"We are landless in our own land, Takaparawha means a tremendous amount to our people. The struggle for the retention of this land is the most important struggle which our people have faced for many years. To lose this last bit of ground would be a death blow to the mana, to the honour and to the dignity of the Ngāti Whātua people."
I think the comparison is apt. It is hard to downplay the significance of what Joe Hawke and Rosa Parks did. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white woman. Rosa Parks began a movement. The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 13 months.
When Joe Hawke raised his family's small holiday camping tent on Bastion Pt. he began a movement that is still continuing.
From Joe Hawke's simple act of defiance, a whole movement grew.
From Joe Hawke's example Eva Rickard led a successful occupation of the Raglan Golf course. More recently Pania Newton led a successful occupation of Ihuamatao.
Leaders with the courage and foresight of Joe Hawke or Rosa Parks or Eva Rickard or Pania Newton are rare. Almost once in a generation do they appear.
The thousands that turned up at Bastion Pt. Takaparawha yesterday the first day of his tangi are a testament to the greatness of his legacy.
Even a contingent of New Zealand police in full uniform came to pay their respects.
Of the 222 people arrested by police at Bastion Pt. half were Pakeha supporters.
What inspiring leaders like Joe Hawke and Rosa Parks had in common is that they both belonged to the whole world.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Bondarev said he had "not seen any alternative" than to resign: "I don't think it will change a lot, frankly, but I think it may be one little brick into the bigger wall which would eventually be built. I hope so."
This decision could not have been easy or comfortable, giving up his position would have required an enormous amount of self sacrifice. All credit to Morris Bondarev, for having the courage of his convictions and acting on them.
Unfortunately the Russian Federation representative to New Zealand is the complete opposite,
Totally lacking in principle or morals, guilty of knowingly spreading fake news and lies in support of the bloody invasion and occupation of Ukraine. He won't be resigning his diplomatic post on principle any time soon.
All Left anti-war activists need to demand the immediate expulsion of this immoral bloodthirsty toady scumbag from our country.
…Russia's Embassy in New Zealand has used its Facebook page to say that alleged war crimes uncovered in parts of Ukraine are a "hoax".
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern warned against "disinformation emanating from social media", after the posts were publicised.
New Zealand's Government and Opposition have both aligned with Ukrainian accounts of atrocities, with Ardern saying the reported crimes were "beyond reprehensible".
"Russia must answer to the world for what they've done," Ardern said. This week, Ardern faced renewed calls to expel Russia's ambassador…
…..Ardern has so far refused to expel Russia's ambassador to New Zealand. On Monday, she appeared open to the idea that she might do so in the future.
I’d imagine that not all Russians living in Aotearoa-New Zealand are necessarily strong supporters of the war in Ukraine. So, why deprive all of them from an Ambassador, which is obviously a bit more than a symbolic gesture and extreme virtue-signalling?
I guarantee incognito, that if it was your child that was killed or maimed, you would be calling for something, obviously a bit more than a symbolic gesture.
And I could also pretty much guarantee that genuine anti-war Russian expats here, would be prepared to make the sacrifice and undergo the inconvenience of not having their legation handy.
After all lots anti-war Russian citizens have sacrificed far more.
Cracking down on peace: How Russian anti-war protesters face persecution
Russian authorities are attempting to intimidate opponents of the war in Ukraine. Courageous activists in Kazan report what they have been doing and what consequences they face. A report from Tatarstan….
…..raids were carried out at the homes of journalists, activists and students. There were three different waves on March 6, 17, and 25. Many of those affected complain they were the victims of police violence.
….."During the raids there were dreadful insults, humiliation, threats and beatings to my head and back. I was put in handcuffs and forced to kneel for three or four hours. They threatened to strip my 69-year-old mother naked if I did not tell them where my cellphone was," wrote activist Andrei Boyarshinov, who also lives in Kazan. He passed his report to journalists; DW has attained a copy. Boyarshinov, who is now being held in custody in a prison, is accused by authorities of having publicly called for terrorist acts. He rejects the allegations.
Are you a genuine anti-war Russian expat or an anti-Putin one? How’s severing diplomatic ties, symbolic or otherwise, going to help the victims of war or help to end the war peacefully? If the Embassy is spreading falsehoods and propaganda here in Aotearoa-New, deliberately, to influence public opinion (or of expats only?), then they should be told STFU. Because that’s clearly in our control-sphere.
We don't have Consular representation in every country. One of my relatives died suddenly in Sweden and as we did not have a representative there at the time, everything had to be done through The Hague. The MFAT people here and in The Hague were very helpful and everything was sorted out very quickly.
That’s a fair point and things don’t necessarily become impossible or extremely cumbersome without an Ambassador. It won’t affect me personally because I’m not a Russian expat, but just another armchair warrior living in the comfort of a warm house in Aotearoa-New Zealand.
It's a tricky thing, expelling ambassadors – usually reserved for the outbreak of hostilities. The long term relationship with other states is in principle more at issue than the momentary vileness of their leadership.
But it wouldn't be a bad symbolic move – to close the embassy until Putin is gone, and Ukrainian territory is no longer occupied. We don't have the guns to push Putin around, but we are a soft power leader, as was shown with the apartheid protests.
The question is whether NZ chooses to lead. And – it might be a more progressive way to approach the problem than military aid. I expect it would prove electorally popular, and our allies would like it, without the drawbacks we suffered from supporting their ill-starred adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
NZ's Russian ambassador refuses to attend 'futile' briefings
Mon, Apr 11 Source:
…..Zuev has twice been invited to appear. In a letter dated 14 March, he said he was honoured to receive an invitation to brief the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee but declined because it would be "obviously futile"….
….Golriz Ghahraman saying Zuev should be expelled if he still refused to appear before the committee.
"The job of a diplomat is to continue dialogue, so that's what we honour until he … honours the same," Ghahraman said.
Ardern has not ruled out removing the ambassador in future….
Here is a fascinating video from Peter Zeihan, geopolitical commentator, explaining a lot of the factors impacting on China at the moment that mean it is unlikely to be a reliable partner going forward.
I think the government primarily had in mind the potential of China invading Taiwan. However, as Zeihan points out, that is less likely now since China has likely been sobered up by the events in Ukraine. China likely realises that if the same degree of sanctions were applied to China as have been to Russia, China would quickly be totally destroyed economically as it is a net importer of most raw materials including energy.
Also, another devastating outcome for China would be the likelihood that western corporations would exit China in a similar way that they have from Russia.
More problematic for China is the issue of demographics. Due to their one child policy that was in place for decades, China has one of the fastest ageing populations in the world. According to Zeihan, recent censuses have been over-counting the Chinese population by 100 million or more. If correct, these factors could lead to the Chinese population halving by 2050.
Another huge factor at the moment is the Covid lockdowns in China. The Chinese vaccine is useless, and is ineffective against later strains of Covid. Hence, their only option is to lock their populations down. This is having a major impact on their ability to manufacture within China, and is likely to keep continuing to do so every time a Covid outbreak occurs.
Another factor that occurs to me is that many companies are seeing the effect on the likes of Germany on becoming too reliant on a potential future enemy. Hence, probably many organisations are reconsidering their reliance on China for similar reasons.
The takeaway from this and other reasons is the businesses need to reconsider their reliance on China both from the exporting and importing perspective. Companies that have shifted their manufacturing to China probably need to consider bringing their manufacturing back to NZ and automate to be competitive, or look for other low wage, more friendly economies such as India for their manufacturing.
Very interesting stuff, and only part of the puzzle as to why the nature of trade in terms of globalisation is changing forever.
Successive NZ Governments, driven by the farming lobby, have killed any nascent possibilies of industries, other than exporting dairy to China, leaving us with few alternatives.
We will never recover the local skill base they destroyed, for one.
If anyone thinks our "friend" the USA, is going to spite their own local producers to look after NZ, I have a bridge to sell you,
Not so sure. We are moving into a world food crisis with events happening around the world. So, I think there will be plenty of takers for the food we produce.
We probably have an opportunity to move some of that towards grains given the world shortage and high prices.
The biggest downside for NZ is that our internal food prices are going to be very high. But at least we have access to food. Not so much for some countries going forward.
"We are moving into a world food crisis with events happening around the world."
This is true, but what goes up must come down. We seem currently at the whim of markets beyond our control – but that part of it is surely at least partially within our control. Some stability, locally, is doable, if not palatable.
We are not 'feeding the world' at such exorbitant prices, we are feeding the rich.
NZ needs to look after NZ, that should include companies operating in NZ. Tax is not everything a company should provide. Goods and services at reasonable rates is, I reckon, quite reasonable.
Yep, footwear, clothing, car assembly, much general manufacturing, textiles, and many others have been closed or gone offshore since traitor Douglas had his way.
What these delivered above all was full time employment for thousands, who were discarded in the 80s and 90s and never retrained or considered in a strategic way.
The State Sector is now a snake pit of competing interests–including private capital–rather than a public service.
With pandemics and climate disaster and imperialist power plays, this is the very time NZ could do with a basic pharmaceutical industry and many others.
Certainly interesting times. I was discussing with my wife's sister who was over from Auz recently. I commented that many firms were going to have to consider moving their manufacturing back to NZ. She said it is already happening in Australia. So, will be interesting to see what happens going forward.
It isn't just the manufacturing factories. Factories that do operate in NZ are likely sourcing components from China, and will likely have to start making those in-house, or find other sources.
Agreed – the large global vendor I work for has announced intentions to spend U$4b on new manufacturing capacity – and none of it will be in China.
Supply chain issues have been experienced as a traumatic speed bump at board levels all over the industrialised world and much of the rest of this decade will see organisations scrambling to re-shore and resource shorter, more reliable manufacturing.
Douglas continedthe process of killing local employment and industry, to pander to the farming lobby that still happens today.
Muldoon killed boat building and caravan manufacture for "social welfare for sheep". Douglas and co, and even the previous Labour Government sacrificed them for, often illusory, "Free trade benefits". Even this Government has other industries, and tax payers, paying for farmings free ride in the ERP.
It's cost us dearly, to the extent that decoupling from dairy exports to China will be almost impossible.
NZ has a thriving boat building sector – not quite sure what you mean here?
It's mostly directed towards the recreational (and for the big money) luxury end of the market – but all of those skills are very transferrable.
What tsmithfield seems to be referring to is a (possible) desire to bring back some manufacturing to NZ. I don't know why that seems to attract such negativity. Yes, it will require tooling up and training a workforce. And the bad part of that is….?
I agree that the Ukraine War has been a wakeup call for many companies about the dangers of strategic supply from one country.
NZ has a boat building sector, which is a pale shadow of what it could have been. Like most of our industry.
In Muldoons time for example. We were carrying a half dozen Farr 6000's to Oz every week. Shortly after the boat tax, we took the molds to Oz. Then Douglas and Co came along, and put the knife in even more. Now we import Benetau's from France. West Australia is building the Aluminum fast ferries that we first designed here.
"What part of that history, makes it impossible to reverse?"
Helping and developing our own industry breaches a whole bunch of "Free trade agreements" for one. Agreements that more successful countries were not stupid enough to make. Doesn't seem to stop billions in agriculture "assistance" however.
Lack of remaining trained people. May have to start paying us? However many of the skills are no longer available as continuity is lost. Very obvious in my industry. Over 45 years since the last big intake of trainees. Can't even replace with immigrants, as the agency employment model overseas, has destroyed continuity of skills training.
The mindset that nothing could, or should, replace farming. And that farming is the only industry that deserves subsidising/protecting. A harder "sacred cow" to overturn in NZ, than even housing speculation.
NZ companies mindset that investing in employee skills, wages, plant and capability building is a mugs game, when they can just cut wages, and investment for short term, “making the books look good” and flog it off, for untaxed capital gains. To many of our businesses are engaged in Capital gains farming, not production.
"That's the point that @tsmithfield is making – that there may very well be an incentive to repatriate some of those industries".
