Just Harry and one ex-MP held out and forced Murdoch's group to apologise.
For every foreign correspondent moral star like Robert Kapan and Robert Pilger and Carl Bernstein, there are thousands and thousands of reporters working to rip the guts out of your privacy and your family, for year upon year upon year.
Thankfully I don't need to welcome the death of network news when it's well on its way.
The two are now calling for a police and parliamentary investigation into “not only the unlawful activity now finally admitted, but the perjury and cover-ups along the way”, their legal counsel, David Sherborne, said in a statement outside court.
“Today the lies are laid bare. Today, the cover-ups are exposed. And today proves that no one stands above the law. The time for accountability has arrived,” Sherborne said.
Congratulations to Lord Watson and Prince Harry. They deserve the accolades.
Something a bit similar was going on in NZ during the Muldoon years in particular. It was nothing like to the same degree, but sufficient to destroy the reputations of numerous people. There was also a cover-up of course.
I read Harry's book 'Spare'. His ghost-writer, who helped Agassi in his bio, writes about the sheer media crap around producing the book, and has said he enjoyed working with Harry, and respected him as a person. The Spare stuff is about halfway through the article. Murdoch's press has an enormous responsibility for much of the shit that followed, and still follows Harry, who seems like a nice, friendly person, based on his own words.
Referencing Trump’s belief that he was saved by God from assassination, the Right Reverend Mariann Budde said, “You have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now.”
What the…unbelievable, apology requested by Trump from a Bishop for stating the obvious–but then not unlikely at all–the US is an actual authoritarian state at the moment as millions of very worried Americans probably realise. They are being told who they can be, gays, trans, and half the population (women) are under attack from the fundamentalists. Handmaids Tale scenarios are well underway.
Hope enough can hang in for the mid terms, though more gerrymandering and voter suppression will no doubt be underway right now to negate voting.
What few seem to have noticed is that the Republican HOR majority was reduced from 9 to 5 in the election. The Democrats could easily take this in 2 years which would help stymie Trump.
(And as I keep posting Trump won 49.9 to 48.4….he is not that loved in the USA.)
My guess is they will be looking forward to going back to owning slaves. We shouldn't be underestimating just how bad this political shift in the US is.
And in Australia, the government thinks that vandalism and car fires in the last week, aimed at jewish organisations and the homes of those heading pro-Israel organisations, could be the work of 'paid actors'.
"Could be" is def grounds for investigation which may lead further evidence…or not. If there is coordination in the attacks then they need to arrest or deport perps.
Although the crimes caused damage to property, they seem to be about intimidation rather than attacks aginst people. There looked no attempt at arson of buildings, just car fires.
So, therefore, apart from the racist nature of the attacks, I'd be careful about whether the vandals deserve deportation. And even question whether it is truly terrorism.
After all, Oz is the country where youtuber Friendly Jordies, who exposed 'Pork Barillaro' as a corrupt NSW Liberal politician, had his home firebombed after Barillaro lost his seat.
BREAKING: In a new executive order sent out by the White House, Donald Trump has revoked the federal contractor nondiscrimination executive order, EO 11246, that was signed by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 and has protected employees of businesses seeking federal contracts from discrimination ever since.
Revocation of Executive Order 11246. The Order revokes Executive Order 11246 of September 24, 1965—the longstanding order that prohibits discrimination in federal contracting and requires federal contractors to develop affirmative action plans and ensure equal opportunity.5 Contractors “may continue to comply” with Executive Order 11246 and its existing regulatory framework for 90 days from January 20, 2025.
JINSAFUT, West Bank (AP) — Shortly after suspected Jewish settlers stormed Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank late Monday, setting cars and property ablaze, U.S. President Donald Trump canceled sanctions against Israelis accused of violence in the territory.
[…]
Biden’s executive order against the settlers marked a rare break with America’s closest Middle East ally, and signaled his frustration with what critics say is Israel’s leniency in dealing with violent settlers.
Rights groups say that impunity has deepened since Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz exempted settlers from what is known as administrative detention — Israel’s practice of detaining individuals on security grounds without charge or trial — which is routinely used against Palestinians.
Katz, who freed all Israelis held in administrative detention just last week, said those behind Monday’s attack should be held accountable in Israel’s more transparent criminal justice system.
Palestinian residents, meanwhile, are tried in Israeli military courts.
Because what the world really needs is a resumption of open air nuclear testing!
/
Stephen Schwartz
@atomicanalyst.bsky.social
The Heritage Foundation’s Bob Peters now recommends that if the US cannot develop the ability to conduct an underground nuclear test in Nevada within 3-6 months of an order to do so, it consider withdrawing from the 1962 Limited Test Ban Treaty and resuming open-air testing in Nevada or the Pacific.
Congratulations to the First "female" President, Donald Trump:
Did Trump define all Americans as women?
According to his executive order, "female” means a person belonging at conception to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell, whereas "male” means a person belonging at conception to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.
Biologically, however, all fetuses at conception are female until about six or seven weeks of gestation.
The sexual organs (gonads) of a fetus remain undifferentiated up until this point, meaning that all fetal genitalia are female until 6-7 weeks post conception.
or
"During early development the gonads of the fetus remain undifferentiated; that is, all fetal genitalia are the same and are phenotypically female." – this is logically incoherent. Undifferentiated genitalia are not phenotypically female, they are undifferentiated.
There was some dispute about the application of the science online. Some users raised the issue that the order discusses 'large reproductive cells' vs 'small reproductive cells,' referring to eggs and sperm. It does not allude to x and y chromosomes, or genitals.
Scientifically, since no fetus has egg or sperm cells at conception, the order could also mean that no-one has a gender.
The point being, in 'clarifying' Trump and his ilk only demonstrate a lack of biological and linguistic understanding as does quoting a fellow traveller to prove your own point. Zachary Elliot, founder of the Paradox Institute.
But the EO doesn't say that a foetus has egg or sperm cells at conception. It says that at conception females belong to the sex that produces large reproductive cells. So, it can mean, as I understand it, that the sex is already encoded in an embryo's DNA at conception.
Female foetus's start producing eggs in utero, so that must surely come from their DNA code….?
There was some dispute about the application of the science online. Some users raised the issue that the order discusses 'large reproductive cells' vs 'small reproductive cells,' referring to eggs and sperm. It does not allude to x and y chromosomes, or genitals.
Scientifically, since no fetus has egg or sperm cells at conception, the order could also mean that no-one has a gender.
Good lord, who wrote that hot mess?
I mean, ffs, the reason there are no eggs because at conception there are no ovaries.
They patently don't understand the EO nor what the gender critical argument even is.
