The scientific evidence is clear, reducing inequality with cash injections to the most disadvantaged gives them the resources they need to escape poverty benefiting and enriching the whole of society.
Where does the cash come?
It comes from government which gains its income from taxes on the more well off.
The political representatives of the more well off, like National and ACT are against taxing the well off for any sort of social programs even if those programs would benefit the whole of society. And so will campaign to oppose them.
Fundamental to this campaign is the promotion of the idea, that the poor are indigent, irresponsible, stupid and lazy, and responsible for their own distress and powerlessness.
Relentlessly the representatives of the rich will push the idea, that taxing the well off to fund social programs will only see the less well off spend more on drugs and booze and gambling and other social evils.
Again and again studies like this prove the opposite. That given the resources the poor will use them raise themselves and their families out of poverty.
There is more than one way that society's wealth can be distributed more equitably, While the benefits of governments doing this directly is backed by studies like this.
Governments are not the only agencies that have the power to redistribue the wealth of society more equitably. More traditionally, trade unions have played this role.
I am reminded here of the rise of South Korea to become the economic power house that it is today. This transformation began with the rise of powerful trade unions that led successful struggles to wrest more of that society's wealth for the working people. The increase in well being of the working population led to increases in productivity, the continuing rise in incomes and resources at the bottom of South Korean society led to higher achievement levels for South Korean children in schools leading to more children of working families to be more able to move up to receive the advantages of higher education. The struggle of the trade union movement in South Korea was also linked to the struggle for more democracy and openness in South Koran society.
These hard won advances were fought every step of the way. As will the proven benfits of government led redistribution will be too.
These experiments could lift millions out of dire poverty
Randomized trials are changing the way governments and aid organizations study — and deliver — measures to reduce inequality and poverty.
In 2012, the government of Niger began giving some of its poorest citizens free money. Over the next few years, around 100,000 participating households received 24 monthly payments of roughly US$16 — which more than doubled their typical spending power.
The programme was based on decades of evidence from carefully controlled trials, suggesting that simple cash infusions can transform lives…..
On Saturday Mickysavage, posted in praise of UK union leader Mick Lynch.
Attached to the bottom of his post, Mickysavage added the Green Day rendition of John Lennon's song 'Working Class Hero'.
The Green Day backing video features refugees from tyrannies where campaigns for social justice and against extreme inequality are suppressed with massive violence and oppression. Local ruling elites of these countries, quick to suppress any sort of trade union or democratic activity, are often supported and backed, (and also armed with military aid), by Western powers that benefit from the neo-colonial oppression, exploitation and looting of these countries in an international web of binding business contracts, trade deals and political and military partnership links.
What reminded me of your comment, Barry, and the link you provided to proven studies of how to relieve poverty, was the first line sung by Green Day,
"As soon as you're born, they make you feel small
By giving you nothing instead of it all"
Despite the proven success of the trials in relieving poverty by providing resources and funds to poor people, these trials will never be rolled out as government programs. The international links between the local ruling elites and the ruling elites in the West who in partnership also benefit from the inequality, poverty and low incomes in these countries, (possibly even more than the local elites), will simply not allow it.
It will take a hard fought campaign against these vested interests, the same for the struggle of the RMTU workers, led my Mick Lynch.
Royal Navy could escort grain ships through Odesa blockade
Tuesday May 24 2022, 12.15pm BST
Britain is in discussion with allies about sending warships to the Black Sea to protect freighters carrying Ukrainian grain. A “coalition of the willing” would aim to break Russia’s blockade in weeks by providing a “protective corridor” from Odesa through the Bosphorus….
…..the coalition could include some Nato countries and other countries reliant on the grain.
It is thought that Egypt, which has been hit hard by the wheat shortage, might be willing to take part….
While the US hegemon might regard the Pacific region as a US Lake.
(on a smaller scale), Russia regards the Black Sea as a Russian lake,
Moscow claims it sees ‘true’ plans behind Ukrainian grain coalition
RT – 23 Jun, 2022 13:16
Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov has said.
“The attempts to organize some kind of international coalition for the implementation of these procedures are aimed solely at interfering in the Black Sea region under the auspices of the UN. And we see this quite clearly,”
UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on Thursday also addressed the issue of helping Ukrainian grain leave the ports, saying that it would require “an international effort.”
Both war and climate change have the same drivers.
It follows, that if we can't stop the war, We can't stop climate change.
Stopping war, is stopping climate change.
…..Austria has already had to restart a mothballed power plant running on coal (which is much dirtier as a fuel than gas). Germany is also firing up its coal generators. That’s bitter for a country that had instead been planning to exit coal power altogether. It’s especially wrenching for the Greens, who are running the combined energy and commerce ministry and have to implement this policy U-turn.
Russian warlord Putin gloats at Europe's dependence on Russian fossil fuel supplies while mocking the urgent need to turn toward renewables. A turn which would undermine Europe's (and the world's), dependence on fossil fuels, and Putin's ability to use this dependence as a weapon.
Russian leader has buried the old world order and outlined his view on Russia’s and the world’s future, in a key address
…..“blindly believing in renewable sources” and abandoning long-term natural gas contracts with Russia led to the spike in energy prices last year, according to the Russian leader.
When asked why Mr Ross was allowed to run for election in Botany last year given the earlier complaint about his behaviour, Mr Goodfellow said the matter was simple.
"It was a matter that was raised by a couple of people and was dealt with – and actually to the satisfaction of the parties," he said.
At the time of the agreement Ross was the senior whip for the National Party and one of their best fundraisers. He went on to be promoted to the front bench after serving as Bridges' "numbers man" during the leadership election.
Happy Matariki to everyone. I have a question about the Commercialisation of the celebration. I know it has been discussed recently but, in my opinion, posed by bad faith actors on this site. Am watching the TVNZ Matariki Special and in ad breaks they are advertising a "Give me a Clue Matariki Special" If they can advertise that, why can't other commercial identities use Matariki in their advertising. I'm just asking about consistency. Cheers.
Only really caught up on yesterday's conversation later in the day.
I don't really understand the impulse to determine how others view this holiday, and pre-determine what significance it holds for all.
The Christians I know celebrate Christmas in both the commercialised cultural way, and with attendant church activities and sermons. They neither demand the same from others, or begrudge those that hold different faiths from not recognising the religious component.
I don't know any monarchists that have a particular form of celebration on Queen's Birthday, or unionists that hold particular celebrations on Labour Day. If they do, I've heard nothing from them about how everyone celebrated the same.
Isn't the point of any state holiday is a day to do what you wish, with those you want to share it with?
In response to any references to the commercialisation of a Māori holiday. Well, I view it as a holiday named in recognition of a Māori calendar event, which has been allotted in a multicultural society. The recognition and assignment of that name is enough.
An assumed world view about all Māori is not helpful.
Although, I choose to be a feminist, I have differing ideas about feminism than other feminists, and often disagree on feminism. As a Māori, I recognise that the diversity of individuals and their thoughts and perspectives – as with non-Māori – do not often align. As with other demographics, even if there is agreement on a topic, there remains diverse views on both outcomes and implementation.
In this region, Māori were the prime traders and were exporting produce to England, in the mid-late 1800's. To assume that they would be against trading on a holiday (if the concept of national holiday was understood) is just that… an assumption.
If to be treated and accepted equally is the goal, the the use of Matariki in advertising is an indicator.
Funny thing about this all is that i was asked by Maori – last year and this year – to make "Matariki Stars" for them to give away to children in foster care and children in school.
Should i have refused? Lol, of course not. As a native Caucasian /nonmale/nontrans/formerly known as woman person thingy from a country were we happily invent food to eat for special holidays it was a pleasure for me to make these chocolate stars and i will do them again last year.
Manawatia a Matariki to you Molly. My the ‘new’ year bring you many blessing and happiness.
You could call it commercialisation as it is literally the same as making Easter Bunnies for Easter or Santas for Christmas. It is a product made for sale for that particular day. It just depends on which step of the ideological purity ladder one stands.
To me any holiday needs a special food that you can only get that one day or few days during which the festival/holiday is feted. It makes it a celebration. But i am roman catholic and grew up with pretend drinking of blood and eating of flesh of Christ and thus have no issue with symbolism in food attached to ones culture. Food is part of celebrations.
I don't have a problem with people being paid, and I don't think this is commercialisation in this context either. Commercialisation would be a business making up some product to sell to take advantage of Matariki and putting on a big sale.
I view both to some extend as 'commercialisation, but i don't understand why we are ok with boxing day sales, Easter sales, Queens birthday sales but suddenly draw the line at this holiday. Either we do or we don't. Re- Community thing, making these stars cost money, and i no longer – like many other small businesses my size that used to support various charities fully and for free- can no longer afford to support these charities without at least charging for cost of making hte products that they would like to get from us. Premises, lisencing, material, etc all that costs money.
In fact i am open and working today. Just as i would do on any other holiday. Too poor to not work. 🙂
Boxing Day sales are evil, and a direct result of the whole global system that is killing the planet, enforcing slave labour in poor countries, and undermining worker rights in places like NZ.
I fully support shops to be closed on those days other than essentials.
Like I said, no problem with you making the stars as part of your business, it just wasn't apparent in the first comment where you talked about the stars being given away and I assumed it was a community thing.
and yes, yes, I understand poor people need sales to be able to buy stuff. However politically, we still have to argue against neoliberalism and for a better system. Otherwise we're just saying sorry underclass, this is the way it is, adapt if you can or die or whatever.
A Big Sale that happens to coincide with a public holiday when many flock to the shops & malls to kill time wandering with their heads bent down focussed on the little screens they hold in their hands and spend money to re-fill their materialistic needs. Viva la Commerce!
These neoliberal attitudes are almost impossible to shake. They have become normalised (as in normative), legalised & regulated, and embedded and permeate almost everything and everybody in our society. It took a few decades, but here we are.
Briefly toyed with the idea of a ‘quick’ Post but quickly running out of time, as usual 🙁
From my perspective, giving the role and responsibility of making a statement about neoliberalism and commercialism to this new Māori named state holiday is disrespectful to people as a whole, and a disservice to Māori long-term.
Address the issue across the board, instead of placing that whole conversation and burden on Māori concepts.
You’re accusing me of something I have not committed and reading way too much into it – I did not mention or imply anything specific about Māori and/or Matariki.
But since you provoked me, I’ll give you something to sink your teeth in.
Māori concepts and culture are being (mis-)appropriated all the time, usually for commercial (and political) reasons. At the same time, Māori concepts and culture are under permanent threat, socially, economically (e.g. tourism), and demographically and they are in chronic danger of being assimilated into our Westerns ways. To keep up, to get ahead, and to counteract past damages that have led and still lead to inequality and inequity in our society the answer/solution for some seems to be education, career, success, and then trying (out-)compete with Pākehā in the Pākehā world. In doing so, these Māori, with their heart and spirit in the right place, sell their soul to the Devil and lose their spirit in the process. It is a Catch-22 unless we, collectively as a society as a whole, come together and help their cause. The reaction to this is cries and outbursts and first twisting and then weaponising terms & concepts such as partnership and co-governance.
As you can see from the above rant, hopefully, I am not disrespectful to Māori and do not do a disservice to Māori long-term. Neither am I placing a burden on Māori concepts. You have turned it upside-down and back-to-front.
I don't want to quibble with much of what you say here. In particular I fully agree that culture can be easily misappropriated. We are for example seeing this play out as Putin steals the Russian memory of their honourable role in defeating Hitler, for a wholly debased purpose in Ukraine.
But it is also true that any living culture evolves all the time, adapting as the world around it shifts. We cannot and should not demand the Maori world remain frozen in a kind of fantasy pre-European aspic.
Yes, I agree completely, cultures evolve, which is something entirely different from being assimilated by a dominant and/or colonial culture. What I see happening is ‘Māori- washing’ thanks to the good intentions of PC warriors and the likes. It is superficial and commercial and only has the veneer of the culture it is supposed to represent but it is just empty hollow packaging and meaningless as such. Having good intentions is not the same as doing the right thing.
Te Ao Māori cannot remain frozen “in a kind of fantasy pre-European aspic” because: 1) it no longer exists; 2) who determines this way anyway? If we were to trust and respect and allow Māori some agency in determining these things for, by, and with themselves we would be on the right track, IMO. However, this seems to lead to absurd notions and equally absurd resistance, IMHO.
Final note: I guess that because some of the efforts feel so superficial and meaningless people feel more (easily) inclined to take a stance against them, i.e., they object and attack what they see as ‘virtue-signalling’ and ‘posturing’ rather than a genuine cause.
I apologise. My comment was not directed at you specifically. It was a generalised comment about the idea of treating this holiday in a different way to other state holidays, and addressing the reasons for doing so.
"In doing so, these Māori, with their heart and spirit in the right place, sell their soul to the Devil and lose their spirit in the process. It is a Catch-22 unless we, collectively as a society as a whole, come together and help their cause. The reaction to this is cries and outbursts and first twisting and then weaponising terms & concepts such as partnership and co-governance."
In some cases this may be true, in other cases individuals will make choices that are not congruent with Māori values, because of other reasons, including personal selfishness, ego and sometimes for reasons of opportunity. These universal impediments to collective thinking are also experienced and acted on by Māori and non-Māori individuals.
"As you can see from the above rant, hopefully, I am not disrespectful to Māori and do not do a disservice to Māori long-term. Neither am I placing a burden on Māori concepts."
As I said, this was not intended as being directed at you as an individual, just the general idea that Māori are assigned this responsibility, in such a way in regards to this holiday. I don't believe that is fair.
I'm going to have to re-read these conversations, because I have probably lost track of it as I've come back and forth over the last few hours. I do agree with what you have said above, but I don't think it is the whole picture in regards to Māori and this holiday.
Right. I apologise again. Was making the erroneous assumption that it was in reference to the original question regarding Matariki and the advertising, but it obviously was not.
(I'm leaving the start of this comment, where I got it all wrong, to show that I got it all wrong, and responded to something that you did not say.)
Just letting you know I’ve seen your reply and all is good 🙂
I appreciate and respect your views in general and specifically as Māori and look forward to future convos on this topic. I think your attention is directed elsewhere today 😉
"Otherwise we're just saying sorry underclass, this is the way it is, adapt if you can or die or whatever."
We have been saying that for a while now, in fact in Rotorua we have a street full of 'underclass' people whom we tell just that.
I am very over 'talking points' and purity spirals and the likes. People who have no money or who have obligations in this current environment all have a hustle to survive, and that hustle gives no fucks about holidays, culture, and the purity levels of people in
Academia, Arts, Politics, Pundit class etc who are either on benefits by the government or on good salaries. Those of us who are on no wages by an employer or on a benefit will have to work. And we will work when people are there and go out and about to have a good time.
Boxing day Sale is no more and no less evil then any other sale. People have money, people gift money – specially for young ones and they tend to spend it in their holiday period. And Businesses that would like to stay closed or don't want to incur the expense of paying extra to staff can stay closed. And some do.
I personally like sales to be organised as it was in Germany, i.e. Winter sale the first two weeks of January, and Summer sale the first two weeks of August (might be September not sure) and that is it. Any other promotion needs to be called just that, a promotion.
But keep in mind for some people Boxing Day Sales is a day out with their family.
if you cannot politically analyse (or won't) the dynamics and forces at work in capitalism, including Boxing Day sales, then there's no pathway out of poverty at the class level. There's only adaptation to neoliberalism and sorry for those that can't adapt. That's basically Labour's position.
I'm not arguing purity, I clearly said there are reasons why people need the sales. This is a both/and situation. We can both acknowledge that people need to adapt as well as talk about why this adaptation thing exists in the first place.
Typing on phone promotes brevity. But I do want to reach out and wholeheartedly support your underlying sentiment here. Rational, tolerant and most importantly to my mind, celebrating diversity in our common universal humanity.
The Christians I know celebrate Christmas in both the commercialised cultural way
What does that mean? They have adverts? They try and sell thing on Christmas day?
If people don't see commercialisation as a negative then it makes sense to commercialise Matariki. But commercialisation causes problems in society. Consider alcohol or tobacco or pharmaceutical advertisements. Or if we get to the point of advertising breast binders, puberty blockers and cross sex hormones on TV.
Commercialisation puts pressure on workers to be available on public holidays.
We know from long experience with neoliberalism, that if commerce is given free reign then bad shit happens. Pākehā culture no longer has the sense to keep some things free of that for the betterment of socidety, thankfully Māori does.
In this region, Māori were the prime traders and were exporting produce to England, in the mid-late 1800's. To assume that they would be against trading on a holiday (if the concept of national holiday was understood) is just that… an assumption.