I've long advocated for training, industries and tooling to be kept local.
We have to restart from a very low base though.
No training for decades, has meant most skilled tradespeople are my age or older. Those that are still alive! Our machinery was sold to China nearly 40 years ago, and hasn't been replaced. NZ businesses ability to innovate, has been overtaken by generations of "Managers" whose only skill is screwing down wages. A disadvantage of relying on low wages to grow business profits. So much of our land and infrastructure has been sold offshore, even that room to manoeuvre is gone.
Clearly dominated by primary production. Contrast this to say Finland a nation of similar size that has successfully pivoted toward manufacturing – names like Nokia, Wartsillia, Valmet, Metso and Outotec being leading vendors globally in their industries. This being the direct result of a govt strategy first conceived around the same time as Muldoon to transition their economy away from pure primary production (most wood based) to higher value add.
NZ obviously suffered from the additional challenge of isolation. A quick glance a globe suggests that at least 95% of the human population literally lives on the other side of the planet from us. We are more remote than we think. Yet despite this we have still managed export huge quantities of high volume low value primary products such as logs. The problem may be more complex than mere geography.
Why could Finland do what NZ could not? The answers are not simple – cultural, educational and political factors all have played into this. KJT makes a fair point that the extremist politics of the 80's went about attempting such a process – but with all the wrong outcomes. And we never seem to have recovered the nerve to attempt such 'big idea' political reform ever again.
“KJT makes a fair point that the extremist politics of the 80’s went about attempting such a process – but with all the wrong outcomes.”
I think that our hand was forced in that respect in many ways. That is because we are a small player in a big market. Hence, we need to adapt to what the world is doing, or suffer the consequences.
One advantage of being small is that it is that small means that it is a lot easier to adapt more quickly to changing circumstances. For instance, it should be quite easy for us to change our emphasis away from dairy to some degree and focus more on grain production where the climate suits, as that is an immediate opportunity with grain shortages due to the Ukrainian conflict.
Think about a huge container ship trying to reverse course compared to a small jet boat.
If there is a lesson to be taken from the past few years is that supply chains can adapt well enough to shifts on a decadal scale. At any scale large or small. But fast moving events become impossible to respond to.
Converting say Canterbury from dairy to wheat is obviously doable, but I would hazard a guess it would take at least 3 – 5 years to see a substantial result. Is that going to be fast enough?
Probably one of the problems for NZ is that our climate can be a bit variable which can affect production. For instance, I imagine grain production would have been down in Canterbury this year due to the damp summer we had.
On the other hand, I image the central Otago area would be good for grain growing. It probably has a climate not that dissimilar to Ukraine I suspect.
Not saying it is a bad idea per se, but what is our competitive advantage with say Australia? Grain production works best when you have vast areas of open flat land where highly automated machinery can operate unimpeded at scale. And can harvest millions of tonnes with relatively low labour.
And then you need the transport and handling infrastructure to get it into ships. Again all doable – but it might take a decade to achieve. Again I am not saying it is a bad idea and transitioning some dairy to oats or even barley could well make a lot of sense.
But that feels just like a shuffling of the old low value add primary industry export deck – and do little to get NZ out of the 'nice but a bit impoverished country cousin' trap we have been in for most of my adult life.
"Not saying it is a bad idea per se, but what is our competitive advantage with say Australia?''
I am not sure that competitive advantage is much of an issue when there is a world shortage of something. Countries will be accessing grain from anywhere it can be grown I suspect.
Also, perhaps we could be supplying a lot of our own needs. I imagine the cost of fuel and freight is going to make grain production for our own needs will be a lot more cost-competitive now.
Canterbury still is a large grain producer (along with otago and southland) the South Island produces all of its own milling wheat.
When we had the wheat board all of NZ was sufficient in milling wheat.NZ wheat yields per hecatare are around 14-16 tons,OZ around 3-4,difference is the low land cost in oz.
Frankly anyone on less than a median household income is living hand to mouth with no prospect of it ever getting better. Even those further up the income ladder can find themselves by high housing and living costs.
In my last role in NZ back before 2013 I was in the top 5% of taxpayers that year – yet despite an absurdly abstemious lifestyle I was doing well to save $5k pa. of cash. In Australia I can do that in a month.
The difference has two core reasons. One is that Australian labour productivity is about 15% higher than NZ – because so much of what they do is higher value add. The second reason is that their Wages Share of GDP is about 15% higher – and the root cause of that is a better political balance between employers and employees. They still have powerful unions in a way NZ does not for instance.
Combine those two numbers and there is your 30% higher incomes in Australia. And while inflation is changing the ground rapidly everywhere – it is still my view that the cost of living in Australia is a good 15% lower – especially housing. That adds up to a stark difference.
Now I agree NZ has been remarkably resilient, we are way short of experiencing a crisis like Sri Lanka. But I would still repeat my last para above – that the political trauma of the 80's holds NZ back from a truly bold restructuring that might allow us to look more like Finland than say Portugal.
Comparisons with Australia are natural but invidious. New Zealand has recovered slightly faster, spent slightly more per capita on recovery, but otherwise we are tracking remarkably close to Australia in no small part because we are about as integrated to Australia's larger economy as it is possible to be without being a state.
Australia's depth of public superannuation savings makes them one of the wealthiest countries in the world per capita. And yet there are several million living in poverty and a whole bunch of them are children, just like us.
We are not a counter-factual of Australia.
Plenty do of course make the choice you make and seek higher wages in Australia – principally because they have a depth of specialisation that we will never have and realistically won't ever have.
It's more remarkable to me that so many return and bring what they have earned back. The days of the brain drain are decades gone.
We are who we are with the resources we have.
We have the strength of government that we have.
Most of New Zealand's long term economic strengths won't change no matter which government is in power.
I agree the two nations are different – their geographies alone could not be more contrasting. But as you say we are still closely as integrated with them socially and economically as it is possible without being an actual state.
It is the political dimension that is missing and for this reason I think we do not reap the full benefits of this close relationship. Imagine for example a region of NZ like say the whole SI where no-one was allowed to vote, and had no political representatives in Wgtn – yet were tied to the NI economically and socially as NZ is to Australia. Would anyone think this a good idea?
That higher wage structure in Australia probably does have the benefit of allowing our own industries to be competitive with Australian ones when it comes to sourcing work from Australia.
This could start becoming more of a thing if Australian companies are repatriating more of their industry back to Australia from China.
Take out real estate inflation and the true growth figures are not impressive. Decades of economic pretention – but little to support the fiction of competent economic management.
Were that the case the narrowing of the property owner base, and the supplanting of them by speculators, ought to be ringing alarm bells even in the necrotic nerve tissue of Treasury.
The simple fact is that our economic advisors have been lying about their results. Far from being world leading economic operators, they are lazy, superstitious, and fundamentally dishonest.
And yet somehow these vermin get to opine on economic and social policy. No wonder life is hard, and getting harder.
“God send trials not to impair us but to improve us”
I see now as a time of opportunity for new business to develop in the gaps and cracks that are now appearing and making NZ vulnerable because so much production has gone offshore (the likes of F&P) or were largely closed down (the NZR and air NZ workshops). Even Thyroxine, which was made by Glaxo at Bunnythorpe near Fielding is now imported. Through the first Lock Down prescriptions were limited to no more than one month’s supply at a time. This is a pill one takes daily to stay well for the rest of one’s life usually.
Leave the farmers alone to get on with producing our food and exports and start making NZ as self-sufficient as possible again.
You think that's bad. I couldn't buy any darn garlic in the supermarket yesterday!
But seriously. Garlic's quite the dietary staple not some tropical fruit we can't grow. We certainly need to rethink what we're doing. Hoping it blows over is naive and lacking in foresight, hindsight and care.
Haha. I put many clumps about the place strategically, so as to make it a 'perennial' of sorts on the section. My chickens (and, I admit I was involved) ate all of it.
I hope you ate the garlic'd chickens quickly. My vege garden is ring fenced – no chickens, no ducks, no rabbits can enter. You could probably grow garlic as a pot plant.
DB if you are desperate. A tube of Gourmet Garlic (Australian grown) is 120gm for $6.00 odd and lasts 4 weeks in the tube once opened refreidgerated. I know!! Plastic!! However some dishes are not the same without garlic. This is crushed. Cheers.
Hey good thinking Patricia I'd not thought of value added products, even some granules would have helped. Am so accustomed to having it fresh aye.
@ Janet. My attempts at garlic in pots wasn't great. Yes the potting mix was a bit heavy, but they seem to prefer real dirt. Probably because of their mycorrhizal associations. I reckon if people were to attempt this mixing some real dirt in with potting mix should help.
Future garlic experiments will happen. I really do want them permanent in the landscape, wee plant cages may be required while the chooks still about.
Climate change has all but destroyed our ability to grow garlic. Here in the Waikato, warm, moist tropical air without a decent cold winter has brought in a brown rust that ruins most garlic. Once your plant sows signs of this you have to dig out your new bulbs. The rust will stop them developing any further anyway.
It's not unreasonable to focus on China since Fonterra in particular seems addicted to it, but it's not the full picture of how different sectors of our economy have changed over time.
NZStats has done the multi-decade animation by sector here:
It shows that also Gdp is more a measure of inflation and cost in the non productive sectors,as they do not compete efficiently,and only capture mostly wage inflation (which requires pay parity from the more efficient producers such as agriculture).
Fairly clear pattern of a difference between sustainable efficiency,and cost plus parts of the economy,a large part of the productivity paradox for the economy in general.
Well as you suggested previously of what we can make or replace domestic,the service sector is reliant on imported technology,of which whilst large parts of the domestic economy (gdp) they are limited in their ability for external trade.
"Another devastating outcome for China would be the likelihood that western corporations would exit China?" America had a President whose professed goal was to make America great and have American companies manufacturing stuff at home. By Americans.
While his daughter was extending her manufacturing businesses in China.
Currently, the US has a president who has made a commitment to intervene militarily in support of Taiwan. That was swiftly walked back by the White House….
Some officials were caught off-guard by the remarks and were not expecting Biden to be so unequivocal but how was it swiftly walked back by the White House….?
"The White House quickly downplayed the comments, saying they don't reflect a change in US policy. It's the third time in recent months — including during a CNN town hall in October — that Biden has said the US would protect Taiwan from a Chinese attack, only to have the White House walk back those remarks. "
I gather the formal mantra is “The White House policy on Taiwan has not changed” and this is rolled out in answer to all questions…..
Even though, what Biden has said on at least 3 occasions is not what the previous policy has been.
The “Indo Pacific Economic Alliance” seems more elbows out stuff from US Imperialism. NZ should not touch this kind of manoeuvring with a 40 foot proverbial–but the Govt. will–with an NZ Labour caucus dedicated to 5 Eyes, and a PM whose commitment to an independent foreign policy in favour of sucking up to the US becomes more obvious by the day.
Anyone and everyone–but on a mutually beneficial bilateral basis–not blocs that lock this country into taking sides in imperialist machinations.
The non aligned movement of nations still exists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement
and Aotearoa NZ should join it, abandon 5 Eyes and the Anglosphere generally. Look at our geographic position, “The Empire” is long gone, this is a Pacific country.
Also, many of those countries may claim to have free trade, but the reality is very, very different. You try taking a case over non-delivery of goods to a Saudi court!
My thoughts about trade going forward are that there are going to be a lot more regional trading blocks due to less problematic logistical routes. Even if we don't trade as much with China due to their issues, there are still plenty of other countries in Asia to trade with, and Australia as well, obviously.
The other thing I would like to see is a democracy trading block. That is, democratic countries choosing to trade with each other ahead of trading with oppressive regimes. That should have the effect of driving change in some of those countries, and hopefully make the world a more peaceful, co-operative place, which I think is essential to solve the major world issues going forward.