Let me spell it out, again. Humans reproduce via the sex binary. There are only two sexes: female and male. There is no third sex. It's not possible for conception to occur without those two sexes, and there is no other sex that can be combined to take part in that process. Why is this so hard to understand?
What the JP staff appear to be doing is trying to define sex as how individuals vary according to chromosomes and genitalia (how very neoliberal of them). But whatever configuration any individual has, they are still either female or male, or have a DSD and are still either female or male. Again, there is no third sex, and there is no in between sex that can somehow help make a baby ('intersex' is a misnomer, Differences of Sexual Development is clearer).
This is very basic science, and it's been well canvassed in GC debates.
Also worth pointing out that there are progressives who hold a progressive view on sex being binary, which is quite different from the conservative view. The GC feminist view for instance, says gender non-conformity (eg being trans, or having a DSD, but not limited to those) is normal and should be treated as normal in society. Understanding the sex binary and supporting the rights of GNC people are completely compatible. Bearing in mind that many of the rational and progressive GC people are GNC lesbians.
That I agree with. But it really does highlight the difficulties of writing language about biological gender into legislative instruments.
I am just glad that in NZ, the legislation has only a few very residual attempts to map a rapidly changing biological sciences into legislation. Because otherwise they'd wind up with this kind of fugwittery as well.
Someone should point this out to the people who'd like to change our legislation and policies for similar social reasons.
Why do you think I keep asking to see draft attempts at legislation – because I think that what the NZWP talk about as (largely undefined) objectives about will look very similar. A gaping void of clear thinking will typically result in rat ship legislative results – just like this.
Sure, and I think having the NZ context made more clear in respect of law would be excellent. It is a large amount of work and complex.
Sisterhood is global, so feminists are always going to be looking at what is happening internationally, because we care about what happens to women in other countries, and because their experiences do in fact inform our politics here. Just like with the labour movement's grounding in international perspectives.
I probably know more about the UK situation than I do the NZ law, because in the UK grass roots feminists have been working on this for more than a decade. Substantial, policy and law changing work.
When I've look at various NZ legislation at different times, I see much confusion around the terms sex and gender, with the term gender being used for sex or gender identity. This is a problem and from memory law makers have acknowledged this but it hasn't been resolved. It's a hang over from the time before gender identity culture, when 'gender' was often used to means 'sex'. Gender Identity activists would push to remove biological sex, GC feminists would push to have biological sex established in law (before it was just inherently understood)
The social side is of paramount importance, because the shift away from women's spaces for instance, has been a large social shift in a short space of time with inadequate public discussion. That's why there is a backlash against trans people. The right have jumped on this of course, and the liberal left still largely insists on No Debate, so we don't get the kind of progressive resolution that will work across mainstream NZ. That's very unhelpful.
As an example, it appears that Rape Crisis organisations in NZ no longer provide single sex services. I say appears because I am going off the Dunedin website, and No Debate means there isn't really any public discussion about this.
What should have happened is RC retained its female only spaces/services, and added in spaces/services designed for trans women and trans men. Instead we have a situation where a woman who has just been raped can't know if she can access services from other women or not.
I may be wrong about the service delivery, it may be that the Dndn RC website reads like it does because that's how you get funding now (mixed sex services), and in reality they still offer single sex services. But women in need cannot tell from looking at the website. That's appalling.
In the UK there are now places where there are no female only RC services. None. There is a woman taking one RC service to court because she couldn't access female only services. She wasn't saying ban trans people, she was saying provide parallel services. She wants trans women to have access to services as well. But in the current social climate, providing female only RC services is considered transphobic because trans women feel excluded. Not because there aren't any services for them, but because some TW simple cannot stand the idea that women have our own needs. This is highly ideological, and it's why the social side is just as important at the legal side.
There is another case in the UK where a RC worker took her employer to court and won. From memory she was dismissed for raising single sex issues at work. This is where we are at in the UK, women having to take orgs like RC to court. It's bizarre.
Happy to provide some reading on both those cases from legal and feminist perspectives, just running a bit short of time this morning.
I don't know if in NZ the solution is legislative or social or both. The biggest problem we have is No Debate, which means having these conversations in an even handed way is almost impossible.
I have heard that some NZ rape crises services accept males but put them up in motels and don't house them with women survivors. Don't know how true that is.
I think the solution includes legal, public policy, more open public discussion of the issues, an end to the anti-democratic, suppression of critique.
Google search by site returns no results for the word "women" for the whole site.
Here's the list of services, all of these should include the option of female only (no male clients or staff present).
Crisis Support – includes police interviews, forensic exams, connecting with other supports/resources and developing coping strategies to manage the impacts of trauma.
Court Support – this specialised service provides wrap around support for survivors and their supporters to navigate court trials, victim impact statements, restorative justice, meetings with police, crown prosecutors, and to connect to therapeutic supports as needed before, during and after criminal justice events.
Therapeutic Groups – Please speak to one of our team to learn more.
Education – We provide specialised sexual violence prevention education programmes for young people aged 14 years and over. We also provide advice and training to other professionals.
24/7 Crisis support is available for acute cases via the police or Sexual Assault Assessment Treatment Service, who will contact our on-call crisis service if they determine immediate support is needed
I will be utterly un-surprised if there is connection between that in 2022 and the 'rebranding' in 2019, because poor understanding of boundaries is a feature of gender identity ideology.
Apparently it was a lawyer from a right-leaning group: Independent Women's Forum and White House attorney, and a White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor. As I recall, none of these are viewed very favourably by left wing gender critical feminists I know.
I do think recent political and social policy developments mean we need to somehow define human sex and differentiate it from 'gender identity', legally.
completely agree on that last point. Lprent is laying down the challenge, maybe we could do some work on that this year. Compiling clear analysis of the issues in the NZ context. I think Lynn doesn’t yet understand the GCF position and is relying on the populist stuff. The gap in starting points makes the debate here doubly difficult.
Yes. Agree on the definition. I was looking at this last night in preparation for a response to LPrent's comment to me yesterday afternoon on the Open Mike of a couple of days ago. I'll put this here, because a full reply to LPrent, with sources, will take more time.
I think the Trump EO one is not that bad. I don't think it's saying that embryos have egg or sperm cells at conception, but that sex can be determined by DNA: ie via a chromosome test, which correctly identifies the sex, most of the time ( I think over 99.9% of the time, as does a presence of a penis correctly identify males at birth over 99.9% of the time.) Sex tests are done a few days after fertilisation for IVF in some places overseas for sex selection, but in NZ it's restricted to testing for sex-based genetic diseases that are sex-specific. I understand they don't test til a few days after fertilisation, because testing immediately after would kill the embryo.
It's some DSD embryos/babies (AKA Intersex people) whose sex may be inaccurately recorded at birth or by in utero scans.