But Māori also had cultural containers for right action, including how to look after the group. It's almost impossible imo to compare 1800s practice with contemporary Pākehā practice given we are so encultured into individuality.
I meant that the Christians I know, do the whole holiday spiel. Including the buying of gifts, etc. Or at Easter, include the pagan symbols of Hot Cross Buns or Easter Eggs. It doesn't seem to create much angst for them to do both.
As an atheist, my family has it's own traditions. One that the children hate – and I love – is that they are not allowed to give me anything, but if they do, it has to be made by them. I sometimes get nothing – but do have several years of short videos made by them as they have grown. My point is, individuals and families create their own ways to mark holidays in ways that are significant to them.
Whether it is because people are a mix of their religious beliefs, and their cultural environment is for the social sciences to provide evidence for.
As an individual, I just know that for several years in my young adulthood, I both looked forward and participated enthusiastically in St Patrick's day. Neither my digestion or inclination trends that way at this stage of may life.
The significance of Matariki as a holiday, is going to be different for all, and that significance will change. Some may celebrate by use of stories and symbols – most particularly in education, maraes etc. Others who have stronger connections to Matariki will probably have their own way of celebrating that is more traditional and proscribed. But many others will just be grateful that they have another day to spend with friends and family.
Exposure to advertising that recognises and promotes the symbols of Matariki, is a commercialised but gentle reminder of the recognition of the Maaori aspect of the holiday, that replicates the advertising of other events such as Easter and Christmas.
I don't consider buying Christmas presents to be commercialisation per se. Depending on how people do it I guess, it's definitely become much more consumerist over my lifetime especially with children.
People and families marking/celebrating Matariki in their own way is also not commercialisation. Has someone objected to people doing this?
Exposure to advertising that recognises and promotes the symbols of Matariki, is a commercialised but gentle reminder of the recognition of the Maaori aspect of the holiday, that replicates the advertising of other events such as Easter and Christmas.
Oh, interesting. See I see the holiday as wholly te ao Māori, and Māori have been generous to share it with non-Māori. I don’t see it as a mainstream, Pāhekā dominant culture holiday with a Māori name that has a Māori aspect. I suspect this right here is the fundamental disagreement about commercialisation.
Plenty of ways for people to come to understand what it means without commercialising it, and I can't see how commercialising it will improve understanding of te ao Māori, I would guess it will make it worse. We will see.
"Oh, interesting. See I see the holiday as wholly te ao Māori, and Māori have been generous to share it with non-Māori."
That make sense. We are approaching this from completely different perspectives.
I consider it to be a government recognition of Māori by the assigning of a name of a state holiday. The significance to some Māori and is neither enhanced or impacted by this act. A separation of state and 'church' in terms of its implementation.
I wouldn't really want it to be otherwise, on reflection.
Sorry, meant to address your question re the pressure to work on holidays.
"Commercialisation puts pressure on workers to be available on public holidays."
I was one of many workers who loved being rostered on a state holiday, because of the day in lieu and the extra hourly. Many of our lower income households are the ones that already work the shifts, and weekends. They already accommodate within their households the varying conflicts of their work with the assumption of normal schedules for schooling, activities etc. Those families co-ordinate their time off with other family members, rather than the community at large.
It is a consequence of falling incomes and rising costs, but we shouldn't ignore those that welcome the financial benefit of increased wages by working on a state holiday.
"But Māori also had cultural containers for right action, including how to look after the group. It's almost impossible imo to compare 1800s practice with contemporary Pākehā practice given we are so encultured into individuality."
Pakeha history also contains examples of group knowledge and support. Māori, historically and now, have individuals that also are proponents of individual enrichment.
I believe it is as vitally important to recognise the diversity of views and life practices within the Māori demographic, as we automatically do within the non-Māori demographic.
It is both a sign of respect – and equality – to do so.
It is a consequence of falling incomes and rising costs, but we shouldn't ignore those that welcome the financial benefit of increased wages by working on a state holiday.
Yes, but this is an argument for adapting to neoliberalism. Understandable and I support the pragmatics, but politically I'm in favour of system change. Better employment law, living wage etc. Public holidays with strong symbolic meaning are a chance to shift culture.
Pakeha history also contains examples of group knowledge and support. Māori, historically and now, have individuals that also are proponents of individual enrichment.
Yes, and British and Māori cultures were quite different in the 1800s, as are Māori and Pākeha today. My point stands, that us now, are engrained in individualism, and this is in contrast to Māori culture which has a much stronger emphasis on the collective good. The problem with commercialisation centres on the collective good.
"Yes, but this is an argument for adapting to neoliberalism. "
Could be viewed that way. Personally, I see it as one of the more inventive and pragmatic ways that people find to deal with the failures of neoliberalism. Until the political landscape improves and material changes are felt at individual levels, people find ways to adapt and thrive.
"Māori culture which has a much stronger emphasis on the collective good. "
Many cultures have this emphasis. Many demographics also contain individuals that practice this without cultural reference, whether it be through religion, environmentalism, socialism etc. It's a perspective to support, but not necessarily adhered to by all Māori individuals or organisations.
there's a balance to be had about adapting and political change. Much of the GI debate is centred in adapting to and making the most of neoliberalism.
It's a perspective to support, but not necessarily adhered to by all Māori individuals or organisations.
Of course. When I talk about cultural norms, it's a given that not every individual or org fits or adheres to that. But I don't think it's incorrect to say that Māoridom is currently better at attending to the collective than Pākeha society, generally.
But I am cognisant of the difference between a concept, and how the concept is lived across modern Maoridom.
Part of that comes from my lived experience with my relatives and marae, some from the same observational scrutiny I use for others. I am fully aware my experience is only one of many, and not necessarily representative, but it is still true, and not one-off.
For me it's a given that in any culture (or set of cultures) there is variation. Is it me making a general statement about Māori culture that is the sticking point here? Is it an untrue statement? Or are you wanting to make more visible the variation within Māoridom?
"But I don't think it's incorrect to say that Māoridom is currently better at attending to the collective than Pākeha society, generally."
Purely from my personal perspective, it's a generalisation that I think it is not necessarily helpful.
If Māori have a really good functioning community, this is where the best aspects of Te Ao Māori can be lived, and seen. But there are Pākeha examples of the same too. We can recognise both, without the need for a comparison of merit.
As in all common groups, there is the possibility of those within in acting outside of those values, but not being held to account because of the roles, or power, or relationships they hold in those groups. Eg. Marae based organisations have the same vulnerability of church based in this regard, and just as my Pākeha friend has borne the brunt of that protection in her church, I have direct Māori relatives with similar experiences in their marae, that were also failed because of the commitment to solidarity rather than individual accountability.
I love those aspects of Te Ao Māori, and I acknowledge their value. But for me credit is given to whomever encompasses those values, in all ways. Whether Māori or Pākeha. Growing up with both Māori and Pākeha relatives, that had similar methods of sharing and community endeavours, I had always thought of it as New Zealand culture, and am reluctant to let that understanding go, so I realise it might be a personal one, rather than one that expresses adequately the conflict between the cultures today.
This deprecation of individualism out of hand omits the enormous benefits it brings. The kind of overreaching tribalism that readily sacrifices personal welfare for the greater good comes at its own terrible cost. It is why most people choose modernity at the first opportunity they get.
Unconstrained individualism on the other hand carries its own alienation and social ills.
I would suggest these two principles are best thought of as mutually interdependent, each necessary to support the other. It is impossible to imagine a good, healthy society full of depraved, dysfunctional people. Equally a tyrannical, oppressive society will fail to inculcate admirable people.
In conversations where I know the understanding and perspective of the other person, it is easier to give my perspective without going into areas I did not intend.
So, it is easier to explain in principle, rather than specifics.
I believe that in most cases – if not all – when implementing a process, or determining a solution, there is going to be impact or cost. This recognition doesn't mean that the solution is not the right one to undertake, just that there are costs to that decision that should be recognised and accommodated in some way.
As you say, both unconstrained individualism and tribalism carry both their own benefits and costs. A system that finds a way to capture the benefits of both would be ideal. Of course, in some situations one approach will predominate, while in others the opposite will be true.
Regardless, there is a cost to either of those approaches.
Effective (rather than punitive) regulation and policies might address the excesses of individualism, while processes that ensure individual accountability despite a recognition that the group embraces us in all our flawed humanity need to be included.
It is the optimal balance between the two that is so very hard to achieve, and requires ongoing review and tinkering. Sometimes, in real life, people who see the benefits of either approach, champion that approach and don’t recognise the costs when they occur – because we are not trained to look for additional problems resulting from our mostly great solutions.
And some people have to work, regardless of whether it's a holiday or not (or our civilization will grind to a halt). Nurses, electricity workers, sewerage station workers, water supply, etc., etc.
Public holidays have never (and can never) include everyone.
Was in the CBD this morning catching up with a friend, and came across a Matariki festival. Maori musicians, stalls selling food, and general Maori themed nicknacks, jewellery, clothes, etc. Observationally (I didn't instigate a whakapapa check), these were all Maori – happily commercializing 'their' festival.
Absolutely don't have a problem with this. And I think that it reflects a range of views on this from within the Maori sphere, just as there are a range of views on Christmas/Easter within the Christian sphere.
I think there's a real miscommunication about commercialisation here. To me it's not selling things per se. It's appropriating something into the neoliberal market with the intention of making profit with no regard for the wider good. I gave examples above about areas we restrict eg alcohol advertising.
People having a local market and selling stuff isn't commercialisation, it's community.
Public holidays have never (and can never) include everyone.
Obviously. The point was that commercialisation has enforced more people having to work on public holidays, unnecessarily. Easy to make a case for nurses being needed every day of the year. Not so a $2 shop, or a baby shop.
"I think there's a real miscommunication about commercialisation here. To me it's not selling things per se. It's appropriating something into the neoliberal market with the intention of making profit with no regard for the wider good. "
OK, I think I understand the distinction here.
If I do, I believe this to be a bigger conversation, rather than application to Matariki as a state holiday.
My point stands, that us now (sic), are engrained in individualism, and this is in contrast to Māori culture which has a much stronger emphasis on the collective good.
Noble Savage Romanticism.
The public adoption of this posture is a form of narcissistic virtue-signalling from affluent Culturalists utterly divorced from cold hard Reality.
you appear to be the one with noble savage notions in your head Swordfish. There's absolutely nothing overt or implied about the nobela savage in the observation that Māori cultures are more collective focused than Pākehā in NZ. Neither is there anything controversial in my statement. Nearly 40 years of neoliberalism ffs.
By all means use lazy anti-woke virtueless signalling in lieu of an actual argument against what I said though.
Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, reality is the totality of a system, known and unknown.
Information gives rise to "every it-every particle,every field of force,even the space time continuum itself"
Not only is the observer observing,she is asking questions,and making statements that are expressed in discrete bits,"what we call reality" as Wheeler wrote "arises in the last analysis of yes/no questions'' and added 'All things physical are information -theoretic in origin,and this is a participatory universe'
How unkind, swordfish, and ad hom 🙂
“affluent old virtue-signaling hippie fantasists in the rural idyll of small town Riverton.” is harsh.
Why are you so harsh?
There has been some interesting korero today. I had hard day behind the chainsaw, followed by the weed eater for desert. Nothing like some honest levity to end my day.
Those who hold political and increasingly commercial power in New Zealand are a rag-tag battlefleet of educated post-settlement Maori, gays in all their forms, remaining unionists, urban activists, environmentalists, feminists, sustainability types, fitness and muesli freaks, poverty activists, all the massive companies addicted to the state, the deep left within key ministries, the great HoMoPoMo conspiracy of them …
… and together they have changed the language of political discourse forever.
It's OK. We know you hate them all. But your view will soon die.
Today is just one day where all of them break out into the open, official and permanent. Hoisted to something as real as the stars.
You're beyond clueless … I’ve noticed time & again when you can’t adequately answer a point, you concoct any old smear that happens to be passing through that narcissistic brain of yours.
Obviously you think a cheap bit of character assassination will give you some sort of quick “win”.
Many years ago, I became aware of aspects of the Matariki cluster (I drove a Subaru back then) and it's importance to gardening. The two "figures" around whom on the ground action was centred, Rongomatane and Haumietikitiki ( nga atua of cultivated & wild food) really inspired me, as did the focus on assessing food stocks and planning the next seasons mahi nga kai. I've marked Matariki ever since then, with regards to those aspects. I'm not a good star-gazer – myopia and colour-blindness aren't advantages to peering into outer space, so the earthier effects are where I connect with nga whetu. The national celebration we are enjoying now, hasn't changed my prosaic view of the celestial event; I still only consider Matariki from the growers point of view, but I do celebrate the wider involvement and awareness of all of us living here on these South Pacific islands of ours.
A good friend of mine, who has just complete a degree in weaving, incorporated the Matariki cluster in her final submissions and her graduation korowai. The stories related to her pieces are both connected to her iwi's stories, and her own life.
Such personal recognition and how we honour it at individual levels will be wonderfully diverse and significant, even if that recognition is not universal.
Your personal story is another example, and with your circle of influence – which I know is considerable – may spread that knowledge wider and create another unique but shared celebration of Matariki in your community.
I hope that is the case in many different rohe, but believe that it is sustainable only as an organic and personal process rather than a proscribed one.
Chris Trotter has a go at the issue and sweeps across many of the points, but ends with this:
"Isn’t it possible that Matariki may yet prove a cure for, rather than a cause of, racist contention? Maybe, as the Earth grows warmer, and the pretensions of science and modernity are increasingly laid bare, the hunger of all Aotearoans for gods and heroes will increase. Perhaps, when we realise that these islands are all we’ve got, the thought may grow in our hearts and minds: If all things are, indeed, related and alive, then why not be guided by the stars?"
That's a good quote from Chris Trotter, but I think fails to acknowledge the overlap between the Te Ao Maori view and many other perspectives that are also aligned with recognising the connectiveness of all things, and the value of recognising this in the day-to-day choices we make. I also don't need a god or superhero to follow in order to make informed choices, but I can understand the residual longing for such easy solutions to the problems we have ahead.
When I first became aware of, and was finding out as much as I could about climate change – I can date this by one of my children – so around 23 years ago, I included in my immersion searches for organisations around NZ that were not only identifying the problem, but recognising the scope of it, and inviting solutions.
There were a few, but none organised that did all three. It was easier to find individuals speaking out or writing about the issue.
As the children got older, I looked in particular for Māori organisations, and found one Māori youth group – bookmarked on a now defunct desktop. But even then, the understanding of the impact of climate change was limited.
Over time, references to climate change started to appear in organisations Māori and non-Māori alike, but mostly in reference to getting funding or grants for local conservation or regeneration efforts, rather than a demonstrated understanding of the impact of the whole. Thankfully, this has slowly changed over time.
My point is that Māori, just like non-Māori – despite their common good view – often treated the example of climate change as it affected their group and rohe, not as the wider global problem it is, even though they had the concepts to consider the whole, in practice the scope was limited to the familiar immediate.
I agree with the concept of understanding the value of the living biosphere.
For me, I recognise that in a myriad of ways: in teachings of Te Ao Māori, in the environmental perspectives that I follow, my understandings of science, my personal values and political views, my concern for those who follow us… etc. The more we encounter that perspective in our lives, the better.
"You don’t have to like or agree with Vladimir Putin to take seriously the speech he made to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum last week. Five paragraphs – from an otherwise long and somewhat dull presentation – stand out:"
I don't know if this has been discussed before on TS but apparently Putin was aboard the Mikhail Lermontov when it sank in the sounds in 1986. Shame he made it off the ship.
Mikhail Lermontov Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov, born October 15 1814, Moscow, Russia died July 27 1841, Pyatigorsk, the leading Russian Romantic poet and author of the novel Geroy nashego vremeni – A Hero of Our Time – 1840.
Albert Camus' novel The Fall begins with an excerpt from Lermontov's foreword to A Hero of Our Time: "Some were dreadfully insulted, and quite seriously, to have held up as a model such an immoral character as A Hero of Our Time; others shrewdly noticed that the author had portrayed himself and his acquaintances. A Hero of Our Time, gentlemen, is in fact a portrait, but not of an individual; it is the aggregate of the vices of our whole generation in their fullest expression."
In Ian Fleming's From Russia with Love the plot revolves upon Soviet agent Tatiana Romanova feigning an infatuation with MI6's James Bond and offering to defect to the West provided he'll be sent to pick her up in Istanbul, Turkey. The Soviets elaborate a complex backstory about how she spotted the file about the English spy during her clerical work at SMERSH headquarters and became smitten with him, making her state that his picture made her think of Lermontov's Pechorin. The fact that Pechorin was anything but a 'hero' or even a positive character at all in Lermontov's narration stands to indicate Fleming's wry self-deprecating wit about his most famous creation; the irony is lost, however, on western readers not familiar with Lermontov's work.
