He makes a point that the changes at RNZ should result in ending RNZ’s funding freeze in this week’s budget. Myself, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
I think it’s great that RNZ are moving away from a siloed approach and linking with other media organisations,a s well as using video to great effect. The danger in doing this, is in loss of editorial independence to the commercial imperatives of RNZ’s commercial media associations.
This bit on the approach used by Guyon Espiner is interesting:
The early days of the Espiner/Ferguson combo were rocky. Morning Report’s ratings were in the doldrums after RNZ misjudged its coverage of the 2014 Election campaign.
Espiner concedes his tone was a problem: “I think too often I was too aggressive and that turned people off. I was striving for accountability but that turned into ugly exchanges.”
“I got quite a lot of feedback that it was terrible to listen to. Paul [Thompson] and Martin [Gibson] spoke to us about it, there were conversations but they let us work this stuff out on our own.”
The change in style hasn’t been dramatic but much of the bluntness and haranguing has gone. The show is a smooth and comprehensive three hours of news and current affairs, unrivalled by any competitor.
Espiner says he and Ferguson have tried to use more “humour and humanity” when eliciting information.
I agree that haranguing interviewees could be a turn off for many Kiwis. The concern is that, using humour and humanity” needs to be done carefully in order to hold those in power to account. Kim Hill can do it. Can Espiner?
But on important issues holding politicians to account is vital in a democracy. So does that mean that wriggly patronising ratbags like Joyce should be treated politely and with humour and with humanity? As it is Ministers fail to front up on RNZ but if they know that the interview will not be rigorous then they will smarm their way onto the airwaves.
To me it looks like the pro-National RNZ management leaned on Espiner to back-off because he was actually forcing the pollies, especially the Nats, to give answers. We can’t have that can we?
hay Weka is there any truth to the rumour that the green s ”organic farmer ” candidate John Hart is really an it consultant with a 20 ha lifestyle block.?
[1. why are you asking me? 2. This conversation has run long enough re Hart and unsubstantiated speculation. If you want to discuss John Hart and his farming, you now need to put up some links with evidence. Putting you in premed until you do. Otherwise withdraw the accusations, and then you can continue the conversation in the general about what is farming without reference to him – weka]
i wouldn’t call 20 ha a farm if its sheep and beef as it would be unviable[it’s a nice hobbie} .also you can’t prove organic farming is viable if you fund the farm from the outside , imo
It’s interesting to consider what farming is. For me it’s not how you are defining. It’s simply when someone grows on the land with primary purpose of providing food or other useful things for other people. As opposed to growing things on the land for one’s own use. Size has nothing to do with it. There are people urban farming on less than an acre.
If you are objecting to him calling himself a farmer because he can’t get all his income off what he grows, then I’d suggest we take a look at how conventional farming gets subsidised in various ways. And how many subsidised inputs they need.
Likewise organic viability. For me the test is whether one can grow actual food (etc) using organic principles and then market that. The model you are talking about is inherently unsustainable, so it’s hard to see why one would want to make organics (really, the lowest of sustainable ag) to that test. But of course there are plenty of large organic farms doing just fine and have been doing so for decades.
20 hectares isn’t a farm, bwaghorn?
Really?
How about 25? 30? 300? What hectarage is needed before your “farm” status is reached, I wonder? I’ve been surprised, over the years, to watch and hear “conventional” farmers belittle farmers who choose unconventional methods of farming; it amazes me that the industry would have infighting like that. I’m not saying you do this, just that it happens. I previously imagined that farmers would exhibit a strong “brother or sisterhood” and support all practitioners of the ancient art of farming, but no, divisions are rife. I wonder why that is? In any case, you sound as though you’ve got a sniff of something exciting up your nostrils – “really” an it consultant with a 20 ha lifestyle block? Pffttt! He’s no farmer and in any case, organic. That’s not real farming.