Yes I think the democratic world made a mistake in the aftermath of WW2 when after we so successfully shifted prior enemies like Germany and Japan into solid and reliable democratic allies – that we imagined that just by trade alone we could also achieve the same result with Russia and China.
Turns out this kind of unidimensional thinking has fallen badly short.
I think there is a continuum on that issue of stationing US troops (certainly in Germany).
During the Cold War (roughly 1945-70s) – Germany very much did want to have the Americans stationed there – the threat of invasion from the Soviet Union was a very clear and present danger.
From the 70s through to the 90s – there was much less perceived danger of a Soviet invasion, and a consequent waning in the desire to have US troops stationed there – accompanied by the anti-war zeitgeist of the Vietnam era and beyond.
Following German reunification, and throughout the EU formation, there was much belief in fear of Russia as a thing of the past – and therefore no need for American troops.
With the rise of Putin and the increasing bellicosity of Russa, accompanied by internal and fringe 'wars' and an apparent desire to reconstitute the historical boundaries of Mother Russia, Germany once again is very keen on US troops being stationed there.
The US policy was to establish big, powerful capitalist economies on both sides of the new communist threat. West Germany and Japan profited accrdingly.
Small countries. Countries like Korea and Malaysia aren't going to strongarm NZ the way the US tried to when it screwed up the TPPA, nor will they insist we reflect their dodgy politics by denying Tibet/Uyghur oppression or take their party line on special military operations, be they in Iraq or Ukraine.
More than a thousand Palestinians evicted by Israel.
Purportedly to make way for a fucking firing range.
Less than a week after the high court ruling, the Najjars’ house was demolished, marking the start of what activists say will probably be the biggest mass expulsion of Palestiniansin the occupied West Bank since the 1967 war, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from territories captured by Israel.
The court was unswayed by historical documents presented by advocates for the Palestinians, showing what they said was evidence that the proposal to establish a firing range, decades ago, was meant to prevent Palestinians from claiming the land.
“We had 30 minutes to get out what we could,” said Yusara al-Najjar, who was born in a hand-hewn cave on this same slope in the Negev desert 60 years ago. She looked over the pile of broken blocks and twisted metal that had been her family home and wiped her hands with a slap. “It took no time and our house was gone, again.”
To be a Nazi in Russia, you have to be an actual Nazi. Outside Russia the definition becomes pretty loose to the Russians, everything from wearing frilly knickers to not wanting to be conquered by Russia makes you a Nazi to the Putin fanbois – which may explain why the Kremlin's useful idiots keep seeing Nazis everywhere in the Ukraine. You don't have to be the Azov regiment – anyone will do.
Good thing Germans aren't destroying towns and cities, raping and murdering civilians and looting their homes and businesses on the pretext of denazifying it's sovereign neighbour. Eh.
So have the Russians – look up some of the accounts of the taking of Berlin.
However, they seem to have maintained this 'policy' throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st. AFAIK there hasn't been a single war or police action in which Soviet/Russian troops have been involved which hasn't had documented accounts of mass rapes, assaults, deportations, etc.
Most Germans I have known still have still have deep shame over that part of their history. It is not something that most of them are proud of. Quite the opposite, actually. Though I am aware there are far-right nutters there as well.
I lived in West Germany for nearly 2 years. When I visited Dachau near Munich, the car park was mostly filled with buses bringing school students there. I was horrified not by the gas chamber (a tiny one which was never actually used – victims were taken to a castle in the vicinity which had a bigger gas chamber..) but by reading the documentation on the boards.
I read that they kept records of the numbers of Jews killed (hung and fed into cremation unit, or sent to castle gas chamber) but no record of Russian POWs killed. They machine-gunned them in pits and bulldozed the pits over, keeping no records of numbers.
That is horrifying for me.
But I think all West German schoolchildren were being fully educated about this. Nie wieder. (Never again.)
I don't believe that Germans will allow right-wing extremists to take over their country again. It will happen somewhere else, where people have always thought, "Only the Germans could do this – it could never happen here."
The Hunter Biden Laptop story seems like its continuing to suppurate in the background of the Democrat's already gangrenous political reality .It crossed my mind , what if the reason Joe Biden's obsession with the Ukraine and funneling money and weapons to the militants fighting there , had less to do with white guilt ridden liberalism , and was about dirt the Zelensky group had on him and his son? Pure speculation of course but you do have to wonder why America would be so keen to immerse itself in yet another pointless war even given the voracious appetite of American Arms industries and especially since they hav'nt even finished prosecuting the many wars they've already started !!
Anyway Jimmy Dore and Glen Greenwald tackle the laptop story :
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Tuesday, March 19:Kāinga Ora’s dry rot The Spinoff DailyBill McKibben on ‘Climate Superfunds’ making Big Oil pay for climate damage The Crucial YearsPreston Mui on returning to 1980s-style productivity growth NoahpinionAndy Boenau on NIMBYs needing unusual bedfellows Urbanism SpeakeasyNed Resnikoff's case ...
Negative yesterday, negative today. Negative all year, according to one departing reader telling me I’ve grown strident and predictable. Fair enough. If it’s any help, every time I go to write about a certain topic that begins with C and ends with arrrrs, I do brace myself and ask: Again? Are ...
Bryce Edwards writes – It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support ...
Inspirational: The Family of Man is a glorious hymn to human equality, but, more than that, it is a clarion call to human freedom. Because equality, unleavened by liberty, is a broken piano, an unstrung harp; upon which the songs of fraternity will never be played.“Somebody must have been telling lies about ...
Tax Lawyer Barbara Edmonds vs Emperor Justinian I- Nolo Contendere: False historical explanations of pivotal events are very far from being inconsequential.WHEN BARBARA EDMONDS made reference to the Roman Empire, my ears pricked up. It is, lamentably, very rare to hear a politician admit to any kind of familiarity ...
It’s been a tumultuous time in politics in recent months, as the new National-led Government has driven through its “First 100 Day programme”. During this period there’s been a handful of opinion polls, which overall just show a minimal amount of flux in public support for the various parties in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Housing Minister Chris Bishop delivered news – packed with the ingredients to enflame political passions – worthy of supplanting Winston Peters in headline writers’ priorities. He popped up at the post-Cabinet press conference to promise a crackdown on unruly and antisocial state housing tenants. His ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The Reserve Bank is advertising for a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion advisor. The Bank has one mandate – to keep inflation between one and three percent. It has failed in that and is only slowly getting inflation back down to the upper limit. Will it ...
Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency Waka KotahiThe fact that a ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Last week former National Party leader Simon Bridges was appointed by the Government as the new chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA). You can read about the appointment in Thomas Coughlan’s article, Simon Bridges to become chair of NZ Transport Agency ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: Gavin Jacobson talks to Thomas Piketty 10 years on from Capital in the 21st CenturyThe SalvoLocal scoop: Green MP’s business being investigated over migrant exploitation claims StuffSteve KilgallonLocal deep-dive: The commercial contractors making money from School ...
It’s a home - but Kāinga Ora tenants accused of “abusing the privilege” may lose it. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The Government announced a crackdown on Kāinga Ora tenants who were unruly and/or behind on their rent, with Housing Minister Chris Bishop saying a place in a state ...
This is a guest post by Connor Sharp of Surface Light Rail Light rail in Auckland: A way forward sooner than you think With the coup de grâce of Auckland Light Rail (ALR) earlier this year, and the shift of the government’s priorities to roads, roads, and more roads, it ...
Note: As a paid-up Webworm member, I’ve recorded this Webworm as a mini-podcast for you as well. Some of you said you liked this option - so I aim to provide it when I get a chance to record! Read more ...
TL;DR: In my ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.06pm on Monday, March 18:IKEA is accused of planting big forests in New Zealand to green-wash; REDD-MonitorA City for People takes a well-deserved victory lap over Wellington’s pro-YIMBY District Plan votes; A City for PeopleSteven Anastasiou takes a close look at the sticky ...
Buzz from the Beehive Here’s hoping for a lively post-cabinet press conference when the PM and – perhaps – some of his ministers tell us what was discussed at their meeting today. Until then, Point of Order has precious little Beehive news to report after its latest monitoring of the ...
David Farrar writes – We now have almost all 2023 data in, which has allowed me to update my annual table of how labour went against its promises. This is basically their final report card. The promiseThe result Build 100,000 affordable homes over 10 ...
I’m a bit worried that I’ve started a previous newsletter with the words “just when you think they couldn’t get any worse…” Seems lately that I could begin pretty much every issue with that opening. Such is the nature of our coalition government that they seem to be outdoing each ...
Geoffrey Miller writes – Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. ...
Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture ...
Last week Transport Minster Simeon Brown and Mayor Wayne Brown opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre. The new train control centre will see teams from KiwiRail, Auckland Transport and Auckland One Rail working more closely together to improve train services across the city. The Auckland Rail Operations Centre in ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson said in an exit interview with Q+A yesterday the Government can and should sustain more debt to invest in infrastructure for future generations. Elsewhere in the news in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy at 6:36am: Read more ...
Timing is everything. And from China’s perspective, this week’s visit by its foreign minister to New Zealand could be coming at just the right moment. The visit by Wang Yi to Wellington will be his first since 2017. Anniversaries are important to Beijing. It is more than just a happy ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to March 18 include:China’s Foreign Minister visiting Wellington today;A post-cabinet news conference this afternoon; the resumption of Parliament on Tuesday for two weeks before Easter;retiring former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson gives his valedictory speech in Parliament; ...
New Zealand First Leader Winston Peters’s state-of-the-nation speech on Sunday was really a state-of-Winston-First speech. He barely mentioned any of the Government’s key policies and could not even wholly endorse its signature income tax cuts. Instead, he rehearsed all of his complaints about the Ardern Government, including an extraordinary claim ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
A listing of 35 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 10, 2024 thru Sat, March 16, 2024. Story of the week This week we'll give you a little glimpse into how we collect links to share and ...
“I’ve been internalising a really complicated situation in my head.”When they kept telling us we should wait until we get to know him, were they taking the piss? Was it a case of, if you think this is bad, wait till you get to know the real Christopher, after the ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
Happy fourth anniversary, Pandemic That Upended Bloody Everything. I have been observing it by enjoying my second bout of COVID. It’s 5.30 on Sunday morning and only now are lights turning back on for me.Allow me to copy and paste what I told reader Sara yesterday:Depleted, fogged and crappy. Resting, ...
.“$10 and a target that bleeds” - Bleeding Targets for Under $10!.Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.This government appears hell-bent on either scrapping life-saving legislation or reintroducing things that - frustrated critics insist - will be dangerous and likely ...
“It hardly strikes me as fair to criticise a government for doing exactly what it said it was going to do. For actually keeping its promises.”THUNDER WAS PLAYING TAG with lightning flashes amongst the distant peaks. Its rolling cadences interrupted by the here-I-come-here-I-go Doppler effect of the occasional passing car. ...
Subversive & Disruptive Technologies: Just as happened with that other great regulator of the masses, the Medieval Church, the advent of a new and hard-to-control technology – the Internet – is weakening the ties that bind. Then, and now, those who enjoy a monopoly on the dissemination of lies, cannot and will ...
Been Here Before: To find the precedents for what this Coalition Government is proposing, it is necessary to return to the “glory days” of Muldoonism.THE COALITION GOVERNMENT has celebrated its first 100 days in office by checking-off the last of its listed commitments. It remains, however, an angry government. It ...
Bob Edlin writes – And what is the world watching today…? The email newsletter from Associated Press which landed in our mailbox early this morning advised: In the news today: The father of a school shooter has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter; prosecutors in Trump’s hush-money case ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is another Green MP on their way out? And are the Greens severely tarnished by another integrity scandal? For the second time in three months, the Green Party has secretly suspended an MP over integrity issues. Mystery is surrounding the party’s decision to ...
For the last few years, the Green Party has been the party that has managed to avoid the plague of multiple scandals that have beleaguered other political parties. It appears that their luck has run out with a second scandal which, unfortunately for them, coincided with Golraz Ghahraman, the focus ...
