Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Cruel.
New Zealand prisons.
A lawyer is accusing the Corrections Department of breaking the law in submitting inmates to 100,000 strip searches a year.
Human rights lawyer Michael Bott said the Corrections Act Section 98 was clear that guards may strip search prisoners who were being moved around, but that it was discretionary.
Mr Bott said “The Department of Corrections is breaking the law, it’s not acting in accordance with the Act, it’s a discretion, an officer ‘may’. Since when in the English dictionary does the word ‘may’ mean ‘must’. It does become degrading because what they’re doing is, without cause, they’re making prisoners take their clothes off, squat, lift up their genitals, their breasts, parting their buttocks etcetera.
In 2006 the Court of Appeal said routine use of strip searches came close to degrading treatment under the Bill of Rights. The Law Society has said that strip searching is universally acknowledged, including in case law, to be “degrading and humiliating”.
A total 434,304 strip searches were carried out in the four years to mid 2015 and netted 675 items, or 0.15 percent. In the least successful month 11,863 searches discovered just one item of contraband.’ http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306970/corrections-strip-searches-'degrading'-lawyer
‘Overcrowding appears to have been behind a protest that resulted in this afternoon’s lockdown at Mt Eden Prison.
“With national prison numbers at a record high, the department was having to move prisoners regularly, she said.
“[The prisoners] were just objecting to the amount of movements that have been happening.”’ http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306936/'disorder-event'-at-mt-eden-prison
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Uncaring.
New Zealand housing.
‘Mum shares state house garage in Manurewa with teen daughter.
Carla Peebles-Waara needs to find somewhere for her and her children to live and fast.
She’s staying in the garage of a relative’s Housing New Zealand property in Manurewa, south Auckland, while her application for a state house is processed.
Peebles-Waara sleeps in the garage with her 13-year-old daughter while her two youngest children, aged 12 and 10, use one of the bedrooms.
“We share the bed or pull out a mattress,” she says.
Peebles-Waara is originally from Coromandel but left the area due to conflict with extended family. She arrived with her children in Auckland 10 months ago.
The relative she’s staying with faces eviction unless Peebles-Waara and her children have moved out by June 24, she says.
“We have to stay here but if Housing NZ says my niece is going to be evicted then we will leave.
“I can’t take my kids and live in a car.
“I’ve thought about going to Bruce Pulman Park [in Takanini] and putting up a gazebo with everyone else but it’s not feasible.”
Peebles-Waara says it’s impossible to afford a private rental house in Auckland on her benefit.
Her first application to the Ministry of Social Development for a state house, made late last year, was declined. Her second was lost and she’s now waiting to hear back about the third.
Peebles-Waara says the hardest thing about sharing a home is the stress.
“The strain it puts on the family is tough. I do everything I can so we aren’t a burden.”
It’s been hard to find out what’s happening with her application and she plans to contact the ministry this week.
“I go to Housing NZ and they tell me to go to the ministry but then they say it’s up to Housing NZ. I can’t talk to anyone and no-one is in charge of my case. I don’t have time for that.”
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Greedy.
Companies that pay workers too little.
Power companies that charge too much.
‘Invercargill work hours dire for many who struggle in silence, says father.
Southland people are staunch and walk tall, but will struggle financially without speaking up, an Invercargill father says.
Invercargill residents Nathaniel and Kathrine Barrett, who work as chefs, are one of the reportedly increasing ‘middle-class poor’ families in Southland.
They are looking to relocate to Christchurch or Dunedin for better hours and pay.
Invercargill Salvation Army Invercargill Corps officer Annette Bray said the organisation was seeing a growing number of people coming to them for help.
“There’s a working class poor. More and more people are coming through.”
It could be that there were two family members working but together they didn’t have a full time job, Bray said.
“Twenty-five percent of people who come to us for help, somebody is working in the family.
“Probably in days gone by, if someone was working in the family they were doing pretty well. But these days it’s not enough.”
Nathaniel works about 20-25 hours a week, and Kathrine 30, but with restaurant clientele dwindling in the cold Invercargill winter they had fewer work hours.
In a typical week, Kathrine would earn about $400 and Nathaniel about $360.
Nathaniel said the Work and Income benefit had a $600 gross income cut-off point, which they earn above.
However, their weekly expenses topped $800………
A Mayor who has the guts to admit that climate change is real, is vilified by residents of South Dunedin, who refuse to accept that the flooding events they have experienced will be repeated and worsen no matter what the council does.
Thinking that it will make a difference to their future, some of these residents have vowed to depose the Mayor because of his belief in climate change.
But this sort of denial of reality is dwarfed by the New Zealand Green Party co-leaders, one who barely mentioned climate change in her Centrepiece Environmental Campaign Launch, and in fact has rarely ever spoken of it in her entire political career. And the other co-leader who in his speech imagined a future where New Zealanders holiday at beaches where the sea level remains unchanged. But doesn’t proposes one single concrete policy or program of how we get from the reality of sea level rise happening now, to his imagined world where it is, ‘not a problem’.
And who seem determined to maintain their policy of keeping debate about climate change out of the election campaign for a third straight election.
Despite this being the government’s worst performing portfolio* where the government could take some real hits.
Why?
I have been told by senior Green Party executive members that the reason is that the Green Party don’t want to raise contentious issues like climate change, is in case it imperils their newly signed MoU with the Labour Party.
And as we should all know by now, the Labour Party’s policy on climate change to all intents and purposes is little different to the government’s.
So what will be the result?
Climate change will not be addressed, again. No incoming government will have a mandate to act on it. And the residents of South Dunedin will be left, until they are literally wading in it.
But I suppose the good thing is that at least the issue of climate change may get a good thrashing in South Dunedin instead of being ignored everywhere else.
“I have been told by senior Green Party executive members that the reason is that the Green Party don’t want to raise contentious issues like climate change, is in case it imperils their newly signed MoU with the Labour Party.”
I happen to know that the statement above is complete and utter bullshit.
And might I also ask how you account for the Green Party’s ignoring of climate change as their leading environmental campaign, in favour of “Swimmable Rivers”?
Because believe me finding somewhere nice to have a swim will be the least of our problems.
Jenny, we had this same discussion with you day after day before the last election. If the Greens decide strategically that voters are more likely to engage with ‘swimmable rivers’ than something as huge (and still lied about) as ‘climate change’, then they are smart in their focus.
If you are that keen on only the one topic, by all means start your own single-issue party and contest the election. But please don’t waste oxygen in places like this.
The Climate Party don’t want to win seats or get into parliament the purpose of the Climate Party is to raise the issue of climate change, when no one else will, to hold the other parties to account when they refuse to address the looming threat posed by climate change.
Strangely, (or maybe not so strangely) the majority of the members of the Climate Party are also current Green Party members frustrated at their own party’s unwillingness to front up on climate change.
For instance the Climate Party stood in the Northland by-election when the Greens refused to put up a candidate to challenge the Nats, Labour and NZ First over their support for climate destroying extreme fossil fuel technologies like deep sea oil drilling when the Green Party refused to.
As well as standing in the upcoming local body elections, the Climate Party is also considering standing in any resulting Roskill by-election particularly if the Green Party again decide to go light on the contenders, all of whom support deep sea oil drilling BAU and all the rest of it.
But this is only one of the levers I am jumping up and down on.
To get them to move I am jumping up and down on all of them.
Anyone who knows the true portent of climate change and who is appalled at the lack of political will from our leaders to face up to it, could do no less.
“…..But please don’t waste oxygen in places like this.” Sacha
Sascha I am sorry if you feel I am stealing your oxygen.
That suffocating feeling you are experiencing, might be from having to face up to some harsh truths that you would rather not.
While I think it is possible that Jenny has spoken to more than one senior GP exec, I tend to agree that she is misrepresenting the GP in that statement, not least because she’s been doing that for some time now.
Google tells me that in the past month alone the GP have said and done these things in relation to Climate Change,
James Shaw’s budget speech has a whole section on CC,
And so on. It’s ridiculous to claim that the GP have put CC on the back burner. Here’s the google list just for the past month (news in NZ on Green Party +climate)
Jenny like many of us you have a lot of passion about climate change, but you are basically telling lies about the GP. There are things they can be criticised for, but making out they are avoiding climate change is just plain wrong.
As far as I can tell we have ten or so years to avoid 3+ deg C global warming from becoming inevitable (2+ deg C being a done deal now), which at 430ppm can be considered a dead certainty a couple of decades down the track.
This means in the next couple of years, slashing the numbers of commercial flights, slashing numbers of cars on the road, slashing back livestock herd numbers, slashing imports of energy, slashing the use of road freight.
So I am looking for concrete steps, not just market mechanisms, or just measuring how deep in the hole we are.
That’s all they need to propose to get your vote, eh?
Good-oh.
Some days you want parties on the Left to try to get elected, other days you want them to promise bringing about a two-year energy, regional, and transport collapse.
Who said about getting any votes. I’m just talking about what steps are required to save the nation from sinking under multi metre sea level rise by the time today’s school kids retire.
With an eye to getting elected, are you suggesting political pragmatism by a vocal minority on the left is being substituted by throwaway, lack of substance, la la land, that’ll show the other 99% who means business, wishful thinking rhetoric? lol
I was meaning in terms of things getting done e.g. the concrete steps. They’re good ideas, and now we need to work on the how.
