Can we please have just one Green MP that can control themselves (like an adult), that does not require to either go on a course of "de-escalation", or need help for mental health issues and the leaders do not have to apologise for their actions.
They need to get into the 20s if they want to influence the policy direction of the next government.
The Greens achieved their best election result (15 seats, including three electorate seats) last year.
They’ve never been above 12% of the party vote, and yet have had some influence on govt policy direction in some areas. Just my opinion – like all political parties and politicians, they will continue to fall short on occasion, but remain my favorite NZ political party, in part for their longer-term focus in selected areas of concern.
If getting the policy architecture in place to facilitate implementation is one measure of political success, then the Greens have achieved credible action on many fronts.
Agreed James….but the establishment doesn't want this and will do anything to portray the Greens as a disorganised rabble.
As a Green voter for many years, I used to dream of them holding steady at 12-13 per cent. But every CC event/disaster now adds a fraction to their vote so 20 per cent is no longer a dream..
I don't care if someone says fuck in the House (the Speaker can deal with any issues around that). He didn't direct it at anyone or use it as a term of abuse.
The problem I have is the lack of discipline that leads to yet another round of MSM negative attention on the Greens. Maybe they're getting it all out of the way this year.
I get what you are saying and I share your frustration.
That said, JAG is guilty of aggressively waving some documents in a bloke's face while simultaneously committing the sin of being totally correct about what they were actually arguing about.
RMM said a potty word.
On the other hand the government is blatantly corrupt, is dismantling everything Labour does often for no other reason than because Labour did it.
Can we plz have concern trolls that out up a better example
Of far greater concern to 'us' is an MP that 'overlooked' 10s of thousands of dollars of bribes donations while chairing a committee that met his donor's interests, in my opinion.
Sometimes, it’s a fine line between a concern troll and a useful idiot and Jimmy’s obviously having an identity crisis and cannot choose. Going forward, this is important because some Mods here struggle to tell the difference.
If only you knew how often I have to put my hands in my pockets clench my jaw and walk past jimmys efforts so as to not upset you mods , you'd put me up for a saint hood.
Concurrently, the outcome of the most sadistic policies implemented by the Tories is finally getting a proper inquiry. Policies that were heavily influencing the last Nat government, and would likely have been implemented had they secured a 4th term.
You may like to check the timeline of the scandal before you get all unhappy with the Conservative Party.
The product was installed in 1999 and the prosecutions started almost immediately and ran until 2015.
There was a Labour Government there from 1997 until 2010. The system went in and the prosecutions were largely during their reign. The Conservative Party were certainly culpable for the slowness in cleaning it up but even you would agree that the real blame for it happening was Labour's?
And the MP who campaigned for justice for the postmasters was James Arbuthnot (played by Alex Jennings in the recreation), who (inconveniently for Patricia) is a Conservative.
Christchurch homeowner's house featured in social housing post
Beth said a blunder like this from the National Party was unacceptable
"If you are going to build 1500 social housing houses, then I think maybe you should have a better idea of what exactly it is you are going to be building, rather than taking an image from somewhere. Who knows how they got the image of our houses, and posting it up as something that is blatantly not true," she said
Yep. It'll be "NO frills" . After all, they are the New Victorians , who Charles Dickens would recognise as such . The phrase "Nothing so cold as Charity" will assume extra meaning in NZ under NActFirst.
Well well, well. Sunak has called a probably catastrophic early election early because the knives were out for him on the back benches. The Tories are committing seppuku – they are utterly spent, pre-occupied with interminable infighting to the extent Sunak has called a July election as an act of spite against his internal enemies and still get to California in time to see his kids into school for the new term.
Meanwhile, I see Adrian Orr has written the death note for this government – it is going to be a one term wonder because we are now looking at a three year recession. Richard Harman at Politik – the uber centrist purveyor of received wisdom – is busy peddling the line that this is all the result of Labour's COVID spending so the govt might get away with it, but the thing is Luxon wasn't elected to fix the economy via Osbornian austerity. he was elected to do something about the squeezed middle class and the cost of living crisis. He can't and anyway doesn't want to deliver on that promise so they will be toast.
Everybody knows austerity in the face of a recession leads to double (if not the Osborne tripple) dipping the recession. The conclusion should be that, yes, Luxon was elected on the promise to carry that out.
Sadly, the political situation in Great Britain is almost identical to the U.S.: a choice between two unconscionable options.
There are, of course, a few decent and honourable politicians, like George Galloway, whose recent return to parliament drove both major party leaders into displays of Blimpish outrage.
And there is Andrew Feinstein, who is trying to unseat Keir Starmer,,,
Over 200 Conservative MP's that face losing their seats have just seen an easy NZ$95k go up in smoke because Rishi has called the election 6 months early for no good reason. (A backbencher earns NZ$190k a year).
He hung on the just about the last legal moment before recognising that his Government was dead and smelling rather a lot. Still, he got all his losing MPs a pay packet for as long as he could. Too bad for New Zealand of course.
I used to know one-time PM Jack Marshall. He was a member of a Government which went to the polls after 2 years, not 3, over the waterfront issue in 1951.
He said, when asked, that the only effect in the long term was that they served for 8 years, 1949 – 1957, instead of 9 for 3 full terms from 1949 to 1958. That was the only effect.
Why should anyone hold an early election, whether the are likely to win it, or lose it?
I read that Harman comment and thought that was a bit rich, blaming it all on Covid when some of the bank commentators are unsettled by the whole tax cut scenario and the expectation that it is more likely to fuel domestic inflation, the very thing the RBNZ is trying to curb.