TL;DR: The six newsey things that stood out to me as of 6:46am on Saturday, March 16.Andy Foster has accidentally allowed a Labour/Green amendment to cut road user chargers for plug-in hybrid vehicles, which the Government might accept; NZ HeraldThomas CoughlanSimeon Brown has rejected a plea from Westport ...
What seemed a booming success a couple of years ago has collapsed into fraud convictions.I looked at the crash of FTX (short for ‘Futures Exchange’) in November 2022 to see whether it would impact on the financial system as a whole. Fortunately there was barely a ripple, probably because it ...
Anybody following the situation in Ukraine and Russia would probably have been amused by a recent Tweet on X NATO seems to be putting in an awful lot of effort to influence what is, at least according to them, a sham election in an autocracy.When do the Ukrainians go to ...
TL;DR:Shaun Baker on Wynyard Quarter's transformation. Magdalene Taylor on the problem with smart phones. How private equity are now all over reinsurance. Dylan Cleaver on rugby and CTE. Emily Atkin on ‘Big Meat’ looking like ‘Big Oil’.Bernard’s six-stack of substacks at 6pm on March 15Photo by Jeppe Hove Jensen ...
Buzz from the Beehive Finance Minister Nicola Willis had plenty to say when addressing the Auckland Business Chamber on the economic growth that (she tells us) is flagging more than we thought. But the government intends to put new life into it: We want our country to be a ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee has reported back on the Road User Charges (Light Electric RUC Vehicles) Amendment Bill, basicly rubberstamping it. While there was widespread support among submitters for the principle that EV and PHEV drivers should pay their fair share for the roads, they also overwhelmingly disagreed with ...
Peter Dunne writes – This week’s government bailout – the fifth in the last eighteen months – of the financially troubled Ruapehu Alpine Lifts company would have pleased many in the central North Island ski industry. The government’s stated rationale for the $7 million funding was that it ...
See if you can spot the difference. An Iranian born female MP from a progressive party is accused of serial shoplifting. Her name is leaked to the media, which goes into a pack frenzy even before the Police launch an … Continue reading → ...
Ele Ludemann writes – The government is omitting general Treaty references from legislation : The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last Government in a bid to get greater coherence in the public service on Treaty ...
What was that judge thinking?Peter Williams writes – That Golriz Ghahraman and District Court Judge Maria Pecotic were once lawyer colleagues is incontrovertible. There is published evidence that they took at least one case to the Court of Appeal together. There was a report on ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Climate Scorpion – the sting is in the tail. Introducing planetary solvency. A paper via the University of Exeter’s Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.Local scoop:Kāinga Ora starts pulling out of its Auckland projects and selling land RNZ ...
Wellington’s massively upzoned District Plan adds the opportunity for tens of thousands of new homes not just in the central city (such as these Webb St new builds) but also close to the CBD and public transport links. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: Wellington gave itself the chance of ...
It’s Friday and we’re halfway through March Madness. Here’s some of the things that caught our attention this week. This Week in Greater Auckland On Monday Matt asked how we can get better event trains and an option for grade separating Morningside Dr. On Tuesday Matt looked into ...
Something you might not know about me is that I’m quite a stubborn person. No, really. I don’t much care for criticism I think’s unfair or that I disagree with. Few of us do I suppose.Back when I was a drinker I’d sometimes respond defensively, even angrily. There are things ...
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The five things that mattered in Aotearoa’s political economy that we wrote and spoke about via The Kākā and elsewhere for paying subscribers in the last week included:PM Christopher Luxon said the reversal of interest deductibility for landlords was done to help renters, who ...
It was not so much the Labour Party but really the Chris Hipkins party yesterday at Labour’s caucus retreat in Martinborough. The former Prime Minister was more or less consistent on wealth tax, which he was at best equivocal about, and social insurance, which he was not willing to revisit. ...
Buzz from the BeehiveThe text reproduced above appears on a page which records all the media statements and speeches posted on the government’s official website by Melissa Lee as Minister of Media and Communications and/or by Jenny Marcroft, her Parliamentary Under-secretary. It can be quickly analysed ...
For forty years, Robert Muldoon has been a dirty word in our politics. His style of government was so repulsive and authoritarian that the backlash to it helped set and entrench our constitutional norms. His pig-headedness over forcing through Think Big eventually gave us the RMA, with its participation and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Is the new government reducing tax on rental properties to benefit landlords or to cut the cost of rents? That’s the big question this week, after Associate Finance Minister David Seymour announced on Sunday that the Government would be reversing the Labour Government’s removal ...
Saudi Arabia is rarely far from the international spotlight. The war in Gaza has brought new scrutiny to Saudi plans to normalise relations with Israel, while the fifth anniversary of the controversial killing of Jamal Khashoggi was marked shortly before the war began on October 7. And as the home ...
Questions need to be asked on both sides of the worldPeter Williams writes – The NRL Judiciary hands down an eight week suspension to Sydney Roosters forward Spencer Leniu , an Auckland-born Samoan, after he calls Ezra Mam, Sydney-orn but of Aboriginal and Torres Strait ...
Ele Ludemann writes – Contrary to what many headlines and news stories are saying, residential landlords are not getting a tax break. The government is simply restoring to them the tax deductibility of interest they had until the previous government removed it. There is no logical reason ...
I can't remember when it was goodMoments of happiness in bloomMaybe I just misunderstoodAll of the love we left behindWatching our flashbacks intertwineMemories I will never findIn spite of whatever you becomeForget that reckless thing turned onI think our lives have just begunI think our lives have just begunDoes anyone ...
Michael Bassett writes – At first reading, a front-page story in the New Zealand Herald on 13 March was bizarre. A group of severely intellectually limited teenagers, with little understanding of the law, have been pleading to the Justice Select Committee not to pass a bill dealing with ram ...
How much political capital is Christopher Luxon willing to burn through in order to deliver his $2.9 billion gift to landlords? Evidently, Luxon is: (a) unable to cost the policy accurately. As Anna Burns-Francis pointed out to him on Breakfast TV, the original ”rock solid” $2.1 billion cost he was ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read:Jonathon Porritt calling bullshit in his own blog post on mainstream climate science as ‘The New Denialism’.Local scoop:The Wellington City Council’s list of proposed changes to the IHP recommendations to be debated later today was leaked this ...
TL;DR:Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said yesterday tenants should be grateful for the reinstatement of interest deductibility because landlords would pass on their lower tax costs in the form of lower rents. That would be true if landlords were regulated monopolies such as Transpower or Auckland Airport1, but they’re not, ...
This is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Tom Toro Tom Toro is a cartoonist and author. He has published over 200 cartoons in The New Yorker since 2010. His cartoons appear in Playboy, the Paris Review, the New York Times, American Bystander, and elsewhere. Related: What 10 EV lovers ...
The business section of the NZ Herald is full of opinion. Among the more opinionated of all is the ex-Minister of Transport, ex-Minister of Railways, ex MP for Auckland Central (1975-93, Labour), Wellington Central (1996-99, ACT, then list-2005), ex-leader of the ACT Party, uncle to actor Antonia, the veritable granddaddy ...
Hi,Just quickly — I’m blown away by the stories you’ve shared with me over the last week since I put out the ‘Gary’ podcast, where I told you about the time my friend’s flatmate killed the neighbour.And you keep telling me stories — in the comments section, and in my ...
The first season of Rings of Power was not awful. It was thoroughly underwhelming, yes, and left a lingering sense of disappointment, but it was more expensive mediocrity than catastrophe. I wrote at length about the series as it came out (see the Review section of the blog, and go ...
Buzz from the Beehive Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden told Auckland Business Chamber members they were the first audience to hear her priorities as a minister in a government committed to cutting red tape and regulations. She brandished her liberalising credentials, saying Flexible labour markets are the ...
Chris Trotter writes – TO UNDERSTAND WHY NEWSHUB FAILED, it is necessary to understand how TVNZ changed. Up until 1989, the state broadcaster had been funded by a broadcasting licence fee, collected from every citizen in possession of a television set, supplemented by a relatively modest (compared ...
Bob Edlin writes – The Māori Party has been busy issuing a mix of warnings and threats as its expresses its opposition to interest deductibility for landlords and the plans of seabed miners. It remains to be seen whether they follow the example of indigenous litigants in Australia, ...
Every year, in the Budget, Parliament forks out money to government agencies to do certain things. And every year, as part of the annual review cycle, those agencies are meant to report on whether they have done the things Parliament gave them that money for. Agencies which consistently fail to ...
The Government has accepted Labour’s change to the Road User Charge (RUC) discount for hybrid vehicles, meaning there will still be some incentive for people to buy greener vehicles. ...
Kicking the most vulnerable people out of state housing and pushing them towards homelessness will result in a proliferation of poverty and trauma across our most vulnerable communities. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader and MP for Waiariki, Rawiri Waititi has penned a letter asking MPs to support his members bill to remove GST from all food. The bill is expected to go through its first reading in parliament this Wednesday. “I’m calling on all political parties to support my ...
This year is about getting real with Kiwis and discussing the tough issues, as the National Government exacerbates inequality and divides New Zealand, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said ...
The Government adding Significant Natural Areas (SNAs) to its already roaring environmental policy bonfire is an assault on the future of wildlife that makes Aotearoa unique. ...
After 12 years of fighting to protect our moana we are finding ourselves back at square one and back at court. Today, the Environmental Protection Agency is sitting in Hawera to reconsider an application from Trans-Tasman Resources to dig up 50 million tonnes of the seabed in South Taranaki. This ...
Minister Shane Jones’ decision to step away from a seabed mining project is evidence of the murky waters surrounding the Government’s fast-track legislation. ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The growth of Treaty of Waitangi clauses in legislation caused so much worry that a special oversight group was set up by the last government in a bid to get greater coherence in the publicservice on Treaty matters. When ministers first considered the need for tighter oversight in 2021, there ...
The Coalition Government’s miscalculation saga continues as it has forgotten an eyewatering $90 million gap in its interest deductibility cost figures, say Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds and Revenue Spokesperson Deborah Russell. ...
He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission has today released advice that says if the Government doesn’t act now New Zealand is at risk of not meeting its climate goals. ...
The Coalition Government has today confirmed it is abandoning first home buyers who are struggling to get ahead, says Labour Finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds. ...
The New Zealand public voted for a change in direction at the 2023 general election and that is exactly what this coalition government has been delivering in its first 100 days. There was an immediate focus on the economy, easing the cost of living, cracking down on law and order ...
The Government has left the health system as an afterthought, announcing half-baked targets at the last minute of their 100-day plan, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
Kiwis are still waiting for their promised cost of living support after 100 days of a National Government that is taking us backwards, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
100 days of National taking NZ backwardsThe National Government has spent its first 100 days stopping, cutting and reversing. They have scrapped stuff for stuff for the sake of it, without putting up any solutions of their own – and it’s hardworking New Zealanders who will pay for it. ...
The Government must commit to funding free and healthy school lunches, as thousands of people sign the petition to keep them, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti says. ...
If the Government was serious about moving families into public housing, they would build more houses so there is actually somewhere for people to go. ...
The free and healthy school lunches programme feeds our kids, helps them to learn, and saves families money – but it is at risk under this Government, education spokesperson Jan Tinetti said. ...
The Government’s proposed changes to Firearms Prohibition Orders (FPO) add almost nothing new and are merely an attempt to distract from its plans to loosen gun laws, police spokesperson Ginny Andersen and justice spokesperson Dr Duncan Webb said. ...
The great Victorian era English politician Lord Macauley stood in the British House of Parliament and said, "The gallery in which the reporters sit has become a fourth estate of the realm".He understood and outlined even way back then, the significant role and influence media have in a democracy. ...
The government’s attack on Māori health this week is committing tangata-whenua to a premature death, says Te Pāti Māori. “The government have begun their onslaught on Māori health with the abolishment of the Māori Health Authority and smokefree laws in the same day” said health spokesperson and co-leader, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. ...
