Radio NZ reporting that Sky City told the government 14 months ago it could not afford to build convention centre as promised.
Will the media hold them to account?
Makes skycity appear clean as, top corporate citizen and all that and the MSM puppets will be looking elsewhere and hand wringing over Sabin or excusing them for the lui donation etc.
Skycity and NACT colluded from day 1 over this deal and it’s just been a case of how them and their MSM acolytes feed the sheeple given the election had to be negotiated.
Joyce was just on Radio NZ and I have never heard him sound sicker. He took umbrage at the suggestion that he had deliberately lied to the public and disputed that he had the necessary intent. Good way to confirm that he may have inadvertently lied …
The New Zealand Herald does not regard the fact the government is considering sending our troops to Iraq today as important enough news to make any of its top 10 stories online.
Apparently our taxi fare gap is more important.
National run a non democratic process by choosing not to put it to the whole of the House, instead they have chosen the Banana Republic route of letting cabinet choose. Both the Tory-Maori party and United Future are not in favour of the role our troops are too play.
What a disgraceful breech of democracy by Key and his cronies. These 100 troops would be better employed combating an invasion on our own shores, the Queensland fruit fly.
They were talking about this on Morning Report this morning. Under Labour, apparently the only time a decision like this was put to the house was in late 2003 when they were voting whether to send the SAS back to Afghanistan or not. The other decisions were all made by the Labour cabinet.
That doesn’t make it right – particularly for those of us that don’t support Labour so the “but they did it too” argument doesn’t really sit too well.
I’d dearly love to see a clean up of parliamentary process. Its pretense of “democracy” is losing it’s veneer on a daily basis – irrespective of who is pulling the levers of control.
John Stevens giving a very good interview on 1 news this morning.
Stopped short of calling Key a liar about the SAS going to Afghanistan in 2009 . pointed out the the Iraq war was built on lies and finished with saying reporters weren’t asking the right questions about our going to fight Isis.
No sorry it will be on delay at about 7-50 . The liar in chief was just on at 7-15 answered most questions buy talking about what Clarke did and confirmed that there will be no vote on going to Iraq I wish she had of asked him if it was because he would lose.
Oxymoron Key says “he is confident if put to a vote the other party’s would support sending non combat troop to the Middle East.” Really so don’t bother giving a democratic vote?
And the reason Key won’t put sending troops to Iraq to the vote, is because he would be out voted.
Parties AGAINST NZ military involvement, training role possibly leading to combat –
Labour
Greens
NZ First
United Future
Maori Party
Parties FOR NZ military involvement regardless of role –
National minus one MP (Sabin)
ACT
To lose would be a slap in the face for Key and National. So to keep onside with his US buddies, he goes for over riding the democratic process of a Parliamentary vote! Isn’t this what dictators do?
When Espiner listed the parties in the Parliament who would vote against deployment in their interview Key mumbled on for a bit and then when pressed petulantly said they could always wait until after the Northland byelection.
“The invasion of Iraq in 2003 I think was not just a mistake, but perhaps a biggest mistake the U.S. has ever made in foreign policy. It’s a four trillion dollar mistake, it caused enormous damage in the region, to the people of Iraq and certainly to my army and very-very many of my friends. So, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a disaster, a fiasco, unnecessary and poorly conducted. We played the endgame very-very badly and that failure of American foreign policy in 2011 necessitates today America returning to Iraq in force.”
If there is an active war zone around with some of our normal allies special forces in action, you can generally assume that there will be a NZSAS contingent around as well. It doesn’t mean that they are deployed there. It just means that they are off doing a training (often as a kind of sabbatical) with other forces. It is part of their job.
The words “squad deployment” were used. I know they often work with other countries’ special forces, and love telling stories about how bad the Americans are. They are always at other people’s wars, while I believe the regular forces only started doing that via disobeying orders from the Clark government.
@ b waghorn
John Stevens is a musician I think. The person you are referring to from TV1 News is
Jon Stephenson, and that is a name and spelling to remember. A NZ person of worth
who deserves to be identified correctly.
Thinking back to last years election, no wonder Key looked tired and weary.knowing about Liu, Sky City fiasco and Sabin whilst telling us all that National were steering us in such a straight line, well, what can we say?
And this is a nice piece – which basically sums up my take on elections – add the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national – I think you should take some time to read.
Of course we are not in a debate! You haven’t made any statements, just petulant vague gibberish.
How about expanding on your original mind fart…”“..the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national…”?
Congratulations exStatic, you have delivered a new benchmark in nonsensical gibberish. I am sure we all look forward to the ever generous delight of your considerably reasoned contributions.
;“We’ve had four finds in our traps over three years. In the previous 14 years when we had the 100 percent screening in place, we didn’t find any.”
“Sure that’s going to cost some money, but we also have to look at every time we’re responding here is between $1 million to $1.5 million for the response that we’re putting in place.”
So how much has been saved by not screening 100%
Note no flys for 14 years with 100% screening
Now 4 infestations since reduced screening 3 years ago TO SAVE MONEY!!!!!
>>Mr Guy also denied that reinstating mandatory x-ray screening of luggage from all passengers coming off international flights would prevent the fruit fly from entering the country, saying it was “too difficult to confirm” how the pest arrived in Grey Lynn.
So how come Mr Guy there was no invasion for th 14 years there was mandatory screening.
Well, it’s now 0.0% so it can hardly plunge any lower. Does that mean they’re going to hail their current leader as a success because he stopped them falling any further? I wouldn’t put it past them.
I like the un-named woman saying something like “I think having a young one as a leader is quite good, because the young ones do like someone about their own age”.
Love her weird phrasing of “young ones”. Sorry Ms Unnamed Woman, but this “young one” actually wants sound and sane policy, not some young toff that’s been elevated beyond his depth and talent.
Is it just the money being spent? But surely they are there for a reason – creating international economic opportunities? I understand that the london posting has a few other issues but if the posting was made first then I also see no problems. Also isn’t this all ATEED which whilst owned by the council isn’t controlled by the council (thanks Rodney!)
Is it just me or is the Herald stirring up an issue that isn’t there at all and is failing to ask the right questions or state the facts in a non-biased way?
In google there is mention of NZ Australia NATO and the west but I have done a search of the article thinking it referred to Iraq and matters relating but can’t find a mention. So where that term was lifted from I do not know.
Still, Nassem Taleb says that “modern medicine” killed more people than it saved until probably the 1930s and that risk/benefit phenomena is still not well understood in a healthcare context, leading to bad (and sometimes tragic) decisions by both patients and practitioners.
..and you appear to be an unrepentant denier of the proven benefits of modern medicine.
You continuing sniping at immunisation and other medical interventions and your assertions that the health profession are dupes of the pharmaceutical industry whilst basing your arguments on your own rather flimsy knowledge base is perverse and brings your own profession into disrepute.
Disclosure – I do recommend patients to osteopaths and acupuncturists for musculoskeletal and other ailments and have a great deal of respect for their abilities in their areas of expertise.
..and you appear to be an unrepentant denier of the proven benefits of modern medicine.
Not at all. But I am an advocate of making sure patients can exercise informed consent before any treatment is provided. There are a very wide variety of situations for which modern western medical care is unparalleled and very necessary. Suggesting that there are other situations where its risks, benefits and unknowns are less clear cut or positive might be considered distateful, however.
and your assertions that the health profession are dupes of the pharmaceutical industry
Those are your words, not mine. And when you get entire classes of medical students boycotting medical school professors whom they feel have too close links with big pharma, or medical researchers themselves admitting that big pharma drug trials with positive results are more likely to be published in peer reviewed journals than ones which show the drugs in a bad light, I think that there are valid concerns to be considered.
They boycott professors who teach evolution too. In fact that seems to be the main reason. I suppose I missed all the classes in all the schools and all the professors you’re referring to.
One of you has made repeated assertions on this very blog concerning medical professionals being dupes and in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies and that prescribing in NZ was not evidence based, clearly such an accusation is hyperbolic cant.
I must admit to being a bit mystified as to what point you are trying to make, that mistakes are made by medical professionals and that the population have adverse reactions at times to medicines…. that is undeniable.
The report you link to however is very flawed.
just as initial example in relation to ADRs a critique was made of the published paper that the report relied upon.
‘”…Simple pooling of fatal event frequencies from only those studies specifically reporting the number of fatal ADRs, as was done in the meta-analysis of Lazarou and colleagues, is likely to dramatically overestimate the death rate.
CONCLUSION:
Meta-analysis was invalid because of heterogeneity of the studies. Most of these studies did not report the data needed for incidence calculations. The methodology used was seriously flawed, and no conclusions regarding ADR incidence rates in the hospitalized population in the United States should be made on the basis of the original meta-analysis. “
I must admit to being a bit mystified as to what point you are trying to make, that mistakes are made by medical professionals and that the population have adverse reactions at times to medicines…. that is undeniable.
It’s probably the scale of the issues which would be surprising to every day people. Yes, I agree with you that every study (including meta-analyses) has limitations and those limitations mean that you can’t make sweeping or blanket conclusions.
However most in the medical profession would not find it in the least surprising, for example, that a patient had died in hospital while receiving a cytotoxic cocktail for their cancer and that their death would be listed as drug related.
15 year old UK girls outsmart British intelligence, quit school and head to Syria to join ISIS
Oh dear. I’m sure the intelligence services will be asking for more powers, new legislation and additional millions in money to prevent future occurrences.
This could end up like the varroa mite where it was put in the too hard basket eventually by the government. Anyone who watches Boarder Security knows that many people do not declare and destroy the food they bring in. In fact many of them try to hide the stuff. Letting people from Oz go through without searching is so dumb it beggars belief that the government would risk millions of dollars in exports in order to avoid an almost negligible inconvenience to passengers. Like the other policies of the national government that allows drilling of oil in the area of the highly endangered Maui dolphin. To many of the rest of us this is just a no brainer to protect NZ export interests, tourism and our environment and quality of life for both people and our forma and flora. Who pays when things go wrong. The tax payer. Like we did when the lack of regulation meant the tax payer spent millions on the Rena cleanup and it’s still not fixed properly.
Andrew Little please scream from the rooftops about what stupidity this is. Motivate NZers to fight back against these dumb policies. We want a government that cares about our country which it is clear this government does not. We need a great leader and clearly John Key may have charm but not the ethics to look after NZ, it’s people and it’s environment for future generations.
Facts About Fruit Flies
– Mother fruit flies lay about 200-300 eggs at a time
– The most likely place for a mother fruit fly to lay her eggs is in a piece of rotting fruit
– As soon as the babies hatch, they start reproducing about 24 hours later
– From the time the mother fruit fly lays her eggs until you see the fruit flies buzzing around is about 7-13 days.
They apparently have about 7,500 traps in Auckland checking for these blighters and it sounds a lot – did I hear right? HortNZ CE Peter Silcock said that the action taken on commercial consignments of fruit in Oz and the border controls here are probably sufficient to mean good coverage. It is more likely that they come in travellers bags and they would like 100% screening. PRIM (Primary Industries Ministry) have increased surveillance – for fruit flies – but not to the extent which is needed. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/266475/fruit-fly-crackdown-continues
Something that I notice is that yachties are never mentioned – there seems quite a floating population swanning around these days. They should be equally targeted for compliance with regs.
This is yet another example of the dangers of Investor-State Dispute Settlement Systems (ISDS) and another reason for rejecting the TPPA. This illustrates the lengths that these multicorporations will go to in order to evade their responsibilities and the moral and ethical vacuum in which they operate.
Imagine a similar scenario in NZ with respect to deep sea drilling!
It is better to read the whole article dated Feb 16, 2015 but here is an excerpt from the Chevron v Ecuador case.
“Unfortunately for Chevron, its expensive retaliation strategy against Mr. DeLeon and others has failed to end the litigation, has only increased the resolve of the affected villagers, and has not diminished the company’s risk from collection actions targeting its assets to ensure compliance with the judgment,” it added.
After an eight-year trial, an Ecuador court in 2011 found Chevron liable for deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest, decimating indigenous groups and causing an outbreak of cancer and other diseases. The case – litigated in Ecuador at Chevron’s request — was funded in large part by Mr. DeLeon, a successful businessman in the internet gaming space and a law school classmate of Donziger’s.
Two layers of courts in Ecuador unanimously affirmed the trial court judgment, including the country’s Supreme Court in a 5-0 ruling. Chevron still refused to pay the judgment and retaliated by suing numerous supporters of the villagers, including Mr. DeLeon but also lawyers, environmental groups, bloggers, and scientific consultants.
Just another short excerpt:
“Chevron also continues to face the likelihood of a devastating setback in the appeal of its controversial racketeering judgment in New York, now scheduled to be heard the week of March 30. The facts in that case prove the company corrupted its star witness with more than $2 million in payments to testify falsely in the trial, according to multiple reports.”
Still looking out for the right wing scum on this latest Liu moment. Where are these scum ? But for the fact it’d take 11 years to arrive I’d send them a letter of invitation to contribute……..
