about self ID. I guess that is because National and ACT supported it and NZ First did not make doing anything about that an important coalition condition.
Nothing so far about “sex based identity facilities in public buildings” from the coalition either.
Ideally, people should be free (and supported) to be themselves, as long as they're not not harming others, and shouldn't feel sad about who they (feel they) are. But feeling sad is part of the human condition.
A pair of Hop-a-long boots and a pistol that shoots
Is the wish of Barney and Ben
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the hope of Janice and Jen
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again
How could staff at a museum possibility feel unsafe due to an exhibition?
Being exposed to art, literature, or any other type of display at a museum or art gallery can in no way cause harm to employees.
However I do understand that some individuals may become upset when exposed to ideas that do not conform to their world view. In this instance, it is not a safety issue. To suggest it is makes a mockery of "health and safety" in the workplace. Just ask any builder, construction worker or engineer who actually works in a hazardous environment.
One would expect that employees who work in a museum, art gallery, library, or any place that may have displays, or exhibitions which can be challenging etc, would be resilient enough the cope without "feeling unsafe". It's part of the job.
"How could staff at a museum possibility feel unsafe due to an exhibition?"
I guess you'd have to ask them, or the managers they approached with their concerns.
"Being exposed to art, literature, or any other type of display at a museum or art gallery can in no way cause harm to employees."
So, anything goes, so long as it's art, no matter who works there? I can think of plenty of themes that would traumatise some people, especially those who carry trauma from experience – no thought to be given to their wellbeing, do ya reckon?
We tough-as blog-commenters should just tell those softies to harden-up!
It is inconceivable that someone who’s career is working in museums or art galleries would be, or would feel unsafe from an exhibition.
They might feel uncomfortable with an exhibition, but that’s why they do the job.
Unless of course they have some ideological reason to shut something down. This would go against any museum or art gallery’s core reason for existing. Therefore again, the type of person who would feel unsafe with an exhibit in a museum or art gallery, would not pursue a career in a museum or art gallery
"the type of person who would feel unsafe with an exhibit in a museum or art gallery, would not pursue a career in a museum or art gallery"
Art galleries attract sensitive people, you must be able to see that. Often, those people have liberal, across the spectrum world-views, with regards politics, gender, how they dress, what they watch and listen to. Naturally, they can be "tender" when it comes to some issues.
I think some folk here are irritated because some people of the sort I've described, succeeded in an action they took, based upon their ideology. They managed to "defeat someone" who is admired by some folk here and they find that annoying. Is that the case with you, Terry?
It seems rather odd to characterize J K Rowling, or anyone for that matter, as someone who "believes in" biological sex. Surely if no-one "believed in" biological sex the human race would come to an end.
there are people who believe that sex isn't binary and that people can literally change biological sex.
When GC people say they believe in biology, what is meant is that they adhere to the science that has demonstrated that humans reproduce by two sexes (only), and that these sexes cannot be changed.
So, yes, not believing in sex is a nonsense, but where we are.
Staff feelings – Why are staff at TVNZ able to cope with Harry Potter films being shown? Or those of news media with reports mentioning JKR by name?
Or is it staff or building safety – protests and graffiti? If so, the protestors veto.
The censorship issue
The exhibit harms no one, but the precedent of suppressing creative work does.
The idea that a group of people is harmed, if someone is not blacklisted/boycotted because of their opinions is frankly a McCarthyist reprise.
On the merits, the censorship of someones works based on disapproval of their political position on a matter unrelated to the work is wrong. And the case for censorship of someones works because of disapproval of the political content ranges from somewhat credible to negligible.
My personal feeling is that while J K Rowling has become quite loathsome with her doubling down on being all chummy with outright fascists on social media, banning a harmless exhibition is the worst kind of superficial virtue signaling.
It's an interesting position to be in – JK Rowling's on this issue. I have no problem with women's safety advocacy.
However people like Angela Dworkin, not a tame feminist, was very wary of feminists working with the conservative political right. As some like Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshall do.
What happens, when two sides entrench themselves in positions for a long cold war, is that their own idealism is compromised in the struggle – they develop a gang mentality. And so they support others on their side and get tarnished by association.
A local example, in 1983, Douglas posed New Zealand adopting market economics and becoming a free trade based economy and got acceptance from Lange as his Finance Minister. He got support from the political right for this and became an applause junkie going further and further to the right to get his fix.To the point Lange lost confidence in him.
That JK Rowling gets support from the right is unsurprising and not her fault – she does not support the political right because of this. But she is being dragged into mutual support with others who call for the annihilation of the feminist "gender" tolerant left. When she would probably see herself as feminist and supportive of the political left. The hard-liners of the cause are prepared to use the political right as partners, but I suspect that Dworkin will be proven right about that tactic being a dangerous one (Dworkin was opposed to prostitution and pornography, just like K-J K-M by the way).
It's very much her fault if she's going to align herself with people like Matt Walsh and Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshall, liking their posts, promoting their work.
https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1546141988139016194?s=20
This tweet provoked rather a lot of consternation on those grounds. Some might say that when one is a very public figure, one should take the time to know who one is platforming.
but I reserve my ire for them rather than shouting 'coward' at individual women.
Sure she did agree with criticism he made about some women's groups. That is because many embraced the "gender" cause, as one of progressive solidarity with others.
In that tweet, JKR is telling Walsh to shut the fuck up. A very large follower account telling someone to shut the fuck up isn't platforming them. She's using her power to push back at Walsh blaming feminists for gender identity ideology and there are solid reasons to do so. She's also running interference for other feminists, again a good use of her power. And, she’s making a strong political point about the nature of violent misogyny directed at women who speak up about GC issues, something that the left used to help women with once upon a time.
Implying she didn't know who Walsh is is an example of what I've been talking about. People in this debate who are generally clueless about large aspects of what is going on because they bought into the TRA/liberal PR that there are only two sides: virtuous pro-trans people and evil anti-trans right wingers. JKR is neither of those. And of course she knew who Walsh is.
What was going on in that tweet is that Walsh was a late comer to the gender/sex wars, and because he's an ultra conservative, misogynistic, women in the kitchen, dickhead, who happens to be very good at what he does with social media, he colonised the GC movement, and now blames women for whatever he can. As part of his conservative agenda.
Walsh laying down blame, feminists responding and setting the record straight, is an ongoing feature of the war. Which you would know if you actually listened to what GCFs are saying.
Feminists have been debating about how to use material from Walsh for ages. In this case, that wasn't even what was happening, JKR was simply calling out his lies.
And your film did a good job exposing the incoherence of gender identity theory and some of the harms it's done. Many institutions I used to admire have uncritically embraced this dogma, but I reserve my ire for them rather than shouting 'coward' at individual women.
1. She expresses her opinion about his film (one I share, he did do a good job of exposing the incoherence of GI and its harms).
2. she reiterates her point that it's not women that are to blame for the rise of GI.
That's a large follower feminist account, speaking publicly to a large follower ultra conservative account, so that people can see the counter argument.
I can't speak to her motivations, but having watched her strategy for a number of years, she is smart. How I read this is that it's better here with Walsh to engage in an evenhanded way than go all angry feminist on him.
She doesn't give a shit about liberal brownie points, this is another thing the left is missing. There's a liberation that comes for women when they stop caring about losing favour. Once it goes past a certain point, those feminists are much freer to work in more effective ways.
Exhibitions are not automatically selected by museums; a board most likely, will assess and decide. They have discretion to do as they please, mostly. Internal issues can have some influence over final decisions. In this instance, they (probably) did.
TVNZ staff won't have to experience the (ephemeral) films over a long period of time; they may choose not to watch them. Museum staff are more likely to be personally exposed to a prolonged, high-profile exhibition. The situations are not equivalent.
“We’re in this process of dreaming a farm back into being in the hinterlands of the ruined provincial capital in our remote corner of the crumbling empire.”
“There are no profane places, only sacred and desecrated places. And I wonder what it will take and what it could mean to restore, to reconsecrate, this place?”
As I've noted many times the travesty of not implementing WEAG when there was a collective expert, policy, community and public support was abysmal. Helen Clark blew the opportunity to help the most vulnerable by only helping those on NZS and so did Jacinda by failing to follow through.
Still Labour are the original architects in NZ of this neo-liberal shit-storm so we should not be surprised.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Democracy…..ok…. lets see how Winston who is pro rail and the other two heads, who are pro trucking in the monster that is the current govt, avoid going off the rails…
Further investigate the re-opening of the Wairoa to Gisborne rail line
Build the Marsden spur linking Northport to the Northland rail-line
Complete a full rebuild and improvements to the Christchurch-Picton rail corridor
I see a very strained relationship developing…….
And…….Josie Pagani now cheerleader for the trucking industry……..
"Instead of spending billions on new ferries capable of carrying trains, stick with moving freight by truck, and put the money towards other priorities………. argues Josie Pagani.
Trains boats and planes. I recall an airport being an issue in 1998.
I have seen many defences for having ferries with trains on them. It is a good idea if money is no object. The ferries earn revenue of $150 million a year. It would take 20 years for revenue to cover the $3 billion cost of the upgrade. At a profit of around $15m a year, it would take 200 years.
Shift freight by trucks. The $3b saved could then be spent on other Christmas goodies, like crumbling roads and hospitals.
