The govt seems to think Wellington is absolutely positively stuffed, so it's infiltrating an agent into the council to deliver some tlc:
"The point of having a Crown observer is to assist the council in managing these issues as they redevelop their long-term plan, for the benefit of Wellington ratepayers," Brown said. Brown said unlike a Commissioner, the observer would not have any powers to direct council or make decisions.
Like a nursemaid, then. Back when Key was PM he made headlines by pointing out that Wellington was dying – inexplicably failing to explain that it was doing so absolutely and positively. So current council shenanigans must be death throes, or perhaps the death rattle. We really need msm to be present at council meetings to report the whys and wherefores of this ongoing medical saga.
I think you captured the essence of it with that third option. A contracting economy seems to be forcing young aspiring kiwis to head for Oz. Nothing new, really.
Recent figures show 81,200 Kiwis left New Zealand long-term since the start of the year, in the biggest brain drain we've seen in decades. So how concerning is this for our economy?
Gen Z is where this action is evident, apparently. The CoC was touting itself as the solution to Labour's malaise, got into power on that basis, and a year on the situation has worsened – whereas those who put them into power expected improvement!
If you google the issue you get reminders of all the other years we've seen the same thing happening so no wonder everyone gets blasé about it.
If you google the issue you get reminders of all the other years we've seen the same thing happening..
Yes I know very well from first hand experience what you are saying here. My own family left in 2010 under the Key Govt for much the same reasons as that being perpetuated by this – but even more severe now than then. Am heading off soon for Xmas as this will be the first time in 14 years we have all been together as family. They are now Aussie citizens and won't be coming back. That's parents with 2 Master's degrees in Health and Community Development. Their children engineers and vets. I remember with irony the Nat Govt election ad in 2008 – "Stop waving Goodbye to your Loved ones!" Lying Bastards. Never voted Nats and never will.
That's the complete irony of it all. Labour/lw goverments build up the economy, mostly running pretty smoothly. Nats/rw stand up before the elections shouting, 'Only us party of business people can truly run the economy'. Economy retracts under them, forcing a change of government. Repeat.
This same pattern has been pointed out by The Guardian for the UK. The Labour Party needs to put numbers in front of the electorate every time the CoC crows about any so-called financial improvement.
As in, 'we always said interest rates would go down within 18 months. Our budget didn't propose to borrow as much as this government has, to fund tax cuts to landlords and to tobacco companies'.
You have to challenge the Nats’ economic high-ground bullshit every time it comes up.
The COC relied on public submissions to justify its new tougher 3-Strikes law-see No Right Turn in sidebar.
It turns out that 450 of the 700 odd submissions received in support were cut and pasted by submitters from the Sensible Sentencing submission. Clearly the SS emailed their supporters explaining how to do this.
It also turns out that the select committee process has been circumvented as explained by Duncan Webb in the audio below-so much for democracy.
Brown pissing on Wellington for not borrowing for water infrastructure but using Rate payers money. Most Councils are using Ratepayers money.
Simmonds trying to stop Otago from publishing their Statuary responsibility re their water consultation with the Community.
Bayley lying to the House and to Luxon about his drunken abuse and how he made return visits to harass the worker to get him to go for a beer with him after his initial abuse.
Peters defying and mocking the Speaker.
A Minister allowing an organised email program from Family First, to dictate the dodgy new Three Strikes Law. The Minister says she has no interest in what the Select committee has to say bout the 3 Strikes.
A PM who reckons that he has special inside knowledge on Economics. (He knows better than Economists?) Ha Ha Ha!
We are so lucky to have PM Luxon to manage every little irritant and answer swiftly and concisely questions in the House. HA!
Simeon Brown is dumb and out of control. Luxon just lets him get on with it.
The next election is going to be fascinating-a stark choice indeed.
My worry is that Luxon will simply keep repeating "Hipkins halved Labour's vote last time, he's a loser" (probably holding a hand-formed L-shape in front of his face ) and the electorate will listen and vote COC.
It does because that is part of the e-mail protocol ever since RFC822 (the first protocol standard). Effectively there is a header email you can send to the targets to tell the email server to delete it. However that has effectively been unused for decades because the email network has too many intermediate stages these days. It you ever have a look at the header of a email you can see the numbers of jumps between multiple email servers before it strikes the destination address.
It mostly just works inside a single mail server like a enterprise main server system using something like Microsoft Exchange.
I doubt that recall is the case that about why this one disappeared.
However in this case from your link.
Political parties received an email on Friday from the business worker who has complained about the behaviour of the Commerce and Small Business Minister on a recent ministerial visit.
When the staffer queried this with Parliament’s IT staff, they were told it was withdrawn because it was flagged as spam, but it had subsequently been reinstated on Monday.
That is a different story. That is on a single receiving (ie not sending) mail server where there are multiple recipients. One or more of the recipients tagged the e-mail as being spam. So one or more MPs tagged the e-mail as spam, and the when the spam score got high enough it would have been ‘moved’ out of visibility based on the spam rules.