I am curious to know if this issue has been exposed on the TV1 and TV3 news at 6? I don’t think so, but I did not watch the news in full over the weekend. Those who did watch could you please let us know. TIA.
Yeah ACT are fronting with Robin Grieve, a particularly nasty character who attended an election forum as a candidate and bemoaned ‘it was a lefty love feast.’ He got booed on stage and off, very entertaining value 🙂
NATIONAL’S CALLOUS AND CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE OF NATION’S BIO- SECURITY!
You won’t believe this!
The fruit fly outbreak is a damning indictment on the Government’s systematic destruction of border security with the inefficient and money pinching Minister in charge, Nathan Guy.
Now the $6 billion fruit and vegetable industry is at risk and the Government is squarely to blame.
This is very serious. Guy should be a goner for this.
When I returned from a visit to Japan in 1998 I was pulled up at Customs because the Xray of my bag had shown a round object. I was happy to unpack it and show the round wooden doll I had been given in Tokyo, and Customs was happy that it was not an apple or an orange. I was happy that they had screened my bag along with every other bag on the flight. They have stopped doing that and only Xray “at risk” individuals. It is cheaper – they say. Tell that to the fruit and vege shops in Grey Lynn today and who knows to whom tomorrow?
Another impact of reckless tax cuts in 09, they went through penny pinching across the board to eek every potential ‘saving’ in an effort to smudge the wealth transfer.
Border security in an agricultural economy isn’t a luxury to be tweaked it’s a necessity that needs bolstering and vigilance.
“If U.S. land were divided like U.S. wealth…” a graphic divvied up by 1%, 9%, and the remaining 90%. Would love to see a NZ one (including foreign ownership, renter/owner, and unoccupied households).
Chinese are flocking to holiday in Japan to get away from their horrible air pollution, where you not only can see the air you breathe, you can cut it with a knife and fork, or in their case hold it between their chopsticks. But the Japanese are quietly saying, because they need the Chinese money after many years of recession, that the Japanese are lacking cultural sensitivity. They are too loud, and if there is anything free they take it in sackfuls, their children stand on seats in their shoes, and they eat their own food in cafes. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinese-tourists-flock-to-japan-for-the-sushi-the-shopping-and-the-fresh-airdespite-tensions-10061720.html
Queenstown is stuffed to the gills with tourists. Perhaps they are Chinese tourists. If they don’t watch out down there they will spoil the attraction of their Queenstown attractions. Probably they will go mad and treat it like a gold bull to be milked. When you’ve got dosh you can make everything happen to suit yourself.
Oh dear me. What a bad case of cultural myopia. I meant to say that the Japanese were saying quietly that the Chinese were a bit louder than they are used to, but my fingers went and put Japanese not Chinese, which doesn’t make sense when it is read. I don’t know what happened there.
Dunedin’s city hospital is suffering badly. Bad leaks had to be patched and still there is more to be done. The College of Intensive Medicine of Australia and New Zealand has withdrawn the hospital’s intensive care unit’s training accreditation, with the main issue being the state of the unit. A $2 million refurbishment, which could well be the barest minimum, is planned but has not begun yet.
Now, comes a report from Beca consultancy group that up to
$50 million will be needed to keep the clinical services building at Dunedin Hospital going for another 10 years.
In addition, nearly $75 million will have to be spent on the ward block over the next 10 years. http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/331153/dunedin-hospitals-catch-22
I diagnose a serious and debilitating affliction ‘political invisibility syndrome’. Those regional patients with this indisposition looking unhealthy may be subjected to triage.
If their condition is exacerbated by a raging state of ‘regional-extensioning-flew’ the prognosis is not good. This is a sad case where the patient glides further and further away from the source of its nourishment, and will stretch till its supply-lines are woefully thin and then inevitably breaks down.
Maybe we can get SkyCity to set up pokie machines at the hospital, and get them to pay for a new ward or two in the process. You know, because this country can’t fund anything decent any more without kowtowing to the corporates.
Vigorous seas are reducing the chance of tar balls washing ashore after a split pipe at an offshore platform caused 250 litres of oil to spill into the sea.
The slick has spread 10km from the Raroa platform site off the Taranaki coast since Friday.
The spill happened when oil company OMV was transferring oil from Raroa to the oil tanker Nectar.
Okay could have been a lot worse – get ready for more of these spills if the gnats have their dirty exploitation way. I agree with Jean quoted below
Jean Kahui of Frack Free Kapiti said her organisation was concerned about the “disgusting” spill and said it raised wider concerns about offshore oil operations.
“We can feel extremely lucky that this was a small spill. Imagine if it was a larger spill. Our coast [would] be devastated for generations,” she said.
I hope this can be used to test our systems of readiness for the inevitable disaster just around the corner.
Did someone discuss the women on Radionz talking about how everything she has trained for soon has no jobs for her? She has had to look for months to find anything else. This was around the Precarieat discusion with Prof Standing.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20168197
10:06 Rhonda Samoa – The Precariousness of Work
Rhonda Samoa is a truck driver, a graduate of the New Zealand Film School, and the sister of Mark Samoa who was killed in a work accident on the Wellington waterfront in 2013. Rhonda knows a thing or two about the precariousness of work in the 21st Century, having been made redundant twice in the last six years, but she remains optimistic about the ability of workers to negotiate safe and fair work conditions as long as they stick together.
Be afraid New Zealand, be afraid.
The Herald attempts to whip NZ into the necessary frame of mind to accept war in Iraq.
This make it more than a rag.
It’s a danegerous rag.
For Messrs Murphy and Roughan at the Herlad and the others mmebers of the complicit media.
Read the last verse in particular of Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!– An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.–
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
One Mews just interviewed a NZ commentator on the Iraq Civil War deployment and how we have boxed ourselves in over there, with the caption “Person’s Name.”
Garner on radio live today: (a few hours ago so I’ll have to Morrissey it)
“Gee I dunno, I just can’t get that excited about this whole fruitfly thing, ya know? I mean it’s not like a TSUNAMI or an EARTHQUAKE, ha know? I mean I DRIVE HOME through the affected area and I’m like NOT SCARED AT ALL. Like, it’s just a FLY, ya know? Anyway there’s important news I have to tell you about. I went for a ride on a waterslide yesterday and guess what? It was SHIT!”
He then spends the next hour talking about how shit the waterslide was.
They’re not from here. They breed like flies. They have no respect for our culture. They have no humanity. They are a major threat to NZ’s wealth and wellbeing. Everything they touch becomes a writhing, maggoty mass of corruption.
Fruit flies must be exterminated – Death to the gnats!
The 60 Years of New Zealand Television celebrations, such as they were, seemed to rely heavily on the classics: here we go again with Lynn of Tawa, A Week of It and the Country Calendar spoofs. Wonderful highlights of our televisual past, to be sure, but after hearing Paul Holmes’ ...
The Two Americas Collide: You gotta love the Americans marching for George Floyd and the fragile promises of the US Constitution. But, you also gotta keep your eye on the pale rider in the White House, and understand that behind him Hell follows.THE FRAGILITY of democracy’s promise is becoming clearer ...
Radical Proposition: The remote possibility that someone in the protest demonstrations might be carrying the coronavirus – and with no cases of community transmission detected for weeks that possibility is extremely remote – could not be permitted to constrain New Zealanders from demonstrating their support for the self-evident truth that black lives ...
Oliver Twist, famously asked for ‘more’. He did not challenge the system of workhouses – Dickens did – nor the authority of Beadle Bumble. He was only nine. I am often struck how critics of the current income maintenance system are like Oliver Twist. They ask for more, but they ...
New Zealand’s history as a sheep-farming nation means the command “Get in behind!” has long had a particular resonance — but not usually for journalists. However, in late March, as panic over the coronavirus pandemic surged around the world, Dr Gavin Ellis — former editor-in-chief of the NZ Herald — ...
When the New Zealand Police started using Armed Response Teams - gangs of heavily-armed police cruising Māori-Pacifica neighbourhoods in juiced-up gun-trucks - they told us it was a "trial". But it turns out that those armed police - who were mainly doing traffic stops and bail checks, rather than the ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The Trump administration, after less than one full first term, has every likelihood of being adjudged the most anti-climate, anti-science, and anti-environment executive branch in U.S. history. With numerous high-level Trump nominees having cut their teeth as lobbyists with major polluting industries, the administration ...
Does National have any chance of winning the election in September? It’s looking very unlikely, especially after National’s change of leadership hasn’t exactly produced Mullermania in the first two weeks. Quite the opposite, in fact, as I summarised in Tuesday’s Political Roundup column: Todd Muller’s torrid start as National leader. ...
Another study comparing effect in children from nonendemic areas (Dagang) and endemic fluorosis area (Jinghai) about 80km apart in the Tianjin area of China. Hardly sampling the same population. Anti-fluoride campaigners still use studies from ...
George Thomson, Nick Wilson, Richard EdwardsThis blog discusses the passing of the Smoke-free Environments (Prohibiting Smoking in Motor Vehicles Carrying Children) Amendment Act last week. We briefly review some lessons from this legislation’s long journey and explore future smokefree possibilities in Aotearoa / New Zealand. A law ...
Last month I noted that the public policy debate was all about how we deal with covid-19. That’s changing now, and will change more over the next couple of months as the buffering impact of the wage subsidy disappears and we see starkly the economic hole out of which we ...
The mission of the New Zealand Police is to make this country the safest nation in the world. To achieve that aim, there is one important step the police need to take at the end of this month. When the evaluation of the Armed Response Teams’ trial is completed, the ...
The right of employees to strike is an internationally recognised employment right that has been a feature of New Zealand’s industrial relations system for over a century, albeit with different constraints and limitations at different times. Although more restricted, this right even continued under the anti-union Employment Contracts Act (1993-2000). ...
Bernard Hickey is one of New Zealand’s leading financial journalists. His latest article, published by Newsroom, lays bare the cruel treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers stranded since the lockdown. Our Prime Minister is lauded overseas for her compassion, but her Cabinet is refusing to properly support tens of ...
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzIf we stopped oil, gas and coal extraction immediately – ...
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...
The latest opinion poll is out, and it’s more bad news for the National Party, with Roy Morgan putting them on only 26.5% support, against Labour’s 56.5%. You can see the details here: Roy Morgan May opinion poll. Roy Morgan is regarded as less accurate than other polling companies, and the ...
When miners pillage conservation land, they are typically required to "rehabilitate" it afterwards. Its not much compared to the damage they do, but its something. But apparently even that is now too much to expect. NZG Limited, a company owned by Oravida directors James Blackwell, Julia Jiyan Xu, Stone Shi, ...
Like everyone else, I've spent too much of the weekend watching the protests in America, and the increasingly brutal response to them. The overwhelming impression is of a nationwide police riot, as people speaking out against a murder and demanding change are beaten, gassed and shot by racist, militarised thugs ...
In mid-April, as New Zealand entered its fourth week of alert level 4, the Prime Minister warned us not to make comparisons with other countries over our Covid-19 pandemic response. This extraordinary advice came after Simon Bridges had urged the government to adopt a less-stringent lockdown similar to those in ...
Wales has lowered the voting age to 16: 16 and 17 year olds can now officially vote in Wales for Senedd elections. Votes at 16 & 17 come into force on Monday, as part of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020. Next year’s Senedd elections will ...
The government announced more changes to the ETS today, including to the emissions budget for 2021 - 2025. The overall budget for that period will stay at 354 million tons of CO2-equivalent. But the ETS component of that - stockpile reduction, free allocation, and credits to be auctioned - budget ...
The new National Party leader, Todd Muller, had been at pains to portray himself as a solid, serious, safe pair of hands, in contrast to the increasingly Trumpian leanings of Simon Bridges, who Muller deposed in a leadership coup last Friday. But after an uneventful, if uninspiring, first press conference, ...
Minneapolis Police StationIf you’ve been keeping an eye on recent events in the United States, you’ll likely understand why there’s so much anger on the streets at the moment. Not only did police officers murder another black man; it is patently obvious that authorities initially attempted to cover up George ...
Becoming the leader of a political party is a bit like having a baby. Not so much the screaming and sleepless nights, as the fact that you’ve waited and hope and planned for something and it’s finally here. And when that wonderful gift finally arrives, you want to be ready, ...
The US appears to be headed towards what Antonio Gramsci and other Italian political theorists call an “organic crisis of the State.” It involves the simultaneous and compounded fractures of economy, society and politics, which together constitute a tipping point in a nation’s history. Social contradictions are exacerbated, class and ...
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...
Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Review... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week...
Climate concerns as Siberia experiences record-breaking heatHeat wave sparks concerns about devastating wildfire season and melting permafrost.Satellite ...
A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week: Sun, May 24 through Sat, May 30, 2020Editor's ChoiceAntarctic Ocean Reveals New Signs of Rapid Melt of Ancient Ice, Clues About Future Sea Level RiseA study of seafloor ripples ...
