He doesn't care about the name, he cares about the reason for it. I guess it does give the wrong impression if you don't know the origin of the name but it seems like there are way more worthy things for people to give their energy to.
It appears to be one of those "World famous in New Zealand" nomenclatures. Remember the mystery and then release of the name for the NZ cricket team… wait for it… drum roll "The Black Caps!" And that was followed by a plethora of national team names (Black Socks, Black Sticks, Black Magic … Black Ferns – the list goes on). The problem is that when these teams travel they are invariably referred to as New Zealand. And even the All Blacks are listed and introduced when playing internationals as "New Zealand". They used to play smaller county and rugby matches as the All Blacks and were referred to by those unions outside NZ as The All Blacks. A bit like the MCC which is the official title for the English touring team but they are England when it comes to test matches.
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Gridiron is an odd game, I'll give you that, but I would have the split between handling and kicking would be about the same as in rugby. And Australian rule for that matter?
The game is called, bizarrely, football. The "gridiron" is the very narrow field, marked up oppressively with lines every ten yards, on which it is played.
but I would have the split between handling and kicking would be about the same as in rugby.
No, it is completely different. Kicking is the primary skill in rugby; there is only one way to move the ball forward, apart from carrying it, and that is to kick it. Kicking is routine in rugby, and it's the reason why the game opens up and flows, rather than being a form of trench warfare. To kick the ball in general play is utterly unthinkable in American (and Canadian) football—which is football in name only.
And Australian rules for that matter?
As in rugby, kicking is paramount in Australian football. Although the ridiculous "handball"—punching the ball from a closed fist instead of kicking it as in rugby— has marred the game for decades.
Of course, running the ball instead of kicking it is always an option. But kicking is essential a lot of the time. Look at the way the Tricolors destroyed the All Blacks in the 1999 World Cup semi-final: all three of their tries in the second half were the result of kicking the ball.
Some things can never be forgotten. I'll bet the players will never forget it. Neither will the French of course. They never forget anything.
I was in Paris about 3 years ago. At lunch my wife and I were eating in a Bistro when a couple of French men nearby asked where we came from. When we said New Zealand they insisted on apologizing for the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior. I could, only just, remember exactly which year it was. They behaved as if it was just yesterday.
The NZRU, which has allowed Sky Television to ruin every broadcast by insisting on “exclusive” interviews with coaches during matches, and inflicting seemingly endless talking heads shows on us, and is busy selling the “brand” to a New York venture capital outfit, is hardly a credible or reliable source for anything relating to the history and heritage of the game. And no one except those boofheads on Sky uses the puerile five-letter word for football.
Can't comment, not being a Sky Sports subscriber, but this 'boofhead' refers to NZ's national game by that "puerile five-letter word".
Imho the tide’s going out on the term 'rugby football' in NZ (where everyone knows rugby's name), but I admire your 'reverse Cnut' principles. Time will tell whether your (bitter?) rearguard action bears fruit.
Oh ffs ,I carefully decided to go with football due to having had uptight tossers rant when I've called it soccer. Although you successfully stopped any conversation on whether the all whites should drop ther name.
Changing the All Whites name because some people (who have no interest in football anyway) can't get over their amateur phychology of projecting racism is not going to be popular.
How long will it be before some perverted reporter thinks we will have to know about the contents of the woman's drawers, unless some enterprising cereal manufacturer gets in first to use her to advertise their burka friendly new product.
Let's leave Ms Aden and her family alone so that she and her and they can become ordinary New Zealanders who contribute to the rich fabric of the country. She doesn't need 10,000,000 eyes looking over her shoulder to see if she is putting together a bloodthirsty Caliphate that will over-run the country.
Parliament TV in the afternoon for democracy in a Level 4 Lockdown. You're welcome, any more delusions you are suffering from need assistance. Enjoy your 1pm walks and if necessary mask up and pop into your local supermarket and slyly turn a couple of magazines around, you'll feel so much better.
Here we go. Quote from the Herald. (Don't have a link.)
"Robertson is the first of a line-up of ministers expected to front to Opposition and other MPs in virtual select committees this week after the Prime Minister's decision to suspend the sitting of Parliament."
I believe some of these are being broadcast on Parliament TV. So in fact they are a replacement to debate in the house. whoosh.
Democracy in action.
The select committee meeting schedule lists the time, date, and venue for each select committee meeting planned for the coming week. It also shows the business items that will be considered at each meeting. To find out who is booked to speak at select committee hearings please see the submitters list.
Under COVID-19 Alert Level 4 any select committees meetings will take place virtually over Zoom. The schedule is subject to change at short notice and the meeting format is dependent on changes in the COVID alert levels.
Parliament TV is in no way a replacement for Parliament. It's TV for goodness sake! MPs can't interact with it.
Most everyone else has been able to conduct business via Teams, Zoom or some other forum. Meanwhile Ardern cancels Parliament. Why when there is no need. There are technology solutions to allow Parliament to continue virtually.
Settle Petal, it's you being slow, I suspect on purpose. Parliament TV is where you can watch Democracy in Action, the opposition questioning the government during the lockdown. You were whining about the PM not being able to run Democracy Virtually. We have pointed out that is exactly what they are managing to do. Get a grip.
I love the idea that David might think that when MPs aren't in the House they're actually watching parliament TV rather than doing all the parliamentary business that isn't in the House.
Or is it some sort of tory shorthand for zoom meetings rather than infecting each other face-to-face?
OMG. David. Even RNZ had live coverage of the committee ZOOM meeting holding the government to account. The ZOOM meeting with David Seymour and Shayne Reti asking Grant Robertson and Ashley Bloomfield questions. How much flipping democracy do you want.
Mate, no spark needed: everyone can see you a mile off.
Select committees are as much a part of parliament as debates in the House.
You don't even want all business conducted in the House to be done. You just want the opposition to yell nonsensicalities as soundbites for the 6pm news.
boohoo. The nats continued implosion can be put on hold for a couple of weeks.
There hasn't been any debate for a very long time. All we've seen are petty and childish stunts by an opposition that have proven what a waste of space and taxpayers funds they have become.
I blush at the thought. Far too many commo agitating, lefty comrade, fellow travelling, pinko, woke, virtue-signallers already without Parliament being prorouged!
In principle debate in the house is really important. But in practice it is asinine. If the opposition respected the institution enough to ask relevant questions and research and meticulously critique government policy and actions, you'd have a good point.
Sadly, Parliament disgraces itself pretty much every day. It is quite dispensable for the duration of lockdown.
….lobster complaint upheld by parliamentary committee
Bonnie Flaws – Stuff.co.nz, Aug 23, 2021
Last week, Parliament’s Regulations Review Committee released a report agreeing with the Animal Law Association position that freezing lobsters prior to slaughter was not consistent with the objectives and intentions of the Animal Welfare Act 1999…..
…..Stedman said slaughter practices were based on outdated scientific knowledge. Lobsters experience significant pain and distress when chilled and boiled alive, according to research…..
Lobsters that have been frozen then boiled will recover consciousness and experience pain during the boiling process, and evidence shows they also remained conscious for longer as a result of the freezing and had complex nervous systems, she said.
MPI had worked with the industry to ensure people were aware that lobsters were sentient and needed to be stunned and killed according to regulations, an MPI spokeswoman previously said.
Good job by govt there, the way we treat all sea animals is usually pretty horrific…now they need to get on to banning big game fishing which is without doubt the most disgusting and violent 'sport' legal in this country…once the cruelty of it is witnessed by any human with any empathy for animals, it can never be forgotten.
Early political learning for me, that basically NZ didn't give a shit morally about politician's private lives. Open secret, media weren't reporting. Unlike say the UK where it would have been a scandal.
Most of the election coverage is online somewhere on Youtube and as a tragic, I rewatched some of it last election. Even knowing the outcome, the 2005 election coverage is amusing as Mike Williams spends all night predicting that Labour will come from behind on the back of South Auckland and is proven right in the last hour or two.
The worst election result for New Zealand in it's post war history IMO..the end of the NZ Labour Party as a serious political machine for workers and the dispossessed, marked the introduction and ascension of centrist third way neo-liberalism into New Zealand like an incurable cancer…I for one had no idea what I was voting for at the time to be honest, I was young idealistic and could only see the anti nuke position, taught me a good lesson though..governments lie, and always be a critical thinker, especially when it comes to politics and politicians.
Labour lost a lot of core supporters after the Lange years. Left voters had no representation for 20-odd years because of constant neoliberal bait and switches.