I had heard that Putin was supposed to have been in New Zealand and attended the inquiry into the sinking. I hadn't heard the idea that he had actually been on the ship though. Where did you hear this?
My favorite memory of the event was David Lange's quip about the sinking. "Lange declared that little old New Zealand was "the only nation to sink a Russian Ship since the Second World War."
A usually reliable friend of mine told me last night. Happy to be contradicted if wrong. I must admit I thought I would have heard about this before if it is true.
It was, and probably still is, normal practice of the Soviet submarine service to mask the acoustic signature of their submarines with a surface vessel when transiting shallow waters where the opposition could be listening.
Many of the Pilot's actions, going close to shore and going through the channel that turned out to be a bit tight, could be interpreted as trying to minimise or remove this masking.
It was also odd that our navy arrived to pick up the pieces within minutes, they were doing a hydrographic job nearby.
I suppose that once the details of the affair are disclosed, (aren't they held in Richard Prebble's personal library?) we may get to know a bit more.
There was a cartoon in Southern Cross of a Fred Dang character telling one side to bugger off, turning around and telling the other side to bugger off too. I understood that related to NZ telling USA to bugger off with it's nukes, and someone else.
PS How do you upload an image (jpeg) to TS? I've got the cartoon but not as a url
Maggie Thatcher sent Baroness somebody-or-another to NZ to tell David Lange he wasn't to do the Oxford Union Debate. The encounter was contentious to say the least and when she left his office he called out to her "hey Baroness you've left your broomstick behind".
This is who they are and the Bethlehem school mob are singing from the same sheet.
I've looked….but I can't find where the Bethlehem School are saying that LGBTQ people should be killed. Or that violence should be directed towards them.
Pray, joe90, provide a link to where you found the information that led you to make this claim.
(There's a difference between believing that 'God doesn't make mistakes.' and 'LGBTQ people should be killed.')
It may be correct or it may be incorrect, if you want to deal in/with binaries only. Question is what you’re going to do with it that adds to the convo here?
Defend them all you want, but statements like 'God doesn't make mistakes' does get people killed. Either by gun or pills it makes no difference. If you're beaten down enough by words from those you are supposed to look up to, life can become very bleak.
One oft repeated Christian viewpoint, when people are going through personal struggles, or times of crisis is: 'God doesn't make mistakes' or 'God moves in mysterious ways'. Not particularly helpful, from my point of view, but not deliberately meant to harm, but rather to console.
And so, we really need to know the context of that quote. How the conversation was initiated, and who was involved. If a student has made the statement that God had given them the wrong body, then I am not surprised that it has been challenged with the response that 'God doesn't make mistakes' within a Christian environment.
Why are so many feigning surprise at this viewpoint, as if we know nothing at all about Christian beliefs?
Suicide. If a member of the LBGT Community continues to be told they are a mistake or you're going to hell because you're an abomination, etc etc etc, either by their church leaders or idols (looking at you, Folau), the potential for suicide is elevated. If they show welcoming and inclusion in their Religion then they show the good and right side of Christianity, it seems to me, these people show the opposite.
From the inside of a fundamentalist church for my early life I know exactly what it's like to watch people question their sexuality, let alone their gender assignment.
I've seen the demon outcastings, the shunnings, humiliations, the one-on-one interviews, the training camps to re-educate you. Usually they leave, to start their entire life again, fairly damaged.
And yup, suicide and lifelong depressions among a few.
He claims he confronted his GP about his doubts and said there was no guidance for those who regretted the surgery.
I wonder if the new funding for trans healthcare will cover such situations.
The mental health impact on detrans people is intense. I don't think it's controversial to say that gay and trans people in fundamentalist churches can also have their mental health put at risk. Maybe we could have consideration for all people.
Can you explain how a gender is assigend at birth?
Sex is 'identified' early on in a pregnancy and then confirmed by birth. Sex being the visual secondary sexual characteristics of a human being i.e in an new born it is a boy – penis/scrotum, a girl – vagina.
But last i checked babies are not born without these sexual organs (or like barbie dolls with nothing down there blelow) , and no doctor will order a nurse to go into a Storage room in wich there are shelfes full of spare penises/vaginas that can then be affixed to the new born child on the whims of a doctor/midwife/nurse. If that would be the case i believe that femicide in India or China for that matter would not happen as all the parents would choose the 'boy tackle' to be affixed to the sex less new born.
Sexed bodies are OBSERVED at birth and not 'assigned'
assign
/əˈsʌɪn/
verb
past tense: assigned; past participle: assigned
1.
allocate (a job or duty).
"Congress had assigned the task to the agency"
Similar:
allocate
allot
give
set
charge with
entrust with
2.
designate or set (something) aside for a specific purpose.
"managers happily assign large sums of money to travel budgets"
I have a dear friend that also had harms that were not helped by the involvement in such a church.
It affects all those who fall outside of the church doctrines in any way, not only those with different sexual orientations or gender expressions.
That constancy of having someone tell you the right things to do comes at a a very high cost to all. The church either adapts or fails, as the people within it find they are able to survive without such control.
I'm sorry to hear that your upbringing meant that you witnessed such things as a child, Ad. But it doesn't seem that Bethlehem College is at that extreme from what has been reported so far.
Mental distress, and not being able to get appropriate support for that distress makes people more likely to attempt, and possibly succeed at ending their own lives.
" If they show welcoming and inclusion in their Religion then they show the good and right side of Christianity, it seems to me, these people show the opposite."
Given that I – and it seems many of the commentators who dictate a "good and right side of Christianity" – are atheists, I fail to see what the intent is here.
Tell those whose sense of self falls outside the teachings of the church in about the failures of historic religious doctrines to serve anyone other than the church.
Tell them, that they can find other more understanding churches to accommodate their belief in God. If they don't have a belief in God, then encourage them to dismiss anything they say.
AFAIK, Bethlehem College did not put up a display or make a determined point in regards to this question. From the (very little) that was reported a teacher answered a student with "God doesn't make mistakes" – a familiar and oft used Christian phrase.
Give ALL students the resilience and tools to deal with disagreements without resorting to self-harm as a response.
Now, let's address the common use of suicide ideation in transgender advocacy. Despite this being against every suicide prevention guideline, advocates bring up the issue of suicide as impetus for non-therapeutic social and medical interventions.
This is using the threat of suicide as a means of coercive control and manipulation.
Surely, the answer to mental distress at this level is extensive and comprehensive therapy (and only therapy).
Further point: The student was told that there was NO mistake in their existence. Not the opposite. They wanted to be told there had been a mistake.
How about "no child is born in the wrong body"? The vast majority of young people with bodily dysphoria related to their sexed body will resolve that with the right support by the time they finish puberty. Most will grow up to be perfectly "ordinary" same sex attracted people.
Thanks for your diversion, but that's not a road I'm able to go down, other than 'if NO child is born in the wrong body' how come only MOST will grow out of it, that leaves a lesser number who will not grow out of it, they are still people and will still suffer. I'm off out to join a diverse group of people to celebrate Matariki so, Cheerio.
The people who don't desist from their gender dysphoria I think will likely have a tough life and I do feel for them. I hope they get the right support.
I posted further down about a man who had gender reassignment surgery and woke up full of regret and realized he had been castrated. He is now suing the NHS and I wish him luck.
"… how come only MOST will grow out of it, that leaves a lesser number who will not grow out of it, they are still people and will still suffer. "
If we had the answer to this, then any concerns about the long-term effects of inappropriate treatment would melt away like morning dew.
It is precisely the inability of being able to determine who will persist and who won't that makes the issue of both social and medical interventions for minors such a contentious issue.
If the majority do grow out of it – and there are other issues here regarding the very large increase in adolescent girls – then caution regarding treatment is well advised for this cohort. Not providing medical interventions until they are grown seems a precaution that seems advisable, given the permanent and long-term outcomes from intervention.
For those that do persist – is there a way to alleviate the distress until such time they are fully cognitive adults?
This is the conversation we need to be having about treatment for minors.
It is one that requires a lot of research, input, perspectives and considerations. But the consequences of failing to even contemplate this discussion by the adults, will – as ever, be borne by the children and young people we are entrusted to protect.
How about canning the whataboutery just to shoehorn in your favourite bogeyman just this once? That would be nice. We know where you stand on that particular issue, ad nauseam.
I think there are parallels between 'god doesn't make mistakes' and 'born in the wrong body' that are worth exploring. If you don't like the conversation, maybe just scroll on by. Telling other people to shut up because you don't like their politics isn't going to run on a political blog.
Uncle sam the old rooster wants to gather in as many of his loyal hens as he can reminding them that they need him to keep them safe but he knows the cold wind of change is beginning to stir and he sees the young challengers on the periphery strutting their stuff……….
During the last six months, similar Russian cyber influence operations sought to help inflame public opposition to COVID-19 policies in New Zealand and Canada…..
I had noticed that a number of the covid-19 deniers and anti-vaxxer commenters also supported the Russian Federation invasion and war against Ukraine.
I had thought it was just the same old anti-government useful idiots pushing wacky right wing pseudo-science conspiracy theories.
Anyone able to fill out Josie Pagani’s CV? I’ve seen an awful lot based on her candidacy for a Labour seat a decade ago. Then I hear rumors about her being an oil lobbyist or having connections to one which you never see listed at the bottom of her columns. Does she have P.R. or lobbying clients?
Just sticking my nose in really, but you know it would be interesting to know when reading her writing.
The newly merged media company will be named "Aoeteroa New Zealand Public Media " lmfao oooh boy that's a name that'll catch on.
ANZPM. Could they fit any more letters on it?? That's the best this govt and it's army of pr reps and gargantuan legions of consultants can come up with ?!? Really?!? Lmao. Ridiculous. Call it NZBC like ABC CBC , BBC.
When the majority of the public see ANZ they think ANZ Bank or Australia/New Zealand and NZPM is shorthand for the Prime minister.
If ANZPM is the name of this new organization, thanks but no thanks rnz and tvnz can keep.
Ridiculous.
If they name it anzpm I'd almost be inclined to vote act in the hopes that shit gets privatized.
I'm a millennial, My generation has no interest in watching NZ content, why should we have to pay to fund it ?
On Wednesday, these anti-vaccine groups kicked off a summer of planned protest with an event inside Canada’s Parliament buildings in Ottawa, supported by sitting Members of Parliament. Outside those buildings is where the so-called “freedom convoy” took over Canada’s capital for several weeks this past winter, setting off similar movements across the globe.
[…]
The Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre, an arm of the Canadian intelligence community that provides intel to local law enforcement agencies, warned in a special bulletin that they’re seeing mounting “aspirations to overthrow the federal government or to engage in mass violent resistance.” The bulletin was provided to VICE World News by a law enforcement source.
According to the intelligence assessment, the chance of an organized attack, a storming of Parliament, or another occupation of the city is “unlikely,” and Canadian intelligence and law enforcement believe the protests will most likely be peaceful and lawful.
Yet, they warn, they’re increasingly witnessing “a culture in which individuals, including supporters of ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE), feel that they can threaten, incite, and celebrate violence online without consequence.”
Open access notables A survey of interventions to actively conserve the frozen North, van Wijngaarden et al., Climatic Change:The frozen elements of the high North are thawing as the region warms much faster than the global mean. The dangers of sea level rise due to melting glacier ice, increased ...
Bryce Edwards writes – New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure. The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On ...
In 2015, then-Prime Minister John Key announced plans for a huge ocean sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands, banning fishing and mining from 15% of Aotearoa's EEZ. It was bold, it was ambitious, and it suggested that National might actually care about the environment. Except they fucked it up: Key failed ...
1. Who has just been given the accolade New Zealander of the Year?a. The Kokakob. The Cook Strait Ferryc. Fair God. Dr Jim Salinger 2. Which of these is an affront to decent society?a. Dame Edna Everageb. Mrs Doubtfire c. Dr. Frank-N-Furterd. Brian 3. Who is Penny Simmonds?a. The aspiring actress in Big ...
New Zealand’s biggest-ever political donations scandal is finally at an end. But what is the conclusion? No one can really be sure.The Court of Appeal released its judgement on Tuesday about the Serious Fraud Office case against the NZ First Foundation. On the face of it, the court found ...
Buzz from the Beehive Waves of rain are set to lash much of the North Island during Easter Weekend as a low-pressure system forms east of New Zealand, according to a weather forecast published in the past day or so. Niwa was warning of a “moisture-laden” long weekend, with rain expected ...
Look around us…Nicola Willis’ promises of balancing the books, of cutting spending without reducing services, and of delivering game changing tax cuts are disappearing before her eyes.Everyday we see stories of violent crime ending in horrific injuries, or worse. The cost of living worsens, whereas the PM claimed renters would ...
TL;DR: My top six news of note on the morning of Thursday, March 28 include:The Government will have to borrow between $10 billion to $15 billion more than previously expected in order to make up for a slowing economy and to pay for $14.9 billion of tax cuts, according to ...
This story by Naveena Sadasivam and Kate Yoder was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. The long-awaited jobs board for the American Climate Corps, promised early in the Biden administration, will open next month, according to details shared exclusively ...
Should landlords be able to deduct the interest on the loans they take out to bankroll their property speculation? The US Senate Budget Committee and Bloomberg News don’t think this is a good idea, for reasons set out below. Regardless, our coalition government has been burning through a ton of ...
Treasury’s first report on the economy since the change of government presents a damning indictment of Labour’s economic management. The problem for National is that it is so damning that logically, coupled with a rapidly slowing economy, Finance Minister Nicola Willis should respond to it by postponing or even cancelling ...
Budget tensions are becoming evident within the Coalition Government. Winston Peters made numerous political points in his speech to the NZF annual conference. But the attack on his own government’s fiscal policies raised issues of substance. ‘Today in the Sunday Star Times, journalist and former advisor to the Labour ...
Buzz from the Beehive The media – sure enough – have been binging on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ release of the Budget Policy Statement and a statement headed Government announces Budget priorities This assures us – or rather, this parrots the Luxon team mantra – that the Budget “will deliver ...
The Ides of March brought me COVID followed by a bereavement. No wonder they tell you to be careful of them.I’m home now and have resumed the interrupted recuperation. Very much looking forward to getting back to regular things. Meanwhile, some thoughts…OneThis new Prime Minister guy just keeps getting more dire. ...
News that the Chinese ATP 40 cyber-hacking unit penetrated parliamentary internet networks in 2021 has renewed concerns about the PRC’s malign intentions in Aotearoa. But is the hack that significant given the length of time that has passed since its … Continue reading → ...
When Parliament passed the Intelligence and security Act in 2017, they assured us all that it was full of safeguards. Any intrusive surveillance of New Zealanders would be subject to a "triple lock", requiring the approval of the Minister and (supposedly independent) Commissioner of Intelligence Warrants, as well as post-facto ...
Eric Crampton writes – Richard Harman’s Politik newsletter provides a bit of the context that ought to have been showing up in other media reports on potential reductions in public service staffing. Media has been reporting on staffing cuts on the order of about 7%. Is that ...
Mike Grimshaw writes – It’s becoming increasingly apparent that many perceive free speech to have become the preserve of the politically right wing, the religiously conservative, the libertarian fringe, the anti-trans, the anti-Māori and…. well, just fill in with whatever groups or individuals you don’t like and don’t ...
Don Brash writes – As everybody who is not blind and deaf is aware, there is a huge political preoccupation with climate change at the moment, a widespread (though by no means unanimous) belief that global temperatures are rising mainly as a result of the greenhouse gases created ...
TL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy on Wednesday, March 27 include:Chris Bishop laid out his vision for filling Aotearoa-NZ’s $100 billion infrastructure deficit in a speech yesterday, emphasising user pays and private funding, but failed to say how to achieve bipartisanship on population, public borrowing and ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Former Finance Minister Grant Robertson and former Prime Minister Chris Hipkins have been conveying how unhappy they are with the tax system. Last week in his valedictory speech, Robertson called for the introduction of a wealth or capital gains tax. And this week Hipkins ...
On February 14, 2023 we announced our Rebuttal Update Project. This included an ask for feedback about the added "At a glance" section in the updated basic rebuttal versions. This weekly blog post series highlights this new section of one of the updated basic rebuttal versions and serves as a ...
Buzz from the Beehive China has loomed large in Beehive considerations over the past 24 hours, largely because of that country’s mischief-making in the cyber espionage department. Two media statements emerged on that subject hard on the heels of the PM baulking at questions put to him on RNZ’s Morning ...