This is common on enterprise level mail servers. It is a common group spam hunting technique, one that I find stupid for exactly the reason that happened here. One person’s spam is another persons vital bit of information. In the case of say, an ACT MP, who viewed this as being absolute spam. Compared to a Labour, TPM, or Green MP hwo would most likely regard this as being of high and important interest.
The problem here is: it conveniently prevented Labour from responding to the letter in question last Friday because they never saw it. Whether the fault lay with an individual or an automatic response is yet to be established. But why did it 'cancel' the Labour leader's copy and not any of the other leaders?
We don't know that it did cancel only Sepuloni's copy and not that of any of the other leaders.
And it seems unlikely – given the explanation, so far.
If it was indeed marked as spam, then all copies distributed in all inboxes within the parliamentary server would have been 'removed' at the same time.
I think (and am entirely open to being corrected, if I'm wrong), that multiple (over a certain number) of addressees in an email can also trigger it to be identified as spam within an email environment.
The question here would be whether it was flagged as spam by an individual, or via an automated routine.
NB: either is a wrong solution (in this case) – but it affects how you deal with this kind of issue going forward.
That's a huge leap….. especially given that I said "either is a wrong solution (in this case) – but it affects how you deal with this kind of issue going forward"
If you had worked in a modern tech environment, you'd know that the IT guys do identify and 'disappear' phishing or scam emails (often designed to hack into people's passwords, and provide a backdoor to the server) – from people's inboxes. There is no requirement for each individual to be contacted directly about this – it's routine business. It's less common for spam to be dealt with this way.
This bulk treatment of scam or phishing emails is a good thing – since it protects both the individual and the organization.
I’m unable to find any explanation from Incognito. However, lprent has dealt with the topic very informatively.
The type of spam filters you describing are in invariate rules at the server. Those would run after the arrival of a email at the email server and before dispersing to the mail boxes for anyone.
Not just emails. We have those here for comments, for things like numbers of links, certain types of embedded HTML, and a host of other issues. We refer to it as the auto-spam rules.
Since the email was sighted by the aide to the MP, flagged for the attention of the MP, and subsequently disappeared. It wasn't caught by one of those rules. It had to have been triggered by something that happened after being disbursed to mail boxes.
Presumably the people who marked it as spam would not have known how the automated spam rules worked – or what the effect would be if enough of them marked it as spam?
So unlikely there was a conspiracy of any sort – appealing though it is to imagine a gaggle of Nats scurrying to their email under Bishop's direction.
A lot of people learn about these little quirks. Periodically some illiterate smartarse tries to leverage them.
However it makes for extra work for support people and system operators, and it really pays not to piss them off. What they can do makes 'spitting in customers food' look really tame.
Israel is now using white phosphorus agsinst the UN troops in Lebanon. Serious action needs to be taken. Embassies closed and sanctions enforced. They are a terrorist state in the true sense of the word. The West can no longer claim, now or in the future, to hold any moral high ground. There is no country in the world committing more atrocities while being fully armed and supported by us.
Nearly choked on my toast the other morning, when RNZ faithfully stenographed reported that Biden was "hopeful of a cease fire deal". What utter bullshit.
Hope is for those who have no agency, no influence, no control. In one call Biden could force a cease fire. It makes me wonder why he doesn't…/sarc
In @nzheraldtoday I described the tactics of Tory Whanau’s opponents as suicide bombing: destroying their own budget and possibly the council itself to get the govt to move against her. Govt has just announced it will appoint an observer. Premium+paper
If I'm reading this link correctly, the issue appears to be that Willis has a connection (godmother) who is a Wellington Councillor. And is therefore (theoretically) motivated to intervene in WCC on her behalf.
Given that Willis doesn't have any direct responsibility for local government – this appears to be a very long bow to draw.
I'd say it's much closer to the truth that Whanau is a mayor from a Green political background, who is also having difficulty in forging consensus in her council. A right wing government will be more motivated to intervene – regardless of any familial or political ties they may have to individual councillors.
When you (as in the author of the link provided) see everything as a conspiracy, you are much more likely to be dismissed as the tinfoil-hat brigade.
I heard it was a couple of right-wing councillors that backed the sale of the airport up until the last minute then went against the sale to sink the councils 10 year plan , if true its more reason to hate right wing political tactics!
Well said bwaghorn. Right wing politicians who don't like democracy (they can't abide it when they aren't in the majority), so they lash out at everything and everyone and claim dysfunction when it is simply a matter of losing votes around the table (and a 'hate' for a left/Green Mayor). They are constantly publicly bagging the Council simply because they aren't in the majority. Like spoilt children/brats, they throw their toys around when they don't get their own way. Simply pathetic.
Wellington City Council intervention a warning shot for other NZ councils [23 Oct]
A card-carrying Green Party mayor with a left-leaning majority on a council table, sitting just five minutes up the road from the most right-leaning Cabinet in decades, has already raised questions about the motivations behind the government's intervention.
…
The coalition's threshold for intervention has now been set, and while Willis says no other councils are in the government's crosshairs right now, a warning shot has been fired.
Yep, I have said all along that this is all about National's revenge on Wellington for being one of the few parts of NZ that didn't believe their lies last election day.
Was also a factor in the large civil servant layoff which just happened conveniently to affect Wellington most.