Under the current settings a real farm is one that pays all its own costs plus provides the person running it a dividend,(though it doesn’t have to be all their income) if Mr Hart is not getting that from his block he is just arming the anti greens with ammo by billing himself as a organic farmer.
And yes size matters
20ha of fruit would be a different story
“Under the current settings a real farm is one that…”
Can you link me to those “current settings”, I don’t recall seeing them. Ditto for the size question; a link to that information would be most valuable. In my ignorance, I didn’t know that there was a minimum size for a farm, nor did I know that dividends were a measure, nor that unprofitibility mean’t disqualification from farm status. Cheers, bwaghorn.
perception is everything in politics , and mine says that if you a pouring outside cash into a farm you are either a tax avoider or a idealistic dreamer , James Cameron with his nut farm is the latter , what Mr Hart is remains to be seen.
Aren’t most of our dairy farmers ” pouring outside cash into a farm”?
I thought debt loads were their biggest concern and the reason given for their behaviour re stocking rates and intensification? Cash from the banks, poured in. Am I mistaken?
I wonder if Mr Hart can fit enough trees on his 20 Hectares to mitigate his flying round the country consulting in it land? as well as the nasty farts his cows are emitting
or does he buy some eastern european carbon credits
So yours is an attack on Mr Hart, not a general questioning of what constitutes a farm. I too wonder if Mr Hart is as assiduous as the Green MPs with mitigating their flights. He’s only a candidate still, so we’d be expecting a lot from him in that regard. Still, good question, bwaghorn, I expect you’ll want to know whether Bill English, who knows full well the situation with aviation fuel and its role in accelerating climate change, mitigates his flying and requires his National Party MPs to act responsibly. Note on “it land” – most consulting would be done, I imagine, on line? Correct me if I’m wrong; “IT” is kind of a remote thing to most people, I’d have said. And “nasty farts”? – revealing some sort of Victorian prudishness there, or do you really find farts to be nasty. In any case, Mr Hart would surely steer you straight about belching, rather than farting, being the primary delivery vehicle of methane from ruminant animals; it’s the sort of stuff clued-up farmers know. Your reference to “eastern european carbon credits”, I’m guessing, must be intended as a slight on the National Party, given they’ve mired themselves in their purchase and are being slated for that in the news just now. Your arguments seem all over the show, bwaghorn, but it might be that I’m misreading you.
”misreading you.”
no your misleading me and others away from the very simple question i asked at the start.
sasha was jumping in with horse shit so i thought i’d throw a bit back
Your “very simple question” was too vague to be answered simply, bwaghorn. I’m guessing you farm. I know you comment on blogs. Though it’s said you are a farmer, rumour has it you’re really a blog commenter! True or not?
If you work on a farm you are a farm worker not a farmer? Farm workers know about working on a farm but not much about farming how could they they are just farm workers. A hobby/lifestyle farmer knows more than most farm workers because they have to think within tight confines and do it not just do what the farmer says to do. ☺
That made me laugh out loud. Gotta go; got a kid’s “nature club” to lead; we’re out on the sands of the estuary, feeding whelks today; that’s more gruesome than you can imagine, and they love it!
That doesn’t sound like a very efficient use of the land, bearded, especially in light of Stuart Munroe’s comment about the size of some Asian farms. What are they “growing”
Not much around here (Wanaka area). Wheat on one farm, several vineyards on not particularly large lots; some walnuts. Mostly sheep, cattle and one large dairy farm….and heaps of creeping residential subdivision gradually eating up the landscape but producing the same or less than when part of a larger farm.
It can be done though, profitability from a block smaller than 1000 ha?
Tough, admittedly, in a degraded landscape. Around Alexandra looks like a moonscape but perhaps there are crops; thyme, grapes, saffron that could return good profit from an arid farm. I agree that there are critical dimensions for a farm that’s running ruminants; perhaps they’re the problem?