… latest Heylen Poll suggests we should have a Socialist Govt by Midnight … (Heylen 7 July 1984 … Lab 49.1%, Nat 33.2%, Socred 8.9%, NZP 8.8%).
But bear in mind, the Nats were still in front as recently as May (Heylen 26 May 1984 … Nat 43.8%, Lab 42.7%) … so might still be a little nail-biting … can't entirely rule out Muldoon once again clinging to power by his fingertips …
But overall, looking forward to a decisive return to the protection of working class interests & local industry and a censure of the ostentatiously wealthy under a superb team of Socialist Intellectuals: Mr Douglas, Mr Prebble & Dr Bassett in particular. Rest assured, the Country will be in mighty safe hands.
But let’s sit back with the popcorn & see what Mr Bryant & Mr Cockram & their exciting state-of-the-art technical wizardry deliver us.
Yes Reality, that Adams has a need to paint Jacinda as an "indoctrinated religious crafty politician". Trying to paint her nature as Mormon kindness, because…
I think he is muddling her with Scot Morrison. Now there is a crafty religious nutter with ties to Hillside and a henchman called Dutton.
This is a balanced and highly informative article on how children might be affected by Covid-19 and what role this might play in the overall thinking and approach to the pandemic. Note that there are no exaggerated conclusions or extrapolations from what we currently know and do. The language is plain and non-technical for a general audience.
A fair chunk of the British Press seem to have cooled of in their opinion of our PM it would appear.
"Mark Dolan from the GB News took aim at New Zealand and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for putting the country into lockdown"
"Living with this virus is going to be the only show in town. Zero COVID leads to zero economies, zero society, zero freedom and zero democracy."
"Another writer from the Telegraph wrote a brutal opinion piece on Ardern's decision to move New Zealand to a level 4 lockdown. Matthew Lesh called the decision "poetic justice" and New Zealand's approach has "frightening consequences".
"Elimination becomes a costly strategy with very limited benefit. What's the point of lockdowns and maintaining closed borders for a virus that, with vaccines in the mix, no longer causes much harm to individual people?"
We are obviously stuck in this time warp until the vaccination status of the population gets up to at least a second world country status. The virus isn't going to go away. We will have to live with it unless we go over to the world of North Korea and lock everyone up for ever. Well stop talking about how wonderful our approach is supposed to be and get on with the vaccination of everyone who wants to have it. Then, as an old Negro spiritual put it "Let my people go!"
A fair chunk of the British Press seem to have cooled of in their opinion of our PM it would appear.
The extreme right wing British press, which you have chosen to quote here, was never laudatory of Jacinda Ardern. Your case was dead in the water the moment you chose to quote the partisan and scabrous filth that is the Daily Torygraph.
"Living with this virus is going to be the only show in town…"
"Living with the virus" is a completely meaningless phrase – because every response to date by every government around the world is a version of "living with the virus". That's because the virus exists – and so by definition we have to live with it. These different versions of living with the virus do differ from each other in how much death and disease they will tolerate in the community.
What we are seeing is an appropriation of "living with the virus" to mean one particular version of living with the virus that has a particularly high tolerance for death and disease. It is scummy propaganda of the highest order – because instead of having to justify their high tolerance for death and disease, its sociopathic proponents can hide behind an illusion of inevitability. A decent media with half a brain would shoot down this filthy deceit.
When I have had my 2 doses of the vaccine, and we have booster shots available I think my chances of surviving, even at my age, are pretty good. I might get ill but I am unlikely to die from the disease.
With those precautions I don't think it will be any more dangerous than flu is. Yes there will be a chance of dying but I will accept that for the chance to travel overseas, and have people travel here.
After all, a complete closure of the borders and having no one enter the country without a couple of weeks of quarantine is going to end sometime anyway. Politicians are never going to accept that limitation on their lifestyle.
Perhaps you could tell us why we should still have that barbaric method of testing for Covid 19? Do you like the thought of the discomfort for yourself or is it the idea that someone else will be affected that gives you a frisson of excitement?
There are comments from experts in the subject that using this method instead of saliva tests is a factor in preventing the country from keeping up with the outbreak. It is being portrayed in New Zealand as not being accurate but at least one authority says.
"“It's frustrating that this [accuracy] is still a question and shows how much misinformation has been passed onto the NZ public."
Much of the probing, prodding, surgery, and treatments in modern medicine are pretty barbaric when you think about it, e.g., cut it, amputate it, it burn it, freeze it, radiate it, poison it, et cetera.
I don’t necessarily buy the argument that saliva tests will make a fundamental change in the current environment. It depends on what the limiting factors are. It could increase the pressure on the testing labs, which are already straining, as I mentioned last night here: https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-23-08-2021/#comment-1810984.
Perhaps you could tell me which countries managed to get on top of the Delta variant thanks to saliva testing. I could not find that info in your link. NZ can learn so much from others because we’re so much behind the eight ball.
Got to wonder why the sudden brit campaign by Murderoch to slag off the NZ response. Right wing regime seeks likeminded for free trade and virus swapping?
Well, somehow I can't insert a text extract from FB so I'll just type what was said by Ciaran Irvine:
"The right wing media here (and also in the rest of the world) NEED Jacinda to fail at this – because how she has handled Covid indicts them all as not just clueless spoofers but in many countries actual mass murderers,
"The Right has been utterly, catastrophically, psychotically Wrong all over the world at every single step of this pandemic, so Aotearoa's success thus far infuriates them and they NEED us to fail."
No idea who Ciaran Irvine is, but their comment seems absolutely to the point.
What an appalling rant from Kate Hawkesby in the Herald yesterday(?). Venomous woman filled with loathing. Actually that shows in her face, as are the embedded sneers of Hosking.
I've also heard so much commentary about how lockdowns create uncertainty and how this is difficult for people to manage. It leads to emotional stress and mental health problems (I have no doubt about this being the case for some people).
Personally, I like living with the certainty that we will have lockdowns rather than the uncertainly of who I’m going to contract a life-altering / life-threatening illness from if we have to “learn to live” with the virus in the community before we understand and can safely manage the game of catch-up between variants and vaccines.
I do understand that it is really important to have certainty about what you need to do – tomorrow, in a week’s time, in a month. What I don’t get is how the people who are upset by the uncertainty lockdowns bring, are probably not the same people who worry about the uncertainty that people in the precariat live with every single day of their working lives.
@LewSOS is being a bit trollish today… maybe he got out of the wrong side of bed this morning. Keeps equating socialism with mass murder. Calls himself a moderate?!
He's using a specific definition of socialism. Here's a list of socialist states. He's not wrong about the lots of murdering thing. Not so sure he's right about there being very few examples what have been non-murdering, or whether it's a feature of socialism rather than other sociopolitical dynamics.
The trollishness comes from not engaging the original argument for economic justice and obsession with counting dead bodies. Bloody revolutions were a desperate response to unbearable suffering, Marxism was the vehicle in some cases. But bloody revolutions were also necessary to overthrow feudalism and institute democracy; it's just that they didn't happen in living memory
Well, there is a discussion to be had about whether the "revolution" is restricted solely to the overthrow of the monarchy, or includes (in the case of the USSR) the following process of repelling multiple massive invasions and turning an agrarian-peasant economy into an industrial power.
But really, it all turns into a "no true Scotsman" argument: socialist nations that didn't get particularly murdery get labelled "social democratic" or whatevs while capitalist countries that get murdery are "imperialist" rather than capitalist, and on the other side murdery socialist govts get called "failed dictatorships of the proletariat" (at best) and reasonably stable and humane mixed economies have their benefits attributed to socialism and negatives attributed to capitalism.
What did you think of Lew's original point, that many people viewing socialism through a freedom vs totalitarianism lens is due to socialism's history of murder rather than contemporary lack of class analysis? (I'd guess it is both).
Meh. Seems largely bollocks to me (especially in regards to yanks worried about "socialism", but we have it here, too).
"Socialism" as a scareword is devoid of meaning, it's a label applied to a number of different nations without reference to the situations faced at the time.
Is that label "socialism" more or less murdery than capitalist/imperialist nations? That's like arguing which billionaire is more wealthy today – comparisons are pretty meaningless when you get to that level. Take Cambodia, and then the Bengal famine. Did Beria kill more people than Zaharoff? Who really cares.
And that's with a reasonably unbiased assessment – throw on decades of propaganda in both directions, and most people wouldn't recognise the polsci definition of "socialism" or "capitalism" if it hit them in the face (and the latter often does).