New roads are not fixes to existing ones crumbling because of trucks. The new roads do not last 50 years like the Kiwi Rail plan infrastructure does. New roads do not reduce carbon use.
Well dear moderator I beg to differ…it was on topic and far from irrelevant…..perhaps you should look at the words and the context in relation to quote: "The coalition government has hijacked the democratic process for its own partisan and nefarious agenda….."
On balance, I felt, as the Author, that the comment was more suited for OM and the reply comment by SPC confirmed this (this had already been submitted when I moved the whole thread). It had nothing to do with JP
Nicola Willy latest gaffe says its the size of the sausage not what you do with it was she replying to Hipkins gaffe or gushing over her sausage shaped leader
The PA and the political wing of Hamas are in talks about Hamas coming under the PLO umbrella and the return of the PA to Gaza.
This is opposed by the military wing of Hamas.
So when Hamas says no more release of hostages until the IDF action ends (withdrawal from Gaza) this has two related meanings.
The military wing of Hamas does not have all the hostages and those groups that have some are not part of the future of the planned Gaza.
The defeat of the military wing of Hamas is required before Israel would accept the PA back in Gaza.
Essentially for this to occur Israel has to defeat the military wing of Hamas in the south as well, as in the north, or for someone to take the military forces in Gaza (an escape route).
The cynic would suggest a ship takes them to Libya. So they can form a new refugee camp, or get hired into team Russia or team Turkey in their civil war.
Meanwhile in white race nation news, revivalism has arrived down under.
The defeat of One Voice in Oz and indigenous peoples rights in New Zealand (except for Tuhoe nation and maybe Waipounamu, where Nga Tahu co-govern with Queenstown and farmers).
The symbolism of the bonfire is well known at Ephesus and the USA – Indians and New World settlers burnt to the ground each others settlements. And later in the American south after the end of slavery.
The Government is seeking independent advice on KiwiRail's inter-island ferry service, after refusing to commit another $1.47 billion to replace three of its ageing ferries.
It has announced setting up an expert advisory group to provide independent assurance on how to proceed with the ferry service.
The Ministry of Transport, supported by Treasury, is also being tasked with assessing the long-term requirements for a resilient connection across Cook Strait.
In a statement, Finance Minister Nicola Willis and State-Owned Enterprises Minister Paul Goldsmith said the group's membership would be finalised in the New Year, after the plug was pulled on an earlier project to build two large new ferries and associated port infrastructure.
"The group will help to ensure that there are robust plans in place to support safe, resilient and reliable services in the coming years. The establishment of the group also recognises that the Crown has interests that may be wider than KiwiRail's commercial interests, Willis said.
"We share a determination to ensure ongoing reliable ferry services and will be engaging with them as we develop a solution that works better for all those with an interest in the inter-island ferry service.
She means the trucking industry influence within the National Party.
Goldsmith said the Government needed to ensure any replacement of the ferries was affordable, "at a time when there are many pressures on government spending".
So even if there is a wider New Zealand interest in the capacity to move rail goods over the Cook Straight, the government will say they will not deliver – unless there is some external capital source providing a partner to Kiwi Rail in the InterIslander service or the whole business.
The two new ferries would have doubled the passenger and vehicle capacity, and tripled rail capacity, while reducing the service's carbon footprint by about 40% in the short term.
So if New Zealand's overall interest is placed first – it's all in favour of Kiwi Rail's plan, improved speed of goods movement, allows for increased volume and reduces the carbon footprint.
It's going to be interesting to add up what's been spent already on the cancelled ferries, what it'll cost to bracket the existing contracts , what the review costs and what willis' plan b costs , bet it'll be close to labours plan with a crappy outcome.
The land of excuses. You cannot give foreign aid because there is poverty at home. Poverty at home, is no excuse not to give the hard working middle class a tax cut, end the bright-line test on investors, or allow debt cost to reduce tax on rent income. And here is a new one …
Magical Christmas thinking about avoiding choices was on full display in this week's news about the Interislander ferries
I have seen many defences for having ferries with trains on them. It is a good idea if money is no object. The ferries earn revenue of $150 million a year. It would take 20 years for revenue to cover the $3 billion cost of the upgrade. At a profit of around $15m a year, it would take 200 years.
Shift freight by trucks. The $3b saved could then be spent on other Christmas goodies, like crumbling roads and hospitals.
New roads are not fixes to existing ones crumbling because of trucks. The new roads do not last 50 years like the Kiwi Rail plan infrastructure does. New roads do not reduce carbon use.
Three strikes and you’re out. This simplistic rule is heavily promoted by ACT and made it into the coalition agreement under the header “Restoring Law and Order and Personal Responsibility” yet, ironically, ACT doesn’t abide by it. (NB the National-Act Agreement shows ACT’s pathological obsession with anything ‘regulation’)
As before, ACT’s renewed attempt at “meta-regulation” comes under heavy criticism from Jane Kelsey.
At @NewsroomNZ, I've obtained a letter from Local Govt Minister Simeon Brown, telling councils he’ll relax consultation/audit requirements so they can lock in their rates plans. Some propose rates hikes as high as 33% because of the Three Waters repeal.
So, here's something that perhaps sums up and perhaps explains why Labour lost.
A govt dept (customs) was furnished with plug in hybrids to replace older vehicles early in the year as part of emmisions reductions. So far so good right… excepting that no charging infrastructure in the building the vehicles are parked was provided so 9 months later and 40k on the odometer the charging cables are still in the packaging and they've been running on petrol the whole time.
Very depressing.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
"Martin Foo, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings, say the extension of the statutory deadline should provide welcome breathing space for councils that need to go back to the drawing board now that the incoming government has confirmed the repeal of water services legislation.
On whether the new “financially separate council-owned organisation” would be considered by lenders to be distinct from its council owners, he says the devil is in the detail.
The rating agency would need to assess whether financial separation is genuinely achieved, not just in an accounting sense but from a credit rating angle too. Foo says there’s still something of a disconnect between the letter’s idea of “local decision-making” and financial separation. “It is not easy to disentangle political control from financial control.”
It is worth noting that the recently announced rates increases were made on the basis of no provision of water, waste water and stormwater services by councils…..they were to be charged separately.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
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Precious declaration saysYours is yours and mine you leave alone nowPrecious declaration saysI believe all hope is dead no longerTick tick tick Boom!Unexploded ordnance. A veritable minefield. A National caucus with a large number of unknowns, candidates who perhaps received little in the way of vetting as the party jumped ...
Rex Ahdar writes – The Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, likes to trace his political lineage back to the pioneers of parliamentary Maoridom. I will refer to these as the ‘big four’ or better still, the Four Knights. Just as ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Willie Jackson will participate in the prestigious Oxford Union debate on Thursday, following in David Lange’s footsteps. Coincidentally, Jackson has also followed Lange’s footsteps by living in his old home in South Auckland. And like Lange, Jackson might be the sort of loud-mouth scrapper ...
That is the only way to describe an MP "forgetting" to declare $178,000 in donations. The amount of money involved - more than five times the candidate spending cap, and two and a half times the median income - is boggling. How do you just "forget" that amount of money? ...
In this week’s “A View from Afar” podcast Selwyn Manning and spoke about the upcoming US elections and what the possibility of another Trump presidency means for the US role in world affairs. We also spoke about the problems Joe … Continue reading → ...
Hi,Two years ago I briefly featured in Justin Pemberton’s Web of Chaos documentary, which touched on things like QAnon during the pandemic.I mostly prattled on about how intertwined conspiracy narratives are with Evangelical Christian thinking, something Webworm’s explored in the past.(The doc is available on TVNZ+, if you’re not in ...
The Government is leaving the entire construction sector and the community housing sector in limbo. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government released the long-awaited Bill English-led review of Kāinga Ora yesterday, but delayed key decisions on its build plan and how to help community housing providers (CHPs) build ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daisy Simmons Farmers who can’t sleep, worrying they’ll lose everything amid increasing drought. Youth struggling with depression over a future that feels hopeless. Indigenous people grief-stricken over devastated ecosystems. For all these people and more, climate change is taking a clear toll ...
New Zealand’s relationship with China is becoming harder to define, and with that comes a worry that a deteriorating political relationship could spill over into the economic relationship. It is about more than whether New Zealand will join Pillar Two of Aukus, though the Chinese Ambassador, more or less, suggested ...
Been hoping we would see something like this from Sir Geoffrey Palmer. This is excellent.The present Bill goes further than the National Development Act 1979 in stripping away procedures designed to ensure that environmental issues are properly considered. The 1979 approach was not acceptable then and this present approach is ...
He’s Got The Moxie: Only Willie Jackson possesses the credentials to meld together a new Labour message that is, at one and the same moment, staunchly working-class, union-friendly, and which speaks to the hundreds-of-thousands of urban Māori untethered to the neo-tribal capitalist elites of the Iwi Leaders Forum.IT’S ONE OF THE ...
Tree-huggers may well accuse the Government of giving them the fingers, after Energy Minister Simeon Brown announced new measures to protect powerlines from trees, rather than measures to protect trees from powerlines. It can be no coincidence, surely, that this has been announced at the same as Fisheries Minister Shane Jones ...