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk A banner on the International Energy Agency website spells it out in bold font: “The global oil industry is experiencing a shock like no other in its history.” As the response to the coronavirus pandemic upends the lives of billions of ...
The ownership of newspapers and televison channels is in turmoil, and they want to redisorganise public broadcasting. *Three years ago, I expressed concern in a column about the future of the (traditional) media. Nothing has happened since to reduce the concern. It was based on an earlier column which ...
Australia's High Court has ruled that the "palace letters" between the queen and then-Governor-General John Kerr are public records rather than private papers: Historian Jenny Hocking has won her High Court bid to access the letters exchanged between then governor-general Sir John Kerr and the Queen around the time of ...
SATURDAY MAY 30Six60: Live at Western Springs 2020 (TVNZ 1, 8.45pm). Remember live concerts? The day will come again, friends, when we will be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in an uncomfortable sweaty venue with people we don’t know. It will happen. Sometimes the sound of concerts drifts over to the ...
New Zealand and its prime minister Jacinda Ardern have received international attention and praise, rightly so, for decisive leadership, clear communication and scientific management of the coronavirus pandemic. Observers point out that the nation has been through multiple crises under Ardern’s leadership – such as the Christchurch terrorist attack and ...
…a lot of things unrelated to the pandemic were happening. Relatively little attention was given to some major events on the global stage, so I thought I would do a quick recap of some of the high (or low) -lights, starting with something familiar. The common theme throughout is human ...
Labour's talk of gutting the RMA to push through "shovel ready" projects to boost employment after the pandemic predictably has every half-arsed pipe-dream crawling out of the woodwork demanding special treatment. Today, it's the West Coast inbreds, who are demanding a host of laws be rescinded so they can dig ...
"I can't breathe, Mama. I'm dying." - Last words of George Floyd.LOOK HARD at this image. Think about what it depicts. Ask yourself how one human-being could behave so brutally when so many eye-witnesses – and very soon millions of people online around the world – were there to watch ...
Since the government announced its pandemic wage subsidy, there have been regular stories about companies taking it and then sacking or refusing to pay their workers - essentially committing fraud. But how often does this happen? The Minister just doesn't want to know: Government ministers are not receiving up to ...
"You call that a conservative?Nah, this is a conservative!" New Zealanders are in the market for a quiet and reassuring small-c conservative political centrist. The critical question, however, is which politician is currently playing that role? Who has mastered the art of relaxed, informal and intimate political communication? Who ...
I’VE OFTEN WONDERED if South African immigrants passing through towns like Kerikeri and Kaikohe ever wonder how we do it. In their homeland, through the bitter years of Apartheid, keeping the races segregated required pass laws, Alsatian dogs, tear gas, rubber bullets and, all-too-often, live rounds. Not here. Not in ...
Below is the list of gender-critical material which appeared on Redline from July 31, 2019 to September 30, 2019. Sports categories must be by sex, not gender identity Queer theory glossary Woke misogyny and homophobia: a gay critique of trans ideology Another unfortunate experiment? New Zealand’s transgender health policy and ...
Smart Energy Europe: A Plan to provide 100% of ALL ENERGY using Renewable Energy to EuropeIntroductionAll Energy renewable energy systems are often commented on here at Skeptical Science. Many comments suggest that it will be difficult, expensive or impossible to use renewable energy to power the world. To ...
The government released its Action for Healthy Waterways package today, ostensibly with the goal of cleaning up our rivers and making them swimmable within a generation. Doing that, of course, requires confronting the cow in the room: the dairy industry which causes most of the pollution. But while they've imposed ...
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nzI would like to know if New Zealand’s carbon emissions ...
Simon Lamb, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington and Timothy Stern, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of WellingtonBack in the 1970s, scientists came up with a revolutionary idea about how Earth’s deep interior works. They proposed it is slowly churning like a lava lamp, with buoyant ...
Remember KiwiBuild? Previously the government's flagship policy, it was supposed to build thousands of new homes every year for kiwi families. But instead of flooding the market, we've got a pathetic dribble: The Government's former flagship housing policy is so far behind schedule it will take more than 400 years ...
Don Franks Now Covid-19 restrictions allow gatherings of a hundred, an urgent hui needs calling. A special conference of the Council of Trade Unions. Today, workers face the greatest attack on employment, pay and conditions since the depression, we need a strong united union voice. As it stands now, organised ...
George Henderson New Zealand schools have introduced a climate change resource that suggests children “eat less meat and dairy”, even though teachers will not know how much meat or dairy any child in their care has eaten. Opinion pieces in the papers have called for the reduction of meat and ...
Questioning the number of district health boards in New Zealand has got to the extent that “too many DHBs” has become a perceived truth requiring no further elaboration. It is rarely challenged by policy advisers, academics, and journalists. But when one drills down further it becomes clear that the number ...
The emergence of a new National party leader, seemingly out of nowhere, has – not surprisingly – raised a number of questions as to who Todd Mulller actually is and what makes him tick. He has been an MP for some time but seems to have hidden his light under ...
Costa Rica has become the first country in Central America to recognise same-sex marriage: The first same-sex weddings have taken place in Costa Rica, the first Central American country to equalise its marriage legislation. A lesbian couple became the first to tie the knot in a ceremony that took ...
There's a new twist in the Winston Peters secret donation story. It appears that a significant chunk of NZ First's secret laundered donations goes straight into the pockets of the people administering the scheme: Tens of thousands in donor's funds given to the New Zealand First Foundation were spent paying ...
Is Todd Muller the Ned Flanders of the National Party? This is how he’s been characterised by political commentator Gordon Campbell, who suggests the change in leadership is, in Simpsons terms, akin to swapping the scary and cruel Monty Burns for Homer Simpson’s compassionate but conservative neighbour. There’s almost a ...
We all know that many so-called journalists and political commentators in New Zealand work directly or indirectly for political parties or for certain political factions. This was obviously the case when pundit for hire Matthew Hooton launched a campaign against then National Party leader, Simon Bridges, over their numerous polling ...
Let's Roll! The easy victory over a Bridges-led National Party which the Left had every cause to anticipate just a few days ago is no longer in the offing. Our enemy’s position has changed. His numbers are swelling. A rapid thrust to the left, followed by an audacious outflanking manoeuvre ...
New National Party leader Todd Muller has been interviewed about his policies, and has promised to restart offshore fossil fuel exploration if elected: The Bay of Plenty MP rolled former leader Simon Bridges last week, but says the party has not changed its stance on previous promises. "That is ...
Anyone who keeps an eye on evidence around cannabis and public health will be familiar with the Christchurch Health and Development Study. It's one of two local longitudinal studies frequently cited with respect to cannabis and youth development. But in a new article in the New Zealand Medical Journal, it is ...
In the age of covid we are Jacinda’s team of five million, except for some. There has rarely been a more blatant case of discrimination against beneficiaries than Grant Robertson’s announcement yesterday that people who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus will receive weekly payments of $490 per week for 12 weeks and $250 per week for part time ...
It was 75 years ago this month that Germany surrendered and the Allies celebrated VE (Victory in Europe) Day. Millions of people around the world had been killed and many more injured or captured. It was an end to war not just for Europeans, but their allies too, in countries across Africa. But its impact is ...
Well, we are out of lockdown, essentially. I did end up getting the wage subsidy while we were on levels 3 and 4 but I would have been fine if we didn’t. The first day of level 2, the Thursday, the office opened again for the people who weren’t able ...
Watching Todd Muller make his first speech as the newly minted Leader of the Opposition after Simon Bridges’ defenestration on Friday brought to mind a headmaster addressing a school assembly. He showed no particular desire to ingratiate himself with his audience although the occasional flash of self-deprecating humour indicated a ...
The government has announced another income support scheme for people affected by the economic aftershocks of the pandemic: a $490 a week tax-free payment for the newly unemployed, which you can get even if you have a working partner. Which is great, because its supporting people who need help, but ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced two diplomatic appointments: New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India and Consul-General to Hong Kong. “As New Zealand recovers from COVID-19, our diplomatic and trade networks are more important than ever. That is ...
We started the week by announcing free apprenticeships to support Kiwis into work and to help get New Zealand moving again - and we ended the week by extending the wage subsidy to 40,000 more businesses, helping to protect businesses and workers alike. ...
We’re confident in the ability of Kiwi businesses to succeed in the face of COVID-19, and our Government is committed to doing our bit to enable that success. Kiwi businesses have always been innovative and resilient, and the COVID-19 pandemic has proven this yet again. Many businesses are finding new, creative ...
New Zealand First is pleased to release the names of its first tranche of candidates for the 2020 election. The includes all sitting New Zealand First Members of Parliament except Clayton Mitchell MP who earlier today announced he will not be seeking re-election. In alphabetical order they are: MP ...
Clayton Mitchell MP, New Zealand First List MP based in Tauranga New Zealand First MP Clayton Mitchell has decided not to seek re-election in this year’s General Election. “After serious consideration and discussion with my family, I have decided to pursue other passions in my life and spend a lot ...
Defence Minister Ron Mark has announced that new Lockheed Martin Super Hercules aircraft would replace the outdated and costly 1960s Hercules fleet. The $1.521b project will include a flight simulator for staff training and other supporting infrastructure. "This fleet will ensure the Defence Force can continue to support New Zealand's ...
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has described Labour's original COVID-19 commercial rent dispute proposal as "poorly targeted". Justice Minister Andrew Little hasannounced a temporary law changeto force commercial landlords and renters to consider COVID-19 in disputes over rent issues, almost two months after the Government first floated the idea. But ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First acknowledges that some small businesses have been struggling to meet fixed costs due to the loss of revenue by COVID-19. We also know some businesses are at greater risk of insolvency when they cannot come to a reasonable ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First New Zealand First is disappointed that the removal of the spousal deductions has had to be delayed by the Ministry fo Social Development, due to COVID19 workload pressures. “New Zealand First has always stood for fairness when it comes to superannuation ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First On the steps of Parliament today the Leader of New Zealand First, Rt Hon Winston Peters received a petition from registered nurse Anna Maria Coervers, requesting an amendment to the Protection for First Responders Bill which will ensure the legislation also include registered ...
It's been a busy seven days as we start to rebuild New Zealand together. From delivering extra support for small businesses, to investing in our artists and arts organisations, to cutting red tape on home DIY projects, we're rolling out our plan to get the economy and New Zealand moving ...
Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters says alert level 2 restrictions have to be discussed during today's Cabinet meeting. Thousands gathered across the country, including at Parliament, yesterday forBlack Lives Matter marcheswhere social distancing and mass gathering rules were flouted. Mr Peters said the breaching of Alert Level 2 rules at ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of State Owned Enterprises KiwiRail’s Northland rail upgrade steps up another gear today and will help Northland recover from the impacts of COVID-19, State Owned Enterprises Minister Winston Peters says. The Government is investing $204.5 million through the Provincial Growth Fund to ...
“Today and every day we stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family, friends and community who feel pain and fear about his untimely death at the hands of Minneapolis police”, said Green Party Co-leader and Māori Development spokesperson Marama Davidson. ...
Fletcher Tabuteau, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Hon Eugenie Sage, Minister of Conservation The West Coast forests of Mount Te Kinga at Kotuku Whakaoho/Lake Brunner are the latest predator free project to receive Government funding, announced Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage and Under Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher ...
The Green Party says major freshwater reforms announced today provide the strongest ever protections of our waterways, to help ensure the next generation can swim in the rivers of Aotearoa. ...
The Green Party has begun the process for a Select Committee inquiry into student accommodation, which has been exposed during COVID-19 as an under-regulated sector that straddles students with unfair debt. ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Megan Woods, Minister of Research, Science and Innovation Hon Dr David Clark, Minister of Health Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, Research, Science and Innovation Minister Megan Woods, and Health Minister David Clark today announced a COVID-19 vaccine strategy, ...
Budget 2020 is about rebuilding together, supporting jobs, getting business moving and the books back into the black. It’s an integral part of our COVID-19 economic response, and our plan to grow our economy and get New Zealand moving again.Here’s a quick look at the five top things you ...
The Green Party is pleased to reveal its candidate list for the upcoming election. With a mix of familiar faces and fresh new talent, this exceptional group of candidates are ready to lead the Greens back into Government. ...
The Coalition Government has approved $206 million in essential upgrades at Ōhakea Air Base. Defence Minister Ron Mark said the money would be spent on improving old infrastructure. He said safety issues would be addressed, as well as upgrades to taxiways, accommodation and fresh, storm and waste water systems. "This ...
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Leader of New Zealand First “I am not persisting with this case just for myself, but for all people who have had their privacy breached. Privacy of information is a cornerstone of our country’s democracy. Without it our society truly faces a bleak future. We now ...
Hon Tracey Martin, Minister for ChildrenA major increase in funding and availability of support will improve the incomes and reduce the pressure on 14,000 caregivers looking after more than 22,000 children.Children’s Minister Tracey Martin says that caregivers – all those looking after someone else’s children both in and ...