Exactly Nic, the Luxonites are the most likely beneficiaries of austerity, another 10% on the weekly shop means bugger all when there’s a nice multi million dollar pillow to lay one’s head on after a hard days rorting.
The local problem is Greedflation and that’s a real bastard to control.
Just in case anyone is still running the lines about "would you rather have a live daughter or a dead son?"
"Individuals who underwent gender-affirming surgery had a 12.12-fold higher suicide attempt risk than those who did not (3.47% vs. 0.29%, RR 95% CI 9.20-15.96, p < 0.0001). Compared to the tubal ligation/vasectomy controls, the risk was 5.03-fold higher before propensity matching and remained significant at 4.71-fold after matching (3.50% vs. 0.74%, RR 95% CI 2.46-9.024, p < 0.0001) for the gender affirmation patients with similar results with the pharyngitis controls. Conclusion Gender-affirming surgery is significantly associated with elevated suicide attempt risks, underlining the necessity for comprehensive post-procedure psychiatric support."
FFS you cannot compare the risks of self harm and suicide post Gender-Affirming surgery to longterm contraception or a sore throat[ pharyngitis].
The self harm and suicidality exists before the surgery, do people not realize that most Gender Affirmation is not male to female but female to male. The surgery is but another form of bodily self harm as part of complex Borderline Personality Disorders.
Actually, the critical group NOT included in the study is the incidence of suicide in transgender patients who do NOT undergo affirmation surgery. If affirmation surgery decreases the incidence of suicide in trans people, then gender-affirming surgery has a positive effect overall. I don't understand why an emergency visit was included in the study. Perhaps, without the emergency visit, the stats don't look so good.
"The study involved four cohorts: cohort A, adults aged 18-60 who had gender-affirming surgery and an emergency visit (N = 1,501); cohort B, control group of adults with emergency visits but no gender-affirming surgery (N = 15,608,363); and cohort C, control group of adults with emergency visits, tubal ligation or vasectomy, but no gender-affirming surgery (N = 142,093). Propensity matching was applied to cohorts A and C."
It's irreversible (no, you cannot replace a healthy breast with an implant, you can't un-invert a penis, and you can't take skin from a neophallus and put it back on a shucked forearm, sorry if anyone loses their lunch, but this is reality)
It's performed (unless you are rich) by inexperienced surgeons, because this is what happens when the demand for a type of surgery suddenly outstrips the number of competent and experienced surgeons
It will (at a minimum) make sex awkward and may make it impossible and painful, and previous use of puberty blockers are likely to make orgasm impossible, for the rest of the patient's life.
And it's all in pursuit of an impossible goal, because men are not women and you can't stop people accurately sexing you, in the same way that you can't stop yourself from determining which way is up and which way is down.
Of course people with SDPS (Sexual Dysfunction Producing Surgery) are getting down. They are victims, they are vulnerable, they have been promised a lie by people claiming expertise and authority, and when reality hits (usually in the mid-twenties) it's too late.
It's performed (unless you are rich) by inexperienced surgeons, because this is what happens when the demand for a type of surgery suddenly outstrips the number of competent and experienced surgeons
That, and the surgeons who are doing experimental surgeries on the genitals of teenagers, without informed consent, often botching them, not really knowing how to fix that, leaving young people to face a lifetime of pain and regret, and doing that because they love the cutting edge of transhumanism.
Is that better?
#notallSRSsurgeons obviously. But we don't know how many eh, which is the point. Fuck No Debate.
True to form national are proved to be dishonest, they attacked labour for not going far enough with first home grants, I even believe they said they wouldn't cut the grants, but here we are.
Sure imported inflation was coming down and the impact of the weather events of early 2023 have gone – so we were going to get to 3% by the end of the year.
Many presumed therefore that the 5.5% OCR had done its jobs and it would go down – this year even.
This was never likely. So for them a shot across the bows.
This is because domestic inflation will hold the rate at 3% through 2025 and beyond – rates (infrastructure) and insurance (adjusting for impact on infrastructure of GW) are going up year by year at rates not seen before AND loss of (construction) workers to Oz (seeking secure jobs and better wages) increasing costs.
Chickens coming home to roost – economic growth via migrant labour inflow population increase decreases productivity (we needed investment in more efficient use of resources) and it increases infrastructure cost.
It does expose a limitation in the OCR approach – the lower imported inflation would allow a lower dollar (improved returns to exporters), if there was an alternative mechanism for internal inflation management.
Such as a reduction of the OCR to 5% and the impost of a mortgage surcharge (0.25%, then 0.5%) – the government surely needs the money.
More money paid in rent – less GST spending. Less tax off rent income (landlords giveaway). No rise in wages (25 cents an hour MW no FPA etc). Will company tax make up the shortfall …
That all said, Zollner may be right, in correcting the misplaced optimisim of a fall from the 5.5% level – a fall is still likely
That all said, Zollner may be right, in correcting the misplaced optimism of a (n early) fall from the 5.5% level – (so banks do not rush cuts), a fall is still likely (albeit in the latter half of 2025, than the first half – as even the wiser ones thought a few months ago).
Currently, minerals generate export earnings of $1 billion annually, $21 million in royalties and more than 5000 direct jobs for New Zealanders, Jones said. He wants to double export value to $2 billion by 2035 and provide more than 7000 jobs.
I presume the environmental cost met by government is far higher than the risible amount of royalties received.
Simon Court – an ACT MP – thinks if we drill for oil here we get cheaper energy – we do not refine the oil, it would have to go overseas and be refined there and sent back – it would be no cheaper to us than the world market rate.