But start talking about bosses and fair tax rates, and pretty soon the people who think socialism is a bit murdery start supporting policies that get them healthcare – until Fox calls it "socialism".
I quite like Plato’s cave allegory, ever since I had to translate that piece of text. This whole pandemic apparently started with a bat out of hell. So, staying in the cave sounds pretty safe. I wonder what cavemen would have done when a cave bear tried to enter the cave they were in: would they fight for their lives and defend themselves and the cave or run away and be exposed to all other dangers as well as having the bear chasing them? We will never know the answer, of course.
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..Thanks for reading Frankly Speaking ! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.As far as major government announcements go, a Three Ministers Event is Big. It can signify a major policy development or something has gone Very Well, or an absolute Clusterf**k. When Three Ministers assemble ...
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Completed reads for January: I Am Legend, by Richard Matheson The Black Spider, by Jeremias Gotthelf The Spider and the Fly (poem), by Mary Howitt A Noiseless Patient Spider (poem), by Walt Whitman August Heat, by W.F. Harvey Charlotte’s Web, by E.B. White The Shrinking Man, by Richard Matheson ...
Do its Property Right Provisions Make Sense?Last week I pointed out that it is uninformed to argue that the New Zealand’s apparently poor economic performance can be traced only to poor regulations. Even were there evidence they had some impact, there are other factors. Of course, we should seek to ...
Richard Wagstaff It was incredibly jarring to hear the hubris from the Prime Minister during his recent state of the nation address. I had just spent close to a week working though the stories and thoughts shared with us by nearly 2000 working people as part of our annual Mood ...
Odd fact about the Broadcasting Standards Authority: for the last few years, they’ve only been upholding about 5% of complaints. Why? I think there’s a range of reasons. Generally responsible broadcasters. Dumb complaints. Complaints brought under the wrong standard. Greater adherence to broadcasters’ rights to freedom of expression in the ...
And I said, "Mama, mama, mama, why am I so alone"'Cause I can't go outside, I'm scared I might not make it homeWell I'm alive, I'm alive, but I'm sinking inIf there's anyone at home at your place, darlingWhy don't you invite me in?Don't try to feed me'Cause I've been ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ star is on the rise, having just added the Energy, Local Government and Revenue portfolios to his responsibilities - but there is nothing ambitious about the Government’s new climate targets. Photo: SuppliedLong stories short, the top six things in our political economy around housing, climate ...
It may have been a short week but there’s been no shortage of things that caught our attention. Here is some of the most interesting. This week in Greater Auckland On Tuesday Matt took a look at public transport ridership in 2024 On Thursday Connor asked some questions ...
The East Is Red: Journalists and commentators are referring to the sudden and disruptive arrival of DeepSeek as a second “Sputnik moment”. (Sputnik being the name given by the godless communists of the Soviet Union to the world’s first artificial satellite which, to the consternation and dismay of the Americans, ...
Hi,Back on inauguration day we launched a ridiculous RFK Jr. “brain worms” tee on the Webworm store, and I told you I’d be throwing my profits over to Mutual Aid LA and Rainbow Youth New Zealand. Just to show I am not full of shit, here are the receipts. I ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts & talking about the week’s news with regular and special guests, including: on the week in geopolitics, including the latest from Donald Trump over Gaza and Ukraine.Health expert and author David Galler ...
In an uncompromising paper Treasury has basically told the Government that its plan for a third medical school at Waikato University is a waste of money. Furthermore, the country cannot afford it. That advice was released this week by the Treasury under the Official Information Act. And it comes as ...
Back in November, He Pou a Rangi provided the government with formal advice on the domestic contribution to our next Paris target. Not what the target should be, but what we could realistically achieve, by domestic action alone, without resorting to offshore mitigation. Their answer was startling: depending on exactly ...
Photo by Mauricio Fanfa on UnsplashKia oraCome and join us for our weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm today.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream for our chat about the week’s news with myself , plus regular guest David Patman and ...
I don't like to spend all my time complaining about our government, so let me complain about the media first.Senior journalistic Herald person Thomas Coughlan reported that Treasury replied yeah nah, wrong bro to Luxon's claim that our benighted little country has been in recession for three years.His excitement rose ...
Back in 2022, when the government was consulting internally about proactive release of cabinet papers, the SIS opposed it. The basis of their opposition was the "mosaic effect" - people being able to piece together individual pieces of innocuous public information in a way which supposedly harms "national security" (effectively: ...
With The Stroke Of A Pen:Populism, especially right-wing populism, invests all the power of an electoral/parliamentary majority in a single political leader because it no longer trusts the bona fides of the sprawling political class among whom power is traditionally dispersed. Populism eschews traditional politics, because, among populists, traditional politics ...
I’ve spent the last week writing a fairly substantial review of a recent book (“Australia’s Pandemic Exceptionalism: How we crushed the curve but lost the race”) by a couple of Australian academic economists on Australia’s pandemic policies and experiences. For all its limitations, there isn’t anything similar in New Zealand. ...
Mr Mojo Rising: Economic growth is possible, Christopher Luxon reassures us, but only under a government that is willing to get out of the way and let those with drive and ambition get on with it.ABOUT TWELVE KILOMETRES from the farm on the North Otago coast where I grew up stands ...
You're nearly a good laughAlmost a jokerWith your head down in the pig binSaying, 'Keep on digging.'Pig stain on your fat chinWhat do you hope to findDown in the pig mine?You're nearly a laughYou're nearly a laughBut you're really a crySongwriter: Roger Waters.NZ First - Kiwi Battlers.Say what you like ...
This is a re-post from the Climate Brink by Andrew Dessler Climate denial is dead. Renewable energy denial is here. As “alternative facts” become the norm, it’s worth looking at what actual facts tell us about how renewable energy sources like solar and wind are lowering the price of electricity. As ...
SIR GEOFFREY PALMER is worried about democracy. In his Newsroom website post of 27 January 2025 he asserts that “the future of democracy across the world now seems to be in question.” Following a year of important electoral contests across the world, culminating in Donald Trump’s emphatic recapture of the ...
The Government hasn’t stopped talking about growth since the Prime Minister made his “yes” speech at the Auckland Chamber of Commerce last week. But so far, the measures announced would seem hardly likely to suddenly pitch New Zealand into the fast-growth East Asian league. The digital nomad announcement hardly deserved ...
It's election year for Wellington City Council and for the Regional Council. What have the progressive councillors achieved over the last couple of years. What were the blocks and failures? What's with the targeting of the mayor and city council by the Post and by central government? Why does the ...
Te Whatu Ora Chief Executive Margie Apa leaving her job four months early is another symptom of this government’s failure to deliver healthcare for New Zealanders. ...
The Green Party is calling for the Prime Minister to show leadership and be unequivocal about Aotearoa New Zealand’s opposition to a proposal by the US President to remove Palestinians from Gaza. ...
The latest unemployment figures reveal that job losses are hitting Māori and Pacific people especially hard, with Māori unemployment reaching a staggering 9.7% for the December 2024 quarter and Pasifika unemployment reaching 10.5%. ...
Waitangi 2025: Waitangi Day must be community and not politically driven - Shane Jones Our originating document, theTreaty of Waitangi, was signed on February 6, 1840. An agreement between Māori and the British Crown. Initially inked by Ngā Puhi in Waitangi, further signatures were added as it travelled south. ...
Despite being confronted every day with people in genuine need being stopped from accessing emergency housing – National still won’t commit to building more public houses. ...
The Green Party says the Government is giving up on growing the country’s public housing stock, despite overwhelming evidence that we need more affordable houses to solve the housing crisis. ...
Before any thoughts of the New Year and what lies ahead could even be contemplated, New Zealand reeled with the tragedy of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming losing her life. For over 38 years she had faithfully served as a front-line Police officer. Working alongside her was Senior Sergeant Adam Ramsay ...
Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson will return to politics at Waitangi on Monday the 3rd of February where she will hold a stand up with fellow co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick. ...
Te Pāti Māori is appalled by the government's blatant mishandling of the school lunch programme. David Seymour’s ‘cost-saving’ measures have left tamariki across Aotearoa with unidentifiable meals, causing distress and outrage among parents and communities alike. “What’s the difference between providing inedible food, and providing no food at all?” Said ...
The Government is doubling down on outdated and volatile fossil fuels, showing how shortsighted and destructive their policies are for working New Zealanders. ...
Green Party MP Steve Abel this morning joined Coromandel locals in Waihi to condemn new mining plans announced by Shane Jones in the pit of the town’s Australian-owned Gold mine. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to strengthen its just-announced 2030-2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement and address its woeful lack of commitment to climate security. ...