I was looking at NZ legislation where sex is important. The main one I think, is the HRA. And last year the Law Commission called for submissions about proposed changes to protected categories to include transgender, non-binary, and innate sex variations as protected categories under the act. Speak Up For Women did a submission, which included a definition of biological sex. I can see where they are coming from, but I'm not sure the wording in their submission is that great. It says,
Add a clear biological definition to the ground of sex:
the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes.
I think they are right to want to include a clear definition of sex (and to keep sex) as a protected category.
I also think they are correct about the problems with subjective definitions of gender identity. Definitions of GI in NZ and abroad claim gender ID is an internal feeling. The problems in defining sex objectively are infinitesimal in comparison with the problems with the definitions of GI objectively. In comparison, sex is a much more stable and objective category.
Sex does come into NZ laws here and there. But, I think part of the problem is that in the past, no one thought it was necessary to define sex (or man or woman, boy or girl) because it was assumed to be obvious.
It refers to "pregnant woman", and that rape involves penetration of a person's genitalia with another person's penis. As far as I'm aware the phalloplasties some transmen get are not very convincing. They don't function as the ones natal male's have – have a plastic tube that requires being hand pumped, I think. Most transmen don't opt for them but take testosterone.
Somewhere on the NZ Crimes Act web page I found that references to indecent acts by a woman on a girl, and by a man on a boy, etc were omitted from the act in 2005. Also in the current act there are the use of sex-based family terms like aunt, uncle, brother etc plus the use of "him or her".
It's interesting that gender identity activists and lobbyists, don't want to get rid of all sex-based terms in law eg in the BDMRR Act re self ID, want to be able to have legal documents referring to their sex/gender markers. And very often the unspoken inference is natal sex-based categories.
Speak Up for Women rightly recommend that the definition for "variations in sex categories" be defined to include only those who have altered their external appearance with hormones or surgery, and people who have DSDs. These are objectively verifiable.
Many people don't realise that today, many men who self ID as trans women, or gender fluid are basically heterosexual transvestites who have no intention or desire to transition surgically or medically. And we often only know someone is non-binary or gender fluid, etc because they tell us. Darlene Tana, for instance, became 'non-binary' and then dropped that gender ID without any obvious external changes.
SUFW argue that other "gender diverse" IDed people who have surgically or not medically or surgically transitioned are already covered by the HRA's protections against sex discrimination.
It's a weakness of Trump's EO that they do not provide any protections against discrimination for medically and surgically transitioned males and females.
The inclusion of gender ID in law in ways that over-write natal sex with gender, have made it necessary to develop a clear legal definition of sex, especially for females.
And it's not just becoming an issue in NZ and the US. Other places are attempting definitions. Thist has impacts for some of the international documents NZ has signed up to eg CEDAW that is against discrimination against women by sex.
The World Health Organisation summarises the difference between sex and gender in the following way: Sex refers to “the different biological and physiological characteristics of males and females, such as reproductive organs, chromosomes, hormones, etc.” Gender refers to "the socially constructed characteristics of women and men – such as norms, roles and relationships of and between groups of women and men. It varies from society to society and can be changed. The concept of gender includes five important elements: relational, hierarchical, historical, contextual and institutional. While most people are born either male or female, they are taught appropriate norms and behaviours – including how they should interact with others of the same or opposite sex within households, communities and work places. When individuals or groups do not “fit” established gender norms they often face stigma, discriminatory practices or social exclusion – all of which adversely affect health17.”
Council of Europe's definition is a bit confusing:
“Sex refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define humans as female or male. These sets of biological characteristics are not mutually exclusive, as there are individuals who possess both, but these characteristics tend to differentiate humans as females or males.”
But some definitions internationally include male, female, and intersex/DSD as the 3 sex categories. eg as the Council of Europe does in reference to "other definitions". Gender is usually defined as a social construct. They include another definition that incorrectly claims transgender people can change sex medically and surgically.
So Karlyn_Is – the hot mess is created by Arkie putting links up that are a total waist of our times.
He might as well have said storks brings babies…
The OE can be can be read here in full,
Well you're welcome, I however getting really annoyed with people who lower themselves to 'Trumpion' standards by posting stuff that can be proven to be clearly disinformation.
We have hard enough time to keep up with the same exact playbook, from ACT/National, as the new Trump administration.
The OE on defending women from extreme GI will be the ONLY good thing. Its extraordinary it came through this Trump government bunch. A very sour apple to eat.
We can look forward to 4 years of turning back any fair and equal opportunities, including for women.
The website on abortion info and contraception is already down..
I've seen that said before. At the very least that claim is disputable: ie the coding to develop as male or female is present in the earliest cells after conception.
Plus, this research shows that it requires a specific protein sets in motion female development, and that protein already exists in the female embryo
Other people are concerned with the apparent claim in the EO, that it labels the cells immediately after conception as "persons", thus apparently inscribing in law, the apparent claim that embryos are persons from conception, which would be in keeping with the conservatives anti-abortion views.
…the coding to develop as male or female is present in the earliest cells after conception.
Sure. But there are a lot of tissues to build and assemble after that. Processes which sometimes gets quite confused in the non pure genetics world of protein transcriptions, protein emplacements, and environmental conditions which carries on for a lot longer than just after the fertilisation.
Not to mention the various artificial interventions and tweaks that are likely to crop up over the coming century. Remember that we didn't even have a model of the structure of DNA until 1953. We can barely can operate at that level even now. That started systematically with CRISPR CAS9 in 2012.
Sure but, etc…… still doesn't change the human / mammal concept that male and female are present from conception.
The model of structure of DNA was always there, it just took time to develop the technology to see with the eye.
Environmental factors doesn't change that concept, however if you take alcohol and or drugs you might give birth e.g. to a handicapped F/M child.
As well as foetal alcohol syndrome, there are some research reports mentioned in the Cass Review on puberty blockers, that say male and female hormone balance in utero, while not changing the sex of the foetus, maybe can result in gender non-conforming behaviour. From my memory, I think Cass said this has shown up in research on some people with DSDs.
I think probably this probably happens with Klinefelter syndrome, a syndrome that impacts males and the sex chromosomes are XXY. They have a low level of testosterone than is usual in males. The syndrome is often not picked up til puberty.
They have a male reproductive system, but can may have some breast growth, as also happens with other men with low T, including as men age.
Rhetoric doesn't trump reality. Male fetuses are male at conception because they have XY chromosomes. Also, zygotes and embryos are undifferentiated until sex organs start to develop – that's not the same thing as being female.
