Looking at the photo of the Parliamentary Stage with 9 flags a V shaped seating pattern and the lectern/podium, one is reminded of "Let the TRUMPets sound".
So Chief Pirate, Lord Luxon will proclaim.
Let the Raiding begin….
and the tide begin to go back out on his 3 patched raggle-taggle ship of state, as we are presented with the motley crew and a list of their victims.
I love the way Dunne quotes Many Rice-Davies, referencing a long forgotten scandal from sixty years ago that accidentally reminds us of what an anachronism he is.
Doubtful as gen z seems to be the opposite of gen y and lean more libertarian.
If anything politics is becoming for all generations, male vs female.
The left globally have absolutely lost the ability to speak to male voters, but the right still gets enough female voters to win elections.
Labour and the greens got bugger all votes from heterosexual males.
The left have abandoned collectivist equity based universal social democratic economic policies and replaced them with factional oppression Olympics identity politics.
Since the 2016 usa election, all the global left seems to do is scream about patriarchy, all men being rapists (hey marama), decolonization, lgbt+, race, abstract post modern theories of privilege, attack free speech and try to deplatform anyone they disagree with…
Totally unappealing.
And the left has no good male role models anymore, it's all very very very academic wine sipping nerds with no spine.
If the left had any brains it'd have the charismatic, young bogan Kieren Mcnullty as leader of the Labour party and seek out as many candidates like him as possible, he is the only candidate in Labour I can see winning over male voters and Labour needs a lot more of people like him and a lot less upper middle class robot professional student politicians
I think there's a fair bit of caricature and exaggeration in how you say that – but I agree with much of the underlying sentiment. I'd note though that the real poseurs now drink craft beer, rather than sipping wine, and it's the right that are the most notorious cancelers of unwelcome opinion, not the left.
You've drunk all the kool aid produced by the right wing narrative about the left as a feminist project – it's not a surprise that gay men are as vulnerable to it as some working class men (a privileged place in society over – as per women is all they had/have).
The thing is they also connect it to being a feminist socialist project – as per Perigo (the libertarian against a society order in either the personal life or economics) and onto Bridge.
A radio person in Auckland finished today and gets to have a goodbye in the Herald.
Kate Hawkesby comments on the awesome responsibility. "I’ll never forget when the Queen died and my producer just said in my ear, ‘The Queen’s dead’, that was it.It was just this surreal moment of, ‘Whoa, I have to communicate this breaking news’."
Yep, that's up there with brain surgery.
"The media landscape has changed drastically since I began. The insatiable 24/7 demand for clicks and content has, I believe, seen quality suffer," she says. Well, bugger me, that's a surprise. And to give context praises her husband with close reference to the previous government and Covid.
Regularly MediaWatch on RNZ featured his distortions, the 180° switcheroos and all over the shop logic with him. Quality suffer? What?
Far Right PVV party leader Geert Wilders good result in the Dutch elections is a worry. Wilders is an Islamophobe, hates immigrants etc. But contrary to the usual stupid headlines PVV has not "won". He has 37 seats where 76 are needed to form a government and most of the other parties have said that they will not work with PVV.
One Dutch expert predicts the final makeup of parliament here:
“Sarah de Lange, professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, said the most likely outcome appears to be a right-wing government comprised of the PVV, Rutte’s conservative VVD Party, and Pieter Omtzigt’s New Social Contract party, which was formed in August with a pledge to “do politics differently.” This would likely require Wilders to give up the most extreme components of his manifesto, which include proposals to bring immigration to zero, ban the Quran and close mosques, many of which are unconstitutional….”
The GreenLeft-Labour Alliance did quite well getting 25 seats. One can only hope all the parties shun Wilders and form a coalition government with this alliance.
It's terrifying and happened in Sweeden and is due to happen in Germany where the AFD is polling more than their Labour, green, act coalition Combined.
Not working with these parties isn't sustainable in the long term because they keep growing.
It's deeply insane that this has been going on for the better part of a decade and the establishment, progressive, moderate and conservative parties of the world haven't bothered to try to find a way to combat it.
It's all a symptom of the economic fallout of the working and middle classes and systemic cultural shock from globalization, it's crazy that the mainstream left refuses to seriously address these issues in either a real politik or populist way as these are usually our traditional voters and instead of winning them over we finger wag and talk about how great globalization is because you can get cheap whitewear and "diversity is our strength"
Well, John Campbell will be very pleased that we will have a new Government.
I heard a story, although admittedly not from a terribly reliable source, that he has had a camera crew on standby for the last couple of weeks to start filming children living in cars. That was of course part of his stock in trade about 6 years ago.
The problem has been that until the new Ministerial roles have been announced he hasn't been able to waylay the Minister with questions demanding to know what is being done about it. Expect some stories by late next week. There are many more children in the situation today than there were back in 2017 I believe.
The number of children living in cars is very difficult to give an authoritative figure for as the Department wouldn't give a firm figure during the Labour years. The closest they would come out with was the number of families who were living in cars.
However here are a couple of stories that were published.
"The number of children listed as may be living in cars has gone from 51 at the end of 2017, to 228 in June this year (2022).
The numbers are pulled when people apply for help from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). People are asked where they're living and if they have children."
"Shocking figures revealed yesterday when Labour admitted there are now 480 families living in cars compared to 102 when they entered Government in 2017."
Labour lifted 77,000 children out of poverty. Links @ 5.1.1.1
"She cast doubt on the use of the figure – 480 applicants for emergency housing living in cars – suggesting because it was “cumulative” and people were not moved off this list until they had permanent housing, so many may not be currently living in cars"
"The figure that the member is putting forth to us and using to assume there's an increase in the number of people living in cars, I'm told, is not an accurate way of capturing that data. What we are doing is building our way out of a housing crisis that we inherited that was created by that member's Government.”
are you meaning a dump of information on a friday, or, the government looks like it is a dump, or, looks the results of someone taking a dump on friday?
The National flag on the table is bigger than the other two flags, however the NZ First flag is above the other two and the ACT flag whilst lower and smaller has a stand that has three steps instead of two and it is higher. The National flag in in the middle, with the ACT flag on the right and NZ Flag on the left except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when they take turns at being in the middle. Half way through the term NZ First and ACT flags will swop sides. National's flag is made in China, NZ First's flag came in an unmarked brown envelope along with $250,000 and a box of frozen Hoki fillets, and ACTs flag came in a Zuru box with $500,000 and a thank you note from Nick Mowbray.
According to Seymour, they are going to do "good for ALL New Zealanders ". Is that all rich/white/politicians/landlords he's referring to? Nothing like starting off your term with blatant lying.
Almost like they're the shadow opposite of a shallow, feckless, incompetent bunch of d-grade managers who bulk-funded us through a couple of crises, pushed waaay beyond any Overton window then rapidly fell apart in a year, and now sit on the steaming wreckage with not a note of apology.
So in comparison to a one (arguably, two) term government…..
And, anyone who believed that Key was concerned over National ‘losing’ the Mt Roskill by-election (one of the Labour Red Wall Auckland electorates – until Wood self-destructed amid the Labour collapse in 2023) – is entirely self-deluded.
It wasn't in comparison to a 2 term government. Who is the deluded one here? I just stated a fact, it is irrelevant that you didn't like it. Unlike you, I am not the one dreaming up a scenario that never happened.
It wasn't about the terms of government though. What I said was that Ad's post describes the key government, which didn't specify 'terms' and you are the one making up a scenario about Key that didn't happen.
He was, however, polling *substantially* (like 20%) above any of the other candidates.
And (setting aside the very weird and unlikely to be true Digipol results (in the mid 60s) – his polling stayed around 38-40 for most of 2015 (when the ponytail saga broke) – not showing any shift in the preferred PM ratings.
For comparison, Helen Clark was about the same (mid 30s) in 2008 when she was in her 3rd term. The problem for her, was that John Key was polling equal or better.
Fucking should have though, greasy powerful man gets away with repeatedly making young working girl feel uncomfortable, do to any girl I know and you would need police protection alright.
Revanchist policies. Exactly. Undoing all work done in a spiteful nasty way. Those three remind me of a pack of dogs, peeing on each post to mark their territory.
The allocation of portfolios… some who have been in Parliament since 2014 holding none, suddenly with 3 or 4. How will that work? Doocey case in point. Leader of the House.. Chris Bishop. Speaker Gerry Brownlee.Tama Potaka loaded with all things Maori… because Dr. Reti will have Health. This looks like a house of straw rather than a "Strong and Stable Government".
On a religious note Judith Collins has had her prayers answered. Resurrection indeed.
In light of the three clown’s coalition announcement this morning, Community groups, NGOs, unions and ordinary people have to organise and support each other. It is going to be a tougher time for the bottom 50% that have barely 5% of the wealth.
Various public sector unions were happy to take extensive strike action with a Labour Govt. they will quickly expose themselves if they do move on NActFirst promptly to fight cuts, clawbacks and sackings.
Working class people are going to be hit hard, and Māori especially. Bye bye to the incremental reforms from Labour. Unfortunately it “woz Nuzilundas wot dun it to thumselfs” this time. Three years of no winter energy payment, minimum wage rises, or free prescriptions will hopefully give some of the numpties and Jacinda haters time to reflect.