"The Government is moving quickly to realise an additional $46 million in tariff savings in the EU market this season for Kiwi exporters,” Minister for Trade and Agriculture, Todd McClay says. Parliament is set, this week, to complete the final legislative processes required to bring the New Zealand – European ...
New Zealand’s social workers are qualified, experienced, and more representative of the communities they serve, Social Development and Employment Minister Louise Upston says. “I want to acknowledge and applaud New Zealand’s social workers for the hard work they do, providing invaluable support for our most vulnerable. “To coincide with World ...
Cabinet has agreed to a reduced road user charge (RUC) rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. Owners of PHEVs will be eligible for a reduced rate of $38 per 1,000km once all light electric vehicles (EVs) move into the RUC system from 1 April. ...
Minister of Agriculture and Trade, Todd McClay, says that today’s opening of Riverland Foods manufacturing plant in Christchurch is a great example of how trade access to overseas markets creates jobs in New Zealand. Speaking at the official opening of this state-of-the-art pet food factory the Minister noted that exports ...
Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Wellington today. “It was a pleasure to host Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his first official visit to New Zealand since 2017. Our discussions were wide-ranging and enabled engagement on many facets of New Zealand’s relationship with China, including trade, ...
Kāinga Ora – Homes & Communities has been instructed to end the Sustaining Tenancies Framework and take stronger measures against persistent antisocial behaviour by tenants, says Housing Minister Chris Bishop. “Earlier today Finance Minister Nicola Willis and I sent an interim Letter of Expectations to the Board of Kāinga Ora. ...
Tēna koutou katoa. Greetings everyone. Thank you to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce and the Honourable Simon Bridges for hosting this address today. I acknowledge the business leaders in this room, the leaders and governors, the employers, the entrepreneurs, the investors, and the wealth creators. The coalition Government shares your ...
Minister Winston Peters completed the final leg of his visit to South and South East Asia in Singapore today, where he focused on enhancing one of New Zealand’s indispensable strategic partnerships. “Singapore is our most important defence partner in South East Asia, our fourth-largest trading partner and a ...
Minister of Internal Affairs and Workplace Relations and Safety, Hon. Brooke van Velden, will travel to the Republic of Korea to represent New Zealand at the Third Summit for Democracy on 18 March. The summit, hosted by the Republic of Korea, was first convened by the United States in 2021, ...
ICNZ Speech 7 March 2024, Auckland Acknowledgements and opening Mōrena, ngā mihi nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Good morning, it’s a privilege to be here to open the ICNZ annual conference, thank you to Mark for the Mihi Whakatau My thanks to Tim Grafton for inviting me ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Lead Coordination Minister Judith Collins have expressed their deepest sympathy on the five-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attacks. “March 15, 2019, was a day when families, communities and the country came together both in sorrow and solidarity,” Mr Luxon says. “Today we pay our respects to the 51 shuhada ...
Speech for Financial Advice NZ Conference 5 March 2024 Acknowledgements and opening Morena, Nga Mihi Nui. Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Nor Whanganui aho. Thanks Nate for your Mihi Whakatau Good morning. It’s a pleasure to formally open your conference this morning. What a lovely day in Wellington, What a great ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters held discussions in Jakarta today about the future of relations between New Zealand and South East Asia’s most populous country. “We are in Jakarta so early in our new government’s term to reflect the huge importance we place on our relationship with Indonesia and South ...
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters has announced that the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, will visit New Zealand next week. “We look forward to re-engaging with Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussing the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, which is one of New Zealand’s ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has today opened the new Auckland Rail Operations Centre, which will bring together KiwiRail, Auckland Transport, and Auckland One Rail to improve service reliability for Aucklanders. “The recent train disruptions in Auckland have highlighted how important it is KiwiRail and Auckland’s rail agencies work together to ...
The Government is proud to support the 10th edition of Crankworx Rotorua as the Crankworx World Tour returns to Rotorua from 16-24 March 2024, says Minister for Economic Development Melissa Lee. “Over the past 10 years as Crankworx Rotorua has grown, so too have the economic and social benefits that ...
Legislation implementing coalition Government tax commitments and addressing long-standing tax anomalies will be progressed in Parliament next week, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The legislation is contained in an Amendment Paper to the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill issued today. “The Amendment Paper represents ...
Associate Environment Minister Andrew Hoggard has today announced that the Government has agreed to suspend the requirement for councils to comply with the Significant Natural Areas (SNA) provisions of the National Policy Statement for Indigenous Biodiversity for three years, while it replaces the Resource Management Act (RMA).“As it stands, SNAs ...
Agriculture Minister Todd McClay has classified the drought conditions in the Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts as a medium-scale adverse event, acknowledging the challenging conditions facing farmers and growers in the district. “Parts of Marlborough, Tasman, and Nelson districts are in the grip of an intense dry spell. I know ...
The Government is helping farmers eradicate the significant impact of facial eczema (FE) in pastoral animals, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “A $20 million partnership jointly funded by Beef + Lamb NZ, the Government, and the primary sector will save farmers an estimated NZD$332 million per year, and aims to ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed a successful visit to India, saying it was an important step in taking the relationship between the two countries to the next level. “We have laid a strong foundation for the Coalition Government’s priority of enhancing New Zealand-India relations to generate significant future benefit for both countries,” says Mr Peters, ...
Cabinet has agreed to provide $7 million to ensure the 2024 ski season can go ahead on the Whakapapa ski field in the central North Island but has told the operator Ruapehu Alpine Lifts it is the last financial support it will receive from taxpayers. Cabinet also agreed to provide ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says the launch of a new mobile breast screening unit in Counties Manukau reinforces the coalition Government’s commitment to drive better cancer services for all New Zealanders. Speaking at the launch of the new mobile clinic, Dr Reti says it’s a great example of taking ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Unlocking economic growth and land for housing are critical elements of the Government’s plan for our transport network, and planned upgrades to State Highway 29 (SH29) near Tauriko will deliver strongly on those priorities, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “The SH29 upgrades near Tauriko will improve safety at the intersections ...
Lower fruit and vegetable prices are welcome news for New Zealanders who have been doing it tough at the supermarket, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ reported today the price of fruit and vegetables has dropped 9.3 percent in the 12 months to February 2024. “Lower fruit and vege ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the sixty-eighth session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
Tēnā koutou katoa and greetings to you all. Chair, I am honoured to address the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. I acknowledge the many crises impacting the rights of women and girls. Heightened global tensions, war, climate related and humanitarian disasters, and price inflation all ...
The coalition Government is supporting farmers to enhance land management practices by investing $3.3 million in locally led catchment groups, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced. “Farmers and growers deliver significant prosperity for New Zealand and it’s vital their ongoing efforts to improve land management practices and water quality are supported,” ...
Good evening everyone and thank you for that lovely introduction. Thank you also to the Honourable Simon Bridges for the invitation to address your members. Since being sworn in, this coalition Government has hit the ground running with our 100-day plan, delivering the changes that New Zealanders expect of us. ...
Recommendations from the Climate Change Commission for New Zealand on the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) auction and unit limit settings for the next five years have been tabled in Parliament, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “The Commission provides advice on the ETS annually. This is the third time the ...
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Former Transport Minister and CEO of the Auckland Business Chamber Hon Simon Bridges has been appointed as the new Board Chair of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for a three-year term, Transport Minister Simeon Brown announced today. “Simon brings extensive experience and knowledge in transport policy and governance to the role. He will ...
Good morning all, it is a pleasure to be here as Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology. It is fantastic to see how connected and collaborative the life science and biotechnology industry is here in New Zealand. I would like to thank BioTechNZ and NZTech for the invitation to address ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says he is looking forward to the day when three key water projects in Northland are up and running, unlocking the full potential of land in the region. Mr Jones attended a community event at the site of the Otawere reservoir near Kerikeri on Friday. ...
Associate Finance Minister David Seymour has today announced that the Government has agreed to restore deductibility for mortgage interest on residential investment properties. “Help is on the way for landlords and renters alike. The Government’s restoration of interest deductibility will ease pressure on rents and simplify the tax code,” says ...
Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop will travel to Switzerland today to attend an Executive Committee meeting and Symposium of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Mr Bishop will then travel on to London where he will attend a series of meetings in his capacity as Infrastructure Minister. “New Zealanders believe ...
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"Farmers make a point not to tell our urban cousins how to live, yet Chlöe from central Auckland is hell-bent on having her say about farmers," says ACT Rural Communities spokesman Mark Cameron. “On her first day in the House as Green ...
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Uber has argued it does not have as much control over drivers as the unions suggest, and wants a judgment ruling that drivers are employees and not contractors set aside and sent back to the Employment Court. The 2022 ruling followed a three-week hearing in which four drivers sought to ...
What can and can’t be purchased by disabled people or their carers has been slashed in an effort by the Ministry of Disabled People Whaikaha to save money. The purchasing guidelines, a set of rules that sets out what can be purchased using the various streams of Government disability funding, ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Tod Wright and Hien Nguyen, Fiscal incidence in New Zealand: The effects of taxes and benefits on household incomes in tax year 2018/19 . Analyses of the distributional impact of taxation and government ...
The Treasury has published today a new Analytical Note by Cory Davis, Boston Hart and Benjamin Stubbing, Household cost-of-living impacts from the Emissions Trading Scheme and using transfers to mitigate regressive outcomes . This Analytical Note ...
A coalition of public transport and climate organisations, united as ‘Transport for All’, is actively opposing the government’s transport proposals. The draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) includes plans for higher fares for public transport, ...
Greater Wellington is inviting feedback on proposed changes to its Revenue and Financing Policy. The Revenue and Financing Policy covers the Council’s various sources of funding, and how the cost of services is shared across the region. This includes ...
Labour has conceded it could have done more to deal with disruptive state housing tenants while in government but says the current coalition is going too far. ...
The band has asked their record label to issue a cease and desist to stop the NZ First leader using their 1997 hit to support his ‘misguided political views’. “I get knocked down, but I get up again,” blared through the speakers on Sunday as Winston Peters took the stage ...
By Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific journalist Food rationing is underway in remote areas in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands following torrential rain and flash flooding. More than 20 people have been reported dead in Chimbu Province. In nearby Enga Province, the centre of last month’s massacre, a 15-year-old boy has been ...
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Brannavan Gnanalingam reviews the debut novel by Saraid de Silva.One of the most baffling things for children who move to a new country is what their parents’ (or grandparents’) lives were like prior to moving – for kids in particular, they’re too busy trying to fit in in their ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elise Klein, Associate professor, Australian National University It’s commonly accepted that women do the vast majority of caregiving in Australian society. But less appreciated is that Indigenous women do larger amounts of unpaid care than any other group. Working with the Aboriginal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Adrian Beaumont, Election Analyst (Psephologist) at The Conversation; and Honorary Associate, School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Joe Biden and Donald Trump have both secured their parties’ nominations for the November 5 United States general election by winning a ...
Comment: There has been a striking contrast in trans-Tasman interest about Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi’s visit to New Zealand and Australia. While the Australian press has been full of articles about the visit – including his curious decision to meet with former prime minister and China booster Paul Keating ...
After years of pressuring banks and other institutions to stop investing in fossil fuels, climate campaigners are making some progress. So how does divestment work?For years, climate activists have been pushing banks and other big institutions to divest from fossil fuels. New research from climate advocacy group 350 Aotearoa ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. The three young Polynesians are part of a K-pop fan community in Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s one of many that have sprung up worldwide as K-pop has gone ...
For Boba, Ethan and Ashley, K-pop is a place to belong, a way to express themselves, and a bridge to connect with others. This one-off documentary presents three intimate portraits of young Polynesians who are pulled into a Korean cultural phenomenon. K-POLYS is directed by Litia Tuiburelevu, Produced by Hex ...
