Open mike 24/12/2019
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7:00 am, December 24th, 2019 - 65 comments
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- Oxfam Report: Time to Care – Unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis
January 2020 Economic inequality is out of control. In 2019, the world’s billionaires, only 2,153 people, had more wealth than 4.6 billion people. This great divide is based on a flawed and sexist economic system that values the wealth of the privileged few, mostly men, more than the billions of ...5 hours ago - How to avoid being a cunt to hospo workers’
Working hospo is hard mahi for many reasons, from long hours and gruelling high-volume weekends to customers who treat us as their servants. There are always lovely and polite customers who treat hospo workers with respect and kindness but, throughout my 15-years in the biz, I’ve collected a number of ...7 hours ago - 2019-nCoV (the new coronavirus): Should we be concerned, and will there be a vaccine?
Probably yes to both but don’t panic yet. There is a plan. What is this virus? 2019 novel coronavirus, aka 2019-nCoV, belongs to a family of viruses called coronavirus. These are very common viruses that infect a wide range of animals including humans and can cause mild to severe disease, ...12 hours ago - The Chinese coronavirus outbreak: what are the options for vaccines and treatments?By now you’ve probably heard of the coronavirus outbreak that started in Wuhan City, China. The number of cases is rising, up to about 300 with six deaths. Cases have been reported in several more Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, as well as in Japan, Thailand, and South Korea. ...12 hours ago
- Educating New Zealand’s future workforceJudy Kavanagh Do you remember your first day at school? The education I received was for a very different world than the world of today. Along with huge social shifts there have been big changes in the New Zealand economy and the work people do. There are occupations unheard of ...12 hours ago
- A casual attitude towards transparency
Back in December, when the government was introducing new secrecy legislation on an almost daily basis, I posted about the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Bill. The Bill establishes a new class of public entity, "special purpose vehicles", which collect and spend public money and enjoy statutory powers. Despite this, they ...12 hours ago - Against a carbon bailoutIf we are to avoid making the planet uninhabitable, we need to cut carbon emisisons fast. Which basicly means putting the fossil fuel industry - coal, gas, and oil - out of business. But this means that the banks and other lenders who have bankrolled the industry's environmental destruction will ...12 hours ago
- Still a criminal industryMore evidence that the fishing industry suffers from pervasive criminality, with Forest & Bird highlighting some odd numbers in the annual statistics:The Annual Review Report For Highly Migratory Species Fisheries 2018/19 (Pg 4, Table 4) showed only 4% of commercial long lining trips for tuna and swordfish reported non-fish bycatch ...13 hours ago
- Controversy? Or Manufactroversy?A few days ago, New Zealand’s Minister of Education announced the wider release of a resource on climate change, which was initially trialled at a Christchurch school during 2018. According to the Minister, children will learn about “the role science plays in understanding climate change, aids understanding of both the response ...15 hours ago
- The emerging coronavirus outbreak in ChinaBy now you’ve probably heard of the new virus causing an outbreak of severe pneumonia in China. The question on most people’s minds is, how worried should we be, especially as hundreds of millions of people will soon be travelling across China and beyond to visit family for the Lunar ...1 day ago
- How did climate change get so controversial?
An excerpt from the book Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, released Feb 25. Our human brain is poorly equipped to deal with a threat like climate change. Over millions of years, we’ve evolved to avoid life-threatening dangers like predators jumping out of bushes. We’ve survived by quickly detecting and avoiding immediate, short-term ...1 day ago - Farmers are ruining Canterbury’s riversIts summer, so people naturally want to go for a swim. But in South Canterbury, you can't, because the rivers are full of toxic goo:As of Monday, the Waihi River at Wilson Street footbridge, Geraldine, the Waihao River at Bradshaws Bridge, and three spots on the Opihi River - at ...2 days ago
- Sack Shane JonesLate last year, NZ First was caught trying to enrich itself from public office, with a dodgy forestry company linked to a number of NZ First figures sticking its hand out repeatedly for government money. Regional Economic Development Minister shane Jones' "explanations" were patently unconvincing, and his recusal from deciding ...2 days ago
- BIG idea physicsThis morning I’ve been having a quick look through some documentation from The Ministry of Education on proposed changes to NCEA Level 1 Science. For those not familiar with the NZ secondary education system, a typical student would complete NCEA level 1 at the end of year 11. In this ...2 days ago
- Revolution in New Zealand? Not Even Close!