Forestry Minister Shane Jones has introduced a Bill to Parliament that he says will "force more transparency, integrity and respect" for the domestic wood-processing sector through the registration of log traders and practice standards. The Forests (Regulation of Log Traders and Forestry Advisers) Amendment Bill had its first reading in ...
This summer presents a great opportunity for New Zealanders to get out into nature with bookings on Great Walks for 2020/21 set to open next week, says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Bookings for the Great Walks will open between 9 and 11 June, excluding Milford and Routeburn tracks which ...
Extra 40,000 businesses to be eligible for wage subsidy extension Small business cashflow support application period extended The Government is today announcing further support for businesses that continue to be affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic, as the broader economy becomes one of the most open in the world following ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed five Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 Super Hercules transport aircraft will be purchased to replace the existing fleet, Defence Minister Ron Mark announced today. “Last year, Cabinet selected these aircraft as the preferred option to replace the current Hercules fleet. Procurement of the Super Hercules has been ...
New public housing that will save tenants money in energy bills, and provide warmer, healthier and more comfortable homes, is setting the standard for the Government’s future public housing programme, Housing Minister Megan Woods said. Dr Woods opened the new Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities complex, which has a ...
The Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage is celebrating World Environment Day with an announcement of a major step towards Wairarapa Moana being recognised as an internationally significant wetland. “Wairarapa Moana is an ecosystem of 10,000 hectares of wetland and open water that provides a home for indigenous fish, birds and ...
A new-look Police graduation ceremony to take account of COVID19 health rules has marked the completion of training for 57 new constables. Police Minister Stuart Nash attended this afternoon's ceremony, where officers of Recruit Wing 337 were formally sworn in at the Royal New Zealand Police College without the normal support of ...
Mobile traders and truck shops must adhere to responsible lending requirements Interest rate cap on high-cost loans Lenders prohibited from offering further credit to an applicant who has taken two high-cost loans in the past 90 days The Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Kris Faafoi, has signalled an end ...
94% of firms say wage subsidy had positive impact on cashflow 62% of firms say support helped to manage non-wage costs like rent A survey of business that have received the Government’s wage subsidy show it has played a significant role in saving jobs, and freed up cash flow to ...
New legislation introduced to Parliament today will support growth and assist businesses on the road to economic recovery, said Revenue Minister Stuart Nash. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2020-21, Feasibility Expenditure, and Remedial Matters) Bill proposes that businesses can get tax deductions for ‘feasibility expenditure’ on new investments,” said Mr ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Grant Robertson has welcomed the first release of funds from the $265 million Sport Recovery Package announced as part of Budget 2020. Sport NZ has announced that $4.6 million in funding will go to the Wellington Phoenix, NZ Warriors, Super Rugby teams and the ANZ Premiership ...
An iconic New Zealand tourism attraction and the country’s 31 Regional Tourism Organisations are the first recipients of support from the $400 million Tourism Sector Recovery Plan, to help position the sector for recovery from COVID-19, Tourism Minister Kelvin Davis announced today. The plan includes a Strategic Tourism Assets Protection ...
The Government will legislate to ensure businesses that suffered as a result of the COVID-19 response will get help to resolve disputes over commercial rent issues, Justice Minister Andrew Little announced today. A temporary amendment to the Property Law Act will insert a clause in commercial leases requiring a fair ...
The Minister for Small Business says new data from Xero highlights the urgency of prompt payment practices to small and medium enterprises as we move into economic recovery. Last month Government ministers wrote to significant private enterprises and the banking industry to request they join efforts by government agencies to ...
Young people in Waikato will be the first to have free access to period products in schools in another step to support children and young people in poverty,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said. During term 3, the Ministry of Education will begin providing free period products to schools following the ...
The Minister of Police Stuart Nash has issued the following statement in response to charges filed against three Police officers this morning in the New Plymouth District Court. “Any incident involving a loss of life in Police custody is taken very seriously. The charges today reflect the gravity of the ...
$196 million for Crown Research Institutes $150 million for R&D loan scheme $33 million for Māori research and development opportunities $12 million for the Nationally Significant Collections and Databases $10 million to help maintain in-house capability at Callaghan Innovation New Zealand’s entrepreneurs, innovators and crown researchers will benefit from a ...
Further temporary changes to NCEA and University Entrance (UE) will support senior secondary school students whose teaching and learning have been disrupted by COVID-19. “The wellbeing of students and teachers is a priority. As we are all aware, COVID-19 has created massive disruption to the school system, and the Government ...
Minister for Racing Winston Peters today announced that the terms for the directors of the Racing Industry Transition Agency (RITA) have been extended to 30 June 2021. Due to the COVID-19 crisis the transition period has been extended to ensure that the Racing Industry Bill can complete its progress through ...
The deadline for landlords to include detailed information in their tenancy agreements about how their property meets the Healthy Homes Standards, so tenants can see the home they are renting is compliant, has been extended from 1 July 2020 to 1 December 2020. The Healthy Homes Standards became law on 1 July 2019. The Standards are ...
Justice Minister Andrew Little today announced details of further appointments to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. “I am pleased to announce Paula Rose QSO OStJ as Deputy Chief Commissioner for a term of five years commencing on 15 June 2020,” said Andrew Little. “I am also pleased to announce the ...
The Targeted Training and Apprenticeships Fund (TTAF) will pay costs of learners of all ages to undertake vocational education and training The fund will target support for areas of study and training that will give learners better employment prospects as New Zealand recovers from COVID-19 Apprentices working in all industries ...
The Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) will finally start to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas pollution as it was originally intended to, because of changes announced today by the Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw. The changes include a limit on the total emissions allowed within the ETS, rules to ensure ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio says the Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List provides an abundance of examples that Pacific people’s leadership capability is unquestionable in Aotearoa. “The work and the individuals we acknowledge this year highlights the kind of visionary examples and dedicated community leadership that we need ...
The Government is backing a new $27 million project aimed at boosting sustainable horticulture production and New Zealand’s COVID-19 recovery efforts, says Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor. “Our horticulture sector has long been one of New Zealand’s export star performers, contributing around $6 billion a year to our economy. During and ...
Applications have opened for 2021 Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships, which will support more Māori and women to pursue careers in forestry science, says Forestry Minister Shane Jones. “I’m delighted Te Uru Rākau is offering Ngā Karahipi Uru Rākau – Forestry Scholarships for the third year running. These ...
The Queen’s Birthday 2020 Honours List once again highlights the dedication by many to looking after our native plants and wildlife, including incredible work to restore the populations of critically endangered birds says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Anne Richardson of Hororata has been made an Officer of the New ...
The Government will invest $10 million from the One Billion Trees Fund for large-scale planting to provide jobs in communities and improve the environment, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor and Forestry Minister Shane Jones have announced. New, more flexible funding criteria for applications will help up to 10 catchment groups plant ...
Organisations that support women are invited to apply to a new $1,000,000 fund as part of the Government’s COVID-19 response. “We know women, and organisations that support women, have been affected by COVID-19. This new money will ensure funding for groups that support women and women’s rights,” said Minister for ...
Healthier waterways are front and centre in a new project involving more than 300 King Country sheep, beef and dairy farmers. The Government is investing $844,000 in King Country River Care, a group that helps farmers to lift freshwater quality and farming practice, Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor announced today. “Yesterday ...
A major funding package for libraries will allow them to play a far greater role in supporting their communities and people seeking jobs as part of the economic recovery from COVID-19. “Budget 2020 contains over $60 million of funding to protect library services and to protect jobs,” says Internal Affairs ...
A jobseekers programme for the creative sector and four new funds have been set up by the Government to help our arts and music industry recover from the blow of COVID-19. Thousands of jobs will be supported through today’s $175 million package in a crucial economic boost to support the ...
Minister for Veterans Ron Mark has welcomed the First Reading of a Bill that will make legislative changes to further improve the veterans’ support system. The Veterans’ Support Amendment Bill No 2, which will amend the Veterans’ Support Act 2014, passed First Reading today. The bill addresses a number of ...
Views sought on Order in Council to help fast track the reinstatement of the Christ Church Cathedral The Associate Minister for Greater Christchurch Regeneration, Hon Poto Williams, will be seeking public written comment, following Cabinet approving the drafting of an Order in Council aimed at fast-tracking the reinstatement of the ...
The law setting out New Zealanders’ basic civil and human rights is today one step towards being strengthened following the first reading of a Bill that requires Parliament to take action if a court says a statute undermines those rights. At present, a senior court can issue a ‘declaration of ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today reiterated the deep concern of the New Zealand Government following confirmation by China’s National People’s Congress of national security legislation relating to Hong Kong. “New Zealand shares the international community’s significant and long-standing stake in Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability,” Mr Peters said. “New Zealand ...
Thousands of artists and creatives at hundreds of cultural and heritage organisations have been given much-needed support to recover from the impact of COVID-19, Prime Minister and Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Jacinda Ardern announced today. “The cultural sector was amongst the worst hit by the global pandemic,” Jacinda ...
Key New Zealand assets will be better protected from being sold to overseas owners in a way contrary to the national interest, with the passage of the Overseas Investment (Urgent Measures) Bill. The Bill, which passed its third reading in Parliament today, also cuts unnecessary red tape to help attract ...
Setting higher health standards at swimming spots Requiring urban waterways to be cleaned up and new protections for urban streams Putting controls on higher-risk farm practices such as winter grazing and feed lots Setting stricter controls on nitrogen pollution and new bottom lines on other measures of waterway health Ensuring ...
The Government is on the verge of reaching its target of state sector boards and committees made up of at least 50 percent women, says Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter and Minister for Ethnic Communities Jenny Salesa. For the first time, the Government stocktake measures the number of Māori, ...
Wrapping everyone in a blanket of love, whakapapa and mauri for Matariki is the brave, exuberant and generous fabric art of Maungarongo Te Kawa, writes Amanda Thompson.E te AtuaNau enei rau harakeke he taongaTukuna ki a matouKia tika o matou mahiKo Papatuanuku e takoto neiTuturu WhakamauaKia tina, tinaHui eTaiki e.‘Karakia ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
One press statement from the Beehive yesterday sounded more like advertising – or a barker’s pitch – than a Government announcement. Another advised of two diplomatic appointment, one of them – has the woman who landed the post done something wrong? – to protest-troubled and politically volatile Hong Kong. And ...
It’s not often that someone graduates from university one year and becomes a senior economist commentating on national media the next. George Driver investigates the meteoric rise of the high-flying Brad Olsen.Google “senior economist Brad Olsen” and you’ll find him quoted in no fewer than 167 articles in the past ...
As public sentiment turned against Uber Eats, a new local operation emerged promising a more ethical alternative to help New Zealand’s struggling hospitality industry. But now Eat Local NZ has suspended trading after falling out with its Australian partner Mr Yum. So what happened?A dispute between local hospitality platform Eat ...
By Budi Sutrisno in Jakarta As the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died while being arrested in the United States, sparks a global outcry, Indonesian rights advocates and young people have stepped forward to remind fellow citizens that racism has long been an issue at home as ...
Edward Cullen became a vampire to survive the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918. Now a new Twilight novel looms and Laura Surynt, a New Zealander living in the UK, wants to live forever too. As I lay in bed this morning watching Instagram stories, Tayi Tibble told my reluctant little Capricorn ...
Over the lockdown period, thousands of people joined a Facebook group dedicated to remembering the nightlife of inner-city Auckland. Its creator Simon Grigg explains why it touched a chord in lockdown.Within a few days of The Lost Nightlife of Inner-city Auckland Facebook page accidentally going live on May 12, we ...
Throughout Anglo colonial states there is a constant habit of defining people who aren’t white as a problem, writes Aaron Smale in this personal essay. It was a balmy summer evening in the capital and cops were standing over a young brown man. I was walking down Courtenay Place on ...
"The countdown clock ticks 2, then 1, then the prime minister raises her drink": dystopia, by Ōtautahi writer Laura Borrowdale. You stand in the centre of the room, and around you, the guests seem to swirl and blend into one. There’s a mouth, gaping and red, filled with laughter. A ...
Martin Luther King Jr said in 1963: “America has given the Black people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’." Six generations of egregious police violence later, the sentiment out of which those bad cheques were born could be shifting. In the wake of egregious police violence, ...
WATCH: In a candid interview on Sky Sport, Dame Susan Devoy talks on her concern for rising sports stars, the state of NZ squash, and the spectre of racism. Dame Susan Devoy is proudly still “a little terrier who fights for the underdog”. “I have been doing it all my life and ...
Of the huge funding boost coming for early childhood education, Playcentre has been left with just the crumbs, writes Kate Barber. Amidst all the celebration of the $430m funding boost for early childhood education (ECE) announced in this year’s budget, little attention was paid to the plight of Playcentre. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vikrant Minhas, PhD candidate, University of Adelaide Although bacteria are single-celled and microscopically small, they still need energy to survive, just like us. One of the most efficient ways of acquiring energy for bacteria is through sweet, soluble carbohydrates: sugars. In fact, ...