Do you know the Hobbs near Roxburgh? 25+ years of organic orcharding. Can’t remember how big their place is, but it’s small. They sell everything from the gate or via direct selling to customers. Large variety of fruits coming on over the season. Very cool model.
Very cool, and living at Hercules Flat – great address! I’m growing apricots from that area, heritage ones collected by an elderly Roxburgh orchardist from trees that somehow remain. She sent the pits to me, all sucked clean, in a box 🙂
While we’re on the subject of real farming, the Real Farmers are busy pulling out the mature orchards further down in the Teviot Valley and putting in dairy cows. Unreal.
All that will change; shame about the trees though. I enjoy discussions around farming. I’ve been putting together a possible guest post that begins:
“The most pernicious, aggressive and destructive invasive plant in the history of New Zealand; the plant that has usurped, displaced, and rendered near-extinct our unique native flora, is ryegrass, the pasture species chosen by farmers in their ongoing battle to dominate the natural world.”
How do you think that might fly, weka, and will bwaghorn be freed from moderation in time to engage in meaningful discussion? 🙂
I look forward to that! (and yes I expect b will extricate himself in time).
The thing that bothers me about the orchards is that it takes a year to chop them down and put in cows, but much longer when we need to go back the other way (esp given we don’t know how climate change will affect farming). A mature orchard is not something to be killed lightly. Stop trying to grow money and grow food instead, grrr.
Not that I need to tell you any of that, but maybe someone else is reading 🙂
Much more profitable to chop it up unfortunately, and Nationals RMA reforms (backed by the Maori Party-may they rot in hell) mean that this is easier to do.
Having a go at tenants. And some smart female lawyer so cool that butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, explains how tenants can now demand details of the landlord’s insurance blah blah… as if they were on an equal footing.
I imagine the conversation between landlord and prospective tenant:
“Tell me, my good man, have you reasonable insurance in case of our causing a mishap, and how much excess would there be for us to pay?”
“Oh fuck off, I don’t want the likes of you causing trouble.”
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/you-break-it-you-bought-it
The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2), introduced to Parliament yesterday, implements changes meaning tenants will have to pay their landlord’s insurance excess if they have caused damage due to carelessness….
“The changes are needed to ensure tenants have an incentive to take good care of a property, and for the landlord to have appropriate insurance,” Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith said.
But Renters United spokeswoman Kate Day said the proposed law was unfair on tenants, who were already paying rent that factored in costs for the landlord such as rates and insurance.
“We see insurance costs as part of the cost to the landlord of running the business of a rental property,” she said.
“They pass those costs onto the renters, so the renters already pay the costs of the insurance. It’s not fair that the renter pay twice – through their rent, then through the excess as well.”
The proposed law caps the amount charged for excess at four times the weekly rent.
Tenants will still be liable for damage caused intentionally.
Is there any truth to the rumour that seems a fair enough question, but no idea why you’d ask for clarification from a specific individual. What’s that about?
you can’t prove (show?) organic farming is viable if you fund the farm from the outside , imo
Yes and no. Within the current economic paradigm, it’s true that “viability” is measured in monetary terms. But there are plenty of meaningful ways to measure viability and there’s a cogent argument that current paradigms run counter to those other measures.
So what if by non-monetary measures something is viable, but not viable in terms of the measures provided by current contexts? Should we throw away the context or the otherwise viable project/enterprise/hobby?
Purchasing off-sets. Best I don’t get started on that front, eh? 😉
if he has input into the running of the property then yes , if not then he’s a queen street farmer ie an investor , queen street farmer is a term of ridicule .
Queen Street farmer was a term for men who had a lot of spare money to invest who were city professionals and put that money into the new gold rush which at that time was deer farming. They drove in the city in Landrovers etc which everyone thought they had bought and written off as a tax deductible farm vehicle. So there is a lot of background to that term. (The Queen Street would be the main street in Auckland’s CBD.)