Chris Trotter writes – WHY IS THE NATIONAL PARTY doing so much for landlords, property developers, trucking, and construction companies, and so little for everybody who isn’t already pretty well-off? It’s as if protecting landlords’ investments and building apartments and roads now constitute the whole of National’s ...
Bryce Edwards writes – When she was campaigning to be Minister of Finance last year, Nicola Willis pledged that she would resign from the job if she failed to deliver tax cuts in her first Budget. Now, it’s that pledge, along with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s ...
Robert MacCulloch writes – The Reserve Bank has doubled staff numbers in five years to 510, with personnel costs rising to $80 million in 2023 from $32 million in 2018 – up by a whopping 150%. I guess when you print $50 billion and flood markets with liquidity, ...
The furore. In case you didn’t notice there was a controversy in the weekend involving dolphins in a little town off the South Island. Don’t panic, they haven’t declared independence and resumed whaling, this was simply a sailing event.The problem began when racing was cancelled on the opening day of ...
For 20 years or more, the case for a meaningful capital tax gains has been mulled over and analysed to death, including by the tax working group chaired by Sir Michael Cullen. More than once, the International Monetary Fund has said a CGT would be a good idea for New ...
TL;DR: My top 10 news and analysis links this morning include:Today’s must-read: The Public Health Communications Centre (PHCC) call for urgent preventive action and a risk assessment survey of long covid in this briefing noteLocal scoop: NZ road deaths surpass OECD rates, so why is the govt reversing safety plans? ...
This story was originally published by Grist and is part of Covering Climate Now, a global journalism collaboration strengthening coverage of the climate story. This story is part of a collaboration with Grist and WABE to demystify the Georgia Public Service Commission, the small but powerful state-elected board that makes critical decisions about everything from raising ...
This is a guest post from Robert McLachlan Global warming is accelerating; 2023 was off the charts. We need to stop burning fossil fuels. In New Zealand, transport accounts for half of all fossil fuels burnt. In the Emissions Reduction Plan, transport emissions fall 41% by 2035. As the ...
Labour productivity has been receding rapidly over the past two years, reversing a post-lockdown rise. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things to note in Aotearoa’s political economy as at 6:26am on Tuesday, March 26 include:Workers have been treading water in output per hour worked for 12 years, ...
TL;DR: The key events to watch in Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the week to April 2 include:Today, Parliament resumes sitting at 2pm for the second week of a two-week session. Officials for SIS and GCSB report their annual reviews in public to the Intelligence and Security Select Committee from 5.10pm.Tomorrow, ...
Faced with a barrage of criticism over the promised tax cuts from usually supportive commentators, Finance Minister Nicola Willis yesterday reaffirmed her intention to include them in this year’s Budget. The Government is up against it over the cuts just about every way it turns. Commentators like Fran O’Sullivan, Matthew ...
Here’s my pick of today’s substack posts as of 6:26pm on Monday, March 25: writes via his substack that Market-rate housing will make your city cheaper writes via his substack about the problems talking to double-cab ute (truck) drivers about their vehicles. today about moments of radicalisation in ...
Buzz from the Beehive Just before Christmas, Finance Minister Nicola Willis delivered something that was pitched as a mini-budget and brayed about the decisive action being taken to repair the Government books and support income tax relief in Budget 2024. In a statement headed Fiscal repair job underway. she introduced ...
My sister Belinda asked Dad yesterday what one word would describe Mum best. He said: vivacious.If you only knew her from the photos on the slideshow we've made for today,you might wonder about that, because the camera tended to lie with Mum.If ever she saw a camera pointed at her, she ...
There are two major public consultations closing in the next week, Auckland Council’s Long Term Plan (LTP), and the draft Government Policy Statement on Land Transport (GPS). Closing dates and times: LTP closes Thursday 28 February, at 11.59pm – a minute to midnight! GPS closes Tuesday 2 April, at 12pm noon – note that’s ...
From Kiwiblog’s David Farrar – Bryce Wilkinson writes: Senior Fellow Bryce Wilkinson’s analysis reveals that since March 2009, New Zealand has spent $158 billion more overseas than it has earned, but its NIIP has only fallen by $32 billion.Statistics New Zealand shows that receipts from overseas reinsurers have ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition? Brian Easton writes – The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could ...
Dear Nicola Willis,Right now you’ve probably got lots of competing demands coming at you. Ministers who’ve inherited quite a mess, or so you’ve told us, looking for money in the budget to improve things. I imagine that’s why they came to parliament - to make things better.You’ll have to make ...
The Local Government, Transport and Auckland Minister hasthreatened councils with intervention if they don’t merge water assets to take them off balance sheet, just as the now-repealed Three Waters plan directed. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My six things of note this morning for Monday, March 25 include:Simeon ...
A listing of 36 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, March 17, 2024 thru Sat, March 23, 2024. Story of the week Thanks to John Mason having the stamina to sit down to watch "Climate - the Movie" ...
This morning the Q&A programme had Simeon Brown on to talk about National’s replacement for Three Waters. In case anyone’s forgotten the three are - drinking water, waste water, and sewerage. It’s quite important not to get them mixed up. In much the same way that you wouldn’t want to ...
Today’s newsletter comes with a mini-podcast conversation between me and my buddy Liv Tennet, talking about her time as a child actor in Lord of the Rings. It’s a conversation with a lot of giggles as she talks about falling off a horse, and becoming a meme. Read ...
The Desmog Climate Disinformation Database documents, "individuals and organisations that have helped to delay and distract the public and our elected leaders from taking needed action to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and fight global warming." It's a who's who of the organised climate change denial movement, in other words. In ...
Bob Edlin writes – A High Court judge has decided miscreants who have mana – or who claim to have mana – should be treated differently from miscreants who have none. It’s a ruling that suggests indigenous law-breakers have a better chance of securing a discharge without conviction ...
Welcome to the first, and possibly last, edition of Brickbats, Bouquets and Bull’s Wool. In which I’ll take a look at the events of the last week or so, and rate them.In such ratings the numbers usually have more to do with the opinions of the reviewer, than the actual ...
Roger Partridge writes – My earlier column this month, New Zealand’s highest court could be facing a turning point, prompted a flood of feedback from business readers and lawyers alike. A common query was what Parliament can do to restrain an overreaching judiciary. This week I discuss two steps Parliament ...
TL;DR: In today’s ‘six-stack’ of substacks at 6.16pm on Friday, March 22: writes about New Zealand's Building Boom—And What the World Must Learn From It over at his substack. challenges the Auckland Council’s use of a 3.8 degrees of warming forecast to oppose a wave-park and data centre project ...
Is she hinting that the Coalition Government will have to back down on key promises it made in Opposition?The Minister of Finance, Nicola Willis, is telling an evolving story about her fiscal challenges. In Opposition she was confident that she could deliver her promised income tax cuts. Appointed minister, she ...
Buzz from the Beehive Ministers of the Crown have drawn attention to one sector of the science sector which is unlikely to be subjected to heavy spending cuts, a state-funded broadcaster which is doing nicely, thank you, and a sporting event that had $5.4 million from the public purse puffed ...
Abbott’s Freestyle Libre sensors allow continuous glucose monitoring (CGM). The sensor is applied to the back of the patient’s arm, with a thin filament under the skin measuring glucose levels constantly. But it costs around $100 per sensor and must be replaced once every 14 days. Photo by BSIP/Universal Images ...
The Inspector General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) recently released a report in which he exposes the existence of a foreign intelligence partner-controlled technological “capability” inside the headquarters of the GCSB, NZ’s 5 Eyes-affiliated signals intelligence collection and analysis agency. … Continue reading → ...
Peter Dunne writes – Nearly three decades after the introduction of MMP and multiparty governments there should be a greater level of understanding about their finer points than often appears to be the case. The reaction to the despicable outburst from the Deputy Prime Minister at the weekend highlights ...
The sweet kisses from fruit of summerHave slowly been turning dullerYou say, "those times"And "remember the daysWhen we went outside and there still was the shade?"Taking no reason into play…Autumn. Clear, blue days shortening to longer nights, growing colder. Aotearoa.That’s us. The temperature dropping, the looming car crash - so ...
Bryce Edwards writes – “It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April ...
David Farrar writes – The Electoral Commission has published the expense returns for political parties for the 2023 election. I’ve put them in a table with how many votes a party got so we can see the spend per vote. National only spent $3.34 for every vote they got, almost ...
Winston Peters’ headline-making actions over the past week may have been a show of political power intended to strengthen his hand in Budget negotiations. It was no accident that his State of the Nation speech was as it was. He made it as New Zealand First Leader, not as Deputy ...
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:Former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson bowed out of politics this week, giving a series of exit ...
Graham Adams writes — If you love the law or sausages, as the saying goes, best not to look too closely at how they are made. And after watching the orgy of self-pity when Newshub’s closure was announced on February 28, television journalism should definitely be added to the list of those ...
Venerable New Zealand political commentator, Chris Trotter (https://bowalleyroad.blogspot.com/), is a sad creature these days. Once one of the most reliable Leftist writers out there – Economic Left at that – Trotter seems to have absorbed the worldview of Auckland culture-war obsessives. It is not for me to categorise what he ...
The cruelty of short-term memory loss is that each time you ask where she is, you get the fresh shock and grief of the news. That was Dad's day yesterday.Comfortingly, it seems to be less so today. Last night he looked crumpled, today he seems more settled. There's a card ...
Photo by Alvan Nee on UnsplashIt’s that new day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when and I co-host our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm. Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news ...
Buzz from the Beehive One minister is talking tough while a colleague – whose ministry had acted tough and drawn a barrage of flak – has shown an official softening. Some ministers are doing what Labour was good at, which is distributing public funds to causes regarded as worthy or ...
A ballot for 4 Member's Bills was held today, and the following bills were drawn: Insurance Contracts Bill (Duncan Webb) Income Tax (Clean Transport FBT Exclusion) Amendment Bill (Julie Anne Genter) Crimes (Increased Penalties for Slavery Offences) Amendment Bill (Greg Fleming) Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) ...
One of the strongest narratives about "our" spy agencies is that they are basically institutional traitors, working for foreign powers (or just themselves), without any control or oversight by the elected government. And today, we have yet another report from the Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security which explicitly confirms this. ...
“It is often said that behind every great man is a great woman”. This is the pitch by the National Party Botany electorate branch to attend their “Ladies Afternoon Tea with Amanda Luxon”. For $110 including GST, you can turn up on Saturday 20 April to meet the Prime Minister’s ...
The Coalition Government’s plan to ‘get Auckland moving’ is a cuts cover-up that will ultimately cost Aucklanders more to move around the city, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Slashing the Ministry of Pacific Peoples by 40% will have a devastating impact on pacific communities and further highlights how little this government cares about anything other than cutting taxes for the wealthiest few. ...
Labour has proposed an urgent inquiry to investigate the ever-increasing profits of supermarkets, aiming to lower costs for shoppers and food producers alike, says Labour Spokesperson for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Arena Williams and Primary Production Spokesperson Cushla Tangaere-Manuel. ...
With 14% of jobs on the line at the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, the responsible Minister Melissa Lee is failing to stand up for the very communities she’s meant to be representing. ...
COURT OF APPEAL: TRIFECTA OF VICTORY FOR NZ FIRST, TRIFECTA OF FAILURE FOR OPPONENTS For the third time since April 2020, New Zealand First has defeated the Serious Fraud Office and all those complicit in a malicious attack against a political party going about its lawful business in a lawful ...
The Green Party stands with people who live in public housing, people in dire housing need, experts and advocates in demanding better than the Government’s archaic approach to housing those who need our support the most. ...
New Zealand has recently lost the hosting rights of some major international sporting events including the America’s Cup, the Rugby Championship, Netball World Cup, and the Wellington Sevens. We are now at a huge risk of losing SailGP as well. And it won’t stop there. The recent issues with SailGP ...
A Member’s Bill drawn this week would modernise insurance law and make things fairer and more transparent for consumers, Christchurch Central MP Duncan Webb said. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues has confirmed she was aware of funding issues in mid-December and did nothing to stop it. On 14 March, she signed off on changes that were announced and implemented on 18 March without any consultation with disability communities. ...
Green Party MP Julie Anne Genter says her members' bill is an opportunity for the coalition government to plug the gap in electric vehicle incentives. ...
The National Government continues to talk about irresponsible tax cuts that will only drive up inflation, despite the country entering a technical recession. ...
The Minister for Disability Issues must act urgently to reinstate flexibility around the funding for disability support and apologise to disabled carers. ...
This story has been initiated by a leftie shill reporter who proactively sought to call a member of a former band, which disbanded twelve years ago, give their biased appraisal of what was said in my speech, and concocted a ham-fisted attempt at a story that does nothing but show ...
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. ...
Many in the mainstream media have taken what was said in New Zealand First’s State of the Nation Speech in Palmerston North on Sunday and deliberately, deceitfully, and ignorantly misrepresented what I said and why I said it. The headlines and commentary on the news stated that I compared ‘co-governance ...
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 ...
Good afternoon. Thank you for, in your very busy lives, turning up to this meeting today. On October 14th last year New Zealanders overwhelmingly voted for change. That is exactly what this new government is bringing. New Zealand First campaigned to ‘take back our country’ and stop the disastrous economic ...
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. ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed the passing of legislation to move light electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) into the road user charges system from 1 April. “It was always intended that EVs and PHEVs would be exempt from road user charges until they reached two ...
New Zealand is strengthening its ability to combat illegal fishing outside its domestic waters and beef up regulation for its own commercial fishers in international waters through a Bill which had its first reading in Parliament today. The Fisheries (International Fishing and Other Matters) Amendment Bill 2023 sets out stronger ...
Economists Carl Hansen and Professor Prasanna Gai have been appointed to the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee, Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced today. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is the independent decision-making body that sets the Official Cash Rate which determines interest rates. Carl Hansen, the executive director of Capital ...
Apartment owners and buyers will soon have greater protections as further changes to the law on unit titles come into effect, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “The Unit Titles (Strengthening Body Corporate Governance and Other Matters) Amendment Act had already introduced some changes in December 2022 and May 2023, and ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters will travel to Egypt and Europe from this weekend. “This travel will focus on a range of New Zealand’s traditional diplomatic and security partnerships while enabling broad engagement on the urgent situation in Gaza,” Mr Peters says. Mr Peters will attend the NATO Foreign ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown is encouraging all road users to stay safe, plan their journeys ahead of time, and be patient with other drivers while travelling around this Easter long weekend. “Road safety is a responsibility we all share, and with increased traffic on our roads expected this Easter we ...
About 1.4 million New Zealanders will receive cost of living relief through increased government assistance from April 1 909,000 pensioners get a boost to Superannuation, including 5000 veterans 371,000 working-age beneficiaries will get higher payments 45,000 students will see an increase in their allowance Over a quarter of New Zealanders ...
Ensuring social housing is being provided to those with the greatest needs is front of mind as the Government restarts social housing tenancy reviews, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. “Our relentless focus on building a strong economy is to ensure we can deliver better public services such as social ...
The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary will not go ahead, with Cabinet deciding to stop work on the proposed reserve and remove the Bill that would have established it from Parliament’s order paper. “The Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary Bill would have created a 620,000 sq km economic no-go zone,” Oceans and Fisheries Minister ...
Dam safety regulations are being amended so that smaller dams won’t be subject to excessive compliance costs, Minister for Building and Construction Chris Penk says. “The coalition Government is focused on reducing costs and removing unnecessary red tape so we can get the economy back on track. “Dam safety regulations ...
The coalition Government is expanding the medium-scale adverse event classification to parts of the North Island as dry weather conditions persist, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay announced today. “I have made the decision to expand the medium-scale adverse event classification already in place for parts of the South Island to also cover the ...
The passing of legislation giving effect to coalition Government tax commitments has been welcomed by Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “The Taxation (Annual Rates for 2023–24, Multinational Tax, and Remedial Matters) Bill will help place New Zealand on a more secure economic footing, improve outcomes for New Zealanders, and make our tax system ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins and Tertiary Education and Skills Minister Penny Simmonds today announced plans to transform our science and university sectors to boost the economy. Two advisory groups, chaired by Professor Sir Peter Gluckman, will advise the Government on how these sectors can play a greater ...
The Budget will deliver urgently-needed tax relief to hard-working New Zealanders while putting the government’s finances back on a sustainable track, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. The Finance Minister made the comments at the release of the Budget Policy Statement setting out the Government’s Budget objectives. “The coalition Government intends ...
