As cultures break down, alcohol consumption rises, so I've read recently. Saying goodbye to a culture and it's practices will be like farewelling a very, very close friend.
"A culture faces and interprets pain, deviance and death. It endows them with meaning; it illuminates how they are a part of the whole and thereby makes them tolerable … The widespread use of alcohol and other central nervous system anaesthetics is directly linked to a decline in culture. The wider their use, the harder it becomes to preserve, renew and invigorate the wisdom that a culture should hold. This doubles back and escalates. Alcoholism spreads when a culture is dying, just as rickets appears when there is no Vitamin D."
I know it's a quote, but that makes no sense. A declining culture promotes alcoholism, and the decline will reverse if people drink less alcohol? That's like saying it's getting cold and people dress warmer. If only they didn't, the weather would get warmer again. Cause and effect…
I think it's like saying it's getting cold and people drink more alcohol. They feel good for a while but are more likely to suffer death from exposure. Also, a clear mind, rather than one anaesthetisedone, is more likely to make a life-saving decision, imo.
It reminded me of ACT welfare policy. Persistent unemployment causes benefit dependency. So if we take away the benefit, there is no unemployment.
Won’t argue re decision making
Being clever, they had performed the u-turn from exclusive to inclusive, realised the best way to include typical Labour voters was to operate at their mental level of capability, so they used a method suitable for kindergarten children.
"You take a deck of Heartwork cards: these are thin, circular, like coasters in mid-range wine bars, only instead of inspirational quotes or vineyard logos they’re printed with sun feelings, moon feelings and needs. You think about a confrontation you’ve had, or a meeting you’re doing to have, and you pick three cards to represent your needs."
Heartwork is the business consultancy who supplied the method. It "is also a game… in which you learn to talk about your feelings and emotional needs, and this aims to solve the problems of the DEVUCA world by building empathy and psychological safety creating organisational win-win-wins through people-centered product, service and policy design via system leadership."
"Next you pick three cards to represent the needs of the other person. There are 50 to choose from. They might want (random shuffle): Stability, or Understanding, or Sense-of-team, or Clarity. Now that you’ve defined everyone’s needs – “all human behaviour is a strategy to meet our needs,” Rousseau explains – you simply envision a win-win-win scenario in which everyone’s needs are met."
"Treasury is working hard to return New Zealand to a pre-neoliberal, prelapsarian state. Next month the government will release its first “Wellbeing Budget”’ It uses the Treasury’s Living Standards Framework, a world leading concept which, Ross informs us, the department has been working on for 18 years. Instead of focusing purely on economic capital the public service, led by Treasury, will seek to grow the country’s human, social and environmental capital."
Nice curve ball there, Danyl. Prelapsarian is indeed a word. Google defines it thus: characteristic of the time before the Fall of Man; innocent and unspoilt. I'll leave readers to puzzle over whether the definition is sexist or not. Gender equality has gotten ever so complicated after trending non-binary, so I suggest keeping it simple. Would the Fall of Woman be a suitable political topic nowadays, or should we leave as is?
So you still haven't figured out the difference between practice & praxis?? Even though I gave you the explanation in a single sentence with no long words? Give some thought to the old adage `if at first you don't succeed, try harder'.
As regards how it works, rebels tend not to get into management so I can't help you from the perspective of operational experience. Best guess: tell them what to do. Always worked perfectly with Labour voters, eh? Anyone else asks why, of course.
"Gaelic's attentiveness to place is reflected in its topographical precision. It has a plentiful vocabulary to describe different forms of hill, peak or slope (beinn, stob,dún, cnoc, sròn), for example, and particular words to describe each of the stages of a river's course from its earliest rising down to its widest point as it enters the sea. Much of the landscape is understood in anthropomorphic terms, so the names of topographical features are often the same as those for parts of the body. It draws a visceral sense of connection between sinew, muscle and bone and the land. Gaelic poetry often attributes character and agency to landforms, so mountains might speak or be praised as if they were a chieftain; the Psalms (held in particular reverence in Gaelic culture) talk of landscape in a similar way, with phrases such as the 'hills run like a deer.' In both, the land is recognized as alive."
Question: “Following the Christchurch terrorist attack, do you think the Crusaders rugby team should change their name?”
Yes …………. 14%
No ………….. 76%
DK …………… 8%
Refused …… 1%
Above Average: No
▪Those living in Otago and Southland (90%)
▪National Party supporters (87%)
▪Those aged 18-29 (85%).
Above Average: Yes
▪Those with annual household income $150,000+ (25%).
▪Labour Party supporters (22%).
.
So … very strong Public support for the Government's Gun Law changes (About Right … 61%, … Not Far Enough … 19% (= 80%), … Goes Too Far … 14%) … but minimal endorsement of Crusaders name change. (Yes, by all means take the necessary practical steps … but Don’t fuck with the Rugby / Don’t fuck with the Culture, basically)
You'd be surprised how many there are in that category – a lot of couples with both working in the public sector bring in upwards of $150,000, and plenty of them are Labour or Green voters.
Whoaaaa there, Compardre, Don’t be quite so quick on the draw !
The category is: 150k Plus !!!
That 25% might come entirely from the 300K brigade, nested deep within that particular demographic.
The New Middle Class are precisely the people I'd expect to be most supportive of a name change. Affluent Moral Liberals / Craft Beer Hipsters / People with unusually refined sensibilities who insist on Minimalist Interior Design and the like.
Of which ours is one, well until this year when retirement will change that a bit. Earning as much as possible – mainly from my husband's hard work, he likes it fortunately and it keeps him fit – has become a must over recent years so that we can genuinely trickle it down to move people forward. Car repairs, dental visits, bonds for rentals were clear to us not easily obtainable to many young hard workers trying to get traction in the world or those who faced unforeseen "hiccups". Being on one end of "it is better to give than receive" too is not something I am unaware of aware of that an element of "sefishness" is normal in wanting to see good outcomes and to sleep peacefully at night.
If anyone needs to see National Party desperation and complete cynicism at work page five of our local paper below a heartfelt obituary for local man Tommy Gear and co-founder of NZ First at the outset is somewhat conveniently placed an electoral advert for the National Party. As a consequence our long term subscription has been cancelled and a full discussion had with the staff member who took the cacellation as to why.
Past experience has me 100% certain, I read the paper daily and these local adverts are now rare, that in no way was the placement "accidental".
It confirmed all the dislike I have for a political party clearly, to me, interested in votes to retain the parliamentary benches and nothing about working for NZ.
We're pacing it, money is not "god" but it does have it's uses, beyond that you can't take it with you thought some seem to adhere to that thought. Best are the times we have had along the way and long may that continue:)
Awww sad for those people – don't wanna keep their stupid made up name for their made up team – I can't say I'm going to be sorry seeing all these people eat the shit sandwich of change.
Perhaps the respondents had a better understanding of the wider meaning of the words 'crusader' or 'crusade'. Or maybe, just maybe, people can scoff at the stupidity of all the fuss over events that happened almost 1,000 years ago?
I don’t know how closely everyone is following the US elections for next year but I have been following the potential nominees are am really liking that Pete Buttigieg. Do you think the US is ready for an openly gay president?
Also I’m wondering if the Republicans think they’ll lose with Trump will they step-in to remove him (say if his tax returns so him to be a shameless crook)?
That's very democratic approach. Anyone can be President – and so anyone who has the funding to make a name for himself or her, is having a go. That's the spirit. Perhaps the term should be divided up into quarters like they do in business, and at that time they report their activity and their effectiveness and then get voted in or out, with a sort of list of waiting opportunists who want a turn and are ready to step up if called.
I reckon the states where being openly gay would reduce his vote are states that are currently solid Repug anyway. That opinion is based on working with manufacturing workforces in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania (admittedly the more liberal parts of those states) and even a couple of decades ago openly gay staff seemed totally accepted.
So I don't reckon that will directly affect his chances, but the electoral downside in solid red states may be more on tight House and Senate races. If there's a population that leans Dem but are unenthusiastic about the prez candidate, then it's so much harder to deal with the incredible hassle and time-suck involved in voting so it's a whole lot more tempting to just not bother.
As a candidate for prez, seems to me he needs to learn to spend more time considering the downsides to his policies. This HuffPo piece goes into some detail about issues with the housing policies he came up with and implemented as mayor.
The natural successor to the Trump presidency would be a Toon. Daffy Duck has the drive but seems aggressive. Jessica Rabbit might make a decent contender – not bad, but drawn that way.
Also I’m wondering if the Republicans think they’ll lose with Trump will they step-in to remove him (say if his tax returns so him to be a shameless crook)?
Let's look at the numbers. Impeachment in the House should probably work, the Dems have a comfortable majority. But to convict Darth Drumpf in the Senate requires 67 votes, and the Dems only have 47 senators, and up to maybe 4 of those might not have the spine to vote for conviction. So between 20 and 25 Repug senators would need to vote for conviction.
Right now, Mitt Romney probably would vote for conviction, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins are definite maybes. The rest of them would look at their political futures, ponder the examples of Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Mark Sanford and others, and weigh the risk of getting primaried by vengeful Drumpfkins versus the risk of losing to a Democrat in the election.
There's a maximum of 8 Repug Senators at risk of losing to a Dem in 2020 (Collins being one), and 7 in 2022 (Murkowski being one). So even if all 15 Repugs that could conceivably be at risk of losing to a Dem in their next election plus Mitt Romney plus all Dems vote for conviction, that's still only 63.
The only way I see Il Douche out of the Oval Office before the 2020 election is either a medical event, or enough info comes out about his criminal exposure to actually penetrate the Supreme Orange Ego's consciousness and he realises he genuinely needs a legitimate pardon, so he negotiates his exit and pardon with Pence.
Its a funny thing..in this household we don't have a TV, so rely on RNZ to keep us in the loop on NZ news…so I was somewhat relieved to hear this the other morning..
"The New Zealand Disability Support Network says it is thankful to ministers who stepped in to prevent sector-wide funding cuts."..though as we all know, avoiding cuts never actually means that much as costs and demand inevitably rises.
But then I looked into it further..and sure enough..
'Every hour is questioned' – Advocates say Health Ministry quietly reducing funding for disabled after ruling out big cuts….
"Every hour of support is being questioned," said Community Care Trust (CCT) chief executive Mike Brummitt, whose Dunedin-based organisation looked after 280 people. "If someone gets 12 hours, they are saying do you need 10, or eight hours?"
Brummitt said he was recently informed by email that an intellectually disabled man in his 20s would have his funding cut in half – from $415 a day to $210.
"We know nobody has seen him since early 2017. No one spoke to our staff, his parents, advocate, no assessment. I've written back and said this is totally unsustainable."
CCT would continue to provide the same support to him, but at a financial loss.
The man's needs were complex and he required around-the-clock care, Brummitt said. When the organisation first took him on, he would not sleep in a bed, and curled up on the floor in the fetal position.
Anyone who can read that, and feel we are on the right path, has no heart.