If was Labour taking petty revenge like this the whole country would be up in arms.
If you don't want a flame war, Patricia, don't start one.
If you have a counter-argument – demonstrating that there is some reality in this conspiracy theory – then produce it!
Parliament is debating the Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. A deal favouring the rural sector has emerged (discussed on Richard Harman's Politik website).
It seems farmers pressured Penny Simmonds seeking changes to the Bill (in effect stalling a regulation that would have restricted farm waste discharges). The government slipped this in after the select committee process had closed. The public had no chance to comment.
Otago Regional Council has had to cancel its meeting to vote on a new freshwater regulation .
Federated Farmers is also retaliating against Fish & Game NZ by telling Southland farmers to block anglers from accessing rivers on their properties. The Feds obviously think that if farmers aren't allowed to pollute the rivers, the public should not be allowed to fish in them.
Among the many other problems associated with Musk/DOGE sending a fleet of teenage and twenty-something cultists to remove, copy and appropriate federal records like social security, medicaid and other supposedly protected data is the fact that the youngsters doing the data-removal, copying and security protocol and filter code over-writing have ...
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tuneBird fly high by the light of the moonOh, oh, oh, JokermanSong by Bob Dylan.Morena folks, I hope this fine morning of the 7th of February finds you well. We're still close to Paihia, just a short drive out of town. Below is the view ...
It’s been an eventful week as always, so here’s a few things that we have found interesting. We also hope everyone had a happy and relaxing Waitangi Day! This week in Greater Auckland We’re still running on summer time, but provided two chewy posts: On Tuesday, a guest ...
Queuing on Queen St: the Government is set to announce another apparently splashy growth policy on Sunday of offering residence visas to wealthy migrants. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Friday, February 7:PM Christopher ...
The fact that Waitangi ended up being such a low-key affair may mark it out as one of the most significant Waitangi Days in recent years. A group of women draped in “Toitu Te Tiriti” banners who turned their backs on the politicians’ powhiri was about as rough as it ...
Hi,This week’s Flightless Bird episode was about “fake seizure guy” — a Melbourne man who fakes seizures in order to get members of the public to sit on him.The audio documentary (which I have included in this newsletter in case you don’t listen to Flightless Bird) built on reporting first ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk The 119th Congress comes with a price tag. The oil and gas industry gave about $24 million in campaign contributions to the members of the U.S. House and Senate expected to be sworn in January 3, 2025, according to a ...
Early morning, the shadows still long, but you can already feel the warmth building. Our motel was across the road from the historic homestead where Henry Williams' family lived. The evening before, we wandered around the gardens, reading the plaques and enjoying the close proximity to the history of the ...
Thanks folks for your feedback, votes and comments this week. I’ll be making the changes soon. Appreciate all your emails, comments and subscriptions too. I know your time is valuable - muchas gracias.A lot is happening both here and around the world - so I want to provide a snippets ...
Data released today by Statistics NZ shows that unemployment rose to 5.1%, with 33,000 more people out of work than last year said NZCTU Te Kauae Kaimahi Economist Craig Renney. “The latest data shows that employment fell in Aotearoa at its fastest rate since the GFC. Unemployment rose in 8 ...
The December labour market statistics have been released, showing yet another increase in unemployment. There are now 156,000 unemployed - 34,000 more than when National took office. And having thrown all these people out of work, National is doubling down on cruelty. Because being vicious will somehow magically create the ...
Boarded up homes in Kilbirnie, where work on a planned development was halted. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty on Wednesday, February 5 are;Housing Minister Chris Bishop yesterday announcedKāinga Ora would be stripped of ...
This week Kiwirail and Auckland Transport were celebrating the completion of the summer rail works that had the network shut or for over a month and the start of electric trains to Pukekohe. First up, here’s parts of the press release about the shutdown works. Passengers boarding trains in Auckland ...
Through its austerity measures, the coalition government has engineered a rise in unemployment in order to reduce inflation while – simultaneously – cracking down harder and harder on the people thrown out of work by its own policies. To that end, Social Development Minister Louise Upston this week added two ...
This year, we've seen a radical, white supremacist government ignoring its Tiriti obligations, refusing to consult with Māori, and even trying to legislatively abrogate te Tiriti o Waitangi. When it was criticised by the Waitangi Tribunal, the government sabotaged that body, replacing its legal and historical experts with corporate shills, ...
Poor old democracy, it really is in a sorry state. It would be easy to put all the blame on the vandals and tyrants presently trashing the White House, but this has been years in the making. It begins with Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan and the spirit of Gordon ...
The new school lunches came in this week, and they were absolutely scrumptious.I had some, and even though Connor said his tasted like “stodge” and gave him a sore tummy, I myself loved it!Look at the photos - I knew Mr Seymour wouldn’t lie when he told us last year:"It ...
The tighter sanctions are modelled on ones used in Britain, which did push people off ‘the dole’, but didn’t increase the number of workers, and which evidence has repeatedly shown don’t work. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, ...