PACIFIC PANDEMIC DIARY:By David Robie Three cartoonists had especially poignant takes on the tragic and toxic political aftermath of martyr George Floyd’s brutal killing under the knee of a white American policeman in Minneapolis last week. The Boston Globe’s Christopher Weyant featured a split frame contrasting a red-capped “Make ...
Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis?There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Monika Sarder, Senior Strategic Analyst, Monash University Algorithmic decision-making has enormous potential to do good. From identifying priority areas for first response after an earthquake hits, to identifying those at risk of COVID-19 within minutes, their application has proven hugely beneficial. But ...
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Thomas, Associate professor, Flinders University We have seen ten days of protests in the United States over the death of George Floyd. While thousands of people have gathered to express their outrage peacefully, some demonstrations have been marred by vandalism and ...
40 percent of millennials have one, and an increasing number of GenXers and Baby Boomers do too. Two Cents' Worth delves into the world of side hustles. ...
Auckland writer Caroline Barron has a terrific book out today called Ripiro Beach: A Memoir of Life After Near Death. Here, she writes about the memoirs that have been a balm, a lesson, or both. Throughout my life, I’ve sought solace between the covers of books, particularly memoirs. There, I’ve learnt ...
An exclusive interview with Steve McSteverson about his traumatic and tragic ordeal this week.Many New Zealanders are struggling with the news that a children’s book not commissioned or authorised by Jacinda Ardern was advertised in a newsletter for children’s books. This horrific attack on New Zealanders whose ears are permanently ...
Air New Zealand staff are dismayed and angered at the company’s announcement to cut a further $150 million from their wage bill. On Friday, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran, made the announcement to employees, who are still ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dr. Bodean Hedwards, Lecturer, Monash University This week the leaders of India and Australia reaffirmed their mutual interest in closer diplomatic and economic ties. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison during their long-delayed Thursday “virtual summit”: ...
The Herald reported this morning that MediaWorks was on the verge of selling its TV assets to US TV giant Discovery – but an internal email and senior source suggest the story may have been premature.A senior MediaWorks source has emphatically denied a report in the NZ Herald that a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Gery Karantzas, Associate professor in Social Psychology / Relationship Science, Deakin University Life in lockdown has been tough on many relationships. But negotiating the transition back to “normal” as restrictions continue to lift could also be a challenge for couples. So what ...
A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Geoff Hanmer, Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of Adelaide HomeBuilder is a good idea gone bad. It is possibly the most complex and least equitable program the government could have devised to deliver construction jobs. It gives $25,000 to people who already ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Keller, Professor of Cognitive Science, Western Sydney University The coronavirus pandemic has silenced the world’s concert halls and opera theatres. Organisations specialising in live performance face an existential crisis under current restrictions on social gatherings, with up to 75% of people ...
Finance Minister Grant Robertson, wearing his Sport and Recreation ministerial hat, can show he can be a big spender and draw voters’ attention to his largess each time he dispenses money from the funds under his control – or the control of an agency within his ministerial bailiwick. Yesterday he ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pi-Shen Seet, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Edith Cowan University Scott Morrison wants to overhaul the skills workforce to ensure a better post-COVID-19 recovery. But there may not be enough people with the necessary skills to do so. And travel restrictions, which ...
As we transition out of a Covid-focused world and prepare for what comes next, New Zealand’s ICT industry is gearing towards growth.From app development helping track the Covid-19 virus to website engineering keeping businesses in touch and online, ICT knowledge has been crucial to keeping New Zealand working over the ...
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...
Ten days is too long. That from insurance claimant advocate, Ali Jones. EQC has today made contact with homeowners via email after accidentally releasing confidential details of 8000 insurance claims on May 26. Jones says although she has not received ...
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 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (Penguin Classics, $24)Winner of the 2019 Booker Prize. The other day, ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Simon Day discovers how the voluntary carbon market allows both individuals and companies to offset their emissions at the same time as investing in native forest regeneration.When Celia Wade-Brown sold her first batch of carbon credits earned from the native forest on her Wairarapa farm, she had two customers: Z ...
Analysis by Keith Rankin. Keith Rankin. The conversation around the 2020 covid19 pandemic has been widely framed as ‘health versus the economy’. It has been quite political, with people leaning to the left emphasising ‘health’, and people leaning to the right emphasising ‘the economy’. A couple of weeks ago ...
Sam Brooks pays tribute to Alex Rider, and the new TV series that (finally) captures the spirit of the books.“What if James Bond was a teenager?”The concept for Anthony Horowitz’s Alex Rider series is so simple but so brilliant. There’s a reason why the franchise has managed to sustain 12 ...
Analysis - The PM resists pressure to move immediately to level 1, Winston Peters' tactics play into the hands of the Opposition and the government at last works out a commercial rent solution, writes Peter Wilson. ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHAFrom Washington DC Federal charges against the four protectors of the Venezuelan Embassy, who defended the building in Washington DC against violent opposition crowds for several weeks between April 10 and May 16 of 2019, were completely dropped in a case that ...
Source: Council on Hemispheric Affairs – Analysis-Reportage By COHA Editorial TeamFrom Washington DC The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) joins the Black Alliance for Peace[1] and other pro-democracy organizations throughout the world in calling for the United Nations to address the systemic violations of human rights by the police and ...
Being shot by police had a profound, transformational effect on Rob Mokaraka’s life in more ways than you’d expect. A new documentary, airing on Māori TV at 7.30pm on Sunday, explores the work he’s done to heal his own mind and to ensure nobody has to go through the same ...
Human rights watchdog TAPOL has condemned the demand by Indonesian prosecutors seeking 17 and five years imprisonment for West Papuan activists Buchtar Tabuni and Irwanus Uropmabin. On June 2, the Jayapura District Prosecutor’s Office issued 33 pages containing charges against the defendant Irwanus Uropmabin. In the document, the Public Prosecutor ...
The arrival of Dan Carter is far from the first time the ever-struggling Auckland team has hoped to turn around its fortunes with a star signing, writes Jamie Wall.New Zealand rugby Twitter is a generally desolate place, especially lately given that there’s been nothing to talk about ever since the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Senior Lecturer in New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity US President Donald Trump delivered an address this week in which he threatened military action on the nation. Then he walked to the nearby St John’s Episcopal Church ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vincent Ho, Senior Lecturer and clinical academic gastroenterologist, Western Sydney University Why do we burp? We sometimes also burp before meals, why does this happen? — Ahaana, age 7 That is a really interesting question, Ahaana! There ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Justine Bell-James, Associate Professor, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland After years of litigation, Australia’s highest court will today make a major decision on the fate of the controversial proposed expansion to the New Acland Coal mine in Queensland. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicholas Williams, Associate Professor in Urban Ecology and Urban Horticulture, University of Melbourne Tomorrow is the first World Green Roof Day. Cities around the world will celebrate the well-documented environmental, economic and social benefits of green roofs. New ground-level green spaces are ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Senior Lecturer, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University Robodebt isn’t the only measure the government should consider withdrawing. Late last Friday, after a long press conference from the prime minister which avoided any mention of the topic, the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Richard Holden, Professor of Economics, UNSW Harvard University’s Alberto Alesina died suddenly of a heart attack on May 23. He was 63. His long-time colleague and friend Larry Summers wrote that before him, “there was no academic field of political economy. Today, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Julian Meyrick, Professor of Creative Arts, Griffith University What keeps democracies together? As America burns, Brazilians die and Europe braces for another wave of the coronavirus, the question assumes an alarming immediacy. If the answer is complicated in one way, it is ...
For all The Spinoff’s latest coverage of Covid-19 see here. Read Siouxsie Wiles’s work here. New Zealand is currently in alert level two – read The Spinoff’s giant explainer about what that means here. For official government advice, see here.The Spinoff’s coverage of the Covid-19 outbreak is made possible thanks to donations from Spinoff Members. ...
Good morning and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Millions of dollars divvied up by Sport NZ, MSD’s problem with wrongly denied payments grows, and internal coalition battles emerge in time for election.It’s Friday, and there hasn’t been a lot of it recently, so we’re going to start with ...
The Government picks Waitomo caves as 'strategic tourism asset' and grants $4m to Tourism Holdings, boosting shares another 7.8 percent. Facebook staff and alumni revolt over Zuckerberg's inaction on Trump ...
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan NZ bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias.NON-FICTION 1 Vegful by Nadia Lim (Nude Food, $55) 2 Stop Surviving Start Fighting by Jazz Thornton (Penguin Random House, $38) 3 So Delish! by Simone Anderson ...
Anomalies in the policy for superannuitants with overseas pensions are an indictment on the justice process in New Zealand, write Susan St John and Dr Claire Dale Along with many others, the Retirement Policy and Research Centre has worked assiduously for more than a decade to alert the public, policy-makers ...
A new study indicates native plants, despite their tendency to grow more slowly than exotic species like Pinus Radiata, are better at storing carbon in the soil for longer periods of time. ...
Systemic white violence against black Americans is alive and well, and it's white violence that sustains white supremacy Current scenes from the United States are both familiar and shocking. George Floyd’s life being brutally snuffed out by Minneapolis police, followed by peaceful protests of Floyd’s murder as well as legitimate ...
The US isn't the only country with a broken criminal justice system that works to criminalise and destroy the lives of black and brown families. Dylan Asafo puts forward two ways NZ could lead in dismantling systems of white supremacy. If you were to imagine a society without racial oppression, ...
The British Tribe Next Door attracted over 60 complaints of racist themes from viewers when it first aired in the UK. Now TVNZ is streaming it on its OnDemand service attracting concerns from members of Aotearoa’s African community and a letter from race relations commissioner Meng Foon.When The British Tribe ...
When approached by The Spinoff Jeanette Wilson denied having told participants in an online session that the product ‘lined the lungs’, despite clear evidence to the contrary.The Covid-19 crisis has sparked misinformation in every corner of the world. In New Zealand, a “psychic healer” whose fixations read like a conspiracy ...
The union movement launched a push earlier this week to double the legal minimum of sick leave from five days a year to 10. Is a change likely?What’s all this then?In light of the recent global pandemic putting the focus on health in the workplace, unions have called for changes ...
An African American pastor from George Floyd's community gives The Detail a special insight into what's happening there - and gives us hope for the future. “Nobody in America wants to be a racist.” David Hill is a pastor in the Third Ward neighbourhood of Houston where George Floyd grew ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra When Ken Wyatt, the Minister for Indigenous Australians, last week effectively pronounced dead the prospect of a referendum on indigenous recognition being put to the people this parliamentary term, the demise of his hoped-for timetable ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Morrison government will significantly strengthen its scrutiny of foreign investment to protect sensitive national security technology and information and further ring fence the nation’s critical infrastructure. It will insert a new “national security test” ...
Open mike 23/02/2015 
Open mike is your post.