"incrementalism" and Budget Responsibility Rules are going to be the death of some of us. Its a shame the disabled don't offer nice photo ops. in the minds of Labour Party spin doctors and publicists.
And if you can judge a society and people by how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable citizens..how well are we doing?
I was going to suggest copious amounts of alcohol (see @ 2) because our culture is breaking down but then realised that this has been ‘our culture’ for yonks …
She wants it fixed, not ignored. If you send something like this to the Minister it will go straight into the round filing cabinet on the floor by the Minister's desk.
Now in 1999 the industry recognised there was a slight problem in that there was a small but significant number of people needing home based disability supports who needed a higher level of care than would normally be provided by unregulated carers. More registered/enrolled nurse level. My partner and I knew that the Miserly had not yet sorted this issue but had not seen anything in writing that actually defined the problem. Until I found that 1999 document…and until I got a dump of emails from the Misery in response to my OIA request. This was 2017.
I still haven't stopped laughing/crying/beating my fists against the wall.
I wish I could share with you those emails…the file is huge unfortunately…but these are the people on the big salaries getting backslaps from the Commonwealth Fund for their efficiency.
What the problem boils down to is that these Advanced Personal Cares attract 'risk' if performed by unqualified carers. And the funder (the Miserly) would be liable if for adverse events. So providers most often than not refuse to provide this level of care at the rate at which the MOH funds HCSS. And when challenged, the Ministry bureaucrats just say "we don't fund x,y or z." , even if the client would die without these tasks being performed. Hence family care, or incarceration in a residential facility where theoretically there is RN oversight…
ACC, on the other hand, get round this problem (I think) by funding 1/2 hour per week per client of RN oversight. The RN does not have to be there…just be available. And to my knowledge, this works.
But it is a simple solution that is way beyond the ability of those super efficient MOH bureaucrats to accept or implement for those eligible clients that need that level of care.
But this is super-efficient… as many of those needing this level of care have no option but to turn to family…who are paid nothing (as in my case) or a pittance compared to the NZDSN employed carers.
This is my world Siobahn, and those people have no heart.
Someone described them as sociopaths…I tend to agree.
And it is unlikely to change under this government.
Rosemary – I completely agree with you about the plight of disabled people in this country, and the lack of care that they receive, and the huge load that that places upon family and friends. The NGO's I know are struggling to make ends meet and the continual lack of funding that has been given to the sector over the years just makes things worse.
I think you get the wrong end of the stick when you think that I am not supportive of you, and when I say that despite all the problems you and others face, it may not be the bureaucrats who are completely at fault here. Now I too ,agree that many in the upper echelons of the MoH are in ordinary terms overpaid. But that doesn't mean that they are not doing their job properly within the funding constraints that they are given. They are the managers of the system – the governance of the system falls on the government of the day – and unfortunately over the past couple of decades NZers have elected governments that have failed to place a high priority on funding Health and Disability services in particular.
Looking at this from a macro level there are essentially 3 ways for a country to administer its Health services
A fully funded Public Health service (eg UK)
A mix of Public and Private Insurance (eg Australia)
A completely Private system of Health supported by Insurance (eg the USA)
The first Labour Govt introduced a health system in the 1935 along the lines of the first model. Over the years that model has been watered down as more affluent individuals have taken out Private Health Insurance. The effect of that has been to reduce pressure on the Government to fully fund Health in this country and over the years the effect has been that Governments fund as minimally as they can, and rely on the Private sector and individuals to pick up the slack. Australia has now a similar system but the difference is that they ensure that all (or most) can afford to back up their Health Insurance so that there is more equity within the system. There is also greater funding available across the Health service.
We certainly do not want devolve into the Health system of the US which has one of the highest costs and poorest outcomes of any health system in the developed world. Even on Faux News the other day – when Bernie proposed a Medicare for all ( a complete anathema to the Trump administration) he was met with resounding applause.
“…it may not be the bureaucrats who are completely at fault here. Now I too ,agree that many in the upper echelons of the MoH are in ordinary terms overpaid. But that doesn’t mean that they are not doing their job properly within the funding constraints that they are given. They are the managers of the system – the governance of the system falls on the government of the day – and unfortunately over the past couple of decades NZers have elected governments that have failed to place a high priority on funding Health and Disability services in particular.”
Hmmm…funny how governments have changed but the culture within the Ministry has largely remained the same?
I too used to blame ‘the Government’, until reading about the estimated cost of paying family carers should we “all come out of the woodwork” and demand to be paid like any other carer providing assessed supports. In 2008…under Labour…the estimated cost (as told to the HRRT) of paying family carers was between $17-593 million dollars.
Now let that sink in a minute…this is the very best the Ministry of Health could do by way of a guesstimate? This was 2006-2008…not exactly the dark ages and even then the NASCs were collecting data on all clients.
Even when all was lost through the Judicial system, (under National now, in 2012) and with the omnipotent Socrates database well established, the Minister was still making dire predictions of fiscal apocalypse should there be unrestrained payment of family members providing assessed care of those with high and very high support needs.
I almost, (but not quite) felt sorry for Ryall as he demonstrated to the media cameras his appalling lack of knowledge of New Zealand’s disability system. ‘Eek, shriek!”, he implied,’..and if you factor in ACC, you’ll see how the costs just go up and up!’..Stupid bugger didn’t even know that ACC had been paying family carers for over a decade…in fact 50% of the paid carers of ACC clients were family. So who was feeding this pile of twaddle to the Government Minister?
Yet it was next door to impossible to even get anything close to an actual number of MOH:DSS clients, over the age of 18 with assessed high and very high support needs who were not receiving any funding for their care because family were providing most or all of their care. It wasn’t that the information wasn’t there…it was that the Ministry wasn’t offering it willingly and the Government seemed unable to ask the right questions of the Ministry.
There was talk of there being 30,000….(the latest count of the total number of DSS clients is 33,000.https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/report-clients-allocated-dss-funding-jul17.pdf) Frustrated, I asked a few specific questions of MOH DSS in late 2012 to try to get a more accurate picture of the situation, and it transpired that the number of very high needs over 18 year old DSS clients with little or no hourly based funding for their care was 1286.
And if you’ve followed this particular case…through the many court hearings and discussions etc you will know that the National Government opted to fund 1600 parent carers.
And if you also followed up you’ll know that the number of DSS clients who chose the option of Funded Family Care was less than 400. One quarter of the number budgeted for…so what happened to the rest of the $$$?
Some of us have kept track over the years, through different governments and different Ministers. There have been two constants…one, the Ministers have been largely ignorant ineffectuals and two, the same old names keep being mentioned in MOH dispatches.
Only a complete purge of MOH bureaucrats will bring about the necessary culture change. The Ministry needs to be staffed by actual Public Servants.
And I do think you do the NZ voter a disservice by implying that we keep voting in Governments that fail to “… to place a high priority on funding Health and Disability services in particular.”
How about we have a referendum..”Would you be willing to pay an extra 1.5-2.5% tax which would be dedicated solely to rehabilitating our health and disability system, in addition to the current Vote Health budget?”
"In talks, I would tell the story of the Natufians. Late in the last Ice Age, in the territory marked on our maps as Israel and Palestine, they lived in year-round villages. They were among the first people anywhere to settle and they lived like this for 1,500 years, fifty generations, long enough for any memory of their ancestors’ wanderings to pass into the dreamtime of gods and culture heroes. Then came the Younger Dryas, the 1,200-year cold snap that turned Europe back to tundra and broke the pattern of the seasons which watered the wooded valleys in which they had made their homes. They knew nothing of the processes by which this climate change had come upon them; it was not a consequence of their actions, only a shift in the weather. Within a short time, they abandoned their settled way of life and became wandering gatherers and hunters, returning to the old villages only to rebury the bones of their dead in the ruins of the houses.
Then I would recall a passage in After the Ice, Stephen Mithen’s history of the prehistoric world, where I first learned about the Natufians. He sends a time-traveller to walk unobserved through the lives of the people he is writing about: coming upon a band of late Natufian nomads, he follows them to a gathering in one of the ruined villages. The interment of bones is accompanied by storytelling, feasting and celebration; the connection between past and present is reaffirmed. In Mithen’s reconstruction, these days of festival offer a respite from the hardships of the present. Yet afterwards, as the people go back out onto the land, they do so gladly: ‘They are all grateful for the return to their transient lifestyle within the arid landscapes of the Mediterranean hills, the Jordan valley and beyond. It is, after all, the only lifestyle they have known and it is the one that they love.’"
I got that Mithen book last year, haven't started it yet. "If everyone does X, then all this scary stuff will go away" is typical leftist thought. Proceeds from a false assumption. Since when have humans ever acted in unison?? Anyway, moving on, we could liken the climate-change impact on expectations to oceanic navigation of old.
I'm no sailor, but I know plain sailing only lasts awhile. Adaption to changing weather is essential. Using ocean currents is intelligent. People don't usually do it unless they have a plan, or at least an imagined destination of sorts, so when there's a small tribe in the waka collective intent drives the enterprise.
This is turning into a typical `how to get there' post so I'll just finish by pointing out how suitable the analogy seems to be. Despair isn't part of the scenario!!
Yet more leftist hypocrisy? Only if the prof is a leftist. Mentally-ill folk are now part of the community. We're meant to view them as normal citizens, ever since politically-correct decision-making deemed this stance proper in the nineties. As such, they have citizens' rights, including the right to be a political leader. It's how democracy works.
The prof may get brain police knocking on his door sometime soon, taking him away to a re-education camp, where some kind person will explain the facts of life to him, and he will be required to write this line a thousand times: I must not discriminate against the mentally ill, not even Trump.
"Mentally-ill folk are now part of the community."
They always were dennis you just ignored and pretended they weren't there. You do seem to have some major prejudice against those you deem to have mental health issues and your writing on this subject is woeful. Even here in defending you make snide asides about those trying to protect the many many people with mental health issues. You should be ashamed imo.
Crap, Marty. Everyone knows they were institutionalised until the closing of the mental hospitals. And don't insinuate prejudice where none exists. That's unethical. You know perfectly well that I did not criticise any victim. Any reader can see for themselves that I was criticising the prof!
"We're meant to view them as normal citizens, ever since politically-correct decision-making deemed this stance proper in the nineties."
These type of statements from you indicate a strange attitude imo. You love 'othering' those with mental health issues using language like 'them' and 'they' and you don't even get it – possibly an age thing but whatever – not a good attitude imo
Not strange unless you have no empathy with victims. When that guy was killed with an axe by his flatmate (a mental-health patient released into the community) while in bed (asleep, I presume), a story that made headlines back then, it made the policy seem insane to me. Not to you??
In regard to hitting the red button, you have a point. I vaguely recall there's a fail-safe design around that though (chain-of-command operational consensus).
In all other respects, you're wrong. If it were obvious, there would already be high-level discussions on a bipartisan basis, reported in the media. So you're just doing the same jerk-off as the prof. Evidence to the contrary required!