Catching you up on the morning’s global news and a quick look at the parallels -GLOBALTariffs are backSharemarkets in the US, UK and Europe have “plunged” in response to Trump’s tariffs. And while Mexico has won a one month reprieve, Canada and China will see their respective 25% and 10% ...
This post by Nicolas Reid was originally published on Linked in. It is republished here with permission. Gondolas are often in the news, with manufacturers of ropeway systems proposing them as a modern option for mass transit systems in New Zealand. However, like every next big thing in transport, it’s hard ...
This is a re-post from The Climate BrinkBoth 2023 and 2024 were exceptionally warm years, at just below and above 1.5C relative to preindustrial in the WMO composite of surface temperature records, respectively. While we are still working to assess the full set of drivers of this warmth, it is clear that ...
Hi,I woke up feeling nervous this morning, realising that this weekend Flightless Bird is going to do it’s first ever live show. We’re heading to a sold out (!) show in Seattle to test the format out in front of an audience. If it works, we’ll do more. I want ...
From the United-For-Now States of America comes the thrilling news that a New Zealander may be at the very heart of the current coup. Punching above our weight on the world stage once more! Wait, you may be asking, what New Zealander? I speak of Peter Thiel, made street legal ...
Even Stevens: Over the 33 years between 1990 and 2023 (and allowing for the aberrant 2020 result) the average level of support enjoyed by the Left and Right blocs, at roughly 44.5 percent each, turns out to be, as near as dammit, identical.WORLDWIDE, THE PARTIES of the Left are presented ...
Back in 2023, a "prominent political figure" went on trial for historic sex offences. But we weren't allowed to know who they were or what political party they were "prominent" in, because it might affect the way we voted. At the time, I said that this was untenable; it was ...
I'm going, I'm goingWhere the water tastes like wineI'm going where the water tastes like wineWe can jump in the waterStay drunk all the timeI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayI'm gonna leave this city, got to get awayAll this fussing and fighting, man, you know I sure ...
Waitangi Day is a time to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and stand together for a just and fair Aotearoa. Across the motu, communities are gathering to reflect, kōrero, and take action for a future built on equity and tino rangatiratanga. From dawn ceremonies to whānau-friendly events, there are ...
Subscribe to Mountain Tūī ! Where you too can learn about exciting things from a flying bird! Tweet.Yes - I absolutely suck at marketing. It’s a fact.But first -My question to all readers is:How should I set up the Substack model?It’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask since November ...
Here’s the key news, commentary, reports and debate around Aotearoa’s political economy on politics and in the week to Feb 3:PM Christopher Luxon began 2025’s first day of Parliament last Tuesday by carrying on where left off in 2024, letting National’s junior coalition partner set the political agenda and dragging ...
The PSA have released a survey of 4000 public service workers showing that budget cuts are taking a toll on the wellbeing of public servants and risking the delivery of essential services to New Zealanders. Economists predict that figures released this week will show continued increases in unemployment, potentially reaching ...
The Prime Minister’s speech 10 days or so ago kicked off a flurry of commentary. No one much anywhere near the mainstream (ie excluding Greens supporters) questioned the rhetoric. New Zealand has done woefully poorly on productivity for a long time and we really need better outcomes, and the sorts ...
President Trump on the day he announced tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China, unleashing a shock to supply chains globally that is expected to slow economic growth and increase inflation for most large economies. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on UnsplashHere’s what we’re watching in the week to February 9 and beyond in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, climate and poverty:Monday, February 3Politics: New Zealand Government cabinet meeting usually held early afternoon with post-cabinet news conference possible at 4 pm, although they have not been ...
Trump being Trump, it won’t come as a shock to find that he regards a strong US currency (bolstered by high tariffs on everything made by foreigners) as a sign of America’s virility, and its ability to kick sand in the face of the world. Reality is a tad more ...
A listing of 24 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 26, 2025 thru Sat, February 1, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
What seems to be the common theme in the US, NZ, Argentina and places like Italy under their respective rightwing governments is what I think of as “the politics of cruelty.” Hate-mongering, callous indifference in social policy-making, corporate toadying, political bullying, intimidation and punching down on the most vulnerable with ...
If you are confused, check with the sunCarry a compass to help you alongYour feet are going to be on the groundYour head is there to move you aroundSo, stand in the place where you liveSongwriters: Bill Berry / Michael Mills / Michael Stipe / Peter Buck.Hot in the CityYesterday, ...
Shane Jones announced today he would be contracting out his thinking to a smarter younger person.Reclining on his chaise longue with a mouth full of oysters and Kina he told reporters:Clearly I have become a has-been, a palimpsest, an epigone, a bloviating fossil. I find myself saying such things as: ...
Warning: This post contains references to sexual assaultOn Saturday, I spent far too long editing a video on Tim Jago, the ACT Party President and criminal, who has given up his fight for name suppression after 2 years. He voluntarily gave up just in time for what will be a ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with members from our team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is global warming ...
Our low-investment, low-wage, migration-led and housing-market-driven political economy has delivered poorer productivity growth than the rest of the OECD, and our performance since Covid has been particularly poor. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate and poverty this ...
..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
One of those blasts from the past. Peter Dunne – originally neoliberal Labour, then leader of various parties that sought to work with both big parties (generally National) – has taken to calling ...
Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Climate denial is dead. Renewable energy denial is here. As “alternative facts” become the norm, it’s worth looking at what actual facts tell us about how renewable energy sources like solar and wind are lowering the price of electricity. As ...
SIR GEOFFREY PALMER is worried about democracy. In his Newsroom website post of 27 January 2025 he asserts that “the future of democracy across the world now seems to be in question.” Following a year of important electoral contests across the world, culminating in Donald Trump’s emphatic recapture of the ...
The Government hasn’t stopped talking about growth since the Prime Minister made his “yes” speech at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week. But so far, the measures announced would seem hardly likely to suddenly pitch New Zealand into the fast-growth East Asian league. The digital nomad announcement hardly deserved ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Someone defames you anonymously online. Can you find out who it is? Maybe. There are legal avenues to seek a court order that an internet host reveal the identity of the person. One of them is called a Norwich Pharmacal order, but as Hugh Tomlinson KC points out, it only ...
The results of the 2025 Mood of the Workforce survey have been released, with working people revealing deep concerns regarding their work lives, housing, health care, and perceptions of the coalition government in Aotearoa New Zealand.Christopher Luxon has signalled that National may campaign on asset sales in the next election, ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Interior of Auckland South Men’s Prison.Getty Images Prisons are not colourful places. Typically, they are grey or some variation of a monochrome colour scheme. But increasingly, ...
FICTION1Tree of Nourishment (Kāwai 2) by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)Interesting to note that the author of the biggest-selling New Zealand novel in Waitangi Week is Māori (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai, and Ngāti Kahungunu).2 Kāwai: For Such a Time as This (Kāwai 1) by Monty Soutar (David ...
Remembering the renowned New Zealand writer, who died on February 5, 2025. The Stopover When the trout rise like compassion It is worth watching when the hinds come down from the hills with a new message it will be as well to listen. – Brian Turner Poet, environmentalist, sportsman, journalist, ...
Survivors can choose to have former High Court judge Paul Davison assess their individual claims to tailor payments to their personal circumstances. ...
Are we too modest when it comes to celebrating our putrid plant life?She’s beauty. She’s grace. She smells like a decaying corpse and lurks in the backrooms of Auckland Zoo, wallowing tragically in a bucket. In recent weeks an Australian corpse plant named Putricia has captured the noses and ...
Politicians from the coalition government received a frosty reception at Waitangi this year, but Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says the pōwhiri that received so much attention was just one part of many events throughout the week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Allen, Postdoctoral research associate, Griffith University A humpback whale mother and calf on the New Caledonian breeding grounds.Mark Quintin All known human languages display a surprising pattern: the most frequent word in a language is twice as frequent as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justin Keogh, Associate Dean of Research, Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University Jordan Mailata is an Australian-born NFL star who plays for the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive left tackle. This position favours very tall, heavy and strong athletes who ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nigel Tucker, Research Associate in Environment and Sustainability, James Cook University TREAT volunteers planting treesTREAT Like ferns and the tides, community conservation groups come and go. Many achieve their goal. Volunteers restore a local wetland or protect a patch of urban ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karyn Healy, Honorary Principal Research Fellow in Psychology, The University of Queensland Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock The start of the school year means new classes, routines, after-school activities and sometimes even a new school. This can be a really exciting time for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerrie Sadiq, Professor of Taxation, QUT Business School, and ARC Future Fellow, Queensland University of Technology The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released a discussion paper this week on investment tax breaks. The study looks at whether tax incentives, such as instant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naomi Zouwer, Visual Artist and Lecturer in Teacher Education, University of Canberra Galleries and art museums can be intimidating and alienating even for adults. Imagine it from a child’s point of view. Stern security guards in uniforms stationed the doors, bags checked, ...
The clock is ticking in the great chain chase. 2025 is an election year in New Zealand. Not the general variation, obviously, but the local form. If you’re thinking of running, nominations open in just five months, and your chances are good – about 50% across the various races; in ...
Political aspects of Waitangi week may be moved in 2026, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell for The Bulletin.To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Celebration and on-the-ground politics For the third year in a row, I have returned from Waitangi full of food and deep regrets about not ...
Arriving at Ōnuku Marae, it was easy to see why Prime Minister Christopher Luxon chose the venue to mark Waitangi Day.Kayakers paddled around Akaroa Harbour under clear blue skies, with the marae barely a stone’s throw from the shore.Luxon’s decision to skip traditional events at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds this ...
Thanks to increased operating costs and new fare structures, many public transport users in Auckland are now paying more for trains, buses and ferries. Shanti Mathias explains what’s behind the changes. Schools are back around the country, but in Auckland, kids aren’t the only ones to have returned to a ...
In a special Waitangi edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Ātea editor Liam Rātana and politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith recap a politically charged few days at the Treaty Grounds. Our Waitangi 2025 coverage is possible because of the 13,000-plus Spinoff members who regularly pay to support our work. If you aren’t a member ...