There’s ample evidence demonstrating free school lunch programmes provide wide benefits across schools, households and communities according to public health researchers. ACT Minister David Seymour wants to reduce the spending on Aotearoa New Zealand’s ...
By Wata Shaw in Suva Fiji is facing an exodus of Fijians as many are leaving for overseas seeking employment and education and others are migrating, says Opposition MP Viliame Naupoto. Speaking in Parliament, he said: “His Excellency’s speech (Ratu Wiliame Katonivere) comes after a little over one year of ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming comments from Christopher Luxon this morning recommitting to ‘no new taxes’ as part of Budget 2024. “Mr Luxon’s refusal at the Post-Cabinet press conference yesterday to repeat the ‘no new taxes’ promise ...
SAFE is urgently calling on the Environment Committee to reject the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill, and is urging New Zealanders to rally behind the call. The proposed Bill, currently under consideration with the Environment select committee, ...
Teammates who spend all their time picking fights with spectators are only helpful for the other team, writes Madeleine Chapman. Anyone who has ever played a team sport competitively, particularly as a child and particularly, for some reason, basketball, will know that there’s a lot of politics involved. While there ...
The long-running Wellington music festival is too focused on the Jim Beam-ness and not enough on the Homegrown-ness.There is something about Homegrown that’s difficult to place. A barely perceptible-ness. Like feeling a ghost is watching you from the corner of the room but when you look, there’s nothing there. ...
The latest Ipsos New Zealand Issues Monitor reveals that fewer New Zealanders believe crime / law and order is one of the top issues facing our country. In 2018, Ipsos New Zealand started tracking the key issues facing New Zealand. In this wave ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Griffiths, Deputy Program Director, Budgets and Government, Grattan Institute Australia’s political donations rules are woefully inadequate, but donations reform is finally on the agenda. The federal government has signalled its interest in reform and will soon begin briefing MPs on its ...
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As part of our series exploring how New Zealanders live and our relationship with money, a teacher explains why he and his partner are in frugal mode – and how they’re making it work. Gender: Male Age: 35Ethnicity: Pākehā Role: I am an intermediate school teacher and my partner is ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sarah Bendall, Senior Lecturer, Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences, Australian Catholic University Binge Mary & George, the new British television drama series, depicts the real-life story of Mary Villiers and her son George, and their social climbing at the ...
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The finance minister is denying that there’s a $5.6b shortfall in paying for the government’s campaign promises, including tax cuts. At his post-cabinet press conference yesterday, the PM refused to rule out new taxes to pay for the cuts, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s ...
Kāinga Ora tenants abused by their neighbours are doubting the government's crackdown on disruptive tenants will make a difference on their behaviour. ...
Kāinga Ora is New Zealand’s biggest residential landlord, housing more than 180,000 vulnerable people in more than 67,000 properties. Yesterday the government announced a crackdown on its tenants who fall behind on rent. One longtime Kāinga Ora tenant shares her experience.For 18 years I lived in a 1960s standalone ...
Why does this myth persist, and what’s the real reason our skin is suffering?It’s one of the biggest international grievances New Zealanders hold, up there with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior and 1981’s underarm incident. We’re quick to tell international travellers that the world’s pollution led to the ...
Bob’s relationship with certain members of Lincoln’s academic staff continued to deteriorate in the 1990s. Others supported him publicly, though articles such as Roland Clark’s 1993 piece in Growing Today cannot have pleased the university management. Clark wrote that Bob was selling onions from the Biological Husbandry Unit to a ...
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A huge seven months lies in store for the White Ferns, beginning this week with the visit of England and culminating with the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October. Starting on Tuesday in Dunedin, the world ranked No. 2 visitors will play five T20s and three ODIs, ...
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When the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act was introduced in 2009 it was firmly targeted at gangs and drugs. The legislation means police no longer need a conviction to seize assets that criminals can’t prove were paid for legitimately, as long as their alleged offences are punishable by more than a ...
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Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
Evicting more people from state housing is ignorant to the consequences of poverty, the Greens say, but the Housing Minister says it's a privilege that can be taken away if abused. ...
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He’s bringing ‘Sophie’ back, yeah. Goodshirt’s ‘Sophie’ music video is one of the most instantly recognisable New Zealand music videos of all time. Featuring a woman listening to the song on headphones while her entire house is burgled behind her, the video won the New Zealand music award for Best ...
Joe Hawke is the Rosa Parks of New Zealand
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Parks
She sat on a bus for an hour. Joe Hawke stood on his land for 507 days.
Joe Hawke is the Joe Hawke of New Zealand and doesn't need comparing to anything.
I think the comparison is apt. It is hard to downplay the significance of what Joe Hawke and Rosa Parks did. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white woman. Rosa Parks began a movement. The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 13 months.
When Joe Hawke raised his family's small holiday camping tent on Bastion Pt. he began a movement that is still continuing.
From Joe Hawke's simple act of defiance, a whole movement grew.
From Joe Hawke's example Eva Rickard led a successful occupation of the Raglan Golf course. More recently Pania Newton led a successful occupation of Ihuamatao.
Leaders with the courage and foresight of Joe Hawke or Rosa Parks or Eva Rickard or Pania Newton are rare. Almost once in a generation do they appear.
The thousands that turned up at Bastion Pt. Takaparawha yesterday the first day of his tangi are a testament to the greatness of his legacy.
Even a contingent of New Zealand police in full uniform came to pay their respects.
Of the 222 people arrested by police at Bastion Pt. half were Pakeha supporters.
What inspiring leaders like Joe Hawke and Rosa Parks had in common is that they both belonged to the whole world.
Truth to power.
bloody, witless and absolutely needless ignominy
https://twitter.com/HillelNeuer/status/1528668629482541057
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Bondarev said he had "not seen any alternative" than to resign: "I don't think it will change a lot, frankly, but I think it may be one little brick into the bigger wall which would eventually be built. I hope so."
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61555390
This decision could not have been easy or comfortable, giving up his position would have required an enormous amount of self sacrifice. All credit to Morris Bondarev, for having the courage of his convictions and acting on them.
Unfortunately the Russian Federation representative to New Zealand is the complete opposite,
Totally lacking in principle or morals, guilty of knowingly spreading fake news and lies in support of the bloody invasion and occupation of Ukraine. He won't be resigning his diplomatic post on principle any time soon.
All Left anti-war activists need to demand the immediate expulsion of this immoral bloodthirsty toady scumbag from our country.
Poots' boys will be brewing tea, sharpening, umbrellas and booking their cathedral tours.
https://twitter.com/BBCSteveR/status/1528805745738801152
I’d imagine that not all Russians living in Aotearoa-New Zealand are necessarily strong supporters of the war in Ukraine. So, why deprive all of them from an Ambassador, which is obviously a bit more than a symbolic gesture and extreme virtue-signalling?
"All Left anti-war activists need to demand the immediate expulsion of this immoral bloodthirsty toady scumbag from our country." JHTG
"…obviously a bit more than a symbolic gesture…" Incognito.
You got that right.
Compared to at least 231 children killed and 470 children children maimed, a bit more than a symbolic gesture is the least we could do.
I guarantee incognito, that if it was your child that was killed or maimed, you would be calling for something, obviously a bit more than a symbolic gesture.
And I could also pretty much guarantee that genuine anti-war Russian expats here, would be prepared to make the sacrifice and undergo the inconvenience of not having their legation handy.
After all lots anti-war Russian citizens have sacrificed far more.
Are you a genuine anti-war Russian expat or an anti-Putin one? How’s severing diplomatic ties, symbolic or otherwise, going to help the victims of war or help to end the war peacefully? If the Embassy is spreading falsehoods and propaganda here in Aotearoa-New, deliberately, to influence public opinion (or of expats only?), then they should be told STFU. Because that’s clearly in our control-sphere.
Not to mention the NZ citizens in Russia and nearby Baltic states who will be left without help when the NZ ambassador to Russia is booted.
We don't have Consular representation in every country. One of my relatives died suddenly in Sweden and as we did not have a representative there at the time, everything had to be done through The Hague. The MFAT people here and in The Hague were very helpful and everything was sorted out very quickly.
That’s a fair point and things don’t necessarily become impossible or extremely cumbersome without an Ambassador. It won’t affect me personally because I’m not a Russian expat, but just another armchair warrior living in the comfort of a warm house in Aotearoa-New Zealand.
"extreme virtue-signalling"…you've come to the right place.
Kick him out, you say?
If only… Oh, you mean the Ambassador. Yes, him too.
It's a tricky thing, expelling ambassadors – usually reserved for the outbreak of hostilities. The long term relationship with other states is in principle more at issue than the momentary vileness of their leadership.
But it wouldn't be a bad symbolic move – to close the embassy until Putin is gone, and Ukrainian territory is no longer occupied. We don't have the guns to push Putin around, but we are a soft power leader, as was shown with the apartheid protests.
The question is whether NZ chooses to lead. And – it might be a more progressive way to approach the problem than military aid. I expect it would prove electorally popular, and our allies would like it, without the drawbacks we suffered from supporting their ill-starred adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jenny, in the immortal words of The Amazing Rhythm Aces
” That Russian would tell a lie even if the truth was working better”
(slightly amended)
Expel the Russian Ambassador
One thing I very much agree with our government on is the need to diversify from China.
Here is a fascinating video from Peter Zeihan, geopolitical commentator, explaining a lot of the factors impacting on China at the moment that mean it is unlikely to be a reliable partner going forward.
I think the government primarily had in mind the potential of China invading Taiwan. However, as Zeihan points out, that is less likely now since China has likely been sobered up by the events in Ukraine. China likely realises that if the same degree of sanctions were applied to China as have been to Russia, China would quickly be totally destroyed economically as it is a net importer of most raw materials including energy.
Also, another devastating outcome for China would be the likelihood that western corporations would exit China in a similar way that they have from Russia.
More problematic for China is the issue of demographics. Due to their one child policy that was in place for decades, China has one of the fastest ageing populations in the world. According to Zeihan, recent censuses have been over-counting the Chinese population by 100 million or more. If correct, these factors could lead to the Chinese population halving by 2050.
Another huge factor at the moment is the Covid lockdowns in China. The Chinese vaccine is useless, and is ineffective against later strains of Covid. Hence, their only option is to lock their populations down. This is having a major impact on their ability to manufacture within China, and is likely to keep continuing to do so every time a Covid outbreak occurs.
Another factor that occurs to me is that many companies are seeing the effect on the likes of Germany on becoming too reliant on a potential future enemy. Hence, probably many organisations are reconsidering their reliance on China for similar reasons.
The takeaway from this and other reasons is the businesses need to reconsider their reliance on China both from the exporting and importing perspective. Companies that have shifted their manufacturing to China probably need to consider bringing their manufacturing back to NZ and automate to be competitive, or look for other low wage, more friendly economies such as India for their manufacturing.
Very interesting stuff, and only part of the puzzle as to why the nature of trade in terms of globalisation is changing forever.
“low wage” economies–that's the spirit Smithfield!
Not saying I agree with that strategy. Just saying that is one of the options many corporations would consider.
Laughable.
Successive NZ Governments, driven by the farming lobby, have killed any nascent possibilies of industries, other than exporting dairy to China, leaving us with few alternatives.
We will never recover the local skill base they destroyed, for one.
If anyone thinks our "friend" the USA, is going to spite their own local producers to look after NZ, I have a bridge to sell you,
Not so sure. We are moving into a world food crisis with events happening around the world. So, I think there will be plenty of takers for the food we produce.
We probably have an opportunity to move some of that towards grains given the world shortage and high prices.
The biggest downside for NZ is that our internal food prices are going to be very high. But at least we have access to food. Not so much for some countries going forward.
"We are moving into a world food crisis with events happening around the world."
This is true, but what goes up must come down. We seem currently at the whim of markets beyond our control – but that part of it is surely at least partially within our control. Some stability, locally, is doable, if not palatable.
We are not 'feeding the world' at such exorbitant prices, we are feeding the rich.