Read a bio of Edda Mussolini (his daughter) recently, which gave a sense of Italian life under his ideas. A big push to sequester women in the home; plus, worst of all, a standardised, censored school curriculum, which taught the most narrow propaganda possible. A fettered cultish press.
Mussolini developed many of the concepts and tools of fascism.
Interestingly, he was an admired socialist thinker and journalist before swerving to the dark side.
"You’re going to see a really bright planet which is Venus, and if you look below that to the right, you might see this little fuzzy patch in the sky. That’s the comet,” from the Herald a few days ago. Sounds like you'd need binoculars and a dark sky to catch it.
The right believe that because the preponderance of expertise about disinformation is with academics of the left that fact checking is biased.
Apparently self-awareness on the right is somewhat lacking – it is because their approach is not in accord with "the greatest good for the greatest number" that they have to mislead voters.
As was seen at TS when more than one commentator ran down The Disinformation Project.
Here. Article from 2022 about NZ conspiracy believers.
"Last month, researchers working under the collaborative Disinformation Project published a major analysis showing how a deluge of Covid-19-linked social media activity exposed thousands more Kiwis to what they called "splintered realities" – while also helping push them toward racist and violent ideologies.
They said the Parliament protest had created a "tectonic shift" in New Zealand's disinformation landscape – and laid new foundations ahead of next year's general election."
Just see how far we've come in the last two years. I betcha that Herald article wouldn't be published today.
Farrar is the master of stats manipulation and using that knowledge for political gain. This is why RANZ have expelled him. He is a political activist first and a pollster second.
I think Farrar has claimed that he resigned rather than defend himself – I cannot guarantee it, and have now forgotten what he was accused of. It is a shame that there are not mandated rather than voluntary standards – it is not easy to ensure a lack of bias in polls. The NZ Taxpayer Union has plenty of money to commission polls – it is also a shame that the Curia polls are the most frequent, presumably for that reason.
He uses official data from StatsNZ to create two graphs of his own design maximising visual effect to promote his pet political cause. The official graph and table was a mean rating from 0 to 10 but Farrar presents his own graphs with ratings just 4 to 6 and 6 to 8.
He'd do this and similar hundreds of times a year. This is why he was expelled and it only a matter of time before political punters and media accept this.
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A new season of White Lotus is nearly upon us: more murder mystery, more sumptuous surroundings, more rich people behaving badly.Once more we get to identify with the experience of the pampered tourist or perhaps the poorly paid help; there's something in White Lotus for all New Zealanders.And unlike the ...
In 2016, Aotearoa shockingly plunged to fourth place in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index. Nine years later, and we're back there again: New Zealand has seen a further slip in its global ranking in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI). [...] In the latest CPI New Zealand's score ...
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 ...
National’s cuts to disability support funding and freezing of new residential placements has resulted in significant mental health decline for intellectually disabled people. ...
The hundreds of jobs lost needlessly as a result of the Kinleith Mill paper production closure will have a devastating impact on the Tokoroa community - something that could have easily been avoided. ...
Today Te Pāti Māori MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, released her members bill that will see the return of tamariki and mokopuna Māori from state care back to te iwi Māori. This bill will establish an independent authority that asserts and protects the rights promised in He Whakaputanga ...
The Whangarei District Council being forced to fluoridate their local water supply is facing a despotic Soviet-era disgrace. This is not a matter of being pro-fluoride or anti-fluoride. It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country. Individual democratically elected Councillors are not ...
Nicola Willis’ latest supermarket announcement is painfully weak with no new ideas, no real plan, and no relief for Kiwis struggling with rising grocery costs. ...
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 commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
Hundreds of engineers are losing their jobs and leaving our shores due to infrastructure project delays, creating "significant" risk to our nation's development, says the head of New Zealand's engineering body. ...
By Caleb Fotheringham, RNZ Pacific journalist Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown says the deal with China “complements, not replaces” the relationship with New Zealand after signing it yesterday. Brown said “The Action Plan for Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) 2025-2030” provides a structured framework for engagement between the Cook Islands ...
The government should not set military style academies into youth justice law, the children's commissioner says, despite its first bootcamp getting a glowing report. ...
The infamous over-the-suit T-shirt worn by the PM at a Parliament barbecue has gone on sale to raise funds for children living in poverty, in a TradeMe auction. ...
MONDAYSheriff Seymour rode slowly down the main street of Dodge on his faithful white horse Atlas Network.He liked what he saw.Children were being fed free lunches prepared by kind people who collected the scraps from an offal rendering plant.“Very strongly flavoured liver, such as ox liver, can be soaked overnight ...
Once upon a time it was all about being an astronaut, a firefighter or doctor; but these days kids have their sights set on becoming vloggers or YouTubers.That’s according to a 2019 study by Lego that surveyed 3000 children between the ages of eight to 12 from the US, the ...
Madeleine Chapman reflects on the week that was. From the moment I started high school and realised almost every other girl in my year was at least partially interested in what the boys were up to, I realised that I would be single for life. The feeling wasn’t one of ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Selina Alesana Alefosio.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.On a bright Sunday morning from her grandparent’s home in Pito-one, I spoke with ...
The White Lotus star reflects on her life in TV, including the local ad reference that doesn’t work in Australia, and her bananas co-star on Neighbours.Morgana O’Reilly was scrolling her phone next to her sleeping son on an idle Saturday morning when she got the call confirming that she ...
Claire Mabey explores the pros and cons of puff quotes on book covers.In January, Publishers Weekly put out an article by Sean Manning – publisher of Simon & Schuster’s flagship US imprint – in which he said he’d “no longer require authors to obtain blurbs for their books”.The ...
New Zealand’s Entomological Society is hosting its annual bug of the year contest. Here are some of the insects in the running. For some reason – perhaps humans’ inherent competitiveness, the idealisation of democracy, the need to demarcate winners and losers – one of the best ways to get people ...
A journey along the border, with words and illustrations by Bob Kerr.The Spinoff Essay showcases the best essayists in Aotearoa, on topics big and small. Made possible by the generous support of our members.The Sunset Limited leaves Union Station New Orleans on time at nine in the morning. We ...
Neville Peat is the 2024 recipient of the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement in nonfiction. He’s written 56 books, mostly on natural history; this excerpt is from The Falcon and the Lark: A New Zealand High Country Journal, first published in 1992. The falcon wintering on the Rock and ...
I was born in the back of my grandfather’s ute, by an overgrown windbreak in a remote place called Wahi-Rakauyou can’t find on a map. I was born a girl but given the man’s name Harvey, as my dad always wanted a violent-minded boy to one day help him ...
It was a light-hearted gesture Greta Pilkington will be forever grateful for – thanks to an Aussie rival who jumped in when the Olympic sailor couldn’t be at her own graduation.Pilkington, then 20, had been leading a double life – while qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics in the ILCA ...