I vaguely recall there's a fail-safe design around that though (chain-of-command operational consensus).
No. There isn't. There really isn't.
When Nixon was showing obvious signs of stress leading those around him to fear a breakdown, Schlesinger committed an act of gross insubordination and instructed those further down the chain of command to check with him or Kissinger before acting on any orders from Nixon. Thank fuck it was never tested what would actually happen if Nixon tried to launch nukes.
There's a good chance Mattis did the same, and I'd guess it would be fairly likely those down the chain of command would actually check with Mattis before launching.
But Mattis is gone, and the acting Secretary of Defense is ex-Boeing swampthing Shanahan. Who almost certainly wouldn't dare do anything that might be construed as standing up to Grand Generalissimo Bonespurs. Nor would he have any standing or respect from those further down the chain, so it would be very unlikely Shanahan would be able to stop a madman launch order even if he wanted to.
Everyone knows “they” were institutionalised’
No. “they” were not.
The vast majority of people with mental health issues led normal functional contributing lives.
DF. You are full of prejudice and misinformation. Otherwise known as full of shit.
Just to change the topic for a break. some kind person will explain the facts of life to him, and he will be required to write this line a thousand times:
That made me think of Bart Simpson and his frequent interaction with lines written on the blackboard. (Did you know he leapt up in ballet showing amazing talent. You might wait for the same to happen with Trump, but truth is stranger than fiction.)
Heh. I'm going to be off-line awhile. My laptop has developed sleep problems halfway thro its 6th year, so I got a cheap notebook as insurance policy & now have to get all my useful stuff duplicated onto it in case the laptop decides to die as well. Fortunately my local computer dudes always seem able to solve my problems quickly at reasonable cost…
The UK government’s active support for fossil fuels and airport expansion is “beyond absurd”, Greta Thunberg has told MPs.
The 16-year-old Swedish student, who sparked a global youth-based movement when she began a “climate strike” outside Sweden’s parliament last year, gave a typically blunt speech. She told MPs: “This ongoing irresponsible behaviour will no doubt be remembered in history as one of the greatest failures of humankind.”
The dreaming continues from the rear guard protecting their world from the inevitable change occuring. They will be remembered all right as will we. What will they say about what you/we did to change?
Why don't you tell us the rest of the story? After talking to the MPs she went straight back to the Airport and caught her next flight to a place where she could spread the word that flying must stop.
You know. Just like James Shaw it is a case of don't do what they do. Do what they tell you to do because they know better.
"After talking to the MPs she went straight back to the Airport and caught her next flight to a place where she could spread the word that flying must stop."
Did she? Can you link to this information, because AFAIK she attends meetings by land-based travel.
And also, your criticism – well used by practised diverters, fails to recognise that current society and systems support and encourage individual choices both financially and in convenience, that are detrimental to the environment and community wellbeing.
The premise that the system needs to change stands – separate from individual instances.
After talking to the MPs she went straight back to the Airport and caught her next flight to a place where she could spread the word that flying must stop.
If you actually bother to go and read the article, it includes a graphic: "Greta's train journey through Europe." Electric trains, at that.
She may have arrived in London by train as that diagram shows. However you don't think she was going to remain there did you?
I was assured, by someone who heard her, that she was heading back to Sweden by plane. As I said "After talking to MPs." I'll admit that the statement "went straight back to the airport" rather condenses the time scale.
Do you have any actual evidence or link? Or are you just repeating a hearsay smear?
If there were any factual basis to that claim, it would be astonishing for right-wing media to be silent, they would be much more likely to scream it from the front page as hypocrisy to try to discredit her. But so far … zip.
Māori television showed a documentary on the work of photographer Sebastião Salgado a couple of nights ago. I missed seeing it at the International Film Festival, and was hooked when I found it while channel surfing.
It documents his decades of travelling and immersion into some of the most undeveloped and/or deprived communities. As well as capturing some of the most atrocious human behaviours and crimes. A harrowing but very informative watch, which also records his understandably bleak conclusion of the irredeemable nature of the human race.
The final project is his personal redemption – a trite description – moving into nature photography and planting millions of trees on an inherited drought ridden family farm.
A very minor observation – disappointed to hear Lisa Owen (RNZ Checkpoint, ~5:24 pm, 23 April 2019) refer to the Government's 'Provincial Growth Fund' as "Shane Jones' regional money bag" (@00:25).
It would help if Jones stopped giving people excellent reasons for assuming the provincial growth fund is being used as an influence-peddling fund for NZ First in general and Jones in particular.
Dunno if this is really a reality thing. Seems more like perceptions to me. I agree that his style of operating encourages the perception. But he's just doing his job.
If his allocations were unreasonable, evidence of that would be accumulating. I've seen no such compilation in the media, so I'm inclined to think DMK has a valid point. She ought not to be seen as recycling National's spin.
Northland, Tree planting, Logging Companies, The Semenoff Family long long history', Family connections, filipino workers, Sand, DOC, Talleys, political donations…How Things are Done 'up North'….nothing to see here of course
His habit of intervening on behalf of his donors and his spurning conflict-of-interest mitigation measures all by themselves should rule him out of being put in charge of distributing a billion dollars, let alone when an electorate he plans to contest is likely to be a major beneficiary of the funding decisions. In other words, it's a real thing – his demonstrated lack of integrity, not media bias, is prompting the cynicism.
Not only but also – today's Herald "Barry Soper: Killing capital gains tax the painful part of politics for Jacinda Ardern" no it wasn't, well I bet it wasn't, but fools like Soper can't see or will admit it.
You a bit out of sorts today? Simon getting to be a bit much for you perhaps. He seems to have Psycho problems like yourself.
Even so, advising the Regions that you hate them receiving Funds for Major works and Projects – could mean that you dislike Aoteraroa from top to bottom. You will be no Loss.
I am pleased to see that there is consistency in the complaints about racist behaviour. Here we have someone, rightfully, being shamed because he claimed that he wouldn't allow his children to go out with a Maori.
I wonder if the protesters were the same ones who complained about Hone Harawira expressing the view that he wouldn't allow his children to go out with a Pakeha? I hope they were the same people involved in both protests about the bigoted actions.
Immigration New Zealand has created a special visa category for those directly impacted by the shootings at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood mosque, as well as their families…
The government says the Christchurch Response 2019 category has been created to realise the impact of the tragedy and to give people currently on temporary and resident visas some certainty.
Applications can be made from tomorrow by anyone who was present at either mosque during the attacks and their immediate families.
The special circumstances mean the definition of "immediate family" also includes dependent children, someone's partner's parents and grandparents of children under 25.
Immigration NZ, on their website, state they will confirm those present at the mosque attacks by checking police records.
The UN has backed a resolution on combatting rape in conflict but excluded references in the text to sexual and reproductive health, after vehement opposition from the US.
The resolution passed by the security council on Tuesday after a three-hour debate and a weekend of fierce negotiations on the language among member states that threatened to derail the process.
The vote was carried 13 votes in favour. China and Russia abstained. On Monday, the US had threatened to veto the resolution but it is understood that last minute concessions on Tuesday morning got the US on side
We have to CHANGE the way we do everything this is a good idea that the local and central government should be championing a place were you can rent tool & equipment for little cost. All so I had to DUMP a good washing machine and fridge because they couldn’t fit in my pocket as that’s the only storage that was available. I would have had a garage sale as we call it here and sold some items a give some away but the sandflys have scared all the people away . I say local council needs to have a place well advised to drop off good still going fine like whiteware kitchen ware anything that can be used by other.
We need to get away from the USE and toss it culture we need to make things last 20 years or longer paper packaging to.
Aristotle House in Oxford is not as grand as it sounds. A commercial block built by the canal in the 1960s, it is no longer fit for paying tenants, so its owner, Wadham College, allows a group of social enterprises to stay there, like official squatters. And there’s evidence of their enterprise everywhere outside, from the drop-box for returning poetry books, to the compost heaps built from old pallets, and the young Victoria plum tree blossoming in a pot by the door. Inside, for those who know about it, is the Oxfordlibrary of things. It sounds like the setting for a Philip Pullman novel, and represents a vision of humanity that’s nearly as fantastical – an idea so simple and so brilliant that, the first time you hear it, you wonder why it hasn’t conquered the world already. Then you wonder if it’s just about to change. Imagine you have a grimy old picnic table that needs sanding after a winter in the garden. Or you want to host a Eurovision party, but your TV is too small for everyone to see. Commercially renting a belt sander for the weekend costs about £40, and a projector much more, so unless you’re on good terms with a well-equipped neighbour, you either spend money on a device you will hardly use, or you give up. But what if someone volunteered to be that neighbour, as people now have in Frome, Crystal Palace, Stirling, Edinburgh, Totnes, Oxford and in growing numbers around the world? If they could just gather a collection of extremely, but only occasionally, useful items, and find a place to keep them, there would be no need for everyone else to buy their own. Even paying a small fee to cover costs, we would save money, and space in our homes, and the benefits to the environment in waste prevented would be enormous. Indeed, as you browse for Oxford’s belt sander (£8 a week) and projector (£10 a night), you might decide, while you’re at it, to borrow a pressure washer for the patio (£10 a day), and add a disco ball (£5 a week) and chocolate fountain (ditto) for the party. You’ll live a cheaper, cleaner, more enjoyable and more sustainable life Ka kite ano link below. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/24/library-of-things-borrowing-scheme-conquer-world
Here you go Whanau we have people who treat water like a gravy train instead of the respecting WAI water as a life giving and taking source and force it is they need to protect Wai water for our next generation our Mokopuna grandchildren rights to a happy healthy life need to be respected.
The Queensland minister for water, Anthony Lynham, also strongly denied his government had backed EAA’s sale of overland flows, as Joyce claimed.
“What we had supported in 2015 was completely different,” he said. Queensland proposed the Commonwealth buy both of EAA’s farms and all its water, including river water rights, he said.
A desktop review had put the price at $123m, and would have yielded 57,000ML of water including more secure water rights, he said.
Instead Joyce proceeded to buy half the volume of a less reliable type of water entitlement for $80m
Queensland minister for water, Anthony Lynham, also strongly denied his government had backed EAA’s sale of overland flows, as Joyce claimed.
“What we had supported in 2015 was completely different,” he said. Queensland proposed the Commonwealth buy both of EAA’s farms and all its water, including river water rights, he said.
A desktop review had put the price at $123m, and would have yielded 57,000ML of water including more secure water rights, he said.
Instead Joyce proceeded to buy half the volume of a less reliable type of water entitlement for $80m
Meanwhile the Guardian has learned that the energy minister, Angus Taylor, was listed in the annual report of the Australian company as a director of the Caymans parent, Eastern Australia Irrigation, at least until some time in the 2012-13 financial year. He was also a director of a second Caymans company, Agricultural Managers Ltd, which served as the management company for the fund.