Already, 218 MSD staff have taken voluntary redundancy. On Thursday, a new proposal emerged to cut a further 97 existing roles. But the ministry also confirmed that hundreds of staff have left, and not been replaced, since December.
All up, the ministry on Thursday confirmed that it expected to employ 700 fewer people as a result of the cost cutting measures it was proposing.
MSD deputy chief executive Nadine Kilmister said the ministry’s hiring freeze, in place since December, had led to 341 fewer people working at the ministry
The number of staff leaving straight off (to get new jobs asap and the others waiting for the voluntary redundancy option then going) is indicative of people who do not want to be clients. Nor work for a National led government.
The number of public sector employees (excluding local government) rose by 65,784 (19%) in just 6 years to 2023.
The number employed by MSD rose from 6,799 @ June 2017 to 9,077 @ June 2023, an increase of 2,277 or 33%.
The population of NZ increased by 11% between 2017 and 2023. So, MSD employee numbers rose by a factor 3 over the population growth. I'm surprised it's only 700.
In the six months to December 2023, Public Service organisations spent a total of $344.6 million in OPEX and $181.6 million in CAPEX on contractors and consultants, for a total spend of $526.2 million.
As a share of workforce spend, operating expenditure (OPEX) on contractors and consultants decreased to 9.6% in the first half of 2023/24, the lowest it’s been since measurement began (2018).
And this
Public Service contractor and consultant data for the 2017/18 year was the first to be published using our new guidance on how to report contractor and consultant expenditure. Before the new guidance, there was inconsistency in how organisations reported this expenditure.
And also
The Ministry of Social Development (up 271 FTEs, or 3.1%) across a range of service delivery initiatives, including response to the North Island Weather Events of 2023, the joint venture to eliminate family violence and sexual violence, and increasing coordination across the social sector through the establishment of the Social Sector Commissioning Hub, as well as supporting delivery of MSD’s core services.
1.no useful consultant figures until 2018 (even if only at the aggregate spend)
2.30% is less than wage increases in the period, so no apparent increase in number of consultants.
3.the reason for the staff increases in MSD in 2023 was explained.
4.as a share of workforce spend, operating expenditure (OPEX) on contractors and consultants decreased to 9.6% in the first half of 2023/24, the lowest it’s been since measurement began (2018).
One wonders if National will continue with this measurable comparison or not – so consultant spend increase is hidden.
Relevance? The figures I quoted are based on 2018 onwards because Labour were elected at the end of 2017.
Relevance? It is the increase in spending that matters.
There will always be 'reasons'.
‘As a share of the workforce’! Have you thought about what you’re saying?
The % of spend on c&c’s went down because the workforce went up at such a high rate!
Public Service contractor and consultant data for the 2017/18 year was the first to be published using our new guidance on how to report contractor and consultant expenditure. Before the new guidance, there was inconsistency in how organisations reported this expenditure.
Not relating cost increase to wage levels or inflation means the figures are without context.
The reasons – managing help after weather events and to manage down levels of reduce were rather good.
Under National will the increased cost of consultants to total spending be higher or lower relative to permanent staff number changes?
The employee data is numbers, not $'s, so inflation and wage levels are irrelevant.
To your point about consultants and contractors – spending increased 30% in 5 years, well above the rate of population growth AND the rate of inflation over the same period (21.1%).
“The reasons – managing help after weather events and to manage down levels of reduce were rather good.”
Seriously? A 33% increase in staff to manage weather events? AT MSD?
Then by your reasoning, the cost of consultants was out of control – being 50% higher than general inflation (even if it only reflected a rising cost of pay to people doing the same work as 5 years earlier).
And the measure by which we can determine if National is able to manage out of control consultancy cost.
I think this unfair, but if it is the one you will hold National to, I'll not quibble about that.
SPC it's you that raised spending on consultants. I was commenting on the growth in the workforce. But yes, spending on consultants rising 30% is out of control. And absolutely I will hold any government to account if the growth in the public sector we've seen in the past 6 years is repeated.
Stuff looks at why Ginny Anderson (moving into the role of Louisa Wall – closing a loophole in Harmful Digital Communications Act) has developed a private members bill – hoping to prod the government to do something.
Leonetti believed police needed more training to deal with stalking: I don’t think front line officers, for the most part, know what stalking is or know how harmful it is to victims."
As the victim of a stalker for a good number of years I can attest to that.
My stalker kept a close 'eye' on everything I did. There were numerous nuisance phone calls – the silent variety. My home was broken into twice and on one occasion obscene messaging left on a bathroom cabinet door. False accusations to my Public Service bosses surfaced which led to hostility towards me. I eventually had to leave.
There were numerous bizarre incidents, including mysterious injuries to pets.
It was all done covertly but I was eventually able to identify the culprit. The motivation was part political and part personal and involved at least one other person.
The police were hopeless. They had no comprehension of the huge amount of damage it did to me. They…did… not… have… a… clue.
Double dipton and his "independent "reviewers took up $500 000 out of the emergency housing fund, it'd make me laugh if only I didn't want to swear more.
Another Government attack on people with disabilities – this time school-age children. Rather than recognising and accepting that some of their specific needs might be relieved by attending out-of-school daytime programmes, the Government expects the children to comply with a strict routine/regime of school attendance. The full transcript in the following link shows the inflexible, ideological mindset of the Government and their disregard for evidence of beneficial interventions.
"10. Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Labour) to the Minister for Disability Issues: Why have disability support funding criteria changed recently to now exclude the use of funding during school hours, and does she accept that many disabled people and children rely on flexible funding to be able to access critical support?