If it's got the balls then Labour has just been given a considerable opportunity. Nothing from what clearly is going to be a deeply unserious government will do anything to address the economic, social and climate issues facing NZ.
Luxon looks like he wants to go back to 2017 and stay there, Seymour is determined to cling to zombie neoliberalism with a nasty dollop of GOP style racism, and Peters will do little except bicker with the press and engage in casual corruption. The only thing uniting them is culture war issues.
Labour needs to shed neoliberal centrism & incrementalism, embrace the muscular state to regulate and legislate, and seize the left wing populist policy opportunity that has just been given to them on a golden platter. Take on the monopolies and duopolies. create new agencies to do things if old ones won’t. There is a huge opportunity.
Still … Labour need to treat their partners with more respect. I am so tired of Labour historically treating their partners like children and not giving them much to do; and when Greens does something substantial – it's rarely remarked upon or minimised if can't be ignored.
Labour need to realise that Greens (and likely TPM also) will play a role in Labour's future. And it better act like it whether Greens has a higher or lower percentage of votes in the 2026/7 election.
What have communitarians got to complain about? Gumboot Day is in the coalition agreement fully funded. Horse racing is fully funded. Guns will be deregistered.
Maybe? Not sure what stage the mandatory registry that was being set up was at , as being of sound mind I registered mine voluntarily when asked while redoing my license. !
until a firearms registry tracks the sale of guns and makes it harder for gun dodgy gun owners to sell them on to gangs. when ACT dismantles that register the flow of guns to gangs can flow freely. Makes a mockery of all the tough on crime rhetoric we have heard from them, empty snake oil words.
It seems apparent that most guns used in gang-related crime are not legally purchased/registered firearms. They are illegally imported, just like illegal drugs are.
The current registration process doesn't seem to be hampering firearms related crime in any way – based on the increased number of shootings over the last few years.
Just have to say how happy I am that Gumboot Friday will be fully funded.
This is the kind of 'on-the-ground practical solution which makes a difference to youth mental health.
For the time being Anker. Come April next year when the payment is soon to begin for the winter months, they're going to be taking the knife to everything they can lay their hands on in order to pay for the unaffordable tax-cut bribe. Muldoon did it in the 1970s and he ended up freezing wages and salaries in order to pay for the unaffordable superannuation bribe.
The country came within a whisker of bankruptcy. I bet the same thing is going to happen again.
Unions went on strike with Labour because they knew it had a better chance of succeeding than under a National government. It was a cynical but successful approach that gave national fodder to message anti-union. Labour however could have just increased pay rates and funding without all the bull-shit but chose not to – just as they chose not to implement WEAG recommendations, just as those chose to allow massive amounts of immigration and the abuse of immigrant workers.
Their failure to implement at times was atrocious – especially where MBIE was involved.
The last 18 months or so they allowed National to control their policies and fell away from ensuring implementation to kneejerk responding. Their struggle to break away from neo-liberalism is real.
A review by the Public Service Commission is under way to check whether processes around the checks and balances of the AEWV scheme have been followed.
The review is expected to be complete by mid-December.
Time travel would be useful – to be able to go forward and see what breaks, falls down, poisons people or wrecks the environment as a direct result of Seymour's reign as "Minister of Regulation"
For future home buyers, it will be wise to make the avoidance of a Seymour-era house a standard filter on decision-making.
He’s spent years saying there’s too much regulation and he’s going to get rid of it. Too many employed in Ministries like Education. So he’ll get rid of people. And all the necessary regulations around Charter Schools.and accountability checks? Who’s to do that?
The easy part is writing up the agreements. The testing bit will be putting stuff into action, especially the need to have the people in support – or not.
The Devil is in the detail, but Big Brains don’t concern themselves with minutiae; they’re about Big Picture stuff and vibes with considerable help from the Sales Department PR & Comms Teams to create that magical PR woo woo.
the new govt cabinet is pretty short on talent and intellectual heft. iy will be a big test for many of them to put things into action. the hypocrisy of act is stunning though
First thought on the new cabinet: there's only one South Islander (Doocey) in the entire bunch (Simmonds and Patterson are outside cabinet, making it 3/28 across the entire ministry).
1/20 is rather shitty representation when you make up a quarter of the country.
I was thinking we should all follow the baby boomers and just stop. Take some time to enjoy family and friends. If we not going to be slaves in this new economy.
Anyone know where I can get some used Stop Co-Governance signs cheap?. With Peter’s and Seymour sharing DP I’m over this co governance bullshit already!
The precursor for meth back on Pharmacy shelves, and an AR15 to facilitate the robbery. The Dairy owners can relax now – this lot have just cut out all the middle men.
And Visubversa the pharmacy will have a lot of extra work distinguishing those who get free scrips and those who don't. All in or all out would be much simpler.
Pseudo-ephedrine is back on the shelf because it gets people back to work more quickly than the alternatives, i.e. it's a sop to employers. Workers feel that if they're not snotting and sneezing everywhere it's less anti-social to turn up at work. More people will get sick overall, but hey, they can just pop some pseudoephedrine as well. Much that this government will do is to provide a short-term boost to business profitability with complete indifference to the long-term consequences.
It is also not advised for people who have to operate machinery. I have a Mast cell allergy and used to take it occasionally. I did not drive, or operate anything complex or dangerous on those days.
And with retained access to smokes and better armed robbers, greater reward with greater risk. One wonders when they take out the insurance of gang protection …
Removing the precursor for meth from pharmacy shelves has made zero difference to the amount of meth imported or cooked up in NZ.
Pharmacy pseudoephedrine was never a major ingredient source. And certainly not in this age of industrialized crime led by major criminal gangs.
And, I haven't had a decent cold-symptom suppressant since it was removed. None of the substitutes are anything like as effective.
Suppression of symptoms – not only makes you feel better, more quickly – you are much less likely to develop secondary infections – and then require antibiotics.
The Chief Science Advisor, Professor Peter Gluckman, wrote this in his report to the Prime Minister [John Key] in 2009:
Executive Summary
Domestically diverted pseudoephedrine is a precursor for a significant proportion of the methamphetamine consumed in New Zealand, and is the predominant precursor in small-scale clandestine laboratories.
Experience from other jurisdictions suggests that restrictions on the domestic availability of pseudoephedrine translate into reductions in the number of clandestine laboratories discovered. Given the high societal cost of such laboratories, this would be a public good.
And did the production and/or consumption of methamphetamine significantly reduce once pseudoephedrine was banned from commercial sale?
Given the explosion in the availability of meth – the evidence seems against it.
National-ACT’s coalition agreement wants anyone going for a “health and disability related benefit” to have to go through a more limited pool of doctors. You have the power to improve lives, and you decide to make life harder for people with disabilities/health conditions?
In other words, anyone with a “health and disability" condition and needs a benefit to survive, is automatically considered to be a malingerer who is trying to cheat the system – not to mention an insult to the vast majority of doctors whose recommendations are made on good grounds and in good faith.
This is a return to the 1990s – the days of Ruth Richardson and co. plus that vile woman, Christine Rankin! The truth is, these right-wing shits feel they have to demonise the less fortunate to assuage their own greedy and self serving guilt.
Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 27 were:1. The Minister for Ford Rangers strikes againTransport Minister Simeon Brown was again the busiest of the Cabinet ministers this week, announcing an ...
You got a fast carAnd I want a ticket to anywhereMaybe we make a dealMaybe together we can get somewhereAny place is betterYesterday’s newsletter, Trust In Me, on the report of abuse in state care, and by religious organisations, between 1950 and 2019, coupled with the hypocrisy of Christopher Luxon ...
New Zealand is again having to reconcile conflicting pressures from its military and its trade interests. Should we join Pillar Two of AUKUS and risk compromising our markets in China? For a century after New Zealand was founded in 1840, its external security arrangements and external economics arrangements were aligned. ...
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1. What's not to love about the way the Harris campaign is turning things around?a. Nothingb. Love all of itc. God what a reliefd. Not that it will be by any means easye. All of the above 2. Documents released by the Ministry of Health show Associate Health Minister Casey ...
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TL;DR: The podcast above of the weekly ‘hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers last night features co-hosts and talking about the Royal Commission Inquiry into Abuse in Carereport released this week, and with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on a UN push to not recognise carbon offset markets and ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 26, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:Transport: Simeon Brown announced$802.9 million in funding for 18 new trains on the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines, which ...
The northern expressway extension from Warkworth to Whangarei is likely to require radical changes to legislation if it is going to be built within the foreseeable future. The Government’s powers to purchase land, the planning process and current restrictions on road tolling are all going to need to be changed ...
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedFirst they came for the doctors But I was confused by the numbers and costs So I didn't speak up Then they came for our police and nurses And I didn't think we could afford those costs anyway So I ...
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on UnsplashWe’re back again after our mid-winter break. We’re still with the ‘new’ day of the week (Thursday rather than Friday) when we have our ‘hoon’ webinar with paying subscribers to The Kākā for an hour at 5 pm.Jump on this link on YouTube Livestream ...