There will certainly be a measure, a cut-off point connected with time spent on farm, where a person, Mr Fnglish in this case, fails the “farmer” test and becomes something else. bwaghorn will know.
what you do is you collect all the shit you remove from your fingernails in a year , +1kg and you are a farmer less than that then you are a lifestyler.
did the owners live in a comfortable house with good health etc or were they subsistence farmers that you enjoyed gawking at from the comfort of your intrepid journey
bwaghorn
I think you have unknowingly hit on the point of this argument bwaghorn.
In Asia they were probably subsistence farmers, and living according to their means. The farmers here are getting to the point where they have leveraged themselves into poverty, living and investing beyond their means and believing that they will be able to pay it all off out of continuing profits as in the present buoyant market. They may yet end up as subsistence farmers too, and it will be their own fault, foolishness, and lack of financial discipline.
I believe that some clear-headed financial studies find that many are farming in an extraordinarily profligate manner, and are practically insolvent, ie their farming methods and cost basis and receipts make their enterprise on present earnings, a failure. The reason could be that they have bought paid too much for land, or spent too much converting to dairy, to actually make a decent buck. Have you heard the term “He was hoist on his own petard” bwaghorn.
Townies can feel sorry for struggling farmers, but some of us need to think and understand what their actual problem is. Perhaps my comment will encourage some informed person to come on to the post and give some background to this skewed theme, of poor, honest, hardworking farmers being unreasonably, unfairly criticised by ignorant townies living a life of ease, warmth and comfort sitting on their bums in the cities. That is partly fair criticism from farmers who actually work their own farms, but only on an 80/20 basis with 20 referring to the farmers.
They had hanoks for the most part – low ceilinged earth walled houses with tin roofs instead of the traditional tile or thatch. The ones who had 20 hectares would also have a large two-storied house, outbuildings, multiple vehicles, and typically several sources of income – rice, table grapes, mushrooms, dogs, hand reared beef, chillis, soybeans, ginseng, baichu. These ones also often supplied customers directly to improve prices, or sold through the massive markets that are a feature of the successful Asian regional development initiatives.
Interesting info Stuart Munro. We are going to have to learn from other countries experience as ours are so set in the ruts of the past, and are determined to learn nothing new that is applicable to our present, and forecast future. We have a government that is there on the votes of people who consider themselves learned and intelligent, but measure everything in money.
A couple I know of are dying, but have a number of attractive houses, and are building another for something to do in the meantime. After a lifetime they end up with the same stunted ideas they grew up with and can’t see how damaging it has been for this country and the world.
NZ is unfortunately a very poor learner. Our economists for example, think they are rockstars, and the balance of payments confirms that whatever they may be, they are certainly not economists.
Our dairy is stuck in the production mentality – 1960s thinking – our fisheries are 1% of Japans. We have little or no land-based aquaculture, and virtually no intensive sustainable operations.
It’s as if they have ignored everything written in my lifetime. We should be a model country – but we are a nation of sheep led by goats and monkeys.
We’re all a bit like your dying couple, Grey; finding it difficult to grasp the reality of the situation and even more difficult to change our ways to accommodate what we sense is happening; our responses are a matter of degree. The “mythical” Asian subsistence farmer would shake his or her head at our behaviour, perhaps, and wonder at our stunted ideas. Un-stunting those is the first thing we have to do. This sort of discussion helps, imo, but individuals have to do the real, background work if they are to even approach becoming grandfathers (the use of that term will puzzle you, probably, but here’s the link if you’ve the time and inclination to read the article that provided it for me 🙂
He’s only in premod, which means his comments will still appear, there’s just a delay until he deals with the issue I raised in moderation (or if it ignores it there will be long delays).
Can you point to what accusations i made , i only see as yet unanswered questions , i would have stopped at the one first question but all the utopian dreamers leap in boots and all so i reacted..
If people can’t see that the greens are setting themselves up for ridicule by
billing Mr Hart as organic farmer when all he has is 20ha then they aren’t very bright.