Hon LOUISE UPSTON (Minister for Disability Issues): ………The recent changes to the purchasing guidelines reflected the Ministry of Disabled People's view that the Ministry of Education is responsible for funding support during school hours. I sympathise with all children and families who may have different support due to the changes and I acknowledge that this may have caused distress. The independent review of disability support funding will be looking into how the whole-of-Government support work together so that disabled people get the essential support they need.
Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: What does she say to the mum whose 11-year-old daughter diagnosed with autism and ADHD and chronic health challenges, who relies on a special one-to-one gymnastic therapy class to help improve her muscle tone and regulate her anxiety levels, will no longer be able to access support because of this new change?
Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said, I sympathise with the impact that any changes may have had. The primary question was about the use of funding during school hours, and our Government recognises the importance of school attendance, so much so that we have set a target to ensure children are attending school—this is all children, and an expectation that all children get the education they deserve.
Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: What does she say to the mum whose 12-year-old son attends Mockingbird, that helps autistic children cope with school and is offered only during school hours……
Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said, I understand how challenging it is for parents. Having navigated the system as a parent of a child who needed additional support at school, I understand how challenging it is. But our Government is committed to ensuring that children are at school during school hours and that education provides a support and assistance while children are at school. It is unfortunate that important services like this are operating during school hours when we actually want children to be in school and get the support for their education at school.
……………..
Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: Has the Minister sought confirmation from the education Minister that her Government will fund schools to cover the cost of these programmes now that they can no longer be claimed through disability support funding, and, if not, why not?
Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said, there are different Government agencies that deliver services for disabled people. For disabled school children, the expectation is that they are at school. …..".
This sort of Ministerial Q and A performance was why the files behind Monty Python and Yes Minister emerged from the cleaners union staff servicing Whitehall.
Short version
It is now with the Education Ministry to manage costs for their care, but they require the disabled children to be in a mainstream school or special school during school hours …
when in current practice schools allow medical cause time outs (just funded from the disability budget).
Is Louise Upston going to get away with the inept performance of the sort that her predecessor was removed for? Because she is National and gets her face alongside Luxon in photos? Or because the PM does not care either?
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Mark Slee, Associate Professor, Clinical Academic Neurologist, Flinders University Francisco Gonzelez/Unsplash Migraine is many things, but one thing it’s not is “just a headache”. “Migraine” comes from the Greek word “hemicrania”, referring to the common experience of migraine being predominantly ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Steven Sherwood, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Sydney The past century of human-induced warming has increased rainfall variability over 75% of the Earth’s land area – particularly over Australia, Europe and eastern North America, new research shows. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Tony Heynen, Program Coordinator, Sustainable Energy, The University of Queensland A temporary stadium in the Champ-de-Mars, ParisEkaterina Pokrovsky/Shutterstock As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the sustainability of the event is coming under scrutiny. The organisers have promoted ...
A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Wright, Professor in Marine Geology, University of Canterbury Louise Corcoran/Getty Images The decline in the number of doctoral candidates at New Zealand universities is a worrying sign for the country’s effort to build a knowledge-based economy. Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laurie Berg, Associate Professor, University of Technology Sydney defotoberg/Shutterstock Migrant worker exploitation is entrenched in workplaces across Australia. Tragically, a deep fear of immigration consequences means most unlawful employer conduct goes unreported. On Wednesday, however, the government officially launched a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
It’s the deadliest fictional town in the country, but which death has been the most bonkers? Alex Casey looks back at 10 seasons of The Brokenwood Mysteries to find out. Warning: The following ranking story contains famous New Zealand actors appearing to be dead (not alive). The Spinoff has been ...
Water cremation is the biggest thing to happen to the death industry in the last 100 years. Alex Casey meets the people trying to bring it to Aotearoa. Through a set of mirrored doors down the industrial end of Christchurch’s St Asaph Street, death is getting a new lease on ...
Opinion: New Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy is authorised to assume operational leadership – chief executive Margie Apa is effectively relegated to his operational deputy The post All-powerful Levy is feudal baron of a $28b fiefdom appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Can we please have just one Green MP that can control themselves (like an adult), that does not require to either go on a course of "de-escalation", or need help for mental health issues and the leaders do not have to apologise for their actions.
NZ politics live: Green MP unleashes f-bomb in Parliament | Stuff
Another MSM beat-up Jimmy; they must be really worried about the polls.
The Greens are on 12% so must be doing something right on things like policies, which the MSM seems less interested in.
12% isn't great.
They need to get into the 20s if they want to influence the policy direction of the next government.
The Greens achieved their best election result (15 seats, including three electorate seats) last year.
They’ve never been above 12% of the party vote, and yet have had some influence on govt policy direction in some areas. Just my opinion – like all political parties and politicians, they will continue to fall short on occasion, but remain my favorite NZ political party, in part for their longer-term focus in selected areas of concern.
Exactly.
If they want to move past the status of a party that props up Labour governments, then they need to exceed their 2023 result – by a large margin.
Every minor party will have policy wins. Look at NZF and Act at the moment.
But we want a Green Party that dominates a government.
Agreed James….but the establishment doesn't want this and will do anything to portray the Greens as a disorganised rabble.
As a Green voter for many years, I used to dream of them holding steady at 12-13 per cent. But every CC event/disaster now adds a fraction to their vote so 20 per cent is no longer a dream..
Oh I don't know… it's a rare thing as a voter to feel like my views and attitudes are being represented by my representative.
Jimmy we get that you have no time for the left, as your past posts are mainly whinges.
On one hand, I've never liked Riccardo Mendez-March and found him, in general, to be a political liability for the Greens.
On the other, dropping an f-bomb in Parliament is objectively hilarious and awesome.