Notes: This is a free article. Abuse in Care themes are mentioned. Video is at the bottom.BackgroundYesterday’s report into Abuse in Care revealed that at least 1 in 3 of all who went through state and faith based care were abused - often horrifically. At least, because not all survivors ...
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Some of the recent announcements from the government have reminded us of posts we’ve written in the past. Here’s one from early 2020. There were plenty of reactions to the government’s infrastructure announcement a few weeks ago which saw them fund a bunch of big roading projects. One of ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Thursday, July 25 are:News: Why Electric Kiwi is closing to new customers - and why it matters RNZ’s Susan EdmundsScoop: Government drops ...
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Yesterday I happily quoted the Prime Minister without fact-checking him and sure enough, it turns out his numbers were all to hell. It’s not four kg of Royal Commission report, it’s fourteen.My friend and one-time colleague-in-comms Hazel Phillips gently alerted me to my error almost as soon as I’d hit ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Thursday, July 25, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day were:The Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquirypublished its final report yesterday.PM Christopher Luxon and The Minister responsible for ...
The Official Information Act has always been a battle between requesters seeking information, and governments seeking to control it. Information is power, so Ministers and government agencies want to manage what is released and when, for their own convenience, and legality and democracy be damned. Their most recent tactic for ...
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Please note:To skip directly to the- parliamentary footage in the video, scroll to 1:21 To skip to audio please click on the headphone iconon the left hand side of the screenThis video / audio section is under development. ...
Given the crackdown on wasteful government spending, it behooves me to point to a high profile example of spending by the Luxon government that looks like a big, fat waste of time and money. I’m talking about the deployment of NZDF personnel to support the US-led coalition in the Red ...
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As I reported about the city centre, Auckland’s rail network is also going through a difficult and disruptive period which is rapidly approaching a culmination, this will result in a significant upgrade to the whole network. Hallelujah. Also like the city centre this is an upgrade predicated on the City ...
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NewstalkZB host Mike Hosking, who can usually be relied on to give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon an easy run, did not do so yesterday when he interviewed him about the HealthNZ deficit. Luxon is trying to use a deficit reported last year by HealthNZ as yet another example of the ...
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Health NZ warned the Government at the end of March that it was running over Budget. But the reasons it gave were very different to those offered by the Prime Minister yesterday. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon blamed the “botched merger” of the 20 District Health Boards (DHBs) to create Health ...
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The Finance and Expenditure Committee has reported back on National's Local Government (Water Services Preliminary Arrangements) Bill. The bill sets up water for privatisation, and was introduced under urgency, then rammed through select committee with no time even for local councils to make a proper submission. Naturally, national's select committee ...
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History is not on the side of the centre-left, when Democratic presidents fall behind in the polls and choose not to run for re-election. On both previous occasions in the past 75 years (Harry Truman in 1952, Lyndon Johnson in 1968) the Democrats proceeded to then lose the White House ...
This is a free articleCoverageThis morning, US President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the Presidential race. And that is genuinely newsworthy. Thanks for your service, President Biden, and all the best to you and yours.However, the media in New Zealand, particularly the 1News nightly bulletin, has been breathlessly covering ...
A homeless person’s camp beside a blocked-off slipped damage walkway in Freeman’s Bay: we are chasing our tail on our worsening and inter-related housing, poverty and climate crises. Photo: Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy ...
What has happened to it all?Crazy, some'd sayWhere is the life that I recognise?(Gone away)But I won't cry for yesterdayThere's an ordinary worldSomehow I have to findAnd as I try to make my wayTo the ordinary worldYesterday morning began as many others - what to write about today? I began ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 7:00 am on Monday, July 22 are:Today’s Must Read: Father and son live in a tent, and have done for four years, in a million ...
TL;DR: As of 7:00 am on Monday, July 22, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:US President Joe Biden announced via X this morning he would not stand for a second term.Multinational professional services firm ...
A listing of 32 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, July 14, 2024 thru Sat, July 20, 2024. Story of the week As reflected by preponderance of coverage, our Story of the Week is Project 2025. Until now traveling ...
This weekend, a friend pointed out someone who said they’d like to read my posts, but didn’t want to pay. And my first reaction was sympathy.I’ve already told folks that if they can’t comfortably subscribe, and would like to read, I’d be happy to offer free subscriptions. I don’t want ...
National: The Party of ‘Law and Order’ IntroductionThis weekend, the Government formally kicked off one of their flagship policy programs: a military style boot camp that New Zealand has experimented with over the past 50 years. Cartoon credit: Guy BodyIt’s very popular with the National Party’s Law and Orderimage, ...
Day one of the solo leg of my long journey home begins with my favourite sound: footfalls in an empty street. 5.00 am and it’s already light and already too warm, almost.If I can make the train that leaves Budapest later this hour I could be in Belgrade by nightfall; ...
Do you remember Y2K, the threat that hung over humanity in the closing days of the twentieth century? Horror scenarios of planes falling from the sky, electronic payments failing and ATMs refusing to dispense cash. As for your VCR following instructions and recording your favourite show - forget about it.All ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts being questioned by The Kākā’s Bernard Hickey.TL;DR: My top six things to note around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the week to July 20 were:1. A strategy that fails Zero Carbon Act & Paris targetsThe National-ACT-NZ First Coalition Government finally unveiled ...
Summary:As New Zealand loses at least 12 leaders in the public service space of health, climate, and pharmaceuticals, this month alone, directly in response to the Government’s policies and budget choices, what lies ahead may be darker than it appears. Tui examines some of those departures and draws a long ...
The Minister of Housing’s ambition is to reduce markedly the ratio of house prices to household incomes. If his strategy works it would transform the housing market, dramatically changing the prospects of housing as an investment.Leaving aside the Minister’s metaphor of ‘flooding the market’ I do not see how the ...
As previously noted, my historical fantasy piece, set in the fifth-century Mediterranean, was accepted for a Pirate Horror anthology, only for the anthology to later fall through. But in a good bit of news, it turned out that the story could indeed be re-marketed as sword and sorcery. As of ...
An employee of tobacco company Philip Morris International demonstrates a heated tobacco device. Photo: Getty ImagesTL;DR: The top six things I’ve noted around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy on Friday, July 19 are:At a time when the Coalition Government is cutting spending on health, infrastructure, education, housing ...
TL;DR: My pick of the top six links elsewhere around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day or so to 8:30 am on Friday, July 19 are:Scoop: NZ First Minister Casey Costello orders 50% cut to excise tax on heated tobacco products. The minister has ...
Kia ora, it’s time for another Friday roundup, in which we pull together some of the links and stories that caught our eye this week. Feel free to add more in the comments! Our header image this week shows a foggy day in Auckland town, captured by Patrick Reynolds. ...
TL;DR : Here’s the top six items climate news for Aotearoa this week, as selected by Bernard Hickey and The Kākā’s climate correspondent Cathrine Dyer. A discussion recorded yesterday is in the video above and the audio of that sent onto the podcast feed.The Government released its draft Emissions Reduction ...
Save some money, get rich and old, bring it back to Tobacco Road.Bring that dynamite and a crane, blow it up, start all over again.Roll up. Roll up. Or tailor made, if you prefer...Whether you’re selling ciggies, digging for gold, catching dolphins in your nets, or encouraging folks to flutter ...
Waiting In The Wings:For truly, if Trump is America’s un-assassinated Caesar, then J.D. Vance is America’s Octavian, the Republic’s youthful undertaker – and its first Emperor.DONALD TRUMP’S SELECTION of James D. Vance as his running-mate bodes ill for the American republic. A fervent supporter of Viktor Orban, the “illiberal” prime ...
TL;DR: As of 6:00 am on Friday, July 19, the top six announcements, speeches, reports and research around housing, climate and poverty in Aotearoa’s political economy in the last day are:The PSAannounced the Employment Relations Authority (ERA) had ruled in the PSA’s favour in its case against the Ministry ...
Te Rangi e tu nei (The sky above us) Te Papa e takoto nei (The land beneath us) Tatou katoa te hunga ora (To us all the living) Tena koutou katoa (Greetings) ...
A late change to charter school legislation will cheat educators out of fair pay and negotiating power proving charter schools are just a vehicle to make profit out of our education system. ...
In 2004 te iwi Māori rallied against the Crown’s attempt to confiscate our coastlines and moana with the Foreshore and Seabed Act. This led to the largest hīkoi of a generation and the birth of Te Pāti Māori. 20 years later, history is repeating itself. Today the government has announced ...
It has been five and a half years since the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care was established to investigate the abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults within state and faith-based institutions. Yesterday, the final report - Whanaketia through pain and trauma, from darkness to light ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to take action off the back of the International Court of Justice ruling on Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestine. ...
On Friday the International Court of Justice reaffirmed what Palestinian’s have been telling us for decades: that the occupation and colonisation of Palestinian lands by Israel is illegal and must end immediately. They also called for reparations for Palestinian’s who have lived under Israeli occupation since it began in 1967. ...
Labour calls on the Government to act after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories is illegal. ...
The 53.7 percent rise in benefit sanctions over the last year is more proof of this Government’s disdain for our communities most in need of support. ...