I’d also like to see proof of these subsidies that farming gets , i’d prefer proof of real subsidies rather than rekons from people who know fuck all.
[the whole subthread is based on the premise that Hart runs 20 ha and is a consultant and doesn’t make a living from his farm. That is an idea that you brought into the conversation and have continued to use as the basis of your argument, even now. I have no idea if that is true or where you even got that idea from. You can either put up some evidence or acknowledge you made it up. It’s not ok to run lines about public figures that are factually incorrect, especially about candidates in election year. What is happening now is there is an ongoing conversation based on rumour. Again not ok in election year. Plenty of other ways to make your point or it should be pretty easy to provide evidence for if it is true. – weka]
I’m afraid that you are mired in cowpates bwaghorn. and we are thinking of beyond today, our shrinking other industries besides dairy ie they can’t get round how to make money from sheep and many farmers are putting all their eggs in the dairy basket for commodity prices, and adding to the poollution from stock. The cities have to keep their own under control with so many eyes watching them, but the red-neck country guy, the worst he has to worry about is his friendly neighbours pinching his stock.
The problem is not the farms being broken down into smaller less economic units as far as scale is concerned. It is farmers who are farming for a quick buck, instead of a lifestyle and business combined. It’s not for everybody but the rural population don’t need to think of themselves as bold business initiators, they are just finding ways to squeeze more money out of farms that many have paid too much for.
Turning your nose up at 20ha ‘farms’ is a mistake, small patches like that being intensively managed, with organic well established, with spelling and fallowing and haymaking, will be the backbone of the country when dairy goes belly up when it can’t get fertiliser and someone blows up the pipelines for the irrigation. Which will probably happen.
Small blocks also tend to have a far higher biodiversity than conventional farms. I’d be pretty happy to see 80% of NZ dairy farms, the ones that have been chopping down trees and flattening land, divided up into small lifestyle blocks simply because of the amount of trees that will then get planted. Even better if those people are supported into regenag and silvopasture.
weka also bwaghorn (Townies are interested in farming problems or at least are trying.)
Regenag and silvopasture. I’ve lots to learn. But I was very interested in what Woman against the Desert Wendy Campbell Purdie achieved in Africa. We may be able to mitigate droughts with trees spaced widely with branch tips not quite touching providing a mantle against evaporation.
Some farming problems with feed and drought reported on RadiooNZ under Rural archive.
You may very well have a point about the Greens b, and I’ll be happy to continue the conversation about that and subsidies, but not until we establish that there is actually an issue.
Jeeze, bwaghorn, suffering another bout of grumpyness, so soon?
Subsidies for farming…let’s see. How about total exemption from paying for the greenhouse gas emissions their animals produce which equal 47% of New Zealand’s total, an amount that has to be paid for with tax payer money. How is that not a subsidy, I wonder?
How about irrigation schemes, Ruataniwha et al. where farmers are the beneficiaries of public money through a very generous loan arrangement, not available to non-farmers? How about the exemption for all farms from the rules around contaminated land? A blanket exemption from rules that affect non-farm land? Subsidised? You bet. These are just my introductory examples. There are more that show how polluter doesn’t pay.
Oh, and tax. Kettle of fish.
Drought bail outs too. I’m actually in favour of people being helped by the govt during hardship, but it irks to have farmers creating drought with their farming methods and then getting help and then dissing smaller farmers who farm moderately more sustainably but apparently aren’t real farmers because they subsidise their farms themselves.
business rural
9:28 am today
What is the future for the sheep industry?
From Nine To Noon, 9:28 am today
Listen duration 19′ :28″
Falling sheep numbers, meat works closures, low wool prices and a ban on fresh NZ lamb in some UK supermarkets – we look at the future for the sheep industry with Federated Farmers’ meat and fibre chairman Rick Powdrell and to sheep farmer, and former chair of the now defunct Meat Industry Excellence farmer group, John McCarthy. http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201844949/what-is-the-future-for-the-sheep-industry
and
business environment
9:47 am today
What’s the deal with “trading” water?