Agricultural Managers Ltd, which is separate from Eastern Australian Agriculture and Eastern Australian Irrigation, provided management services to the complex investment structure that included several overseas investorsUsually management companies in these sort of securitised structures undertake the financing, advise on tax, prepare documentation and send investors payments. For that they are paid a management fee and in some cases a fee based on the performance of the fund. This can occur during the life of the fund or when it was wound up.
Eco Maori can see this huge problem unfolding before my EYES The wealthy made most of their money from burning CARBON. The effects of climate change is going to CAUSE huge problems for the common poor people that is WHY the WEALTHY nations need to step up and help the poor Nation it is the correct way to help lesson the damage caused by the climate change on the POOR.
The wealthy have to realise that we are all HUMANS geneticly identical. If they don't help a super bug could develop in the places we're the poor people are living in unhumane places that could effect people that are close to them.
The Great old saying is its better cheaper not to make a MESS that it is to make a big MESS and try to CLEAN IT UP not rocket science just LOGIC Hence helping thy NABOUR the super wealth just have to do more to help mitigate Climate change 9
While the rich world braces for future climate change, the poor world is already being devastated by it
(CNN) — "Upside down" are the only words Manush Albert Alben has to describe life after the powerful Cyclone Idai.
Nearly two weeks since the powerful cyclone destroyed most of the city of Beira, Mozambique, it is a long way from normal. "There's no money, no groceries," Alben, a fisherman, said while sitting in his wooden pirogue on a local beach. "We are suffering but trying to hold on
Known for its busy port and views of the Indian Ocean, the 19th-century city used to be the fourth largest in the country. Now Beira will go down in history as being "90% wiped out" by global warming, said Graça Machel, a former Mozambican freedom fighter, politician and deputy chair of The Elders, who spoke to CNN on the phone after visiting the city
Here is a story of poor country's being badly effected by HUMAN CAUSED CLIMATE CHANGE. We have to help them all.
South Africa floods claim 60 lives after Durban rains
'We couldn't save the children'
One man, who lost eight of his family members when a mudslide swallowed their home, has spoken to Nomsa Maseko about the moments leading up to the tragedy
Thamsanqa Dlamini said that he heard a loud bang first before water came "gushing" into their house through the walls.
"I heard my children screaming from the bedroom," he recalled.
"I tried to rush to help them but the strong water current forcefully pushed me into another room and I was under the collapsed wall.
Ka kite ano P.S don't let all the other stories drown out our fight against climate change deniers
Its cool the Prince is visiting Aotearoa. Those Kiwis cycling around Turkey look a bit worn out ANZAC day has been cool .
The helicopter rescue crew that were on the one that crashed in the Auckland islands were extremely lucky if they were a few km out in Tangaroa they would have been much worse off I no the waters cold there its was snowing at sea when I was last there . The Karapeoro shooting is a sham Iv been in that pie shop a few times over the years .
Britain getting some of Huawei 5G equipment no I don't think NZ have ban Huawei totally from building our 5G network ???????.
Bad luck on the moon landing in 3s there are a lot of Phenomenon that scientists can not explain or give the fact on .
Yes tamariki need to have boundaries on screen time on cellphone tablet use the same as everything. Ka kite ano
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
The ‘50 Shades of Green’ farmers’ protest in 2019 was heavy on climate change denial, but five years on, scepticism and criticism about the idea that pine forests can save us is growing across the board. File photo: Lynn GrievesonTL;DR: Here’s the top six news items of note in climate ...
This morning the sky was bright.The birds, in their usual joyous bliss. Nature doesn’t seem to feel the heat of what might angst humans.Their calls are clear and beautiful.Just some random thoughts:MāoriPaul Goldsmith has announced his government will roll back the judiciary’s rulings on Māori Customary Marine Title, which recognises ...
In 2003, the Court of Appeal delivered its decision in Ngati Apa v Attorney-General, ruling that Māori customary title over the foreshore and seabed had not been universally extinguished, and that the Māori Land Court could determine claims and confirm title if the facts supported it. This kicked off the ...
Earlier this week at Parliament, Labour leader Chris Hipkins was applauded for saying that the response to the final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care had to be “bigger than politics.” True, but the fine words, apologies and “we hear you” messages will soon ring ...
TL;DR: In news breaking this morning:The Ministry of Education is cutting $2 billion from its school building programme so the National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government has enough money to deliver tax cuts; The Government has quietly lowered its child poverty reduction targets to make them easier to achieve;Te Whatu Ora-Health NZ’s ...
Kia ora. These are some stories that caught our eye this week – as always, feel free to share yours in the comments. Our header image this week (via Eke Panuku) shows the planned upgrade for the Karanga Plaza Tidal Swimming Steps. The week in Greater Auckland On ...
1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
Trust in me in all you doHave the faith I have in youLove will see us through, if only you trust in meWhy don't you, you trust me?In a week that saw the release of the 3,000 page Abuse in Care report Christopher Luxon was being asked about Boot Camps. ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
Luxon speaks in Parliament yesterday about the Abuse in Care report. Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:PM Christopher Luxon said yesterday in tabling the Abuse in Carereport in Parliament he wanted to ‘do the ...
About a decade ago I worked with a bloke called Steve. He was the grizzled veteran coder, a few years older than me, who knew where the bodies were buried - code wise. Despite his best efforts to be approachable and friendly he could be kind of gruff, through to ...
Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
Hi,I felt a small wet tongue snaking through one of the holes in my Crocs. It explored my big toe, darting down one side, then the other. “He’s looking for some toe cheese,” said the woman next to me, words that still haunt me to this day.Growing up in New ...
Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
TL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:Transport and Energy Minister Simeon Brown is accelerating plans to spend at least $10 billion through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) to extend State Highway One as a four-lane ‘Expressway’ from Warkworth to Whangarei ...
I live my life (woo-ooh-ooh)With no control in my destinyYea-yeah, yea-yeah (woo-ooh-ooh)I can bleed when I want to bleedSo come on, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)You can bleed when you want to bleedYea-yeah, come on (woo-ooh-ooh)Everybody bleed when they want to bleedCome on and bleedGovernments face tough challenges. Selling unpopular decisions to ...
Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:40 am on Wednesday, July 24 are:Deep Dive: Chipping away at the housing crisis, including my comments RNZ/Newsroom’s The DetailNews: Government softens on asset sales, ...
As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
Today, a 4 kilogram report will be delivered to Parliament. We know this is what the report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care weighs, because our Prime Minister told us so.Some reporter had blindsided him by asking a question about something done by ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 24, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Beehive:Transport Minister Simeon Brownannounced plans to use PPPs to fund, build and run a four-lane expressway between Auckland ...
NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
Back in January a StatsNZ employee gave a speech at Rātana on behalf of tangata whenua in which he insulted and criticised the government. The speech clearly violated the principle of a neutral public service, and StatsNZ started an investigation. Part of that was getting an external consultant to examine ...
Renting for life: Shared ownership initiatives are unlikely to slow the slide in home ownership by much. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy today are:A Deloittereport for Westpac has projected Aotearoa’s home-ownership rate will ...
You're broken down and tiredOf living life on a merry go roundAnd you can't find the fighterBut I see it in you so we gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsWe gonna walk it outAnd move mountainsAnd I'll rise upI'll rise like the dayI'll rise upI'll rise unafraidI'll rise upAnd I'll ...
There’s been a change in Myers Park. Down the steps from St. Kevin’s Arcade, past the grassy slopes, the children’s playground, the benches and that goat statue, there has been a transformation. The underpass for Mayoral Drive has gone from a barren, grey, concrete tunnel, to a place that thrums ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections Global society may have finally slammed on the brakes for climate-warming pollution released by human fossil fuel combustion. According to the Carbon Monitor Project, the total global climate pollution released between February and May 2024 declined slightly from the amount released during the same ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Tuesday, July 23 are:Deep Dive: Penlink: where tolling rhetoric meets reality BusinessDesk-$$$’sOliver LewisScoop:Te Pūkenga plans for regional polytechs leak out ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Tuesday, July 23, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Health: Shane Reti announcedthe Board of Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand was being replaced with Commissioner Lester Levy ...
Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
Long ReadKey Summary: Although National increased the health budget by $1.4 billion in May, they used an old funding model to project health system costs, and never bothered to update their pre-election numbers. They were told during the Health Select Committees earlier in the year their budget amount was deficient, ...
As a momentous, historic weekend in US politics unfolded, analysts and commentators grasped for precedents and comparisons to help explain the significance and power of the choice Joe Biden had made. The 46th president had swept the Democratic party’s primaries but just over 100 days from the election had chosen ...
TL;DR: I’m casting around for new ideas and ways of thinking about Aotearoa’s political economy to find a few solutions to our cascading and self-reinforcing housing, poverty and climate crises.Associate Professor runs an online masters degree in the economics of sustainability at Torrens University in Australia and is organising ...
The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
Some years ago, I bought a book at Dunedin’s Regent Booksale for $1.50. As one does. Vandrad the Viking (1898), by J. Storer Clouston, is an obscure book these days – I cannot find a proper online review – but soon it was sitting on my shelf, gathering dust alongside ...
History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent talking about the National-ACT-NZ First Government’s release of its first Emissions Reduction Plan;University of Otago Foreign Relations Professor and special guest Dr Karin von ...
Open access notablesImproving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Calvert, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society:To better account for spatial non-uniform trends in warming, a new GITD [global instrumental temperature dataset] was created that used maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to combine the land surface ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Peter Layton, Visiting Fellow, Strategic Studies, Griffith University Drones are the signature technology of the Ukraine war. A few miniature aircraft designs were used in the war’s early days, but an incredible array of drones have now evolved. There are different types, ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lee White, Senior Lecturer and Horizon Fellow, School of Social and Political Sciences, University of Sydney Australia was slow to introduce minimum building standards for energy efficiency. The Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) only came into force in 2003. Older homes ...
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A night of karaoke and community in a pub that feels like a memory. You’d barely even notice it, unless you knew to look. Tucked away behind a liquor store on busy Constable Street is the capital’s last great pub. Newtown Sports Bar is an emblem of the pub culture ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Vaughan Cruickshank, Senior Lecturer in Health and Physical Education, University of Tasmania Paris is about to host its third summer Olympics. While we don’t yet know what the legacy of this year’s games will be, let’s take the opportunity to reflect on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Hugh Breakey, Deputy Director, Institute for Ethics, Governance & Law, Griffith University In the wake of the assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, there were calls from bothsides of US politics, as well as internationally, to reduce the brutal, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Keith Rathbone, Senior Lecturer, Modern European History and Sports History, Macquarie University Two high-profile assaults on Australians in Paris have raised concerns about security ahead of the Olympic Games. On Saturday evening, a young woman was allegedly sexually assaulted by a ...
Dying is inevitable and, so it seems, is it costing a lot, writes Stewart Sowman-Lund in today’s extract from The Bulletin. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.The cost of dying ...
The government took Joyce Harris's first baby and sent her off to a girls' home. Half a century on - and out of oceans of hurt - it asked her to be a mother figure. ...