I don't care if someone says fuck in the House (the Speaker can deal with any issues around that). He didn't direct it at anyone or use it as a term of abuse.
The problem I have is the lack of discipline that leads to yet another round of MSM negative attention on the Greens. Maybe they're getting it all out of the way this year.
Marama was just on RadioNZ news saying that all the parties swear every day in parliament.
RadioNZ introduced her comment by saying that the Greens admit that their members swear in parliament every day. WTF?
Most of it being while the person is not addressing the House.
In the House?
At the same time could we please have a National MP that can do basic maths and not forget to carry the 1?
They need your help badly Jimmy, go tiger!
Fuck !!!really that's fucking disgusting , sack the fucker immediately!!!
I get what you are saying and I share your frustration.
That said, JAG is guilty of aggressively waving some documents in a bloke's face while simultaneously committing the sin of being totally correct about what they were actually arguing about.
RMM said a potty word.
On the other hand the government is blatantly corrupt, is dismantling everything Labour does often for no other reason than because Labour did it.
Let's keep this in fucking perspective.
+100 that guy
Can we plz have concern trolls that out up a better example
Of far greater concern to 'us' is an MP that 'overlooked' 10s of thousands of dollars of
bribesdonations while chairing a committee that met his donor's interests, in my opinion.Sometimes, it’s a fine line between a concern troll and a useful idiot and Jimmy’s obviously having an identity crisis and cannot choose. Going forward, this is important because some Mods here struggle to tell the difference.
If only you knew how often I have to put my hands in my pockets clench my jaw and walk past jimmys efforts so as to not upset you mods , you'd put me up for a saint hood.
I/we didn’t know because when you put your hands in your pocket you cannot type a comment for TS. But I/we admire and appreciate your fortitude.
Tories have called an early election in the UK, early July. Tories currently trailing 20 points in polls.
https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/may/22/rishi-sunak-will-call-general-election-for-july-in-surprise-move-sources
edited to correct who is trailing in the polls.
Concurrently, the outcome of the most sadistic policies implemented by the Tories is finally getting a proper inquiry. Policies that were heavily influencing the last Nat government, and would likely have been implemented had they secured a 4th term.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/22/inquiry-to-begin-into-dwps-treatment-of-ill-and-disabled-people-on-benefits
Yes Kay, the true doco of "Mr Bates against the Post Office", gives a view of their punishing lying use of power.
You may like to check the timeline of the scandal before you get all unhappy with the Conservative Party.
The product was installed in 1999 and the prosecutions started almost immediately and ran until 2015.
There was a Labour Government there from 1997 until 2010. The system went in and the prosecutions were largely during their reign. The Conservative Party were certainly culpable for the slowness in cleaning it up but even you would agree that the real blame for it happening was Labour's?
Wouldn't you?
And the MP who campaigned for justice for the postmasters was James Arbuthnot (played by Alex Jennings in the recreation), who (inconveniently for Patricia) is a Conservative.
Don't frighten me. Tories trailing by 20 points
god, sorry. That will teach me for posting too early in the morning. Editing the commentnow.
Just clueless fwits. So fixated on their "vision" (which will be dire for the majority of NZ), that they blithely/blindly roll on, and over, all.
Again the use of "House" as opposed to "Places." Bishop and Luxon being naughty?
Well…..thats a given. Stretttching the bounds is nothing new.
Allocating $140M for 1500 houses is $100,000 per house. Sounds like a bedsit inside social housing provider building.
Yep. It'll be "NO frills" . After all, they are the New Victorians , who Charles Dickens would recognise as such . The phrase "Nothing so cold as Charity" will assume extra meaning in NZ under NActFirst.
Na itlll be nothing, just a convenient lie from national .
Well well, well. Sunak has called a probably catastrophic early election early because the knives were out for him on the back benches. The Tories are committing seppuku – they are utterly spent, pre-occupied with interminable infighting to the extent Sunak has called a July election as an act of spite against his internal enemies and still get to California in time to see his kids into school for the new term.
Meanwhile, I see Adrian Orr has written the death note for this government – it is going to be a one term wonder because we are now looking at a three year recession. Richard Harman at Politik – the uber centrist purveyor of received wisdom – is busy peddling the line that this is all the result of Labour's COVID spending so the govt might get away with it, but the thing is Luxon wasn't elected to fix the economy via Osbornian austerity. he was elected to do something about the squeezed middle class and the cost of living crisis. He can't and anyway doesn't want to deliver on that promise so they will be toast.
Everybody knows austerity in the face of a recession leads to double (if not the Osborne tripple) dipping the recession. The conclusion should be that, yes, Luxon was elected on the promise to carry that out.
Sadly, the political situation in Great Britain is almost identical to the U.S.: a choice between two unconscionable options.
There are, of course, a few decent and honourable politicians, like George Galloway, whose recent return to parliament drove both major party leaders into displays of Blimpish outrage.
And there is Andrew Feinstein, who is trying to unseat Keir Starmer,,,
https://x.com/DoubleDownNews/status/1792858765600899124
Rishi Sunak doing a 1984 Muldoon. It didn't go too well for Muldoon.
Some things never change. Its a case of… if I'm going to go down in smoke, I'll make sure the rest of you come down with me. 😉
Over 200 Conservative MP's that face losing their seats have just seen an easy NZ$95k go up in smoke because Rishi has called the election 6 months early for no good reason. (A backbencher earns NZ$190k a year).
Shame. (sarc)
They should have listened to Hipkins.
He hung on the just about the last legal moment before recognising that his Government was dead and smelling rather a lot. Still, he got all his losing MPs a pay packet for as long as he could. Too bad for New Zealand of course.