From Nine To Noon, 9:47 am today
Listen duration 6′ :54
The United States and Britain are funding and arming Saudi Arabia despite knowing full well that the war it is waging in Yemen involves war crimes whereby hospitals, schools and homes are being bombed.
How do they possibly expect to win the “War on Terrorism” when they fund and arm a despotic regime that has no time at all for human rights and bombs its smaller neighbour with flagrant disregard for civilian welfare?
Why do we have anything to do with a despotic regime that commits the aforementioned war crimes? The Government of New Zealand is like “so what? We need to do business with them”.
Well well well:
“Auditor-General Martin Matthews to stand down pending independent inquiry.
The Offices of Parliament Committee decided unanimously to undertake an independent inquiry into Auditor-General Martin Matthews’ suitability for the position.
He will stand down in the meantime. Review is expected to take a fortnight and will be done by Sir Martin Weevers. ”
Lol. Tolley backs down from yet another incredible poorly thought out idea. This pressuring of NGOs and charities aligns with Ngaro’s bullying of the same organisations at the Nats conference the other day.
No wonder Tolley has backed down because the media have been very vocal in their criticisms of the Nats’ arrogance on this issue.
I suspect that the pressure on some of their unscrupulous activities is beginning to tell Tolley and others to back off. They have an ends justifying the means mentality.
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Hi,From time to time, I want to bring Webworm into the real world. We did it last year with the Jurassic Park event in New Zealand — which was a lot of fun!And so on Saturday May 11th, in Los Angeles, I am hosting a lil’ Webworm pop-up! I’ve been ...
Education Minister Erica Standford yesterday unveiled a fundamental reform of the way our school pupils are taught. She would not exactly say so, but she is all but dismantling the so-called “inquiry” “feel good” method of teaching, which has ruled in our classrooms since a major review of the New ...
Exactly where are we seriously going with this government and its policies? That is, apart from following what may as well be a Truss-Lite approach on the purported economic “plan“, and Victorian-era regression when it comes to social policy.Oh it’ll work this time of course, we’re basically assured, “the ...
Hey Uncle Dave, When the Poms joined the EEC, I wasn't one of those defeatists who said, Well, that’s it for the dairy job. And I was right, eh? The Chinese can’t get enough of our milk powder and eventually, the Poms came to their senses and backed up the ute ...
Polling shows that Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau has the lowest approval rating of any mayor in the country. Siting at -12 per cent, the proportion of constituents who disapprove of her performance outweighs those who give her the thumbs up. This negative rating is higher than for any other mayor ...
Buzz from the Beehive Pharmac has been given a financial transfusion and a new chair to oversee its spending in the pharmaceutical business. Associate Health Minister David Seymour described the funding for Pharmac as “its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff”. ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its ...
TL;DR: Here’s my top 10 ‘pick ‘n’ mix of links to news, analysis and opinion articles as of 10:10am on Monday, April 29:Scoop: The children's ward at Rotorua Hospital will be missing a third of its beds as winter hits because Te Whatu Ora halted an upgrade partway through to ...
span class=”dropcap”>As hideous as David Seymour can be, it is worth keeping in mind occasionally that there are even worse political figures (and regimes) out there. Iran for instance, is about to execute the country’s leading hip hop musician Toomaj Salehi, for writing and performing raps that “corrupt” the nation’s ...
Yesterday marked 10 years since the first electric train carried passengers in Auckland so it’s a good time to look back at it and the impact it has had. A brief history The first proposals for rail electrification in Auckland came in the 1920’s alongside the plans for earlier ...
Right now, in Aotearoa-NZ, our ‘animal spirits’ are darkening towards a winter of discontent, thanks at least partly to a chorus of negative comments and actions from the Government Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāTL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on ...