“We’re not here to interfere in people’s property rights,” Ngāi Tahu’s Te Maire Tau has told the High Court.Tau, a historian, Upoko (traditional leader) of Ngāi Tūāhuriri, and a university professor of history, is the lead witness in a case designed to force the Crown to recognise the tribe’s rangatiratanga ...
Pacific Media Watch Trump administration officials barred two Associated Press (AP) reporters from covering White House events this week because the US-based independent news agency did not change its style guide to align with the president’s political agenda. The AP is being punished for using the term “Gulf of Mexico,” ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific Presenter/Bulletin editor France’s top diplomat in the Pacific region says talks around the “unfreezing” of New Caledonia’s highly controversial electoral roll are back on the table. The French government intended to make a constitutional amendment that would lift restrictions prescribed under the Nouméa Accord, which ...
By bringing these global voices to the fight for free expression in New Zealand, we’ll continue to protect and expand our culture of free speech, says Nathan Seiuli, the Free Speech Union's Events Manager. ...
The issue is no longer a hypothetical one. US President Donald Trump will not explicitly suggest death camps, but he has already consented to Israel’s continuing a war that is not a war but rather a barbaric assault on a desolate stretch of land. From there, the road to annihilation is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Cecelia Cmielewski, Research Fellow, Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University To be selected as the artist and curator team to represent Australia at the Venice Biennale is considered the ultimate exhibition for an artistic team. To have your selection rescinded, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steve Turton, Adjunct Professor of Environmental Geography, CQUniversity Australia Severe Tropical Cyclone Zelia is bearing down on the northwest coast of Australia and is likely to make landfall early Friday evening. It’s a monster storm of great concern to Western Australia. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Danielle Ireland-Piper, Associate Professor, ANU National Security College, Australian National University A Victorian government decision to allow dingo culling in the state’s east until 2028 has reignited debate over what has been dubbed Australia’s most controversial animal. Animals Australia, an animal welfare ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hassan Vally, Associate Professor, Epidemiology, Deakin University Overnight, Robert F. Kennedy Jr was confirmed as the secretary of the US Health and Human Services Department. Put simply, this makes him the most influential figure in overseeing the health and wellbeing of more ...
Everything you missed from day five of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard eight hours of submissions.Read our recaps of the previous hearings here.It was another work from home day for the Justice Committee, the only people in Room 3 being security guards, committee ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Milad Haghani, Associate Professor & Principal Fellow in Urban Risk & Resilience, The University of Melbourne Juris Teivans/Shutterstock In Australia, fatal road crashes are climbing again, especially since the pandemic, and despite years of attempts to reduce road trauma, the numbers ...
In its eagerness to appease supporters of Israel, the media is happy to ride roughshod over due process and basic rights. It’s damaging Australia’s (and New Zealand’s?) democracy.COMMENTARY:By Bernard Keane Two moments stand out so far from the Federal Court hearings relating to Antoinette Lattouf’s sacking by the ...
And this is multiple decades of reporters humiliating citizens and families, in order to make a profit:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jan/22/prince-harry-says-sun-publisher-made-historic-admission-as-he-settles-case
Just Harry and one ex-MP held out and forced Murdoch's group to apologise.
For every foreign correspondent moral star like Robert Kapan and Robert Pilger and Carl Bernstein, there are thousands and thousands of reporters working to rip the guts out of your privacy and your family, for year upon year upon year.
Thankfully I don't need to welcome the death of network news when it's well on its way.
From the link:
Congratulations to Lord Watson and Prince Harry. They deserve the accolades.
Something a bit similar was going on in NZ during the Muldoon years in particular. It was nothing like to the same degree, but sufficient to destroy the reputations of numerous people. There was also a cover-up of course.
I read Harry's book 'Spare'. His ghost-writer, who helped Agassi in his bio, writes about the sheer media crap around producing the book, and has said he enjoyed working with Harry, and respected him as a person. The Spare stuff is about halfway through the article. Murdoch's press has an enormous responsibility for much of the shit that followed, and still follows Harry, who seems like a nice, friendly person, based on his own words.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360553285/live-trump-demands-apology-bishop-inaugural-prayer-service-over-call-show-mercy
Poor delicate TRUMP
What the…unbelievable, apology requested by Trump from a Bishop for stating the obvious–but then not unlikely at all–the US is an actual authoritarian state at the moment as millions of very worried Americans probably realise. They are being told who they can be, gays, trans, and half the population (women) are under attack from the fundamentalists. Handmaids Tale scenarios are well underway.
Hope enough can hang in for the mid terms, though more gerrymandering and voter suppression will no doubt be underway right now to negate voting.
What few seem to have noticed is that the Republican HOR majority was reduced from 9 to 5 in the election. The Democrats could easily take this in 2 years which would help stymie Trump.
(And as I keep posting Trump won 49.9 to 48.4….he is not that loved in the USA.)
Some background on her comments at The Guardian. She criticised Trump for his flashy Bible stunt in his first term.
Free speech for me but not for thee.
KKK in Kentucky distributes flyers telling immigrants to "leave now"
Those scarves will comes in handy for working under the sun harvesting cucumbers and lettuce.
Yeah, they will lose the cheap labour they have relied upon for many years and then the grumbling will start.
Be careful what you wish for, I reckon.
My guess is they will be looking forward to going back to owning slaves. We shouldn't be underestimating just how bad this political shift in the US is.
They're going to undo the Reconstruction Constitution and the civil rights gains, the second Reconstruction, made in the fifties the sixties.
And in Australia, the government thinks that vandalism and car fires in the last week, aimed at jewish organisations and the homes of those heading pro-Israel organisations, could be the work of 'paid actors'.
"Could be" is def grounds for investigation which may lead further evidence…or not. If there is coordination in the attacks then they need to arrest or deport perps.
Although the crimes caused damage to property, they seem to be about intimidation rather than attacks aginst people. There looked no attempt at arson of buildings, just car fires.
So, therefore, apart from the racist nature of the attacks, I'd be careful about whether the vandals deserve deportation. And even question whether it is truly terrorism.
After all, Oz is the country where youtuber Friendly Jordies, who exposed 'Pork Barillaro' as a corrupt NSW Liberal politician, had his home firebombed after Barillaro lost his seat.
But why not paid actors? Anti-Islamists appear to be coordinated and have the support of the very richest white men in the world.
https://www.webworm.co/p/tommyrobinson
Segregation is back.