The coalition Government will look at options to address a zoning issue that limits how much financial support Queenstown residents can get for accommodation. Cabinet has agreed on a response to the Petitions Committee, which had recommended the geographic information MSD uses to determine how much accommodation supplement can be ...
Cabinet has agreed to a short extension to the final reporting timeframe for the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care from 28 March 2024 to 26 June 2024, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says. “The Royal Commission wrote to me on 16 February 2024, requesting that I consider an ...
The coalition Government is delivering an $18 million boost to New Zealanders needing to travel for specialist health treatment, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says. “These changes are long overdue – the National Travel Assistance (NTA) scheme saw its last increase to mileage and accommodation rates way back in 2009. ...
The Government is recognising the innovative and rising talent in New Zealand’s growing space sector, with the Prime Minister and Space Minister Judith Collins announcing the new Prime Minister’s Prizes for Space today. “New Zealand has a growing reputation as a high-value partner for space missions and research. I am ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand’s concerns about cyber activity have been conveyed directly to the Chinese Government. “The Prime Minister and Minister Collins have expressed concerns today about malicious cyber activity, attributed to groups sponsored by the Chinese Government, targeting democratic institutions in both New ...
Independent Reviewers appointed for School Property Inquiry Education Minister Erica Stanford today announced the appointment of three independent reviewers to lead the Ministerial Inquiry into the Ministry of Education’s School Property Function. The Inquiry will be led by former Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully. “There is a clear need ...
State Highway 1 across the Brynderwyns will be open for Easter weekend, with work currently underway to ensure the resilience of this critical route being paused for Easter Weekend to allow holiday makers to travel north, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Today I visited the Brynderwyn Hills construction site, where ...
Introduction Good morning to you all, and thanks for having me bright and early today. I am absolutely delighted to be the Minister for Infrastructure alongside the Minister of Housing and Resource Management Reform. I know the Prime Minister sees the three roles as closely connected and he wants me ...
New Zealand stands with the United Kingdom in its condemnation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) state-backed malicious cyber activity impacting its Electoral Commission and targeting Members of the UK Parliament. “The use of cyber-enabled espionage operations to interfere with democratic institutions and processes anywhere is unacceptable,” Minister Responsible for ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins today announced New Zealand will provide logistics support for the upcoming Solomon Islands election. “We’re sending a team of New Zealand Defence Force personnel and two NH90 helicopters to provide logistics support for the election on 17 April, at the request ...
The European Union Free Trade Agreement Legislation Amendment Bill received Royal Assent today, completing the process for New Zealand’s ratification of its free trade agreement with the European Union. “I am pleased to announce that today, in a small ceremony at the Beehive, New Zealand notified the European Union ...
Public consultation on the terms of reference for the Royal Commission into COVID-19 Lessons has concluded, Internal Affairs Minister Hon Brooke van Velden says. “I have been advised that there were over 11,000 submissions made through the Royal Commission’s online consultation portal.” Expanding the scope of the Royal Commission of ...
Hardworking families are set to benefit from a new credit to help them meet their early childcare education (ECE) costs, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. From 1 July, parents and caregivers of young children will be supported to manage the rising cost of living with a partial reimbursement of their ...
A specialised Independent Technical Advisory Group (ITAG) tasked with preparing and publishing independent non-binding advice on the design of a "green" (sustainable finance) taxonomy rulebook is being established, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. “Comprising experts and market participants, the ITAG's primary goal is to deliver comprehensive recommendations to the ...
Defence Minister Judith Collins has thanked the Chief of Army, Major General John Boswell, DSD, for his service as he leaves the Army after 40 years. “I would like to thank Major General Boswell for his contribution to the Army and the wider New Zealand Defence Force, undertaking many different ...
25 March 2024 Minister to meet Australian counterparts and Manufacturing Industry Leaders Small Business, Manufacturing, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly will travel to Australia for a series of bi-lateral meetings and manufacturing visits. During the visit, Minister Bayly will meet with his Australian counterparts, Senator Tim Ayres, Ed ...
Government commits almost $3 million for period products in schools The Coalition Government has committed $2.9 million to ensure intermediate and secondary schools continue providing period products to those who need them, Minister of Education Erica Stanford announced today. “This is an issue of dignity and ensuring young women don’t ...
Good morning, it’s great to be here. First, I would like to acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of Building Surveyors and thank you for the opportunity to be here this morning. I would like to use this opportunity to outline the Government’s ambitious plan and what we hope to ...
Minister for Pacific Peoples Dr Shane Reti has announced the Government’s commitment to the Auckland Secondary Schools Māori and Pacific Islands Cultural Festival, more commonly known as Polyfest. “The Ministry for Pacific Peoples is a longtime supporter of Polyfest and, as it celebrates 49 years in 2024, I’m proud to ...
Before moving onto the substance of today’s address, I want to recognise the very significant and ongoing contribution the Breast Cancer Foundation makes to support the lives of New Zealand women and their families living with breast cancer. I very much enjoy working with you. I also want to recognise ...
New Zealand has notched up a first with the launch of University of Canterbury research to the International Space Station, Science, Innovation and Technology and Space Minister Judith Collins says. The hardware, developed by Dr Sarah Kessans, is designed to operate autonomously in orbit, allowing scientists on Earth to study ...
Introduction Thank you for inviting me to speak with you today and I’m sorry I can’t be there in person. Yesterday I started in Wellington for Breakfast TV, spoke to a property conference in Auckland, and finished the day speaking to local government in Christchurch, so it would have been ...
The Coalition Government is contributing more than $1 million to support the establishment of an emergency multi-agency coordination centre in Northland. Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced the contribution today during a visit of the Whangārei site where the facility will be constructed. “Northland has faced a number ...
New Zealanders have enjoyed a broader range of voices telling the story of Aotearoa thanks to the creation of Whakaata Māori 20 years ago, says Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka. The minister spoke at a celebration marking the national indigenous media organisation’s 20th anniversary at their studio in Auckland on ...
Commercial catch limits for some fisheries have been increased following a review showing stocks are healthy and abundant, Ocean and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The changes, along with some other catch limit changes and management settings, begin coming into effect from 1 April 2024. "Regular biannual reviews of fish ...
Auckland Council has put a deadline on new weather-impacted property owners applying for categorisation as government funding looks set to run out. Councillors have voted to support a deadline of September 30 for property owners who haven’t accessed support to come forward and engage with the council’s recovery office. It ...
NONFICTION 1 BBQ Economics by Liam Dann (Penguin Random House, $40) “It’s official,” wrote Dann nine days ago in the Herald, where he works as business editor at large, “we’re in recession.” Yeah, great. He delivered the bad stats: “GDP fell 0.1 percent in the December 2023 quarter, compared with ...
Comment: Every year on February 2, a dozen men in tuxedos and top hats approach the burrow of a groundhog in Gobbler’s Knob, Pennsylvania and entice the beaver-like rodent to emerge and predict the weather. If the groundhog, named Punxsutawney Phil, sees its own shadow when it is summoned, legend ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Friday 29 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
By Anneke Smith, RNZ News political reporter A petition urging the New Zealand government to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people has been tabled in the House. More than 200 people gathered on Parliament’s forecourt today and they were met by MPs from Labour, the Greens and Te ...
Pacific Media Watch The Paris-based global media freedom watchdog RSF (Reporters Without Borders) has appealed for information about the “disappearance” of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abusultan. She was reportedly last seen on March 19 among people “sequestered” in this week’s raid and siege of Al Shifa hospital by Israeli troops in ...
EDITORIAL:The Jakarta Post It happens again and again; indigenous Papuans fall victim to Indonesian soldiers. This time, we have photographic evidence for the brutality, with videos on social media showing a Papuan man being tortured by a group of plainclothes men alleged to be the Indonesian Military (TNI) members. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robyn J. Whitaker, Director of the Wesley Centre for Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy & Associate Professor, New Testament, Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity A strange and eclectic range of activities takes place across these few weeks of the year. Some ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University It’s Easter weekend, which means many of us will be kicking back with the greatest hits on repeat. But whether you’re a boomer, or an ‘80s or ’90s kid, you might be ...
RNZ Pacific Fiji’s Acting Public Prosecutor has filed an appeal against the sentences of former prime minister Voreqe Bainimarama and suspended police chief Sitiveni Qiliho in their corruption case. Bainimarama was granted an absolute discharge for attempting to pervert the course of justice while Qiliho received a conditional discharge with ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Arosha Weerakoon, Senior Lecturer and General Dentist, School of Dentistry, The University of Queensland Casezy idea/Shutterstock How does toothpaste work? What did people use before toothpaste was invented? – Amelia, age 7, Meanjin (Brisbane) Thanks for your ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Brett Hallam, Associate professor, UNSW Sydney IM Imagery/Shutterstock Solar SunShot is well named. The Australian government announced today it would plough A$1 billion into bringing back solar manufacturing to Australia, boosting energy security, swapping coal and gas jobs for those ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Dix, Research Fellow in Nutrition & Dietetics, The University of Queensland Easter is the time for chocolate. The shops are full of fantastically packaged and shiny chocolates in all shapes and sizes, making trips to the supermarket with children more challenging ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Emma Felton, Adjunct Senior Researcher, University of South Australia Even in a stubborn cost-of-living crisis, it seems there’s one luxury most Australians won’t sacrifice – their daily cup of coffee. Coffee sales have largely remained stable, even as financial pressures have ...
Mining company Trans-Tasman Resources has unexpectedly withdrawn its application for a consent to suck the valuable metals vanadium and titanium from the Taranaki seafloor, as it apparently wagers on the Government’s new fast-track process. It had spent two-and-a-half days putting its case to the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision-making committee, at ...
Contrary to the Associate Minister of Education’s claims, analysis of Healthy School Lunches Programme - Ka Ora, Ka Ako assessments has revealed it provides excellent value for the taxpayer dollar, as a groundswell of public opposition to Government ...
Greenpeace says wannabe Taranaki seabed miner Trans-Tasman Resources is likely banking on Christopher Luxon’s fast-track process to side-step proper scrutiny of its Taranaki seabed mining proposal by bailing out of the Environmental Protection Agency hearing ...
Kiwis Against Seabed mining today slammed Australian owned would-be seabed miner Trans Tasman Resources (TTR) for abandoning its application to the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) to mine the seabed of the South Taranaki Bight. The company ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katie Attwell, Associate Professor, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia Ground Picture/Shutterstock Months after COVID vaccines were introduced in 2021, governments and private organisations mandated them for various groups. Health and aged care workers were among the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Andrew Dzurak, Scientia Professor Andrew Dzurak, CEO and Founder of Diraq, UNSW Sydney Diraq For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or ...
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 A national Essential poll, conducted March 20–24 from a sample of 1,150, gave the Coalition a 50–44 lead including undecided, a reversal ...
The Taxpayers’ Union has today made a formal request under the Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Open Government Information () for information held about how New Zealand Members of Parliament are spending taxpayer ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert Nelson, Honorary Principal Fellow, The University of Melbourne A Byzantine depiction of the Eucharist in Saint Sophia Cathedral, Kyiv.Jacek555/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA A nasty quarrel arose in the 11th century over what kind of bread should be used in holy ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Patrick Hesp, Professor, Flinders University Patrick Hesp In some parts of Australia, coastal dunes are retreating from the ocean at an alarming rate, as waves carve up the beach and wind blows the sand inland. But coastal communities are largely ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luke Heemsbergen, Senior Lecturer, Digital, Political, Media, Deakin University With an impressive 60% of the US smartphone market, Apple is undeniably big, but not a clear monopoly. Yet, years of innovation by Apple have effectively given the company its own exclusive ...
Whether you’re facing layoffs or are just an emotional junior staffer, it’s always a good idea to scout out a good crying place before you need it. It’s an incredibly hard time for Wellington. Across the city, thousands of public servants are hearing tough news about redundancies and layoffs. Government ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By James Miller-Jones, Professor, Curtin University Nuclear explosions on a neutron star feed its jets. Danielle Futselaar and Nathalie Degenaar, Anton Pannekoek Institute, University of Amsterdam, CC BY-SA How fast can a neutron star drive powerful jets into space? The answer, it ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Daryl Adair, Associate Professor of Sport Management, University of Technology Sydney Earlier this week, independent MP Andrew Wilkie accused the AFL of conducting “off the books” illicit drug testing to identify players using substances of abuse, then inappropriately withdrawing them from matches ...
The Government’s announcement that it will scrap plans for a vast marine sanctuary around the Kermadec Islands is ‘shameful’ and will make it impossible for Aotearoa New Zealand to meet its international commitments, says the World Wide Fund for Nature ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By John Quiggin, Professor, School of Economics, The University of Queensland Shutterstock The federal government has bowed to pressure from the car industry, announcing it will relax proposed emissions rules for utes and vans and delay enforcement of the new standards ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Suzanne Rutland, Professor Emerita, University of Sydney In his latest book, Jewish Life in Medieval Spain, Jonathan Ray focuses on the tumult of the 14th century in Spain – a time of the plague, civil strife and war between the two largest ...
While creating a slate of world-class shows, Whakaata Māori also developed a generation of world-class creatives. Television is an odd word. It mixes the Ancient Greek and Latin languages, and its most literal meaning is “far-off sight”. In the contemporary and living language of te reo Māori, “whakaata” as a ...
Yesterday the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Israel’s war on Gaza. This significant step and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza prompted an urgent debate in the New Zealand Parliament. Leader ...
The Government’s decision to reduce access to continuous glucose monitors (CGM) not only threatens the lives of children with type 1 diabetes and increases the potential for ‘Dead in Bed’ syndrome, but also threatens the health of their parents an ...
Apples are available year-round, but the wide variety on offer involves intensive scientific research – and large-scale commercialisation. What’s beautiful, red, sweet and crunchy? Tony Martin’s favourite kind of apple: Sassy. The CEO of apple and pear breeding organisation Prevar, Martin’s fondness for Sassy represents professional success as well as ...
Family violence specialist service Shine is calling on employers to stop asking for proof of domestic violence in order for employees to access domestic violence leave. The call comes five years after the introduction of the Domestic Violence ...
The Deputy Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee is calling for public submissions on the Budget Policy Statement 2024. The Budget Policy Statement 2024 (BPS) sets out the Government's priorities for the 2024 Budget. It explains the approach ...
Brutal government spending cuts that will see the size of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples slashed by 40% will hit Pasifika communities hard, the PSA says. The Ministry has told staff that it is seeking voluntary redundancies, and to redeploy and reassign ...
I live with five people I mostly love, but our different ideas about generosity are starting to really irk me.Want Hera’s help? Email your problem to helpme@thespinoff.co.nzDear Hera,This is a bit of a random one but here goes. I’m 22 and work an OK job (OK meaning I get paid ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Maria Nicholas, Senior Lecturer in Language and Literacy Education, Deakin University Earlier this month, the New South Wales government announced it would roll out programs for gifted students in every public school in the state. This comes amid concerns gifted school ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christopher Rudge, Law lecturer, University of Sydney Massachusetts General Hospital In a world first, we heard last week that US surgeons had transplanted a kidney from a gene-edited pig into a living human. News reports said the procedure was a ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David Tombs, Howard Paterson Chair of Theology and Public Issues, University of Otago The 5th-century Maskell panel showing Jesus in a loincloth.British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA When Jesus is shown on the cross, he is almost always depicted wearing a loincloth around ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Panizza Allmark, Professor Visual & Cultural Studies, Edith Cowan University Shutterstock When you think about a red object, you might picture a red carpet, or the massive ruby in the Queen’s crown. Indeed, Western monarchies and marketing from brands such ...
COMMENTARY:Jewish Voice for Peace The UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza on Monday — and for the first time since the beginning of the Israeli military’s genocide of Palestinians, the United States abstained rather than vetoing it. Security Council resolutions are legally binding, ...
Asia Pacific Report A New Zealand investigative journalist and author says the US spy system hosted by the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) appears to be a controversial intelligence system used in global capture-kill operations. Writing a commentary for RNZ News today, Nicky Hager, author of Secret Power, a 1996 ...
While Nicola Willis wouldn’t give any details on its size, she said a package of tax cuts is definitely still coming in this year’s budget, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. ...
The Taxpayers’ Union is welcoming the investigation into the Department of Internal Affairs after it was revealed that the Department’s Chief Executive personally reached out to expedite a DJs passport application. Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns ...
Finance minister Nicola Willis delivers her first budget statement, and unwittingly helps Joel MacManus save his relationship. Nicola Willis strode into the Beehive Theatrette. Around me, on the green foldout seats, were the country’s top business and political journalists. They were all here to see her announce the Budget Policy ...