NZ needs to look after NZ, that should include companies operating in NZ. Tax is not everything a company should provide. Goods and services at reasonable rates is, I reckon, quite reasonable.
Yep, footwear, clothing, car assembly, much general manufacturing, textiles, and many others have been closed or gone offshore since traitor Douglas had his way.
What these delivered above all was full time employment for thousands, who were discarded in the 80s and 90s and never retrained or considered in a strategic way.
The State Sector is now a snake pit of competing interests–including private capital–rather than a public service.
With pandemics and climate disaster and imperialist power plays, this is the very time NZ could do with a basic pharmaceutical industry and many others.
Certainly interesting times. I was discussing with my wife's sister who was over from Auz recently. I commented that many firms were going to have to consider moving their manufacturing back to NZ. She said it is already happening in Australia. So, will be interesting to see what happens going forward.
It isn't just the manufacturing factories. Factories that do operate in NZ are likely sourcing components from China, and will likely have to start making those in-house, or find other sources.
Agreed – the large global vendor I work for has announced intentions to spend U$4b on new manufacturing capacity – and none of it will be in China.
Supply chain issues have been experienced as a traumatic speed bump at board levels all over the industrialised world and much of the rest of this decade will see organisations scrambling to re-shore and resource shorter, more reliable manufacturing.
Douglas continedthe process of killing local employment and industry, to pander to the farming lobby that still happens today.
Muldoon killed boat building and caravan manufacture for "social welfare for sheep". Douglas and co, and even the previous Labour Government sacrificed them for, often illusory, "Free trade benefits". Even this Government has other industries, and tax payers, paying for farmings free ride in the ERP.
It's cost us dearly, to the extent that decoupling from dairy exports to China will be almost impossible.
NZ has a thriving boat building sector – not quite sure what you mean here?
It's mostly directed towards the recreational (and for the big money) luxury end of the market – but all of those skills are very transferrable.
What tsmithfield seems to be referring to is a (possible) desire to bring back some manufacturing to NZ. I don't know why that seems to attract such negativity. Yes, it will require tooling up and training a workforce. And the bad part of that is….?
I agree that the Ukraine War has been a wakeup call for many companies about the dangers of strategic supply from one country.
"NZ has a thriving boat building sector". No.
NZ has a boat building sector, which is a pale shadow of what it could have been. Like most of our industry.
In Muldoons time for example. We were carrying a half dozen Farr 6000's to Oz every week. Shortly after the boat tax, we took the molds to Oz. Then Douglas and Co came along, and put the knife in even more. Now we import Benetau's from France. West Australia is building the Aluminum fast ferries that we first designed here.
Well, we have a different definition of 'thriving'.
What part of that history, makes it impossible to reverse?
That's the point that @tsmithfield is making – that there may very well be an incentive to repatriate some of those industries.
Is that not a good thing?
"What part of that history, makes it impossible to reverse?"
"That's the point that @tsmithfield is making – that there may very well be an incentive to repatriate some of those industries".
I wish.
Those are very, very tough lessons KJT and I sure won't dare knock the degree of human suffering they imply.
I've long advocated for training, industries and tooling to be kept local.
We have to restart from a very low base though.
No training for decades, has meant most skilled tradespeople are my age or older. Those that are still alive! Our machinery was sold to China nearly 40 years ago, and hasn't been replaced. NZ businesses ability to innovate, has been overtaken by generations of "Managers" whose only skill is screwing down wages. A disadvantage of relying on low wages to grow business profits. So much of our land and infrastructure has been sold offshore, even that room to manoeuvre is gone.
NZ top 10 exports by value 2021.
Clearly dominated by primary production. Contrast this to say Finland a nation of similar size that has successfully pivoted toward manufacturing – names like Nokia, Wartsillia, Valmet, Metso and Outotec being leading vendors globally in their industries. This being the direct result of a govt strategy first conceived around the same time as Muldoon to transition their economy away from pure primary production (most wood based) to higher value add.
NZ obviously suffered from the additional challenge of isolation. A quick glance a globe suggests that at least 95% of the human population literally lives on the other side of the planet from us. We are more remote than we think. Yet despite this we have still managed export huge quantities of high volume low value primary products such as logs. The problem may be more complex than mere geography.
Why could Finland do what NZ could not? The answers are not simple – cultural, educational and political factors all have played into this. KJT makes a fair point that the extremist politics of the 80's went about attempting such a process – but with all the wrong outcomes. And we never seem to have recovered the nerve to attempt such 'big idea' political reform ever again.
“KJT makes a fair point that the extremist politics of the 80’s went about attempting such a process – but with all the wrong outcomes.”
I think that our hand was forced in that respect in many ways. That is because we are a small player in a big market. Hence, we need to adapt to what the world is doing, or suffer the consequences.
One advantage of being small is that it is that small means that it is a lot easier to adapt more quickly to changing circumstances. For instance, it should be quite easy for us to change our emphasis away from dairy to some degree and focus more on grain production where the climate suits, as that is an immediate opportunity with grain shortages due to the Ukrainian conflict.
Think about a huge container ship trying to reverse course compared to a small jet boat.
If there is a lesson to be taken from the past few years is that supply chains can adapt well enough to shifts on a decadal scale. At any scale large or small. But fast moving events become impossible to respond to.
Converting say Canterbury from dairy to wheat is obviously doable, but I would hazard a guess it would take at least 3 – 5 years to see a substantial result. Is that going to be fast enough?
Oats.
The rise and rise of oat milk in Australia – hospitality | Magazine (hospitalitymagazine.com.au)
We do produce grain here now, and our production seems to be increasing.
Probably one of the problems for NZ is that our climate can be a bit variable which can affect production. For instance, I imagine grain production would have been down in Canterbury this year due to the damp summer we had.
On the other hand, I image the central Otago area would be good for grain growing. It probably has a climate not that dissimilar to Ukraine I suspect.
Not saying it is a bad idea per se, but what is our competitive advantage with say Australia? Grain production works best when you have vast areas of open flat land where highly automated machinery can operate unimpeded at scale. And can harvest millions of tonnes with relatively low labour.
And then you need the transport and handling infrastructure to get it into ships. Again all doable – but it might take a decade to achieve. Again I am not saying it is a bad idea and transitioning some dairy to oats or even barley could well make a lot of sense.
But that feels just like a shuffling of the old low value add primary industry export deck – and do little to get NZ out of the 'nice but a bit impoverished country cousin' trap we have been in for most of my adult life.
Canterbury used to produce a large amount of grain for stock feed.
Now largely replaced with imported palm kernal. With the loss of overseas exchange that implies. And water and soil depleting dairy on the plains.
Loaded Canterbury wheat for NRM, then paper for Oz and return with Aussie wheat for bread making.
Competitive advantage can apply. However import substition is also an underrated benefit.
"Not saying it is a bad idea per se, but what is our competitive advantage with say Australia?''
I am not sure that competitive advantage is much of an issue when there is a world shortage of something. Countries will be accessing grain from anywhere it can be grown I suspect.
Also, perhaps we could be supplying a lot of our own needs. I imagine the cost of fuel and freight is going to make grain production for our own needs will be a lot more cost-competitive now.
Canterbury still is a large grain producer (along with otago and southland) the South Island produces all of its own milling wheat.
When we had the wheat board all of NZ was sufficient in milling wheat.NZ wheat yields per hecatare are around 14-16 tons,OZ around 3-4,difference is the low land cost in oz.
The more interesting question then is why does New Zealand have such a thriving and resilient economy?
The 1980s structural adjustment was 35 years ago.
There is now little that is answered analysing it further.
Thriving for who?
Frankly anyone on less than a median household income is living hand to mouth with no prospect of it ever getting better. Even those further up the income ladder can find themselves by high housing and living costs.
In my last role in NZ back before 2013 I was in the top 5% of taxpayers that year – yet despite an absurdly abstemious lifestyle I was doing well to save $5k pa. of cash. In Australia I can do that in a month.
The difference has two core reasons. One is that Australian labour productivity is about 15% higher than NZ – because so much of what they do is higher value add. The second reason is that their Wages Share of GDP is about 15% higher – and the root cause of that is a better political balance between employers and employees. They still have powerful unions in a way NZ does not for instance.
Combine those two numbers and there is your 30% higher incomes in Australia. And while inflation is changing the ground rapidly everywhere – it is still my view that the cost of living in Australia is a good 15% lower – especially housing. That adds up to a stark difference.
Now I agree NZ has been remarkably resilient, we are way short of experiencing a crisis like Sri Lanka. But I would still repeat my last para above – that the political trauma of the 80's holds NZ back from a truly bold restructuring that might allow us to look more like Finland than say Portugal.
Comparisons with Australia are natural but invidious. New Zealand has recovered slightly faster, spent slightly more per capita on recovery, but otherwise we are tracking remarkably close to Australia in no small part because we are about as integrated to Australia's larger economy as it is possible to be without being a state.
Australia's depth of public superannuation savings makes them one of the wealthiest countries in the world per capita. And yet there are several million living in poverty and a whole bunch of them are children, just like us.
We are not a counter-factual of Australia.
Plenty do of course make the choice you make and seek higher wages in Australia – principally because they have a depth of specialisation that we will never have and realistically won't ever have.
It's more remarkable to me that so many return and bring what they have earned back. The days of the brain drain are decades gone.
We are who we are with the resources we have.
We have the strength of government that we have.
Most of New Zealand's long term economic strengths won't change no matter which government is in power.
I agree the two nations are different – their geographies alone could not be more contrasting. But as you say we are still closely as integrated with them socially and economically as it is possible without being an actual state.
It is the political dimension that is missing and for this reason I think we do not reap the full benefits of this close relationship. Imagine for example a region of NZ like say the whole SI where no-one was allowed to vote, and had no political representatives in Wgtn – yet were tied to the NI economically and socially as NZ is to Australia. Would anyone think this a good idea?
Australia's depth of public superannuation savings makes them one of the wealthiest countries in the world per capita.
Australia means tests its superannuitants, but we don't. Our esteemed PM said she would resign before making any changes to Super.
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/income-test-for-pensions?context=22526
That higher wage structure in Australia probably does have the benefit of allowing our own industries to be competitive with Australian ones when it comes to sourcing work from Australia.
This could start becoming more of a thing if Australian companies are repatriating more of their industry back to Australia from China.
Another one on "Planet Key"?
Take out real estate inflation and the true growth figures are not impressive. Decades of economic pretention – but little to support the fiction of competent economic management.
How do you think small business is funded in this country? Banks?
Nope. It's funded on real estate loans from the houses people own.
Taking out real estate increases from GDP is as meaningless as EBIDTA.
Were that the case the narrowing of the property owner base, and the supplanting of them by speculators, ought to be ringing alarm bells even in the necrotic nerve tissue of Treasury.
The simple fact is that our economic advisors have been lying about their results. Far from being world leading economic operators, they are lazy, superstitious, and fundamentally dishonest.
And yet somehow these vermin get to opine on economic and social policy. No wonder life is hard, and getting harder.
“God send trials not to impair us but to improve us”
I see now as a time of opportunity for new business to develop in the gaps and cracks that are now appearing and making NZ vulnerable because so much production has gone offshore (the likes of F&P) or were largely closed down (the NZR and air NZ workshops). Even Thyroxine, which was made by Glaxo at Bunnythorpe near Fielding is now imported. Through the first Lock Down prescriptions were limited to no more than one month’s supply at a time. This is a pill one takes daily to stay well for the rest of one’s life usually.
Leave the farmers alone to get on with producing our food and exports and start making NZ as self-sufficient as possible again.
You think that's bad. I couldn't buy any darn garlic in the supermarket yesterday!
But seriously. Garlic's quite the dietary staple not some tropical fruit we can't grow. We certainly need to rethink what we're doing. Hoping it blows over is naive and lacking in foresight, hindsight and care.