Today marks a historic moment for Taranaki iwi with the passing of the Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill in Parliament. "Today, we stand together as descendants of Taranaki, and our tūpuna, Taranaki Maunga, is now formally acknowledged by the law as a living tūpuna. ...
Labour is relieved to see Children’s Minister Karen Chhour has woken up to reality and reversed her government’s terrible decisions to cut funding from frontline service providers – temporarily. ...
It is the first week of David Seymour’s school lunch programme and already social media reports are circulating of revolting meals, late deliveries, and mislabelled packaging. ...
The Green Party says that with no-cause evictions returning from today, the move to allow landlords to end tenancies without reason plunges renters, and particularly families who rent, into insecurity and stress. ...
The Government’s move to increase speed limits substantially on dozens of stretches of rural and often undivided highways will result in more serious harm. ...
In her first announcement as Economic Growth Minister, Nicola Willis chose to loosen restrictions for digital nomads from other countries, rather than focus on everyday Kiwis. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Government’s commitment to get New Zealand’s roads back on track is delivering strong results, with around 98 per cent of potholes on state highways repaired within 24 hours of identification every month since targets were introduced, Transport Minister Chris Bishop says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is ...
The former Cadbury factory will be the site of the Inpatient Building for the new Dunedin Hospital and Health Minister Simeon Brown says actions have been taken to get the cost overruns under control. “Today I am giving the people of Dunedin certainty that we will build the new Dunedin ...
From today, Plunket in Whāngarei will be offering childhood immunisations – the first of up to 27 sites nationwide, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. The investment of $1 million into the pilot, announced in October 2024, was made possible due to the Government’s record $16.68 billion investment in health. It ...
New Zealand’s strong commitment to the rights of disabled people has continued with the response to an important United Nations report, Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston has announced. Of the 63 concluding observations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), 47 will be progressed ...
Resources Minister Shane Jones has launched New Zealand’s national Minerals Strategy and Critical Minerals List, documents that lay a strategic and enduring path for the mineral sector, with the aim of doubling exports to $3 billion by 2035. Mr Jones released the documents, which present the Coalition Government’s transformative vision ...
Firstly I want to thank OceanaGold for hosting our event today. Your operation at Waihi is impressive. I want to acknowledge local MP Scott Simpson, local government dignitaries, community stakeholders and all of you who have gathered here today. It’s a privilege to welcome you to the launch of the ...
Racing Minister, Winston Peters has announced the Government is preparing public consultation on GST policy proposals which would make the New Zealand racing industry more competitive. “The racing industry makes an important economic contribution. New Zealand thoroughbreds are in demand overseas as racehorses and for breeding. The domestic thoroughbred industry ...
Business confidence remains very high and shows the economy is on track to improve, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis says. “The latest ANZ Business Outlook survey, released yesterday, shows business confidence and expected own activity are ‘still both very high’.” The survey reports business confidence fell eight points to +54 ...
Enabling works have begun this week on an expanded radiology unit at Hawke’s Bay Fallen Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital which will double CT scanning capacity in Hawke’s Bay to ensure more locals can benefit from access to timely, quality healthcare, Health Minister Simeon Brown says. This investment of $29.3m in the ...
The Government has today announced New Zealand’s second international climate target under the Paris Agreement, Climate Change Minister Simon Watts says. New Zealand will reduce emissions by 51 to 55 per cent compared to 2005 levels, by 2035. “We have worked hard to set a target that is both ambitious ...
Nine years of negotiations between the Crown and iwi of Taranaki have concluded following Te Pire Whakatupua mō Te Kāhui Tupua/the Taranaki Maunga Collective Redress Bill passing its third reading in Parliament today, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “This Bill addresses the historical grievances endured by the eight iwi ...
As schools start back for 2025, there will be a relentless focus on teaching the basics brilliantly so all Kiwi kids grow up with the knowledge, skills and competencies needed to grow the New Zealand of the future, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “A world-leading education system is a key ...
Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Agriculture Minister Mark Patterson have welcomed Kāinga Ora’s decision to re-open its tender for carpets to allow wool carpet suppliers to bid. “In 2024 Kāinga Ora issued requests for tender (RFTs) seeking bids from suppliers to carpet their properties,” Mr Bishop says. “As part ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour has today visited Otahuhu College where the new school lunch programme has served up healthy lunches to students in the first days of the school year. “As schools open in 2025, the programme will deliver nutritious meals to around 242,000 students, every school day. On ...
Minister for Children Karen Chhour has intervened in Oranga Tamariki’s review of social service provider contracts to ensure Barnardos can continue to deliver its 0800 What’s Up hotline. “When I found out about the potential impact to this service, I asked Oranga Tamariki for an explanation. Based on the information ...
A bill to make revenue collection on imported and exported goods fairer and more effective had its first reading in Parliament, Customs Minister Casey Costello said today. “The Customs (Levies and Other Matters) Amendment Bill modernises the way in which Customs can recover the costs of services that are needed ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Department of Internal Affairs [the Department] has achieved significant progress in completing applications for New Zealand citizenship. “December 2024 saw the Department complete 5,661 citizenship applications, the most for any month in 2024. This is a 54 per cent increase compared ...
Reversals to Labour’s blanket speed limit reductions begin tonight and will be in place by 1 July, says Minister of Transport Chris Bishop. “The previous government was obsessed with slowing New Zealanders down by imposing illogical and untargeted speed limit reductions on state highways and local roads. “National campaigned on ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has announced Budget 2025 – the Growth Budget - will be delivered on Thursday 22 May. “This year’s Budget will drive forward the Government’s plan to grow our economy to improve the incomes of New Zealanders now and in the years ahead. “Budget 2025 will build ...
For the Government, 2025 will bring a relentless focus on unleashing the growth we need to lift incomes, strengthen local businesses and create opportunity. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon today laid out the Government’s growth agenda in his Statement to Parliament. “Just over a year ago this Government was elected by ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour welcomes students back to school with a call to raise attendance from last year. “The Government encourages all students to attend school every day because there is a clear connection between being present at school and setting yourself up for a bright future,” says Mr ...
The Government is relaxing visitor visa requirements to allow tourists to work remotely while visiting New Zealand, Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford and Tourism Minister Louise Upston say. “The change is part of the Government’s plan to unlock New Zealand’s potential by shifting the country onto ...
The opening of Kāinga Ora’s development of 134 homes in Epuni, Lower Hutt will provide much-needed social housing for Hutt families, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I’ve been a strong advocate for social housing on Kāinga Ora’s Epuni site ever since the old earthquake-prone housing was demolished in 2015. I ...
Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay will travel to Australia today for meetings with Australian Trade Minister, Senator Don Farrell, and the Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum (ANZLF). Mr McClay recently hosted Minister Farrell in Rotorua for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting, where ANZLF presented on ...
A new monthly podiatry clinic has been launched today in Wairoa and will bring a much-needed service closer to home for the Wairoa community, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.“Health New Zealand has been successful in securing a podiatrist until the end of June this year to meet the needs of ...
The Judicial Conduct Commissioner has recommended a Judicial Conduct Panel be established to inquire into and report on the alleged conduct of acting District Court Judge Ema Aitken in an incident last November, Attorney-General Judith Collins said today. “I referred the matter of Judge Aitken’s alleged conduct during an incident ...
Students who need extra help with maths are set to benefit from a targeted acceleration programme that will give them more confidence in the classroom, Education Minister Erica Stanford says. “Last year, significant numbers of students did not meet the foundational literacy and numeracy level required to gain NCEA. To ...
Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced three new diplomatic appointments. “Our diplomats play an important role in ensuring New Zealand’s interests are maintained and enhanced across the world,” Mr Peters says. “It is a pleasure to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and ...
Ki te kahore he whakakitenga, ka ngaro te Iwi – without a vision, the people will perish. The Government has achieved its target to reduce the number of households in emergency housing motels by 75 per cent five years early, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The number of households ...
The opening of Palmerston North’s biggest social housing development will have a significant impact for whānau in need of safe, warm, dry housing, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The minister visited the development today at North Street where a total of 50 two, three, and four-bedroom homes plus a ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the new membership of the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament and Arms Control (PACDAC), who will serve for a three-year term. “The Committee brings together wide-ranging expertise relevant to disarmament. We have made six new appointments to the Committee and reappointed two existing members ...