Analysis: Waitangi Day belongs to Māori first, as mana motuhake and tino rangatiratanga take centre stage.Our Waitangi 2025 coverage is possible because of the 13,000-plus Spinoff members who regularly pay to support our work. If you aren’t a member yet, now is the time.Walking around the treaty grounds, te reo Māori ...
If you want to be a famous sport writer in New Zealand, you probably shouldn’t specialise in football.The beautiful game usually takes a back seat here … but that could all be changing.With two teams now in the Australian football league, vocal and growing crowds, and some fantastic players looking ...
Analysis: The international rules-based order has come under increasing stress and strain over the last decade and looks likely to continue on the same rocky path for the foreseeable future. In the Pacific, political tensions and competition between powerful states – the United States and its allies, and China – ...
Analysis: Growth trumps everything was the message from Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s recent state of the nation address. His declaration came on the heels of similar announcements calling for growth at all costs from the new president of the USA and from many other world leaders. As usual news media ...
Chart 1: An unfortunate starting pointComment: Far from fighting fit, the economy limps into 2025 carrying some baggage. Two years of rolling recessions have left per capita output 4.8 percent below the 2022 peak. That’s as at September. The December quarter is looking flattish.A return to growth beckons this year. ...
Val Smith reckons if you knew her in her 20s, she’d be the last woman you’d imagine taking up lawn bowls.Yet here she is, three decades later, retiring from the international game after playing an astounding 667 internationals for the BlackJacks.One of the true greats in New Zealand bowls history, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The battle to contain antisemitism in Australia finds both sides of politics embracing measures they’d otherwise abhor. Spectacularly, the government capitulated this week to include mandatory minimum sentences of between one and six years ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Henry Cutler, Professor and Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy, Macquarie University This week, the federal government announced it will pay states and territories an extra, one-off, A$1.7 billion for public hospitals. This has been billed as a way ...
The govt seems to think Wellington is absolutely positively stuffed, so it's infiltrating an agent into the council to deliver some tlc:
Like a nursemaid, then. Back when Key was PM he made headlines by pointing out that Wellington was dying – inexplicably failing to explain that it was doing so absolutely and positively. So current council shenanigans must be death throes, or perhaps the death rattle. We really need msm to be present at council meetings to report the whys and wherefores of this ongoing medical saga.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360459443/whats-so-bad-about-wellington-pressure-see-advice-minister
Time for brown to put up or shut up!
I reckon the coc are trying to destroy the left wing power base, the council is collateral damage.
Of course the NATZ know what a shambles look like,
THEY have been LOOKING IN THE MIRROR.
Really excited about the 'stop work' meeting today.
To see the numbers, diversity and enthusiasm of the attendees.
Any Standardistas at the Palmy meeting feel free to make urself known.
I'm grey haired, 180cms and will be wearing a yellow and black Hawaiian shirt.
That sounds… ummm LOUD!
Hope it is a good meeting. Ummm do I have a list of locations
Yep, it is a tad rowdy.
I've been wondering just what "CoC" actually stands for.
Coalition of Chaos?
Coalition of Clowns?
Coalition of Contraction?
Coalition of Country gentlemen?*
Coalition of Cuts
Any other suggestions gratefully appreciated.
*Hat tip to W Churchill
Beats me, but sounds appropriate when pronounced as “cock”…
Cackle of Cocks
I think you captured the essence of it with that third option. A contracting economy seems to be forcing young aspiring kiwis to head for Oz. Nothing new, really.
Liam Dann discussed it here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/saturday/audio/2018960476/liam-dann-on-nz-s-brain-drain
Gen Z is where this action is evident, apparently. The CoC was touting itself as the solution to Labour's malaise, got into power on that basis, and a year on the situation has worsened – whereas those who put them into power expected improvement!
If you google the issue you get reminders of all the other years we've seen the same thing happening so no wonder everyone gets blasé about it.
Yes I know very well from first hand experience what you are saying here. My own family left in 2010 under the Key Govt for much the same reasons as that being perpetuated by this – but even more severe now than then. Am heading off soon for Xmas as this will be the first time in 14 years we have all been together as family. They are now Aussie citizens and won't be coming back. That's parents with 2 Master's degrees in Health and Community Development. Their children engineers and vets. I remember with irony the Nat Govt election ad in 2008 – "Stop waving Goodbye to your Loved ones!" Lying Bastards. Never voted Nats and never will.
That's the complete irony of it all. Labour/lw goverments build up the economy, mostly running pretty smoothly. Nats/rw stand up before the elections shouting, 'Only us party of business people can truly run the economy'. Economy retracts under them, forcing a change of government. Repeat.
This same pattern has been pointed out by The Guardian for the UK. The Labour Party needs to put numbers in front of the electorate every time the CoC crows about any so-called financial improvement.
As in, 'we always said interest rates would go down within 18 months. Our budget didn't propose to borrow as much as this government has, to fund tax cuts to landlords and to tobacco companies'.
You have to challenge the Nats’ economic high-ground bullshit every time it comes up.
Corruption of country
Coalition of….. (another word that starts with "c" but is a bit inappropriate to write here).
Country gentleman ? with the emphasis on the first syllable .
W Churchill once referred to a Member as a "country gentlemen"
I was tempted to add it to Incognito's contribution @ 4.1.1 but didn't for same reason.