Aotearoa could be a country where every child grows up feeling safe, loved and with a sense of belonging in their whānau and community. But for some of our children, this is far from reality. Instead, they are trapped in a maze of intergenerational harm that they can’t escape on ...
Te Pāti Māori are calling for David Seymour to resign as Associate Health Minister in response to his call for Pharmac to ignore the Treaty of Waitangi. “This announcement is just another example of the government’s anti-Tiriti, anti-Māori agenda.” Said Co-leader and spokesperson for health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. “Seymour thinks it ...
The soaring price of renting is driving the rise of inflation in this country - with latest figures from Stats NZ showing rents are up 4.8 per cent on average while annual inflation is at 3.3 per cent. ...
National’s Emissions Reduction Plan will take New Zealand further from the economy we need to ensure the next generation has a stable climate and secure livelihoods. ...
Following consultation with named parties and thorough consideration of privacy interests, the Green Party is in a position to release the Executive Summary of the final report from the independent investigation into Darleen Tana. ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon should be asking serious questions of his Minister for Resources Shane Jones now it’s been revealed he misled the public about a dinner with mining companies that he didn’t declare and said wasn’t pre-arranged. ...
Te Pāti Māori have submitted to the Justice Select Committee against the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill. The bill will further entrench racism in our justice system and fails to focus on rehabilitation. “Reinstating Three Strikes will empower a systematically racist system and exacerbate the overrepresentation of Māori in ...
The Transport and Infrastructure Committee is set to make a determination on the Residential Tenancies Amendment (RTA) Bill in the coming weeks. “This legislation will give landlords the power to kick our whānau out onto the street for no reason” said Housing spokesperson, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “Their solution to the housing ...
“National’s campaign was about tackling crime and the best they can do is a two-year long Ministerial Advisory Group,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said. ...
“There are more examples of charter schools failing their students than there are success stories. The coalition Government is driving to dismantle our public school system and instead promote a privatised, competitive structure that puts profits before kids,” Jan Tinetti said. ...
“This government is choosing to deliberately mislead and withhold information, keeping our people in the dark about this government’s agenda and the future of our mokopuna,” said co-leader and spokesperson for Health, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. The call comes after the demand from the Chief Ombudsman that Associate Minister of Health, Casey ...
“Today’s climate announcement by Simon Watts makes clear the National Government is simply paying lip service to meeting its climate change targets,” Megan Woods said. ...
National is choosing to make life harder for workers by taking away the rights our communities have fought hard for. Here's how they’re taking workers backwards. ...
Australia, Canada and New Zealand today issued the following statement on the need for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza and the risk of expanded conflict between Hizballah and Israel. The situation in Gaza is catastrophic. The human suffering is unacceptable. It cannot continue. We remain unequivocal in our condemnation of ...
Attorney-General Judith Collins today reminded all State and faith-based institutions of their legal obligation to preserve records relevant to the safety and wellbeing of those in its care. “The Abuse in Care Inquiry’s report has found cases where records of the most vulnerable people in State and faith‑based institutions were ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government’s online safety website for children and young people has reached one million page views. “It is great to see so many young people and their families accessing the site Keep It Real Online to learn how to stay safe online, and manage ...
Tēnā tātou katoa, Ngā mihi te rangi, ngā mihi te whenua, ngā mihi ki a koutou, kia ora mai koutou. Thank you for the opportunity to be here and the invitation to speak at this 50th anniversary conference. I acknowledge all those who have gone before us and paved the ...
New Zealand’s payroll providers have successfully prepared to ensure 3.5 million individuals will, from Wednesday next week, be able to keep more of what they earn each pay, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis and Revenue Minister Simon Watts. “The Government's tax policy changes are legally effective from Wednesday. Delivering this tax ...
An experimental vineyard which will help futureproof the wine sector has been opened in Blenheim by Associate Regional Development Minister Mark Patterson. The covered vineyard, based at the New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa, enables controlled environmental conditions. “The research that will be produced at the Experimental ...
The Coalition Government has confirmed the indicative regional breakdown of North Island Weather Event (NIWE) funding for state highway recovery projects funded through Budget 2024, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Regions in the North Island suffered extensive and devastating damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the 2023 Auckland Anniversary Floods, and ...
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit New Zealand next week, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “Indonesia is important to New Zealand’s security and economic interests and is our closest South East Asian neighbour,” says Mr Peters, who is currently in Laos to engage with South East Asian partners. ...
He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the aspirations of Ngāti Maniapoto, Minister for Māori Development Tama Potaka says. “My thanks to Te Nehenehenui Trust – Ngāti Maniapoto for bringing their important kōrero to a ministerial ...
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has thanked outgoing Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority, Janice Fredric, for her service to the board.“I have received Ms Fredric’s resignation from the role of Chair of the Civil Aviation Authority,” Mr Brown says.“On behalf of the Government, I want to thank Ms Fredric for ...
The Government is proposing legislation to overturn a Court of Appeal decision and amend the Marine and Coastal Area Act in order to restore Parliament’s test for Customary Marine Title, Treaty Negotiations Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “Section 58 required an applicant group to prove they have exclusively used and occupied ...
Regulation Minister David Seymour says that opposition parties have united in bad faith, opposing what they claim are ‘dangerous changes’ to the Early Childhood Education sector, despite no changes even being proposed yet. “Issues with affordability and availability of early childhood education, and the complexity of its regulation, has led ...
After receiving more than 740 submissions in the first 20 days, Regulation Minister David Seymour is asking the Ministry for Regulation to extend engagement on the early childhood education regulation review by an extra two weeks. “The level of interest has been very high, and from the conversations I’ve been ...
The Coalition Government is investing $802.9 million into the Wairarapa and Manawatū rail lines as part of a funding agreement with the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA), KiwiRail, and the Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Councils to deliver more reliable services for commuters in the lower North Island, Transport Minister Simeon ...
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown has announced his intention to appoint a Crown Manager to both Hawke’s Bay Regional and Wairoa District Councils to speed up the delivery of flood protection work in Wairoa."Recent severe weather events in Wairoa this year, combined with damage from Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 have ...
Mr Speaker, this is a day that many New Zealanders who were abused in State care never thought would come. It’s the day that this Parliament accepts, with deep sorrow and regret, the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care. At the heart of this report are the ...
For the first time, the Government is formally acknowledging some children and young people at Lake Alice Psychiatric Hospital experienced torture. The final report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State and Faith-based Care “Whanaketia – through pain and trauma, from darkness to light,” was tabled in Parliament ...
The Government has acknowledged the nearly 2,400 courageous survivors who shared their experiences during the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Historical Abuse in State and Faith-Based Care. The final report from the largest and most complex public inquiry ever held in New Zealand, the Royal Commission Inquiry “Whanaketia – through ...
With a week to go before hard-working New Zealanders see personal income tax relief for the first time in fourteen years, 513,000 people have used the Budget tax calculator to see how much they will benefit, says Finance Minister Nicola Willis. “Tax relief is long overdue. From next Wednesday, personal income ...
Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Brooke van Velden says a bill that has passed its first reading will improve parental leave settings and give non-biological parents more flexibility as primary carer for their child. The Regulatory Systems Amendment Bill (No3), passed its first reading this morning. “It includes a change ...
Two Bills designed to improve regulation and make it easier to do business have passed their first reading in Parliament, says Economic Development Minister Melissa Lee. The Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Bill and Regulatory Systems (Immigration and Workforce) Amendment Bill make key changes to legislation administered by the Ministry ...
New legislation paves the way for greater competition in sectors such as banking and electricity, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly says. “Competitive markets boost productivity, create employment opportunities and lift living standards. To support competition, we need good quality regulation but, unfortunately, a recent OECD report ranked New ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says lotteries for charitable purposes, such as those run by the Heart Foundation, Coastguard NZ, and local hospices, will soon be allowed to operate online permanently. “Under current laws, these fundraising lotteries are only allowed to operate online until October 2024, after which ...
The Coalition Government is accelerating work on the new four-lane expressway between Auckland and Whangārei as part of its Roads of National Significance programme, with an accelerated delivery model to deliver this project faster and more efficiently, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “For too long, the lack of resilient transport connections ...
Sir Don McKinnon will travel to Viet Nam this week as a Special Envoy of the Government, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced. “It is important that the Government give due recognition to the significant contributions that General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong made to New Zealand-Viet Nam relations,” Mr ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says newly appointed Commissioner, Grant Illingworth KC, will help deliver the report for the first phase of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into COVID-19 Lessons, due on 28 November 2024. “I am pleased to announce that Mr Illingworth will commence his appointment as ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters travels to Laos this week to participate in a series of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Ministerial meetings in Vientiane. “ASEAN plays an important role in supporting a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Mr Peters says. “This will be our third visit to ...
Construction of a new mental health facility at Te Nikau Grey Hospital in Greymouth is today one step closer, Mental Health Minister Matt Doocey says. “This $27 million facility shows this Government is delivering on its promise to boost mental health care and improve front line services,” Mr Doocey says. ...