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@chrisgeidner.bsky.social
BREAKING: In a new executive order sent out by the White House, Donald Trump has revoked the federal contractor nondiscrimination executive order, EO 11246, that was signed by Lyndon Johnson in 1965 and has protected employees of businesses seeking federal contracts from discrimination ever since.
https://bsky.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3lgcivsavps2h
Potential Relevance to the Private Sector:
https://www.wilmerhale.com/en/insights/client-alerts/20250122-president-trumps-second-term–anti-dei-executive-orders
Only tools and nazis are following trumps executive orders. This was a law passed by congress, they have to put up a revoke.
That said it is wise anarchist belief – to pinch off the head of fascistic states.
Idiot.
/
Remember, it’s offensive to call this apartheid:
//
JINSAFUT, West Bank (AP) — Shortly after suspected Jewish settlers stormed Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank late Monday, setting cars and property ablaze, U.S. President Donald Trump canceled sanctions against Israelis accused of violence in the territory.
[…]
Biden’s executive order against the settlers marked a rare break with America’s closest Middle East ally, and signaled his frustration with what critics say is Israel’s leniency in dealing with violent settlers.
Rights groups say that impunity has deepened since Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz exempted settlers from what is known as administrative detention — Israel’s practice of detaining individuals on security grounds without charge or trial — which is routinely used against Palestinians.
Katz, who freed all Israelis held in administrative detention just last week, said those behind Monday’s attack should be held accountable in Israel’s more transparent criminal justice system.
Palestinian residents, meanwhile, are tried in Israeli military courts.
https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-west-bank-settler-sanctions-trump-668119732c77e083baa4a12c194df7ef#
Because what the world really needs is a resumption of open air nuclear testing!
/
Stephen Schwartz
@atomicanalyst.bsky.social
The Heritage Foundation’s Bob Peters now recommends that if the US cannot develop the ability to conduct an underground nuclear test in Nevada within 3-6 months of an order to do so, it consider withdrawing from the 1962 Limited Test Ban Treaty and resuming open-air testing in Nevada or the Pacific.
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:iwbebt5r65c67xl5vy5iviwj/post/3lge7y5atb22s
Congratulations to the First "female" President, Donald Trump:
https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-838803
Sorry Arkie "meaning that all fetal genitalia are female until 6-7 weeks post conception"
No that is not what "undifferentiated" means: Zachary (from the Paradox institute) explains it well:
Zachary Elliot: 23 .01.25
https://x.com/zaelefty/status/1882123932066615697?mx=2
or
"During early development the gonads of the fetus remain undifferentiated; that is, all fetal genitalia are the same and are phenotypically female." – this is logically incoherent. Undifferentiated genitalia are not phenotypically female, they are undifferentiated.
https://www.jpost.com/omg/article-838803
The point being, in 'clarifying' Trump and his ilk only demonstrate a lack of biological and linguistic understanding as does quoting a fellow traveller to prove your own point. Zachary Elliot, founder of the Paradox Institute.
But the EO doesn't say that a foetus has egg or sperm cells at conception. It says that at conception females belong to the sex that produces large reproductive cells. So, it can mean, as I understand it, that the sex is already encoded in an embryo's DNA at conception.
Female foetus's start producing eggs in utero, so that must surely come from their DNA code….?
Around the time the female foetus is 4 months old, they produce their peak amount of 6-7 million eggs. They decline after that. So, by the time a female is born they already have all the eggs they will produce throughout their life.
I have read some people claim they are already on board at conception. I don't know what they mean by that.
Anyway, I'm sure all of this EO will be contested in courts before too long, and maybe for long after that. I'll be interested in how that plays out.
Good lord, who wrote that hot mess?
I mean, ffs, the reason there are no eggs because at conception there are no ovaries.
They patently don't understand the EO nor what the gender critical argument even is.
Let me spell it out, again. Humans reproduce via the sex binary. There are only two sexes: female and male. There is no third sex. It's not possible for conception to occur without those two sexes, and there is no other sex that can be combined to take part in that process. Why is this so hard to understand?
What the JP staff appear to be doing is trying to define sex as how individuals vary according to chromosomes and genitalia (how very neoliberal of them). But whatever configuration any individual has, they are still either female or male, or have a DSD and are still either female or male. Again, there is no third sex, and there is no in between sex that can somehow help make a baby ('intersex' is a misnomer, Differences of Sexual Development is clearer).
This is very basic science, and it's been well canvassed in GC debates.
Also worth pointing out that there are progressives who hold a progressive view on sex being binary, which is quite different from the conservative view. The GC feminist view for instance, says gender non-conformity (eg being trans, or having a DSD, but not limited to those) is normal and should be treated as normal in society. Understanding the sex binary and supporting the rights of GNC people are completely compatible. Bearing in mind that many of the rational and progressive GC people are GNC lesbians.
That I agree with. But it really does highlight the difficulties of writing language about biological gender into legislative instruments.
I am just glad that in NZ, the legislation has only a few very residual attempts to map a rapidly changing biological sciences into legislation. Because otherwise they'd wind up with this kind of fugwittery as well.
Someone should point this out to the people who'd like to change our legislation and policies for similar social reasons.
Why do you think I keep asking to see draft attempts at legislation – because I think that what the NZWP talk about as (largely undefined) objectives about will look very similar. A gaping void of clear thinking will typically result in rat ship legislative results – just like this.
Sure, and I think having the NZ context made more clear in respect of law would be excellent. It is a large amount of work and complex.
Sisterhood is global, so feminists are always going to be looking at what is happening internationally, because we care about what happens to women in other countries, and because their experiences do in fact inform our politics here. Just like with the labour movement's grounding in international perspectives.
I probably know more about the UK situation than I do the NZ law, because in the UK grass roots feminists have been working on this for more than a decade. Substantial, policy and law changing work.
When I've look at various NZ legislation at different times, I see much confusion around the terms sex and gender, with the term gender being used for sex or gender identity. This is a problem and from memory law makers have acknowledged this but it hasn't been resolved. It's a hang over from the time before gender identity culture, when 'gender' was often used to means 'sex'. Gender Identity activists would push to remove biological sex, GC feminists would push to have biological sex established in law (before it was just inherently understood)
The social side is of paramount importance, because the shift away from women's spaces for instance, has been a large social shift in a short space of time with inadequate public discussion. That's why there is a backlash against trans people. The right have jumped on this of course, and the liberal left still largely insists on No Debate, so we don't get the kind of progressive resolution that will work across mainstream NZ. That's very unhelpful.
As an example, it appears that Rape Crisis organisations in NZ no longer provide single sex services. I say appears because I am going off the Dunedin website, and No Debate means there isn't really any public discussion about this.
What should have happened is RC retained its female only spaces/services, and added in spaces/services designed for trans women and trans men. Instead we have a situation where a woman who has just been raped can't know if she can access services from other women or not.