For instance, I think one good way to get dairying reigned in is to get the Greens with more MPs and in govt. It’s a reasonably high priority for them (reducing dairying), and it has a lot of support nationally. In addition to that, and more difficult, is getting good people standing for regional councils and then getting people to vote for them. Lots of other things that can be done too, and IMO need to be done alongside the general changing of the culture.
etc. We know what needs to be done. We’re not so clear on how to proceed.
But if asked I can say here are the things we can do, x, y, z that help the GP get more MPs in parliament.
I see a lot of people saying a, b, c is what should happen without thinking past that point. Which is fine, we need people who can recognise what should happen. But we also need people who can actually makes things happen and the GP happen to be some of them. Jenny telling lies about the GP, I just don’t see the use in that, or the strategy or what she hopes to achieve.
Really think we can get the greater population to take any action on climate change CV, when they are all so wound up making a dollar ignoring it.
I think it’s banging our head against a brick wall to get all those self absorbed people to take action themselves, there is probably an acronym for everyone expecting either the government to save their asses or the neighbour doing it for them.
“The land of Apathy.”
It may of been different if we hadn’t had 7 years the of useless spinless kind of government we’ve had.
Keys greatest legacy is the fact he didn’t use his incredible popularity to lead this country down a sustainable path. Shame on him.
There are number of things I’ve heard lately that give me some new found confidence that Lab/Green together are serious about CC. Little’s speech at the Green Party conf for one – that was a no nonsense reference to CC action and the first time I’ve been reassured about the Labour view to CC.
Then quite some time ago Julie Anne Genter and Grant Roberston were on the panel of Backbenchers. Can’t remember the National MP, it was a male. He was useless on all the CC questions, as you could expect but GR and JAG were on fire. It was some before the announcement of MoU but GR and JAG were clearly on the same page about working on CC action if they were in the next govt together.
This is clearly something they have discussed and have agreed upon.
We may not always get the messages that fit exactly with our unique views and may not always get the answers we want to satisfy our own particular questions, but looking at the bigger picture, it looks like we’re on the right track if we are to do anything about CC mitigation.
All we need to do if change the government and not get hung up about the little things.
Good to hear about JAG and GR! I have the sense that good things are happening and that we need to allow them time to build this. I agree about not getting hung up on our individual views and what we think should happen, but to focus on supporting the stuff that is working in the right direction.
I find it interesting that some people don’t see the advantage in having a L/G govt, as if the only good solution is the revolution. I’m not waiting for the revolution, I want us to do everything we can now.
I’m expecting that people will be going through various levels of pretty uncomfortable emotions e.g. fear about climate change. That will make us at times act in ways that are contrary to our best interests.
I thought the revolution was going to arrive in 2011 on the back of the Occupy Movement. Ha ha! Hindsight and all that……………..
Since then I see revolution in every day achievements, like encouraging your neighbour to see the environmental benefit and convenience on catching the bus to work and leaving their gas guzzler SUV at home in the garage.
Sounds corny, be WE can be and are the revolution – don’t leave that to the Politicians, god knows where that would leave us.(Rogernomics was a revolution) Instead encourage and support our parties that have a vision and progressive ideas and help them get us all there.
I agree. And Occupy was revolutionary. Because now there is a whole new swathe of people in the US politicised around what’s really going on. That’s invaluable. We’re just looking at it in too short a time frame. If Rogernomics took a decade and they had all that power and resource available to them, I think we can allow that it might take grassroots longer.
“Then quite some time ago Julie Anne Genter and Grant Roberston were on the panel of Backbenchers. Can’t remember the National MP, it was a male. He was useless on all the CC questions, as you could expect but GR and JAG were on fire.” Rosie
The thing is Rosie, that the political pressure not to raise climate change in the elections is starting to come on now, and will get even stronger as we get towards the electioneering period.
Voices inside the Green Party very strong on climate change like Gareth Hughes for instance were sidelined and pretty much effectively silenced at the last elections.
It will happen again with Julian Genter in the GP, and Grant Robertson in the LP.
Will these two if they are “on fire” as you say, have the courage and determination push past this suffocating influence?
I expect that to do so, they will both have to be more than outspoken, to be able to take on their party machines which are intent on playing down this issue.
In fact they will have to do a Winston Churchill.
Churchill was a backbench Independent MP ignored and villified for his constant harping on about the nazis threat, but who refused to shut up and sit down, and take his place and wait his turn.
To get climate change a hearing in 2017 GR and Jag (as you call them) will need that same determined pugnacious bulldog spirit on climate change, that is if they want to achieve a breakthrough on climate change.
They will need to defy the conservative voices in their own parties, terrified of offending the establishment and the keepers of “accepted political wisdom”.
The first thing both need to do if they are serious, is to get climate change debated in the house. If they are really serious about climate change they need to putup some private members bills on climate change to go into the ballot. Though this is their legal right, they will need to oppose their party hierarchies to do so.
For instance:
The Green Party say, that they are opposed to the pollution trading scheme known as the ETS, and want it scrapped. A bill to repeal the ETS, if it was drawn from the ballot, would be a good start in getting the ball rolling in starting a national debate on climate change. And for the burning need to take proper serious action.
Who knows? it may even pass. On the Right, both NZ First and the ACT Party say they want the ETS scrapped.
The only defenders of pollution trading in parliament are the National and Labour Parties.
If Grant Robertson is genuine in his concern about climate change, just like Churchill, he would be loudly demanding and lobbying inside the Labour for Labour to join the rest of the opposition to carry a members bill to repeal the ETS.
Without the fig leaf of this provenly fraudulent pollution trading scheme, the National government would be left naked in front of the world community for not meeting their international obligations that they signed up to in Paris to do something about climate change. And might even be forced to take some proper more effective action.
Would Genter and Robertson be prepared to rock the boat in such a manner?
Time will tell.
My guess is no, and that like many before them, they will buckle under the pressure and shut up. And sit down and do what they are told.
The above strategy is only a suggestion, there are a number of other bills around the issue of climate change that could start the debate on climate change in the House and nationally.
(To keep the political silence, I have been assured that no Private Members bills on climate change by MPs from either party will be allowed to be put in the ballot leading up to the election.)
My that is an impressive list of links. You almost had me convinced. Except for one thing. There is a big difference about talking about climate change and actually doing something about it.
The most interesting link from your list, was from the Green Party AGM. And that link was to a speech given by…. wait for it…..
Andrew Little the leader of the Labour Party.
And it was indeed far and away the best speech of the Green Party AGM, and Little actually said that he was going to do something about climate change, make this country a world leader on climate change.
This would have been the perfect opportunity for the Green Party to take Andrew Little at his word and put up some policy for addressing climate change.
The Green Party instead announced that they will be campaigning about making our rivers swimmable again. And that this will be their “Centrepiece Environmental Campaign”. Overall Andrew LIttle mentioned climate change more times than both the Green Party co-leaders combined.
‘Swimmable Rivers’ is nice but not much use without a ‘Survivable Climate’
Warm air holds more moisture, climate fuelled super storms and unprecedented rain events will turn any sizeable river into a deadly muddy torrents that will destroy any water treatment infrastructure on their banks.
Andrew Little must be wondering whether he made the right decision to talk about climate change so much, when the Green Party seem determined not to campaign on it.
At the last election the political parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to discuss climate change.
Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.
Unfortunately despite their success in getting the political parties to debate climate change, the Greenpeace initiated debate was not carried on any MSM channel and could only be viewed on the internet. And only by those aware of it.
Maybe this time climate change might be one of the topics of the MSM televised debates.
But, I don’t think so.
But, I could be wrong. The affects are becoming more apparent. And it is becoming harder to maintain the silence.
“Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.”
Citation needed for the claim that all parties were refusing to talk about climate change before the Greenpeace initiative and had to be forced to debate the topic. Better be good Jenny or I’ll be calling you a liar from now on.
As well as insulting all those who fought to get climate change debated in the last election.
Weka asks me to provide a citation for something that didn’t happen, or he will call me a liar from now on.
How can I provide a citation for something that didn’t happen?
I may be good, but I am not that good.
Maybe Weka might like to explain how I could possibly do that.
Maybe his next challenge will be for me to find some unicorn horn, or rocking horse shit.
I’ll tell you what, instead of me trying to prove a nullity,
How about this. Weka, instead of me trying to find evidence of things that don’t exist, I challenge you to name something you claim does exist.
Can you name just one other debate on climate change, between the political parties at the last election?
I’ll make it easy for you, I won’t even demand that you provide a citation.
P.S.
Weka, for you to label me “a liar from now on”, for not being able to do the impossible, in my humble opinion, says more about you, than me.
If you try it, I will definitely be asking you for a citation with evidence to prove your accusation that I am a liar. Needless for me to say, what people will think of you if you can’t provide such proof.
“If you try it, I will definitely be asking you for a citation with evidence to prove your accusation that I am a liar. Needless for me to say, what people will think of you if you can’t provide such proof.”
You said,
At the last election the political parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to discuss climate change.
Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.
That in context above is a statement that political parties were not willing to debate climate change until Greenpeace forced them to. It’s a lie (I looked, the Greens announced their climate change policy before the Climate Voter thing), so yes I call you a liar.
I will do this each time you spam the site with misleading statements about the Greens (and probably Labour if I see those too) that you can’t back up with evidence. If you don’t want this to happen I suggest that you think about how you present your ideas and start expressing your opinions as opinions instead of statements of fact.