Twenty years ago today, Māori Television launched after much controversy. Jamie Tahana looks back on its survival and impact across two decades. Chad Chambers stepped onto the stage, the brim of his cap casting a shadow across his face. His smile beamed as bright as his white freezing works gumboots, ...
Tauranga, Rotorua, Wellsford, Onehunga, Westhaven marina – Gavin Strawhan walks the meanish streets of New Zealand in his entertaining debut novel The Call, almost sure to roar into the number 1 position on the Nielsen bestseller chart, its front cover bearing a rave from somebody: “A really good and genuinely ...
On a Thursday in February, at Wellington’s Conservation House, the Conservation Authority, a statutory body advising the eponymous department and minister, Tama Potaka, opened its 195th meeting. Under consideration that afternoon was an agenda item written by Tim Bamford, chief advisor in the Department of Conservation’s biodiversity, heritage and visitors ...
Loading…(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){var ql=document.querySelectorAll('A[quiz],DIV[quiz],A[data-quiz],DIV[data-quiz]'); if(ql){if(ql.length){for(var k=0;k<ql.length;k++){ql[k].id='quiz-embed-'+k;ql[k].href="javascript:var i=document.getElementById('quiz-embed-"+k+"');try{qz.startQuiz(i)}catch(e){i.start=1;i.style.cursor='wait';i.style.opacity='0.5'};void(0);"}}};i['QP']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){(i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)})(window,document,'script','https://take.quiz-maker.com/3012/CDN/quiz-embed-v1.js','qp'); Got a good quiz question?Send Newsroom your questions. The post Newsroom daily quiz, Thursday 28 March appeared first on Newsroom. ...
A lengthy response to the recently released draft Government policy statement on transport will soon be delivered from Auckland Council to Minister of Transport Simeon Brown. A submission raising concerns about funding distribution and the plan’s treatment of Auckland passed through the council’s transport committee on Wednesday, despite some councillors ...
The unidentified foreign intelligence operation discussed in a scathing report by New Zealand’s Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security (IGIS) last week appears to be a controversial United States intelligence system. The IGIS report said the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) decision to host a foreign system from 2012-2020 was “improper” ...
As a young gymnast, Aimee Didierjean was always conscious of making sure her underwear wasn’t showing on the competition floor. A peek of a bra strap, or briefs if a leotard rode up, would cost a gymnast points in her routines. “When I was growing and going through puberty, it ...
Jubi/West Papua Daily Repeated cases of Indonesian military (TNI) soldiers torturing civilians in Papua have been evident, as seen in the viral video depicting the torture of civilians in the Puncak Regency allegedly done by soldiers of Raider 300/Brajawijaya Infantry Battalion. There is a pressing need for stringent law enforcement ...
How to help people facing poverty?
This is a good read about scientific studies.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01679-y
Thanks for this Barry.
The scientific evidence is clear, reducing inequality with cash injections to the most disadvantaged gives them the resources they need to escape poverty benefiting and enriching the whole of society.
Where does the cash come?
It comes from government which gains its income from taxes on the more well off.
The political representatives of the more well off, like National and ACT are against taxing the well off for any sort of social programs even if those programs would benefit the whole of society. And so will campaign to oppose them.
Fundamental to this campaign is the promotion of the idea, that the poor are indigent, irresponsible, stupid and lazy, and responsible for their own distress and powerlessness.
Relentlessly the representatives of the rich will push the idea, that taxing the well off to fund social programs will only see the less well off spend more on drugs and booze and gambling and other social evils.
Again and again studies like this prove the opposite. That given the resources the poor will use them raise themselves and their families out of poverty.
There is more than one way that society's wealth can be distributed more equitably, While the benefits of governments doing this directly is backed by studies like this.
Governments are not the only agencies that have the power to redistribue the wealth of society more equitably. More traditionally, trade unions have played this role.
I am reminded here of the rise of South Korea to become the economic power house that it is today. This transformation began with the rise of powerful trade unions that led successful struggles to wrest more of that society's wealth for the working people. The increase in well being of the working population led to increases in productivity, the continuing rise in incomes and resources at the bottom of South Korean society led to higher achievement levels for South Korean children in schools leading to more children of working families to be more able to move up to receive the advantages of higher education. The struggle of the trade union movement in South Korea was also linked to the struggle for more democracy and openness in South Koran society.
These hard won advances were fought every step of the way. As will the proven benfits of government led redistribution will be too.
Everything is connected
On Saturday Mickysavage, posted in praise of UK union leader Mick Lynch.
Attached to the bottom of his post, Mickysavage added the Green Day rendition of John Lennon's song 'Working Class Hero'.
The Green Day backing video features refugees from tyrannies where campaigns for social justice and against extreme inequality are suppressed with massive violence and oppression. Local ruling elites of these countries, quick to suppress any sort of trade union or democratic activity, are often supported and backed, (and also armed with military aid), by Western powers that benefit from the neo-colonial oppression, exploitation and looting of these countries in an international web of binding business contracts, trade deals and political and military partnership links.
What reminded me of your comment, Barry, and the link you provided to proven studies of how to relieve poverty, was the first line sung by Green Day,
"As soon as you're born, they make you feel small
By giving you nothing instead of it all"
Despite the proven success of the trials in relieving poverty by providing resources and funds to poor people, these trials will never be rolled out as government programs. The international links between the local ruling elites and the ruling elites in the West who in partnership also benefit from the inequality, poverty and low incomes in these countries, (possibly even more than the local elites), will simply not allow it.
It will take a hard fought campaign against these vested interests, the same for the struggle of the RMTU workers, led my Mick Lynch.
Everything is connected.
World War III edges closer.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/royal-navy-could-escortgrain-ships-through-odesa-blockade-6cdp626xq#:~:text=Britain%20is%20in%20discussion%20with,protect%20freighters%20carrying%20Ukrainian%20grain.
Both war and climate change have the same drivers.
It follows, that if we can't stop the war, We can't stop climate change.
Stop the war Russian troops out!
https://www.stopwar.org.uk/events/stop-fuelling-the-war-in-ukraine-russian-troops-out-no-to-nato-trident/
While the US hegemon might regard the Pacific region as a US Lake.
(on a smaller scale), Russia regards the Black Sea as a Russian lake,
Both war and climate change have the same drivers.
It follows, that if we can't stop the war, We can't stop climate change.
Stopping war, is stopping climate change.
Russian warlord Putin gloats at Europe's dependence on Russian fossil fuel supplies while mocking the urgent need to turn toward renewables. A turn which would undermine Europe's (and the world's), dependence on fossil fuels, and Putin's ability to use this dependence as a weapon.
Yeah….not hush money at ALL. JLR allgood… until he wasn’t. Dirty politics for sure
Happy Matariki to everyone. I have a question about the Commercialisation of the celebration. I know it has been discussed recently but, in my opinion, posed by bad faith actors on this site. Am watching the TVNZ Matariki Special and in ad breaks they are advertising a "Give me a Clue Matariki Special" If they can advertise that, why can't other commercial identities use Matariki in their advertising. I'm just asking about consistency. Cheers.
Only really caught up on yesterday's conversation later in the day.
I don't really understand the impulse to determine how others view this holiday, and pre-determine what significance it holds for all.
The Christians I know celebrate Christmas in both the commercialised cultural way, and with attendant church activities and sermons. They neither demand the same from others, or begrudge those that hold different faiths from not recognising the religious component.
I don't know any monarchists that have a particular form of celebration on Queen's Birthday, or unionists that hold particular celebrations on Labour Day. If they do, I've heard nothing from them about how everyone celebrated the same.
Isn't the point of any state holiday is a day to do what you wish, with those you want to share it with?
In response to any references to the commercialisation of a Māori holiday. Well, I view it as a holiday named in recognition of a Māori calendar event, which has been allotted in a multicultural society. The recognition and assignment of that name is enough.
An assumed world view about all Māori is not helpful.
Although, I choose to be a feminist, I have differing ideas about feminism than other feminists, and often disagree on feminism. As a Māori, I recognise that the diversity of individuals and their thoughts and perspectives – as with non-Māori – do not often align. As with other demographics, even if there is agreement on a topic, there remains diverse views on both outcomes and implementation.
In this region, Māori were the prime traders and were exporting produce to England, in the mid-late 1800's. To assume that they would be against trading on a holiday (if the concept of national holiday was understood) is just that… an assumption.
If to be treated and accepted equally is the goal, the the use of Matariki in advertising is an indicator.
Funny thing about this all is that i was asked by Maori – last year and this year – to make "Matariki Stars" for them to give away to children in foster care and children in school.
Should i have refused? Lol, of course not. As a native Caucasian /nonmale/nontrans/formerly known as woman person thingy from a country were we happily invent food to eat for special holidays it was a pleasure for me to make these chocolate stars and i will do them again last year.
Manawatia a Matariki to you Molly. My the ‘new’ year bring you many blessing and happiness.
why shouldn't you make stars? This has nothing to do with the commercialisation argument.
You could call it commercialisation as it is literally the same as making Easter Bunnies for Easter or Santas for Christmas. It is a product made for sale for that particular day. It just depends on which step of the ideological purity ladder one stands.
To me any holiday needs a special food that you can only get that one day or few days during which the festival/holiday is feted. It makes it a celebration. But i am roman catholic and grew up with pretend drinking of blood and eating of flesh of Christ and thus have no issue with symbolism in food attached to ones culture. Food is part of celebrations.
you were paid to make the stars?
Absolutely, without pay I don't work. I am too poor to not charge, and for what its worth i was not expected to make these for free either.
I thought it was a community thing.
I don't have a problem with people being paid, and I don't think this is commercialisation in this context either. Commercialisation would be a business making up some product to sell to take advantage of Matariki and putting on a big sale.
I view both to some extend as 'commercialisation, but i don't understand why we are ok with boxing day sales, Easter sales, Queens birthday sales but suddenly draw the line at this holiday. Either we do or we don't. Re- Community thing, making these stars cost money, and i no longer – like many other small businesses my size that used to support various charities fully and for free- can no longer afford to support these charities without at least charging for cost of making hte products that they would like to get from us. Premises, lisencing, material, etc all that costs money.
In fact i am open and working today. Just as i would do on any other holiday. Too poor to not work. 🙂
Boxing Day sales are evil, and a direct result of the whole global system that is killing the planet, enforcing slave labour in poor countries, and undermining worker rights in places like NZ.
I fully support shops to be closed on those days other than essentials.
Like I said, no problem with you making the stars as part of your business, it just wasn't apparent in the first comment where you talked about the stars being given away and I assumed it was a community thing.
and yes, yes, I understand poor people need sales to be able to buy stuff. However politically, we still have to argue against neoliberalism and for a better system. Otherwise we're just saying sorry underclass, this is the way it is, adapt if you can or die or whatever.
A Big Sale that happens to coincide with a public holiday when many flock to the shops & malls to kill time wandering with their heads bent down focussed on the little screens they hold in their hands and spend money to re-fill their materialistic needs. Viva la Commerce!
thanks for that. I was starting to wonder if I'd wandered into a parallel lw universe where consumerism was a desired god.
These neoliberal attitudes are almost impossible to shake. They have become normalised (as in normative), legalised & regulated, and embedded and permeate almost everything and everybody in our society. It took a few decades, but here we are.
Briefly toyed with the idea of a ‘quick’ Post but quickly running out of time, as usual 🙁
From my perspective, giving the role and responsibility of making a statement about neoliberalism and commercialism to this new Māori named state holiday is disrespectful to people as a whole, and a disservice to Māori long-term.
Address the issue across the board, instead of placing that whole conversation and burden on Māori concepts.
You’re accusing me of something I have not committed and reading way too much into it – I did not mention or imply anything specific about Māori and/or Matariki.
But since you provoked me, I’ll give you something to sink your teeth in.
Māori concepts and culture are being (mis-)appropriated all the time, usually for commercial (and political) reasons. At the same time, Māori concepts and culture are under permanent threat, socially, economically (e.g. tourism), and demographically and they are in chronic danger of being assimilated into our Westerns ways. To keep up, to get ahead, and to counteract past damages that have led and still lead to inequality and inequity in our society the answer/solution for some seems to be education, career, success, and then trying (out-)compete with Pākehā in the Pākehā world. In doing so, these Māori, with their heart and spirit in the right place, sell their soul to the Devil and lose their spirit in the process. It is a Catch-22 unless we, collectively as a society as a whole, come together and help their cause. The reaction to this is cries and outbursts and first twisting and then weaponising terms & concepts such as partnership and co-governance.
As you can see from the above rant, hopefully, I am not disrespectful to Māori and do not do a disservice to Māori long-term. Neither am I placing a burden on Māori concepts. You have turned it upside-down and back-to-front.
I don't want to quibble with much of what you say here. In particular I fully agree that culture can be easily misappropriated. We are for example seeing this play out as Putin steals the Russian memory of their honourable role in defeating Hitler, for a wholly debased purpose in Ukraine.
But it is also true that any living culture evolves all the time, adapting as the world around it shifts. We cannot and should not demand the Maori world remain frozen in a kind of fantasy pre-European aspic.
Yes, I agree completely, cultures evolve, which is something entirely different from being assimilated by a dominant and/or colonial culture. What I see happening is ‘Māori- washing’ thanks to the good intentions of PC warriors and the likes. It is superficial and commercial and only has the veneer of the culture it is supposed to represent but it is just empty hollow packaging and meaningless as such. Having good intentions is not the same as doing the right thing.
Te Ao Māori cannot remain frozen “in a kind of fantasy pre-European aspic” because: 1) it no longer exists; 2) who determines this way anyway? If we were to trust and respect and allow Māori some agency in determining these things for, by, and with themselves we would be on the right track, IMO. However, this seems to lead to absurd notions and equally absurd resistance, IMHO.
Final note: I guess that because some of the efforts feel so superficial and meaningless people feel more (easily) inclined to take a stance against them, i.e., they object and attack what they see as ‘virtue-signalling’ and ‘posturing’ rather than a genuine cause.
Not following that Molly. My comment about consumerism was in reference to discussion on TS.
@Incognito
I apologise. My comment was not directed at you specifically. It was a generalised comment about the idea of treating this holiday in a different way to other state holidays, and addressing the reasons for doing so.
"In doing so, these Māori, with their heart and spirit in the right place, sell their soul to the Devil and lose their spirit in the process. It is a Catch-22 unless we, collectively as a society as a whole, come together and help their cause. The reaction to this is cries and outbursts and first twisting and then weaponising terms & concepts such as partnership and co-governance."
In some cases this may be true, in other cases individuals will make choices that are not congruent with Māori values, because of other reasons, including personal selfishness, ego and sometimes for reasons of opportunity. These universal impediments to collective thinking are also experienced and acted on by Māori and non-Māori individuals.
"As you can see from the above rant, hopefully, I am not disrespectful to Māori and do not do a disservice to Māori long-term. Neither am I placing a burden on Māori concepts."
As I said, this was not intended as being directed at you as an individual, just the general idea that Māori are assigned this responsibility, in such a way in regards to this holiday. I don't believe that is fair.
I'm going to have to re-read these conversations, because I have probably lost track of it as I've come back and forth over the last few hours. I do agree with what you have said above, but I don't think it is the whole picture in regards to Māori and this holiday.
Right. I apologise again. Was making the erroneous assumption that it was in reference to the original question regarding Matariki and the advertising, but it obviously was not.
(I'm leaving the start of this comment, where I got it all wrong, to show that I got it all wrong, and responded to something that you did not say.)
Just letting you know I’ve seen your reply and all is good 🙂
I appreciate and respect your views in general and specifically as Māori and look forward to future convos on this topic. I think your attention is directed elsewhere today 😉
So true and sad.
"Otherwise we're just saying sorry underclass, this is the way it is, adapt if you can or die or whatever."
We have been saying that for a while now, in fact in Rotorua we have a street full of 'underclass' people whom we tell just that.
I am very over 'talking points' and purity spirals and the likes. People who have no money or who have obligations in this current environment all have a hustle to survive, and that hustle gives no fucks about holidays, culture, and the purity levels of people in
Academia, Arts, Politics, Pundit class etc who are either on benefits by the government or on good salaries. Those of us who are on no wages by an employer or on a benefit will have to work. And we will work when people are there and go out and about to have a good time.
Boxing day Sale is no more and no less evil then any other sale. People have money, people gift money – specially for young ones and they tend to spend it in their holiday period. And Businesses that would like to stay closed or don't want to incur the expense of paying extra to staff can stay closed. And some do.