I may be wrong about the service delivery, it may be that the Dndn RC website reads like it does because that's how you get funding now (mixed sex services), and in reality they still offer single sex services. But women in need cannot tell from looking at the website. That's appalling.
In the UK there are now places where there are no female only RC services. None. There is a woman taking one RC service to court because she couldn't access female only services. She wasn't saying ban trans people, she was saying provide parallel services. She wants trans women to have access to services as well. But in the current social climate, providing female only RC services is considered transphobic because trans women feel excluded. Not because there aren't any services for them, but because some TW simple cannot stand the idea that women have our own needs. This is highly ideological, and it's why the social side is just as important at the legal side.
There is another case in the UK where a RC worker took her employer to court and won. From memory she was dismissed for raising single sex issues at work. This is where we are at in the UK, women having to take orgs like RC to court. It's bizarre.
Happy to provide some reading on both those cases from legal and feminist perspectives, just running a bit short of time this morning.
I don't know if in NZ the solution is legislative or social or both. The biggest problem we have is No Debate, which means having these conversations in an even handed way is almost impossible.
I have heard that some NZ rape crises services accept males but put them up in motels and don't house them with women survivors. Don't know how true that is.
I think the solution includes legal, public policy, more open public discussion of the issues, an end to the anti-democratic, suppression of critique.
Here's Dunedin RC's website. What I see is statements like "five safe and comfortable spaces accessible to all clients"
https://www.ocasa.org.nz/our-story/
Google search by site returns no results for the word "women" for the whole site.
Here's the list of services, all of these should include the option of female only (no male clients or staff present).
https://www.ocasa.org.nz/our-services/
and there is this,
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/130588604/dunedins-rape-crisis-accused-of-being-a-toxic-place-to-work
I will be utterly un-surprised if there is connection between that in 2022 and the 'rebranding' in 2019, because poor understanding of boundaries is a feature of gender identity ideology.
Yes. We're going down a very dark path as long as the debate remains this murky and distorted.
Weka: "who wrote that hot mess? "
Apparently it was a lawyer from a right-leaning group: Independent Women's Forum and White House attorney, and a White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Homeland Security Advisor. As I recall, none of these are viewed very favourably by left wing gender critical feminists I know.
I do think recent political and social policy developments mean we need to somehow define human sex and differentiate it from 'gender identity', legally.
completely agree on that last point. Lprent is laying down the challenge, maybe we could do some work on that this year. Compiling clear analysis of the issues in the NZ context. I think Lynn doesn’t yet understand the GCF position and is relying on the populist stuff. The gap in starting points makes the debate here doubly difficult.
The hot mess was the JP article.
Yes. Agree on the definition. I was looking at this last night in preparation for a response to LPrent's comment to me yesterday afternoon on the Open Mike of a couple of days ago. I'll put this here, because a full reply to LPrent, with sources, will take more time.
I think the Trump EO one is not that bad. I don't think it's saying that embryos have egg or sperm cells at conception, but that sex can be determined by DNA: ie via a chromosome test, which correctly identifies the sex, most of the time ( I think over 99.9% of the time, as does a presence of a penis correctly identify males at birth over 99.9% of the time.) Sex tests are done a few days after fertilisation for IVF in some places overseas for sex selection, but in NZ it's restricted to testing for sex-based genetic diseases that are sex-specific. I understand they don't test til a few days after fertilisation, because testing immediately after would kill the embryo.
It's some DSD embryos/babies (AKA Intersex people) whose sex may be inaccurately recorded at birth or by in utero scans.
I was looking at NZ legislation where sex is important. The main one I think, is the HRA. And last year the Law Commission called for submissions about proposed changes to protected categories to include transgender, non-binary, and innate sex variations as protected categories under the act. Speak Up For Women did a submission, which included a definition of biological sex. I can see where they are coming from, but I'm not sure the wording in their submission is that great. It says,
I think they are right to want to include a clear definition of sex (and to keep sex) as a protected category.
I also think they are correct about the problems with subjective definitions of gender identity. Definitions of GI in NZ and abroad claim gender ID is an internal feeling. The problems in defining sex objectively are infinitesimal in comparison with the problems with the definitions of GI objectively. In comparison, sex is a much more stable and objective category.
Sex does come into NZ laws here and there. But, I think part of the problem is that in the past, no one thought it was necessary to define sex (or man or woman, boy or girl) because it was assumed to be obvious.
I also looked at the NZ Crimes ACT.
It refers to "pregnant woman", and that rape involves penetration of a person's genitalia with another person's penis. As far as I'm aware the phalloplasties some transmen get are not very convincing. They don't function as the ones natal male's have – have a plastic tube that requires being hand pumped, I think. Most transmen don't opt for them but take testosterone.
Somewhere on the NZ Crimes Act web page I found that references to indecent acts by a woman on a girl, and by a man on a boy, etc were omitted from the act in 2005. Also in the current act there are the use of sex-based family terms like aunt, uncle, brother etc plus the use of "him or her".
It's interesting that gender identity activists and lobbyists, don't want to get rid of all sex-based terms in law eg in the BDMRR Act re self ID, want to be able to have legal documents referring to their sex/gender markers. And very often the unspoken inference is natal sex-based categories.
Speak Up for Women rightly recommend that the definition for "variations in sex categories" be defined to include only those who have altered their external appearance with hormones or surgery, and people who have DSDs. These are objectively verifiable.
Many people don't realise that today, many men who self ID as trans women, or gender fluid are basically heterosexual transvestites who have no intention or desire to transition surgically or medically. And we often only know someone is non-binary or gender fluid, etc because they tell us. Darlene Tana, for instance, became 'non-binary' and then dropped that gender ID without any obvious external changes.
SUFW argue that other "gender diverse" IDed people who have surgically or not medically or surgically transitioned are already covered by the HRA's protections against sex discrimination.
It's a weakness of Trump's EO that they do not provide any protections against discrimination for medically and surgically transitioned males and females.
The inclusion of gender ID in law in ways that over-write natal sex with gender, have made it necessary to develop a clear legal definition of sex, especially for females.
And it's not just becoming an issue in NZ and the US. Other places are attempting definitions. Thist has impacts for some of the international documents NZ has signed up to eg CEDAW that is against discrimination against women by sex.
The Council of Europe has also attempted a definition, and quotes the WHO definitions of sex and gender. The link also says some languages don't have a word for gender, and sex can be used instead.
Council of Europe's definition is a bit confusing:
But some definitions internationally include male, female, and intersex/DSD as the 3 sex categories. eg as the Council of Europe does in reference to "other definitions". Gender is usually defined as a social construct. They include another definition that incorrectly claims transgender people can change sex medically and surgically.
So Karlyn_Is – the hot mess is created by Arkie putting links up that are a total waist of our times.