Weka asks me to prove something that didn’t happen, ie that the political parties didn’t have any other debates about climate change. This demand to provide evidence that these debates didn’t happen is accompanied with a threat to slander me if I can’t provide evidence of something that didn’t happen. I pondered this illogical demand, and asked instead that Weka give evidence of these other election debates on climate change.
Weka doesn’t do this, instead offers up something else entirely.
Jenny said: “Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.”
Weka said: “(I looked, the Greens announced their climate change policy before the Climate Voter thing), so yes I call you a liar.”
I am sure that all the political parties released their climate change policy, somewhere before, or during the election, in some form or other. This is not the same as being willing to debate the topic. Or be willing to make climate change an election issue.
And we are again seeing early signs of this, with the Greens announcing that their “Centrepiece Environmental Campaign”, Will be “Swimmable Rivers” and barely mentioned climate change.
The early signs are that 2017 will be a rerun of 2014 as far as the climate goes. And that the political parties will be just as reluctant to debate this issue, unless they are forced to.
And that climate change will again not be an election issue.
Despite it being one of the Government’s weakest performing portfolios, where they could take some real hits.
Despite climate change being one of the greatest catastrophes ever faced by humanity.
Instead for the second time, it again looks as if the government will be given a free pass on this issue by the opposition parties.
And Business As Usual will continue untroubled for another three years. Three years we haven’t got to waste.
“Weka asks me to prove something that didn’t happen, ie that the political parties didn’t have any other debates about climate change.”
You didn’t say that Jenny. You said,
At the last election the political parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to discuss climate change.
Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.
“Parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to discuss CC”
“Parties didn’t have any other debates about CC”
They’re not the same thing. You lied before and now you are lying again about what you said.
I am sure that all the political parties released their climate change policy, somewhere before, or during the election, in some form or other. This is not the same as being willing to debate the topic. Or be willing to make climate change an election issue.
Actually it is. It’s what political parties do. On the other hand, if you have evidence that say the Greens deliberately avoided talking about CC and refused to debate either formally or generally, by all means post it. Otherwise I will call you a liar again.
July 28: The Politics of Climate Change. An Election Debate
Hon. Dr. David Clark (Labour Party) and Hon. Metiria Turei (Green Party) will be discussing their parties’ stance on climate change, and their strategies and policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change in New Zealand.
Stop telling lies Jenny. Tell the GP and everyone here that you want them to speak louder and stronger and take more action on CC, but stop telling lies about them, it’s not necessary.
Weka can you provide anything, about climate change (outside of the “Climate Voter” debate) from any of the parties during the election period itself?
Weka you may argue that I am being pedantic about the dates; But there was a reason that the “Climate Voter Campaign” became necessary during the election itself.
Of particular note from the article you linked to, was the attached poll on whether people supported the Green Party idea of a carbon tax, or not.
Interestingly, if the people who supported the carbon tax, were added to the people who wanted more information, in effect if the Green Party had given a further lead, they could have won this debate.
But this was never followed up during the election campaign proper. Why not?
What do you think of the Greens carbon tax proposal?
Fully support it
496 votes, 40.9%
Sounds interesting, need to know more about it
153 votes, 12.6%
Not a fan at all
563 votes, 46.5%
Total 1212 votes
But they never heard about it again.
It is my contention that it is leadership on climate change that was missing during the election campaign itself.
Weka do you still deny this?
Will there be another climate policy launch by the Green Party before the 2017 election?
Will it be followed up during the election?
Weka will the “Swimmable Rivers” Centrepiece Campaign launch be followed by a Climate Policy Campaign Launch?
By the tone and language of your attacks, I am guessing not.
But it is still early days, and a lot of water has to go under the bridge yet.
And hopefully I will be proved wrong. Time, as they say, will tell.
Jenny you claimed that all the political parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to a debate about climate change. It was a lie.
I can keep putting up links that demonstrate that the GP was working on CC issues during the campaign, even though they weren’t working on that in the way you thought was necessary. But it won’t change the basic facts that you actively tell lies about the GP (and others) in your attempt to make CC more visible and to get more people to act. I think your strategy is counter-productive, so I will just keep naming the lies as I see them. I’m more than happy for people to look at our respective arguments and reach their own conclusions accordingly.
Rather than debate the reasons why “Swimmable Rivers” has been made a “Centrepiece Campaign” and climate change has not.
weka deliberately chooses to deny the reality, that “Swimmable Rivers” has been favoured over climate change as the Green Party “Centrepiece Campaign”.
Instead of trying to explain the reasons behind this decision
Hysterical abuse and slander by weka, on no evidence, only highlights weka’s inability to defend the Green Party’s decision.
My fear weka is that the perverse climate change ignoring that I noted by the Green Party at the last election, in light of the obvious worsening of the problem, will be even more grotesque than last time.
+100 …lovely thanks…well worth reading…personally I would prefer death by freezing or ICE AGE..but I guess we are not going to get the choice…
…however on a brighter note…maybe viruses and antibiotic resistant bacteria will get most of us first and call a halt to global warming …could even end laissez faire neolib capitalism
A Key inspired Toll on Auckland highways is a fantastic idea, and will remind Auckland drivers every day to vote Key out ext year.
It will save Labour a fortune in election advertising.
The wealthy live in the inner city suburbs and will pay less.
The middle and working class, commuting from west and South Auckland, will pay most of this tax.
Simpler and fairer:
Make public transport free.
Build more buses and trains and railtracks.
Build more quality high density housing on onner city suburbs.
Build them in New Zealand.
Start apprenticeships in the relevant industries.
Tolled roads In Auckland will add more inequalities to our already inequitable country. Tolls are not fair to the poor especially the working poor. If they do toll the roads there needs to be alternative options other wise we will see more NZ families/people living in cars.
“And as we should all know by now, the Labour Party’s policy on climate change to all intents and purposes is little different to the government’s.”
This comment by Jenny @ 4 above is also utter bullshit.
In fact, Jenny (whoever you are), you are constantly misquoting Labour, and its about time you had a good look through Labour’s policies that have been announced, the Future of Work commission, and the Policy Platform before you start mouthing off about Labour’s inadequacies.
For the record :
1. The Government must act urgently on climate change in the wake of the Royal Society’s report released today, says Labour’s Climate Change Spokesperson Megan Woods. Media Release 19 April 2016
“Amongst other climate related threats, New Zealand is facing a rise in sea levels of between 30 centimetres and 1.1 metres in the next 100 years while the Government continues to sit on its hands….”
2.Labour’s ‘Future of Work’ programme is part of the answer to a transition into such an economy.
☐ Supporting the creation of cooperatives that would help build a more sustainable economy
☐ Investing in low carbon and environmentally sustaining projects
We have ten to fifteen years to cut our GHG emissions to near zero Jenny. We have already guaranteed ourselves a 2 deg C to 3 deg C global temp rise in the next 20 years, and we are on track for a 5+ deg C rise this century.
Which means sea level rise could be 6m this century (half from the West Antarctic and half from Greenland).
I should say that Labour’s future of work programme is looking like nothing more than another effort at pretend and extend. It will pretend that economic growth is just around the corner, and it will extend the economic status quo wherever possible.
“This comment by Jenny @ 4 above is also utter bullshit.”
She’s been telling lies about the GP as well. I guess she is expressing her opinion (that there is not enough difference between L and N on CC), but she does then tend to use some pretty long winded ways to express that that too often are misleading. I have no idea what her strategy is given that Labour are moving slowly in the right direction and are more likely to move faster if encouraged. As is often the case, people who want to knock allies down don’t usually have anything better to put in place.
I’d have less of a problem with Jenny’s comments if they were expressed as opinion. The deceitful stuff takes time to address, time I’d rather spend on other things.
Still the most popular PM in NZ History, either the polls are rigged or we really are not thinking straight, his forex trading and profit making ability in the merchant banking industry haven’t been transferred over into the performance of the NZ Economy which most voters thought would be the case.
…”In terms of NZ, our parliamentarians need to stop playing silly buggers; trying to shove the round peg of mmp into the square hole of fpp is an exercise of frustrating stupidity that’s delivering something far less democratic than NZ deserves.
( the Labour Party seems to be a slow learner…they will never win a FPP Election again)
+100…have to agree…yup and it is more about what Hillary’s emails reveal about her and her friends war crimes foreign affairs …than about the actual hacking itself…
…and absolutely no one can even remotely accuse the Greens of indulging in this sort of disgraceful invasion and destruction of sovereign nations in the Middle East…so the analogy is totally misleading
btw doesnt NSA spy/hack everything anyway with this jonkey nacts government’s conivance and the Labour Party’s agreement….Foreign Spy Bill and all that …so NSA is probably spying on the Greens anyway!
To paraphrase Nick Smith’s rational for sacking the elected ECAN board….
the State funded Hosking has now become a “dysfunctional mess”.
Perhaps he could be replaced by a commissioner.
In his latest episode, Hamblin takes on showers. The question is, do we really need them? Or do they do more harm than good? As Hamblin points out, some scientists theorize that washing off the helpful bacteria on our bodies actually makes us less clean by disturbing our own delicate ecosystem.
It appears washing and using soap extensively may actually be the cause of bad BO.
Read somewhere that ocean sailors limited in fresh water, seldom washed and after a while the bacteria settled down and the sailors became odorless.
In swimming pools the smell of chlorine is because there is too little and the bacteria are only partly broken down. Therefore extra chlorine is needed to break through.