I'm gonna bet you a chocolate fish this mob if bandits in government in nz will go to the polls early .
Why on earth would they?
I used to know one-time PM Jack Marshall. He was a member of a Government which went to the polls after 2 years, not 3, over the waterfront issue in 1951.
He said, when asked, that the only effect in the long term was that they served for 8 years, 1949 – 1957, instead of 9 for 3 full terms from 1949 to 1958. That was the only effect.
Why should anyone hold an early election, whether the are likely to win it, or lose it?
Coalition collapse
I note that Harmon does not link to the RBG statement ….
https://www.politik.co.nz/orrs-warning-three-years-of-austerity/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/350286984/home-loan-cuts-story-next-year
I read that Harman comment and thought that was a bit rich, blaming it all on Covid when some of the bank commentators are unsettled by the whole tax cut scenario and the expectation that it is more likely to fuel domestic inflation, the very thing the RBNZ is trying to curb.
Exactly Nic, the Luxonites are the most likely beneficiaries of austerity, another 10% on the weekly shop means bugger all when there’s a nice multi million dollar pillow to lay one’s head on after a hard days rorting.
The local problem is Greedflation and that’s a real bastard to control.
What “Harman comment” and where??
A link would be good.
Relevant to what was discussed here a couple of days ago. Well referenced and supported.
Risk of Suicide and Self-Harm Following Gender-Affirmation Surgery
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38699117/
Just in case anyone is still running the lines about "would you rather have a live daughter or a dead son?"
"Individuals who underwent gender-affirming surgery had a 12.12-fold higher suicide attempt risk than those who did not (3.47% vs. 0.29%, RR 95% CI 9.20-15.96, p < 0.0001). Compared to the tubal ligation/vasectomy controls, the risk was 5.03-fold higher before propensity matching and remained significant at 4.71-fold after matching (3.50% vs. 0.74%, RR 95% CI 2.46-9.024, p < 0.0001) for the gender affirmation patients with similar results with the pharyngitis controls. Conclusion Gender-affirming surgery is significantly associated with elevated suicide attempt risks, underlining the necessity for comprehensive post-procedure psychiatric support."
FFS you cannot compare the risks of self harm and suicide post Gender-Affirming surgery to longterm contraception or a sore throat[ pharyngitis].
The self harm and suicidality exists before the surgery, do people not realize that most Gender Affirmation is not male to female but female to male. The surgery is but another form of bodily self harm as part of complex Borderline Personality Disorders.
please don't put your email address in the URL field, it displays it publicly. You can leave the URL field blank.
sorry autofill
Actually, the critical group NOT included in the study is the incidence of suicide in transgender patients who do NOT undergo affirmation surgery. If affirmation surgery decreases the incidence of suicide in trans people, then gender-affirming surgery has a positive effect overall. I don't understand why an emergency visit was included in the study. Perhaps, without the emergency visit, the stats don't look so good.
"The study involved four cohorts: cohort A, adults aged 18-60 who had gender-affirming surgery and an emergency visit (N = 1,501); cohort B, control group of adults with emergency visits but no gender-affirming surgery (N = 15,608,363); and cohort C, control group of adults with emergency visits, tubal ligation or vasectomy, but no gender-affirming surgery (N = 142,093). Propensity matching was applied to cohorts A and C."
It's risky
It's irreversible (no, you cannot replace a healthy breast with an implant, you can't un-invert a penis, and you can't take skin from a neophallus and put it back on a shucked forearm, sorry if anyone loses their lunch, but this is reality)
It's performed (unless you are rich) by inexperienced surgeons, because this is what happens when the demand for a type of surgery suddenly outstrips the number of competent and experienced surgeons
It will (at a minimum) make sex awkward and may make it impossible and painful, and previous use of puberty blockers are likely to make orgasm impossible, for the rest of the patient's life.
And it's all in pursuit of an impossible goal, because men are not women and you can't stop people accurately sexing you, in the same way that you can't stop yourself from determining which way is up and which way is down.
Of course people with SDPS (Sexual Dysfunction Producing Surgery) are getting down. They are victims, they are vulnerable, they have been promised a lie by people claiming expertise and authority, and when reality hits (usually in the mid-twenties) it's too late.
That, and the Dr Frankenstein surgeons.
Seriously? We're at that level of name-calling now?
Let me rephrase then.
That, and the surgeons who are doing experimental surgeries on the genitals of teenagers, without informed consent, often botching them, not really knowing how to fix that, leaving young people to face a lifetime of pain and regret, and doing that because they love the cutting edge of transhumanism.
Is that better?
#notallSRSsurgeons obviously. But we don't know how many eh, which is the point. Fuck No Debate.
a couple of receipts from things I've seen recently.
Detrans man, Ritchie Heron's thread from today,
https://x.com/TullipR/status/1793660665426850225
The surgeon who did experimental cross genital surgery on Jazz Jennings at age 17,
https://x.com/TTExulansic/status/1792304132277317974
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/05/housing-minister-chris-bishop-admits-government-scrapping-first-home-grants-unpopular-will-cause-some-pain.html
True to form national are proved to be dishonest, they attacked labour for not going far enough with first home grants, I even believe they said they wouldn't cut the grants, but here we are.
Lets see if any of the media sock puppets take this up with our ex tobacco lobbyist housing minister.
Im sure he will have a response ready as hes skilled in these matters.
I thought they did yesterday and his smirky response was "that was then, this is now".
A please explain wouldn't hurt so bishop can dig himself in or surprise us all with an intelligent response.