Ka nui te mihi kia koutou. Kia ora, good morning, talofa, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, da jia hao, namaste, sat sri akal, assalamu alaikum. It’s so great to be here and I’m ready and pumped for 2025. Can I start by acknowledging: Simon Bridges – CEO of the Auckland ...
The Government has unveiled a bold new initiative to position New Zealand as a premier destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) that will create higher paying jobs and grow the economy. “Invest New Zealand will streamline the investment process and provide tailored support to foreign investors, to increase capital investment ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced the largest reset of the New Zealand science system in more than 30 years with reforms which will boost the economy and benefit the sector. “The reforms will maximise the value of the $1.2 billion in government funding that goes into ...
Turbocharging New Zealand’s economic growth is the key to brighter days ahead for all Kiwis, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. In the Prime Minister’s State of the Nation Speech in Auckland today, Christopher Luxon laid out the path to the prosperity that will affect all aspects of New Zealanders’ lives. ...
The latest set of accounts show the Government has successfully checked the runaway growth of public spending, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. “In the previous government’s final five months in office, public spending was almost 10 per cent higher than for the same period the previous year. “That is completely ...
The Government’s welfare reforms are delivering results with the number of people moving off benefits into work increasing year-on-year for six straight months. “There are positive signs that our welfare reset and the return consequences for job seekers who don't fulfil their obligations to prepare for or find a job ...
Jon Kroll and Aimee McCammon have been appointed to the New Zealand Film Commission Board, Arts Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “I am delighted to appoint these two new board members who will bring a wealth of industry, governance, and commercial experience to the Film Commission. “Jon Kroll has been an ...
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has hailed a drop in the domestic component of inflation, saying it increases the prospect of mortgage rate reductions and a lower cost of living for Kiwi households. Stats NZ reported today that inflation was 2.2 per cent in the year to December, the second consecutive ...
Two new appointed members and one reappointed member of the Employment Relations Authority have been announced by Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden today. “I’m pleased to announce the new appointed members Helen van Druten and Matthew Piper to the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) and welcome them to ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Lauren Ball, Professor of Community Health and Wellbeing, The University of Queensland Nik/Unsplash You might have heard that eating too many eggs will cause high cholesterol levels, leading to poor health. Researchers have examined the science behind this myth again, and ...
Everything you missed from the third day of the Treaty principles bill hearings, when the Justice Committee heard four hours of oral submission. Read our recaps of day one of the hearings here, and day two here. Parliament was quiet on Friday for the third day of hearings on the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Thomas Jeffries, Senior Lecturer in Microbiology, Western Sydney University Tijana Simic/Shutterstock The news last week that three people in Sydney were hospitalised with botulism after receiving botox injections has raised questions about the regulation of the cosmetic injectables industry. The ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jens Blotevogel, Principal Research Scientist and Team Leader for Remediation Technologies, CSIRO Mino Surkala, Shutterstock Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life. They power small rechargeable devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They enable electric vehicles. And larger versions store ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Edith Jennifer Hill, Associate Lecturer, Learning & Teaching Innovation, Flinders University Netflix Netflix’s new limited series, Apple Cider Vinegar, tells the story of the elaborate cancer con orchestrated by Australian blogger Annabelle (Belle) Gibson. The first episode opens with Gibson’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dee Ninis, Earthquake Scientist, Monash University Greece’s government has just declared a state of emergency on the island of Santorini, as earthquakes shake the island multiple times a day and sometimes only minutes apart. The “earthquake swarm” is also affecting other ...
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 The Western Australian state election will be held on March 8. A Newspoll, conducted January 29 to February 4 from a sample ...
She’s back behind the wheel, and this time, she wants to find out what it is that makes us tick. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. After a prolific career on stage and screen, 83-year-old Miriam Margolyes is on the road again. ...
A new poem by Jordan Hamel. Real Poet Every word earned its place and so did he, so should you. Real poet lives in the capital but writes himself into the Mackenzie country golden hour, man of the paper land, he neglects to mention his pollen ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Understanding Te Tiriti by Roimata Smail (Wai Ako Press, $25) No better time to get ...
The committee has published this list to inform the public about its work, and to give clarity to submitters who have contacted the committee asking if they will be invited to make an oral submission. ...
Alex Casey and Gabi Lardies dissect their Laneway 2025 experience. Gabi Lardies: Hi Alex :))))))) Congratulations on not getting sunburnt. Everyone I talked to at Laneway yesterday was braving the sun for one thing. Charli XCX. How was your brat experience?Alex Casey: We will talk about the rest of ...
The US President's suggestion, which sparked enormous debate globally, has been labelled as a threat, not a proposal, by the Federation of Islamic Associations. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Christine McCarthy, Senior Lecturer in Interior Architecture, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington Interior of Auckland South Men’s Prison.Getty Images Prisons are not colourful places. Typically, they are grey or some variation of a monochrome colour scheme. But increasingly, ...
FICTION1Tree of Nourishment (Kāwai 2) by Monty Soutar (David Bateman, $39.99)Interesting to note that the author of the biggest-selling New Zealand novel in Waitangi Week is Māori (Ngāti Porou, Ngāti Awa, Ngāi Tai, and Ngāti Kahungunu).2 Kāwai: For Such a Time as This (Kāwai 1) by Monty Soutar (David ...
Remembering the renowned New Zealand writer, who died on February 5, 2025. The Stopover When the trout rise like compassion It is worth watching when the hinds come down from the hills with a new message it will be as well to listen. – Brian Turner Poet, environmentalist, sportsman, journalist, ...
Survivors can choose to have former High Court judge Paul Davison assess their individual claims to tailor payments to their personal circumstances. ...
Are we too modest when it comes to celebrating our putrid plant life?She’s beauty. She’s grace. She smells like a decaying corpse and lurks in the backrooms of Auckland Zoo, wallowing tragically in a bucket. In recent weeks an Australian corpse plant named Putricia has captured the noses and ...
Politicians from the coalition government received a frosty reception at Waitangi this year, but Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka says the pōwhiri that received so much attention was just one part of many events throughout the week. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jenny Allen, Postdoctoral research associate, Griffith University A humpback whale mother and calf on the New Caledonian breeding grounds.Mark Quintin All known human languages display a surprising pattern: the most frequent word in a language is twice as frequent as ...
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Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Karyn Healy, Honorary Principal Research Fellow in Psychology, The University of Queensland Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock The start of the school year means new classes, routines, after-school activities and sometimes even a new school. This can be a really exciting time for ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kerrie Sadiq, Professor of Taxation, QUT Business School, and ARC Future Fellow, Queensland University of Technology The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released a discussion paper this week on investment tax breaks. The study looks at whether tax incentives, such as instant ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Naomi Zouwer, Visual Artist and Lecturer in Teacher Education, University of Canberra Galleries and art museums can be intimidating and alienating even for adults. Imagine it from a child’s point of view. Stern security guards in uniforms stationed the doors, bags checked, ...
The clock is ticking in the great chain chase. 2025 is an election year in New Zealand. Not the general variation, obviously, but the local form. If you’re thinking of running, nominations open in just five months, and your chances are good – about 50% across the various races; in ...
Political aspects of Waitangi week may be moved in 2026, writes Anna Rawhiti-Connell for The Bulletin.To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here. Celebration and on-the-ground politics For the third year in a row, I have returned from Waitangi full of food and deep regrets about not ...
Arriving at Ōnuku Marae, it was easy to see why Prime Minister Christopher Luxon chose the venue to mark Waitangi Day.Kayakers paddled around Akaroa Harbour under clear blue skies, with the marae barely a stone’s throw from the shore.Luxon’s decision to skip traditional events at the Waitangi Treaty Grounds this ...
Thanks to increased operating costs and new fare structures, many public transport users in Auckland are now paying more for trains, buses and ferries. Shanti Mathias explains what’s behind the changes. Schools are back around the country, but in Auckland, kids aren’t the only ones to have returned to a ...
In a special Waitangi edition of Gone By Lunchtime, Ātea editor Liam Rātana and politics reporter Lyric Waiwiri-Smith recap a politically charged few days at the Treaty Grounds. Our Waitangi 2025 coverage is possible because of the 13,000-plus Spinoff members who regularly pay to support our work. If you aren’t a member ...
Apparently there is a movement gaining momentum to change the nz football team's name from the All Whites,
Peak stupid rapidly approaching.
You care that much? Really? Teams change their names on all the time, get over it.
He doesn't care about the name, he cares about the reason for it. I guess it does give the wrong impression if you don't know the origin of the name but it seems like there are way more worthy things for people to give their energy to.