Not the same thing but misunderstanding occurs with both scenarios.
“A Trump spokesperson has reaffirmed the presumptive Republican nominee’s support for a Brexit, claiming he is “very much in favor of countries doing what is best for them and their people…
…”Trump is one of the few voices in US politics on either side of the aisle who has spoken out in favor of a Brexit. His Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has voiced support for the Remain campaign. Clinton’s top policy adviser told the Observer in April: “She has always valued a strong United Kingdom in a strong EU. And she values a strong British voice in the EU.”
READ MORE: Obama’s ‘misguided’ EU referendum intervention threatens UK sovereignty, say US lawmakers
Three republican senators have condemned President Barack Obama’s intervention in the Brexit debate.
During a visit timed to coincide with Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday earlier this year, Obama warned the United States would be in no hurry to agree a bilateral trade deal if Britain was no longer in the EU…
1. You’ve started ranking your politicians on how much they respect the rule of law2. You’ve stopped paying attention to those news publications3. You’ve developed a sudden interest in a particular period of history4. More and more people are sounding like your racist, conspiracist uncle.5. Someone just pulled a Nazi ...
Transforming New Zealand: Brian EastonBrian Easton will discuss the above topic at 2/57 Willis Street, Wellington at 5:30pm on Tuesday 26 February at 2/57 Willis Street, WellingtonThe sub-title to the above is "Why is the Left failing?" Brian Easton's analysis is based on his view that while the ...
Salvation Army’s State of the Nation 2025 report highlights falling living standards, the highest unemployment rates since the 1990s and half of all Pacific children going without food. There are reports of hundreds if not thousands of people are applying for the same jobs in the wake of last year’s ...
Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.Correction: On the article The Condundrum of David Seymour, Luke Malpass conducted joint reviews with Bryce Wilkinson, the architect of the Regulatory Standards Bill - not Bryce Edwards. The article ...
Tomorrow the council’s Transport, Resilience and Infrastructure Committee meet and agenda has a few interesting papers. Council’s Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport Every year the council provide a Letter of Expectation to Auckland Transport which is part of the process for informing AT of the council’s priorities and ...
All around in my home townThey're trying to track me down, yeahThey say they want to bring me in guiltyFor the killing of a deputyFor the life of a deputySongwriter: Robert Nesta Marley.Support Nick’s Kōrero today with a 20% discount on a paid subscription to receive all my newsletters directly ...
Hi,I think all of us have probably experienced the power of music — that strange, transformative thing that gets under our skin and helps us experience this whole life thing with some kind of sanity.Listening and experiencing music has always been such a huge part of my life, and has ...
Business frustration over the stalled economy is growing, and only 34% of voters are confidentNicola Willis can deliver. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 12 are:Business frustration is growing about a ...
I have now lived long enough to see a cabinet minister go both barrels on their Prime Minister and not get sacked.It used to be that the PM would have a drawer full of resignations signed by ministers on the day of their appointment, ready for such an occasion. But ...
This session will feature Simon McCallum, Senior Lecturer in Engineering and Computer Science (VUW) and recent Labour Party candidate in the Southland Electorate talking about some of the issues around AI and how this should inform Labour Party policy. Simon is an excellent speaker with a comprehensive command of AI ...
The proposed Waimate garbage incinerator is dead: The company behind a highly-controversial proposal to build a waste-to-energy plant in the Waimate District no longer has the land. [...] However, SIRRL director Paul Taylor said the sales and purchase agreement to purchase land from Murphy Farms, near Glenavy, lapsed at ...
The US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has been a vital tool in combatting international corruption. It forbids US companies and citizens from bribing foreign public officials anywhere in the world. And its actually enforced: some of the world's biggest companies - Siemens, Hewlett Packard, and Bristol Myers Squibb - have ...
December 2024 photo - with UK Tory Boris Johnson (Source: Facebook)Those PollsFor hours, political poll results have resounded across political hallways and commentary.According to the 1News Verizon poll, 50% of the country believe we are heading in the “wrong direction”, while 39% believe we are “on the right track”.The left ...
A Tai Rāwhiti mill that ran for 30 years before it was shut down in late 2023 is set to re-open in the coming months, which will eventually see nearly 300 new jobs in the region. A new report from Massey University shows that pensioners are struggling with rising costs. ...
As support continues to fall, Luxon also now faces his biggest internal ructions within the coalition since the election, with David Seymour reacting badly to being criticised by the PM. File photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Not since 1988 when Richard Prebble openly criticised David Lange have we seen such a challenge to a Prime Minister as that of David Seymour to Christopher Luxon last night. Prebble suggested Lange had mental health issues during a TV interview and was almost immediately fired. Seymour hasn’t gone quite ...
Three weeks in, and the 24/7 news cycle is not helping anyone feel calm and informed about the second Trump presidency. One day, the US is threatening 25% trade tariffs on its friends and neighbours. The reasons offered by the White House are absurd, such as stopping fentanyl coming in ...
This video includes personal musings and conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Adam Levy. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). Wherever you look, you'll hear headlines claiming we've passed 1.5 degrees of global warming. And while 2024 saw ...
Photo by Heather M. Edwards on UnsplashHere’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s politics and economy in the week to Feb 10 below. That’s ahead of live chats on the Substack App and The Kākā’s front page on Substack at 5pm with: on his column in The ...
Is there anyone in the world the National Party loves more than a campaign donor? Why yes, there is! They will always have the warmest hello and would you like to slip into something more comfortable for that great god of our age, the High Net Worth Individual.The words the ...
Waste and fraud certainly exist in foreign aid programs, but rightwing celebration of USAID’s dismantling shows profound ignorance of the value of soft power (as opposed to hard power) in projecting US influence and interests abroad by non-military/coercive means (think of “hearts and minds,” “hugs, not bullets,” “honey versus vinegar,” ...
Health New Zealand is proposing to cut almost half of its data and digital positions – more than 1000 of them. The PSA has called on the Privacy Commissioner to urgently investigate the cuts due to the potential for serious consequences for patients. NZNO is calling for an urgent increase ...
We may see a few more luxury cars on Queen Street, but a loosening of rules to entice rich foreigners to invest more here is unlikely to “turbocharge our economic growth”. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate ...
Let us not dance daintily around the elephant in the room. Our politicians who serve us in the present are not honest, certainly not as honest as they should be, and while the right are taking out most of the trophies for warping narratives and literally redefining “facts”, the kiwi ...
A few weeks ago I took a look at public transport ridership in 2024. In today’s post I’m going to be looking a bit deeper at bus ridership. Buses make up the vast majority of ridership in Auckland with 70 million boardings last year out of a total of 89.4 ...
Oh, you know I did itIt's over and I feel fineNothing you could say is gonna change my mindWaited and I waited the longest nightNothing like the taste of sweet declineSongwriters: Chris Shiflett / David Eric Grohl / Nate Mendel / Taylor Hawkins.Hindsight is good, eh?The clarity when the pieces ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 16 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 10The Kākā’s weekly wrap-up of news about politics and the economy is due at midday, followed by webinar for paying subscribers in Substack’s ...
A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, February 2, 2025 thru Sat, February 8, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
Today, I stumbled across a Twitter Meme: the ending of The Lord of the Rings as a Chess scenario: https://x.com/mellon_heads/status/1887983845917564991 It gets across the basic gist. Aragorn and Gandalf offering up ‘material’ at the Morannon allows Frodo and Samwise to catch Sauron unawares – fair enough. But there are a ...
Last week, Kieran McAnulty called out Chris Bishop and Nicola Willis for their claims that Kāinga Ora’s costs were too high.They had claimed Kāinga Ora’s cost were 12% higher than market i.e. private devlopersBut Kāinga Ora’s Chair had already explained why last year:"We're not building to sell, so we'll be ...
Stuff’s Political Editor Luke Malpass - A Fellow at New Zealand IniativeLast week I half-joked that Stuff / The Post’s Luke Malpass1 always sounded like he was auditioning for a job at the New Zealand Initiative.Mountain Tui is a reader-supported publication. For a limited time, subscriptions are 20% off. Thanks ...
At a funeral on Friday, there were A4-sized photos covering every wall of the Dil’s reception lounge. There must have been 200 of them, telling the story in the usual way of the video reel but also, by enlargement, making it more possible to linger and step in.Our friend Nicky ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is methane the ...
The Government’s idea is that the private sector and Community Housing Providers will fund, build and operate new affordable housing to address our housing crisis. Meanwhile, the Government does not know where almost half of the 1,700 children who left emergency housing actually went. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong ...
Oh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youOh, home, let me come homeHome is wherever I'm with youSongwriters: Alexander Ebert / Jade Allyson CastrinosMorena,I’m on a tight time frame this morning. In about an hour and a half, I’ll need to pack up and hit the road ...
This is a post about the Mountain Tui substack, and small tweaks - further to the poll and request post the other day. Please don’t read if you aren’t interested in my personal matters. Thank you all.After oohing-and-aahing about how to structure the Substack model since November, including obtaining ...
This transcript of a recent conversation between the Prime Minister and his chief economic adviser has not been verified.We’ve announced we are the ‘Yes Government’. Do you like it?Yes, Prime Minister.Dreamed up by the PR team. It’s about being committed to growth. Not that the PR team know anything about ...
The other day, Australian Senator Nick McKim issued a warning in the Australian Parliement about the US’s descent into fascim.And of course it’s true, but I lament - that was true as soon as Trump won.What we see is now simply the reification of the intention, planning, and forces behind ...