Coagulation of Charlatans?
The COC relied on public submissions to justify its new tougher 3-Strikes law-see No Right Turn in sidebar.
It turns out that 450 of the 700 odd submissions received in support were cut and pasted by submitters from the Sensible Sentencing submission. Clearly the SS emailed their supporters explaining how to do this.
It also turns out that the select committee process has been circumvented as explained by Duncan Webb in the audio below-so much for democracy.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018960986/concern-raised-about-minister-s-3-strike-bill-feedback
And private emails to the minister!
Your annual reminder that the Sensible Sentencing Trust thought a vigilante who stabbed and killed a teenage tagger shouldn't be a jailed.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/12359/no-prison-for-killer-of-tagger-sensible-sentencing-trust
Brown pissing on Wellington for not borrowing for water infrastructure but using Rate payers money. Most C ouncils are using Ratepayers money.
Simmonds trying to stop Otago from publishing their Statuary responsibility re their water consultation with the Community.
Bayley lying to the House and to Luxon about his drunken abuse and how he made return visits to harass the worker to get him to go for a beer with him after his initial abuse.
Peters defying and mocking the Speaker.
A Minister allowing an organised email program from Family First, to dictate the dodgy new Three Strikes Law. The Minister says she has no interest in what the Select committee has to say bout the 3 Strikes.
A PM who reckons that he has special inside knowledge on Economics. (He knows better than Economists?) Ha Ha Ha!
We are so lucky to have PM Luxon to manage every little irritant and answer swiftly and concisely questions in the House. HA!
Simeon Brown is dumb and out of control. Luxon just lets him get on with it.
The next election is going to be fascinating-a stark choice indeed.
My worry is that Luxon will simply keep repeating "Hipkins halved Labour's vote last time, he's a loser" (probably holding a hand-formed L-shape in front of his face
) and the electorate will listen and vote COC.
Which is a sad (and terrifying) indictment on the electorate.
The mysterious case of the withdrawn email regarding Mr Bayly…
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/531456/bayly-complaint-email-disappeared-from-labour-mp-s-inbox
Even my home computer has a certain period to recall a sent email, but, the question here is who authorised this occurring at Parliament?
It does because that is part of the e-mail protocol ever since RFC822 (the first protocol standard). Effectively there is a header email you can send to the targets to tell the email server to delete it. However that has effectively been unused for decades because the email network has too many intermediate stages these days. It you ever have a look at the header of a email you can see the numbers of jumps between multiple email servers before it strikes the destination address.
It mostly just works inside a single mail server like a enterprise main server system using something like Microsoft Exchange.
I doubt that recall is the case that about why this one disappeared.
However in this case from your link.
That is a different story. That is on a single receiving (ie not sending) mail server where there are multiple recipients. One or more of the recipients tagged the e-mail as being spam. So one or more MPs tagged the e-mail as spam, and the when the spam score got high enough it would have been ‘moved’ out of visibility based on the spam rules.
This is common on enterprise level mail servers. It is a common group spam hunting technique, one that I find stupid for exactly the reason that happened here. One person’s spam is another persons vital bit of information. In the case of say, an ACT MP, who viewed this as being absolute spam. Compared to a Labour, TPM, or Green MP hwo would most likely regard this as being of high and important interest.
Thankyou for that clarification lprent, it makes sense–and answers my question.
The problem here is: it conveniently prevented Labour from responding to the letter in question last Friday because they never saw it. Whether the fault lay with an individual or an automatic response is yet to be established. But why did it 'cancel' the Labour leader's copy and not any of the other leaders?
We don't know that it did cancel only Sepuloni's copy and not that of any of the other leaders.
And it seems unlikely – given the explanation, so far.
If it was indeed marked as spam, then all copies distributed in all inboxes within the parliamentary server would have been 'removed' at the same time.
I think (and am entirely open to being corrected, if I'm wrong), that multiple (over a certain number) of addressees in an email can also trigger it to be identified as spam within an email environment.
The question here would be whether it was flagged as spam by an individual, or via an automated routine.
NB: either is a wrong solution (in this case) – but it affects how you deal with this kind of issue going forward.
So you would not mind emails disappearing from your inbox without your say so?
I find that hard to believe.
Incognito has a great explanation.
That's a huge leap….. especially given that I said "either is a wrong solution (in this case) – but it affects how you deal with this kind of issue going forward"
If you had worked in a modern tech environment, you'd know that the IT guys do identify and 'disappear' phishing or scam emails (often designed to hack into people's passwords, and provide a backdoor to the server) – from people's inboxes. There is no requirement for each individual to be contacted directly about this – it's routine business. It's less common for spam to be dealt with this way.
This bulk treatment of scam or phishing emails is a good thing – since it protects both the individual and the organization.
I’m unable to find any explanation from Incognito. However, lprent has dealt with the topic very informatively.
The type of spam filters you describing are in invariate rules at the server. Those would run after the arrival of a email at the email server and before dispersing to the mail boxes for anyone.
Not just emails. We have those here for comments, for things like numbers of links, certain types of embedded HTML, and a host of other issues. We refer to it as the auto-spam rules.