The 60 Years of New Zealand Television celebrations, such as they were, seemed to rely heavily on the classics: here we go again with Lynn of Tawa, A Week of It and the Country Calendar spoofs. Wonderful highlights of our televisual past, to be sure, but after hearing Paul Holmes’ ...4 hours ago
The Two Americas Collide: You gotta love the Americans marching for George Floyd and the fragile promises of the US Constitution. But, you also gotta keep your eye on the pale rider in the White House, and understand that behind him Hell follows.THE FRAGILITY of democracy’s promise is becoming clearer ...11 hours ago
Oliver Twist, famously asked for ‘more’. He did not challenge the system of workhouses – Dickens did – nor the authority of Beadle Bumble. He was only nine. I am often struck how critics of the current income maintenance system are like Oliver Twist. They ask for more, but they ...1 day ago
New Zealand’s history as a sheep-farming nation means the command “Get in behind!” has long had a particular resonance — but not usually for journalists. However, in late March, as panic over the coronavirus pandemic surged around the world, Dr Gavin Ellis — former editor-in-chief of the NZ Herald — ...1 day ago
When the New Zealand Police started using Armed Response Teams - gangs of heavily-armed police cruising Māori-Pacifica neighbourhoods in juiced-up gun-trucks - they told us it was a "trial". But it turns out that those armed police - who were mainly doing traffic stops and bail checks, rather than the ...1 day ago
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections The Trump administration, after less than one full first term, has every likelihood of being adjudged the most anti-climate, anti-science, and anti-environment executive branch in U.S. history. With numerous high-level Trump nominees having cut their teeth as lobbyists with major polluting industries, the administration ...2 days ago
Another study comparing effect in children from nonendemic areas (Dagang) and endemic fluorosis area (Jinghai) about 80km apart in the Tianjin area of China. Hardly sampling the same population. Anti-fluoride campaigners still use studies from ... 2 days ago
George Thomson, Nick Wilson, Richard Edwards This blog discusses the passing of the Smoke-free Environments (Prohibiting Smoking in Motor Vehicles Carrying Children) Amendment Act last week. We briefly review some lessons from this legislation’s long journey and explore future smokefree possibilities in Aotearoa / New Zealand. A law ...2 days ago
Bernard Hickey is one of New Zealand’s leading financial journalists. His latest article, published by Newsroom, lays bare the cruel treatment of hundreds of thousands of workers stranded since the lockdown. Our Prime Minister is lauded overseas for her compassion, but her Cabinet is refusing to properly support tens of ...3 days ago
For a good part of my adult life I have studied civil-military relations. I have studied authoritarian and democratic variants, and I have studied them across countries and regions. I have also worked in and with several US security agencies and have lectured on the theme at a number of ...3 days ago
by The Spark “The system is broken”—the words of a young black man in Minneapolis watching flames destroy a police precinct demonstrators had torched. Broken? Yes, it is! What else could you say about a system whose police for nine minutes casually knelt on a black man’s neck, watching until ...4 days ago
Minneapolis Police StationIf you’ve been keeping an eye on recent events in the United States, you’ll likely understand why there’s so much anger on the streets at the moment. Not only did police officers murder another black man; it is patently obvious that authorities initially attempted to cover up George ...5 days ago
Like the rest of the world, I have been aghast at what I have seen of, and read and heard about, what is happening currently in the United States. It seems incredible that a once great country should be suffering the worst effects and the highest number of deaths worldwide ...5 days ago
Image credit: Writing an Article vs. Writing a Blog Post: What’s the Difference? I notice a few regulars no longer allow public access to the site counters. This may happen accidentally when the blog format is ... 5 days ago
It’s almost painful to watch. Let’s be honest, maybe a pleasure too, in some quarters, but painful nonetheless. Because the fact is, for a democracy to function properly, any sitting Government does need honest and proper Opposition so that it doesn’t get ahead of itself. That’s what we should ...1 week ago
Well, we are out of lockdown, essentially. I did end up getting the wage subsidy while we were on levels 3 and 4 but I would have been fine if we didn’t. The first day of level 2, the Thursday, the office opened again for the people who weren’t able ...2 weeks ago
Rt Hon Winston Peters, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters today announced two diplomatic appointments: New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India and Consul-General to Hong Kong. “As New Zealand recovers from COVID-19, our diplomatic and trade networks are more important than ever. That is ...1 day ago
We started the week by announcing free apprenticeships to support Kiwis into work and to help get New Zealand moving again - and we ended the week by extending the wage subsidy to 40,000 more businesses, helping to protect businesses and workers alike. ...1 day ago
The Green Party is urging the New Zealand Police to rule out the use of Armed Response Teams, following their recent trial in communities around Aotearoa. ...1 day ago
This summer presents a great opportunity for New Zealanders to get out into nature with bookings on Great Walks for 2020/21 set to open next week, says Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. Bookings for the Great Walks will open between 9 and 11 June, excluding Milford and Routeburn tracks which ...14 hours ago
The New Zealand First list MP Shane Jones is to stand for the seat of Northland at the election. ...5 hours ago
Wrapping everyone in a blanket of love, whakapapa and mauri for Matariki is the brave, exuberant and generous fabric art of Maungarongo Te Kawa, writes Amanda Thompson.E te AtuaNau enei rau harakeke he taongaTukuna ki a matouKia tika o matou mahiKo Papatuanuku e takoto neiTuturu WhakamauaKia tina, tinaHui eTaiki e.‘Karakia ...6 hours ago
One press statement from the Beehive yesterday sounded more like advertising – or a barker’s pitch – than a Government announcement. Another advised of two diplomatic appointment, one of them – has the woman who landed the post done something wrong? – to protest-troubled and politically volatile Hong Kong. And ...8 hours ago
By Budi Sutrisno in Jakarta As the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died while being arrested in the United States, sparks a global outcry, Indonesian rights advocates and young people have stepped forward to remind fellow citizens that racism has long been an issue at home as ...9 hours ago
Throughout Anglo colonial states there is a constant habit of defining people who aren’t white as a problem, writes Aaron Smale in this personal essay. It was a balmy summer evening in the capital and cops were standing over a young brown man. I was walking down Courtenay Place on ...13 hours ago
"The countdown clock ticks 2, then 1, then the prime minister raises her drink": dystopia, by Ōtautahi writer Laura Borrowdale. You stand in the centre of the room, and around you, the guests seem to swirl and blend into one. There’s a mouth, gaping and red, filled with laughter. A ...13 hours ago
Martin Luther King Jr said in 1963: “America has given the Black people a bad cheque, a cheque which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds’." Six generations of egregious police violence later, the sentiment out of which those bad cheques were born could be shifting. In the wake of egregious police violence, ...14 hours ago
WATCH: In a candid interview on Sky Sport, Dame Susan Devoy talks on her concern for rising sports stars, the state of NZ squash, and the spectre of racism. Dame Susan Devoy is proudly still “a little terrier who fights for the underdog”. “I have been doing it all my life and ...14 hours ago
Are central bankers jealous that epidemiologists are the rock stars of the current crisis? There is talk that both the British and New Zealand central banks might institute negative interest rates as part of the policy response to the Covid shock. While Sweden’s central bank ended its five year experiment ...23 hours ago
LISTEN: This week's Extra Time podcast discusses racism in sport and the role of athletes and organisations in making a stand for good. Former Silver Fern and Black Fern Louisa Wall believes today's sports stars must have a social conscience and stand up against discrimination and divisiveness. Sport and politics, once ...1 day ago
40 percent of millennials have one, and an increasing number of GenXers and Baby Boomers do too. Two Cents' Worth delves into the world of side hustles. ...1 day ago
Air New Zealand staff are dismayed and angered at the company’s announcement to cut a further $150 million from their wage bill. On Friday, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Foran, made the announcement to employees, who are still ...1 day ago
A slight bounce in the economy is brightening the outlook as the country heads into the winter months, Radio NZ reports. Retail spending is up and NZ shares rose on Thursday for a third day running. Key indicators have led some economists to point to a faster recovery than expected. ...1 day ago
Analysis: As New Zealand eases restrictions, it no longer has international precedent to look towards and must decide on its own how to reopen the economy while reducing the risk of a second wave of infections, Marc Daalder reports While most of the country eagerly awaits a likely move to ...1 day ago
The Government picks Waitomo caves as 'strategic tourism asset' and grants $4m to Tourism Holdings, boosting shares another 7.8 percent. Facebook staff and alumni revolt over Zuckerberg's inaction on Trump ...2 days ago
This week's biggest-selling New Zealand books, as recorded by the Nielsen BookScan NZ bestseller list and described by ReadingRoom literary editor Steve Braunias. NON-FICTION 1 Vegful by Nadia Lim (Nude Food, $55) 2 Stop Surviving Start Fighting by Jazz Thornton (Penguin Random House, $38) 3 So Delish! by Simone Anderson ...2 days ago
Anomalies in the policy for superannuitants with overseas pensions are an indictment on the justice process in New Zealand, write Susan St John and Dr Claire Dale Along with many others, the Retirement Policy and Research Centre has worked assiduously for more than a decade to alert the public, policy-makers ...2 days ago
A new study indicates native plants, despite their tendency to grow more slowly than exotic species like Pinus Radiata, are better at storing carbon in the soil for longer periods of time. ...2 days ago
NZTA is allegedly exploring options for its $1b road to be built with a different set of builders. ...2 days ago
Systemic white violence against black Americans is alive and well, and it's white violence that sustains white supremacy Current scenes from the United States are both familiar and shocking. George Floyd’s life being brutally snuffed out by Minneapolis police, followed by peaceful protests of Floyd’s murder as well as legitimate ...2 days ago
The US isn't the only country with a broken criminal justice system that works to criminalise and destroy the lives of black and brown families. Dylan Asafo puts forward two ways NZ could lead in dismantling systems of white supremacy. If you were to imagine a society without racial oppression, ...2 days ago
An African American pastor from George Floyd's community gives The Detail a special insight into what's happening there - and gives us hope for the future. “Nobody in America wants to be a racist.” David Hill is a pastor in the Third Ward neighbourhood of Houston where George Floyd grew ...2 days ago
Radio NZ reporting that Sky City told the government 14 months ago it could not afford to build convention centre as promised.
Will the media hold them to account?
Makes skycity appear clean as, top corporate citizen and all that and the MSM puppets will be looking elsewhere and hand wringing over Sabin or excusing them for the lui donation etc.
Skycity and NACT colluded from day 1 over this deal and it’s just been a case of how them and their MSM acolytes feed the sheeple given the election had to be negotiated.
Joyce was just on Radio NZ and I have never heard him sound sicker. He took umbrage at the suggestion that he had deliberately lied to the public and disputed that he had the necessary intent. Good way to confirm that he may have inadvertently lied …
“Oh no Suzie! Saying that I mislead the Public is a big over-reaction.” Now sulk Joyce.
The New Zealand Herald does not regard the fact the government is considering sending our troops to Iraq today as important enough news to make any of its top 10 stories online.
Apparently our taxi fare gap is more important.
National run a non democratic process by choosing not to put it to the whole of the House, instead they have chosen the Banana Republic route of letting cabinet choose. Both the Tory-Maori party and United Future are not in favour of the role our troops are too play.
What a disgraceful breech of democracy by Key and his cronies. These 100 troops would be better employed combating an invasion on our own shores, the Queensland fruit fly.
They were talking about this on Morning Report this morning. Under Labour, apparently the only time a decision like this was put to the house was in late 2003 when they were voting whether to send the SAS back to Afghanistan or not. The other decisions were all made by the Labour cabinet.
That doesn’t make it right – particularly for those of us that don’t support Labour so the “but they did it too” argument doesn’t really sit too well.
I’d dearly love to see a clean up of parliamentary process. Its pretense of “democracy” is losing it’s veneer on a daily basis – irrespective of who is pulling the levers of control.
The best way to stop NZ participating in wars is to discourage all youth from joining the armed forces in the first place.
John Stevens giving a very good interview on 1 news this morning.
Stopped short of calling Key a liar about the SAS going to Afghanistan in 2009 . pointed out the the Iraq war was built on lies and finished with saying reporters weren’t asking the right questions about our going to fight Isis.
Could you provide a link?
No sorry it will be on delay at about 7-50 . The liar in chief was just on at 7-15 answered most questions buy talking about what Clarke did and confirmed that there will be no vote on going to Iraq I wish she had of asked him if it was because he would lose.
Guyon raised that point about the vote on RNZ
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20168253
The interview does not exactly scream ‘our PM is a man with a plan”
the only ‘plan’ he has..
..is to be a spear-carrier/mercenary for the americans..
..it’s all quite simple really..
..as we again go to war/kill..
..for reasons craven and base..
Oxymoron Key says “he is confident if put to a vote the other party’s would support sending non combat troop to the Middle East.” Really so don’t bother giving a democratic vote?
Meanwhile more fruit flies get discovered.
@ b waghorn –
And the reason Key won’t put sending troops to Iraq to the vote, is because he would be out voted.
Parties AGAINST NZ military involvement, training role possibly leading to combat –
Labour
Greens
NZ First
United Future
Maori Party
Parties FOR NZ military involvement regardless of role –
National minus one MP (Sabin)
ACT
To lose would be a slap in the face for Key and National. So to keep onside with his US buddies, he goes for over riding the democratic process of a Parliamentary vote! Isn’t this what dictators do?
When Espiner listed the parties in the Parliament who would vote against deployment in their interview Key mumbled on for a bit and then when pressed petulantly said they could always wait until after the Northland byelection.
@ Mary
Yes that is what dictators do.
Also they rig elections by stitching up their rivals with false allegations.
@ saveNZ – you got it in one there.
National have always been a party of dictators. We’ve seen this time and time again over the years.
key said that ‘combat troops will not be going to iraq’..
..but hasn’t he also said that the s.a.s.will be going..to guard the trainers..?
..and aren’t the s.a.s…’combat troops’..
..which is true..?
..and yes..these are the same lies clark/goff/key told us about our ‘non-combatant’ role in afghanistan..
..and we all know what a pile of steaming-lies that was..
..as is this..
and does ‘training’ work..?..has it ever worked..?..answer:..no..
“..In the past 50 years –
– has there been any case of the U.S. successfully training local troops –
– to prosecute a war against insurgents?..”
(cont..)
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article41042.htm
Americans are desperate for support on the ground in Iraq against ISIS
…New Zealand soldiers will be pawns in a war which is NOT New Zealanders’ ( Helen Clark kept us from the illegitimate invasion of Iraq) .
The Iraq war debacle was initiated by United States and Israel….they should be the ones cleaning up their own mess on the ground against ISIS.
John Key will be responsible for repercussions on New Zealand and New Zealanders .
Americans now admit their invasion of Iraq was an absolute disaster
‘Americans have to die on battlefield to destroy ISIS – US military strategist’
http://rt.com/shows/sophieco/232635-us-isis-middle-east/
John Nagl , Counterinsurgency Expert:
“The invasion of Iraq in 2003 I think was not just a mistake, but perhaps a biggest mistake the U.S. has ever made in foreign policy. It’s a four trillion dollar mistake, it caused enormous damage in the region, to the people of Iraq and certainly to my army and very-very many of my friends. So, the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a disaster, a fiasco, unnecessary and poorly conducted. We played the endgame very-very badly and that failure of American foreign policy in 2011 necessitates today America returning to Iraq in force.”