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Opinion: New Health NZ commissioner Lester Levy is authorised to assume operational leadership – chief executive Margie Apa is effectively relegated to his operational deputy The post All-powerful Levy is feudal baron of a $28b fiefdom appeared first on Newsroom. ...
“What if the culture you grew up in was broken in ways that you didn’t even have words for?”
https://aschoolcalledhome.org/finding-our-way-home/
As cultures break down, alcohol consumption rises, so I've read recently. Saying goodbye to a culture and it's practices will be like farewelling a very, very close friend.
"A culture faces and interprets pain, deviance and death. It endows them with meaning; it illuminates how they are a part of the whole and thereby makes them tolerable … The widespread use of alcohol and other central nervous system anaesthetics is directly linked to a decline in culture. The wider their use, the harder it becomes to preserve, renew and invigorate the wisdom that a culture should hold. This doubles back and escalates. Alcoholism spreads when a culture is dying, just as rickets appears when there is no Vitamin D."
I know it's a quote, but that makes no sense. A declining culture promotes alcoholism, and the decline will reverse if people drink less alcohol? That's like saying it's getting cold and people dress warmer. If only they didn't, the weather would get warmer again. Cause and effect…
I think it's like saying it's getting cold and people drink more alcohol. They feel good for a while but are more likely to suffer death from exposure. Also, a clear mind, rather than one anaesthetised one, is more likely to make a life-saving decision, imo.
It reminded me of ACT welfare policy. Persistent unemployment causes benefit dependency. So if we take away the benefit, there is no unemployment.
Won’t argue re decision making
Danyl dropped down the rabbit hole into the la-la land of Treasury, where the boffins had organised a group of 30 to crowd-source the design of the coalition's well-being budget policy: https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/23-04-2019/peace-rest-and-the-monkey-emoji-moon-playing-heartwork-cards-at-treasury/
Being clever, they had performed the u-turn from exclusive to inclusive, realised the best way to include typical Labour voters was to operate at their mental level of capability, so they used a method suitable for kindergarten children.
"You take a deck of Heartwork cards: these are thin, circular, like coasters in mid-range wine bars, only instead of inspirational quotes or vineyard logos they’re printed with sun feelings, moon feelings and needs. You think about a confrontation you’ve had, or a meeting you’re doing to have, and you pick three cards to represent your needs."
Heartwork is the business consultancy who supplied the method. It "is also a game… in which you learn to talk about your feelings and emotional needs, and this aims to solve the problems of the DEVUCA world by building empathy and psychological safety creating organisational win-win-wins through people-centered product, service and policy design via system leadership."
"Next you pick three cards to represent the needs of the other person. There are 50 to choose from. They might want (random shuffle): Stability, or Understanding, or Sense-of-team, or Clarity. Now that you’ve defined everyone’s needs – “all human behaviour is a strategy to meet our needs,” Rousseau explains – you simply envision a win-win-win scenario in which everyone’s needs are met."
"Treasury is working hard to return New Zealand to a pre-neoliberal, prelapsarian state. Next month the government will release its first “Wellbeing Budget”’ It uses the Treasury’s Living Standards Framework, a world leading concept which, Ross informs us, the department has been working on for 18 years. Instead of focusing purely on economic capital the public service, led by Treasury, will seek to grow the country’s human, social and environmental capital."
Nice curve ball there, Danyl. Prelapsarian is indeed a word. Google defines it thus: characteristic of the time before the Fall of Man; innocent and unspoilt. I'll leave readers to puzzle over whether the definition is sexist or not. Gender equality has gotten ever so complicated after trending non-binary, so I suggest keeping it simple. Would the Fall of Woman be a suitable political topic nowadays, or should we leave as is?
How does it work n praxis franko? Sounds like the kind of management substitute guff you'd have great gnosis of.
So you still haven't figured out the difference between practice & praxis?? Even though I gave you the explanation in a single sentence with no long words? Give some thought to the old adage `if at first you don't succeed, try harder'.
As regards how it works, rebels tend not to get into management so I can't help you from the perspective of operational experience. Best guess: tell them what to do. Always worked perfectly with Labour voters, eh? Anyone else asks why, of course.
How very Prolapsarian of you franko.
"Gaelic's attentiveness to place is reflected in its topographical precision. It has a plentiful vocabulary to describe different forms of hill, peak or slope (beinn, stob, dún, cnoc, sròn), for example, and particular words to describe each of the stages of a river's course from its earliest rising down to its widest point as it enters the sea. Much of the landscape is understood in anthropomorphic terms, so the names of topographical features are often the same as those for parts of the body. It draws a visceral sense of connection between sinew, muscle and bone and the land. Gaelic poetry often attributes character and agency to landforms, so mountains might speak or be praised as if they were a chieftain; the Psalms (held in particular reverence in Gaelic culture) talk of landscape in a similar way, with phrases such as the 'hills run like a deer.' In both, the land is recognized as alive."
Substitute "Maori" for Gaelic.
https://www.terriwindling.com/blog/2019/04/a-language-of-land-and-sea.html
Or pretty much anything.
Well, that's pretty damn decisive:
Colmar Brunton (April 2019)
Crusaders name change
Question: “Following the Christchurch terrorist attack, do you think the Crusaders rugby team should change their name?”
Yes …………. 14%
No ………….. 76%
DK …………… 8%
Refused …… 1%
Above Average: No
▪Those living in Otago and Southland (90%)
▪National Party supporters (87%)
▪Those aged 18-29 (85%).
Above Average: Yes
▪Those with annual household income $150,000+ (25%).
▪Labour Party supporters (22%).
.
So … very strong Public support for the Government's Gun Law changes (About Right … 61%, … Not Far Enough … 19% (= 80%), … Goes Too Far … 14%) … but minimal endorsement of Crusaders name change. (Yes, by all means take the necessary practical steps … but Don’t fuck with the Rugby / Don’t fuck with the Culture, basically)
And well done to all those Labour supporters with households pulling in over $150,000.
🙂
You'd be surprised how many there are in that category – a lot of couples with both working in the public sector bring in upwards of $150,000, and plenty of them are Labour or Green voters.
Not surprised at all PM.
The New Middle Class (or Professional and Managerial Class (PMC))
Especially Public Servants (both Labour & Green voters … although I’m guessing the latter swung heavily to Labour 2017)
Not so fast. A $150 household is 1x$70k and 1x$80k.
That's not a new managerial anything.
The managerial class you are thinking of start with households pulling $300k from salaries, before you get to the rentals.
Whoaaaa there, Compardre, Don’t be quite so quick on the draw !
The category is: 150k Plus !!!
That 25% might come entirely from the 300K brigade, nested deep within that particular demographic.
The New Middle Class are precisely the people I'd expect to be most supportive of a name change. Affluent Moral Liberals / Craft Beer Hipsters / People with unusually refined sensibilities who insist on Minimalist Interior Design and the like.
It might.
But I think you're preparing to describe one of the 8 Tribes of New Zealand, that's the Grey Lynner tribe I think.
1st World prollims eh?
Such is the nature of NuZull's 'Left' these days.
It's possible/probable we might all be fucked in the not-too-distant, unless something ‘transformational’ happens [goan forwid]
Of which ours is one, well until this year when retirement will change that a bit. Earning as much as possible – mainly from my husband's hard work, he likes it fortunately and it keeps him fit – has become a must over recent years so that we can genuinely trickle it down to move people forward. Car repairs, dental visits, bonds for rentals were clear to us not easily obtainable to many young hard workers trying to get traction in the world or those who faced unforeseen "hiccups". Being on one end of "it is better to give than receive" too is not something I am unaware of aware of that an element of "sefishness" is normal in wanting to see good outcomes and to sleep peacefully at night.
If anyone needs to see National Party desperation and complete cynicism at work page five of our local paper below a heartfelt obituary for local man Tommy Gear and co-founder of NZ First at the outset is somewhat conveniently placed an electoral advert for the National Party. As a consequence our long term subscription has been cancelled and a full discussion had with the staff member who took the cacellation as to why.
Past experience has me 100% certain, I read the paper daily and these local adverts are now rare, that in no way was the placement "accidental".
It confirmed all the dislike I have for a political party clearly, to me, interested in votes to retain the parliamentary benches and nothing about working for NZ.
I knew there had to be more than could be counted on one hand out there. There's got to be a few of us on this site.
Good luck for falling off the income cliff.
We're pacing it, money is not "god" but it does have it's uses, beyond that you can't take it with you thought some seem to adhere to that thought. Best are the times we have had along the way and long may that continue:)
"Don’t fuck with the Culture" – see comment #2
Also, how about 'The Sythians" as an alternative?
Very sad. But kiwis political choices haven't been up to much lately. 9 years of steady as she goes destruction case in point.
Awww sad for those people – don't wanna keep their stupid made up name for their made up team – I can't say I'm going to be sorry seeing all these people eat the shit sandwich of change.
Warriors and Chiefs next in line right mardymardy?
lol oh dear – one is rugby and one is rugby league gabby – nevermind here is some knowledge to help you out.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_football
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rugby_league
Perhaps the respondents had a better understanding of the wider meaning of the words 'crusader' or 'crusade'. Or maybe, just maybe, people can scoff at the stupidity of all the fuss over events that happened almost 1,000 years ago?
I reckon its also a push back on the constant need to please the minority .
Fight the fights worth fighting .
The left damages it self by chaseing every little cause .
Since you’re pretty good at wider meanings…. How about an american sports team called the 9 11ers or the WMD’s?
In 1,000 years, who would care?
I don’t know how closely everyone is following the US elections for next year but I have been following the potential nominees are am really liking that Pete Buttigieg. Do you think the US is ready for an openly gay president?
Also I’m wondering if the Republicans think they’ll lose with Trump will they step-in to remove him (say if his tax returns so him to be a shameless crook)?
2020 could be very interesting
They're not ready for an openly female president. I reckon they’ll go for a pro wrestler next.
That's very democratic approach. Anyone can be President – and so anyone who has the funding to make a name for himself or her, is having a go. That's the spirit. Perhaps the term should be divided up into quarters like they do in business, and at that time they report their activity and their effectiveness and then get voted in or out, with a sort of list of waiting opportunists who want a turn and are ready to step up if called.
Reminds me of Brewsters Millions.
I reckon the states where being openly gay would reduce his vote are states that are currently solid Repug anyway. That opinion is based on working with manufacturing workforces in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania (admittedly the more liberal parts of those states) and even a couple of decades ago openly gay staff seemed totally accepted.
So I don't reckon that will directly affect his chances, but the electoral downside in solid red states may be more on tight House and Senate races. If there's a population that leans Dem but are unenthusiastic about the prez candidate, then it's so much harder to deal with the incredible hassle and time-suck involved in voting so it's a whole lot more tempting to just not bother.
As a candidate for prez, seems to me he needs to learn to spend more time considering the downsides to his policies. This HuffPo piece goes into some detail about issues with the housing policies he came up with and implemented as mayor.