You make people evil to punish the paststuck inside a sequel with a rotating castThe following photos haven’t been generated with AI, or modified in any way. They are flesh and blood, human beings. On the left is Galatea Young, a young mum, and her daughter Fiadh who has Angelman ...
April has been a quiet month at A Phuulish Fellow. I have had an exceptionally good reading month, and a decently productive writing month – for original fiction, anyway – but not much has caught my eye that suggested a blog article. It has been vaguely frustrating, to be honest. ...
A listing of 31 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, April 21, 2024 thru Sat, April 27, 2024. Story of the week Anthropogenic climate change may be the ultimate shaggy dog story— but with a twist, because here ...
Hi,I spent about a year on Webworm reporting on an abusive megachurch called Arise, and it made me want to stab my eyes out with a fork.I don’t regret that reporting in 2022 and 2023 — I am proud of it — but it made me angry.Over three main stories ...
The new Victoria University Vice-Chancellor decided to have a forum at the university about free speech and academic freedom as it is obviously a topical issue, and the Government is looking at legislating some carrots or sticks for universities to uphold their obligations under the Education and Training Act. They ...
Do you remember when Melania Trump got caught out using a speech that sounded awfully like one Michelle Obama had given? Uncannily so.Well it turns out that Abraham Lincoln is to Winston Peters as Michelle was to Melania. With the ANZAC speech Uncle Winston gave at Gallipoli having much in ...
She was born 25 years ago today in North Shore hospital. Her eyes were closed tightly shut, her mouth was silently moving. The whole theatre was all quiet intensity as they marked her a 2 on the APGAR test. A one-minute eternity later, she was an 8. The universe was ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park in collaboration with members from our Skeptical Science team. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Is Antarctica gaining land ice? ...
Images of US students (and others) protesting and setting up tent cities on US university campuses have been broadcast world wide and clearly demonstrate the growing rifts in US society caused by US policy toward Israel and Israel’s prosecution of … Continue reading → ...
Barrie Saunders writes – Dear Paul As the new Minister of Media and Communications, you will be inundated with heaps of free advice and special pleading, all in the national interest of course. For what it’s worth here is my assessment: Traditional broadcasting free to air content through ...
Many criticisms are being made of the Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill, including by this writer. But as with everything in politics, every story has two sides, and both deserve attention. It’s important to understand what the Government is trying to achieve and its arguments for such a bold reform. ...
Peter Dunne writes – The great nineteenth British Prime Minister, William Gladstone, once observed that “the first essential for a Prime Minister is to be a good butcher.” When a later British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, sacked a third of his Cabinet in July 1962, in what became ...
Ele Ludemann writes – New Zealanders had the OECD’s second highest tax increase last year: New Zealanders faced the second-biggest tax raises in the developed world last year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) says. The intergovernmental agency said the average change in personal income tax ...
We all know something’s not right with our elections. The spread of misinformation, people being targeted with soundbites and emotional triggers that ignore the facts, even the truth, and influence their votes.The use of technology to produce deep fakes. How can you tell if something is real or not? Can ...
This video includes conclusions of the creator climate scientist Dr. Simon Clark. It is presented to our readers as an informed perspective. Please see video description for references (if any). This year you will be lied to! Simon Clark helps prebunk some misleading statements you'll hear about climate. The video includes ...
It is all very well cutting the backrooms of public agencies but it may compromise the frontlines. One of the frustrations of the Productivity Commission’s 2017 review of universities is that while it observed that their non-academic staff were increasing faster than their academic staff, it did not bother to ...
Buzz from the Beehive Two speeches delivered by Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters at Anzac Day ceremonies in Turkey are the only new posts on the government’s official website since the PM announced his Cabinet shake-up. In one of the speeches, Peters stated the obvious: we live in a troubled ...
1. Which of these would you not expect to read in The Waikato Invader?a. Luxon is here to do business, don’t you worry about thatb. Mr KPI expects results, and you better believe itc. This decisive man of action is getting me all hot and excitedd. Melissa Lee is how ...