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
Half of Pacific children sometimes going without food is just one of many heartbreaking lowlights in the Salvation Army’s annual State of the Nation report. ...
The Salvation Army’s State of the Nation report is a bleak indictment on the failure of Government to take steps to end poverty, with those on benefits, including their children, hit hardest. ...
New Zealand First has today introduced a Member’s Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities regarding the fluoridation of drinking water. The ‘Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill’ seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health ...
New Zealand First has introduced a Member’s Bill aimed at preventing banks from refusing their services to businesses because of the current “Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Framework”. “This Bill ensures fairness and prevents ESG standards from perpetuating woke ideology in the banking sector being driven by unelected, globalist, climate ...
Erica Stanford has reached peak shortsightedness if today’s announcement is anything to go by, picking apart immigration settings piece by piece to the detriment of the New Zealand economy. ...
Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. The intention was to establish a colony with the cession of sovereignty to the Crown, ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
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The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
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A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
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The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
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The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
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The courts should deal with illegal fishing, not the "court of public opinion", Shane Jones says, as he announces proposed changes to the Quota Management System. ...
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Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Cruel.
New Zealand prisons.
A lawyer is accusing the Corrections Department of breaking the law in submitting inmates to 100,000 strip searches a year.
Human rights lawyer Michael Bott said the Corrections Act Section 98 was clear that guards may strip search prisoners who were being moved around, but that it was discretionary.
Mr Bott said “The Department of Corrections is breaking the law, it’s not acting in accordance with the Act, it’s a discretion, an officer ‘may’. Since when in the English dictionary does the word ‘may’ mean ‘must’. It does become degrading because what they’re doing is, without cause, they’re making prisoners take their clothes off, squat, lift up their genitals, their breasts, parting their buttocks etcetera.
In 2006 the Court of Appeal said routine use of strip searches came close to degrading treatment under the Bill of Rights. The Law Society has said that strip searching is universally acknowledged, including in case law, to be “degrading and humiliating”.
A total 434,304 strip searches were carried out in the four years to mid 2015 and netted 675 items, or 0.15 percent. In the least successful month 11,863 searches discovered just one item of contraband.’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306970/corrections-strip-searches-'degrading'-lawyer
‘Overcrowding appears to have been behind a protest that resulted in this afternoon’s lockdown at Mt Eden Prison.
“With national prison numbers at a record high, the department was having to move prisoners regularly, she said.
“[The prisoners] were just objecting to the amount of movements that have been happening.”’
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/306936/'disorder-event'-at-mt-eden-prison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwkbmy_NcWU
By contrast, Norwegian prisons…….
Norway should be our model, and we must strenuously avoid the USA form of Democracy and Education and Security. Good stuff Paul.
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Uncaring.
New Zealand housing.
‘Mum shares state house garage in Manurewa with teen daughter.
Carla Peebles-Waara needs to find somewhere for her and her children to live and fast.
She’s staying in the garage of a relative’s Housing New Zealand property in Manurewa, south Auckland, while her application for a state house is processed.
Peebles-Waara sleeps in the garage with her 13-year-old daughter while her two youngest children, aged 12 and 10, use one of the bedrooms.
“We share the bed or pull out a mattress,” she says.
Peebles-Waara is originally from Coromandel but left the area due to conflict with extended family. She arrived with her children in Auckland 10 months ago.
The relative she’s staying with faces eviction unless Peebles-Waara and her children have moved out by June 24, she says.
“We have to stay here but if Housing NZ says my niece is going to be evicted then we will leave.
“I can’t take my kids and live in a car.
“I’ve thought about going to Bruce Pulman Park [in Takanini] and putting up a gazebo with everyone else but it’s not feasible.”
Peebles-Waara says it’s impossible to afford a private rental house in Auckland on her benefit.
Her first application to the Ministry of Social Development for a state house, made late last year, was declined. Her second was lost and she’s now waiting to hear back about the third.
Peebles-Waara says the hardest thing about sharing a home is the stress.
“The strain it puts on the family is tough. I do everything I can so we aren’t a burden.”
It’s been hard to find out what’s happening with her application and she plans to contact the ministry this week.
“I go to Housing NZ and they tell me to go to the ministry but then they say it’s up to Housing NZ. I can’t talk to anyone and no-one is in charge of my case. I don’t have time for that.”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/81289547/mum-shares-state-house-garage-in-manurewa-with-teen-daughter
By contrast, German housing…….
http://qz.com/167887/germany-has-one-of-the-worlds-lowest-homeownership-rates/
By contrast, Austrian and Singapore’s public housing systems…….
http://www.shareable.net/blog/public-housing-works-lessons-from-vienna-and-singapore
These people have to start squatting
very publicly
Pretty sure we don’t have squatters rights in our country – they call that Breaking and Entering.
Good post Paul ……………… wouldn’t it be great if we had a Government who actually looked around the world for things that actually work…….
Because we have the opposite. at the moment
Another day in John Key’s neo-liberal nightmare.
We have become a cruel, greedy, uncaring and selfish nation under his wretched leadership.
Greedy.
Companies that pay workers too little.
Power companies that charge too much.
‘Invercargill work hours dire for many who struggle in silence, says father.
Southland people are staunch and walk tall, but will struggle financially without speaking up, an Invercargill father says.
Invercargill residents Nathaniel and Kathrine Barrett, who work as chefs, are one of the reportedly increasing ‘middle-class poor’ families in Southland.
They are looking to relocate to Christchurch or Dunedin for better hours and pay.
Invercargill Salvation Army Invercargill Corps officer Annette Bray said the organisation was seeing a growing number of people coming to them for help.
“There’s a working class poor. More and more people are coming through.”
It could be that there were two family members working but together they didn’t have a full time job, Bray said.
“Twenty-five percent of people who come to us for help, somebody is working in the family.
“Probably in days gone by, if someone was working in the family they were doing pretty well. But these days it’s not enough.”
Nathaniel works about 20-25 hours a week, and Kathrine 30, but with restaurant clientele dwindling in the cold Invercargill winter they had fewer work hours.
In a typical week, Kathrine would earn about $400 and Nathaniel about $360.
Nathaniel said the Work and Income benefit had a $600 gross income cut-off point, which they earn above.
However, their weekly expenses topped $800………
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/80772395/invercargill-work-hours-dire-for-many-who-struggle-in-silence-says-father
By contrast, this is how Italian workers are treated.
Yep.
In NZ it is still cheaper for employers to pay the minimum wage than to keep slaves…
…. people should think on that
A Mayor who has the guts to admit that climate change is real, is vilified by residents of South Dunedin, who refuse to accept that the flooding events they have experienced will be repeated and worsen no matter what the council does.
Thinking that it will make a difference to their future, some of these residents have vowed to depose the Mayor because of his belief in climate change.
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/387568/anger-about-south-dunedins-future
South Dunedinites might just be joining the list
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/bring-climate-change-back-from-the-future/
But this sort of denial of reality is dwarfed by the New Zealand Green Party co-leaders, one who barely mentioned climate change in her Centrepiece Environmental Campaign Launch, and in fact has rarely ever spoken of it in her entire political career. And the other co-leader who in his speech imagined a future where New Zealanders holiday at beaches where the sea level remains unchanged. But doesn’t proposes one single concrete policy or program of how we get from the reality of sea level rise happening now, to his imagined world where it is, ‘not a problem’.
And who seem determined to maintain their policy of keeping debate about climate change out of the election campaign for a third straight election.
Despite this being the government’s worst performing portfolio* where the government could take some real hits.
Why?
I have been told by senior Green Party executive members that the reason is that the Green Party don’t want to raise contentious issues like climate change, is in case it imperils their newly signed MoU with the Labour Party.
And as we should all know by now, the Labour Party’s policy on climate change to all intents and purposes is little different to the government’s.
So what will be the result?
Climate change will not be addressed, again. No incoming government will have a mandate to act on it. And the residents of South Dunedin will be left, until they are literally wading in it.
But I suppose the good thing is that at least the issue of climate change may get a good thrashing in South Dunedin instead of being ignored everywhere else.
*(with the possible exception of housing).
Neoliberalism has destroyed democracy – by design.
We just get to pick the least bad option.
“I have been told by senior Green Party executive members that the reason is that the Green Party don’t want to raise contentious issues like climate change, is in case it imperils their newly signed MoU with the Labour Party.”
I happen to know that the statement above is complete and utter bullshit.
Really?
How so?
And might I also ask how you account for the Green Party’s ignoring of climate change as their leading environmental campaign, in favour of “Swimmable Rivers”?
Because believe me finding somewhere nice to have a swim will be the least of our problems.
Jenny, we had this same discussion with you day after day before the last election. If the Greens decide strategically that voters are more likely to engage with ‘swimmable rivers’ than something as huge (and still lied about) as ‘climate change’, then they are smart in their focus.
If you are that keen on only the one topic, by all means start your own single-issue party and contest the election. But please don’t waste oxygen in places like this.
+1
It’s also a lie that Jenny is telling that the GP are ignoring CC to focus instead on rivers (and as if those things are’t related anyway).
In fact I have done exactly this.
http://www.climate.org.nz/our-vision/
The Climate Party don’t want to win seats or get into parliament the purpose of the Climate Party is to raise the issue of climate change, when no one else will, to hold the other parties to account when they refuse to address the looming threat posed by climate change.