Willie Jackson will participate in the prestigious Oxford Union debate on Thursday, following in David Lange’s footsteps. Coincidentally, Jackson has also followed Lange’s footsteps by living in his old home in South Auckland. And like Lange, Jackson might be the sort of loud-mouth scrapper who could take over the Labour ...
Barrister Gary Judd KC’s complaint to the Regulatory Review Committee has sparked a fierce debate about the place of tikanga Māori – or Māori customs, values and spiritual beliefs – in the law.Judd opposes the New Zealand Council of Legal Education’s plans to make teaching tikanga compulsory in the legal curriculum.AUT ...
Alwyn Poole writes – In New Zealand we have approximately 460 high schools. The gaps between the schools that produce the best results for students and those at the other end of the spectrum are enormous.In terms of the data for their leavers, the top 30 schools have ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand First Cabinet Minister Shane Jones has become the best advertisement against the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill. In selling the radical new resource consenting processes, in which ministers can green light any mine, dam, or other major development, Jones seems to be ...
Brian Eastonwrites – The Fast-Track Approvals Bill enables cabinet ministers to circumvent key environmental planning and protection processes for infrastructure projects. Its difficulties have been well canvassed. This column suggests a different way of thinking about the proposal. I am ...
The split opening up in Israel’s “War Cabinet” is not just between PM Benjamin Netanyahu and his long-term rival Benny Gantz. It is actually a three-way split, set in motion by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. It was Gallant’s open criticism of Netanyahu that finally flushed Gantz out into the open. ...
On Thursday 17 May, the Mayoral Proposal for Auckland’s Long Term Plan 2024-2034 was passed by Auckland Council, 20 to 1. It is set to be formally adopted by the Governing Body at its June 27th meeting. The entire process took 8 hours, with the vast majority of that time ...
Pakanga o muaTukua, ka ngaroPuritia taku ringaNgaro ana te ara ki pae rauThere's a battle aheadMany battles are lostBut you'll never see the end of the roadWhile you're travelling with meLate yesterday morning I headed to Wynyard Quarter to see Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick give their pre-budget State of ...
Maybe the Prime Minister and his Finance Minister expected the worst, so they mounted a stout defence of the Budget tax cuts to their party faithful at a party conference over the weekend. In turn, they were greeted with applause, which, though it may have been less than wildly enthusiastic, ...
A listing of 34 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, May 12, 2024 thru Sat, May 18, 2024. Story of the week “The legislation I signed today [will] keep windmills off our beaches, gas in our tanks, and ...
TL;DR: Here’s six links that stood out to me in the last day in Aotearoa’s political economy to 6:06am on Sunday, May 19:Aotearoa-NZ is the seventh worst in the OECD’s homelessness rankings, just behind the United States and just ahead of Australia. BlackRock thinks rate hikes actually worsen inflation because ...
Halfway up a historic tower in York, we are neither up nor down. At the top you will have views of a city steeped in antiquity, made and remade by Romans, Normans, Vikings, Tescos. Below, you will find a retired minister happy to tell you all about this most astonishing ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does breathing contribute to CO2 ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: KiwiRail’s seemingly endless requests for more money is damning. At one point, KiwiRail assured Robertson when he was the Finance Minister that the worst-case scenario would be an extra $300 million before requesting $1.2 billion a few months later. Not what most people ...
No one knows what it's likeTo be the bad manTo be the sad manBehind blue eyesNo one knows what it's likeTo be hatedTo be fatedTo telling only liesHave you ever wondered what life must be like for Mike Hosking? Seeing things in black and white through blue tinted specs? In ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on the past two week’s editions.Share More Than A FeildingBike bling, London Read more ...
Hi,I think we all made it through another week — congratulations. I’ve been digesting the new Arab Strap record, which is astonishing. In other news, I’m going to be doing a Webworm popup in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday July 13. I’ll bring a bunch of merch, and some other ...
The Fast-Track Approvals Bill enables cabinet ministers to circumvent key environmental planning and protection processes for infrastructure projects. Its difficulties have been well canvassed. This column suggests a different way of thinking about the proposal. I am going to explore the Bill from the perspective of its proponents with their ...
New Zealand First Cabinet Minister Shane Jones has become the best advertisement against the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill. In selling the radical new resource consenting processes, in which ministers can green light any mine, dam, or other major development, Jones seems to be shooting the proposal in the foot. ...
Buzz from the Beehive Associate Education Minister David Seymour is urging the PostPrimary Teachers Association to put learning ahead of ideology. He wants the union leaders to call off their teachers meetings around the country where they hope to muster the strength to undo the government’s plans to establish several ...
What are police for? "Fighting crime" is the obvious answer. If there's a burglary, they should show up and investigate. Ditto if there's a murder or sexual assault. Speeding or drunk or dangerous driving is a crime, so obviously they should respond to that. And obviously, they should respond to ...
Michael Reddell writes – I got curious yesterday about how the Australia/New Zealand real exchange rate had changed over the last decade, and so dug out the data on the changes in the two countries’ CPIs. Over the 10 years from March 2014 to March 2024, New Zealand’s ...
Graham Adams writes that 20 years after the land march, judges are quietly awarding a swathe of coastal rights to iwi. Early this month, an hour-long documentary was released by TVNZ to mark the 20th anniversary of the land-rights march to oppose Helen Clark’s Foreshore and Seabed Act. The account ...
David Farrar writes – The Herald reports: Suspended Green MP Darleen Tana has passed an unpleasant milestone: she has now been absent for as many parliamentary sitting days as she has been present for this year. Tana is on full pay while she is suspended, and will benefit from a ...
Peter Dunne writes – It is no coincidence that two Labour should-have-been MPs are making the most noise about public sector cuts. As assistant general secretary of the Public Service Association, Fleur Fitzsimons has been at the forefront of revealing where the next round of state sector job ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a ...
This is one of the (extra) weekly columns on music or movies. Plenty of solid analyses of Possession exist online and most of them – inevitably – contain spoilers. This column is more in the way of a first-timer’s aid to getting your initial bearings. You don’t need to have ...
I am painting in oil, a portrait of a manWho has taken all the heart aches,And all the pain he can stand.I am using all the colors of blue,I have here on my stand.I am painting in oil, a portrait of a man.This has been an interesting week for me. ...
Helen Clark joins the Hoon as a special guest talking whether Aotearoa should join Aukus II, and her views on the fast track legislation and how Luxon and the new Government are performing. File Photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for subscribers features co-hosts ...
With an election due in less than nine months, Britain’s embattled PM, Rishi Sunak, gave a useful speech earlier this week. He made a substantial case for his government, perhaps as compelling as is possible in the current environment. Quite an achievement. His overall theme was security, first pulling ...
Open access notablesPublicly expressed climate scepticism is greatest in regions with high CO2 emissions, Pearson et al., Climatic Change:We analysed a recently released corpus of climate-related tweets to examine the macro-level factors associated with public declarations of climate change scepticism. Analyses of over 2 million geo-located tweets in the U.S. showed that climate ...
You can be all negative about these charter schools if you want, but I’m here to accentuate the positive. You can get all worked up, if you want to, by the contradiction of Luxon saying We’re going to make sure that every school in the country is teaching exactly the same ...
Losing The Room: One can only speculate about what has persuaded the Coalition Government that it will pay no electoral price for unreasonably pushing ahead with policies that are so clearly against the national interest. They seem quite oblivious to the risk that by doing so they will convince an increasing ...
Name suppression decisions can be tough sometimes. No matter your views on free speech, you have to be hard-hearted not to be torn by the tug of the competing arguments. I think you can feel the Supreme Court wrestling with that in M v The King. The case for ...
The Merchants of Menace: The Coalition Government has convinced itself that the “Brahmins’” emollient functions have become much too irksome and expensive. Those who see themselves as the best hope of rebuilding New Zealand’s ailing capitalist system, appear to have convinced themselves that a little bit of blunt trauma is what their mollycoddled ...
When National first proposed its Muldoonist "fast-track" law, they were warned that it would inevitably lead to corruption. And that is exactly what has happened, with Resources Minister Shane Jones taking secret meetings with potential applicants:On Tuesday, in a Newsroom story, questions were raised about a dinner Jones ...
Buzz from the Beehive One day – hopefully – we will push that Russian rascal, Vladimir Putin, beyond breaking point. Perhaps it will happen today, when he learns that Foreign Minister Winston Peters is again tightening the thumbscrews. Peters announced further sanctions, this time on 28 individuals and 14 entities ...
How Labour’s and National’s failure to move beyond neoliberalism has brought New Zealand to the brink of economic and cultural chaos.TO START LOSING, so soon after you won, requires a special kind of political incompetence. At the heart of this Coalition Government’s failure to retain, and build upon, the public ...
“Members of Parliament don’t work for us, they represent us, an entirely different thing. As with so much that has turned out badly, the re-organising of MPs’ responsibilities began with the Fourth Labour Government. That’s when they began to be treated like employees – public servants – whose diaries had ...
It’s becoming a classic case study for why lobbying deals with politicians need greater scrutiny. Former National Minister Steven Joyce runs a lobbying company with a major client – the University of Waikato. The University desperately wants $300m+ of taxpayer funding to establish a third medical school in New Zealand, ...