No Fires Thanks, We're Kiwis: For the moment, in those close-to-home places where revolutions are born, there may be tetchiness and resentment, frustration and complaint, but nowhere is anybody uttering the cry that will bring a New Zealand revolution into being: “We have found the way to make tomorrow better ...2 days ago - 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #3Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... 'It's heart-wrenching': 80% of Blue Mountains and 50% of ...3 days ago
- Britain exits the European Union and takes a sharp right turn
by John Smith Britain’s exit from the imperialist bloc known as the European Union (EU) is now irreversible. The crushing electoral defeat of the Labour Party has dismayed many workers and youth who had placed their hopes in Jeremy Corbyn, its left-wing leader. This article assesses these historic events, neither of which ...3 days ago - 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #3A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jan 12, 2020 through Sat, Jan 18, 2020 Editor's Pick The Past and the Future of the Earth’s Oldest Trees Bristlecone pines have survived various catastrophes over the millennia, and they ...4 days ago
- How climate change influenced Australia’s unprecedented firesThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections, and has been adapted into a new myth rebuttal on climate-wildfire connections with the short URL sks.to/wildfires Australia’s frightening bushfires, which kicked off an early fire season in September 2019, have already had cataclysmic effects, and the continent is still just in the early ...4 days ago
- Gender Identity Ideology – A Partial Bibliography of Online CoverageThis great resource has been contributed to Redline by Janie Doebuck. Janie made some notes on the bibliography: 1) It is by no means exhaustive. There are tons more gender critical posts, essays, articles, podcasts, youtube videos, etc. online. 2) There are links in the bibliography that are behind paywalls. There ...5 days ago
- About those biased Oscar Nominations
There’s been a lot written about the 2020 Oscar Nominations and their apparent lack of diversity. It’s true, there are in fact no women nominated for the Best Director and very few nominees of colour across the board. But is this a result of a biased process or a symptom ...5 days ago - How New Zealand media reports chronic painHemakumar Devan Around three million New Zealanders access news media (both paper and online) every week. Yes, you heard that right! So, the potential for news media to shape public health beliefs is common sense. As chronic pain affects one in five New Zealanders, we wanted to find out how ...6 days ago
- Still Waiting For American Democracy.Unfinished Republic: Though the United States' crimes against democracy are legion, most Americans are blissfully unaware of them. The brutal realities of American life: the officially sanctioned violence; the refusal to hold racists accountable for their actions; the seemingly endless tragedy of African-American suffering; of which White America is the ...6 days ago
- In Outrage Over Its Bunk Science, Goop Finds Fuel for GrowthMichael Schulson For years, experts have said that Goop, the wellness and lifestyle brand founded by the actor and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow, markets pseudoscience and overblown cures. And for years, despite the criticism, Goop has just kept growing. Now the company, which was valued at $250 million in 2018, ...6 days ago
- Tobacco Excise Taxes and the Smokefree 2025 Goal: Some Ways ForwardJanet Hoek, Richard Edwards, George Thomson, Andrew Waa, Nick Wilson Debate over tobacco tax increases has intensified as research indicates potentially conflicting policy directions. On the one hand, excise tax increases continue to stimulate quit attempts among smokers yet, on the other hand, they may lead to financial hardship for ...7 days ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #2, 2020Conflation and how to fix it VIa AMS, Raul Lejano looks at what in a layperson's thinking would be called conflation— confusion and blending of entirely different topics— when people think about climate change. Ideology and the Narrative of Skepticism (open access) starts with some arguably frightening false connections between the science and ...7 days ago
- ‘Cranky Uncle’ smart phone game will show you how to disarm climate deniersThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Bud Ward (Image: Courtesy of John Cook) When it comes to climate change, it seems every family has its own version of the proverbial Cranky Uncle. An uncle, cousin, grandparent, in-law, neighbor, whatever. Just think back to the recent holiday season’s large ...1 week ago
- Science in the ’20s – part 1Outrageous, immoral or downright dangerous. That’s a description of the lifestyle of women “flappers” in the 1920s. Could it apply to science (and scientists) in the 2020s? Actually, you could look back at the past decade and see those, or similar terms, used about some science and scientists. Sometimes ...1 week ago
- Postscript: Citizenship Granted.
I am pleased to say that I have been granted NZ citizenship. I need to do the ceremony for things to be official, but the application was a success. I now join my son as a dual NZ-US citizen. To be fair, very little will change other than the fact ...1 week ago - Hard News: Music: Morales is coming
It will be no secret to longtime readers that I, Russell Brown, love the disco. So I'm pretty excited by the fact that one of the greats of the game is returning this summer – and also pleased to say I have tickets to give away.Legendary mixer and DJ ...1 week ago - The WHO Vaccine Safety Summit – from someone who was actually thereThe conspiracy I saw a new conspiracy theory flying around the other day. According to the conspiracy (that seems to originate from Del Bigtree), the World Health Organization have been ‘caught on camera’ questioning the safety of vaccines. Gosh this sounds as though someone was a mole at a ...1 week ago
- The timely death of the British Labour PartyBelow is an article submitted to Redline by Alec Abbott At its inception, the British Labour Party was a vehicle for the propagation of racist and imperialist views within the working-class. Such views are still widespread in the party, as they are in Europe’s Social-Democratic parties, though, in the case of ...1 week ago
- Mystery China pneumonia outbreak likely caused by new human coronavirusConnor Bamford, Queen’s University Belfast Since December 2019, there has been a cluster of 59 cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, eastern China. The pneumonia is associated with a previously unidentified coronavirus related to the deadly SARS virus. Seven of those cases are thought to be serious, and one person – ...1 week ago