I am not surprised by the RBG take.
Sure imported inflation was coming down and the impact of the weather events of early 2023 have gone – so we were going to get to 3% by the end of the year.
Many presumed therefore that the 5.5% OCR had done its jobs and it would go down – this year even.
This was never likely. So for them a shot across the bows.
This is because domestic inflation will hold the rate at 3% through 2025 and beyond – rates (infrastructure) and insurance (adjusting for impact on infrastructure of GW) are going up year by year at rates not seen before AND loss of (construction) workers to Oz (seeking secure jobs and better wages) increasing costs.
Chickens coming home to roost – economic growth via migrant labour inflow population increase decreases productivity (we needed investment in more efficient use of resources) and it increases infrastructure cost.
It does expose a limitation in the OCR approach – the lower imported inflation would allow a lower dollar (improved returns to exporters), if there was an alternative mechanism for internal inflation management.
Such as a reduction of the OCR to 5% and the impost of a mortgage surcharge (0.25%, then 0.5%) – the government surely needs the money.
More money paid in rent – less GST spending. Less tax off rent income (landlords giveaway). No rise in wages (25 cents an hour MW no FPA etc). Will company tax make up the shortfall …
That all said, Zollner may be right, in correcting the misplaced optimisim of a fall from the 5.5% level – a fall is still likely
https://www.politik.co.nz/orrs-warning-three-years-of-austerity/
https://www.stuff.co.nz/money/350286984/home-loan-cuts-story-next-year
That all said, Zollner may be right, in correcting the misplaced optimism of a (n early) fall from the 5.5% level – (so banks do not rush cuts), a fall is still likely (albeit in the latter half of 2025, than the first half – as even the wiser ones thought a few months ago).
I remember paying 18% on a commercial loan in 1990 ….5.5% doesn't sound so bad.
Tony Alexander looks at the economy and rides his horse away from the elephant.
https://www.oneroof.co.nz/news/tony-alexander-in-the-most-dangerous-part-of-the-cycle-time-to-call-it-quits-45557
Yet more proof that we need to reinvent how we tackle inflation .
Yeah the, don't feed the Damien Grant's of this world, warning is chilling.
Sir Ian Taylor wants a smart investment plan, rather than keeping doors open to the old industry economy.
Re-wiring the nation (so extra power is not more expensive) from the farm up.
Geothermal
Bio-forestry
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/opinion-a-letter-to-shane-jones-sir-ian-taylor/MBOYHVJWEZAFNN5N5YW3R5XKNU/
https://archive.li/aHb2M
Sign of the times – Auckland inner city police have to focus on daylight robbery of food.
This is what happens when population increases by 2.9%, but economic growth is 0.6%
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2024/05/alleged-whittaker-s-chocolate-thief-chased-through-auckland-cbd-as-police-crack-down-on-retail-crime-hundreds-of-charges-laid.html
I presume the environmental cost met by government is far higher than the risible amount of royalties received.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/05/resources-minister-shane-jones-announces-plan-to-double-export-earnings-from-mining-says-industry-is-back-in-business.html
The growth in mining royalties is from $6.5M in 2010.
So we get stuff all from the gold then ..
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/3502112/6-5m-royalties-from-mining-the-cherry-on-the-top
Simon Court – an ACT MP – thinks if we drill for oil here we get cheaper energy – we do not refine the oil, it would have to go overseas and be refined there and sent back – it would be no cheaper to us than the world market rate.
https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/05/23/mining-back-in-business-with-plan-to-double-export-value-govt/
The number of staff leaving straight off (to get new jobs asap and the others waiting for the voluntary redundancy option then going) is indicative of people who do not want to be clients. Nor work for a National led government.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/350287893/ministry-social-development-looks-shed-700-staff
Workforce Data – Workforce size – Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission
The number of public sector employees (excluding local government) rose by 65,784 (19%) in just 6 years to 2023.
The number employed by MSD rose from 6,799 @ June 2017 to 9,077 @ June 2023, an increase of 2,277 or 33%.
The population of NZ increased by 11% between 2017 and 2023. So, MSD employee numbers rose by a factor 3 over the population growth. I'm surprised it's only 700.
Do you do consultant numbers as well?
What is the comparison from 2017 to 2023?
Oh, there is stuff you did not mention
And this
And also
From Workforce Data – Workforce size – Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission.
Total contractor and consultant spend (Opex & Capex) in the year to June 2018 = $900.2m
Total contractor and consultant spend (Opex & Capex) in the year to June 2023 = $1,268.5m
An increase in 5 years of 30%.
What was the point you were trying to make?
1.no useful consultant figures until 2018 (even if only at the aggregate spend)
2.30% is less than wage increases in the period, so no apparent increase in number of consultants.
3.the reason for the staff increases in MSD in 2023 was explained.
4.as a share of workforce spend, operating expenditure (OPEX) on contractors and consultants decreased to 9.6% in the first half of 2023/24, the lowest it’s been since measurement began (2018).
One wonders if National will continue with this measurable comparison or not – so consultant spend increase is hidden.
The % of spend on c&c’s went down because the workforce went up at such a high rate!
Reposted, read…
Not relating cost increase to wage levels or inflation means the figures are without context.
The reasons – managing help after weather events and to manage down levels of reduce were rather good.
Under National will the increased cost of consultants to total spending be higher or lower relative to permanent staff number changes?
The employee data is numbers, not $'s, so inflation and wage levels are irrelevant.
To your point about consultants and contractors – spending increased 30% in 5 years, well above the rate of population growth AND the rate of inflation over the same period (21.1%).
“The reasons – managing help after weather events and to manage down levels of reduce were rather good.”