Time To Choose: Like it or not, the Kiwis are either going into AUKUS’s “Pillar 2” – or they are going to China.HAD ZHENG HE’S FLEET sailed east, not west, in the early Fifteenth Century, how different our world would be. There is little reason to suppose that the sea-going junks ...
Henry Ergas writes – When in Randall Jarrell’s Pictures from an Institution, a college president is accused of being a hypocrite, the novel’s narrator retorts that the description is grossly unfair. After all, the man is still far from the stage of moral development at which the charge ...
David Farrar writes – Radio NZ reports: The Education Review Office says too many new teachers feel poorly prepared for their jobs. In a report published on Monday, the review office said 60 percent of the principals it interviewed said their new teachers were not ready. ...
New Zealand’s economic performance and the PM’s vision Michael Reddell writes – When I wrote yesterday morning’s post, highlighting how poorly both New Zealand and its Anglo peer countries have been doing in respect of productivity in recent times (ie, in the case of New ...
Hi all,Firstly - thank you! You guys are awesome. The response I’ve received to last night’s mail has been quite overwhelming. It’s a ghastly day outside, but there are no clouds in here.In case you didn’t read my email and are wondering what on earth I’m talking about you can ...
If there was still any doubt as to who is actually running this government – and it isn’t the buffoon from Botany – then this week’s announcement of a huge spend up on charter schools has settled the matter. While jobs and public services continue to be cut in the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Gaye Taylor As widespread drought raises expectations for a repeat of last year’s ferocious wildfire season, response teams across Canada are grappling with the rapidly changing face of fire in a warming climate. No longer quenched by winter, nor quelled by the ...
Half of Christchurch City Holdings Ltd’s directors and its chair resigned en masse last night in protest at Christchurch City Council’s demand to front-load dividends File Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The chair of Christchurch City Council’s investment company and four of its independent directors resigned in protest last ...
The University of Waikato has reworded an advertisement that begins the tender process for its new $300 million-plus medical school even though the Government still needs to approve it. However, even the reworded ad contains an architect’s visualisations of what the school might look like. ACT leader David Seymour told ...
As a follow-up to the Rings of Power trailer discussion, I thought I needed to add something. There has been some online mockery about the use of the same actor for both the Halbrand and Annatar incarnations of Sauron. The reasoning is that Halbrand with a shave and a new ...
This isn’t quite as dramatic as the title might suggest. I’m not going anywhere, but there is something I wanted to talk to you about.Let’s start with a typical day.Most days I send out a newsletter in the morning. If I’ve written a lot the previous evening it might be ...
Buzz from the Beehive The promise of tax relief loomed large in his considerations when the PM delivered a pre-Budget speech to the Auckland Business Chamber. The job back in Wellington is getting government spending back under control, he said, bandying figures which show that in per capita terms, the ...
Yesterday de facto Prime Minister David Seymour announced that his glove puppet government would be re-introducing charter schools, throwing $150 million at his pet quacks, donors and cronies and introducing an entire new government agency to oversee them (the existing Education Review Office, which actually knows how to review schools, ...
Te Pāti Māori have launched a petition to stop the repeal of Section 7AA from the Oranga Tamariki Act. This announcement comes prior to the first reading of the Section 7AA repeal bill in Parliament today. “Section 7AA forces the Government to adhere to Te Tiriti o Waitangi with respect ...
The Government has yet again failed to do the one thing that needs to happen to ensure houses can be built – commit to ongoing funding, Labour housing spokesperson Kieran McAnulty said. ...
Treasury officials have outlined many ways in which the Fast Track Approvals Bill is deeply flawed, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking says. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick used this year's State of the Planet to call on the Government to prioritise people and planet as the delivery of the Budget approaches. A full transcript of their speeches can be found below. ...
Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson and Chlöe Swarbrick have used their State of the Planet speeches to challenge the Government to prioritise people and planet over profit as the delivery of the Budget approaches. ...
The Government’s introduction of legislation that would enable landlords to end tenancies with no reason marks a dark day for the 1.4 million people who rent their home in Aotearoa. ...
The Minister for Mental Health has found the Suicide Prevention Office and mental health support for 111 calls slipping through his fingers, says Labour spokesperson for Mental Health Ingrid Leary. ...
Today’s justification from the Minister for Children for scrapping protections for our tamariki was either a case of ignorance or deliberate deception. ...
The Green Party says the Government’s misguided policy on gangs will fail, following the announcement of the establishment of a national gang unit and district gang disruption units to target gang activities. ...
“With Police pay negotiations still unresolved after six months in Government, Mark Mitchell has today rolled the Commissioner out for a rebrand of their approach to gang crime,” Labour police spokesperson Ginny Andersen said. ...
The Government bringing back 50 charter schools will not increase achievement and is a distraction from the core mission of the education system, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Te Pāti Māori is showing extreme concern over the Environment Select Committees adoption of a lucky dip draw to determine hearings for the Fast Track Approvals bill. Of the 27,000 submissions, 2,900 requested to present. All organisations will be heard; however, the remaining 2,350 submitters will be subject to a ...
Today New Zealand First will introduce a Member’s Bill that will protect women’s spaces. The ‘Fair Access to Bathrooms Bill’ will require, primarily in the interest and safety of women and girls, that all new non-domestic publicly accessible buildings provide separate, clearly demarcated, unisex and single sex bathrooms. This Bill ...
The Green Party is welcoming Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ continuation of Hon. James Shaw’s cross-party work on climate adaptation, now in the form of a Finance and Expenditure Committee Inquiry. ...
The National Government plans to cut 390 jobs at ACC, including roles in the areas of prevention of sexual violence, road safety and workplace safety. ...
The Government has been caught in opposition to evidence once again as it looks to usher in tried, tested and failed work seminar obligations for job-seeking beneficiaries. ...
The Green Party is welcoming the announcement by the Minister Responsible for RMA Reform Chris Bishop to approve most of the Wellington City Council’s District Plan recommendations. ...
David Seymour has failed to get the sweeping cuts he wanted to the free and healthy school lunch programme, Labour education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
Hon Willie Jackson has been invited by the Oxford Union to debate the motion “This House Believes British Museums are not Very British’ on May 23rd. ...
Green Party MP Hūhana Lyndon says her Public Works (Prohibition of Compulsory Acquisition of Māori Land) Amendment Bill is an opportunity to right some past wrongs around the alienation of Māori land. ...
A senior, highly respected King’s Counsel with decades of experience in our law courts, Gary Judd KC, has filed a complaint about compulsory tikanga Māori studies for law students - highlighting the utter depths of absurdity this woke cultural madness has taken our society. The tikanga regulations will compel law ...
The Government needs to be clear with the people of the Nelson Marlborough region about the changes it is considering for the Nelson Hospital rebuild, Labour health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall said. ...
Ministers must front up about which projects it will push through under its Fast Track Approvals legislation, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
The Government is again adding to New Zealand’s growing unemployment, this time cutting jobs at the agencies responsible for urban development and growing much needed housing stock. ...
With Minister Karen Chhour indicating in the House today that she either doesn’t know or care about the frontline cuts she’s making to Oranga Tamariki, we risk seeing more and more of our children falling through the cracks. ...
The Labour Party is saddened to learn of the death of Sir Robert Martin, a globally renowned disability advocate who led the way for disability rights both in New Zealand and internationally. ...
The Coalition Government’s Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill, which will improve tenancy laws and help increase the supply of rental properties, has passed its first reading in Parliament says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “The Bill proposes much-needed changes to the Residential Tenancies Act 1986 that will remove barriers to increasing private ...
Standing here in Cassino War Cemetery, among the graves looking up at the beautiful Abbey of Montecassino, it is hard to imagine the utter devastation left behind by the battles which ended here in May 1944. Hundreds of thousands of shells and bombs of every description left nothing but piled ...
I present a legislative statement on the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill Mr. Speaker, I move that the Oranga Tamariki (Repeal of Section 7AA) Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Social Services and Community Committee to consider the Bill. Thank you, Mr. ...
The Bill to repeal Section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has had its first reading in Parliament today. The Bill reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the care and safety of children in care, says Minister for Children Karen Chhour. “When I became the Minister for Children, I made ...
Kia ora koutou, good morning, and zao shang hao. Thank you Fran for the opportunity to speak at the 2024 China Business Summit – it’s great to be here today. I’d also like to acknowledge: Simon Bridges - CEO of the Auckland Chamber of Commerce. His Excellency Ambassador - Wang ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed a New Zealand Government plane will head to New Caledonia in the next hour in the first in a series of proposed flights to begin bringing New Zealanders home. “New Zealanders in New Caledonia have faced a challenging few days - and bringing them ...
The Coalition Government will introduce legislation this year that will enable roadside drug testing as part of our commitment to improve road safety and restore law and order, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Alcohol and drugs are the number one contributing factor in fatal road crashes in New Zealand. In ...
The Government has announced a series of immediate actions in response to the independent review of Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “Kāinga Ora is a large and important Crown entity, with assets of $45 billion and over $2.5 billion of expenditure each year. It ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour is pleased that Pseudoephedrine can now be purchased by the general public to protect them from winter illness, after the coalition government worked swiftly to change the law and oversaw a fast approval process by Medsafe. “Pharmacies are now putting the medicines back on their ...