- Yes, koalas are cute – but should we bring them to NZ? Errm, noIt’s been hard to miss the extreme fires raging across Australia and the tragic plight of the animals – human and otherwise – affected by the fires’ insatiable spread. I know I’ve been captivated and concerned by the tales of how Australia’s famous wildlife has been coping. Koalas approaching cyclists ...1 week ago
- National’s negative campaigningAnybody who looked into the Dirty Politics saga knows all too well that honesty is often in short supply within the National Party. You would think that after the exposure the John Key government received over their untruthful attack politics, the National Party would learn from its "mistakes" and leave ...1 week ago
- Ending the government’s charade over waterFor the past decade, the government has been responding to the obvious Treaty issues raised by water allocation with the mantra that "no-one owns water". But last year, the Waitangi Tribunal ruled that actually, Māori owned it, and that those rights had never been extinguished. They recommended that iwi bring ...1 week ago
- Northern Ireland joins the civilised worldSame-sex marriage has finally become legal in Northern Ireland. But not through any decision of the Northern Irish Executive or Assembly, which has only just reformed after a three year walkout by the DUP; instead, Westminster made that decision for them. I've talked before about the constitutional impropriety of this, ...1 week ago
- I had an intense conversation at work today.Claire Cohen-Norris volunteers with Citizens Climate Lobby as a chapter founder and leader in rural New York. Her climate advocacy sprung from her drive to provide a secure, joyful and fulfilling life for her two wonderful children. It has become a life’s mission, shared with her like-minded husband and partner. Claire ...1 week ago
- French transport workers take on Macron over pension reform
by John Edmundson Starting on December 5th, 2019 workers in the Parisian rail network commenced an open-ended strike in opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposed changes to their pension scheme. Rail workers in the Metro Underground have, for decades, had retirement conditions that compensate them for the low wages, ...1 week ago - What a difference the decimal point makesI’m back at work following a nearly three-week break over Christmas. We were fortunate to be offered a house to stay in for a week over Christmas, which enabled us to have a holiday in Dunedin and see the extended family reasonably cheaply. But the house came with a catch: ...1 week ago
- Who’s Going To Stop Him?Blank And Pitiless: Having ordered the assassination of the Iranian General, Qasem Soleimani, President Donald Trump promised to reduce the cultural monuments of Iran’s 3,000 year-old civilisation to rubble if a revenge attack was mounted. A breach of international law? Certainly. A war crime? Indisputably. Who’s going to stop him? Nobody.WHAT ...1 week ago
- A worker’s storyThis interview is from Aotearoa Workers Solidarity Movement (AWSM) and is the first of an ongoing series of interviews they plan to do with workers from various sectors who are having their well being and livelihoods damaged. They begin with an educator in Southland. Due to the attitude and actions ...1 week ago
- 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #2A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Jan 5, 2020 through Sat, Jan 11, 2020 Editor's Pick Debunked Australian Bushfire Conspiracy Theories Were Pushed by Alex Jones, Murdoch Media As unusually intense and widespread bushfires have ...2 weeks ago
- J.K. Rowling, the Seattle Library, and the Issue That Must Not Be NamedThis article was submitted to Redline by Seattle-based activist Lucinda Stoan J.K. Rowling recognizes repression when she sees it. That’s why the author of the wildly popular Harry Potter books recently tweeted in defense of Maya Forstater. Forstater lost her job for stating that sex is real and immutable. A judge ...2 weeks ago
- Rules of Empire: Laws simply do not apply and “National Security” excuses all else.
Empires rise and fall, and the American Empire is absolutely no different. But while an Empire, in order to further the footprint, it seems to pay to do one primary thing above all else: project that everything – everything – is “simply for the good of the world” at large, ...2 weeks ago - Indian lessons for NZ workers – the January 8 general strikeby Phil Duncan On Wednesday (January 8) another massive general strike took place in India. Some 250 million industrial workers, white-collar workers, agricultural labourers struck against the government’s economic policies and attacks on the Muslim population through new proposed citizenship rules. This ...2 weeks ago
- Climate Change: The action that countsOver on Newsroom, Professor Jacqueline Beggs writes about the action she is taking on climate change. Its the usual list: reduce meat, don't fly, consume less. I'm doing some of this myself, and none of it hurts - but the way our economic system is constructed means the impact of ...2 weeks ago
- Fossil fuel political giving outdistances renewables 13 to oneThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Karin Kirk Corporations, special interest groups, and individuals inject billions of dollars into the American political system every year. Much of the financial support in politics is concealed from public view, as some rules – and loopholes – allow “dark money” and ...2 weeks ago
- Animal response to a bushfire is astounding. These are the tricks they use to surviveDale Nimmo, Charles Sturt University Have you ever wondered how our native wildlife manage to stay alive when an inferno is ripping through their homes, and afterwards when there is little to eat and nowhere to hide? The answer is adaptation and old-fashioned ingenuity. Australia’s bushfire season is far from ...2 weeks ago
- Should I ditch my fossil-fueled car?Yes. Reducing the number of cars in your household, or switching from petrol/diesel to electric, will dramatically reduce your greenhouse gas emissions. It’s one of the easiest and highest-impact climate steps you can take. New Zealand is being flooded with cars The New Zealand vehicle fleet is increasing rapidly. In ...2 weeks ago
- Speaker: Planet History: Taking Tea with QuentinThis interview with Quentin Crisp is part of a series of articles republished from Planet, the independent magazine I edited in the early 90s from a base at 309 Karangahape Road, along with Grant Fell, Rachael Churchward, Fiona Rae, David Teehan, Mere Ngailevu and others.Inevitably, you forget things, and over ...2 weeks ago
- Skeptical Science New Research for Week #1, 2020Supply Side How are we doing with CO2 emissions? It's an important question, increasingly posed to a mixed bag of CO2 contributors who may or may not provide accurate reportage. Liu et al present a new, additional means of measurement based on satellite observations of nitrogen dioxide co-emitted from ...2 weeks ago