I personally like sales to be organised as it was in Germany, i.e. Winter sale the first two weeks of January, and Summer sale the first two weeks of August (might be September not sure) and that is it. Any other promotion needs to be called just that, a promotion.
But keep in mind for some people Boxing Day Sales is a day out with their family.
if you cannot politically analyse (or won't) the dynamics and forces at work in capitalism, including Boxing Day sales, then there's no pathway out of poverty at the class level. There's only adaptation to neoliberalism and sorry for those that can't adapt. That's basically Labour's position.
I'm not arguing purity, I clearly said there are reasons why people need the sales. This is a both/and situation. We can both acknowledge that people need to adapt as well as talk about why this adaptation thing exists in the first place.
Thanks, Sabine. You too.
Good on you Molly.
Typing on phone promotes brevity. But I do want to reach out and wholeheartedly support your underlying sentiment here. Rational, tolerant and most importantly to my mind, celebrating diversity in our common universal humanity.
Great comments Molly
Cheers
Agree with all that Molly. Thanks.
What does that mean? They have adverts? They try and sell thing on Christmas day?
If people don't see commercialisation as a negative then it makes sense to commercialise Matariki. But commercialisation causes problems in society. Consider alcohol or tobacco or pharmaceutical advertisements. Or if we get to the point of advertising breast binders, puberty blockers and cross sex hormones on TV.
Commercialisation puts pressure on workers to be available on public holidays.
We know from long experience with neoliberalism, that if commerce is given free reign then bad shit happens. Pākehā culture no longer has the sense to keep some things free of that for the betterment of socidety, thankfully Māori does.
But Māori also had cultural containers for right action, including how to look after the group. It's almost impossible imo to compare 1800s practice with contemporary Pākehā practice given we are so encultured into individuality.
I meant that the Christians I know, do the whole holiday spiel. Including the buying of gifts, etc. Or at Easter, include the pagan symbols of Hot Cross Buns or Easter Eggs. It doesn't seem to create much angst for them to do both.
As an atheist, my family has it's own traditions. One that the children hate – and I love – is that they are not allowed to give me anything, but if they do, it has to be made by them. I sometimes get nothing – but do have several years of short videos made by them as they have grown. My point is, individuals and families create their own ways to mark holidays in ways that are significant to them.
Whether it is because people are a mix of their religious beliefs, and their cultural environment is for the social sciences to provide evidence for.
As an individual, I just know that for several years in my young adulthood, I both looked forward and participated enthusiastically in St Patrick's day. Neither my digestion or inclination trends that way at this stage of may life.
The significance of Matariki as a holiday, is going to be different for all, and that significance will change. Some may celebrate by use of stories and symbols – most particularly in education, maraes etc. Others who have stronger connections to Matariki will probably have their own way of celebrating that is more traditional and proscribed. But many others will just be grateful that they have another day to spend with friends and family.
Exposure to advertising that recognises and promotes the symbols of Matariki, is a commercialised but gentle reminder of the recognition of the Maaori aspect of the holiday, that replicates the advertising of other events such as Easter and Christmas.
I don't consider buying Christmas presents to be commercialisation per se. Depending on how people do it I guess, it's definitely become much more consumerist over my lifetime especially with children.
People and families marking/celebrating Matariki in their own way is also not commercialisation. Has someone objected to people doing this?
Oh, interesting. See I see the holiday as wholly te ao Māori, and Māori have been generous to share it with non-Māori. I don’t see it as a mainstream, Pāhekā dominant culture holiday with a Māori name that has a Māori aspect. I suspect this right here is the fundamental disagreement about commercialisation.
Plenty of ways for people to come to understand what it means without commercialising it, and I can't see how commercialising it will improve understanding of te ao Māori, I would guess it will make it worse. We will see.
"Oh, interesting. See I see the holiday as wholly te ao Māori, and Māori have been generous to share it with non-Māori."
That make sense. We are approaching this from completely different perspectives.
I consider it to be a government recognition of Māori by the assigning of a name of a state holiday. The significance to some Māori and is neither enhanced or impacted by this act. A separation of state and 'church' in terms of its implementation.
I wouldn't really want it to be otherwise, on reflection.
Sorry, meant to address your question re the pressure to work on holidays.
"Commercialisation puts pressure on workers to be available on public holidays."
I was one of many workers who loved being rostered on a state holiday, because of the day in lieu and the extra hourly. Many of our lower income households are the ones that already work the shifts, and weekends. They already accommodate within their households the varying conflicts of their work with the assumption of normal schedules for schooling, activities etc. Those families co-ordinate their time off with other family members, rather than the community at large.
It is a consequence of falling incomes and rising costs, but we shouldn't ignore those that welcome the financial benefit of increased wages by working on a state holiday.
"But Māori also had cultural containers for right action, including how to look after the group. It's almost impossible imo to compare 1800s practice with contemporary Pākehā practice given we are so encultured into individuality."
Pakeha history also contains examples of group knowledge and support. Māori, historically and now, have individuals that also are proponents of individual enrichment.
I believe it is as vitally important to recognise the diversity of views and life practices within the Māori demographic, as we automatically do within the non-Māori demographic.
It is both a sign of respect – and equality – to do so.
Yes, but this is an argument for adapting to neoliberalism. Understandable and I support the pragmatics, but politically I'm in favour of system change. Better employment law, living wage etc. Public holidays with strong symbolic meaning are a chance to shift culture.
Yes, and British and Māori cultures were quite different in the 1800s, as are Māori and Pākeha today. My point stands, that us now, are engrained in individualism, and this is in contrast to Māori culture which has a much stronger emphasis on the collective good. The problem with commercialisation centres on the collective good.
"Yes, but this is an argument for adapting to neoliberalism. "
Could be viewed that way. Personally, I see it as one of the more inventive and pragmatic ways that people find to deal with the failures of neoliberalism. Until the political landscape improves and material changes are felt at individual levels, people find ways to adapt and thrive.
"Māori culture which has a much stronger emphasis on the collective good. "
Many cultures have this emphasis. Many demographics also contain individuals that practice this without cultural reference, whether it be through religion, environmentalism, socialism etc. It's a perspective to support, but not necessarily adhered to by all Māori individuals or organisations.
there's a balance to be had about adapting and political change. Much of the GI debate is centred in adapting to and making the most of neoliberalism.
Of course. When I talk about cultural norms, it's a given that not every individual or org fits or adheres to that. But I don't think it's incorrect to say that Māoridom is currently better at attending to the collective than Pākeha society, generally.
I understand what you are saying.
But I am cognisant of the difference between a concept, and how the concept is lived across modern Maoridom.
Part of that comes from my lived experience with my relatives and marae, some from the same observational scrutiny I use for others. I am fully aware my experience is only one of many, and not necessarily representative, but it is still true, and not one-off.
not following this one either, sorry!
For me it's a given that in any culture (or set of cultures) there is variation. Is it me making a general statement about Māori culture that is the sticking point here? Is it an untrue statement? Or are you wanting to make more visible the variation within Māoridom?
"But I don't think it's incorrect to say that Māoridom is currently better at attending to the collective than Pākeha society, generally."
Purely from my personal perspective, it's a generalisation that I think it is not necessarily helpful.
If Māori have a really good functioning community, this is where the best aspects of Te Ao Māori can be lived, and seen. But there are Pākeha examples of the same too. We can recognise both, without the need for a comparison of merit.
As in all common groups, there is the possibility of those within in acting outside of those values, but not being held to account because of the roles, or power, or relationships they hold in those groups. Eg. Marae based organisations have the same vulnerability of church based in this regard, and just as my Pākeha friend has borne the brunt of that protection in her church, I have direct Māori relatives with similar experiences in their marae, that were also failed because of the commitment to solidarity rather than individual accountability.
I love those aspects of Te Ao Māori, and I acknowledge their value. But for me credit is given to whomever encompasses those values, in all ways. Whether Māori or Pākeha. Growing up with both Māori and Pākeha relatives, that had similar methods of sharing and community endeavours, I had always thought of it as New Zealand culture, and am reluctant to let that understanding go, so I realise it might be a personal one, rather than one that expresses adequately the conflict between the cultures today.
This deprecation of individualism out of hand omits the enormous benefits it brings. The kind of overreaching tribalism that readily sacrifices personal welfare for the greater good comes at its own terrible cost. It is why most people choose modernity at the first opportunity they get.
Unconstrained individualism on the other hand carries its own alienation and social ills.
I would suggest these two principles are best thought of as mutually interdependent, each necessary to support the other. It is impossible to imagine a good, healthy society full of depraved, dysfunctional people. Equally a tyrannical, oppressive society will fail to inculcate admirable people.
In conversations where I know the understanding and perspective of the other person, it is easier to give my perspective without going into areas I did not intend.
So, it is easier to explain in principle, rather than specifics.
I believe that in most cases – if not all – when implementing a process, or determining a solution, there is going to be impact or cost. This recognition doesn't mean that the solution is not the right one to undertake, just that there are costs to that decision that should be recognised and accommodated in some way.
As you say, both unconstrained individualism and tribalism carry both their own benefits and costs. A system that finds a way to capture the benefits of both would be ideal. Of course, in some situations one approach will predominate, while in others the opposite will be true.
Regardless, there is a cost to either of those approaches.
Effective (rather than punitive) regulation and policies might address the excesses of individualism, while processes that ensure individual accountability despite a recognition that the group embraces us in all our flawed humanity need to be included.
It is the optimal balance between the two that is so very hard to achieve, and requires ongoing review and tinkering. Sometimes, in real life, people who see the benefits of either approach, champion that approach and don’t recognise the costs when they occur – because we are not trained to look for additional problems resulting from our mostly great solutions.
And some people have to work, regardless of whether it's a holiday or not (or our civilization will grind to a halt). Nurses, electricity workers, sewerage station workers, water supply, etc., etc.
Public holidays have never (and can never) include everyone.
Was in the CBD this morning catching up with a friend, and came across a Matariki festival. Maori musicians, stalls selling food, and general Maori themed nicknacks, jewellery, clothes, etc. Observationally (I didn't instigate a whakapapa check), these were all Maori – happily commercializing 'their' festival.
Absolutely don't have a problem with this. And I think that it reflects a range of views on this from within the Maori sphere, just as there are a range of views on Christmas/Easter within the Christian sphere.
I think there's a real miscommunication about commercialisation here. To me it's not selling things per se. It's appropriating something into the neoliberal market with the intention of making profit with no regard for the wider good. I gave examples above about areas we restrict eg alcohol advertising.
People having a local market and selling stuff isn't commercialisation, it's community.
Obviously. The point was that commercialisation has enforced more people having to work on public holidays, unnecessarily. Easy to make a case for nurses being needed every day of the year. Not so a $2 shop, or a baby shop.
"I think there's a real miscommunication about commercialisation here. To me it's not selling things per se. It's appropriating something into the neoliberal market with the intention of making profit with no regard for the wider good. "
OK, I think I understand the distinction here.
If I do, I believe this to be a bigger conversation, rather than application to Matariki as a state holiday.
You realise that our economy and civilisation will implode. Just ask Kirk Hope.
Who incidentally produces nothing.
Noble Savage Romanticism.
The public adoption of this posture is a form of narcissistic virtue-signalling from affluent Culturalists utterly divorced from cold hard Reality.
you appear to be the one with noble savage notions in your head Swordfish. There's absolutely nothing overt or implied about the nobela savage in the observation that Māori cultures are more collective focused than Pākehā in NZ. Neither is there anything controversial in my statement. Nearly 40 years of neoliberalism ffs.
By all means use lazy anti-woke virtueless signalling in lieu of an actual argument against what I said though.
Reality is cold and hard?
No, it ain't.
Reality is binary,
Then again
https://medium.com/encounter-in-nineveh/the-binary-universe-and-simulated-reality-dfc578658ac9
It from Bit (John wheeler)
Information gives rise to "every it-every particle,every field of force,even the space time continuum itself"
Not only is the observer observing,she is asking questions,and making statements that are expressed in discrete bits,"what we call reality" as Wheeler wrote "arises in the last analysis of yes/no questions'' and added 'All things physical are information -theoretic in origin,and this is a participatory universe'
From Gleick (the information)
It is or it is not. There’s no question about it.
Binary?
Christian mystics (and others) would argue that it's a ternary.
Your thoughts, Poission?
H=n log s
Democritus though, failed to understand what opinion is.
No it isn't. (sarc) (Reply to Poision at 3.50pm. – Reality is binary.)
I suspect it is unitary
You are writing of our perception.
Certainly not for affluent old virtue-signaling hippie fantasists in the rural idyll of small town Riverton.
You wouldn't have too much of a clue about life elsewhere, however.
"Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
– John Ch1, v 46.
It's surprising what comes out of the periphery.
How unkind, swordfish, and ad hom 🙂
“affluent old virtue-signaling hippie fantasists in the rural idyll of small town Riverton.” is harsh.
Why are you so harsh?
There has been some interesting korero today. I had hard day behind the chainsaw, followed by the weed eater for desert. Nothing like some honest levity to end my day.
Those who hold your view are dying.
Those who hold political and increasingly commercial power in New Zealand are a rag-tag battlefleet of educated post-settlement Maori, gays in all their forms, remaining unionists, urban activists, environmentalists, feminists, sustainability types, fitness and muesli freaks, poverty activists, all the massive companies addicted to the state, the deep left within key ministries, the great HoMoPoMo conspiracy of them …
… and together they have changed the language of political discourse forever.
It's OK. We know you hate them all. But your view will soon die.
Today is just one day where all of them break out into the open, official and permanent. Hoisted to something as real as the stars.
Beautiful, Ad!
.
You're beyond clueless … I’ve noticed time & again when you can’t adequately answer a point, you concoct any old smear that happens to be passing through that narcissistic brain of yours.
Obviously you think a cheap bit of character assassination will give you some sort of quick “win”.
Agree Swordfish
Have you just read yourself?
Very blade-like, your sword, fish.
Pretty tactless Ad when you know Swordfish has cancer.
+1 Anker
A tag team of nasty bastards…so much for the 'empathic left'.
Really Ad? Don't you know Labour are going down in the polls and likely are on their way out.
Many years ago, I became aware of aspects of the Matariki cluster (I drove a Subaru back then) and it's importance to gardening. The two "figures" around whom on the ground action was centred, Rongomatane and Haumietikitiki ( nga atua of cultivated & wild food) really inspired me, as did the focus on assessing food stocks and planning the next seasons mahi nga kai. I've marked Matariki ever since then, with regards to those aspects. I'm not a good star-gazer – myopia and colour-blindness aren't advantages to peering into outer space, so the earthier effects are where I connect with nga whetu. The national celebration we are enjoying now, hasn't changed my prosaic view of the celestial event; I still only consider Matariki from the growers point of view, but I do celebrate the wider involvement and awareness of all of us living here on these South Pacific islands of ours.
A good friend of mine, who has just complete a degree in weaving, incorporated the Matariki cluster in her final submissions and her graduation korowai. The stories related to her pieces are both connected to her iwi's stories, and her own life.
Such personal recognition and how we honour it at individual levels will be wonderfully diverse and significant, even if that recognition is not universal.
Your personal story is another example, and with your circle of influence – which I know is considerable – may spread that knowledge wider and create another unique but shared celebration of Matariki in your community.
I hope that is the case in many different rohe, but believe that it is sustainable only as an organic and personal process rather than a proscribed one.
That's a good perspective, Molly.
Chris Trotter has a go at the issue and sweeps across many of the points, but ends with this:
"Isn’t it possible that Matariki may yet prove a cure for, rather than a cause of, racist contention? Maybe, as the Earth grows warmer, and the pretensions of science and modernity are increasingly laid bare, the hunger of all Aotearoans for gods and heroes will increase. Perhaps, when we realise that these islands are all we’ve got, the thought may grow in our hearts and minds: If all things are, indeed, related and alive, then why not be guided by the stars?"
I like that.
That's a good quote from Chris Trotter, but I think fails to acknowledge the overlap between the Te Ao Maori view and many other perspectives that are also aligned with recognising the connectiveness of all things, and the value of recognising this in the day-to-day choices we make. I also don't need a god or superhero to follow in order to make informed choices, but I can understand the residual longing for such easy solutions to the problems we have ahead.
When I first became aware of, and was finding out as much as I could about climate change – I can date this by one of my children – so around 23 years ago, I included in my immersion searches for organisations around NZ that were not only identifying the problem, but recognising the scope of it, and inviting solutions.
There were a few, but none organised that did all three. It was easier to find individuals speaking out or writing about the issue.
As the children got older, I looked in particular for Māori organisations, and found one Māori youth group – bookmarked on a now defunct desktop. But even then, the understanding of the impact of climate change was limited.