New Zealand is committing nearly $50 million to a package supporting sustainable Pacific fisheries development over the next four years, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones announced today. “This support consisting of a range of initiatives demonstrates New Zealand’s commitment to assisting our Pacific partners ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says proposed changes to the Education and Training Amendment Bill will ensure charter schools have more flexibility to negotiate employment agreements and are equipped with the right teaching resources. “Cabinet has agreed to progress an amendment which means unions will not be able to initiate ...
In response to serious concerns around oversight, overspend and a significant deterioration in financial outlook, the Board of Health New Zealand will be replaced with a Commissioner, Health Minister Dr Shane Reti announced today. “The previous government’s botched health reforms have created significant financial challenges at Health NZ that, without ...
Minister for Space and Science, Innovation and Technology Judith Collins will travel to Adelaide tomorrow for space and science engagements, including speaking at the Australian Space Forum. While there she will also have meetings and visits with a focus on space, biotechnology and innovation. “New Zealand has a thriving space ...
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts will travel to China on Saturday to attend the Ministerial on Climate Action meeting held in Wuhan. “Attending the Ministerial on Climate Action is an opportunity to advocate for New Zealand climate priorities and engage with our key partners on climate action,” Mr Watts says. ...
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is travelling to the Solomon Islands tomorrow for meetings with his counterparts from around the Pacific supporting collective management of the region’s fisheries. The 23rd Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Committee and the 5th Regional Fisheries Ministers’ Meeting in Honiara from 23 to 26 July ...
The Government today launched the Military Style Academy Pilot at Te Au rere a te Tonga Youth Justice residence in Palmerston North, an important part of the Government’s plan to crackdown on youth crime and getting youth offenders back on track, Minister for Children, Karen Chhour said today. “On the ...
The Government has welcomed news the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) has begun work to replace nine priority bridges across the country to ensure our state highway network remains resilient, reliable, and efficient for road users, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“Increasing productivity and economic growth is a key priority for the ...
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour has been in contact throughout the evening with senior officials who have coordinated a whole of government response to the global IT outage and can provide an update. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has designated the National Emergency Management Agency as the ...
New Zealand and Japan will continue to step up their shared engagement with the Pacific, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand and Japan have a strong, shared interest in a free, open and stable Pacific Islands region,” Mr Peters says. “We are pleased to be finding more ways ...
New developments in the heart of North Island forestry country will reinvigorate their communities and boost economic development, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones visited Kaingaroa and Kawerau in Bay of Plenty today to open a landmark community centre in the former and a new connecting road in ...
President Adeang, fellow Ministers, honourable Diet Member Horii, Ambassadors, distinguished guests. Minasama, konnichiwa, and good afternoon, everyone. Distinguished guests, it’s a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about New Zealand’s foreign policy reset, the reasons for it, the values that underpin it, and how it ...
Last summer when Matairangi burned, Ginny and Tom stood at the window of their lounge, watching kākā shoot skyward from the burning trees. From the distance, they looked to Ginny like pages torn from books and thrown into a bonfire. It was Tom, voice tight, who told her it was ...
Opinion: The Canadian short story writer Alice Munro – winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2013 – died in May at the age of 92. Her work was about “the damage people inflict on one another in the name of love”, Deborah Treisman wrote in the New Yorker. ...
This month marks two years since the most powerful telescope ever built sent its first pictures back to earth. From its lofty vantage point, beyond the moon in orbit around the sun, the James Webb Space Telescope was tuned to observe the first stars and galaxies being born soon after ...
Comment: After Climate Change Minister Simon Watts’ preview several weeks ago, I had some optimism about the Government’s emissions reduction plan. Now I’ve read the discussion document, that hope has been dashed. How can the Government propose a plan that wants to take New Zealand taxpayers’ hard-earned money, and spend ...
Christopher Luxon: hurdles The little man from National jumps hurdles in his sleep. He’s quite good at it in his dreams and even though the reality doesn’t quite match up you have to give him credit for getting up every morning and crashing into the very first hurdle of the ...
Comment: It was a good two hours into the conversation when Tyrone Marks raised the most basic of questions when I first spoke to him in 2017. “They didn’t explain the things they did to me. They never told me why. And they still haven’t. There’s no explanation for it. ...
Madeleine Chapman rounds out Death Week on The Spinoff with a final recommendation. You can read all of our Death Week coverage here. Nothing forces you to reflect on your life and relationships quite like proximity to death. For those whose nearest and dearest have died, there are reasonably obvious ...
Whitney Greene takes us through her life in television, including the TV character she’d like to plan a funeral for and her cow lung catastrophe on The Traitors NZ. “If the phone rings, I have to answer it,” Whitney Greene from The Traitors NZ warns as we begin our My ...
Maddie Ballard reviews the debut essay collection of Pōneke writer Flora Feltham.In ‘The Raw Material’, the longest essay in Flora Feltham’s dazzling debut collection, the author heads out for a run after hours of weaving and sees the world turn to textile. “Pounding along the Parade, I saw the ...
Andy Christiansen, one half of the experimental rock-pop duo TRiPS, shares the tunes inspiring the band’s perfect weekend and new release. “Good speakers, good food, good music, no distractions”: that’s all you need to enjoy the psychedelic stylings of TRiPS, a new band formed by Fly My Pretties’ Barnaby Weir ...
Celebrating our quadrennial opportunity to become experts in a bunch of sports we never normally watch.The games of the XXXIII Olympiad are upon us. Paris will host this year’s showcase of sporting and athletic prowess, which means some late-night and early-morning viewing for us in Aotearoa.But what sports ...
The photograph is striking and beautiful, but also disturbing – a reminder that my love for John was often entangled in shame.The Sunday Essay is made possible thanks to the support of Creative New Zealand.In the spring of 1980, in Dunedin, shortly before his death, someone took a photograph ...
Get to know Babushka, our latest Dog of the Month. This feature was offered as a reward during our What’s Eating Aotearoa PledgeMe campaign. Thank you to Babu’s humans, Jo and Isabel, for their support. Dog name: Babushka (Babu for short) Age: 2Breed: Border Collie X poodleIf rescued, ...
Pacific Media Watch A Lebanese photojournalist who was severely wounded during an Israeli air strike in south Lebanon carried the Olympic torch in Paris this week in honour of her peers who have been wounded and killed in the field — especially in Gaza and Lebanon. Christina Assi of Agence ...
The first report in a five-part web series focused on the 15th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women taking place in the Marshall Islands this week.SPECIAL REPORT:By Netani Rika in Majuro Women continue to fight for justice 70 years after the first nuclear tests by the United States caused ...
Christopher Luxon has joined with Australia and Canada's leaders in voicing support for US President Joe Biden's ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The 2022 election brought the “teal wave” into parliament. The next election will test whether teals, who occupy what were Liberal seats, and other independents can maintain their momentum. Joining us on the Podcast ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ian Musgrave, Senior lecturer in Pharmacology, University of Adelaide Pixavri/Shutterstock A major Federal Court class action has been dismissed this week after Justice Michael Lee ruled there was not enough evidence to prove the weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. Plaintiff Kelvin ...
In The Week in Politics: politicians have to decide what to do about child abuse, Health NZ is booked in for major surgery and Darleen Tana returns. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Clare Corbould, Associate Professor, Contemporary Histories Research Group, Deakin University Mainstream media are surprisingly muted at the prospect of the world’s most powerful nation being led for the first time by a woman – specifically a woman of colour, Vice President Kamala ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rebecca Bennett, PhD Student, Associate Research Fellow, Deakin University Last week, a drone delivery company called Wing (owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet) started operating in Melbourne. Some 250,000 residents in parts of the city’s eastern suburbs can now order food from ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonathan Foo, Lecturer, Physiotherapy, Monash University pikselstock/Shutterstock In the next 40 years in Australia, it’s predicted the number of Australians aged 65 and over will more than double, while the number of people aged 85 and over will more than triple. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Katrina Grant, Research Associate, Power Institute for Arts and Visual Culture, University of Sydney Jonas Åkerström’s 1790 work, Session of the Accademia dell’Arcadia on August 17 1788.Nationalmuseum/Cecilia Heisser Ever wondered whether you’d have a better chance at winning an Olympic gold ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Alexandra Jones, Program Lead, Food Governance, George Institute for Global Health wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock On Thursday, Australian and New Zealand food ministers at state, federal and national levels met to thrash out what’s next for health star ratings on packaged foods. Now, after ...
The Abuse in Care report found many Pacific survivors lost their connections to their culture and language, resulting in trauma that has been carried from generation to generation. ...
In the regulatory review, ECC intends to suggest that ERO focus on curriculum delivery reviews rather than the Ministry, because it’s not efficient or effective to have two agencies with radically different approaches climbing over each other. ...
Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori invites the current government to work in partnership with them to develop a pathway forward, including the development of a parallel pathway and meaningful policy and strategy for Kura Kaupapa Māori ...
If you haven’t started watching yet, Tara Ward begs you to reconsider. This is an excerpt from our weekly pop culture newsletter Rec Room. Sign up here. In the world of New Zealand reality television, we have many gems in our crown. There’s the delicious second season of the Celebrity Treasure ...
A new poem by Fiona Kidman. The clothes of the dead I did not keep my mother’s furry red beret for long nor the stringy scarves that adorned the necks of my aunts, although I have kept tag ends of gold, the rings and trinkets they wore, the brooches no ...