- Is the prostitute the seller or the sold?Excerpts from Being and Being Bought, by Kajsa Ekis Ekman, Spinifex Press, 2013. Ekman, a Swedish journalist and critic, brings together a Marxist and feminist analysis of prostitution and surrogacy in this groundbreaking book. This is the third part of a synopsis and brief commentary of the book by Daphna Whitmore. Part 1 was ...2 weeks ago
- The climate crisis is also a biodiversity crisisDr Andrea Byrom Like many of us, the summer break has seen me transfixed with horror at the scale and magnitude of the bushfire crisis in Australia. As an ecologist, I can’t help but be appalled at the loss of some of Australia’s most beautiful ecosystems and landscapes. And ...2 weeks ago
- Apathy in the face of disasterWarning: This article contains topics that might trigger right wing snowflakes!Unless you’ve had your head buried in a billabong for the last four months you’d of heard about the Australian bush fires. The fires have been unprecedented, with approximately five million hectares (12.35 million acres) of land burned nationwide. More ...2 weeks ago
- Labour opposes leisureFinland's new Prime Minister has made headlines by pushing for a 4-day week. So what does new Zealand's "centre-left" government think? Nope. They'd rather people kept working themselves into misery and death:The Government does not plan to follow Finland's lead to encourage businesses to offer staff a four-day week. [...] ...2 weeks ago
- Who’s afraid of the non-native accent? Everyone … unless you tell them about itAs someone who learnt English late-ish in life, I was always on the look-out for signs which betray my foreignness, afraid that my clumsy mispronunciation or syntactic misalignment will give away my outsider status. And for once, sadly, my worries were well-founded it seems. It’s bad, prejudice is rife! In ...2 weeks ago
- Donald Trump’s strategic gambleThere’s a meme going around the Internet at the moment claiming that Donald Trump is a bit of an idiot. To outside eyes it does seem as though the President of the United States thumbs his nose at his own countries laws and administration far too often to be taken ...2 weeks ago
- More Spanish repressionBack in December, the European Court of Justice ruled that jailed Catalan politician Oriol Junqueras was a Member of the European Parliament and therefore had immunity from prosecution. In a democratic state under the rule of law, he would have been immediately released from prison (and compensated for his illegal ...2 weeks ago
- Doubling down: Researchers investigate compound climate risksThis is a re-post from Yale Climate Connections by Daniel Grossman It was a grim day in Moscow on July 25, 2010. The English-language Moscow Times reported that the Russian capital had broken the 1936 temperature record for July: 98 degrees Fahrenheit. That month, the city, where air conditioning was (and still is) ...2 weeks ago
- Everyone, we must be united and work together (now we’ve got rid of the Corbyn)
Yvette Cooper has written a piece in the Guardian outlinig 'Seven things Labour Must Do To Win The Next Election'.I'll overlook the absurd headline - no-one is talking about Labour winning the next election and I assume that Cooper didn't write the headline (she doesn't mention winning the next election anywhere ...2 weeks ago - “A common interest in war with Iran” say those who will NOT be in the firing line
Well, things have certainly escalated. Brent Crude hits $70 in light of recent geopolitical incidents. There’s a British nuclear sub on its way to thump Iran if needed, and Netenyahu says “everyone” is keen on war with Iran. Of course in terms of the oil prices, that’ll have downstream ...2 weeks ago - 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #1Story of the Week... Editorial of the Week... El Niño/La Niña Update... Toon of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Climate Feedback Claim Reviews... SkS Week in Review... Poster of the Week... Story of the Week... The signal of human-caused climate change has emerged in everyday weather, study finds ...2 weeks ago
- New Fisk2 weeks ago
- Climate Change: Complementary measuresFor the past twenty-five years, climate change policy in New Zealand has been all about emissions pricing. Policy makers thought that all you needed to do was make people pay for their pollution via a carbon tax or emissions trading scheme, and the problem would be solved. This mechanism was ...2 weeks ago
- Jeremy Clarkson – God is an arsonistYou've really got to wonder if Jeremy Clarkson is worshiping the right deity? I mean thinking that Australia is somehow deserving of the calamity that has befallen it in the form of unprecedented bush fires is one thing, but claiming God intentionally likes to cause people and animals immeasurable pain ...2 weeks ago
- We are no longer welcome in IraqLast Friday, the US murdered a high-ranking Iranian general, ostensibly as retaliation for Iraqi militias attacking US troops in Iraq. It was a stupid move, a mistake as well as a crime (to misquote Talleyrand), and it is already having the expected effects: the Iranian nuclear deal is now completely ...2 weeks ago
- Miscalculation, escalation and the law of unintended consequences.Note: I penned a series of tweets on the consultancy page offering my thoughts on the Soleimani assassination. I have decided to gather them together, add some more material, and edit them into a blogpost. Here it is. The US drone strike in Baghdad that killed Iranian Quds force commander ...2 weeks ago
- 2020 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #1A chronological listing of news articles linked to on the Skeptical Science Facebook Page during the past week, i.e., Sun, Dec 29, 2019 through Sat, Jan 4, 2020 Editor's Pick There Is No Safe Global Warming Australia Bushfire - Shutterstock Safety is something we all crave. It’s human nature. ...3 weeks ago
- The strike on Suleimani: a Neocon gambit for rolling the MIC onwards to a new chapter of global dest...
Anyone who thinks this was merely a so-called “precision strike” on “a really bad man!” and doesn’t get the wider geopolitical ramifications of this is beyond deluded. Probably those who think Commando comics are actually transcripts from a lost war documentary, and GI Joe was the biography of a real ...3 weeks ago - This is goodStill feeling very kicked in the head. Took some time off over Christmas and New Year to think about stuff, contemplating the unthinkable idea that i might have been ... wrong. But, after a thorough deconstruction of my cerebellum and rigorous self examination, I conclude I was not, am not.Okay, ...3 weeks ago
- A standout example of Right-wing truth inversion: “debating” responsibility for the Aust...