Over time, references to climate change started to appear in organisations Māori and non-Māori alike, but mostly in reference to getting funding or grants for local conservation or regeneration efforts, rather than a demonstrated understanding of the impact of the whole. Thankfully, this has slowly changed over time.
My point is that Māori, just like non-Māori – despite their common good view – often treated the example of climate change as it affected their group and rohe, not as the wider global problem it is, even though they had the concepts to consider the whole, in practice the scope was limited to the familiar immediate.
I agree with the concept of understanding the value of the living biosphere.
For me, I recognise that in a myriad of ways: in teachings of Te Ao Māori, in the environmental perspectives that I follow, my understandings of science, my personal values and political views, my concern for those who follow us… etc. The more we encounter that perspective in our lives, the better.
Well said Molly.
Nope, no Israeli influence over US policy.
//
https://twitter.com/juliabacha/status/1539673763658317824
Outrageous.
"You don’t have to like or agree with Vladimir Putin to take seriously the speech he made to the St. Petersburg Economic Forum last week. Five paragraphs – from an otherwise long and somewhat dull presentation – stand out:"
https://consciousnessofsheep.co.uk/2022/06/22/the-new-new-new-world-order/
I don't know if this has been discussed before on TS but apparently Putin was aboard the Mikhail Lermontov when it sank in the sounds in 1986. Shame he made it off the ship.
Excellent…I will read The Fall…Camus is good value…quirky.
Lermontov died at 27 like all of the good artists.
He died the way of Pushkin, shot in a duel.
I had heard that Putin was supposed to have been in New Zealand and attended the inquiry into the sinking. I hadn't heard the idea that he had actually been on the ship though. Where did you hear this?
My favorite memory of the event was David Lange's quip about the sinking. "Lange declared that little old New Zealand was "the only nation to sink a Russian Ship since the Second World War."
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/tv-no-show-leaves-that-sinking-feeling/FKJ67R5OQ7JDEZ7KNSVTUEXUDA/
A usually reliable friend of mine told me last night. Happy to be contradicted if wrong. I must admit I thought I would have heard about this before if it is true.
There was funny goings on with that ship
It was, and probably still is, normal practice of the Soviet submarine service to mask the acoustic signature of their submarines with a surface vessel when transiting shallow waters where the opposition could be listening.
Many of the Pilot's actions, going close to shore and going through the channel that turned out to be a bit tight, could be interpreted as trying to minimise or remove this masking.
It was also odd that our navy arrived to pick up the pieces within minutes, they were doing a hydrographic job nearby.
I suppose that once the details of the affair are disclosed, (aren't they held in Richard Prebble's personal library?) we may get to know a bit more.
There was a cartoon in Southern Cross of a Fred Dang character telling one side to bugger off, turning around and telling the other side to bugger off too. I understood that related to NZ telling USA to bugger off with it's nukes, and someone else.
PS How do you upload an image (jpeg) to TS? I've got the cartoon but not as a url
There was funny goings on with that ship.
I remember that. Didn’t Winston Peters make some allegations along the lines we were not being told the truth about it?
That man's wit is legendary.
Maggie Thatcher sent Baroness somebody-or-another to NZ to tell David Lange he wasn't to do the Oxford Union Debate. The encounter was contentious to say the least and when she left his office he called out to her "hey Baroness you've left your broomstick behind".
For anyone who may be interested, the following is the latest session from the US Congressional hearings into the Jan. 6th Capitol riots:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjMNdMqxuiQ
It covers the shenanigans in the weeks leading up to the riot. Lengthy but gripping stuff.
Could have had worse!!
Our wannabe crusher will be green.
https://twitter.com/Phil_Lewis_/status/1539572438752759808
This is who they are and the Bethlehem school mob are singing from the same sheet.
https://twitter.com/hemantmehta/status/1539633483957551104
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyUqro8d310&feature=youtu.be
https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/right-wing-media-are-pushing-vigilantism-against-trans-people-and-drag-queens
This is who they are and the Bethlehem school mob are singing from the same sheet.
I've looked….but I can't find where the Bethlehem School are saying that LGBTQ people should be killed. Or that violence should be directed towards them.
Pray, joe90, provide a link to where you found the information that led you to make this claim.
(There's a difference between believing that 'God doesn't make mistakes.' and 'LGBTQ people should be killed.')
WTF would I bother providing anything to you.
/
No link then Joe90
Can you read between the lines?
If I read between the lines there is a good chance I am making an interpretation that is not correct.
It may be correct or it may be incorrect, if you want to deal in/with binaries only. Question is what you’re going to do with it that adds to the convo here?
Defend them all you want, but statements like 'God doesn't make mistakes' does get people killed. Either by gun or pills it makes no difference. If you're beaten down enough by words from those you are supposed to look up to, life can become very bleak.
"Defend them all you want, but statements like 'God doesn't make mistakes' does get people killed."
How does that get people killed?
Their Statement of belief contains references to the sovereignty and will of God, https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/information-releases/issue-specific-releases/integration-agreements-for-state-integrated-schools/integration-agreements-for-state-integrated-schools-a-b/ .
One oft repeated Christian viewpoint, when people are going through personal struggles, or times of crisis is: 'God doesn't make mistakes' or 'God moves in mysterious ways'. Not particularly helpful, from my point of view, but not deliberately meant to harm, but rather to console.
And so, we really need to know the context of that quote. How the conversation was initiated, and who was involved. If a student has made the statement that God had given them the wrong body, then I am not surprised that it has been challenged with the response that 'God doesn't make mistakes' within a Christian environment.
Why are so many feigning surprise at this viewpoint, as if we know nothing at all about Christian beliefs?
Suicide. If a member of the LBGT Community continues to be told they are a mistake or you're going to hell because you're an abomination, etc etc etc, either by their church leaders or idols (looking at you, Folau), the potential for suicide is elevated. If they show welcoming and inclusion in their Religion then they show the good and right side of Christianity, it seems to me, these people show the opposite.
Suicide or lifelong depression.
From the inside of a fundamentalist church for my early life I know exactly what it's like to watch people question their sexuality, let alone their gender assignment.
I've seen the demon outcastings, the shunnings, humiliations, the one-on-one interviews, the training camps to re-educate you. Usually they leave, to start their entire life again, fairly damaged.
And yup, suicide and lifelong depressions among a few.
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/world/2022/06/uk-transgender-patient-suing-national-health-service-after-changing-mind-about-reassignment-surgery.html
A story about a man who had surgery to transition as a woman and now is suiing the NHS. good on him. It is a harrowing tale.
good on newshub for covering that.
I wonder if the new funding for trans healthcare will cover such situations.
The mental health impact on detrans people is intense. I don't think it's controversial to say that gay and trans people in fundamentalist churches can also have their mental health put at risk. Maybe we could have consideration for all people.
Can you explain how a gender is assigend at birth?
Sex is 'identified' early on in a pregnancy and then confirmed by birth. Sex being the visual secondary sexual characteristics of a human being i.e in an new born it is a boy – penis/scrotum, a girl – vagina.
But last i checked babies are not born without these sexual organs (or like barbie dolls with nothing down there blelow) , and no doctor will order a nurse to go into a Storage room in wich there are shelfes full of spare penises/vaginas that can then be affixed to the new born child on the whims of a doctor/midwife/nurse. If that would be the case i believe that femicide in India or China for that matter would not happen as all the parents would choose the 'boy tackle' to be affixed to the sex less new born.
Sexed bodies are OBSERVED at birth and not 'assigned'
assign
/əˈsʌɪn/
verb
past tense: assigned; past participle: assigned
allocate (a job or duty).
"Congress had assigned the task to the agency"
Similar:
allocate
allot
give
set
charge with
entrust with
designate or set (something) aside for a specific purpose.
"managers happily assign large sums of money to travel budgets"
I have a dear friend that also had harms that were not helped by the involvement in such a church.
It affects all those who fall outside of the church doctrines in any way, not only those with different sexual orientations or gender expressions.
That constancy of having someone tell you the right things to do comes at a a very high cost to all. The church either adapts or fails, as the people within it find they are able to survive without such control.
I'm sorry to hear that your upbringing meant that you witnessed such things as a child, Ad. But it doesn't seem that Bethlehem College is at that extreme from what has been reported so far.
Suicide, is not "getting people killed".
Mental distress, and not being able to get appropriate support for that distress makes people more likely to attempt, and possibly succeed at ending their own lives.
" If they show welcoming and inclusion in their Religion then they show the good and right side of Christianity, it seems to me, these people show the opposite."
Given that I – and it seems many of the commentators who dictate a "good and right side of Christianity" – are atheists, I fail to see what the intent is here.
Tell those whose sense of self falls outside the teachings of the church in about the failures of historic religious doctrines to serve anyone other than the church.
Tell them, that they can find other more understanding churches to accommodate their belief in God. If they don't have a belief in God, then encourage them to dismiss anything they say.
AFAIK, Bethlehem College did not put up a display or make a determined point in regards to this question. From the (very little) that was reported a teacher answered a student with "God doesn't make mistakes" – a familiar and oft used Christian phrase.
Give ALL students the resilience and tools to deal with disagreements without resorting to self-harm as a response.
Now, let's address the common use of suicide ideation in transgender advocacy. Despite this being against every suicide prevention guideline, advocates bring up the issue of suicide as impetus for non-therapeutic social and medical interventions.
This is using the threat of suicide as a means of coercive control and manipulation.
Surely, the answer to mental distress at this level is extensive and comprehensive therapy (and only therapy).
Further point: The student was told that there was NO mistake in their existence. Not the opposite. They wanted to be told there had been a mistake.
How about "no child is born in the wrong body"? The vast majority of young people with bodily dysphoria related to their sexed body will resolve that with the right support by the time they finish puberty. Most will grow up to be perfectly "ordinary" same sex attracted people.
Thanks for your diversion, but that's not a road I'm able to go down, other than 'if NO child is born in the wrong body' how come only MOST will grow out of it, that leaves a lesser number who will not grow out of it, they are still people and will still suffer. I'm off out to join a diverse group of people to celebrate Matariki so, Cheerio.
The people who don't desist from their gender dysphoria I think will likely have a tough life and I do feel for them. I hope they get the right support.
I posted further down about a man who had gender reassignment surgery and woke up full of regret and realized he had been castrated. He is now suing the NHS and I wish him luck.
"… how come only MOST will grow out of it, that leaves a lesser number who will not grow out of it, they are still people and will still suffer. "
If we had the answer to this, then any concerns about the long-term effects of inappropriate treatment would melt away like morning dew.
It is precisely the inability of being able to determine who will persist and who won't that makes the issue of both social and medical interventions for minors such a contentious issue.
If the majority do grow out of it – and there are other issues here regarding the very large increase in adolescent girls – then caution regarding treatment is well advised for this cohort. Not providing medical interventions until they are grown seems a precaution that seems advisable, given the permanent and long-term outcomes from intervention.
For those that do persist – is there a way to alleviate the distress until such time they are fully cognitive adults?
This is the conversation we need to be having about treatment for minors.
It is one that requires a lot of research, input, perspectives and considerations. But the consequences of failing to even contemplate this discussion by the adults, will – as ever, be borne by the children and young people we are entrusted to protect.
How about canning the whataboutery just to shoehorn in your favourite bogeyman just this once? That would be nice. We know where you stand on that particular issue, ad nauseam.
I think there are parallels between 'god doesn't make mistakes' and 'born in the wrong body' that are worth exploring. If you don't like the conversation, maybe just scroll on by. Telling other people to shut up because you don't like their politics isn't going to run on a political blog.
The original post on this thread was about the harm to transgender people by adherents of Christianity.
Extremists gonna extreme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG5BcU1ZGiA
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/09/14/violent-antipolice-memes-surge/
Rosemary yesterday mentioned (https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-23-06-2022/#comment-1896276) this Microsoft Report:
Defending Ukraine: Early Lessons from the Cyber War
https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE50KOK
Not an awful lot of data in it though and heavy on rhetoric. But it is more than what our Government has shared with us, so far.
SVR
• Historical revisionism
• Think tanks & academia
Who would have thought that could be so divisive.
Quite helpful russian propaganda though, giving kiwis a heads up on vaccine effectiveness and side effects was probably useful for many.
With half the cases and ten times the deaths per capita. Nah.
/
😀 You're by far the funniest commenter around here on TS and that's saying something. 😀
Uncle sam the old rooster wants to gather in as many of his loyal hens as he can reminding them that they need him to keep them safe but he knows the cold wind of change is beginning to stir and he sees the young challengers on the periphery strutting their stuff……….
From the Microsoft report
I had noticed that a number of the covid-19 deniers and anti-vaxxer commenters also supported the Russian Federation invasion and war against Ukraine.
I had thought it was just the same old anti-government useful idiots pushing wacky right wing pseudo-science conspiracy theories.
Anyone able to fill out Josie Pagani’s CV? I’ve seen an awful lot based on her candidacy for a Labour seat a decade ago. Then I hear rumors about her being an oil lobbyist or having connections to one which you never see listed at the bottom of her columns. Does she have P.R. or lobbying clients?
Just sticking my nose in really, but you know it would be interesting to know when reading her writing.
Her husband was the oil lobbyist.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/standing-her-centre-left-ground/KNL2I32IG65ZL5NTMU7JD3YCVU/?c_id=280&objectid=10847238
The newly merged media company will be named "Aoeteroa New Zealand Public Media " lmfao oooh boy that's a name that'll catch on.
ANZPM. Could they fit any more letters on it?? That's the best this govt and it's army of pr reps and gargantuan legions of consultants can come up with ?!? Really?!? Lmao. Ridiculous. Call it NZBC like ABC CBC , BBC.
When the majority of the public see ANZ they think ANZ Bank or Australia/New Zealand and NZPM is shorthand for the Prime minister.
If ANZPM is the name of this new organization, thanks but no thanks rnz and tvnz can keep.
Ridiculous.
If they name it anzpm I'd almost be inclined to vote act in the hopes that shit gets privatized.
I'm a millennial, My generation has no interest in watching NZ content, why should we have to pay to fund it ?
The world according to Corey Humm. Speaks for a generation, does young Corey.
I’m not surprised you want to vote ACT because they, like you, are culture killers.
Check your ego, son.
Cheek of you to talk of ego
[Stop needling Muttonbird – Incognito]
Mod note
Ok
Agree PR
It was not Muttonbird claiming to speak for a generation.
Corey Humm you have nailed it again! 100%
ANZ – does have a resonance here in NZ, as standing for Australia New Zealand.
ANZ bank is one. But ANZAC is another, and so is ANZUS.
I agree it is a fail on the acronym side.
Have to disagree here though:
"My generation has no interest in watching NZ content, why should we have to pay to fund it ?"
My response, typical of an old fuddy-dud, and partly – but not wholly – tongue-in-cheek: Eventually, you'll grow up.
We have two official names – and the media concerned is as much "consumed" online than by broadcast.
Sounds familiar.
https://twitter.com/Justin_Ling/status/1539768218973265923
On Wednesday, these anti-vaccine groups kicked off a summer of planned protest with an event inside Canada’s Parliament buildings in Ottawa, supported by sitting Members of Parliament. Outside those buildings is where the so-called “freedom convoy” took over Canada’s capital for several weeks this past winter, setting off similar movements across the globe.
[…]
The Integrated Terrorism Assessment Centre, an arm of the Canadian intelligence community that provides intel to local law enforcement agencies, warned in a special bulletin that they’re seeing mounting “aspirations to overthrow the federal government or to engage in mass violent resistance.” The bulletin was provided to VICE World News by a law enforcement source.
According to the intelligence assessment, the chance of an organized attack, a storming of Parliament, or another occupation of the city is “unlikely,” and Canadian intelligence and law enforcement believe the protests will most likely be peaceful and lawful.
Yet, they warn, they’re increasingly witnessing “a culture in which individuals, including supporters of ideologically motivated violent extremism (IMVE), feel that they can threaten, incite, and celebrate violence online without consequence.”
https://www.vice.com/en/article/y3pz7x/conservative-mps-anti-vaccine-convoy-ottawa
Follow the money.
Who would have guessed that Wall Street has an interest in denying abortion rights.
https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-finance-anti-abortion-lawmakers-2022-5?utm_source=notification&utm_medium=referral
Roe v Wade was not a good ruling:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/us/ruth-bader-ginsburg-roe-v-wade.html
Follow the money II
https://www.businessinsider.com/employers-in-abortion-ban-states-face-retention-crisis-2022-5?utm_source=notification&utm_medium=referral
It is in big business interest to oppress women.
PR – RBG said it was the right ruling, but on the wrong basis.