It appears to be one of those "World famous in New Zealand" nomenclatures. Remember the mystery and then release of the name for the NZ cricket team… wait for it… drum roll "The Black Caps!" And that was followed by a plethora of national team names (Black Socks, Black Sticks, Black Magic … Black Ferns – the list goes on). The problem is that when these teams travel they are invariably referred to as New Zealand. And even the All Blacks are listed and introduced when playing internationals as "New Zealand". They used to play smaller county and rugby matches as the All Blacks and were referred to by those unions outside NZ as The All Blacks. A bit like the MCC which is the official title for the English touring team but they are England when it comes to test matches.
Until it goes mainstream it's just a bunch of fringe idiots who have an empty life.
Please attend to the Moderation note before you post anymore comments here, thanks.
FYI:
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-covid-vaccine-may-not-be-the-nirvana/#comment-1810589
https://thestandard.org.nz/the-covid-vaccine-may-not-be-the-nirvana/#comment-1810431
This is your final opportunity.
A moderator has been trying to get your attention for a few days K (Incognito above). Please take some time to read the links to get clear on what is going on.
It's a good idea when coming onto TS each day to check the replies tab to see who has replied. If it's an author/or mod, please read.
The NZ football team is called the All Blacks.
Not according to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, though they do feature on the governing world rugby website.
Only in your world. 😉
The word Football was dropped from the name New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), in 2006.
Quiet day in your neck of the woods? Looking to wind up a few boof-heads.
I trust you are keeping well and the lockdowns aren’t getting you down.
It's football all right. What do you think they kick around the field—a cricket ball?
Except most of the contact in rugby is with the hands.
There's a great deal of kicking in rugby football. That's why it's called football.
Your argument is valid in the case of that American "game" in which hardly anyone ever kicks the ball, and "play" stops after a couple of seconds.
Gridiron is an odd game, I'll give you that, but I would have the split between handling and kicking would be about the same as in rugby. And Australian rule for that matter?
Gridiron is an odd game, I'll give you that,
The game is called, bizarrely, football. The "gridiron" is the very narrow field, marked up oppressively with lines every ten yards, on which it is played.
but I would have the split between handling and kicking would be about the same as in rugby.
No, it is completely different. Kicking is the primary skill in rugby; there is only one way to move the ball forward, apart from carrying it, and that is to kick it. Kicking is routine in rugby, and it's the reason why the game opens up and flows, rather than being a form of trench warfare. To kick the ball in general play is utterly unthinkable in American (and Canadian) football—which is football in name only.
And Australian rules for that matter?
As in rugby, kicking is paramount in Australian football. Although the ridiculous "handball"—punching the ball from a closed fist instead of kicking it as in rugby— has marred the game for decades.
Was punching of the ball in Australian Rules not part of the game originally?
Your just going back to outdated stereotypes. Modern Rugby teams prefer to run the ball out.
Of course, running the ball instead of kicking it is always an option. But kicking is essential a lot of the time. Look at the way the Tricolors destroyed the All Blacks in the 1999 World Cup semi-final: all three of their tries in the second half were the result of kicking the ball.
You can let it go, it was 22 years ago.
Some things can never be forgotten. I'll bet the players will never forget it. Neither will the French of course. They never forget anything.
I was in Paris about 3 years ago. At lunch my wife and I were eating in a Bistro when a couple of French men nearby asked where we came from. When we said New Zealand they insisted on apologizing for the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior. I could, only just, remember exactly which year it was. They behaved as if it was just yesterday.
As we both know, they kick a rugby ball. Although more exciting teams don't kick as much as less entertaining teams do.
As we both know, they kick a rugby ball.
They kick a football.
Hands off NZ Football? Try searching the NZRU website for "football" or “footy“. C'mon footy players, it's only change – just run with it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_(word)#New_Zealand
The NZRU, which has allowed Sky Television to ruin every broadcast by insisting on “exclusive” interviews with coaches during matches, and inflicting seemingly endless talking heads shows on us, and is busy selling the “brand” to a New York venture capital outfit, is hardly a credible or reliable source for anything relating to the history and heritage of the game. And no one except those boofheads on Sky uses the puerile five-letter word for football.
Can't comment, not being a Sky Sports subscriber, but this 'boofhead' refers to NZ's national game by that "puerile five-letter word".
Imho the tide’s going out on the term 'rugby football' in NZ (where everyone knows rugby's name), but I admire your 'reverse Cnut' principles. Time will tell whether your (bitter?) rearguard action bears fruit.
https://www.newzealand.com/nz/rugby/
Stand up for Football, Morrisey.
Oh ffs ,I carefully decided to go with football due to having had uptight tossers rant when I've called it soccer. Although you successfully stopped any conversation on whether the all whites should drop ther name.
Changing the All Whites name because some people (who have no interest in football anyway) can't get over their amateur phychology of projecting racism is not going to be popular.
I'm not a big fan of them 'fuck your feelings' tshirts cobbah..
Put the bong down gabby and speak English
Your comment made my day! I reckon you deserve free subscription to The Standard for a year.
Oh really – do we really have to know that "Islamic State-affiliate Suhayra Aden's family moved to New Zealand after Australia refused to accept her" as reported by Stuff. Besides, how is she still and 'affiliate'. If she was, she wouldn't be here – doh!
How long will it be before some perverted reporter thinks we will have to know about the contents of the woman's drawers, unless some enterprising cereal manufacturer gets in first to use her to advertise their burka friendly new product.
Let's leave Ms Aden and her family alone so that she and her and they can become ordinary New Zealanders who contribute to the rich fabric of the country. She doesn't need 10,000,000 eyes looking over her shoulder to see if she is putting together a bloodthirsty Caliphate that will over-run the country.
Couldn't agree more.
Most of us do daft things in our youth and most of us get away with it gaining knowledge of a lesson well learnt
People are saying she’s been seen with leading members of the opposition!
Adern can chair an APEC leaders summit virtually but apparently not a democracy.
She doesn't chair parliament
The thing I love most about right-wingers is their accuracy and attention to detail.
That being said can you please tell me who the hell this "Adern" is?
Parliament TV in the afternoon for democracy in a Level 4 Lockdown. You're welcome, any more delusions you are suffering from need assistance. Enjoy your 1pm walks and if necessary mask up and pop into your local supermarket and slyly turn a couple of magazines around, you'll feel so much better.
Wooooosssssh
Maybe explain what your point is then. This isn't FB.
Point is Parliament TV is not a replacement for debate in the house / over a virtual forum! It is a way to the public to watch. No more, no less.
Here we go. Quote from the Herald. (Don't have a link.)
"Robertson is the first of a line-up of ministers expected to front to Opposition and other MPs in virtual select committees this week after the Prime Minister's decision to suspend the sitting of Parliament."
I believe some of these are being broadcast on Parliament TV. So in fact they are a replacement to debate in the house. whoosh.
Democracy in action.
Here ya go.
Schedule of meetings
The select committee meeting schedule lists the time, date, and venue for each select committee meeting planned for the coming week. It also shows the business items that will be considered at each meeting. To find out who is booked to speak at select committee hearings please see the submitters list.
Under COVID-19 Alert Level 4 any select committees meetings will take place virtually over Zoom. The schedule is subject to change at short notice and the meeting format is dependent on changes in the COVID alert levels.
Meetings marked as 'Parliament TV' can be viewed at Freeview 31, Sky 86, Vodafone 86, Parliament On Demand or the Covid-19 Response select committees page.
Items marked “open to the public” will continue to be livestreamed to the committee's Facebook page.
https://www.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/schedule-of-meetings/
Yawn! This is not Parliament!
Jeepers, you really are slow aren't you!
Parliament TV is in no way a replacement for Parliament. It's TV for goodness sake! MPs can't interact with it.
Most everyone else has been able to conduct business via Teams, Zoom or some other forum. Meanwhile Ardern cancels Parliament. Why when there is no need. There are technology solutions to allow Parliament to continue virtually.
Wooossh.
Settle Petal, it's you being slow, I suspect on purpose. Parliament TV is where you can watch Democracy in Action, the opposition questioning the government during the lockdown. You were whining about the PM not being able to run Democracy Virtually. We have pointed out that is exactly what they are managing to do. Get a grip.
I love the idea that David might think that when MPs aren't in the House they're actually watching parliament TV rather than doing all the parliamentary business that isn't in the House.
Or is it some sort of tory shorthand for zoom meetings rather than infecting each other face-to-face?
I suspect he knows exactly how ridiculous he sounds, but once he’s thrown out a Nat/Act slogan there’s no going back for him.