Many people must have seen the copious amounts of emotive, highly charged blame being increasingly passed onto “the bloody environmentalists!” and “the bloody Greenies” for this absolute debacle. This blame has been fomented by the Rightwing press, and the Governing coalition under Scott Morrison, who it must be said never ...3 weeks ago - Someone To Follow, Something To Blame.Poshing The Proletariat: As we enter the third decade of the twenty-first century, the question for New Zealand politicians is a simple one. Will workers’ expectations of fair treatment erode faster than their rising political determination to find someone to follow and something to blame? Significant sections of the United ...3 weeks ago
- Provincial Growth Fund to help Waipukurau Pā sites attract thousands of tourists
The Ngā Ara Tipuna - Waipukurau Pā Site Interpretation project is receiving $2.798 million from the Provincial Growth Fund. It is is expected to boost the town's employment and tourism, creating sixteen new jobs once completed and attract up to 15,000 visitors a year. Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development ...14 hours ago - “Common sense will prevail, not extremism” Winston Peters backs Shane Jones’ pro-meat stanceNew Zealand First leader Winston Peters is backing his MPs who have spoken out against a new climate change teaching resource that advises students to eat less meat to save the planet. The new teaching resource, announced by Education Minister Chris Hipkins and Climate Change Minister James Shaw, tells students ...2 days ago
- Acting PM Winston Peters confirms NZDF troops in Iraq not hit by Iranian attacksActing Prime Minister Winston Peters called for calm and diplomacy following Iranian missile strikes on bases housing United States troops in Iraq, but confirmed New Zealand's base in the country was not hit. The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) was earlier today investigating claims New Zealand's base in Iraq had ...3 days ago
- Housing consents hit highest level since 1974Housing consents have hit a 45-year high, as Statistics NZ data shows a total of 37,010 residential consents were issued in the year to November --- the first time they have breached the 37,000 mark since the mid-1970s. Statistics NZ said the trend had been rising since late 2011, when ...1 week ago
- Darroch Ball MP: “Violence against first responders is a problem on the rise”New Zealand First MP Darroch Ball says that a paramedic being kicked unconscious last night in an attempted burglary in Warkworth, north of Auckland, is a symptom of a larger problem. "Incidents like this are becoming more and more frequent...and it’s getting worse," Mr Ball said. The MP is pushing for ...1 week ago
- Minister Ron Mark asks NZDF to conduct fire risk assessment from defence point of viewDefence Minister Ron Mark said there was nothing to prevent similar large-scale bushfires seen in Australia from also happening in New Zealand, and has asked the New Zealand Defence Force to conduct a nfire risk assessment from a defence point of view. The defence assessment would help prevent a disaster ...2 weeks ago
- Defence Minister Mark expresses “absolute confidence” in NZDF forces stationed in IraqWhile feeling worried about increased Middle East tensions, Defence Minister Ron Mark said he had "absolute confidence" in New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) leadership. His statements come as the fate of Kiwi troops stationed in Iraq comes under intense scrutiny. Forty-five Defence Force personnel were thought to be in the ...2 weeks ago
- Defence Minister Ron Mark: “NZDF focused on protecting troops in Iraq from retaliation”As tensions in the Middle East continue to grow after the assassination of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, the New Zealand Defence Force is focusing on the protection of Kiwi troops deployed in Iraq. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters says that "recent attacks on coalition bases and embassies constitute unacceptable ...2 weeks ago
- Wairoa gets up to $6.1m to rebuild heart of CBD
The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing up to $6.1 million to revitalise business and tourism opportunities in Wairoa, Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. The PGF is funding: Up to $4.8 million for the Wairoa Integrated Business and Tourism Facility Up to $960,000 for the ...14 hours ago - Major Events support for creative and cultural eventsCreative and cultural events that highlight New Zealand’s diverse culture and build national pride are set to get a funding boost through the Major Events Fund, Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford said today. The new Creative and Cultural Events Incubator, which is funded through the Major Events Fund, will open ...15 hours ago
- Classroom internet in hundreds of schools to get a boostThe Government has begun a massive IT upgrade to provide more seamless internet access to 200 schools around the country. Te Mana Tūhono – Technology in Schools work programme will launch with a pilot of 10 smaller state schools early this year. IT equipment that gives students access to the ...19 hours ago
- Construction workforce, apprenticeships hit record highsWorking with industry and committing to rebuild New Zealand’s infrastructure has produced a record high number of Kiwis working in the construction industry and learning trades, says Minister for Building and Construction Jenny Salesa. New figures available today from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Tertiary Education ...19 hours ago
- NZ concludes digital economy trade talks with Singapore and ChileA new trade agreement concluded today helps New Zealand exporters and consumers take advantage of opportunities from digital trade. Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker together with Chile’s Vice Minister of Trade Rodrigo Yañez and Singapore’s Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing, have announced conclusion of ...1 day ago
- Provincial Growth Fund to fund Waipukurau cultural development and tourismThe Ngā Ara Tipuna - Waipukurau Pā Site Interpretation project will receive $2.798 million from the Provincial Growth Fund to create an authentic cultural tourism experience, Under-Secretary for Regional Economic Development Fletcher Tabuteau announced today “The project will inform visitors about the history of six pā sites in Waipukurau with a combination ...2 days ago
- 21 new judges boost diversity, improve access to justiceTwenty-one new District Court judges have been appointed in a move that will improve access to justice and boost diversity on the bench. The new judges include replacements for retirements and 10 new positions. Attorney-General David Parker today announced the 14 judges who can immediately be named, with the remainder ...2 days ago