Strangely, (or maybe not so strangely) the majority of the members of the Climate Party are also current Green Party members frustrated at their own party’s unwillingness to front up on climate change.
For instance the Climate Party stood in the Northland by-election when the Greens refused to put up a candidate to challenge the Nats, Labour and NZ First over their support for climate destroying extreme fossil fuel technologies like deep sea oil drilling when the Green Party refused to.
http://www.climate.org.nz/
As well as standing in the upcoming local body elections, the Climate Party is also considering standing in any resulting Roskill by-election particularly if the Green Party again decide to go light on the contenders, all of whom support deep sea oil drilling BAU and all the rest of it.
But this is only one of the levers I am jumping up and down on.
To get them to move I am jumping up and down on all of them.
Anyone who knows the true portent of climate change and who is appalled at the lack of political will from our leaders to face up to it, could do no less.
Sascha I am sorry if you feel I am stealing your oxygen.
That suffocating feeling you are experiencing, might be from having to face up to some harsh truths that you would rather not.
Good on you.
While I think it is possible that Jenny has spoken to more than one senior GP exec, I tend to agree that she is misrepresenting the GP in that statement, not least because she’s been doing that for some time now.
Google tells me that in the past month alone the GP have said and done these things in relation to Climate Change,
James Shaw’s budget speech has a whole section on CC,
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1605/S00555/green-party-co-leader-james-shaws-2016-budget-speech.htm
A picture of Shaw and Little together at a Climate March in Auckland used in an article about the MoU,
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/305770/greens-and-labour-cement-plan-to-oust-national
Julie-Anne Genter on National’s roading plan and Climate Change,
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/305849/no-thought-given-to-pollution-in-new-road-plans-greens
Press Release on transport including climate,
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1606/S00142/national-spends-billions-driving-up-transport-pollution.htm
Transport policy coverage (climate change!),
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/80317784/Green-Party-transport-policy-Get-rid-of-trucks-move-freight-to-rail-and-sea
Greens on trade deals including climate,
http://www.voxy.co.nz/politics/5/254665
Andrew Little at GP AGM saying that a govt he led would be “world-leading” on climate change,
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/80751030/labourgreens-say-theyll-take-on-nationals-formidable-political-machine-at-greens-conference
Hague on CC and impacts on health,
http://www.nzdoctor.co.nz/blogs/2016/june-2016/01/minister-no-boy-scout-in-dealing-to-wide-ranging-health-effects-of-coming-climate-change.aspx
Press Release on ETS,
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO1605/S00387/scrapping-two-for-one-in-ets-not-enough-to-save-our-climate.htm
Press Relsease on GHG inventory,
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA1605/S00406/time-for-the-government-to-do-the-right-thing.htm
And so on. It’s ridiculous to claim that the GP have put CC on the back burner. Here’s the google list just for the past month (news in NZ on Green Party +climate)
https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=green+party+climate&num=100&cr=countryNZ&client=firefox-b&biw=1231&bih=695&tbs=ctr:countryNZ,qdr:m&tbm=nws&source=lnt&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMwtKKg7rNAhUEFpQKHWoxDxoQpwUIEw&dpr=1.33
Jenny like many of us you have a lot of passion about climate change, but you are basically telling lies about the GP. There are things they can be criticised for, but making out they are avoiding climate change is just plain wrong.
Anything about a timeframe phasing out the imports of petrol, diesel or gas.
You’d have to do that research yourself CV.
As far as I can tell we have ten or so years to avoid 3+ deg C global warming from becoming inevitable (2+ deg C being a done deal now), which at 430ppm can be considered a dead certainty a couple of decades down the track.
This means in the next couple of years, slashing the numbers of commercial flights, slashing numbers of cars on the road, slashing back livestock herd numbers, slashing imports of energy, slashing the use of road freight.
So I am looking for concrete steps, not just market mechanisms, or just measuring how deep in the hole we are.
I look forward to hearing your proposals and strategy CV.
There are a bunch of proposals right there in my comment.
That’s all they need to propose to get your vote, eh?
Good-oh.
Some days you want parties on the Left to try to get elected, other days you want them to promise bringing about a two-year energy, regional, and transport collapse.
Who said about getting any votes. I’m just talking about what steps are required to save the nation from sinking under multi metre sea level rise by the time today’s school kids retire.
With an eye to getting elected, are you suggesting political pragmatism by a vocal minority on the left is being substituted by throwaway, lack of substance, la la land, that’ll show the other 99% who means business, wishful thinking rhetoric? lol
Yes. that’s your topic for today.
I was meaning in terms of things getting done e.g. the concrete steps. They’re good ideas, and now we need to work on the how.
For instance, I think one good way to get dairying reigned in is to get the Greens with more MPs and in govt. It’s a reasonably high priority for them (reducing dairying), and it has a lot of support nationally. In addition to that, and more difficult, is getting good people standing for regional councils and then getting people to vote for them. Lots of other things that can be done too, and IMO need to be done alongside the general changing of the culture.
etc. We know what needs to be done. We’re not so clear on how to proceed.
To be fair, I don’t think “get the Greens elected” is really any more of a concrete step than what CV said to begin with.
But if asked I can say here are the things we can do, x, y, z that help the GP get more MPs in parliament.
I see a lot of people saying a, b, c is what should happen without thinking past that point. Which is fine, we need people who can recognise what should happen. But we also need people who can actually makes things happen and the GP happen to be some of them. Jenny telling lies about the GP, I just don’t see the use in that, or the strategy or what she hopes to achieve.
Really think we can get the greater population to take any action on climate change CV, when they are all so wound up making a dollar ignoring it.
I think it’s banging our head against a brick wall to get all those self absorbed people to take action themselves, there is probably an acronym for everyone expecting either the government to save their asses or the neighbour doing it for them.
The land of Apathy.
I have a suspicion that 10% to 15% of the population is at least partly open to Major Change.
“The land of Apathy.”
It may of been different if we hadn’t had 7 years the of useless spinless kind of government we’ve had.
Keys greatest legacy is the fact he didn’t use his incredible popularity to lead this country down a sustainable path. Shame on him.
Well the point I was making is it has been the worst time ever, with crap that wasn’t near tolerated before, and not a decent protest in sight.
To Me Minto was the activist side of politics, and a bloody good protest organizer.
Where is he now, oh Mana
Thanks for the comprehensive list weka.
There are number of things I’ve heard lately that give me some new found confidence that Lab/Green together are serious about CC. Little’s speech at the Green Party conf for one – that was a no nonsense reference to CC action and the first time I’ve been reassured about the Labour view to CC.
Then quite some time ago Julie Anne Genter and Grant Roberston were on the panel of Backbenchers. Can’t remember the National MP, it was a male. He was useless on all the CC questions, as you could expect but GR and JAG were on fire. It was some before the announcement of MoU but GR and JAG were clearly on the same page about working on CC action if they were in the next govt together.
This is clearly something they have discussed and have agreed upon.
We may not always get the messages that fit exactly with our unique views and may not always get the answers we want to satisfy our own particular questions, but looking at the bigger picture, it looks like we’re on the right track if we are to do anything about CC mitigation.
All we need to do if change the government and not get hung up about the little things.
Good to hear about JAG and GR! I have the sense that good things are happening and that we need to allow them time to build this. I agree about not getting hung up on our individual views and what we think should happen, but to focus on supporting the stuff that is working in the right direction.
I find it interesting that some people don’t see the advantage in having a L/G govt, as if the only good solution is the revolution. I’m not waiting for the revolution, I want us to do everything we can now.
I’m expecting that people will be going through various levels of pretty uncomfortable emotions e.g. fear about climate change. That will make us at times act in ways that are contrary to our best interests.
I thought the revolution was going to arrive in 2011 on the back of the Occupy Movement. Ha ha! Hindsight and all that……………..
Since then I see revolution in every day achievements, like encouraging your neighbour to see the environmental benefit and convenience on catching the bus to work and leaving their gas guzzler SUV at home in the garage.
Sounds corny, be WE can be and are the revolution – don’t leave that to the Politicians, god knows where that would leave us.(Rogernomics was a revolution) Instead encourage and support our parties that have a vision and progressive ideas and help them get us all there.
I agree. And Occupy was revolutionary. Because now there is a whole new swathe of people in the US politicised around what’s really going on. That’s invaluable. We’re just looking at it in too short a time frame. If Rogernomics took a decade and they had all that power and resource available to them, I think we can allow that it might take grassroots longer.
QFT
The thing is Rosie, that the political pressure not to raise climate change in the elections is starting to come on now, and will get even stronger as we get towards the electioneering period.
Voices inside the Green Party very strong on climate change like Gareth Hughes for instance were sidelined and pretty much effectively silenced at the last elections.
It will happen again with Julian Genter in the GP, and Grant Robertson in the LP.
Will these two if they are “on fire” as you say, have the courage and determination push past this suffocating influence?
I expect that to do so, they will both have to be more than outspoken, to be able to take on their party machines which are intent on playing down this issue.
In fact they will have to do a Winston Churchill.
Churchill was a backbench Independent MP ignored and villified for his constant harping on about the nazis threat, but who refused to shut up and sit down, and take his place and wait his turn.
To get climate change a hearing in 2017 GR and Jag (as you call them) will need that same determined pugnacious bulldog spirit on climate change, that is if they want to achieve a breakthrough on climate change.
They will need to defy the conservative voices in their own parties, terrified of offending the establishment and the keepers of “accepted political wisdom”.