Tēnā koutou katoa. Da jia hao. Good morning everyone. Prime Minister Luxon, your excellency, a great friend of New Zealand and my friend Ambassador Wang, Mayor of what he tells me is the best city in New Zealand, Wayne Brown, the highly respected Fran O’Sullivan, Champion of the Auckland business ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced that the Government will make it easier for lines firms to take action to remove vegetation from obstructing local powerlines. The change will ensure greater security of electricity supply in local communities, particularly during severe weather events. “Trees or parts of trees falling on ...
Wairarapa Moana ki Pouakani were the top winners at this year’s Ahuwhenua Trophy awards recognising the best in Māori dairy farming. Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka announced the winners and congratulated runners-up, Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, at an awards celebration also attended by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister ...
"On the 27th of March, I sought assurances from the Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs, that the Department’s correct processes and policies had been followed in regards to a passport application which received media attention,” says Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden. “I raised my concerns after being ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins has announced the appointment of three new District Court Judges, to replace Judges who have recently retired. Peter James Davey of Auckland has been appointed a District Court Judge with a jury jurisdiction to be based at Whangarei. Mr Davey initially started work as a law clerk/solicitor with ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour is calling on the Post Primary Teachers’ Association (PPTA) to put ideology to the side and focus on students’ learning, in reaction to the union holding paid teacher meetings across New Zealand about charter schools. “The PPTA is disrupting schools up and down the ...
Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly today announced the appointment of Craig Stobo as the new chair of the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Mr Stobo takes over from Mark Todd, whose term expired at the end of April. Mr Stobo’s appointment is for a five-year term. “The FMA plays ...
Surf Life Saving New Zealand and Coastguard New Zealand will continue to be able to keep people safe in, on, and around the water following a funding boost of $63.644 million over four years, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Associate Transport Minister Matt Doocey say. “Heading to the beach for ...
New Zealand and Tuvalu have reaffirmed their close relationship, Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand is committed to working with Tuvalu on a shared vision of resilience, prosperity and security, in close concert with Australia,” says Mr Peters, who last visited Tuvalu in 2019. “It is my pleasure ...
New Zealand is gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “The escalating situation and violent protests in Nouméa are of serious concern across the Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “The immediate priority must be for all sides to take steps to de-escalate the ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met today with Samoa’s O le Ao o le Malo, Afioga Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, who is making a State Visit to New Zealand. “His Highness and I reflected on our two countries’ extensive community links, with Samoan–New Zealanders contributing to all areas of our national ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has announced that he has approved Waiheke Island ferry operator Island Direct to be eligible for SuperGold Card funding, paving the way for a commercial agreement to bring the operator into the scheme. “Island Direct started operating in November 2023, offering an additional option for people ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters today announced further sanctions on 28 individuals and 14 entities providing military and strategic support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “Russia is directly supported by its military-industrial complex in its illegal aggression against Ukraine, attacking its sovereignty and territorial integrity. New Zealand condemns all entities and ...
A year on from the tragedy at Loafers Lodge, the Government is working hard to improve building fire safety, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “I want to share my sincere condolences with the families and friends of the victims on the anniversary of the tragic fire at Loafers ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you so much for having me here in the lead up to my Government’s first Budget. Before I get started can I acknowledge: Simon Bridges – Auckland Business Chamber CEO. Steve Jurkovich – Kiwibank CEO. Kids born ...
New Zealand and Vanuatu will enhance collaboration on issues of mutual interest, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “It is important to return to Port Vila this week with a broad, high-level political delegation which demonstrates our deep commitment to New Zealand’s relationship with Vanuatu,” Mr Peters says. “This ...
Minister for Land Information, Chris Penk will travel to Peru this week to represent New Zealand at a meeting of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific region on behalf of Trade Minister Todd McClay. The annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade meeting will be held on 17-18 May ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford will head to the United Kingdom this week to participate in the 22nd Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) and the 2024 Education World Forum (EWF). “I am looking forward to sharing this Government’s education priorities, such as introducing a knowledge-rich curriculum, implementing an evidence-based ...
Minister of Education Erica Stanford has today thanked outgoing New Zealand Qualifications Authority Chair, Hon Tracey Martin. “Tracey Martin tendered her resignation late last month in order to take up a new role,” Ms Stanford says. Ms Martin will relinquish the role of Chair on 10 May and current Deputy ...
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and President Emmanuel Macron of France today announced a new non-governmental organisation, the Christchurch Call Foundation, to coordinate the Christchurch Call’s work to eliminate terrorist and violent extremist content online. This change gives effect to the outcomes of the November 2023 Call Leaders’ Summit, ...
Distinguished public servant and former diplomat Sir Maarten Wevers will lead the independent review into the disability support services administered by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. The review was announced by Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston a fortnight ago to examine what could be done to strengthen the ...
Today’s announcement by Police Commissioner Andrew Coster of a National Gang Unit and district Gang Disruption Units will help deliver on the coalition Government’s pledge to restore law and order and crack down on criminal gangs, Police Minister Mark Mitchell says. “The National Gang Unit and Gang Disruption Units will ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today expressed regret at North Korea’s aggressive rhetoric towards New Zealand and its international partners. “New Zealand proudly stands with the international community in upholding the rules-based order through its monitoring and surveillance deployments, which it has been regularly doing alongside partners since 2018,” Mr ...
Air Vice-Marshal Tony Davies MNZM is the new Chief of Defence Force, Defence Minister Judith Collins announced today. The Chief of Defence Force commands the Navy, Army and Air Force and is the principal military advisor to the Defence Minister and other Ministers with relevant portfolio responsibilities in the defence ...
Legislation to repeal section 7AA of the Oranga Tamariki Act has been introduced to Parliament. The Bill’s introduction reaffirms the Coalition Government’s commitment to the safety of children in care, says Minister for Children, Karen Chhour. “While section 7AA was introduced with good intentions, it creates a conflict for Oranga ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins will this week travel to the UK and Italy to meet with her defence counterparts, and to attend Battles of Cassino commemorations. “I am humbled to be able to represent the New Zealand Government in Italy at the commemorations for the 80th anniversary of what was ...
The upcoming Budget will include funding for up to 50 charter schools to help lift declining educational performance, Associate Education Minister David Seymour announced today. $153 million in new funding will be provided over four years to establish and operate up to 15 new charter schools and convert 35 state ...
“The results of the public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has now been received, with results indicating over 13,000 submissions were made from members of the public,” Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “We heard feedback about the extended lockdowns in ...
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For those interested in playing Whamageddon you can find the rules here.
haha, cruel.
(do people still have autoplay turned on though?)
Looking for a place to party on New Year's Eve?
AI is watching you!
https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/133496062/thinking-of-throwing-a-party-in-an-airbnb-over-new-years-ai-is-watching-you
Cowardly Museum management kissing up to a homophobic and misogynistic ideology. It could have supported science and tolerance.
"The spectre of J.K. Rowling’s belief in biological sex, her defence of gay people and her concern for women’s rights may indeed make a handful of employees at Auckland Museum feel uncomfortable and unsafe. They’ve been well-trained. The common rhetoric within trans activism is that to mention the facts of biological sex is hate speech and causes literal harm to vulnerable transgender people. It’s an inherently fragile and precarious position to decide your own safety is determined by everyone in society adopting your world view. It also reeks of authoritarianism.
Auckland Museum is not some quaint faith-based private venture. It’s a rate-payer funded public institution with a natural history department and it has cancelled an exhibition because of its links to someone who believes in biological sex. What’s next? If the Auckland Museum wants to run an exhibition on the wonders of evolution will they withdraw because fundamentalist creationist Christians declare they are “deeply uncomfortable”? Will an exhibition that focuses on astronomy not astrology be cancelled when they receive hand-wringing emails from staff members who strongly identify as Sagittarius or Gemini and lament the deterioration of their safe space."
https://theministryhasfallen.substack.com/p/the-terrible-truth-about-jk-rowling?r=nbtqn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
They got slammed hard for one lighting show supporting Israel after the Hamas attack, so they have good reason to be gunshy.
They probably should focus on dinosaur exhibitions, Egyptphemera, and curating their exhibitions and ensure there is still a museum to interpret contentious current events in a century from now.
Was the museum forced to cancel, or did they choose to cancel?
They are able to make independent decisions?
The question is are they able to make decisions independent of the pressures of gender identity activists.
I haven't read the Spinoff piece so don't know in this situation, but we know that there is significant coercion from gender identity activists in NZ and abroad. People lose their jobs and careers over this. Does the threat of career loss count as force?
Did you read the subbstack article? I thought Garwhoungle explained clearly what the issues are with the museum's role and the decision they made.
"The question is are they able to make decisions independent of the pressures of gender identity activists. "
The question is are they able to make decisions independent of the pressures of any activists? For example, those who hold strong views about Te Tiriti o Waitangi?
What would be an example of a comparable exhibition about the Treaty?
Some staff might object to a Treaty exhibition for the reasons the protesters objected to Te Papa's exhibition.
so an exhibition on the Treaty that was inaccurate and misleading?
According to the protesters.