What I am doing about garlic is growing my own …. Its very easy to grow but of course you need a bit of dirt to grow it and not everyone has that.
I read once that garlic uptakes toxic elements very readily – thats why I grow my own and not buy the cheap Chinese stuff.
Haha. I put many clumps about the place strategically, so as to make it a 'perennial' of sorts on the section. My chickens (and, I admit I was involved) ate all of it.
I hope you ate the garlic'd chickens quickly. My vege garden is ring fenced – no chickens, no ducks, no rabbits can enter. You could probably grow garlic as a pot plant.
DB if you are desperate. A tube of Gourmet Garlic (Australian grown) is 120gm for $6.00 odd and lasts 4 weeks in the tube once opened refreidgerated. I know!! Plastic!! However some dishes are not the same without garlic. This is crushed. Cheers.
Hey good thinking Patricia I'd not thought of value added products, even some granules would have helped. Am so accustomed to having it fresh aye.
@ Janet. My attempts at garlic in pots wasn't great. Yes the potting mix was a bit heavy, but they seem to prefer real dirt. Probably because of their mycorrhizal associations. I reckon if people were to attempt this mixing some real dirt in with potting mix should help.
Future garlic experiments will happen. I really do want them permanent in the landscape, wee plant cages may be required while the chooks still about.
little bit of effort and yeah it dont like weeds….grow your own,,,,very rewarding
Climate change has all but destroyed our ability to grow garlic. Here in the Waikato, warm, moist tropical air without a decent cold winter has brought in a brown rust that ruins most garlic. Once your plant sows signs of this you have to dig out your new bulbs. The rust will stop them developing any further anyway.
All part of the 6th great extinction, I fear.
It's not unreasonable to focus on China since Fonterra in particular seems addicted to it, but it's not the full picture of how different sectors of our economy have changed over time.
NZStats has done the multi-decade animation by sector here:
Which industries contributed to New Zealand's GDP? | Flourish
Interesting how very dynamic some sectors like agriculture and construction have been. Way more than I would have guessed.
It shows that also Gdp is more a measure of inflation and cost in the non productive sectors,as they do not compete efficiently,and only capture mostly wage inflation (which requires pay parity from the more efficient producers such as agriculture).
Baumols cost disease fuels inequality.
https://twitter.com/BaldwinRE/status/1380768814661525505
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baumol%27s_cost_disease
Crikey I'd live to see that chart done for New Zealand.
Agree. My cellphone services certainly aren't down.
And no utilities on the chart (electricity, gas & water, etc. are all up significantly)
Fairly clear pattern where services are up and goods are down.
Fairly clear pattern of a difference between sustainable efficiency,and cost plus parts of the economy,a large part of the productivity paradox for the economy in general.
Fairly clear pattern of services v manufacturing…tradable v non tradable.
We are kidding ourselves.
Well as you suggested previously of what we can make or replace domestic,the service sector is reliant on imported technology,of which whilst large parts of the domestic economy (gdp) they are limited in their ability for external trade.
Sadly that is true and not likely to change anytime soon….unless we have no option, which may well be possible.
"Another devastating outcome for China would be the likelihood that western corporations would exit China?" America had a President whose professed goal was to make America great and have American companies manufacturing stuff at home. By Americans.
While his daughter was extending her manufacturing businesses in China.
Currently, the US has a president who has made a commitment to intervene militarily in support of Taiwan. That was swiftly walked back by the White House….
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/23/politics/biden-taiwan-china-japan-intl-hnk/index.html
Meaning the silly old demented duffer did not follow their instructions..
Some officials were caught off-guard by the remarks and were not expecting Biden to be so unequivocal but how was it swiftly walked back by the White House….?
Quote from the linked article:
More in-depth coverage here
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10846245/Analysis-White-House-walked-Biden-claim-Taiwan-time-NINE-months.html
I gather the formal mantra is “The White House policy on Taiwan has not changed” and this is rolled out in answer to all questions…..
Even though, what Biden has said on at least 3 occasions is not what the previous policy has been.
The “Indo Pacific Economic Alliance” seems more elbows out stuff from US Imperialism. NZ should not touch this kind of manoeuvring with a 40 foot proverbial–but the Govt. will–with an NZ Labour caucus dedicated to 5 Eyes, and a PM whose commitment to an independent foreign policy in favour of sucking up to the US becomes more obvious by the day.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/new-zealand-joins-world-powers-in-indo-pacific-economic-alliance/6F5JWPSN5A2PRZRNJHEH6ZDUIM/
Just out of curiosity, who do you think we should trade and form alliances with?
My guess would be the very industrious Leninist-Marxist pixies who live in a secret cavern under the Antarctic Ice Sheet.
To quote old Fraser from Dad's Army; "We're doomed, we're doomed.."
Anyone and everyone–but on a mutually beneficial bilateral basis–not blocs that lock this country into taking sides in imperialist machinations.
The non aligned movement of nations still exists
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Aligned_Movement
and Aotearoa NZ should join it, abandon 5 Eyes and the Anglosphere generally. Look at our geographic position, “The Empire” is long gone, this is a Pacific country.
So only trade with the Third World, then….
Also, many of those countries may claim to have free trade, but the reality is very, very different. You try taking a case over non-delivery of goods to a Saudi court!
“Just out of curiosity, who do you think we should trade and form alliances with?”
I am obviously a fan-boy of Peter Zeihan. But no apologies there. His stuff is excellent and highly insightful.
He says a lot of interesting stuff about how globalisation is starting to collapse. And it looks like NZ is quite well positioned compared to other countries. (Notice NZ is coloured "blue"on that map, and we get a good mention in that video).
My thoughts about trade going forward are that there are going to be a lot more regional trading blocks due to less problematic logistical routes. Even if we don't trade as much with China due to their issues, there are still plenty of other countries in Asia to trade with, and Australia as well, obviously.
The other thing I would like to see is a democracy trading block. That is, democratic countries choosing to trade with each other ahead of trading with oppressive regimes. That should have the effect of driving change in some of those countries, and hopefully make the world a more peaceful, co-operative place, which I think is essential to solve the major world issues going forward.
Yes I think the democratic world made a mistake in the aftermath of WW2 when after we so successfully shifted prior enemies like Germany and Japan into solid and reliable democratic allies – that we imagined that just by trade alone we could also achieve the same result with Russia and China.
Turns out this kind of unidimensional thinking has fallen badly short.
The US retained tens of thousands of troops in both Japan and Germany, whether they wanted them or not
I don't think they would be asking them to go home at the moment!! But I might be completely wrong about that…
I think there is a continuum on that issue of stationing US troops (certainly in Germany).
During the Cold War (roughly 1945-70s) – Germany very much did want to have the Americans stationed there – the threat of invasion from the Soviet Union was a very clear and present danger.
From the 70s through to the 90s – there was much less perceived danger of a Soviet invasion, and a consequent waning in the desire to have US troops stationed there – accompanied by the anti-war zeitgeist of the Vietnam era and beyond.
Following German reunification, and throughout the EU formation, there was much belief in fear of Russia as a thing of the past – and therefore no need for American troops.
With the rise of Putin and the increasing bellicosity of Russa, accompanied by internal and fringe 'wars' and an apparent desire to reconstitute the historical boundaries of Mother Russia, Germany once again is very keen on US troops being stationed there.
Losers don't get choices.
The US policy was to establish big, powerful capitalist economies on both sides of the new communist threat. West Germany and Japan profited accrdingly.
Small countries. Countries like Korea and Malaysia aren't going to strongarm NZ the way the US tried to when it screwed up the TPPA, nor will they insist we reflect their dodgy politics by denying Tibet/Uyghur oppression or take their party line on special military operations, be they in Iraq or Ukraine.
More than a thousand Palestinians evicted by Israel.
Purportedly to make way for a fucking firing range.
Less than a week after the high court ruling, the Najjars’ house was demolished, marking the start of what activists say will probably be the biggest mass expulsion of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since the 1967 war, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from territories captured by Israel.
The court was unswayed by historical documents presented by advocates for the Palestinians, showing what they said was evidence that the proposal to establish a firing range, decades ago, was meant to prevent Palestinians from claiming the land.
“We had 30 minutes to get out what we could,” said Yusara al-Najjar, who was born in a hand-hewn cave on this same slope in the Negev desert 60 years ago. She looked over the pile of broken blocks and twisted metal that had been her family home and wiped her hands with a slap. “It took no time and our house was gone, again.”
https://archive.ph/7Q1Tg (wapo)
Israel and America rogue states together creating misery and mayhem around the globe !!
@ weston (5.1) Agree 100%
The Israeli establishment appears to be made up of complete bastards…oops now I will be attacked as anti-semitic Corbyn style.
Netanyahu is now likely to re-take the Prime Ministership as well, since the Coalition can't get its shit together.
Next up, Russia denazifies Russia..?
//
https://twitter.com/LtTimMcMillan/status/1528686718718726144
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1528686718718726144.html
To be a Nazi in Russia, you have to be an actual Nazi. Outside Russia the definition becomes pretty loose to the Russians, everything from wearing frilly knickers to not wanting to be conquered by Russia makes you a Nazi to the Putin fanbois – which may explain why the Kremlin's useful idiots keep seeing Nazis everywhere in the Ukraine. You don't have to be the Azov regiment – anyone will do.
Your saying the Azov Regiment are just boys in frilly knickers?
Well the Germans would certainly know all about that!
Seems like a problem within the Nato ranks as well
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/03/world/europe/germany-military-neo-nazis-ksk.html
Good thing Germans aren't destroying towns and cities, raping and murdering civilians and looting their homes and businesses on the pretext of denazifying it's sovereign neighbour. Eh.
/
been there done that got the T shirt of course , 70 years ago
So have the Russians – look up some of the accounts of the taking of Berlin.
However, they seem to have maintained this 'policy' throughout the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st. AFAIK there hasn't been a single war or police action in which Soviet/Russian troops have been involved which hasn't had documented accounts of mass rapes, assaults, deportations, etc.
Whereas Germany has not…..
Most Germans I have known still have still have deep shame over that part of their history. It is not something that most of them are proud of. Quite the opposite, actually. Though I am aware there are far-right nutters there as well.
I lived in West Germany for nearly 2 years. When I visited Dachau near Munich, the car park was mostly filled with buses bringing school students there. I was horrified not by the gas chamber (a tiny one which was never actually used – victims were taken to a castle in the vicinity which had a bigger gas chamber..) but by reading the documentation on the boards.
I read that they kept records of the numbers of Jews killed (hung and fed into cremation unit, or sent to castle gas chamber) but no record of Russian POWs killed. They machine-gunned them in pits and bulldozed the pits over, keeping no records of numbers.
That is horrifying for me.
But I think all West German schoolchildren were being fully educated about this. Nie wieder. (Never again.)
I don't believe that Germans will allow right-wing extremists to take over their country again. It will happen somewhere else, where people have always thought, "Only the Germans could do this – it could never happen here."
That is just where it is likely to happen.
The Hunter Biden Laptop story seems like its continuing to suppurate in the background of the Democrat's already gangrenous political reality .It crossed my mind , what if the reason Joe Biden's obsession with the Ukraine and funneling money and weapons to the militants fighting there , had less to do with white guilt ridden liberalism , and was about dirt the Zelensky group had on him and his son? Pure speculation of course but you do have to wonder why America would be so keen to immerse itself in yet another pointless war even given the voracious appetite of American Arms industries and especially since they hav'nt even finished prosecuting the many wars they've already started !!
Anyway Jimmy Dore and Glen Greenwald tackle the laptop story :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FznPmC84bY
Yes, pure speculation but put it out there and those who need to read the most sinister things possible into it will do so.
Putting Hunter Biden's laptop and the speculation into perspective:
Look at the first 1:45 on here and speculate what is more real, known and prospectively more dangerous.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feX9g78AzOI
I dont watch TYT got sick of them years ago too hysterical fml this just reminds me how deranged America is Imo they deserve Donald Trump !!