New Zealand should only go into Iraq as part of a UN force…not support for US and Israel agenda in the Middle East.
Good comment from Gordon Campbell over at Scoop :
http://gordoncampbell.scoop.co.nz/2015/02/23/gordon-campbell-on-todays-announcement-on-iraq/
SAS are already in Iraq. The Army person who told me thought it was public knowledge.
If there is an active war zone around with some of our normal allies special forces in action, you can generally assume that there will be a NZSAS contingent around as well. It doesn’t mean that they are deployed there. It just means that they are off doing a training (often as a kind of sabbatical) with other forces. It is part of their job.
The words “squad deployment” were used. I know they often work with other countries’ special forces, and love telling stories about how bad the Americans are. They are always at other people’s wars, while I believe the regular forces only started doing that via disobeying orders from the Clark government.
@ b waghorn
John Stevens is a musician I think. The person you are referring to from TV1 News is
Jon Stephenson, and that is a name and spelling to remember. A NZ person of worth
who deserves to be identified correctly.
Doh cheers yes I’ve seen him many times I bet there s not many politicians that send him a Xmas card.
Thinking back to last years election, no wonder Key looked tired and weary.knowing about Liu, Sky City fiasco and Sabin whilst telling us all that National were steering us in such a straight line, well, what can we say?
Proves he can get a job after he is booted /resigns from office, as a Juggling Clown!
“..Bill Maher Calls For Marijuana Legalization..
(ed:..and he makes a very strong case..
..and not just for legalisation of pot..
..but also for the freeing/pardoning of all non-violent drug-prisoners..)
(cont..)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/21/bill-maher-weed-legalization_n_6726842.html
Boring
u clearly need some good pot in yr life..there..bored git…
..i quite liked how maher said the last time he smoked pot..
..was ‘just before the show’..
..it’s also quite boring how bored-git doesn’t define just what aspect of the clip he found ‘boring’..
..the content..?..the execution..?
..or is he just verbalising a deep/irrational hatred of the ‘umble ‘erb’..?
That is such a funny and insightful video! He is so clever! Enjoyed it.
I don’t indulge myself, but I do support decriminalisation of marijuana and medical marijuana.
Yeah Bill Maher, he’s worth listening to. And this interview was a bit of an eye opener.
It’s an hour long.
It’s official: Fracking causes quakes. Check out the graph – really….graphic.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-02-21/usgs-confirms-oklahoma-quakes-are-due-fracking
Interesting stuff from Ireland – and the on going simmering revolt.
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/27889
And this is a nice piece – which basically sums up my take on elections – add the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national – I think you should take some time to read.
http://libcom.org/blog/alternative-voting-systems-are-no-alternative-21022015
On the above link there is three more in the series, which are well worth reading.
Unfortunately the government of Ireland backed Germany against Greece in last weeks debt negotiations.
The Irish population didn’t. It’s puppet government did! Big difference!
Agree – the people and the government are two different things. This is becoming the norm all over the globe.
Where the idea the government of the people, for the people – is dead.
“..the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national…”
You think National was Rawshark?
Put down the crack pipe and walk away exStatic.
Seriously, you what? I have to have a rational discussion with that comment? GFY.
I take it “GFY” means “Good For You”?
If you are going to make stupid statements, don’t expect everyone to take you seriously.
Nope – God’s Foolish Yapper.
And were not in a debate – I’m not sure you know how to.
Of course we are not in a debate! You haven’t made any statements, just petulant vague gibberish.
How about expanding on your original mind fart…”“..the appearance of the last two elections being dirty tricked by national…”?
My goodness exStatic, having a bad day are we?
You obviously didn’t read the link – It shows
I’ll repeat my belief – you are not able to have a discussion.
Is it because you happen to be a – die in the wool ideologue – or is it that, your commented to having to be right?
No Donghua Liu timeline to see here, no sirree. Look, a cycleway!
How did Dong Hua Liu crop up here? Is he related to Eleanor Catton?
Lateral thinking seems to be lost on exStatic….
OAB knows what I am on about……you need to get out more.
You seem to think that “lateral thinking” is reading a book in bed.
ExStatic: OAB sure knows what I’m on about.
Sure do: you’re an asshole.
🙄
Oh look, yet another right wing gobshite arguing in bad faith. Beyond tiresome.
Congratulations exStatic, you have delivered a new benchmark in nonsensical gibberish. I am sure we all look forward to the ever generous delight of your considerably reasoned contributions.
Sorry if I was too obscure, or in adam’s case “lateral”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/books/65493542/radio-host-sean-plunket-stands-by-calling-eleanor-catton-a-hua
I will put myself in moderation with this comment – but what the hell.
exStatic – you are doing some bad trolling today – it is of the Gosman type – but done poorly.
You just seem to be obtuse to the point of idiocy.
Yes, thanks for that but I am aware of who Eleanor Catton is.
Please enlighten us – how do questionable political party donations relate in any way to Eleanor Catton?
http://caa.org.nz/general-news/come-cycling-around-waterview-tomorrow-tuesday-20th/
“God’s Foolish Yapper”…love it!.
Of more relevance to NZ is that Luigi Wewege (Dirty Politics, Ch 10) is suing an Irish publicly funded investigative journalist – Conor Ryan – and the broadcasters themselves, RTE.
http://www.irishtimes.com/business/financial-services/colourful-past-of-vivier-financier-wewege-1.2109965
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11406245
Fourth fruit fly found in Grey Lynn, Minister confirms
This from yesterday deserves a repeat.
So how much has been saved by not screening 100%
Note no flys for 14 years with 100% screening
Now 4 infestations since reduced screening 3 years ago TO SAVE MONEY!!!!!
And how much is it going to cost to (If they can) eradicate this pest that should have NEVER had the opportunity to invade our country.
Sorta reminds me of this. From the Bundy’s and me to our TricKey PM.
>>Mr Guy also denied that reinstating mandatory x-ray screening of luggage from all passengers coming off international flights would prevent the fruit fly from entering the country, saying it was “too difficult to confirm” how the pest arrived in Grey Lynn.
So how come Mr Guy there was no invasion for th 14 years there was mandatory screening.
Just to confirm. The X-rays kill/neutralise any pests in the bag right? Not to detect but to destroy, right?
Interesting point,
I always assumed detection, but killing better if true.
Anyone else know?
i am sure it is just detection..
..a death-ray wd have/mean all sorts of complications/side-issues..
http://www.3news.co.nz/opinion/brook-sabin/opinion-national-to-blame-for-fruit-fly-outbreak-2015022311
Found this on face book Brook Sabin giving to national a bit.
A perfect example of knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/266763/act-hopes-to-halt-plunge-in-support
Well, it’s now 0.0% so it can hardly plunge any lower. Does that mean they’re going to hail their current leader as a success because he stopped them falling any further? I wouldn’t put it past them.
I like the un-named woman saying something like “I think having a young one as a leader is quite good, because the young ones do like someone about their own age”.
Love her weird phrasing of “young ones”. Sorry Ms Unnamed Woman, but this “young one” actually wants sound and sane policy, not some young toff that’s been elevated beyond his depth and talent.
there was a puff-piece in the herald on wk/nd..
..asking ‘what do act want?’..
..my immediate reaction was:..who the fuck knows/cares! – they are on 0%’..
The obvious answer to ‘what do act want?’.. Is what ever key and his mates tell them they want.
I may have missed this, but why is Granny Herald up in arms about ATEED postings overseas?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11406141
Is it just the money being spent? But surely they are there for a reason – creating international economic opportunities? I understand that the london posting has a few other issues but if the posting was made first then I also see no problems. Also isn’t this all ATEED which whilst owned by the council isn’t controlled by the council (thanks Rodney!)
Is it just me or is the Herald stirring up an issue that isn’t there at all and is failing to ask the right questions or state the facts in a non-biased way?
…is the Herald stirring up an issue that isn’t there at all and is failing to ask the right questions or state the facts in a non-biased way?
Imo, yes. Just like they did over the now discredited Liu/ non – donations to Labour scandal last year.
“..why is Granny Herald up in arms about ATEED postings overseas?..”
while those postings do seem suss/a scam..
..their outrage is extremely selective..
…and their rightwing anti-brown/labour agenda drives this hissy-fit..
..they/the owners want a rightwing mayor in auckland….
The Spectator putting Putin in the role of Dragon-in-Chief in Europe, and the strains on the EU.
http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/9447782/how-vladimir-putin-is-waging-war-on-the-west-and-winning/
In google there is mention of NZ Australia NATO and the west but I have done a search of the article thinking it referred to Iraq and matters relating but can’t find a mention. So where that term was lifted from I do not know.
Death By Medicine
You really are a stirrer.
Still, Nassem Taleb says that “modern medicine” killed more people than it saved until probably the 1930s and that risk/benefit phenomena is still not well understood in a healthcare context, leading to bad (and sometimes tragic) decisions by both patients and practitioners.
..and you appear to be an unrepentant denier of the proven benefits of modern medicine.
You continuing sniping at immunisation and other medical interventions and your assertions that the health profession are dupes of the pharmaceutical industry whilst basing your arguments on your own rather flimsy knowledge base is perverse and brings your own profession into disrepute.
Disclosure – I do recommend patients to osteopaths and acupuncturists for musculoskeletal and other ailments and have a great deal of respect for their abilities in their areas of expertise.
Not at all. But I am an advocate of making sure patients can exercise informed consent before any treatment is provided. There are a very wide variety of situations for which modern western medical care is unparalleled and very necessary. Suggesting that there are other situations where its risks, benefits and unknowns are less clear cut or positive might be considered distateful, however.
Those are your words, not mine. And when you get entire classes of medical students boycotting medical school professors whom they feel have too close links with big pharma, or medical researchers themselves admitting that big pharma drug trials with positive results are more likely to be published in peer reviewed journals than ones which show the drugs in a bad light, I think that there are valid concerns to be considered.
They boycott professors who teach evolution too. In fact that seems to be the main reason. I suppose I missed all the classes in all the schools and all the professors you’re referring to.
Perhaps i have mixed you up with @chooky,
One of you has made repeated assertions on this very blog concerning medical professionals being dupes and in the pockets of pharmaceutical companies and that prescribing in NZ was not evidence based, clearly such an accusation is hyperbolic cant.
I must admit to being a bit mystified as to what point you are trying to make, that mistakes are made by medical professionals and that the population have adverse reactions at times to medicines…. that is undeniable.
The report you link to however is very flawed.
just as initial example in relation to ADRs a critique was made of the published paper that the report relied upon.
‘”…Simple pooling of fatal event frequencies from only those studies specifically reporting the number of fatal ADRs, as was done in the meta-analysis of Lazarou and colleagues, is likely to dramatically overestimate the death rate.
CONCLUSION:
Meta-analysis was invalid because of heterogeneity of the studies. Most of these studies did not report the data needed for incidence calculations. The methodology used was seriously flawed, and no conclusions regarding ADR incidence rates in the hospitalized population in the United States should be made on the basis of the original meta-analysis. “
It’s probably the scale of the issues which would be surprising to every day people. Yes, I agree with you that every study (including meta-analyses) has limitations and those limitations mean that you can’t make sweeping or blanket conclusions.
Well possibly everyday people would be surprised.
However most in the medical profession would not find it in the least surprising, for example, that a patient had died in hospital while receiving a cytotoxic cocktail for their cancer and that their death would be listed as drug related.
15 year old UK girls outsmart British intelligence, quit school and head to Syria to join ISIS
Oh dear. I’m sure the intelligence services will be asking for more powers, new legislation and additional millions in money to prevent future occurrences.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/22/uk-counter-terror-officials-criticised-syria-bound-london-schoolgirls
They always said “British Intelligence is an oxymoron”
On Goldman Sachs, Pension Funds And Why John “I’m A Dolphin” Key Calling Russell Norman A Muppet Is Important
Old news I know.
But always a good idea to be reminded of the room needed to be given by car drivers.
http://cca-actions.org/actions/wood-makes-people-big-cars
and a action as well – seems we need this in all our major cities
http://www.designboom.com/design/latvia-cyclists-car-skeletons-vehicle-size-10-10-2014/
This could end up like the varroa mite where it was put in the too hard basket eventually by the government. Anyone who watches Boarder Security knows that many people do not declare and destroy the food they bring in. In fact many of them try to hide the stuff. Letting people from Oz go through without searching is so dumb it beggars belief that the government would risk millions of dollars in exports in order to avoid an almost negligible inconvenience to passengers. Like the other policies of the national government that allows drilling of oil in the area of the highly endangered Maui dolphin. To many of the rest of us this is just a no brainer to protect NZ export interests, tourism and our environment and quality of life for both people and our forma and flora. Who pays when things go wrong. The tax payer. Like we did when the lack of regulation meant the tax payer spent millions on the Rena cleanup and it’s still not fixed properly.