The government’s announcement that it will re-open the foreshore and seabed controversy by changing the rules on recognising centuries-old Māori customary title for a third time goes against the rule of law and New Zealand values,” Mr Tipa says. ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Lioness by Emily Perkins (Bloomsbury, $25) Roarrrr! Perkins’ brilliant, award-winning, Marian-Keyes anointed, darkly funny, long ...
The 2004 Act vested ownership of the foreshore and seabed in the Crown, extinguishing any Māori claims to ownership and causing widespread outrage and protests among Māori communities. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Antje Deckert, Associate Professor (Criminology), Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Despite the connection between institutional harm and gang membership made clear in this week’s mammoth royal commission abuse-in care report, the government seems unlikely to soften its “get tough on ...
From Lewis Clareburt in the swimming to the start of the rowing – the first seven days of Paris 2024 promise to be big for New Zealand. There are few events that bring the country together quite like an Olympic Games. Nothing quite matches the excitement of getting up in ...
Groundbreaking local science just showed up in the most surprising of places: the season finale of The Kardashians. In the season five finale of The Kardashians last night, several members of the family gathered together in one of their signature empty, cream-coloured rooms to hear test results that had been ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amin Saikal, Emeritus professor of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies, Australian National University The Middle East is on the brink of a possibly devastating regional war, with hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah reaching an extremely dangerous level. Washington has engaged in ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Laura Elizabeth Eades, Rheumatologist, Monash University Lupus is an inflammatory autoimmune illness, where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks itself. Lupus can affect virtually any part of the body, although it most commonly affects the skin, joints and kidneys. The symptoms ...
A law firm that specialises in working with survivors of abuse in State care is disappointed that the Government fails to recognise that its boot camps can be directly compared to previous boot camps from the 1990s and 2000s. ...
Dying is a natural part of life, like updating your Wof or seeing your hairdresser, but without the word-of-mouth recs that help guarantee a good service. What if we changed that? Dying Reviews received by The Spinoff have had the names of organisations redacted while Hospice NZ collects further data. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jonti Horner, Professor (Astrophysics), University of Southern Queensland Mike Lewinski/Flickr, CC BY On any clear night, if you gaze skywards long enough, chances are you’ll see a meteor streaking through the sky. Some nights, however, are better than others. At ...
Despite having no bars or other designated spaces for lesbians, Auckland boasts a small but mighty lesbian museum. So how did it get here? The past 18 months has brought increasing hostility towards the queer community across Aotearoa. Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s anti-trans rally in Tamaki Makaurau last March led to a ...
Poneke Antifascist Coalition has invited Wellingtonians to stand in solidarity with the Kanak people at 12pm today outside the French Embassy in Wellington. ...
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As we gear up for what I suspect will be a non-sensical three years of slogans and fake reality time to re-watch Adam Cutis's hypernormalization doco.
His 'Century of the Self' is also a good explainer as to how these yo-yos got voted in too.
The rise and rise of the individual to the detriment of community, unions and the family unit.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DnPmg0R1M04&pp=ygUfQWRhbSBDdXJ0aXMgY2VudHVyeSBvZiB0aGUgc2VsZg%3D%3D
Looking at the photo of the Parliamentary Stage with 9 flags a V shaped seating pattern and the lectern/podium, one is reminded of "Let the TRUMPets sound".
So Chief Pirate, Lord Luxon will proclaim.
Let the Raiding begin….
and the tide begin to go back out on his 3 patched raggle-taggle ship of state, as we are presented with the motley crew and a list of their victims.
But Patricia. Peter Dunne says this about our new illustrious PM.
You/we just misread the PM's delivery.
https://newsroom.co.nz/2023/11/23/luxons-challenge-is-stamping-his-authority-on-new-government/?utm_source=Newsroom&utm_campaign=f4cb0c5c70-Daily_Briefing+24.11.2023&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_71de5c4b35-f4cb0c5c70-95522477&mc_cid=f4cb0c5c70&mc_eid=88a3081e75
Good coming from someone who "wormed" his way into a coalition.
Notice Dunne didn't say "kind ".
I love the way Dunne quotes Many Rice-Davies, referencing a long forgotten scandal from sixty years ago that accidentally reminds us of what an anachronism he is.
But he would say that though, wouldn't he?
The ugly retreat from modernity begins on Monday. I hope the kids notice.
Doubtful as gen z seems to be the opposite of gen y and lean more libertarian.
If anything politics is becoming for all generations, male vs female.
The left globally have absolutely lost the ability to speak to male voters, but the right still gets enough female voters to win elections.
Labour and the greens got bugger all votes from heterosexual males.
The left have abandoned collectivist equity based universal social democratic economic policies and replaced them with factional oppression Olympics identity politics.
Since the 2016 usa election, all the global left seems to do is scream about patriarchy, all men being rapists (hey marama), decolonization, lgbt+, race, abstract post modern theories of privilege, attack free speech and try to deplatform anyone they disagree with…
Totally unappealing.
And the left has no good male role models anymore, it's all very very very academic wine sipping nerds with no spine.
If the left had any brains it'd have the charismatic, young bogan Kieren Mcnullty as leader of the Labour party and seek out as many candidates like him as possible, he is the only candidate in Labour I can see winning over male voters and Labour needs a lot more of people like him and a lot less upper middle class robot professional student politicians
I think there's a fair bit of caricature and exaggeration in how you say that – but I agree with much of the underlying sentiment. I'd note though that the real poseurs now drink craft beer, rather than sipping wine, and it's the right that are the most notorious cancelers of unwelcome opinion, not the left.
You've drunk all the kool aid produced by the right wing narrative about the left as a feminist project – it's not a surprise that gay men are as vulnerable to it as some working class men (a privileged place in society over – as per women is all they had/have).
The thing is they also connect it to being a feminist socialist project – as per Perigo (the libertarian against a society order in either the personal life or economics) and onto Bridge.
A radio person in Auckland finished today and gets to have a goodbye in the Herald.
Kate Hawkesby comments on the awesome responsibility. "I’ll never forget when the Queen died and my producer just said in my ear, ‘The Queen’s dead’, that was it.It was just this surreal moment of, ‘Whoa, I have to communicate this breaking news’."
Yep, that's up there with brain surgery.
"The media landscape has changed drastically since I began. The insatiable 24/7 demand for clicks and content has, I believe, seen quality suffer," she says. Well, bugger me, that's a surprise. And to give context praises her husband with close reference to the previous government and Covid.
Regularly MediaWatch on RNZ featured his distortions, the 180° switcheroos and all over the shop logic with him. Quality suffer? What?
A victim of a very bad bout of lingering covid, she modified his statements to a degree.
Far Right PVV party leader Geert Wilders good result in the Dutch elections is a worry. Wilders is an Islamophobe, hates immigrants etc. But contrary to the usual stupid headlines PVV has not "won". He has 37 seats where 76 are needed to form a government and most of the other parties have said that they will not work with PVV.
One Dutch expert predicts the final makeup of parliament here:
“Sarah de Lange, professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, said the most likely outcome appears to be a right-wing government comprised of the PVV, Rutte’s conservative VVD Party, and Pieter Omtzigt’s New Social Contract party, which was formed in August with a pledge to “do politics differently.” This would likely require Wilders to give up the most extreme components of his manifesto, which include proposals to bring immigration to zero, ban the Quran and close mosques, many of which are unconstitutional….”
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/11/23/dutch-election-what-comes-next-after-shock-far-right-victory.html
The GreenLeft-Labour Alliance did quite well getting 25 seats. One can only hope all the parties shun Wilders and form a coalition government with this alliance.
Agree on that . Common in Europe with proportional party list elections for the largest party to be in low to mid 20% of the vote .
Even then coalition building takes 3-6 months
It's terrifying and happened in Sweeden and is due to happen in Germany where the AFD is polling more than their Labour, green, act coalition Combined.
Not working with these parties isn't sustainable in the long term because they keep growing.
It's deeply insane that this has been going on for the better part of a decade and the establishment, progressive, moderate and conservative parties of the world haven't bothered to try to find a way to combat it.
It's all a symptom of the economic fallout of the working and middle classes and systemic cultural shock from globalization, it's crazy that the mainstream left refuses to seriously address these issues in either a real politik or populist way as these are usually our traditional voters and instead of winning them over we finger wag and talk about how great globalization is because you can get cheap whitewear and "diversity is our strength"
I pray it doesn't happen here.
Praying may be all we can do about it.
Well, John Campbell will be very pleased that we will have a new Government.
I heard a story, although admittedly not from a terribly reliable source, that he has had a camera crew on standby for the last couple of weeks to start filming children living in cars. That was of course part of his stock in trade about 6 years ago.
The problem has been that until the new Ministerial roles have been announced he hasn't been able to waylay the Minister with questions demanding to know what is being done about it. Expect some stories by late next week. There are many more children in the situation today than there were back in 2017 I believe.
Still, John will sort it out.
At least Labour/NZF/Greens did something about it with the Child Poverty Reduction Act.
https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2018/0057/18.0/LMS8294.html
They passed a bill. Whoopee. There is no evidence that it actually achieved anything though is there?