The first thing both need to do if they are serious, is to get climate change debated in the house. If they are really serious about climate change they need to putup some private members bills on climate change to go into the ballot. Though this is their legal right, they will need to oppose their party hierarchies to do so.
For instance:
The Green Party say, that they are opposed to the pollution trading scheme known as the ETS, and want it scrapped. A bill to repeal the ETS, if it was drawn from the ballot, would be a good start in getting the ball rolling in starting a national debate on climate change. And for the burning need to take proper serious action.
Who knows? it may even pass. On the Right, both NZ First and the ACT Party say they want the ETS scrapped.
The only defenders of pollution trading in parliament are the National and Labour Parties.
If Grant Robertson is genuine in his concern about climate change, just like Churchill, he would be loudly demanding and lobbying inside the Labour for Labour to join the rest of the opposition to carry a members bill to repeal the ETS.
Without the fig leaf of this provenly fraudulent pollution trading scheme, the National government would be left naked in front of the world community for not meeting their international obligations that they signed up to in Paris to do something about climate change. And might even be forced to take some proper more effective action.
Would Genter and Robertson be prepared to rock the boat in such a manner?
Time will tell.
My guess is no, and that like many before them, they will buckle under the pressure and shut up. And sit down and do what they are told.
The above strategy is only a suggestion, there are a number of other bills around the issue of climate change that could start the debate on climate change in the House and nationally.
(To keep the political silence, I have been assured that no Private Members bills on climate change by MPs from either party will be allowed to be put in the ballot leading up to the election.)
@ weka 4.2.2
My that is an impressive list of links. You almost had me convinced. Except for one thing. There is a big difference about talking about climate change and actually doing something about it.
The most interesting link from your list, was from the Green Party AGM. And that link was to a speech given by…. wait for it…..
Andrew Little the leader of the Labour Party.
And it was indeed far and away the best speech of the Green Party AGM, and Little actually said that he was going to do something about climate change, make this country a world leader on climate change.
This would have been the perfect opportunity for the Green Party to take Andrew Little at his word and put up some policy for addressing climate change.
The Green Party instead announced that they will be campaigning about making our rivers swimmable again. And that this will be their “Centrepiece Environmental Campaign”. Overall Andrew LIttle mentioned climate change more times than both the Green Party co-leaders combined.
‘Swimmable Rivers’ is nice but not much use without a ‘Survivable Climate’
Warm air holds more moisture, climate fuelled super storms and unprecedented rain events will turn any sizeable river into a deadly muddy torrents that will destroy any water treatment infrastructure on their banks.
Andrew Little must be wondering whether he made the right decision to talk about climate change so much, when the Green Party seem determined not to campaign on it.
The intent and direction is clear.
At the last election the political parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to discuss climate change.
Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.
http://www.climatevoter.org.nz/
The “Climate Voter” petition collected over 63 thousand names before the political parties agreed to discuss climate change.
It will be interesting to see whether under the leadership of Russell Norman, Greenpeace will again run another “Climate Voter” petition.
Unfortunately despite their success in getting the political parties to debate climate change, the Greenpeace initiated debate was not carried on any MSM channel and could only be viewed on the internet. And only by those aware of it.
Maybe this time climate change might be one of the topics of the MSM televised debates.
But, I don’t think so.
But, I could be wrong. The affects are becoming more apparent. And it is becoming harder to maintain the silence.
“Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.”
Citation needed for the claim that all parties were refusing to talk about climate change before the Greenpeace initiative and had to be forced to debate the topic. Better be good Jenny or I’ll be calling you a liar from now on.
Is this a joke?
As well as insulting all those who fought to get climate change debated in the last election.
Weka asks me to provide a citation for something that didn’t happen, or he will call me a liar from now on.
How can I provide a citation for something that didn’t happen?
I may be good, but I am not that good.
Maybe Weka might like to explain how I could possibly do that.
Maybe his next challenge will be for me to find some unicorn horn, or rocking horse shit.
I’ll tell you what, instead of me trying to prove a nullity,
How about this. Weka, instead of me trying to find evidence of things that don’t exist, I challenge you to name something you claim does exist.
Can you name just one other debate on climate change, between the political parties at the last election?
I’ll make it easy for you, I won’t even demand that you provide a citation.
P.S.
Weka, for you to label me “a liar from now on”, for not being able to do the impossible, in my humble opinion, says more about you, than me.
If you try it, I will definitely be asking you for a citation with evidence to prove your accusation that I am a liar. Needless for me to say, what people will think of you if you can’t provide such proof.
Maybe I am being a bit harsh, and people really are starting to create citations for things that don’t happen.
Nothing happened today. Here is the citation. ( ……… )
“If you try it, I will definitely be asking you for a citation with evidence to prove your accusation that I am a liar. Needless for me to say, what people will think of you if you can’t provide such proof.”
You said,
At the last election the political parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to discuss climate change.
Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.
That in context above is a statement that political parties were not willing to debate climate change until Greenpeace forced them to. It’s a lie (I looked, the Greens announced their climate change policy before the Climate Voter thing), so yes I call you a liar.
I will do this each time you spam the site with misleading statements about the Greens (and probably Labour if I see those too) that you can’t back up with evidence. If you don’t want this to happen I suggest that you think about how you present your ideas and start expressing your opinions as opinions instead of statements of fact.
edit,
GP climate policy launch 1/6/14
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/10108920/Greens-launch-climate-change-policy
Greenpeace Climate debate 3/9/14
http://www.climatevoter.org.nz/debate/
Weka asks me to prove something that didn’t happen, ie that the political parties didn’t have any other debates about climate change. This demand to provide evidence that these debates didn’t happen is accompanied with a threat to slander me if I can’t provide evidence of something that didn’t happen. I pondered this illogical demand, and asked instead that Weka give evidence of these other election debates on climate change.
Weka doesn’t do this, instead offers up something else entirely.
Jenny said: “Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.”
And provided a link.
http://www.climatevoter.org.nz/
Weka said: “(I looked, the Greens announced their climate change policy before the Climate Voter thing), so yes I call you a liar.”
I am sure that all the political parties released their climate change policy, somewhere before, or during the election, in some form or other. This is not the same as being willing to debate the topic. Or be willing to make climate change an election issue.
And we are again seeing early signs of this, with the Greens announcing that their “Centrepiece Environmental Campaign”, Will be “Swimmable Rivers” and barely mentioned climate change.
The early signs are that 2017 will be a rerun of 2014 as far as the climate goes. And that the political parties will be just as reluctant to debate this issue, unless they are forced to.
And that climate change will again not be an election issue.
Despite it being one of the Government’s weakest performing portfolios, where they could take some real hits.
Despite climate change being one of the greatest catastrophes ever faced by humanity.
Instead for the second time, it again looks as if the government will be given a free pass on this issue by the opposition parties.
And Business As Usual will continue untroubled for another three years. Three years we haven’t got to waste.
“Weka asks me to prove something that didn’t happen, ie that the political parties didn’t have any other debates about climate change.”
You didn’t say that Jenny. You said,
At the last election the political parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to discuss climate change.
Greenpeace, (in a departure from their usual policy to not become involved in politics), had to run a “Climate Voter” petition to force the political parties to debate climate change.
“Parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to discuss CC”
“Parties didn’t have any other debates about CC”
They’re not the same thing. You lied before and now you are lying again about what you said.
I am sure that all the political parties released their climate change policy, somewhere before, or during the election, in some form or other. This is not the same as being willing to debate the topic. Or be willing to make climate change an election issue.
Actually it is. It’s what political parties do. On the other hand, if you have evidence that say the Greens deliberately avoided talking about CC and refused to debate either formally or generally, by all means post it. Otherwise I will call you a liar again.
July 28: The Politics of Climate Change. An Election Debate
Hon. Dr. David Clark (Labour Party) and Hon. Metiria Turei (Green Party) will be discussing their parties’ stance on climate change, and their strategies and policies to mitigate and adapt to climate change in New Zealand.
http://www.otago.ac.nz/occnet/news/seminars/
Stop telling lies Jenny. Tell the GP and everyone here that you want them to speak louder and stronger and take more action on CC, but stop telling lies about them, it’s not necessary.
Hi Weka from the link you gave; The climate policy launch was on the 1st of July, and not during the election campaign.
Weka can you provide anything, about climate change (outside of the “Climate Voter” debate) from any of the parties during the election period itself?
Weka you may argue that I am being pedantic about the dates; But there was a reason that the “Climate Voter Campaign” became necessary during the election itself.
Of particular note from the article you linked to, was the attached poll on whether people supported the Green Party idea of a carbon tax, or not.
Interestingly, if the people who supported the carbon tax, were added to the people who wanted more information, in effect if the Green Party had given a further lead, they could have won this debate.
But this was never followed up during the election campaign proper. Why not?
But they never heard about it again.
It is my contention that it is leadership on climate change that was missing during the election campaign itself.
Weka do you still deny this?
Will there be another climate policy launch by the Green Party before the 2017 election?
Will it be followed up during the election?
Weka will the “Swimmable Rivers” Centrepiece Campaign launch be followed by a Climate Policy Campaign Launch?
By the tone and language of your attacks, I am guessing not.
But it is still early days, and a lot of water has to go under the bridge yet.
And hopefully I will be proved wrong. Time, as they say, will tell.
Jenny is a lying liar who lies. Don’t let up now Weka your hysteria is starting to show.