The natural successor to the Trump presidency would be a Toon. Daffy Duck has the drive but seems aggressive. Jessica Rabbit might make a decent contender – not bad, but drawn that way.
Also I’m wondering if the Republicans think they’ll lose with Trump will they step-in to remove him (say if his tax returns so him to be a shameless crook)?
Let's look at the numbers. Impeachment in the House should probably work, the Dems have a comfortable majority. But to convict Darth Drumpf in the Senate requires 67 votes, and the Dems only have 47 senators, and up to maybe 4 of those might not have the spine to vote for conviction. So between 20 and 25 Repug senators would need to vote for conviction.
Right now, Mitt Romney probably would vote for conviction, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins are definite maybes. The rest of them would look at their political futures, ponder the examples of Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, Mark Sanford and others, and weigh the risk of getting primaried by vengeful Drumpfkins versus the risk of losing to a Democrat in the election.
There's a maximum of 8 Repug Senators at risk of losing to a Dem in 2020 (Collins being one), and 7 in 2022 (Murkowski being one). So even if all 15 Repugs that could conceivably be at risk of losing to a Dem in their next election plus Mitt Romney plus all Dems vote for conviction, that's still only 63.
The only way I see Il Douche out of the Oval Office before the 2020 election is either a medical event, or enough info comes out about his criminal exposure to actually penetrate the Supreme Orange Ego's consciousness and he realises he genuinely needs a legitimate pardon, so he negotiates his exit and pardon with Pence.
Its a funny thing..in this household we don't have a TV, so rely on RNZ to keep us in the loop on NZ news…so I was somewhat relieved to hear this the other morning..
"The New Zealand Disability Support Network says it is thankful to ministers who stepped in to prevent sector-wide funding cuts."..though as we all know, avoiding cuts never actually means that much as costs and demand inevitably rises.
But then I looked into it further..and sure enough..
'Every hour is questioned' – Advocates say Health Ministry quietly reducing funding for disabled after ruling out big cuts….
"Every hour of support is being questioned," said Community Care Trust (CCT) chief executive Mike Brummitt, whose Dunedin-based organisation looked after 280 people. "If someone gets 12 hours, they are saying do you need 10, or eight hours?"
Brummitt said he was recently informed by email that an intellectually disabled man in his 20s would have his funding cut in half – from $415 a day to $210.
"We know nobody has seen him since early 2017. No one spoke to our staff, his parents, advocate, no assessment. I've written back and said this is totally unsustainable."
CCT would continue to provide the same support to him, but at a financial loss.
The man's needs were complex and he required around-the-clock care, Brummitt said. When the organisation first took him on, he would not sleep in a bed, and curled up on the floor in the fetal position.
Anyone who can read that, and feel we are on the right path, has no heart.
"incrementalism" and Budget Responsibility Rules are going to be the death of some of us. Its a shame the disabled don't offer nice photo ops. in the minds of Labour Party spin doctors and publicists.
And if you can judge a society and people by how it treats its weakest and most vulnerable citizens..how well are we doing?
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/387502/disability-sector-thankful-planned-funding-cuts-scrapped
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12212304
I was going to suggest copious amounts of alcohol (see @ 2) because our culture is breaking down but then realised that this has been ‘our culture’ for yonks …
That needs to be looked into Siobhan.
it is a disgraceful situation.
keep taking cases like that to the minister.
"keep taking cases like that to the minister.".
She wants it fixed, not ignored. If you send something like this to the Minister it will go straight into the round filing cabinet on the floor by the Minister's desk.
We had a wee chat about this the other day Siobahn…and I have read all the emails the reporter refers to.
I'll add them to the ones I got when I OIA'ed the Misery of Health for details of the work they had done in relation to a 1999 discussion paper called "DSS Advanced Personal Care…" http://www.moh.govt.nz/notebook/nbbooks.nsf/0/ACC68EB427015F0DCC256BF70071DECD/$file/DSS%20advanced%20personal%20care.pdf
Now in 1999 the industry recognised there was a slight problem in that there was a small but significant number of people needing home based disability supports who needed a higher level of care than would normally be provided by unregulated carers. More registered/enrolled nurse level. My partner and I knew that the Miserly had not yet sorted this issue but had not seen anything in writing that actually defined the problem. Until I found that 1999 document…and until I got a dump of emails from the Misery in response to my OIA request. This was 2017.
And the bastards still hadn't sorted the problem. Now these are the super efficient bureaucrats Macro was lauding the other day. https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21-04-2019/#comment-1609899
I still haven't stopped laughing/crying/beating my fists against the wall.
I wish I could share with you those emails…the file is huge unfortunately…but these are the people on the big salaries getting backslaps from the Commonwealth Fund for their efficiency.
What the problem boils down to is that these Advanced Personal Cares attract 'risk' if performed by unqualified carers. And the funder (the Miserly) would be liable if for adverse events. So providers most often than not refuse to provide this level of care at the rate at which the MOH funds HCSS. And when challenged, the Ministry bureaucrats just say "we don't fund x,y or z." , even if the client would die without these tasks being performed. Hence family care, or incarceration in a residential facility where theoretically there is RN oversight…
ACC, on the other hand, get round this problem (I think) by funding 1/2 hour per week per client of RN oversight. The RN does not have to be there…just be available. And to my knowledge, this works.
But it is a simple solution that is way beyond the ability of those super efficient MOH bureaucrats to accept or implement for those eligible clients that need that level of care.
But this is super-efficient… as many of those needing this level of care have no option but to turn to family…who are paid nothing (as in my case) or a pittance compared to the NZDSN employed carers.
This is my world Siobahn, and those people have no heart.
Someone described them as sociopaths…I tend to agree.
And it is unlikely to change under this government.
Thank you for that Rosemary.
I can well imagine the size of your document file.
And having read of this particular aspect of your life, I really do wish you, and your partner, all the best.
Rosemary – I completely agree with you about the plight of disabled people in this country, and the lack of care that they receive, and the huge load that that places upon family and friends. The NGO's I know are struggling to make ends meet and the continual lack of funding that has been given to the sector over the years just makes things worse.
I think you get the wrong end of the stick when you think that I am not supportive of you, and when I say that despite all the problems you and others face, it may not be the bureaucrats who are completely at fault here. Now I too ,agree that many in the upper echelons of the MoH are in ordinary terms overpaid. But that doesn't mean that they are not doing their job properly within the funding constraints that they are given. They are the managers of the system – the governance of the system falls on the government of the day – and unfortunately over the past couple of decades NZers have elected governments that have failed to place a high priority on funding Health and Disability services in particular.
Looking at this from a macro level there are essentially 3 ways for a country to administer its Health services
The first Labour Govt introduced a health system in the 1935 along the lines of the first model. Over the years that model has been watered down as more affluent individuals have taken out Private Health Insurance. The effect of that has been to reduce pressure on the Government to fully fund Health in this country and over the years the effect has been that Governments fund as minimally as they can, and rely on the Private sector and individuals to pick up the slack. Australia has now a similar system but the difference is that they ensure that all (or most) can afford to back up their Health Insurance so that there is more equity within the system. There is also greater funding available across the Health service.
We certainly do not want devolve into the Health system of the US which has one of the highest costs and poorest outcomes of any health system in the developed world. Even on Faux News the other day – when Bernie proposed a Medicare for all ( a complete anathema to the Trump administration) he was met with resounding applause.
“…it may not be the bureaucrats who are completely at fault here. Now I too ,agree that many in the upper echelons of the MoH are in ordinary terms overpaid. But that doesn’t mean that they are not doing their job properly within the funding constraints that they are given. They are the managers of the system – the governance of the system falls on the government of the day – and unfortunately over the past couple of decades NZers have elected governments that have failed to place a high priority on funding Health and Disability services in particular.”
Hmmm…funny how governments have changed but the culture within the Ministry has largely remained the same?
I too used to blame ‘the Government’, until reading about the estimated cost of paying family carers should we “all come out of the woodwork” and demand to be paid like any other carer providing assessed supports. In 2008…under Labour…the estimated cost (as told to the HRRT) of paying family carers was between $17-593 million dollars.
Now let that sink in a minute…this is the very best the Ministry of Health could do by way of a guesstimate? This was 2006-2008…not exactly the dark ages and even then the NASCs were collecting data on all clients.
Even when all was lost through the Judicial system, (under National now, in 2012) and with the omnipotent Socrates database well established, the Minister was still making dire predictions of fiscal apocalypse should there be unrestrained payment of family members providing assessed care of those with high and very high support needs.
I almost, (but not quite) felt sorry for Ryall as he demonstrated to the media cameras his appalling lack of knowledge of New Zealand’s disability system. ‘Eek, shriek!”, he implied,’..and if you factor in ACC, you’ll see how the costs just go up and up!’..Stupid bugger didn’t even know that ACC had been paying family carers for over a decade…in fact 50% of the paid carers of ACC clients were family. So who was feeding this pile of twaddle to the Government Minister?
Yet it was next door to impossible to even get anything close to an actual number of MOH:DSS clients, over the age of 18 with assessed high and very high support needs who were not receiving any funding for their care because family were providing most or all of their care. It wasn’t that the information wasn’t there…it was that the Ministry wasn’t offering it willingly and the Government seemed unable to ask the right questions of the Ministry.
There was talk of there being 30,000….(the latest count of the total number of DSS clients is 33,000.https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/report-clients-allocated-dss-funding-jul17.pdf) Frustrated, I asked a few specific questions of MOH DSS in late 2012 to try to get a more accurate picture of the situation, and it transpired that the number of very high needs over 18 year old DSS clients with little or no hourly based funding for their care was 1286.
And if you’ve followed this particular case…through the many court hearings and discussions etc you will know that the National Government opted to fund 1600 parent carers.
And if you also followed up you’ll know that the number of DSS clients who chose the option of Funded Family Care was less than 400. One quarter of the number budgeted for…so what happened to the rest of the $$$?
Some of us have kept track over the years, through different governments and different Ministers. There have been two constants…one, the Ministers have been largely ignorant ineffectuals and two, the same old names keep being mentioned in MOH dispatches.
Only a complete purge of MOH bureaucrats will bring about the necessary culture change. The Ministry needs to be staffed by actual Public Servants.
And I do think you do the NZ voter a disservice by implying that we keep voting in Governments that fail to “… to place a high priority on funding Health and Disability services in particular.”
How about we have a referendum..”Would you be willing to pay an extra 1.5-2.5% tax which would be dedicated solely to rehabilitating our health and disability system, in addition to the current Vote Health budget?”
"In talks, I would tell the story of the Natufians. Late in the last Ice Age, in the territory marked on our maps as Israel and Palestine, they lived in year-round villages. They were among the first people anywhere to settle and they lived like this for 1,500 years, fifty generations, long enough for any memory of their ancestors’ wanderings to pass into the dreamtime of gods and culture heroes. Then came the Younger Dryas, the 1,200-year cold snap that turned Europe back to tundra and broke the pattern of the seasons which watered the wooded valleys in which they had made their homes. They knew nothing of the processes by which this climate change had come upon them; it was not a consequence of their actions, only a shift in the weather. Within a short time, they abandoned their settled way of life and became wandering gatherers and hunters, returning to the old villages only to rebury the bones of their dead in the ruins of the houses.