77,000 children have been lifted out of poverty under Labour.
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/continued-progress-reducing-poverty-challenging-times
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/portfolio/labour-2020-2023/child-poverty-reduction
National’s welfare changes will see benefits $2621 lower by 2028, push more children into poverty
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/election-2023-labour-says-nationals-welfare-changes-will-see-benefits-2621-lower-by-2028-push-more-children-into-poverty/GBCJMJZJZ5FEXKTDGWBWEIP5IA/
It's normal for commenters to back up definitive claims like this with links and stuff.
The number of children living in cars is very difficult to give an authoritative figure for as the Department wouldn't give a firm figure during the Labour years. The closest they would come out with was the number of families who were living in cars.
However here are a couple of stories that were published.
"The number of children listed as may be living in cars has gone from 51 at the end of 2017, to 228 in June this year (2022).
The numbers are pulled when people apply for help from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD). People are asked where they're living and if they have children."
https://www.1news.co.nz/2022/08/18/number-of-children-listed-as-living-in-cars-more-than-200/
"Shocking figures revealed yesterday when Labour admitted there are now 480 families living in cars compared to 102 when they entered Government in 2017."
https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2023/07/21/480-families-living-in-cars-in-2023-compared-to-102-in-2017/
I think it is a reasonable assumption that the number rose during the Labour term.
National refused to measure child poverty.
Labour lifted 77,000 children out of poverty. Links @ 5.1.1.1
"She cast doubt on the use of the figure – 480 applicants for emergency housing living in cars – suggesting because it was “cumulative” and people were not moved off this list until they had permanent housing, so many may not be currently living in cars"
"The figure that the member is putting forth to us and using to assume there's an increase in the number of people living in cars, I'm told, is not an accurate way of capturing that data. What we are doing is building our way out of a housing crisis that we inherited that was created by that member's Government.”
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132584396/some-480-housing-applicants-including-families-with-children-living-in-cars
I just read a comment from a troll about an unlinked story from an unreliable source.
Still, the Mods will sort it out.
"I heard a story, although admittedly not from a terribly reliable source" So why are you posting a baseless rumour? it makes you appear paranoid.
I see this government is starting out as they mean to continue. It is literally being born with a Friday dump.
Black Friday…fitting indeed.
Bleak Friday
are you meaning a dump of information on a friday, or, the government looks like it is a dump, or, looks the results of someone taking a dump on friday?
NZs first 3 party coalition government….a symptom of a surfeit of elites?
Peter Turchin studies the collapse of societies….and possible opportunities to avoid/delay such.
First review of the coalition talks….
The National flag on the table is bigger than the other two flags, however the NZ First flag is above the other two and the ACT flag whilst lower and smaller has a stand that has three steps instead of two and it is higher. The National flag in in the middle, with the ACT flag on the right and NZ Flag on the left except on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when they take turns at being in the middle. Half way through the term NZ First and ACT flags will swop sides. National's flag is made in China, NZ First's flag came in an unmarked brown envelope along with $250,000 and a box of frozen Hoki fillets, and ACTs flag came in a Zuru box with $500,000 and a thank you note from Nick Mowbray.
According to Seymour, they are going to do "good for ALL New Zealanders ". Is that all rich/white/politicians/landlords he's referring to? Nothing like starting off your term with blatant lying.
The long and the short of the announcement this morning- a spiteful and revanchist government that is going to borrow for it's tax cuts.
Accurate summary.
Seymour went out of his way to mention Firearms and 3 Strikes to emphasise your point Sanctuary.
Acts van Velden has work place relations, workers are fucked.
Almost like they're the shadow opposite of a shallow, feckless, incompetent bunch of d-grade managers who bulk-funded us through a couple of crises, pushed waaay beyond any Overton window then rapidly fell apart in a year, and now sit on the steaming wreckage with not a note of apology.
Describes the previous National-led government.
You mean the one which lasted for three election cycles, and would almost certainly have had a fourth, if Key hadn't resigned.
That's the one and Key was losing popularity and resigned two days after National lost the Mt. Roskill by-election.
So in comparison to a one (arguably, two) term government…..
And, anyone who believed that Key was concerned over National ‘losing’ the Mt Roskill by-election (one of the Labour Red Wall Auckland electorates – until Wood self-destructed amid the Labour collapse in 2023) – is entirely self-deluded.
It wasn't in comparison to a 2 term government. Who is the deluded one here? I just stated a fact, it is irrelevant that you didn't like it. Unlike you, I am not the one dreaming up a scenario that never happened.
How many terms do you think that Adern government had?
You can argue that it was 2 one term governments (given that the coalition didn't last into 2020 since NZF didn't get elected).
Or you can argue that it was a 2 term government (since Ardern was PM both times).
It's one or the other. So, the comparison is absolutely between Key (3 terms) and Ardern (2×1 term, or 2 terms)
You brought up the Key government, in contrast to the Ardern one that the OP referenced.
Seems to me that you're the deluded one, here. And your grasp of 'facts' is rather shaky.
It wasn't about the terms of government though. What I said was that Ad's post describes the key government, which didn't specify 'terms' and you are the one making up a scenario about Key that didn't happen.
If Key had not pulled ponytails….
Didn't seem to affect his popularity.
Those most agitated about it, would never have voted for him in any case.
Key was losing popularity.
Yes he was. Fairly typically for a 3rd term PM.
He was, however, polling *substantially* (like 20%) above any of the other candidates.
And (setting aside the very weird and unlikely to be true Digipol results (in the mid 60s) – his polling stayed around 38-40 for most of 2015 (when the ponytail saga broke) – not showing any shift in the preferred PM ratings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2017_New_Zealand_general_election
For comparison, Helen Clark was about the same (mid 30s) in 2008 when she was in her 3rd term. The problem for her, was that John Key was polling equal or better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2008_New_Zealand_general_election
John key was losing support. He didn't complete a third term.
"Key's popularity plummets to lowest level"
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2016/06/newshub-poll-keys-popularity-plummets-to-lowest-level.html
Fucking should have though, greasy powerful man gets away with repeatedly making young working girl feel uncomfortable, do to any girl I know and you would need police protection alright.
Not arguing whether it "should have" – just pointing out that it didn't.
Bronagh had the right idea – not everyone did, or does.
Sanc….and for its 13 bloody RONS.
Revanchist policies. Exactly. Undoing all work done in a spiteful nasty way. Those three remind me of a pack of dogs, peeing on each post to mark their territory.
The allocation of portfolios… some who have been in Parliament since 2014 holding none, suddenly with 3 or 4. How will that work? Doocey case in point. Leader of the House.. Chris Bishop.
Speaker Gerry Brownlee.
Tama Potaka loaded with all things Maori… because Dr. Reti will have Health. This looks like a house of straw rather than a "Strong and Stable Government".
On a religious note Judith Collins has had her prayers answered. Resurrection indeed.
In light of the three clown’s coalition announcement this morning, Community groups, NGOs, unions and ordinary people have to organise and support each other. It is going to be a tougher time for the bottom 50% that have barely 5% of the wealth.
Various public sector unions were happy to take extensive strike action with a Labour Govt. they will quickly expose themselves if they do move on NActFirst promptly to fight cuts, clawbacks and sackings.
Working class people are going to be hit hard, and Māori especially. Bye bye to the incremental reforms from Labour. Unfortunately it “woz Nuzilundas wot dun it to thumselfs” this time. Three years of no winter energy payment, minimum wage rises, or free prescriptions will hopefully give some of the numpties and Jacinda haters time to reflect.
Fully agreed.
It is going to take a lot of people to resist whatever bad they might inflict upon us.
We need to unite against whatever terrible things they may have planned for us all.
If it's got the balls then Labour has just been given a considerable opportunity. Nothing from what clearly is going to be a deeply unserious government will do anything to address the economic, social and climate issues facing NZ.
Luxon looks like he wants to go back to 2017 and stay there, Seymour is determined to cling to zombie neoliberalism with a nasty dollop of GOP style racism, and Peters will do little except bicker with the press and engage in casual corruption. The only thing uniting them is culture war issues.
Labour needs to shed neoliberal centrism & incrementalism, embrace the muscular state to regulate and legislate, and seize the left wing populist policy opportunity that has just been given to them on a golden platter. Take on the monopolies and duopolies. create new agencies to do things if old ones won’t. There is a huge opportunity.
And Labour actually need to treat Greens like a real coalition partner. If the three coalition government NAT/ACT/NZF can do it, so can Labour.
There's no excuses left for Labour to electorally mistreat the Greens anymore.
+100 RoG
Act like a government-in-waiting from the start.
ROG exactly
With conviction and purpose.
"There's no excuses left for Labour to electorally mistreat the Greens anymore."
The Greens do their own thing and as they are winning seats off Labour there is no need to give them an inch
Still … Labour need to treat their partners with more respect. I am so tired of Labour historically treating their partners like children and not giving them much to do; and when Greens does something substantial – it's rarely remarked upon or minimised if can't be ignored.