Since the email was sighted by the aide to the MP, flagged for the attention of the MP, and subsequently disappeared. It wasn't caught by one of those rules. It had to have been triggered by something that happened after being disbursed to mail boxes.
Thanks lprent – I was aware that the filters existed – but not when they were applied to emails in the pipeline.
Presumably the people who marked it as spam would not have known how the automated spam rules worked – or what the effect would be if enough of them marked it as spam?
So unlikely there was a conspiracy of any sort – appealing though it is to imagine a gaggle of Nats scurrying to their email under Bishop's direction.
Unlikely. Not impossible.
A lot of people learn about these little quirks. Periodically some illiterate smartarse tries to leverage them.
However it makes for extra work for support people and system operators, and it really pays not to piss them off. What they can do makes 'spitting in customers food' look really tame.
"……the question here is who authorised this occurring at Parliament?"
It's obvious @ Tigger. It was an emotional staffer
And bugger me, and apologies to all. I seem to have forgotten where I am in this space, going forward.
Now that I have to fill in the fields, I realise I'm at TS instead of TDB.
Israel is now using white phosphorus agsinst the UN troops in Lebanon. Serious action needs to be taken. Embassies closed and sanctions enforced. They are a terrorist state in the true sense of the word. The West can no longer claim, now or in the future, to hold any moral high ground. There is no country in the world committing more atrocities while being fully armed and supported by us.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-suspected-using-white-phosphorus-un-peacekeepers-lebanon
Nearly choked on my toast the other morning, when RNZ faithfully
stenographedreported that Biden was "hopeful of a cease fire deal". What utter bullshit.Hope is for those who have no agency, no influence, no control. In one call Biden could force a cease fire. It makes me wonder why he doesn't…/sarc
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-germany-speaks-hope-ceasefire-gaza-sinwar-death-rcna176079
The plot thickens..
@patbrittenden
#BHN Is there a Willis family connection to what's happening to Tory Whanau in Wellington right now? #nzpol
https://xcancel.com/patbrittenden/status/1847473495858352147
@simonbwilson
In @nzherald today I described the tactics of Tory Whanau’s opponents as suicide bombing: destroying their own budget and possibly the council itself to get the govt to move against her. Govt has just announced it will appoint an observer. Premium+paper
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/wayne-brown-and-tory-whanau-whats-the-difference-simon-wilson/JUX3JKSOPNBRZHN5TAN452TVDQ/ (https://archive.li/V23qo)
https://xcancel.com/simonbwilson/status/1848527012614586525
If I'm reading this link correctly, the issue appears to be that Willis has a connection (godmother) who is a Wellington Councillor. And is therefore (theoretically) motivated to intervene in WCC on her behalf.
Given that Willis doesn't have any direct responsibility for local government – this appears to be a very long bow to draw.
I'd say it's much closer to the truth that Whanau is a mayor from a Green political background, who is also having difficulty in forging consensus in her council. A right wing government will be more motivated to intervene – regardless of any familial or political ties they may have to individual councillors.
When you (as in the author of the link provided) see everything as a conspiracy, you are much more likely to be dismissed as the tinfoil-hat brigade.
I heard it was a couple of right-wing councillors that backed the sale of the airport up until the last minute then went against the sale to sink the councils 10 year plan , if true its more reason to hate right wing political tactics!
Well said bwaghorn. Right wing politicians who don't like democracy (they can't abide it when they aren't in the majority), so they lash out at everything and everyone and claim dysfunction when it is simply a matter of losing votes around the table (and a 'hate' for a left/Green Mayor). They are constantly publicly bagging the Council simply because they aren't in the majority. Like spoilt children/brats, they throw their toys around when they don't get their own way. Simply pathetic.
https://www.russellmcveagh.com/insights-news/the-eye-of-sauron-a-crown-observer-for-wellington/
Yep, I have said all along that this is all about National's revenge on Wellington for being one of the few parts of NZ that didn't believe their lies last election day.
Was also a factor in the large civil servant layoff which just happened conveniently to affect Wellington most.
If was Labour taking petty revenge like this the whole country would be up in arms.
Oh "connections don't count!! Until they do" Get over yourself Belladonna. That connection is more real than your "tin hat conspiracy assertion".
If you don't want a flame war, Patricia, don't start one.
If you have a counter-argument – demonstrating that there is some reality in this conspiracy theory – then produce it!
Problem
Click on the article, it comes up but now can't click away to comments.
This happens on out iPad too.
Parliament is debating the Resource Management (Freshwater and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. A deal favouring the rural sector has emerged (discussed on Richard Harman's Politik website).
It seems farmers pressured Penny Simmonds seeking changes to the Bill (in effect stalling a regulation that would have restricted farm waste discharges). The government slipped this in after the select committee process had closed. The public had no chance to comment.
Otago Regional Council has had to cancel its meeting to vote on a new freshwater regulation .
Federated Farmers is also retaliating against Fish & Game NZ by telling Southland farmers to block anglers from accessing rivers on their properties. The Feds obviously think that if farmers aren't allowed to pollute the rivers, the public should not be allowed to fish in them.