- Puhinui to Auckland Airport in 10 minutesAucklanders are another step closer to getting rapid transit to the airport, with the start of construction to upgrade State Highway 20B to the airport, Transport Minister Phil Twyford announced today. SH20B will be upgraded with additional lanes in each direction, dedicated to bus and high-occupancy vehicles between Pukaki Creek ...2 days ago
- Advancing New Zealand’s trade agenda focus of Europe meetingsWorld Trade Organisation reform, agricultural trade and a free trade agreement with the United Kingdom will be the focus of Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker’s visit to Europe this week. David Parker leaves on Tuesday for a series of meetings in the UK and Switzerland that aim ...3 days ago
- Minister of Defence to visit counterparts in US and CanadaThe Minister of Defence, Ron Mark, departed today for the United States and Canada where he will meet with his counterparts. While in Canada Minister Mark will meet with his counterpart, Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan. “New Zealand and Canada are close friends, and share an instinctive like-mindedness on ...3 days ago
- Government to deliver family carers $2000 pay rise, expand scheme to spouses this yearThe Coalition Government is delivering this year the changes to Funded Family Care the disability sector has long-asked for, says Associate Minister of Health Jenny Salesa. “Today we are announcing the details of our big changes to Funded Family Care, including an annual average pay boost of $2,246.40 for funded ...4 days ago
- Ko te reo kua mū: Piri SciasciaMinister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta joins te ao Māori in their sorrow as they learn of the loss of one of the great orators and spokespersons of a generation – Piri Sciascia. “The son of Pōrangahau was a staunch advocate for Māori development and served his people for over ...4 days ago
- Minister opens new ecosanctuary at Cape FarewellA new ecosanctuary with a predator proof fence on Golden Bay’s Cape Farewell, which will restore a safe home for sea birds, rare native plants, giant snails, and geckos, was officially opened today by the Minister of Conservation Eugenie Sage. “There has been a fantastic community effort supported by the ...5 days ago
- Pacific partners work together to provide additional support to AustraliaThe NZDF continues to support the Australian Defence Force (ADF) as it battles fires in Victoria and New South Wales, including by transporting Republic of Fiji Military engineers from Nadi to Australia, announced Defence Minister Ron Mark. On Saturday morning a NZDF Boeing 757 will depart New Zealand to uplift ...5 days ago
- Kaikōura $10.88 million boost in tourism & businessThe Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) is investing $10.88 million to boost business and tourism opportunities in Kaikōura, Parliamentary Undersecretary for Regional Economic Development, Fletcher Tabuteau announced today. As part of the Kaikōura Marina Development Programme, the following two projects will receive PGF funding: A $9.88 million investment to begin the ...6 days ago
- Govt accounts in surplus, debt remains lowThe Government’s books are in good shape with the accounts in surplus and expenses close to forecast, Finance Minister Grant Robertson says. The Treasury today released the Crown accounts for the five months to November. The operating balance before gains and losses (OBEGAL) was above forecast by $0.7 billion resulting ...6 days ago
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In a recent Guardian article, our prime minister answered a series of questions posed by readers.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/23/jacinda-ardern-on-culture-wars-her-plan-for-2020-and-how-to-cook-snapper
More ominously, at the end of the article this cryptic note:
“Simon Bridges, the leader of the opposition, was invited to answer readers’ questions but declined.”
Now it’s not like Soimun to avoid publicity, so why didn’t he front?
There could, of course, be a simple explanation: for instance, he may be on holiday in Hawaii with his family and couldn’t be bothered.
A more likely explanation is that he was shown the questions beforehand and didn’t like them.
While Jacinda is happy to answer questions (and no doubt be accused to seeking the limelight) the right will attempt to control the narrative.
Possibly, but the most likely answer is because the right-wing pollies think The Guardian is a left-wing commie newspaper and must be avoided. I doubt Simon has ever read it.
Or his comms team advised there are no votes in it for their party, given the publication's reach.
The whole comms team is on holiday (although rust never sleeps) and Simon cannot unlock his Twitter account.
Needs help to tie his shoelaces.
The Guardian has, as far as I know, only ever done two stories on Bridges..
"New Zealand opposition leader criticised for 'alarming' stance on China"
"NZ opposition leader accused of concealing $100,000 political donation"
both by Eleanor Ainge Roy
I think not agreeing to answering questions from Guardian readers was one of the few..possibly only..smart thing Bridges has ever done.
And from the Guardian article today, Prime Minister Ardern's response to one question is a good insight into the priorities of this government:
Q. What is one thing you want to accomplish in your second term if you get re-elected in 2020? Justin Lindsay
A. We haven’t set our policy agenda for the next election yet but the plan is to continue to build on the work we have done in the first term to deliver a better New Zealand for more people.
But as finance minister, Grant Robertson, said when releasing the budget policy statement foreshadowing the direction of travel for the government, we will continue our focus on tackling the long-term challenges facing New Zealand while also investing to future proof the economy.
The Budget 2020 priorities – which would carry work over into the next term – are:
All power to you Prime Minister to achieve those goals.
You mean continual labour’s over arching policy of Roger Douglas.
After helping out distribute food packages at Christmas, it was for me so sad to see the same families struggle year after year return.
In a country like ours there will always be families in need, just not the large numbers that we continually have.
If you volunteered this Christmas you are a saint of the first order.
The failure to raise benefits at least in step with minimum wage rises – or indeed at all – amount to a social crime by this government.
Some benefits they (NZ1) have been able to increase by using a back door. The $50 energy payment to pensioners. If the pension was adequate then there was no need for this. If it wasn’t then increase it from 65% to 68% (my figures here maybe a little out)
Don’t use housing allowance to increase landlord wealth, provide adequate state housing and so those in need are provided directly by the state.
I hope/pray that those who I continually see each year are not there next year and this is due to their situation has improved, but with it being an election year promises will not solve what many face on a day to day basis.