Labour need to realise that Greens (and likely TPM also) will play a role in Labour's future. And it better act like it whether Greens has a higher or lower percentage of votes in the 2026/7 election.
What have communitarians got to complain about? Gumboot Day is in the coalition agreement fully funded. Horse racing is fully funded. Guns will be deregistered.
A good Friday night out in Eltham.
The gangs will be happy , the license holding mates can supply them fire arms with little risk.
As they do now?
Maybe? Not sure what stage the mandatory registry that was being set up was at , as being of sound mind I registered mine voluntarily when asked while redoing my license. !
https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2023/10/fifty-thousand-guns-registered-to-kiwis-since-firearms-registry-went-live.html
Yip it's live, actll kill it and National have completely u turned, gutless dicks.
until a firearms registry tracks the sale of guns and makes it harder for gun dodgy gun owners to sell them on to gangs. when ACT dismantles that register the flow of guns to gangs can flow freely. Makes a mockery of all the tough on crime rhetoric we have heard from them, empty snake oil words.
It seems apparent that most guns used in gang-related crime are not legally purchased/registered firearms. They are illegally imported, just like illegal drugs are.
The current registration process doesn't seem to be hampering firearms related crime in any way – based on the increased number of shootings over the last few years.
We'll have trouble identifying the gangs though because they won't be wearing their patches. And won't be hanging out in groups!
Guns will be deregistered, and cell phones will be banned from schools. This is so fucked-up.
From classrooms
Some schools already do so
Right you are; all good then.
https://www.national.org.nz/100dayplan
https://assets.nationbuilder.com/nationalparty/pages/18431/attachments/original/1696107664/100_Day_Action_Plan.pdf?1696107664
Typical National with ambiguous weasel words and slippery language that’s open to interpretation.
The practicalities of it mean classrooms as the pupils will still bring phones to school and use them on the journey to and from
National actually says use at school so it means some sort of cell phone caretaker to handle the collection and storage !!
https://www.national.org.nz/national_will_ban_cell_phone_use_at_school
in reality it will have to become a ‘choice’ for schools to implement as cant see the teachers union wanting their members to do this job
Just have to say how happy I am that Gumboot Friday will be fully funded.
This is the kind of 'on-the-ground practical solution which makes a difference to youth mental health.
Tiger Mountain, I have read the coalition agreements
The winter energy payment stays.
For the time being Anker. Come April next year when the payment is soon to begin for the winter months, they're going to be taking the knife to everything they can lay their hands on in order to pay for the unaffordable tax-cut bribe. Muldoon did it in the 1970s and he ended up freezing wages and salaries in order to pay for the unaffordable superannuation bribe.
The country came within a whisker of bankruptcy. I bet the same thing is going to happen again.
Well I don't have a crystal ball Anne, so you could be correct.
I think Winston would put up a fight if they tried to take away the winter energy payment, but who would know
Unions went on strike with Labour because they knew it had a better chance of succeeding than under a National government. It was a cynical but successful approach that gave national fodder to message anti-union. Labour however could have just increased pay rates and funding without all the bull-shit but chose not to – just as they chose not to implement WEAG recommendations, just as those chose to allow massive amounts of immigration and the abuse of immigrant workers.
Their failure to implement at times was atrocious – especially where MBIE was involved.
The last 18 months or so they allowed National to control their policies and fell away from ensuring implementation to kneejerk responding. Their struggle to break away from neo-liberalism is real.
Energy Hardship
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/27802-doia-2324-0860-response-for-publishing-pdf
Employment action plans
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/employment-and-skills/employment-strategy/
RSE
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/130915844/small-number-of-rse-licences-revoked-shows-government-agencies-and-businesses-burying-the-issue-union-says
A review by the Public Service Commission is under way to check whether processes around the checks and balances of the AEWV scheme have been followed.
The review is expected to be complete by mid-December.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/499394/border-alerts-placed-on-offshore-migrants-with-accredited-employer-work-visas
Time travel would be useful – to be able to go forward and see what breaks, falls down, poisons people or wrecks the environment as a direct result of Seymour's reign as "Minister of Regulation"
For future home buyers, it will be wise to make the avoidance of a Seymour-era house a standard filter on decision-making.
Seymour, Minister for Regulation. What the … does that mean?
It means that David will be this Government’s Manny.
Letting developers ,farmers, builders, and anyone else with money do what they want I expect
He’s spent years saying there’s too much regulation and he’s going to get rid of it. Too many employed in Ministries like Education. So he’ll get rid of people. And all the necessary regulations around Charter Schools.and accountability checks? Who’s to do that?
The easy part is writing up the agreements. The testing bit will be putting stuff into action, especially the need to have the people in support – or not.
The Devil is in the detail, but Big Brains don’t concern themselves with minutiae; they’re about Big Picture stuff and vibes with considerable help from the
Sales DepartmentPR & Comms Teams to create that magical PR woo woo.the new govt cabinet is pretty short on talent and intellectual heft. iy will be a big test for many of them to put things into action. the hypocrisy of act is stunning though
The real cabinet ministers but not on the list will be:
Bill English & Co Ltd
Steven Joyce Consulting Ltd
First thought on the new cabinet: there's only one South Islander (Doocey) in the entire bunch (Simmonds and Patterson are outside cabinet, making it 3/28 across the entire ministry).
1/20 is rather shitty representation when you make up a quarter of the country.
Most will have Queenstown holiday homes so relax you'll be able to hear their jewellery rattling down the ski fields.
And farmers are pretty well covered in all 3 caucuses.
Tough luck for the Dunedin proles.
I was thinking we should all follow the baby boomers and just stop. Take some time to enjoy family and friends. If we not going to be slaves in this new economy.
Anyone know where I can get some used Stop Co-Governance signs cheap?. With Peter’s and Seymour sharing DP I’m over this co governance bullshit already!
Oh.. and some Stop Three Wankers ones too.
The precursor for meth back on Pharmacy shelves, and an AR15 to facilitate the robbery. The Dairy owners can relax now – this lot have just cut out all the middle men.
And Visubversa the pharmacy will have a lot of extra work distinguishing those who get free scrips and those who don't. All in or all out would be much simpler.
Pseudo-ephedrine is back on the shelf because it gets people back to work more quickly than the alternatives, i.e. it's a sop to employers. Workers feel that if they're not snotting and sneezing everywhere it's less anti-social to turn up at work. More people will get sick overall, but hey, they can just pop some pseudoephedrine as well. Much that this government will do is to provide a short-term boost to business profitability with complete indifference to the long-term consequences.
It is also not advised for people who have to operate machinery. I have a Mast cell allergy and used to take it occasionally. I did not drive, or operate anything complex or dangerous on those days.
And with retained access to smokes and better armed robbers, greater reward with greater risk. One wonders when they take out the insurance of gang protection …
Removing the precursor for meth from pharmacy shelves has made zero difference to the amount of meth imported or cooked up in NZ.
Pharmacy pseudoephedrine was never a major ingredient source. And certainly not in this age of industrialized crime led by major criminal gangs.
And, I haven't had a decent cold-symptom suppressant since it was removed. None of the substitutes are anything like as effective.
Suppression of symptoms – not only makes you feel better, more quickly – you are much less likely to develop secondary infections – and then require antibiotics.
The first policy onto the bonfire was a Key legacy.
Cluxon was determined to be seen as his own man.
It may also have been a sop to ACT as their aim to reduce sickness leave entitlement was not part of the agreement.
The Chief Science Advisor, Professor Peter Gluckman, wrote this in his report to the Prime Minister [John Key] in 2009:
Executive Summary
https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2021-10/pmcsa-Report-to-the-PM-Pseudoephedrine2.pdf
And did the production and/or consumption of methamphetamine significantly reduce once pseudoephedrine was banned from commercial sale?
Given the explosion in the availability of meth – the evidence seems against it.
They're reversing most of the anti-smoking regulations. FFS.
That has a serious stink of corruption to it, hopefully a reporter will follow the money!!
All roads lead to Bishopville hill – Taxpayers Union (they also used to fund WhaleOil).
Back to the future with the Three Stooges.![smiley smiley](https://cdn2.thestandard.org.nz/wp-content/plugins/ark-wysiwyg-comment-editor/ckeditor/plugins/smiley/images/regular_smile.png?x42494)
The cruelty is a feature.
Max Harris
@maxdnharris
National-ACT’s coalition agreement wants anyone going for a “health and disability related benefit” to have to go through a more limited pool of doctors. You have the power to improve lives, and you decide to make life harder for people with disabilities/health conditions?
https://twitter.com/maxdnharris/status/1727849789914595614
This is why I was fearing NAT/ACT so much yesterday.
In other words, anyone with a “health and disability" condition and needs a benefit to survive, is automatically considered to be a malingerer who is trying to cheat the system – not to mention an insult to the vast majority of doctors whose recommendations are made on good grounds and in good faith.
This is a return to the 1990s – the days of Ruth Richardson and co. plus that vile woman, Christine Rankin! The truth is, these right-wing shits feel they have to demonise the less fortunate to assuage their own greedy and self serving guilt.
If memory serves that is very reminiscent of the key National govt's punitive ACC policy.
Oops, that was supposed to be in response to Joe90’s post.