Instead of digging a deeper hole for yourself, how about answering the question.
Jenny you claimed that all the political parties had to be dragged kicking and screaming to a debate about climate change. It was a lie.
I can keep putting up links that demonstrate that the GP was working on CC issues during the campaign, even though they weren’t working on that in the way you thought was necessary. But it won’t change the basic facts that you actively tell lies about the GP (and others) in your attempt to make CC more visible and to get more people to act. I think your strategy is counter-productive, so I will just keep naming the lies as I see them. I’m more than happy for people to look at our respective arguments and reach their own conclusions accordingly.
I look forward to seeing these links.
You can deflect and avoid all you like Jenny, but I’ve called you out as a liar and provided evidence.
The intent and direction is clear.
And is part of a repeated pattern.
Rather than debate the reasons why “Swimmable Rivers” has been made a “Centrepiece Campaign” and climate change has not.
weka deliberately chooses to deny the reality, that “Swimmable Rivers” has been favoured over climate change as the Green Party “Centrepiece Campaign”.
Instead of trying to explain the reasons behind this decision
Hysterical abuse and slander by weka, on no evidence, only highlights weka’s inability to defend the Green Party’s decision.
Still waiting…..
My fear weka is that the perverse climate change ignoring that I noted by the Green Party at the last election, in light of the obvious worsening of the problem, will be even more grotesque than last time.
Death by climate change
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deadly-degrees-why-heat-waves-kill-so-quickly/
+100 …lovely thanks…well worth reading…personally I would prefer death by freezing or ICE AGE..but I guess we are not going to get the choice…
…however on a brighter note…maybe viruses and antibiotic resistant bacteria will get most of us first and call a halt to global warming …could even end laissez faire neolib capitalism
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/11/antibiotics-drug-resistance-is-not-theoretical-threat-real-immediate
http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/antibiotic-resistant-bacteria-is-medicines-global-warming
http://www.salon.com/2014/05/22/scientists_antibiotic_resistant_superbugs_are_as_big_a_threat_as_climate_change/
South Florida and South Dunedin united in denial.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/seas-rising-but-florida-keeps-building-on-the-coast/
A Key inspired Toll on Auckland highways is a fantastic idea, and will remind Auckland drivers every day to vote Key out ext year.
It will save Labour a fortune in election advertising.
The wealthy live in the inner city suburbs and will pay less.
The middle and working class, commuting from west and South Auckland, will pay most of this tax.
Simpler and fairer:
Make public transport free.
Build more buses and trains and railtracks.
Build more quality high density housing on onner city suburbs.
Build them in New Zealand.
Start apprenticeships in the relevant industries.
Tolled roads In Auckland will add more inequalities to our already inequitable country. Tolls are not fair to the poor especially the working poor. If they do toll the roads there needs to be alternative options other wise we will see more NZ families/people living in cars.
“And as we should all know by now, the Labour Party’s policy on climate change to all intents and purposes is little different to the government’s.”
This comment by Jenny @ 4 above is also utter bullshit.
In fact, Jenny (whoever you are), you are constantly misquoting Labour, and its about time you had a good look through Labour’s policies that have been announced, the Future of Work commission, and the Policy Platform before you start mouthing off about Labour’s inadequacies.
For the record :
1. The Government must act urgently on climate change in the wake of the Royal Society’s report released today, says Labour’s Climate Change Spokesperson Megan Woods. Media Release 19 April 2016
“Amongst other climate related threats, New Zealand is facing a rise in sea levels of between 30 centimetres and 1.1 metres in the next 100 years while the Government continues to sit on its hands….”
2.Labour’s ‘Future of Work’ programme is part of the answer to a transition into such an economy.
☐ Supporting the creation of cooperatives that would help build a more sustainable economy
☐ Investing in low carbon and environmentally sustaining projects
We have ten to fifteen years to cut our GHG emissions to near zero Jenny. We have already guaranteed ourselves a 2 deg C to 3 deg C global temp rise in the next 20 years, and we are on track for a 5+ deg C rise this century.
Which means sea level rise could be 6m this century (half from the West Antarctic and half from Greenland).
I should say that Labour’s future of work programme is looking like nothing more than another effort at pretend and extend. It will pretend that economic growth is just around the corner, and it will extend the economic status quo wherever possible.
“This comment by Jenny @ 4 above is also utter bullshit.”
She’s been telling lies about the GP as well. I guess she is expressing her opinion (that there is not enough difference between L and N on CC), but she does then tend to use some pretty long winded ways to express that that too often are misleading. I have no idea what her strategy is given that Labour are moving slowly in the right direction and are more likely to move faster if encouraged. As is often the case, people who want to knock allies down don’t usually have anything better to put in place.
I can think of about ten regular commenters here who are so extreme they don’t fit into any political party in Parliament now or last time.
They are entitled to speak, and entitled to be schooled.
I’d have less of a problem with Jenny’s comments if they were expressed as opinion. The deceitful stuff takes time to address, time I’d rather spend on other things.
This really is a u-turn government:
Mining in the National Parks
Raising GST
Tolls on Auckland roads
I know there are many more that don’t come to mind-anyone like to add to the list?
Still the most popular PM in NZ History, either the polls are rigged or we really are not thinking straight, his forex trading and profit making ability in the merchant banking industry haven’t been transferred over into the performance of the NZ Economy which most voters thought would be the case.
Nats 43% and falling in that last Roy Morgan-they are gone Jack.
NZF and Winston are in charge now, as the king makers.
+100 CV
If I were Winston I would entrench the power of the minor parties by insisting on a Fixed Term Parliaments Act.
what is that?
http://thestandard.org.nz/welsh-assembly/
thanx for the link and conclusion
…”In terms of NZ, our parliamentarians need to stop playing silly buggers; trying to shove the round peg of mmp into the square hole of fpp is an exercise of frustrating stupidity that’s delivering something far less democratic than NZ deserves.
( the Labour Party seems to be a slow learner…they will never win a FPP Election again)
Now about Hillary…Hillary Clinton exposed…and Hillary in foreign affairs aint pretty ( in fact it is pretty awful!)
‘Hacker ‘Guccifer 2.0′ publishes DNC campaign docs with strategies for defending Clinton’
https://www.rt.com/usa/347681-guccifer-clinton-dnc-defense/
Would you be so positively gleeful had the NSA led an assault on the Green party?.
/
http://www.neowin.net/news/the-russian-government-hacked-the-dnc-after-all
?
Joe90 is losing the plot. He thinks the powerful elite deserve to be able to hide the truth from us.
+100…have to agree…yup and it is more about what Hillary’s emails reveal about her and her friends war crimes foreign affairs …than about the actual hacking itself…
…and absolutely no one can even remotely accuse the Greens of indulging in this sort of disgraceful invasion and destruction of sovereign nations in the Middle East…so the analogy is totally misleading
btw doesnt NSA spy/hack everything anyway with this jonkey nacts government’s conivance and the Labour Party’s agreement….Foreign Spy Bill and all that …so NSA is probably spying on the Greens anyway!
I note the ‘Get Rid of Hosking’ petition now has 15,500 signatures
https://www.change.org/p/tvnz-get-rid-of-hosking-1347aa6d-8044-4a33-ba59-7fe0a5dba42b
To paraphrase Nick Smith’s rational for sacking the elected ECAN board….
the State funded Hosking has now become a “dysfunctional mess”.
Perhaps he could be replaced by a commissioner.
Stop showering so damn much
It appears washing and using soap extensively may actually be the cause of bad BO.
The complete rebuttal in two words: teenage boys.
lol
Read somewhere that ocean sailors limited in fresh water, seldom washed and after a while the bacteria settled down and the sailors became odorless.
In swimming pools the smell of chlorine is because there is too little and the bacteria are only partly broken down. Therefore extra chlorine is needed to break through.
Not the same thing but misunderstanding occurs with both scenarios.
Sailors can wash with salt water.
And apparently submarines got pretty stinky in the old days…
This is pretty annoying. If you want donations then at least put up a givealittle page and ask the reporter to link to it.
Article is from a month back (so a month has been wasted). New article in stuff today. They only need $14K.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/79817574/medical-equipment-donated-from-nelson-to-help-diabe
New immigrants. I hope that they do the job without unforeseen consequences. WASPs I might tolerate- a not psyllid idea.
https://nz.news.yahoo.com/top-stories/a/31889069/wasp-brought-in-to-curb-plant-pests/#page1
‘Trump backs Brexit, urges Europeans to ‘reconsider’ EU membership’
https://www.rt.com/uk/347726-trump-brexit-referendum-eu/
“A Trump spokesperson has reaffirmed the presumptive Republican nominee’s support for a Brexit, claiming he is “very much in favor of countries doing what is best for them and their people…
…”Trump is one of the few voices in US politics on either side of the aisle who has spoken out in favor of a Brexit. His Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has voiced support for the Remain campaign. Clinton’s top policy adviser told the Observer in April: “She has always valued a strong United Kingdom in a strong EU. And she values a strong British voice in the EU.”
READ MORE: Obama’s ‘misguided’ EU referendum intervention threatens UK sovereignty, say US lawmakers
https://www.rt.com/uk/347463-republican-congressmen-brexit-obama/
Three republican senators have condemned President Barack Obama’s intervention in the Brexit debate.
During a visit timed to coincide with Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday earlier this year, Obama warned the United States would be in no hurry to agree a bilateral trade deal if Britain was no longer in the EU…