Then I would recall a passage in After the Ice, Stephen Mithen’s history of the prehistoric world, where I first learned about the Natufians. He sends a time-traveller to walk unobserved through the lives of the people he is writing about: coming upon a band of late Natufian nomads, he follows them to a gathering in one of the ruined villages. The interment of bones is accompanied by storytelling, feasting and celebration; the connection between past and present is reaffirmed. In Mithen’s reconstruction, these days of festival offer a respite from the hardships of the present. Yet afterwards, as the people go back out onto the land, they do so gladly: ‘They are all grateful for the return to their transient lifestyle within the arid landscapes of the Mediterranean hills, the Jordan valley and beyond. It is, after all, the only lifestyle they have known and it is the one that they love.’"
https://dark-mountain.net/after-we-stop-pretending/
How did they make their alcohol?
Buried calabashes of fermented fruit, mapped with a story, retrieved when needed.
I got that Mithen book last year, haven't started it yet. "If everyone does X, then all this scary stuff will go away" is typical leftist thought. Proceeds from a false assumption. Since when have humans ever acted in unison?? Anyway, moving on, we could liken the climate-change impact on expectations to oceanic navigation of old.
I'm no sailor, but I know plain sailing only lasts awhile. Adaption to changing weather is essential. Using ocean currents is intelligent. People don't usually do it unless they have a plan, or at least an imagined destination of sorts, so when there's a small tribe in the waka collective intent drives the enterprise.
This is turning into a typical `how to get there' post so I'll just finish by pointing out how suitable the analogy seems to be. Despair isn't part of the scenario!!
The winds of change allowed polynesian colonization during the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), A.D. 800–1300,
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0031018283900871
https://www.pnas.org/content/111/41/14716
Trump's dementia is getting progressively worse –
Yet more leftist hypocrisy? Only if the prof is a leftist. Mentally-ill folk are now part of the community. We're meant to view them as normal citizens, ever since politically-correct decision-making deemed this stance proper in the nineties. As such, they have citizens' rights, including the right to be a political leader. It's how democracy works.
The prof may get brain police knocking on his door sometime soon, taking him away to a re-education camp, where some kind person will explain the facts of life to him, and he will be required to write this line a thousand times: I must not discriminate against the mentally ill, not even Trump.
"Mentally-ill folk are now part of the community."
They always were dennis you just ignored and pretended they weren't there. You do seem to have some major prejudice against those you deem to have mental health issues and your writing on this subject is woeful. Even here in defending you make snide asides about those trying to protect the many many people with mental health issues. You should be ashamed imo.
Crap, Marty. Everyone knows they were institutionalised until the closing of the mental hospitals. And don't insinuate prejudice where none exists. That's unethical. You know perfectly well that I did not criticise any victim. Any reader can see for themselves that I was criticising the prof!
"We're meant to view them as normal citizens, ever since politically-correct decision-making deemed this stance proper in the nineties."
These type of statements from you indicate a strange attitude imo. You love 'othering' those with mental health issues using language like 'them' and 'they' and you don't even get it – possibly an age thing but whatever – not a good attitude imo
Not strange unless you have no empathy with victims. When that guy was killed with an axe by his flatmate (a mental-health patient released into the community) while in bed (asleep, I presume), a story that made headlines back then, it made the policy seem insane to me. Not to you??
Talking out of your arse is what you were doing. Obviously having the POTUS suffering from dementia is an issue that would need addressing.
In regard to hitting the red button, you have a point. I vaguely recall there's a fail-safe design around that though (chain-of-command operational consensus).
In all other respects, you're wrong. If it were obvious, there would already be high-level discussions on a bipartisan basis, reported in the media. So you're just doing the same jerk-off as the prof. Evidence to the contrary required!
I vaguely recall there's a fail-safe design around that though (chain-of-command operational consensus).
No. There isn't. There really isn't.
When Nixon was showing obvious signs of stress leading those around him to fear a breakdown, Schlesinger committed an act of gross insubordination and instructed those further down the chain of command to check with him or Kissinger before acting on any orders from Nixon. Thank fuck it was never tested what would actually happen if Nixon tried to launch nukes.
There's a good chance Mattis did the same, and I'd guess it would be fairly likely those down the chain of command would actually check with Mattis before launching.
But Mattis is gone, and the acting Secretary of Defense is ex-Boeing swampthing Shanahan. Who almost certainly wouldn't dare do anything that might be construed as standing up to Grand Generalissimo Bonespurs. Nor would he have any standing or respect from those further down the chain, so it would be very unlikely Shanahan would be able to stop a madman launch order even if he wanted to.
Everyone knows “they” were institutionalised’
No. “they” were not.
The vast majority of people with mental health issues led normal functional contributing lives.
DF. You are full of prejudice and misinformation. Otherwise known as full of shit.
Just to change the topic for a break.
some kind person will explain the facts of life to him, and he will be required to write this line a thousand times:
That made me think of Bart Simpson and his frequent interaction with lines written on the blackboard. (Did you know he leapt up in ballet showing amazing talent. You might wait for the same to happen with Trump, but truth is stranger than fiction.)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9mUOKI5Y9Y
Heh. I'm going to be off-line awhile. My laptop has developed sleep problems halfway thro its 6th year, so I got a cheap notebook as insurance policy & now have to get all my useful stuff duplicated onto it in case the laptop decides to die as well. Fortunately my local computer dudes always seem able to solve my problems quickly at reasonable cost…
What a hero!!!
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/apr/23/vacant-seat-for-may-as-party-leaders-meet-greta-thunberg
The dreaming continues from the rear guard protecting their world from the inevitable change occuring. They will be remembered all right as will we. What will they say about what you/we did to change?
Why don't you tell us the rest of the story? After talking to the MPs she went straight back to the Airport and caught her next flight to a place where she could spread the word that flying must stop.
You know. Just like James Shaw it is a case of don't do what they do. Do what they tell you to do because they know better.
I'd rather she flew than you and your ilk with your selfish overseas holidays and pretend work functions.
"After talking to the MPs she went straight back to the Airport and caught her next flight to a place where she could spread the word that flying must stop."
Did she? Can you link to this information, because AFAIK she attends meetings by land-based travel.
And also, your criticism – well used by practised diverters, fails to recognise that current society and systems support and encourage individual choices both financially and in convenience, that are detrimental to the environment and community wellbeing.
The premise that the system needs to change stands – separate from individual instances.
She doesn't fly, Alwyn. She only travels by train or someone else's electric car.
After talking to the MPs she went straight back to the Airport and caught her next flight to a place where she could spread the word that flying must stop.
If you actually bother to go and read the article, it includes a graphic: "Greta's train journey through Europe." Electric trains, at that.
She may have arrived in London by train as that diagram shows. However you don't think she was going to remain there did you?
I was assured, by someone who heard her, that she was heading back to Sweden by plane. As I said "After talking to MPs." I'll admit that the statement "went straight back to the airport" rather condenses the time scale.
caught out lying again alwyn to push your climate change denial agenda – what a fail
Do you have any actual evidence or link? Or are you just repeating a hearsay smear?
If there were any factual basis to that claim, it would be astonishing for right-wing media to be silent, they would be much more likely to scream it from the front page as hypocrisy to try to discredit her. But so far … zip.
Was Lardy Williams or the Horeskin that little someone wally?
Māori television showed a documentary on the work of photographer Sebastião Salgado a couple of nights ago. I missed seeing it at the International Film Festival, and was hooked when I found it while channel surfing.
It documents his decades of travelling and immersion into some of the most undeveloped and/or deprived communities. As well as capturing some of the most atrocious human behaviours and crimes. A harrowing but very informative watch, which also records his understandably bleak conclusion of the irredeemable nature of the human race.
The final project is his personal redemption – a trite description – moving into nature photography and planting millions of trees on an inherited drought ridden family farm.
It is on demand for a week or so – if anyone wants to view: The Salt of the Earth
Quite tough to sit through, that.
Yes, did you watch it as well?
Yes, 2nd time for me, it was first shown on the MC about a year or so ago. Well worth the second look to remind me of the importance of his work.
We loved the movie. Most who take (serious) photos would get something out of it.
Another good movie about a photographer is Finding Vivian Maier: http://www.vivianmaier.com/film-finding-vivian-maier/
A very minor observation – disappointed to hear Lisa Owen (RNZ Checkpoint, ~5:24 pm, 23 April 2019) refer to the Government's 'Provincial Growth Fund' as "Shane Jones' regional money bag" (@00:25).
https://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018692048
It would help if Jones stopped giving people excellent reasons for assuming the provincial growth fund is being used as an influence-peddling fund for NZ First in general and Jones in particular.
Dunno if this is really a reality thing. Seems more like perceptions to me. I agree that his style of operating encourages the perception. But he's just doing his job.
If his allocations were unreasonable, evidence of that would be accumulating. I've seen no such compilation in the media, so I'm inclined to think DMK has a valid point. She ought not to be seen as recycling National's spin.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/111976628/shane-jones-called-on-to-resign-over-intervention-in-prosecution-of-a-northland-transport-company
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/the-country/news/article.cfm?c_id=16&objectid=12219902
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/05-04-2019/a-long-list-of-every-shane-jones-snafu/
http://breambaynews.co.nz/pdf/full_10-4-08.pdf
Northland, Tree planting, Logging Companies, The Semenoff Family long long history', Family connections, filipino workers, Sand, DOC, Talleys, political donations…How Things are Done 'up North'….nothing to see here of course
His habit of intervening on behalf of his donors and his spurning conflict-of-interest mitigation measures all by themselves should rule him out of being put in charge of distributing a billion dollars, let alone when an electorate he plans to contest is likely to be a major beneficiary of the funding decisions. In other words, it's a real thing – his demonstrated lack of integrity, not media bias, is prompting the cynicism.
https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/18-04-2019/how-an-oia-laid-bare-the-pork-barrel-shambles-that-is-shane-jones-provincial-growth-fund/
Not only but also – today's Herald "Barry Soper: Killing capital gains tax the painful part of politics for Jacinda Ardern" no it wasn't, well I bet it wasn't, but fools like Soper can't see or will admit it.
That's pretty much how the Potentate of Provincial Pomposity refers to it.
Jones is and always will be labours Achilles heal.
Lisa Owen is a grubby little number.
Could someone from RNZ unravel her cussed little tidbits ?
Or is that beyond the realms of the highly paid warts posing as unbiased creeps ?
The Nice Lady who gives Lisa Owen the news might lower her voice Pitch. Lower from squeaky high to Baritone. Please.
Hi Psycho Milt
You a bit out of sorts today? Simon getting to be a bit much for you perhaps. He seems to have Psycho problems like yourself.