A spark of light might have come on in your second paragraph McFlock. The Red Blooded One still seems all at sea.
Apparently everyone else can do zoom, but Ardern is a bit special and needs to cancel rather than move to the virtual world.
OMG. David. Even RNZ had live coverage of the committee ZOOM meeting holding the government to account. The ZOOM meeting with David Seymour and Shayne Reti asking Grant Robertson and Ashley Bloomfield questions. How much flipping democracy do you want.
Sorry I’ll have to give up on you and cut you loose.
A select committee is not parliament!
This was your rant that I was reacting to.
"Adern can chair an APEC leaders summit virtually but apparently not a democracy"
No mention of Parliament, only Democracy.
Yep, happy to have you give up on me, cause we can see right through you. Bye bye.
You are soooo right; for your further edification: https://www.parliament.nz/en/visit-and-learn/how-parliament-works/fact-sheets/pbrief7/
HTH
Mate, no spark needed: everyone can see you a mile off.
Select committees are as much a part of parliament as debates in the House.
You don't even want all business conducted in the House to be done. You just want the opposition to yell nonsensicalities as soundbites for the 6pm news.
boohoo. The nats continued implosion can be put on hold for a couple of weeks.
There hasn't been any debate for a very long time. All we've seen are petty and childish stunts by an opposition that have proven what a waste of space and taxpayers funds they have become.
Yes
Be good if some one could list 10 salient point the nat and act have made about covid.
Are you advocating we do away with Parliament?
I guess it’s an option. History is littered with countries that have given that option a go.
Wooooosssssh
If anything, I think they’re advocating doing away with the current Opposition and build back better.
They're not a complete waste of space – consider their entertainment value. Collins' eyebrows (not joking – or am eye?), Seymour's twerking, Bridges' cavorting at a recent party conference, a Bridge too far (Merv from Manuwera), Boag, Ngāti Goldsmith, Woodhouse's concern for the homeless – and who could forget Maureen Pugh.
Such fascinating creatures. Calling Puckish Rogue – come in Puck.
Btw, what's Luxon (Local Govt, Māori Development, Assoc. Transport) been up to lately? https://christopherluxon.national.org.nz/news
Edgeler explains.
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/1429655136188604424
"prorouged"? Heaven forbid.
I blush at the thought. Far too many commo agitating, lefty comrade, fellow travelling, pinko, woke, virtue-signallers already without Parliament being prorouged!
Better check under the beds!
In principle debate in the house is really important. But in practice it is asinine. If the opposition respected the institution enough to ask relevant questions and research and meticulously critique government policy and actions, you'd have a good point.
Sadly, Parliament disgraces itself pretty much every day. It is quite dispensable for the duration of lockdown.
I wonder if can you tell the difference between a stag night and a marriage?
Democracy has a chair!? Just as well I was sitting down when I read that.
The kindest parliament on earth
Even crustaceans are cared for.
The government is being kind to lobsters
Good job by govt there, the way we treat all sea animals is usually pretty horrific…now they need to get on to banning big game fishing which is without doubt the most disgusting and violent 'sport' legal in this country…once the cruelty of it is witnessed by any human with any empathy for animals, it can never be forgotten.
Kids are pretty smart.
https://twitter.com/SaraBWarf/status/1429290430370304004
If you are bored, someone has put the 1984 election coverage up on YouTube..
https://youtu.be/5GkuvSsiFp0
that TVNZ opening music is so 80s.
Naomi Lange not looking too happy.
Naomi wasn't looking too happy…heh!
I was doing a metal voiceover, though I would hate to disparage the memory of Big Dave by sharing.
Lol.
Early political learning for me, that basically NZ didn't give a shit morally about politician's private lives. Open secret, media weren't reporting. Unlike say the UK where it would have been a scandal.
Devil's in the detail, but public opinion changes – sometimes for the better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Moyle#Opposition_and_the_Moyle_affair
Most of the election coverage is online somewhere on Youtube and as a tragic, I rewatched some of it last election. Even knowing the outcome, the 2005 election coverage is amusing as Mike Williams spends all night predicting that Labour will come from behind on the back of South Auckland and is proven right in the last hour or two.
The worst election result for New Zealand in it's post war history IMO..the end of the NZ Labour Party as a serious political machine for workers and the dispossessed, marked the introduction and ascension of centrist third way neo-liberalism into New Zealand like an incurable cancer…I for one had no idea what I was voting for at the time to be honest, I was young idealistic and could only see the anti nuke position, taught me a good lesson though..governments lie, and always be a critical thinker, especially when it comes to politics and politicians.
Labour lost a lot of core supporters after the Lange years. Left voters had no representation for 20-odd years because of constant neoliberal bait and switches.
.
This is gonna be a Big Big Night ! …
… latest Heylen Poll suggests we should have a Socialist Govt by Midnight … (Heylen 7 July 1984 … Lab 49.1%, Nat 33.2%, Socred 8.9%, NZP 8.8%).
But bear in mind, the Nats were still in front as recently as May (Heylen 26 May 1984 … Nat 43.8%, Lab 42.7%) … so might still be a little nail-biting … can't entirely rule out Muldoon once again clinging to power by his fingertips …

But overall, looking forward to a decisive return to the protection of working class interests & local industry and a censure of the ostentatiously wealthy under a superb team of Socialist Intellectuals: Mr Douglas, Mr Prebble & Dr Bassett in particular. Rest assured, the Country will be in mighty safe hands.
But let’s sit back with the popcorn & see what Mr Bryant & Mr Cockram & their exciting state-of-the-art technical wizardry deliver us.
.
Fantastic !!! young Peter Dunne currently ahead of Templeton in Ohariu by 162 votes ! Peter has a big future in Left politics.
That gawky little trouper Helen Clark looks consigned to to bumbling around forgotten committees.
Very strange and rather sick critique of the PM by a Graham Adams in today's Herald. Wonder if he will do a follow-up of Judith Collins.
Yes Reality, that Adams has a need to paint Jacinda as an "indoctrinated religious crafty politician". Trying to paint her nature as Mormon kindness, because…
I think he is muddling her with Scot Morrison. Now there is a crafty religious nutter with ties to Hillside and a henchman called Dutton.
The mud continues to be slung by nationals herald in many forms.
Scotty the other day shall we look forward to a Pauline Hanson oped soon.
This is a balanced and highly informative article on how children might be affected by Covid-19 and what role this might play in the overall thinking and approach to the pandemic. Note that there are no exaggerated conclusions or extrapolations from what we currently know and do. The language is plain and non-technical for a general audience.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/how-the-delta-strain-will-affect-kiwi-kids
What might life be like, post-oil?
This magazine article explores the possibilities.
https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2020/02/25/life-after-oil
I like the vision here.ay it come to fruition.
A fair chunk of the British Press seem to have cooled of in their opinion of our PM it would appear.
"Mark Dolan from the GB News took aim at New Zealand and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for putting the country into lockdown"
"Living with this virus is going to be the only show in town. Zero COVID leads to zero economies, zero society, zero freedom and zero democracy."
"Another writer from the Telegraph wrote a brutal opinion piece on Ardern's decision to move New Zealand to a level 4 lockdown. Matthew Lesh called the decision "poetic justice" and New Zealand's approach has "frightening consequences".
"Elimination becomes a costly strategy with very limited benefit. What's the point of lockdowns and maintaining closed borders for a virus that, with vaccines in the mix, no longer causes much harm to individual people?"
We are obviously stuck in this time warp until the vaccination status of the population gets up to at least a second world country status. The virus isn't going to go away. We will have to live with it unless we go over to the world of North Korea and lock everyone up for ever. Well stop talking about how wonderful our approach is supposed to be and get on with the vaccination of everyone who wants to have it. Then, as an old Negro spiritual put it "Let my people go!"
https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/isolated-dystopia-world-reacts-to-nzs-bad-to-worse-frightening-lockdown-move-nearly-a-week-on/ar-AANCkUg?ocid=msedgntp
A fair chunk of the British Press seem to have cooled of in their opinion of our PM it would appear.
The extreme right wing British press, which you have chosen to quote here, was never laudatory of Jacinda Ardern. Your case was dead in the water the moment you chose to quote the partisan and scabrous filth that is the Daily Torygraph.
https://www.thenational.scot/news/18539457.norman-tebbit-telegraph-cant-let-off-hook-rewriting-nazi-history/
"Living with this virus is going to be the only show in town…"
"Living with the virus" is a completely meaningless phrase – because every response to date by every government around the world is a version of "living with the virus". That's because the virus exists – and so by definition we have to live with it. These different versions of living with the virus do differ from each other in how much death and disease they will tolerate in the community.