Restoration of benefits to 1991 levels, adjusted for inflation, to take effect on July 1, 2021, would also motivate the poor to get out and vote Labour in 2020.
The great unwashed of South Auckland saved Labour back in 2005. They need to be given a reason to save Labour next year.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/406104/safe-as-houses-new-zealand-s-first-climate-safe-house-almost-finished
will be worth seeing how this performs over the next wee while.
Wage thief penalised $680k by Employment Court claims different customs apply: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/118400906/nightmare-holiday-park-owner-refuses-to-pay-back-full-bond-to-workers
Regulator says nope:
This isn't China. You want to do business here, abide by the rules, you grasping vulture. Guan should be nailed to the wall.
You mean like Kiwi rail?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/71462127/rmtu-case-against-kiwirails-use-of-chinese-workers-heads-to-era
Good to know they're FINALLY taking the problem of exploitation/modern-day slavery/trafficking a little more seriously than they once did.
Not too long ago, Stuey was telling us there were enough Labour Inspectors. The sad thing is, they let it go on so long and they now expect victims to trust them enough to report instances .
It's going to take a while for people (like the victims of exploitation) to take them seriously – but they (LI) made their bed – let 'em lay in it.
Let's see if they actually manage to extract the money out of Guan
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/118432266/no-date-fixed-for-return-of-whaktane-fishing-charter-after-whakaari–white-island-eruption
Surely two weeks is long enough to appease tangaroa and any other deities.
Let the man go back to work
There appears to be a complete disconnect between the Australian govt and "Firies".
Happy holidays.
Allāhu akbar. As-salāmu ʿalaykum.
So FPP and MMP both have issues in the way it deals with votes , would STV be a better option or is there an even better option?
What do you think the faults are with MMP?
The only real problem I see with MMP as we have implemented it would be easily fixed by reducing the threshold to 0.83% (1/120 of the vote). Which would render that abominable coat-tailing provision moot.
The main fault I see with MMP is that the party that wins the most votes doesn't always get into power which just seems to be…wrong
Just seems that while FPP puts the most popular party in power it ignores everyones elses votes which isn't good, MMP is able to ignore the most popular party which isn't good so I'm wondering if theres a fairer way
If the most popular party doesn't get into power under MMP, then more people voted against it than for it.
Yet it was Winston on 7% that decided who runs the country, that doesn't seem right either
Spot on Janice, People like Pucky just don't understand MMP. He is just a sore loser. Merry Christmas to you all.Yes that includes you Pucky.
I understand MMP well enough. I just don't think MMP is the be all and end all of voting options.
Maybe an option would be for all parties to disclose who they would go into before the election.
Winston had it both ways but how many of his voters wanted to go with Labour ie Keeping National honest and all that
But it's not like lining up before a battle (and more than one battle has had factions switch sides during the event).
A party can't commit if it doesn't know how much policy it's likely to win in a coalition. And that changes according to the electoral ratios. And as you say NZ1 can go either way, depending on what deal it gets – how could it possibly commit to a deal before an election?
I just wonder if the people that developed MMP had in mind a party of 7% deciding which coalition gets to govern
Yes they did. Coalitions have been well-known features of MMP for decades. Sometimes the largest party is just the biggest loser.
Frankly, I figured we'd be down to the largest parties only being 20-30% by now. I suspect the main reason we still have monolith parties is because the media insist on portraying it as a two-horse race rather than a team sport.
I reckon the way the split between electorate and list mps has gone to 71 – 49 has a bit to do with keeping just two parties so dominant.
As I understand it, it was kinda envisaged the split would stay a bit closer to equal numbers of electorate and list mps, but that ball kinda got dropped and we ended up with the weird provisions that have made the situation what it is now.
I don't think Act and the Greens are helping this regard, in that its not likely Act will go with Labour and the Greens have ruled out National
@Andre: yeah, capping the House membership but increasing the electorate numbers with population was a bit of a booboo I reckon
@PR:
Act aren't a party. They should have died out ten years ago or more, but nats gift them epsom because they'd rather have supplicants than partners.
The Māori Party could have gone both ways, technically, as did United. Top and KDC seemed issues based: agree with them on one or two policies andthey'd be ok with that. So the number of non-monolith centrist parties is probably similar to the wing parties ("fringe" would imply trace-element support). ACT, cons, Alliance, Greens, maybe one or two others.
ISTR the Green line is that they would go with any party that had decent environmental policy, but sadly that doesn't include the current nats.
We're heading for a situation where a few high ranking list MPs miss out because too may plonker electorate MPs have been elected. At which point things will change.
With our population growth we should have 140 MPs anyway, or electorates go back to 60 and represent more people
I disagree, Act is a party and would,now, probably win Epsom in a proper election.
David Seymour has shown to be a capable MP (certainly more effective than most MPs) and I'm predicting a2, possibly 3 MPs for Act at the next election
But the nats haven't risked it in ages, have they.
And even if Seymour can win the electorate, that just makes Act like the last days of United: not a "party", an electorate mp pretending nationwide support.
If it weren't for National throwing the epsom campaign in the last few elections, Act would be history.
Well they don’t need to risk it so why bother but 25 years for a political party isn't bad going by a NZ political party and Seymours visibility is only going to rise next year
If it was a real party, it wouldn't be a risk.
And nobody says "they were on life support for half their life, but they had a good innings".
As you say media do like to keep NZ politics as a two horse FPP type system, maybe smaller parties have been hamstrung by that lack of media exposure and now with a new generation of voters coming through things will change
Media present it as a binary (two horse race) because they need a winner and a looser to fulfil the sales / advertising model, ie sell the soap.