Translations leave more than enough room for plenty of mistakes .Maori only had the Maori version to sign most Maori could not read or write as they relied in verbal history repeated through constant repetition .But Northern Maori had built the first schools and understood English probably better than most of the early settlers 'sailors and soldiers. They were not happy with the treaty. Since the treaty Maori have been gaslighted and bullied dehumanizing to make it easy to keep Maori on the bottom of the heap so Maori have no power keeping Maori impoverished destroying Maori culture by the imperialist vultures who have taken everything leaving Maori with intergenerational poverty.While the imperialists have had intergenerational wealth.Transactions between Maori and European started off as good but when phase 2 of colonization takes place European settlers defrauded Maori out of vast tracks of land knowing full and well how valuable that land was.Insider trading that would be called today.Maori didn't have independent legal advise on any land transaction until the 1880's only because religious leaders stepped in because they could see Maori were being fleeced another crime.
Seems the protesters were correct 🙂
At the time I believe Maori literacy was higher than settler literacy. Can't find the reference at the moment.
And some might object to a revised presentation – because it doesn't fit with their understanding of the topic. There are different understandings of the Treaty – much though the radical left might decry them.
Someone can always object to something about an exhibition. Especially when they are designed to provoke interest, discussion and challenge perceptions.
It was an internal matter for the museum, wasn't it?
They have responsibilities to their staff that are different to those toward the general public. I think you are conflating the two groups.
“They have responsibilities to their staff that are different to those toward the general public. I think you are conflating the two groups.”
Dear me, no. Staff can have a range of opinions about topics – just as the general public can.
To assume that all staff within an organization share your radical perspective, would be a mistake.
?
that was an excellent piece.
I read it. It describes the " museum’s" decision to support staff who felt the exhibition would make them feel unsafe. That seems reasonable, supporting your staff that way.
“In which Auckland Museum cancels a natural history exhibition because of associations with the author of Harry Potter.”
In which Auckland Museum cancels a natural history exhibition because of concerns of staff.
if it's reasonable to base curation policy on staff needs to feel safe, does that apply to religious staff who are upset about some of the science in the museum?
How about women staff who feel unsafe with an exhibition based on the art of the misogynistic Picasso?
It would be up to "the museum" to decide in those instances, wouldn't it, as they did with this issue. Perhaps if staff felt a Picasso exhibition would make them feel unsafe, the museum would make the same decision. It's up to them, I suppose.
Gosh. So if there is a staff member who is 'uncomfortable' with a display on the Treaty – it should immediately be cancelled?
How about climate change? – there's certainly a lot of controversy about that one – and many different perspectives are likely to be held within an organization. No displays on that topic, either.
I doubt there would be a single painting in the Auckland art gallery which *isn't* open to controversy of one kind or another. Should we shut down all of those exhibitions, then.
Cancel culture is going to ridiculous lengths.
Gosh, if the museum so decided.
They, I presume, know more about it than we do, given it's their bread and butter and they know the ins and outs, the behind the scenes details, better than us.
Great. I look forward to your unequivocal support when any Museum, gallery or other space decides to cancel something you care about. After all, it will be a decision that they make "knowing more about it than we do"
Personally, as a ratepayer in Auckland, I do feel that I have a mandate to criticise what I see as poor-quality decision-making, unduly influenced by a loud minority of staff.
Of course you can criticise, you are doing that here.
So am I.
Yes, indeed.
It's clear that we have very different philosophical approaches to freedom of information.
What do you mean?
"It's impossible…" – "the left's mission" – hmm…
https://www.foxnews.com/media/museum-scrubs-jk-rowling-harry-potter-display-transphobic-views-reducing-impact
Money, money, money (magic)
Must be funny…
This particular facet of 'trans' makes for some strange bedfellows.
Tbh, I'm a bit surprised that our Auckland museum followed suit with Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture – whatever next?
A little humility goes a long way, imho, regardless of where you (assert you) are on the sociopolitical spectrum, and whatever unequivocal Bs you might have in your bonnet.
Happy Holidays to us all; and bless us, everyone!
Climate Change is Climate Change. There is only one perspective. It exists and its going to get worse. A person can choose to accept the overwhelming scientific evidence or they can be wilful and stupid and claim it either doesn't exist or not caused by human behaviour. They are categorically wrong so their so-called perspective is null and void.
Obviously the museum is trusted with making decisions, so yes, it is up to them. But it's not a free for all. So would you mind explaining why you think that political safety of this kind should be the deciding factor?
I don't know what all of the factors behind the museum's decision were (though I did read the long Spinoff article when it was first suggested here). It seems that commenters here are objecting to the museums decision to can the exhibition for personal political and ideological reasons, where I am arguing that it's up to the museum – my position on the rights or wrongs of Harry Potter, the beasts he finds himself amongst, JK Rowling, activists, etc. have no place in my argument.
Thanks for clarifying, that really helps.
Up to a point. As a former metropolitan museum employee you will no doubt be aware of the constant internal dialogue around public space and serving stakeholders. I'm not really a fan of museums making hard and fast decisions around who is and isn't a stakeholder in this way. The exhibition has no political bias in it, and is not spreading factual untruths, so this is basically a political move, and it's a very dangerous thing when museums start making political moves.
I think they made a decision based on various factors; staff concerns, visitor comfort etc. and can be perceived as having a political aspect, depending upon one's politics.
All exhibitions can be perceived as having political bias.
Edit: “and is not spreading factual untruths” – it features un-true, invented creatures, does it not? Just wondering…
I saw this in the sidebar: time to go outside and plant something 🙂
Robert Guyton to Robert Guyton
good idea! Plenty here that still needs to go in teh ground.
So the 'concerns of staff' trump the actual mission of the Museum?
What a load of cobblers.
There have been many occasions when staff in a public information role (libraries, museums, etc) are working in a space where they may not personally agree with a particular display, presentation or event.
As an information professional – you suck it up, and get on with the job.
If you have ongoing concerns about a conflict between the mission of the organization and your personal ethics – you look for another job.
You don't impose your personal ethical beliefs on the organization.
Does the museum have a requirement to ensure staff safety? Surely they do. Interpreting that would be up to them, I expect.
Is the requirement to ensure perfect 'staff safety' greater than their requirement to deliver information? Surely not.
Especially in the situation where 'staff safety' is only compromised by being confronted by a world-view which is different to their own. [We're not talking about them abseiling down from the rooftops, here]
This is Ethics 101 in any information science qualification. Any information professional who is unable to separate their personal identity/ethics from those of the organization they work for – is in the wrong job.
Auckland Museum will now have to figure out a way to cover any resulting holes in their budget. I do not think the Auckland Council (the funding body) will be very sympathetic to requests for additional funding – when the Museum has turned down an opportunity for what would be a highly lucrative touring exhibition. Especially in a cost-cutting environment
"Is the requirement to ensure perfect 'staff safety' greater than their requirement to deliver information? Surely not."
Seeming, it is. The museum will have weighed the issues then made their decision, I expect.
From the link:
"The decision was ultimately based on the views of a small group of staff members who declared they were “deeply uncomfortable” with the exhibition because of the associations with Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling. "
A small group of staff being 'deeply uncomfortable' is hardly a reason to cancel the event.
The museum thought otherwise. Being on the spot and in full receipt of the details as I suppose they were, I guess we should credit them with the responsibility to decide fairly.
I am not so generous, Robert. I tend to agree with the author of the linked article:
"The spectre of J.K. Rowling’s belief in biological sex, her defence of gay people and her concern for women’s rights may indeed make a handful of employees at Auckland Museum feel uncomfortable and unsafe. They’ve been well-trained. The common rhetoric within trans activism is that to mention the facts of biological sex is hate speech and causes literal harm to vulnerable transgender people. It’s an inherently fragile and precarious position to decide your own safety is determined by everyone in society adopting your world view. It also reeks of authoritarianism."
Such a lot of supposition in that quoted segment, David.
"They've been well-trained"?
Sounds like an ideologue making assumptions.
You've highlighted a four word sentence and completely ignored the argument that followed.
I have (highlighted) and haven't (ignored).
The "four word sentence" is representative of the entire quote, imo.
There is a lot of it about. https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/students-defamation-case-against-academic-accused-of-being-transphobic-bigot-thrown-out-by-judge/ILUUYLDYMZEEZEXTJDPVSEMWF4/
So you think the museum cancelled the show because of a high minded concern for the feelings of 2 or 3 staff members?
Really Robert .I didn't think you would be so naive
They cancelled the show out of fear of rowdy activists picketing and compromising the safety of museum goers /staff is my feeling.
And they were afraid of a facebook lynch mob
You reckon.
"So you think…" is often the prelude misrepresenting the thoughts of another.
Museums often quietly welcome protest – it raises the profile of certain exhibitions. I reckon you're speculating. As we all are 🙂
*disclaimer – I worked in a city museum for 2 years.
Question mark there you may have missed
Are you saying that the museum's duty is first to avoid discomfort of a very small minority of staff members before addressing the benefit of the public ?
Is that what museums are for in this new age where biological sex can be "changed" at will
Tell that to the plants
"Are you saying that the museum's duty is first to avoid discomfort of a very small minority of staff members before addressing the benefit of the public ?"
No. I'm saying that the details of why the museum chose to do what they chose to do is known best to them; speculation is fun, but faulted.
"Is that what museums are for in this new age where biological sex can be "changed" at will"
I don't understand that sentence at all, sorry.