What we are seeing is an appropriation of "living with the virus" to mean one particular version of living with the virus that has a particularly high tolerance for death and disease. It is scummy propaganda of the highest order – because instead of having to justify their high tolerance for death and disease, its sociopathic proponents can hide behind an illusion of inevitability. A decent media with half a brain would shoot down this filthy deceit.
How do you fancy your chances of surviving an epidemic of influenza or Covid-19 in NZ with open borders? Do ya feel lucky?
When I have had my 2 doses of the vaccine, and we have booster shots available I think my chances of surviving, even at my age, are pretty good. I might get ill but I am unlikely to die from the disease.
With those precautions I don't think it will be any more dangerous than flu is. Yes there will be a chance of dying but I will accept that for the chance to travel overseas, and have people travel here.
After all, a complete closure of the borders and having no one enter the country without a couple of weeks of quarantine is going to end sometime anyway. Politicians are never going to accept that limitation on their lifestyle.
So I feel lucky. What about you, punk?
Lucky you and who am I to burst your bubble? Apparently, the Covid-19 response reduced the number of deaths in winter overall by about 1,600! But I’d already told you that 2 days ago here: https://thestandard.org.nz/the-importance-of-jacindas-1-pm-press-conferences/#comment-1810675. Oh, how time flies in lockdown!
Stay safe and well, Alwyn.
I feel your excitement, Alwyn!
Yes, palpable and exhilarating, like a nasal swab!
Perhaps you could tell us why we should still have that barbaric method of testing for Covid 19? Do you like the thought of the discomfort for yourself or is it the idea that someone else will be affected that gives you a frisson of excitement?
There are comments from experts in the subject that using this method instead of saliva tests is a factor in preventing the country from keeping up with the outbreak. It is being portrayed in New Zealand as not being accurate but at least one authority says.
"“It's frustrating that this [accuracy] is still a question and shows how much misinformation has been passed onto the NZ public."
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/126151636/slow-saliva-testing-rollout-hurting-new-zealands-ability-to-get-on-top-of-outbreak-scientist?cid=PDM711657&bid=1391011913
Much of the probing, prodding, surgery, and treatments in modern medicine are pretty barbaric when you think about it, e.g., cut it, amputate it, it burn it, freeze it, radiate it, poison it, et cetera.
I don’t necessarily buy the argument that saliva tests will make a fundamental change in the current environment. It depends on what the limiting factors are. It could increase the pressure on the testing labs, which are already straining, as I mentioned last night here: https://thestandard.org.nz/daily-review-23-08-2021/#comment-1810984.
I commented 2 days ago on saliva testing here: https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-22-08-2021/#comment-1810628.
Perhaps you could tell me which countries managed to get on top of the Delta variant thanks to saliva testing. I could not find that info in your link. NZ can learn so much from others because we’re so much behind the eight ball.
Got to wonder why the sudden brit campaign by Murderoch to slag off the NZ response. Right wing regime seeks likeminded for free trade and virus swapping?
passing the "130,000 dead" threshold might have some asking questions about whether it's really "over" despite all the partying…
Well, somehow I can't insert a text extract from FB so I'll just type what was said by Ciaran Irvine:
"The right wing media here (and also in the rest of the world) NEED Jacinda to fail at this – because how she has handled Covid indicts them all as not just clueless spoofers but in many countries actual mass murderers,
"The Right has been utterly, catastrophically, psychotically Wrong all over the world at every single step of this pandemic, so Aotearoa's success thus far infuriates them and they NEED us to fail."
No idea who Ciaran Irvine is, but their comment seems absolutely to the point.
Sums the media and our resident right wing posters here up perfectly.
Majority responce from a group of at risk teens offered covid vaccination – nope, not having that, the gummint will use it to track me.
Well done to the fucks who platformed/spread this shit.
//
was that teens you know?
Frontliner's anecdote.
What an appalling rant from Kate Hawkesby in the Herald yesterday(?). Venomous woman filled with loathing. Actually that shows in her face, as are the embedded sneers of Hosking.
Those two deserve one another.
I set my radio alarm to her show in the morning
She is aural shit the bed
I understand they have children and one has to worry about the effect those two nasty negative people, from the same household have on them
Best response
https://twitter.com/Te_Taipo/status/1429654059057704960?s=20
Thread.
https://twitter.com/Jenene/status/1429560918917074947
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1429560918917074947.html
That's an excellent thread
I've also heard so much commentary about how lockdowns create uncertainty and how this is difficult for people to manage. It leads to emotional stress and mental health problems (I have no doubt about this being the case for some people).
Personally, I like living with the certainty that we will have lockdowns rather than the uncertainly of who I’m going to contract a life-altering / life-threatening illness from if we have to “learn to live” with the virus in the community before we understand and can safely manage the game of catch-up between variants and vaccines.
I do understand that it is really important to have certainty about what you need to do – tomorrow, in a week’s time, in a month. What I don’t get is how the people who are upset by the uncertainty lockdowns bring, are probably not the same people who worry about the uncertainty that people in the precariat live with every single day of their working lives.
@LewSOS is being a bit trollish today… maybe he got out of the wrong side of bed this morning. Keeps equating socialism with mass murder. Calls himself a moderate?!
Does he?
He's using a specific definition of socialism. Here's a list of socialist states. He's not wrong about the lots of murdering thing. Not so sure he's right about there being very few examples what have been non-murdering, or whether it's a feature of socialism rather than other sociopolitical dynamics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_socialist_states
The trollishness comes from not engaging the original argument for economic justice and obsession with counting dead bodies. Bloody revolutions were a desperate response to unbearable suffering, Marxism was the vehicle in some cases. But bloody revolutions were also necessary to overthrow feudalism and institute democracy; it's just that they didn't happen in living memory
The deaths in Stalinist Russia weren't just from the revolution though, right? They went on for a long time and were extremely excessive.
Well, there is a discussion to be had about whether the "revolution" is restricted solely to the overthrow of the monarchy, or includes (in the case of the USSR) the following process of repelling multiple massive invasions and turning an agrarian-peasant economy into an industrial power.
But really, it all turns into a "no true Scotsman" argument: socialist nations that didn't get particularly murdery get labelled "social democratic" or whatevs while capitalist countries that get murdery are "imperialist" rather than capitalist, and on the other side murdery socialist govts get called "failed dictatorships of the proletariat" (at best) and reasonably stable and humane mixed economies have their benefits attributed to socialism and negatives attributed to capitalism.
Yes in Marxist theory the revolution is not over until the state "withers away".
What did you think of Lew's original point, that many people viewing socialism through a freedom vs totalitarianism lens is due to socialism's history of murder rather than contemporary lack of class analysis? (I'd guess it is both).
Meh. Seems largely bollocks to me (especially in regards to yanks worried about "socialism", but we have it here, too).
"Socialism" as a scareword is devoid of meaning, it's a label applied to a number of different nations without reference to the situations faced at the time.
Is that label "socialism" more or less murdery than capitalist/imperialist nations? That's like arguing which billionaire is more wealthy today – comparisons are pretty meaningless when you get to that level. Take Cambodia, and then the Bengal famine. Did Beria kill more people than Zaharoff? Who really cares.
And that's with a reasonably unbiased assessment – throw on decades of propaganda in both directions, and most people wouldn't recognise the polsci definition of "socialism" or "capitalism" if it hit them in the face (and the latter often does).
But start talking about bosses and fair tax rates, and pretty soon the people who think socialism is a bit murdery start supporting policies that get them healthcare – until Fox calls it "socialism".
Tis disingenuous to draw attention to 'socialist' revolutions and death tolls.
Societal breakdowns generally involve murder and death irrespective of their 'ism'
it is entirely likely that a future death toll will be laid at the door of 'environmentalism'.
Further to the idea that overseas politicians and media need us to surrender in order to stop making them look callous and/or incompetent: scomo thinks delta resistance is futile and we need to get out of the cave.
I quite like Plato’s cave allegory, ever since I had to translate that piece of text. This whole pandemic apparently started with a bat out of hell. So, staying in the cave sounds pretty safe. I wonder what cavemen would have done when a cave bear tried to enter the cave they were in: would they fight for their lives and defend themselves and the cave or run away and be exposed to all other dangers as well as having the bear chasing them? We will never know the answer, of course.
I would like to think that with those words he has formed the basis of a great irony.