ISTR the Green line is that they would go with any party that had decent environmental policy, but sadly that doesn't include the current nats.
Your recollection is correct. The Green Party is willing to work with any parties if there are gains in it for the environment or the lumpenproletariat. It's that "if" statement that tends to rule out joining a National-led coalition, rather than any inherent refusal of the Green Party to work with National.
The problem I see with "the most popular party" thing is if you've got a big monolith that's put together as a grouping of barely-holding-together factions, how do you sort out where to put the effort and priorities?
Take the current state of the National party. It looks like the religious nutter faction has the upper hand at the moment. But how many National voters really want a government headed up by religious nutters prioritising religious issues?
Whereas a coalition of parties with overlapping priorities and values have an obvious indication of what their voters think should be prioritised. A hypothetical government with say 18 Green MPs and 6 New Socialist MPs and 40 Labour MPs is going to govern very differently to one made up of 8 Green MPs, 9 WinstonFirst MPs and 46 Labour MPs.
Indeed so MMP beats FPP, does anything beat MMP?
I've been pondering bicameral, where one house is purely proportional party representation and the other is local MPs (because regional concerns matter as much as Auckland concerns).
Legislation goes through the, er, "party house", and gets ratified by the electorate house. If the electorate house rejects, kick it back to the party house and either majority larger than the total nay votes or a 2/3 majority (haven't decided which) overrules the veto and the legislation is passed.
Both houses should be roughly equal in size, with electorates being 1:10,000-20,000 eligible voters. So yeah, a lot more MPs, but if we knock down their salaries a bit (like, a premium to ditch a profession for three years is fine, but $200k?) I think it would be better.
Knocking down MPs salaries sounds pretty good to me
Your beloved might need to get a side job at the Papakura yacht club to get by.
I'm sure the minister for oravida affairs has plenty of little kick backs coming in.
Just dances for tips.
Why should geography get a veto over other dimensions of representation?
Because otherwise the government only serves the interests of the largest population concentrations.
And it's not a full veto – it's just a requirement that if the regions oppose it, the party house needs to look at it again.
What is so important about 'the regions' as opposed to other groupings like 'young people' or low-paid workers?
Well the pressure is slowly mounting on ScoMo, especially after his run in with a little old lady manning the kitchen for the local firies yesterday and the various State Governments to give relief to us volunteers firies in particular to the poor buggers down, but is there is bugger all in it atm for those not the public service or us veterans who have to jump through the hoops IRT DVA. Anyway it’s a small step in the right direction.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-24/firefighters-public-service-leave/11825416
young girl today told me she and her mum went to NZ for a week of holiday to get out of Sidney.
Had not seen a blue sky for weeks and had a really bad, very throaty cough. Girl : Everyone is coughing, the air is really bad, that is why we came here so we had some clean air to breathe.
to those that believe we can adjust to this, no we can't.
Merry Christmas. Travel safely so that the volunteer fire fighters don't have to scrape bodies of the road. Be careful with the bbq so that they don't have to try and save the house. Don't do stupid shit so that they don't have to look for a cut hand in the grass. (all these things happened today)
Take your time, you will get there. Rejoice that you have shelter, food, blue skys and still some decent air to breathe. Eat, laugh be merry. Don't abuse the alcohol or drugs.
Yeah, its been a day today.
Sure has, mine started at 1400hrs and will finish at 0600hrs tomorrow and then I have to face a family breakfast followed by family lunch
Red Bull for the win!
It was always the 0700 sign-in that nuked me when I was on rotating rosters. Night shift I could handle easily. But 16hrs is hard no matter when it's done.
Being completely honest its the overtime and the day in leiu I'm doing it for, not the sense of duty 🙂
So Christmas miracle time
I switched over to 2degrees from Spark for my broadband because of extremely hideous service (wasn't like that when I was there!) and I didn't get the modem (because 15 bucks is 15 bucks) so the switch over happens yesterday and try as I might I can't get the damn information needed to get the modem working (excuse the technical jargon)
I ring up the help desk and funnily enough still no joy (because I was using the modem Spark had provided) so I bite the bullet and order the modem and was told it would take up to 5 working days and given the time of the year I was resigned to getting the modem next Monday (a week without the internet!)
When lo and behold this morning, yes this very morning, a courier dropped off the modem from 2degrees and Christmas, and the internet was saved…sure not a very Christmassy miracle but a miracle nevertheless
Happy for your win, Mr Rogue.
Its the little things that count 🙂
And there I was wondering where TF tRump got his windmills kill birds/destroy the environment claptrap.
“Windmills, which are so widespread in many European countries seem to be an environmentally friendly kind (of energy), but in fact they kill birds,” Putin told a conference of his United Russia party in the Far East.
“Vibration there is such that worms come out of the ground, not to mention moles. This is a real environmental problem,” he said, adding that solar energy was the only alternative source that was entirely harmless.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-putin-wind-idUSTRE6B52SV20101206
"You know we have a world, right?" Uh, yes, I had noticed that. Goddam staffers dropping acid into his cuppa tea again, eh?
Putin the environmentalist. Will he allow an ngo to form, to speak on behalf of the homeless worms & moles? In little old Aotearoa, there's only homeless people to worry about (as yet). Homeless creatures may be the next big thing…
Cannot be unseen.
Bad news: 2020 will be worse than 2019.
Good news: 2020 will be better than 2021.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all at The Standard, both posters and lurkers.
Who thinks Ad needs his own blog?
United we stand.
Divided we recline on a comfortable chaise.
"Who thinks Ad needs his own blog?"
Ad is one of a few honest lefties on this blog