Seriously? A 33% increase in staff to manage weather events? AT MSD?
3.1% in 2023 for that and other reasons.
Wage inflation was higher than 20%, relevance to staffing numbers as that figure is not available for consultants.
Wage inflation is irrelevant when comparing employee numbers.
Employee numbers went up 19%, when population only rose 11%.
Spending on consultants and contractors up 30% over 5 years when inflation only rose 21%.
Whichever way you spin this, whichever comparisons you use, the increase in the public sector was out of control.
Then by your reasoning, the cost of consultants was out of control – being 50% higher than general inflation (even if it only reflected a rising cost of pay to people doing the same work as 5 years earlier).
And the measure by which we can determine if National is able to manage out of control consultancy cost.
I think this unfair, but if it is the one you will hold National to, I'll not quibble about that.
SPC it's you that raised spending on consultants. I was commenting on the growth in the workforce. But yes, spending on consultants rising 30% is out of control. And absolutely I will hold any government to account if the growth in the public sector we've seen in the past 6 years is repeated.
Stuff looks at why Ginny Anderson (moving into the role of Louisa Wall – closing a loophole in Harmful Digital Communications Act) has developed a private members bill – hoping to prod the government to do something.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/nz-news/350281878/its-epidemic-calls-stalking-be-made-illegal-new-zealand
From the link;
As the victim of a stalker for a good number of years I can attest to that.
My stalker kept a close 'eye' on everything I did. There were numerous nuisance phone calls – the silent variety. My home was broken into twice and on one occasion obscene messaging left on a bathroom cabinet door. False accusations to my Public Service bosses surfaced which led to hostility towards me. I eventually had to leave.
There were numerous bizarre incidents, including mysterious injuries to pets.
It was all done covertly but I was eventually able to identify the culprit. The motivation was part political and part personal and involved at least one other person.
The police were hopeless. They had no comprehension of the huge amount of damage it did to me. They…did… not… have… a… clue.
In some cases it is done by those who the police would protect, rather than investigate.
Yes, the thought has crossed my mind.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/05/23/govt-paid-kainga-ora-reviewers-out-of-urgent-housing-fund/
Double dipton and his "independent "reviewers took up $500 000 out of the emergency housing fund, it'd make me laugh if only I didn't want to swear more.
$63 000 for 26 days, !!!
10 percent of a first home buyers house, for 26 fucking days , fucking hell
It made Bomber bombastic.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2024/05/22/here-they-come-for-state-housing-how-compromised-is-bill-english/
Susan St John responds to a Taxpayers Union email – preparing the way for the budget
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2024/05/21/will-the-true-debt-figure-please-stand-up/
Women in Medicine organised a panel discussion – with 3 wise men – to listen at their feet.
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2024/05/20/guest-blog-ian-powell-health-system-synthesis-from-time-to-culture-struggle-and-hope/
Another Government attack on people with disabilities – this time school-age children. Rather than recognising and accepting that some of their specific needs might be relieved by attending out-of-school daytime programmes, the Government expects the children to comply with a strict routine/regime of school attendance. The full transcript in the following link shows the inflexible, ideological mindset of the Government and their disregard for evidence of beneficial interventions.
From Question Time today:
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/hansarddebates/rhr/combined/HansDeb_20240523_20240523_24
"10. Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Labour) to the Minister for Disability Issues: Why have disability support funding criteria changed recently to now exclude the use of funding during school hours, and does she accept that many disabled people and children rely on flexible funding to be able to access critical support?
Hon LOUISE UPSTON (Minister for Disability Issues): ………The recent changes to the purchasing guidelines reflected the Ministry of Disabled People's view that the Ministry of Education is responsible for funding support during school hours. I sympathise with all children and families who may have different support due to the changes and I acknowledge that this may have caused distress. The independent review of disability support funding will be looking into how the whole-of-Government support work together so that disabled people get the essential support they need.
Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: What does she say to the mum whose 11-year-old daughter diagnosed with autism and ADHD and chronic health challenges, who relies on a special one-to-one gymnastic therapy class to help improve her muscle tone and regulate her anxiety levels, will no longer be able to access support because of this new change?
Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said, I sympathise with the impact that any changes may have had. The primary question was about the use of funding during school hours, and our Government recognises the importance of school attendance, so much so that we have set a target to ensure children are attending school—this is all children, and an expectation that all children get the education they deserve.
Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: What does she say to the mum whose 12-year-old son attends Mockingbird, that helps autistic children cope with school and is offered only during school hours……
Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said, I understand how challenging it is for parents. Having navigated the system as a parent of a child who needed additional support at school, I understand how challenging it is. But our Government is committed to ensuring that children are at school during school hours and that education provides a support and assistance while children are at school. It is unfortunate that important services like this are operating during school hours when we actually want children to be in school and get the support for their education at school.
……………..
Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: Has the Minister sought confirmation from the education Minister that her Government will fund schools to cover the cost of these programmes now that they can no longer be claimed through disability support funding, and, if not, why not?
Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said, there are different Government agencies that deliver services for disabled people. For disabled school children, the expectation is that they are at school. …..".
This sort of Ministerial Q and A performance was why the files behind Monty Python and Yes Minister emerged from the cleaners union staff servicing Whitehall.
Short version
It is now with the Education Ministry to manage costs for their care, but they require the disabled children to be in a mainstream school or special school during school hours …
when in current practice schools allow medical cause time outs (just funded from the disability budget).
Is Louise Upston going to get away with the inept performance of the sort that her predecessor was removed for? Because she is National and gets her face alongside Luxon in photos? Or because the PM does not care either?