I've planted gobo and toona so far. Casana and Japanese aralia next!
The many fraught emails that went to and from between museum officials laid out their fears of public backlash
As to the second paragraph you say you don't understand
maybe I can rephrase
We live in a post modern age where words can stand in place of physical realities.
For instance "someone born male can be a woman just by declaring it"
My long experience with the natural world does not reflect this
My long experience with humans divorced from the natural world and increasingly engaged with an unreal cyber world. is not hugely surprised but somewhat dismayed by that kind of thinking
Fear of public back-lash is a reasonable consideration for the museum to entertain. It would be unreasonable to expect them not to take it into account.
As to the second…
Your example, "someone born…" doesn't interest me much and isn't part of my thinking about why a museum might reject an exhibition.
Your comment, "My long experience…" could apply to people holding the opposite view to yours, I imagine.
I happen to strongly agree with you regarding the value of connection with, and especially close observation of, the "natural world", but I'm not sure about the perils of "engaging with an unreal cyber world.", as we are doing here. I like pushing the envelope through reading/watching material from the cyber world, safe-ish in the knowledge and confidence that I have gleaned from my time spent watching seeds sprout, fish feed, clouds roil and birds warble. The question of "what is natural" must surely be the topic a discussion somewhere and would no doubt be convoluted and heated 🙂
Who said that, and is the belief reality-based, i.e. the "someone born male can be a woman" bit, and/or the "just by declaring it" bit?
Imho, "someone born male" can be feminine, but not female, and there’s an application process (forms/fees) to change one's 'sex-marker' and/or ‘gender’.
https://www.govt.nz/browse/passports-citizenship-and-identity/changing-your-gender/
I acknowledge the flood of problems in the 6 months since a new self-ID process replaced the Family Court process. Maybe our new govt will address 'the issue' in due course – could be right up their alley.
It's interesting that the new hydra headed confabulation is doing nothing about self ID. I guess that is because National and ACT supported it and NZ First did not make doing anything about that an important coalition condition.
Nothing so far about “sex based identity facilities in public buildings” from the coalition either.
I agree with you that gender can be expressed within a very wide spectrum and I applaud it .
I welcome difference.
It's when it becomes an imperative to accept nonsense that men can become women by dint of will or surgery or other social interventions that I balk.
JK Rowling has attracted a huge amount of hate for standing up to those who declare its possible to change
"JK Rowling has attracted a huge amount of hate for standing up to those who declare its possible to change"
Why did she "stand up to" those who believe "it's possible to change"?
Why do you feel antagonistic towards people who don't support her "standing up to" those folk, many of whom are New Zealanders.
Huge amount of hate & support, generating heat – trans issues polarise.
https://www.transgendertrend.com/support-j-k-rowling/
https://www.glamour.com/story/a-complete-breakdown-of-the-jk-rowling-transgender-comments-controversy
Ideally, people should be free (and supported) to be themselves, as long as they're not not harming others, and shouldn't feel sad about who they (feel they) are. But feeling sad is part of the human condition.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Sorry – got tied up in Xmas not nots
How could staff at a museum possibility feel unsafe due to an exhibition?
Being exposed to art, literature, or any other type of display at a museum or art gallery can in no way cause harm to employees.
However I do understand that some individuals may become upset when exposed to ideas that do not conform to their world view. In this instance, it is not a safety issue. To suggest it is makes a mockery of "health and safety" in the workplace. Just ask any builder, construction worker or engineer who actually works in a hazardous environment.
One would expect that employees who work in a museum, art gallery, library, or any place that may have displays, or exhibitions which can be challenging etc, would be resilient enough the cope without "feeling unsafe". It's part of the job.
"How could staff at a museum possibility feel unsafe due to an exhibition?"
I guess you'd have to ask them, or the managers they approached with their concerns.
"Being exposed to art, literature, or any other type of display at a museum or art gallery can in no way cause harm to employees."
So, anything goes, so long as it's art, no matter who works there? I can think of plenty of themes that would traumatise some people, especially those who carry trauma from experience – no thought to be given to their wellbeing, do ya reckon?
We tough-as blog-commenters should just tell those softies to harden-up!
No Robert, they are not actually unsafe.
It is inconceivable that someone who’s career is working in museums or art galleries would be, or would feel unsafe from an exhibition.
They might feel uncomfortable with an exhibition, but that’s why they do the job.
Unless of course they have some ideological reason to shut something down. This would go against any museum or art gallery’s core reason for existing. Therefore again, the type of person who would feel unsafe with an exhibit in a museum or art gallery, would not pursue a career in a museum or art gallery
"the type of person who would feel unsafe with an exhibit in a museum or art gallery, would not pursue a career in a museum or art gallery"
Art galleries attract sensitive people, you must be able to see that. Often, those people have liberal, across the spectrum world-views, with regards politics, gender, how they dress, what they watch and listen to. Naturally, they can be "tender" when it comes to some issues.
I think some folk here are irritated because some people of the sort I've described, succeeded in an action they took, based upon their ideology. They managed to "defeat someone" who is admired by some folk here and they find that annoying. Is that the case with you, Terry?
It seems rather odd to characterize J K Rowling, or anyone for that matter, as someone who "believes in" biological sex. Surely if no-one "believed in" biological sex the human race would come to an end.
there are people who believe that sex isn't binary and that people can literally change biological sex.
When GC people say they believe in biology, what is meant is that they adhere to the science that has demonstrated that humans reproduce by two sexes (only), and that these sexes cannot be changed.
So, yes, not believing in sex is a nonsense, but where we are.
Staff feelings – Why are staff at TVNZ able to cope with Harry Potter films being shown? Or those of news media with reports mentioning JKR by name?
Or is it staff or building safety – protests and graffiti? If so, the protestors veto.
The censorship issue
The exhibit harms no one, but the precedent of suppressing creative work does.
The idea that a group of people is harmed, if someone is not blacklisted/boycotted because of their opinions is frankly a McCarthyist reprise.
On the merits, the censorship of someones works based on disapproval of their political position on a matter unrelated to the work is wrong. And the case for censorship of someones works because of disapproval of the political content ranges from somewhat credible to negligible.
My personal feeling is that while J K Rowling has become quite loathsome with her doubling down on being all chummy with outright fascists on social media, banning a harmless exhibition is the worst kind of superficial virtue signaling.
It's an interesting position to be in – JK Rowling's on this issue. I have no problem with women's safety advocacy.
However people like Angela Dworkin, not a tame feminist, was very wary of feminists working with the conservative political right. As some like Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshall do.
What happens, when two sides entrench themselves in positions for a long cold war, is that their own idealism is compromised in the struggle – they develop a gang mentality. And so they support others on their side and get tarnished by association.
A local example, in 1983, Douglas posed New Zealand adopting market economics and becoming a free trade based economy and got acceptance from Lange as his Finance Minister. He got support from the political right for this and became an applause junkie going further and further to the right to get his fix.To the point Lange lost confidence in him.
That JK Rowling gets support from the right is unsurprising and not her fault – she does not support the political right because of this. But she is being dragged into mutual support with others who call for the annihilation of the feminist "gender" tolerant left. When she would probably see herself as feminist and supportive of the political left. The hard-liners of the cause are prepared to use the political right as partners, but I suspect that Dworkin will be proven right about that tactic being a dangerous one (Dworkin was opposed to prostitution and pornography, just like K-J K-M by the way).
https://www.jkrowling.com/opinions/j-k-rowling-writes-about-her-reasons-for-speaking-out-on-sex-and-gender-issues/
It's very much her fault if she's going to align herself with people like Matt Walsh and Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshall, liking their posts, promoting their work.
I do not know about her connections to Walsh.
Matt Walsh is known for being anti LBG, and works for Ben Shapiro former editor in chief of Breitbart News.
https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1737970157614514200
https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1546141988139016194?s=20
This tweet provoked rather a lot of consternation on those grounds. Some might say that when one is a very public figure, one should take the time to know who one is platforming.
Well she did say his use of the word “comment” indicated some ignorance (an inaccurate euphemism) and he should back off.
Ah, but it was followed by this little outburst of mutual admiration
The criticism continued
Sure she did agree with criticism he made about some women's groups. That is because many embraced the "gender" cause, as one of progressive solidarity with others.
In that tweet, JKR is telling Walsh to shut the fuck up. A very large follower account telling someone to shut the fuck up isn't platforming them. She's using her power to push back at Walsh blaming feminists for gender identity ideology and there are solid reasons to do so. She's also running interference for other feminists, again a good use of her power. And, she’s making a strong political point about the nature of violent misogyny directed at women who speak up about GC issues, something that the left used to help women with once upon a time.
Implying she didn't know who Walsh is is an example of what I've been talking about. People in this debate who are generally clueless about large aspects of what is going on because they bought into the TRA/liberal PR that there are only two sides: virtuous pro-trans people and evil anti-trans right wingers. JKR is neither of those. And of course she knew who Walsh is.
What was going on in that tweet is that Walsh was a late comer to the gender/sex wars, and because he's an ultra conservative, misogynistic, women in the kitchen, dickhead, who happens to be very good at what he does with social media, he colonised the GC movement, and now blames women for whatever he can. As part of his conservative agenda.