Andrew Little please scream from the rooftops about what stupidity this is. Motivate NZers to fight back against these dumb policies. We want a government that cares about our country which it is clear this government does not. We need a great leader and clearly John Key may have charm but not the ethics to look after NZ, it’s people and it’s environment for future generations.
@ Lorraine
+1
Facts About Fruit Flies
– Mother fruit flies lay about 200-300 eggs at a time
– The most likely place for a mother fruit fly to lay her eggs is in a piece of rotting fruit
– As soon as the babies hatch, they start reproducing about 24 hours later
– From the time the mother fruit fly lays her eggs until you see the fruit flies buzzing around is about 7-13 days.
the expert on RNZ today said they only laid “about twelve eggs” – which seemed a ridicuously small number for a fly
relevant bit 1:08
They apparently have about 7,500 traps in Auckland checking for these blighters and it sounds a lot – did I hear right? HortNZ CE Peter Silcock said that the action taken on commercial consignments of fruit in Oz and the border controls here are probably sufficient to mean good coverage. It is more likely that they come in travellers bags and they would like 100% screening. PRIM (Primary Industries Ministry) have increased surveillance – for fruit flies – but not to the extent which is needed.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/266475/fruit-fly-crackdown-continues
Something that I notice is that yachties are never mentioned – there seems quite a floating population swanning around these days. They should be equally targeted for compliance with regs.
This is yet another example of the dangers of Investor-State Dispute Settlement Systems (ISDS) and another reason for rejecting the TPPA. This illustrates the lengths that these multicorporations will go to in order to evade their responsibilities and the moral and ethical vacuum in which they operate.
Imagine a similar scenario in NZ with respect to deep sea drilling!
It is better to read the whole article dated Feb 16, 2015 but here is an excerpt from the Chevron v Ecuador case.
“Unfortunately for Chevron, its expensive retaliation strategy against Mr. DeLeon and others has failed to end the litigation, has only increased the resolve of the affected villagers, and has not diminished the company’s risk from collection actions targeting its assets to ensure compliance with the judgment,” it added.
After an eight-year trial, an Ecuador court in 2011 found Chevron liable for deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the rainforest, decimating indigenous groups and causing an outbreak of cancer and other diseases. The case – litigated in Ecuador at Chevron’s request — was funded in large part by Mr. DeLeon, a successful businessman in the internet gaming space and a law school classmate of Donziger’s.
Two layers of courts in Ecuador unanimously affirmed the trial court judgment, including the country’s Supreme Court in a 5-0 ruling. Chevron still refused to pay the judgment and retaliated by suing numerous supporters of the villagers, including Mr. DeLeon but also lawyers, environmental groups, bloggers, and scientific consultants.
Mr. DeLeon fought Chevron’s pressure campaign for years, but finally threw in the towel this week after it became clear he would face years of additional expensive litigation in Gibraltar’s courts. Gibraltar is the headquarters of many of his various businesses.”
http://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/37689-Chevron-DeLeon-Settlement-In-Ecuador-Case-Will-Lead-to-More-Funds-for-Environmental-Clean-up-Villagers-Say
Just another short excerpt:
“Chevron also continues to face the likelihood of a devastating setback in the appeal of its controversial racketeering judgment in New York, now scheduled to be heard the week of March 30. The facts in that case prove the company corrupted its star witness with more than $2 million in payments to testify falsely in the trial, according to multiple reports.”
Despicable!!!!
Still looking out for the right wing scum on this latest Liu moment. Where are these scum ? But for the fact it’d take 11 years to arrive I’d send them a letter of invitation to contribute……..
I am curious to know if this issue has been exposed on the TV1 and TV3 news at 6? I don’t think so, but I did not watch the news in full over the weekend. Those who did watch could you please let us know. TIA.
Three did a story on it to night made key look like a liar not that it matters honesty is not important to right wing voters.
Harsh…but fair.
Always preferred the term “Tory scum”, myself.
Glad to hear that Green party is not contesting the by-election.
Dunno about NZ first. I hope not. ACT please contest.
The Australian experience gives a glimmer, just a glimmer of hope that the Key govt could be toppled.
Yeah ACT are fronting with Robin Grieve, a particularly nasty character who attended an election forum as a candidate and bemoaned ‘it was a lefty love feast.’ He got booed on stage and off, very entertaining value 🙂
Good on ACT to be fronting with Robin Grieve. I hope someone prominent from the Conservatives will stand also. May be Colin Craig himself?
Yep, from a Left point of view, it’s far more important that the Conservatives stand a candidate in Northland to split the Tory vote as much as poss.
ACT’s support is just a tiny drop in the ocean – It’ll make little if any diff. As inconsequential as the day is long.
Oh dear! You gave the game away!
2014 General election results – electorate candidate votes
Candidate Valid Votes Share (%)
SABIN, Mike (NAT) 18,269 52.74
PRIME, Willow-Jean (LAB) 8,969 25.89
CLENDON, David (GP) 3,639 10.51
RINTOUL, Ken (FNZ) 1,661 4.8
TAYLOR, Mel (CNSP) 1,555 4.49
NELSON, Craig (ACT) 200 0.58
WILSON, David Angus (NZDSC) 173 0.5
ROBERTSON, Murray (IND) 96 0.28
TIMMS, Glen (MFP) 75 0.22
Total Valid Votes 34,637 100
Total Votes Cast 36,112 104.26
Winning Candidate: SABIN, Mike – margin 9300
NATIONAL’S CALLOUS AND CRIMINAL NEGLIGENCE OF NATION’S BIO- SECURITY!
You won’t believe this!
The fruit fly outbreak is a damning indictment on the Government’s systematic destruction of border security with the inefficient and money pinching Minister in charge, Nathan Guy.
Now the $6 billion fruit and vegetable industry is at risk and the Government is squarely to blame.
This is very serious. Guy should be a goner for this.
See why:
http://www.3news.co.nz/opinion/brook-sabin/opinion-national-to-blame-for-fruit-fly-outbreak-2015022311#ixzz3SWHxCjnB
When I returned from a visit to Japan in 1998 I was pulled up at Customs because the Xray of my bag had shown a round object. I was happy to unpack it and show the round wooden doll I had been given in Tokyo, and Customs was happy that it was not an apple or an orange. I was happy that they had screened my bag along with every other bag on the flight. They have stopped doing that and only Xray “at risk” individuals. It is cheaper – they say. Tell that to the fruit and vege shops in Grey Lynn today and who knows to whom tomorrow?
Another impact of reckless tax cuts in 09, they went through penny pinching across the board to eek every potential ‘saving’ in an effort to smudge the wealth transfer.
Border security in an agricultural economy isn’t a luxury to be tweaked it’s a necessity that needs bolstering and vigilance.
Haters and wreckers.
“If U.S. land were divided like U.S. wealth…” a graphic divvied up by 1%, 9%, and the remaining 90%. Would love to see a NZ one (including foreign ownership, renter/owner, and unoccupied households).
Nice discussion to go with that as well Weka. Thanks for the link.
A government that can’t even take on the fruit fly has no business going after Daesh.
Sweet anti-neolliberal slam from Tourettes at Splore (h/t Russell Brown)
“he tells me there is a part time job waiting for everyone at the milk powder factory”
“he tells me global warming’s not so bad, we might never have Australia’s economy but we got bush fires now”
“and the media stands impotent, seagulls parroting his nonsense, and the headlines read, John Key’s Son’s a DJ”
Brilliant.
Chinese are flocking to holiday in Japan to get away from their horrible air pollution, where you not only can see the air you breathe, you can cut it with a knife and fork, or in their case hold it between their chopsticks. But the Japanese are quietly saying, because they need the Chinese money after many years of recession, that the Japanese are lacking cultural sensitivity. They are too loud, and if there is anything free they take it in sackfuls, their children stand on seats in their shoes, and they eat their own food in cafes.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinese-tourists-flock-to-japan-for-the-sushi-the-shopping-and-the-fresh-airdespite-tensions-10061720.html
Queenstown is stuffed to the gills with tourists. Perhaps they are Chinese tourists. If they don’t watch out down there they will spoil the attraction of their Queenstown attractions. Probably they will go mad and treat it like a gold bull to be milked. When you’ve got dosh you can make everything happen to suit yourself.
Richard Attenborough has a question for China about their lack of restraint – on using illegal ivory and threatening the world’s elephants. Perhaps they can collect their own teeth and use them as delicate features in art forms.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/david-attenborough-calls-on-chinese-president-to-end-ivory-trade-and-halt-extinction-of-the-african-elephant-10062229.html?icn=puff-7
Oh dear me. What a bad case of cultural myopia. I meant to say that the Japanese were saying quietly that the Chinese were a bit louder than they are used to, but my fingers went and put Japanese not Chinese, which doesn’t make sense when it is read. I don’t know what happened there.
Dunedin’s city hospital is suffering badly. Bad leaks had to be patched and still there is more to be done.
The College of Intensive Medicine of Australia and New Zealand has withdrawn the hospital’s intensive care unit’s training accreditation, with the main issue being the state of the unit. A $2 million refurbishment, which could well be the barest minimum, is planned but has not begun yet.
Now, comes a report from Beca consultancy group that up to
$50 million will be needed to keep the clinical services building at Dunedin Hospital going for another 10 years.
In addition, nearly $75 million will have to be spent on the ward block over the next 10 years.
http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/editorial/331153/dunedin-hospitals-catch-22
I diagnose a serious and debilitating affliction ‘political invisibility syndrome’. Those regional patients with this indisposition looking unhealthy may be subjected to triage.
If their condition is exacerbated by a raging state of ‘regional-extensioning-flew’ the prognosis is not good. This is a sad case where the patient glides further and further away from the source of its nourishment, and will stretch till its supply-lines are woefully thin and then inevitably breaks down.
Maybe we can get SkyCity to set up pokie machines at the hospital, and get them to pay for a new ward or two in the process. You know, because this country can’t fund anything decent any more without kowtowing to the corporates.
Oil spill
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11406521
Okay could have been a lot worse – get ready for more of these spills if the gnats have their dirty exploitation way. I agree with Jean quoted below
I hope this can be used to test our systems of readiness for the inevitable disaster just around the corner.
Did someone discuss the women on Radionz talking about how everything she has trained for soon has no jobs for her? She has had to look for months to find anything else. This was around the Precarieat discusion with Prof Standing.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player/20168197
10:06 Rhonda Samoa – The Precariousness of Work
Rhonda Samoa is a truck driver, a graduate of the New Zealand Film School, and the sister of Mark Samoa who was killed in a work accident on the Wellington waterfront in 2013. Rhonda knows a thing or two about the precariousness of work in the 21st Century, having been made redundant twice in the last six years, but she remains optimistic about the ability of workers to negotiate safe and fair work conditions as long as they stick together.
There were a few stories on Sunday around wage workers.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/sunday
lPrent:
small tech issue that’s been popping up the last few days
The edit function is denying permission to edit at around 4 mins remaining.
test edit 3/3 (seems intermittent whatever it is ) 😮
Then they came for the Australians with dual citizenship…
Be afraid New Zealand, be afraid.
The Herald attempts to whip NZ into the necessary frame of mind to accept war in Iraq.
This make it more than a rag.
It’s a danegerous rag.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11406528
the thought that immediately sprung to mind was that demolishing all shopping malls would be a serious blow for civilization.
It’s amazing which stories Fearfax Media regard as more important than the fact the government is deciding today whether to go to war in Iraq.
These were some of the stories the editor of Stuff thought more important!
Boys stomach pumped
Tourist ignored police lights
It’s a rainy Monday
Students trapped in overloaded lift
Our MSM will be complicit in many deaths.
For Messrs Murphy and Roughan at the Herlad and the others mmebers of the complicit media.
Read the last verse in particular of Wilfred Owen’s poem ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!– An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.–
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil’s sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,–
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.
One Mews just interviewed a NZ commentator on the Iraq Civil War deployment and how we have boxed ourselves in over there, with the caption “Person’s Name.”
Seems like our MSM are really on top of things.
Reminds me of an old not the 9 o’clock news sketch…and now the news brought to you by the conservative party.
Garner on radio live today: (a few hours ago so I’ll have to Morrissey it)
“Gee I dunno, I just can’t get that excited about this whole fruitfly thing, ya know? I mean it’s not like a TSUNAMI or an EARTHQUAKE, ha know? I mean I DRIVE HOME through the affected area and I’m like NOT SCARED AT ALL. Like, it’s just a FLY, ya know? Anyway there’s important news I have to tell you about. I went for a ride on a waterslide yesterday and guess what? It was SHIT!”
He then spends the next hour talking about how shit the waterslide was.
Sometimes war is justified.
They’re not from here. They breed like flies. They have no respect for our culture. They have no humanity. They are a major threat to NZ’s wealth and wellbeing. Everything they touch becomes a writhing, maggoty mass of corruption.
Fruit flies must be exterminated – Death to the gnats!