Even so, advising the Regions that you hate them receiving Funds for Major works and Projects – could mean that you dislike Aoteraroa from top to bottom. You will be no Loss.
If you're going to capitalise nouns, please capitalise all of them (or better yet, just don't capitalise nouns – we're writing English, not German).
Just to clarify: billion-dollar regional growth fund = good, putting an influence-peddler in charge of deciding who gets the funding = bad.
I am pleased to see that there is consistency in the complaints about racist behaviour. Here we have someone, rightfully, being shamed because he claimed that he wouldn't allow his children to go out with a Maori.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/112204312/man-who-wont-let-his-children-date-mori-women-shamed-in-antiracism-campaign
I wonder if the protesters were the same ones who complained about Hone Harawira expressing the view that he wouldn't allow his children to go out with a Pakeha? I hope they were the same people involved in both protests about the bigoted actions.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10665449
Good.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/387611/christchurch-terror-attack-families-offered-option-to-stay-permanently
Immigration New Zealand has created a special visa category for those directly impacted by the shootings at Al Noor Mosque and Linwood mosque, as well as their families…
The government says the Christchurch Response 2019 category has been created to realise the impact of the tragedy and to give people currently on temporary and resident visas some certainty.
Applications can be made from tomorrow by anyone who was present at either mosque during the attacks and their immediate families.
The special circumstances mean the definition of "immediate family" also includes dependent children, someone's partner's parents and grandparents of children under 25.
Immigration NZ, on their website, state they will confirm those present at the mosque attacks by checking police records.
Trump and the USA show themselves as a dysfunctional government with conservative religiosity at its roots.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/23/un-resolution-passes-trump-us-veto-threat-abortion-language-removed
The UN has backed a resolution on combatting rape in conflict but excluded references in the text to sexual and reproductive health, after vehement opposition from the US.
The resolution passed by the security council on Tuesday after a three-hour debate and a weekend of fierce negotiations on the language among member states that threatened to derail the process.
The vote was carried 13 votes in favour. China and Russia abstained. On Monday, the US had threatened to veto the resolution but it is understood that last minute concessions on Tuesday morning got the US on side
Changed the comment editor tool library and style again.
Pretty weird how the size of the control hasn’t changed… aaaaaaaaaaaaa bbbbbbbbbb ccccccccccc dddddddddd
Ok the wrapping works – fine – it just doesn’t have the right border???
Doesn’t do that on the test system.
Hi Lynne
I am only able to write very short sentences like this. Anything longer goes into the spam trap. Or once even directed back to the ‘Policy’.
I can put up links, but only if I make no supporting comment.
I suspect that this is some sort of technical glitch.
Any advice?
Not a few months ago, I was considering rejoining the Labour Parte
Then this struck me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SV85NVP1nc
Could just as easily be Pulla Bent’s Neshnool as Grunt Robitson’s Labia
At the mention of labia, I couldn’t resist:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=B4437BxAHB4
I recall it being funny in the ’80s.
hah, so much for that, Hercules Returns was made in 1993.
a funny aussie movie.
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute .
https://youtu.be/ClU3fctbGls
We have to CHANGE the way we do everything this is a good idea that the local and central government should be championing a place were you can rent tool & equipment for little cost. All so I had to DUMP a good washing machine and fridge because they couldn’t fit in my pocket as that’s the only storage that was available. I would have had a garage sale as we call it here and sold some items a give some away but the sandflys have scared all the people away . I say local council needs to have a place well advised to drop off good still going fine like whiteware kitchen ware anything that can be used by other.
We need to get away from the USE and toss it culture we need to make things last 20 years or longer paper packaging to.
Aristotle House in Oxford is not as grand as it sounds. A commercial block built by the canal in the 1960s, it is no longer fit for paying tenants, so its owner, Wadham College, allows a group of social enterprises to stay there, like official squatters. And there’s evidence of their enterprise everywhere outside, from the drop-box for returning poetry books, to the compost heaps built from old pallets, and the young Victoria plum tree blossoming in a pot by the door. Inside, for those who know about it, is the Oxfordlibrary of things. It sounds like the setting for a Philip Pullman novel, and represents a vision of humanity that’s nearly as fantastical – an idea so simple and so brilliant that, the first time you hear it, you wonder why it hasn’t conquered the world already. Then you wonder if it’s just about to change. Imagine you have a grimy old picnic table that needs sanding after a winter in the garden. Or you want to host a Eurovision party, but your TV is too small for everyone to see. Commercially renting a belt sander for the weekend costs about £40, and a projector much more, so unless you’re on good terms with a well-equipped neighbour, you either spend money on a device you will hardly use, or you give up. But what if someone volunteered to be that neighbour, as people now have in Frome, Crystal Palace, Stirling, Edinburgh, Totnes, Oxford and in growing numbers around the world? If they could just gather a collection of extremely, but only occasionally, useful items, and find a place to keep them, there would be no need for everyone else to buy their own. Even paying a small fee to cover costs, we would save money, and space in our homes, and the benefits to the environment in waste prevented would be enormous. Indeed, as you browse for Oxford’s belt sander (£8 a week) and projector (£10 a night), you might decide, while you’re at it, to borrow a pressure washer for the patio (£10 a day), and add a disco ball (£5 a week) and chocolate fountain (ditto) for the party. You’ll live a cheaper, cleaner, more enjoyable and more sustainable life Ka kite ano link below.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/24/library-of-things-borrowing-scheme-conquer-world
https://youtu.be/RS7IzU2VJIQ
Here you go Whanau we have people who treat water like a gravy train instead of the respecting WAI water as a life giving and taking source and force it is they need to protect Wai water for our next generation our Mokopuna grandchildren rights to a happy healthy life need to be respected.
The Queensland minister for water, Anthony Lynham, also strongly denied his government had backed EAA’s sale of overland flows, as Joyce claimed.
“What we had supported in 2015 was completely different,” he said. Queensland proposed the Commonwealth buy both of EAA’s farms and all its water, including river water rights, he said.
A desktop review had put the price at $123m, and would have yielded 57,000ML of water including more secure water rights, he said.
Instead Joyce proceeded to buy half the volume of a less reliable type of water entitlement for $80m
Queensland minister for water, Anthony Lynham, also strongly denied his government had backed EAA’s sale of overland flows, as Joyce claimed.
“What we had supported in 2015 was completely different,” he said. Queensland proposed the Commonwealth buy both of EAA’s farms and all its water, including river water rights, he said.
A desktop review had put the price at $123m, and would have yielded 57,000ML of water including more secure water rights, he said.
Instead Joyce proceeded to buy half the volume of a less reliable type of water entitlement for $80m
Meanwhile the Guardian has learned that the energy minister, Angus Taylor, was listed in the annual report of the Australian company as a director of the Caymans parent, Eastern Australia Irrigation, at least until some time in the 2012-13 financial year. He was also a director of a second Caymans company, Agricultural Managers Ltd, which served as the management company for the fund.
Agricultural Managers Ltd, which is separate from Eastern Australian Agriculture and Eastern Australian Irrigation, provided management services to the complex investment structure that included several overseas investorsUsually management companies in these sort of securitised structures undertake the financing, advise on tax, prepare documentation and send investors payments. For that they are paid a management fee and in some cases a fee based on the performance of the fund. This can occur during the life of the fund or when it was wound up.
Ka kite ano links below
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/apr/25/new-questions-raised-over-calculations-behind-80m-water-buyback
https://youtu.be/JyzvcrZIuf0
Eco Maori can see this huge problem unfolding before my EYES The wealthy made most of their money from burning CARBON. The effects of climate change is going to CAUSE huge problems for the common poor people that is WHY the WEALTHY nations need to step up and help the poor Nation it is the correct way to help lesson the damage caused by the climate change on the POOR.
The wealthy have to realise that we are all HUMANS geneticly identical. If they don't help a super bug could develop in the places we're the poor people are living in unhumane places that could effect people that are close to them.
The Great old saying is its better cheaper not to make a MESS that it is to make a big MESS and try to CLEAN IT UP not rocket science just LOGIC Hence helping thy NABOUR the super wealth just have to do more to help mitigate Climate change 9
While the rich world braces for future climate change, the poor world is already being devastated by it
(CNN) — "Upside down" are the only words Manush Albert Alben has to describe life after the powerful Cyclone Idai.
Nearly two weeks since the powerful cyclone destroyed most of the city of Beira, Mozambique, it is a long way from normal. "There's no money, no groceries," Alben, a fisherman, said while sitting in his wooden pirogue on a local beach. "We are suffering but trying to hold on
Known for its busy port and views of the Indian Ocean, the 19th-century city used to be the fourth largest in the country. Now Beira will go down in history as being "90% wiped out" by global warming, said Graça Machel, a former Mozambican freedom fighter, politician and deputy chair of The Elders, who spoke to CNN on the phone after visiting the city
Link below Ka kite ano
https://edition-m.cnn.com/2019/03/31/africa/poorest-hit-the-hardest-climate-change-mozambique-intl/index.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fedition.cnn.com%2F
https://youtu.be/k6fvex8kr58
Here is a story of poor country's being badly effected by HUMAN CAUSED CLIMATE CHANGE. We have to help them all.
South Africa floods claim 60 lives after Durban rains
'We couldn't save the children'
One man, who lost eight of his family members when a mudslide swallowed their home, has spoken to Nomsa Maseko about the moments leading up to the tragedy
Thamsanqa Dlamini said that he heard a loud bang first before water came "gushing" into their house through the walls.
"I heard my children screaming from the bedroom," he recalled.
"I tried to rush to help them but the strong water current forcefully pushed me into another room and I was under the collapsed wall.
Ka kite ano P.S don't let all the other stories drown out our fight against climate change deniers
https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/world/387765/south-africa-floods-claim-60-lives-after-durban-rains
https://youtu.be/psoAV3RFhGc
Kia ora Newshub .
Its cool the Prince is visiting Aotearoa. Those Kiwis cycling around Turkey look a bit worn out ANZAC day has been cool .
The helicopter rescue crew that were on the one that crashed in the Auckland islands were extremely lucky if they were a few km out in Tangaroa they would have been much worse off I no the waters cold there its was snowing at sea when I was last there . The Karapeoro shooting is a sham Iv been in that pie shop a few times over the years .
Britain getting some of Huawei 5G equipment no I don't think NZ have ban Huawei totally from building our 5G network ???????.
Bad luck on the moon landing in 3s there are a lot of Phenomenon that scientists can not explain or give the fact on .
Yes tamariki need to have boundaries on screen time on cellphone tablet use the same as everything. Ka kite ano
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute
https://youtu.be/SoIKv3xxuMA
Eco Maori viewers are not just Tamariki muppets why are you trying so hard to stop my post????
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute
https://youtu.be/IuwxZSIS__4
Whanau I go outside a the elictric AVENUE starts up sandflys driving around the block
Some Eco Maori Music for the minute .
https://youtu.be/bnVUHWCynig