Walsh laying down blame, feminists responding and setting the record straight, is an ongoing feature of the war. Which you would know if you actually listened to what GCFs are saying.
Feminists have been debating about how to use material from Walsh for ages. In this case, that wasn't even what was happening, JKR was simply calling out his lies.
Hmmmmm seems quite cosy to me https://x.com/jk_rowling/status/1546162915107037185?s=20
what she says in that tweet,
1. She expresses her opinion about his film (one I share, he did do a good job of exposing the incoherence of GI and its harms).
2. she reiterates her point that it's not women that are to blame for the rise of GI.
That's a large follower feminist account, speaking publicly to a large follower ultra conservative account, so that people can see the counter argument.
I can't speak to her motivations, but having watched her strategy for a number of years, she is smart. How I read this is that it's better here with Walsh to engage in an evenhanded way than go all angry feminist on him.
She doesn't give a shit about liberal brownie points, this is another thing the left is missing. There's a liberation that comes for women when they stop caring about losing favour. Once it goes past a certain point, those feminists are much freer to work in more effective ways.
The other group which want to ban Rowling and all her works, are the fundamentalist Christians (promotion of 'witchcraft')
Are the far left trans-positive campaigners comfortable with those bedfellows?
Proof is required for that sort of statement.
Exhibitions are not automatically selected by museums; a board most likely, will assess and decide. They have discretion to do as they please, mostly. Internal issues can have some influence over final decisions. In this instance, they (probably) did.
TVNZ staff won't have to experience the (ephemeral) films over a long period of time; they may choose not to watch them. Museum staff are more likely to be personally exposed to a prolonged, high-profile exhibition. The situations are not equivalent.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/13-12-2023/why-auckland-museum-pulled-the-pin-on-hosting-a-hit-harry-potter-exhibition
An encouraging read…
Buying the farm in a burning world
“We’re in this process of dreaming a farm back into being in the hinterlands of the ruined provincial capital in our remote corner of the crumbling empire.”
“There are no profane places, only sacred and desecrated places. And I wonder what it will take and what it could mean to restore, to reconsecrate, this place?”
https://dark-mountain.net/buying-the-farm-in-a-burning-world/
As I've noted many times the travesty of not implementing WEAG when there was a collective expert, policy, community and public support was abysmal. Helen Clark blew the opportunity to help the most vulnerable by only helping those on NZS and so did Jacinda by failing to follow through.
Still Labour are the original architects in NZ of this neo-liberal shit-storm so we should not be surprised.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Democracy…..ok…. lets see how Winston who is pro rail and the other two heads, who are pro trucking in the monster that is the current govt, avoid going off the rails…
NZFirst policy on rail: https://www.nzfirst.nz/2023_policies
I see a very strained relationship developing…….
And…….Josie Pagani now cheerleader for the trucking industry……..
"Instead of spending billions on new ferries capable of carrying trains, stick with moving freight by truck, and put the money towards other priorities………. argues Josie Pagani.
https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/nz-news/350135936/you-think-2023-went-rails-wait-until-you-see-2024?utm_source=stuff_website&utm_medium=stuff_referral&utm_campaign=mh_stuff&utm_id=mh_stuff
There will be a need for either a truck or train load of popcorn in 2024………Sadly there are those among us who will need life lines………….
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
Trains boats and planes. I recall an airport being an issue in 1998.
New roads are not fixes to existing ones crumbling because of trucks. The new roads do not last 50 years like the Kiwi Rail plan infrastructure does. New roads do not reduce carbon use.
Well dear moderator I beg to differ…it was on topic and far from irrelevant…..perhaps you should look at the words and the context in relation to quote: "The coalition government has hijacked the democratic process for its own partisan and nefarious agenda….."
Perhaps it was mentioning Josie Pagani….
But hey, no big deal…Merry Christmas to all….
On balance, I felt, as the Author, that the comment was more suited for OM and the reply comment by SPC confirmed this (this had already been submitted when I moved the whole thread). It had nothing to do with JP
No big deal and no harm done.
Nicola Willy latest gaffe says its the size of the sausage not what you do with it was she replying to Hipkins gaffe or gushing over her sausage shaped leader
She's playing the goofy real person card. All while delivering increased inequality and deprivation.
My thoughts also, SPC – scripted "gaffe" – she can't be a BSD, but she can allude to them.
Some positive developments at last …
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/301031134/health-officials-boost-security-in-eds-over-summer-to-help-keep-hospitals-safe
PS I'd add a notice in these areas stating that some security have access to tasers/pepper spray.
World News : What is really going on now.
The PA and the political wing of Hamas are in talks about Hamas coming under the PLO umbrella and the return of the PA to Gaza.
This is opposed by the military wing of Hamas.
So when Hamas says no more release of hostages until the IDF action ends (withdrawal from Gaza) this has two related meanings.
Essentially for this to occur Israel has to defeat the military wing of Hamas in the south as well, as in the north, or for someone to take the military forces in Gaza (an escape route).
The cynic would suggest a ship takes them to Libya. So they can form a new refugee camp, or get hired into team Russia or team Turkey in their civil war.
The hostages are a sideshow. Largely irrelevant in the big picture.
Meanwhile in white race nation news, revivalism has arrived down under.
The defeat of One Voice in Oz and indigenous peoples rights in New Zealand (except for Tuhoe nation and maybe Waipounamu, where Nga Tahu co-govern with Queenstown and farmers).
The symbolism of the bonfire is well known at Ephesus and the USA – Indians and New World settlers burnt to the ground each others settlements. And later in the American south after the end of slavery.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/12/22/the-year-that-began-and-ended-with-labour-policy-bonfires/
She means the trucking industry influence within the National Party.
So even if there is a wider New Zealand interest in the capacity to move rail goods over the Cook Straight, the government will say they will not deliver – unless there is some external capital source providing a partner to Kiwi Rail in the InterIslander service or the whole business.
So if New Zealand's overall interest is placed first – it's all in favour of Kiwi Rail's plan, improved speed of goods movement, allows for increased volume and reduces the carbon footprint.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2023/12/22/interislander-ferry-govt-to-set-up-expert-advisory-group/
It's going to be interesting to add up what's been spent already on the cancelled ferries, what it'll cost to bracket the existing contracts , what the review costs and what willis' plan b costs , bet it'll be close to labours plan with a crappy outcome.
The land of excuses. You cannot give foreign aid because there is poverty at home. Poverty at home, is no excuse not to give the hard working middle class a tax cut, end the bright-line test on investors, or allow debt cost to reduce tax on rent income. And here is a new one …
New roads are not fixes to existing ones crumbling because of trucks. The new roads do not last 50 years like the Kiwi Rail plan infrastructure does. New roads do not reduce carbon use.
https://www.thepost.co.nz/a/nz-news/350135936/you-think-2023-went-rails-wait-until-you-see-2024?utm_source=stuff_website&utm_medium=stuff_referral&utm_campaign=mh_stuff&utm_id=mh_stuff
Three strikes and you’re out. This simplistic rule is heavily promoted by ACT and made it into the coalition agreement under the header “Restoring Law and Order and Personal Responsibility” yet, ironically, ACT doesn’t abide by it. (NB the National-Act Agreement shows ACT’s pathological obsession with anything ‘regulation’)
As before, ACT’s renewed attempt at “meta-regulation” comes under heavy criticism from Jane Kelsey.
https://theconversation.com/acts-attempt-at-regulatory-reform-in-nz-has-failed-3-times-already-whats-different-now-220140
We can use our tax cut to pay those rising rates.
/
@JonoMilne
At @NewsroomNZ, I've obtained a letter from Local Govt Minister Simeon Brown, telling councils he’ll relax consultation/audit requirements so they can lock in their rates plans. Some propose rates hikes as high as 33% because of the Three Waters repeal.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/12/21/three-waters-repeal-forces-councils-to-hike-rates-by-a-third/
https://twitter.com/JonoMilne/status/1737648009268351137
We’ll have to.
So, here's something that perhaps sums up and perhaps explains why Labour lost.
A govt dept (customs) was furnished with plug in hybrids to replace older vehicles early in the year as part of emmisions reductions. So far so good right… excepting that no charging infrastructure in the building the vehicles are parked was provided so 9 months later and 40k on the odometer the charging cables are still in the packaging and they've been running on petrol the whole time.
Very depressing.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]
"Martin Foo, an analyst at S&P Global Ratings, say the extension of the statutory deadline should provide welcome breathing space for councils that need to go back to the drawing board now that the incoming government has confirmed the repeal of water services legislation.
On whether the new “financially separate council-owned organisation” would be considered by lenders to be distinct from its council owners, he says the devil is in the detail.
The rating agency would need to assess whether financial separation is genuinely achieved, not just in an accounting sense but from a credit rating angle too. Foo says there’s still something of a disconnect between the letter’s idea of “local decision-making” and financial separation. “It is not easy to disentangle political control from financial control.”
https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/12/21/three-waters-repeal-forces-councils-to-hike-rates-by-a-third/
It is worth noting that the recently announced rates increases were made on the basis of no provision of water, waste water and stormwater services by councils…..they were to be charged separately.
[TheStandard: A moderator moved this comment to Open Mike as being off topic or irrelevant in the post it was made in. Be more careful in future.]