He might as well have said storks brings babies…
The OE can be can be read here in full,
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/defending-women-from-gender-ideology-extremism-and-restoring-biological-truth-to-the-federal-government/
This from Kara Denski, what the EO can do and doesn't do:and its little history how it came to be (e.g. it went 1st to the Democrates, who rejected it outright).
https://karadansky.substack.com/p/defending-women-from-gender-ideology
May Mailman was one of the writers and she has "Independent Law Centre"
No. He's not wasting our time. It's all part of the discussion.
Well you're welcome, I however getting really annoyed with people who lower themselves to 'Trumpion' standards by posting stuff that can be proven to be clearly disinformation.
We have hard enough time to keep up with the same exact playbook, from ACT/National, as the new Trump administration.
The OE on defending women from extreme GI will be the ONLY good thing. Its extraordinary it came through this Trump government bunch. A very sour apple to eat.
We can look forward to 4 years of turning back any fair and equal opportunities, including for women.
The website on abortion info and contraception is already down..
Posted this in the wrong thread – redoing it.
I've seen that said before. At the very least that claim is disputable: ie the coding to develop as male or female is present in the earliest cells after conception.
Plus, this research shows that it requires a specific protein sets in motion female development, and that protein already exists in the female embryo
Other people are concerned with the apparent claim in the EO, that it labels the cells immediately after conception as "persons", thus apparently inscribing in law, the apparent claim that embryos are persons from conception, which would be in keeping with the conservatives anti-abortion views.
Sure. But there are a lot of tissues to build and assemble after that. Processes which sometimes gets quite confused in the non pure genetics world of protein transcriptions, protein emplacements, and environmental conditions which carries on for a lot longer than just after the fertilisation.
Not to mention the various artificial interventions and tweaks that are likely to crop up over the coming century. Remember that we didn't even have a model of the structure of DNA until 1953. We can barely can operate at that level even now. That started systematically with CRISPR CAS9 in 2012.
Sure but, etc…… still doesn't change the human / mammal concept that male and female are present from conception.
The model of structure of DNA was always there, it just took time to develop the technology to see with the eye.
Environmental factors doesn't change that concept, however if you take alcohol and or drugs you might give birth e.g. to a handicapped F/M child.
As well as foetal alcohol syndrome, there are some research reports mentioned in the Cass Review on puberty blockers, that say male and female hormone balance in utero, while not changing the sex of the foetus, maybe can result in gender non-conforming behaviour. From my memory, I think Cass said this has shown up in research on some people with DSDs.
I think probably this probably happens with Klinefelter syndrome, a syndrome that impacts males and the sex chromosomes are XXY. They have a low level of testosterone than is usual in males. The syndrome is often not picked up til puberty.
They have a male reproductive system, but can may have some breast growth, as also happens with other men with low T, including as men age.
Rhetoric doesn't trump reality. Male fetuses are male at conception because they have XY chromosomes. Also, zygotes and embryos are undifferentiated until sex organs start to develop – that's not the same thing as being female.
Trump reality: I see what you did there.
Nice.
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@radicalgraffiti.bsky.social
Italian leftists hung an upside down effigy of Musk, filled with garbage, at the square where Mussolini was strung up in 1945
https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:ylawnodfqiijqq56tco3g3uq/post/3lgeo6md5pc2n
Read a bio of Edda Mussolini (his daughter) recently, which gave a sense of Italian life under his ideas. A big push to sequester women in the home; plus, worst of all, a standardised, censored school curriculum, which taught the most narrow propaganda possible. A fettered cultish press.
Mussolini developed many of the concepts and tools of fascism.
Interestingly, he was an admired socialist thinker and journalist before swerving to the dark side.
A comet was expected from last Thursday visible just after sunset or just before sunrise.
I have seen no reports of it being sighted. Has anyone?
I've seen photos on social media. Didn't take much notice though sorry.
"You’re going to see a really bright planet which is Venus, and if you look below that to the right, you might see this little fuzzy patch in the sky. That’s the comet,” from the Herald a few days ago. Sounds like you'd need binoculars and a dark sky to catch it.
Thanks tWig and Weka. Won't appear for another 150,000 years so maybe next time?
The right believe that because the preponderance of expertise about disinformation is with academics of the left that fact checking is biased.
Apparently self-awareness on the right is somewhat lacking – it is because their approach is not in accord with "the greatest good for the greatest number" that they have to mislead voters.
https://x.com/dpfdpf/status/1877056554270109871
As was seen at TS when more than one commentator ran down The Disinformation Project.
Here. Article from 2022 about NZ conspiracy believers.
"Last month, researchers working under the collaborative Disinformation Project published a major analysis showing how a deluge of Covid-19-linked social media activity exposed thousands more Kiwis to what they called "splintered realities" – while also helping push them toward racist and violent ideologies.
They said the Parliament protest had created a "tectonic shift" in New Zealand's disinformation landscape – and laid new foundations ahead of next year's general election."
Just see how far we've come in the last two years. I betcha that Herald article wouldn't be published today.
Farrar is the master of stats manipulation and using that knowledge for political gain. This is why RANZ have expelled him. He is a political activist first and a pollster second.
I think Farrar has claimed that he resigned rather than defend himself – I cannot guarantee it, and have now forgotten what he was accused of. It is a shame that there are not mandated rather than voluntary standards – it is not easy to ensure a lack of bias in polls. The NZ Taxpayer Union has plenty of money to commission polls – it is also a shame that the Curia polls are the most frequent, presumably for that reason.
This is the same as expelled.
Farrar is a shyster, a manipulator of data for gain. Here's one example I remembered from late last year:
https://www.kiwiblog.co.nz/2024/10/did_labour_break_trust_in_government.html
He uses official data from StatsNZ to create two graphs of his own design maximising visual effect to promote his pet political cause. The official graph and table was a mean rating from 0 to 10 but Farrar presents his own graphs with ratings just 4 to 6 and 6 to 8.
He'd do this and similar hundreds of times a year. This is why he was expelled and it only a matter of time before political punters and media accept this.
Expect a lot more of this shit at NZME with the savage job cuts they are employing.
Headline states:
So fucking what, you might ask, I mean why does the housing market need support, ffs?
But read on and the body of the article is just a list of stats with no analysis let alone the supposed quote, 'erode support for housing market'.
NZME are just doing their master's bidding.
Legacy media would have been gone yonks ago if it weren't for real estate advertising.
And folk wonder why trust in the media (authorized misinformation) is in the toilet.
3 reasons this government sucks. lettuce is almost $5, petrol is our biggest tax – straight to a transnational corporation, and landlords have profited better than a sex worker at a pastoral conference.