…it has a restricted jurisdiction which must not be abused: it is not an inquisitionNOTE – this article was published before the High Court ruled that Karen Chhour does not have to appear before the Waitangi Tribunal Gary Judd writes – The High Court ...
Lindsay Mitchell writes – One of reasons Oranga Tamariki exists is to prevent child neglect. But could the organisation itself be guilty of the same?Oranga Tamariki’s statistics show a decrease in the number and age of children in care. “There are less children ...
David Farrar writes: Graeme Edgeler wrote in 2017: In the first five years after three strikes came into effect 5248 offenders received a ‘first strike’ (that is, a “stage-1 conviction” under the three strikes sentencing regime), and 68 offenders received a ‘second strike’. In the five years prior to ...
Bryce Edwards writes – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has surprised everyone with his ruthlessness in sacking two of his ministers from their crucial portfolios. Removing ministers for poor performance after only five months in the job just doesn’t normally happen in politics. That’s refreshing and will be extremely ...
TL;DR: These are the six things that stood out to me in news and commentary on Aotearoa-NZ’s political economy in the two days to 6:06am on Thursday, April 25:Politics: PM Christopher Luxon has set up a dual standard for ministerial competence by demoting two National Cabinet ministers while leaving also-struggling ...
Hi,Today I mainly want to share some of your thoughts about the recent piece I wrote about success and failure, and the forces that seemingly guide our lives. But first, a quick bit of housekeeping: I am doing a Webworm popup in Los Angeles on Saturday May 11 at 2pm. ...
It is hard to see what Melissa Lee might have done to “save” the media. National went into the election with no public media policy and appears not to have developed one subsequently. Lee claimed that she had prepared a policy paper before the election but it had been decided ...
Open access notablesIce acceleration and rotation in the Greenland Ice Sheet interior in recent decades, Løkkegaard et al., Communications Earth & Environment:In the past two decades, mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet has accelerated, partly due to the speedup of glaciers. However, uncertainty in speed derived from satellite products ...
Buzz from the Beehive A statement from Children’s Minister Karen Chhour – yet to be posted on the Government’s official website – arrived in Point of Order’s email in-tray last night. It welcomes the High Court ruling on whether the Waitangi Tribunal can demand she appear before it. It does ...
Mr Bombastic:Ironically, the media the academic experts wanted is, in many ways, the media they got. In place of the tyrannical editors of yesteryear, advancing without fear or favour the interests of the ruling class; the New Zealand news media of today boasts a troop of enlightened journalists dedicated to ...
It's hard times try to make a livingYou wake up every morning in the unforgivingOut there somewhere in the cityThere's people living lives without mercy or pityI feel good, yeah I'm feeling fineI feel better then I have for the longest timeI think these pills have been good for meI ...
In 1974, the US Supreme Court issued its decision in United States v. Nixon, finding that the President was not a King, but was subject to the law and was required to turn over the evidence of his wrongdoing to the courts. It was a landmark decision for the rule ...
Every day now just seems to bring in more fresh meat for the grinder.In their relentlessly ideological drive to cut back on the “excessive bloat” (as they see it) of the previous Labour-led government, on the mountains of evidence accumulated in such a short period of time do not ...
Labour is calling for the Government to urgently rethink its coalition commitment to restart live animal exports, Labour animal welfare spokesperson Rachel Boyack said. ...
Today’s Financial Stability Report has once again highlighted that poverty and deep inequality are political choices - and this Government is choosing to make them worse. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to do more for our households in most need as unemployment rises and the cost of living crisis endures. ...
Unemployment is on the rise and it’s only going to get worse under this Government, Labour finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said. Stats NZ figures show the unemployment rate grew to 4.3 percent in the March quarter from 4 percent in the December quarter. “This is the second rise in unemployment ...
The New Zealand Labour Party welcomes the entering into force of the European Union and New Zealand free trade agreement. This agreement opens the door for a huge increase in trade opportunities with a market of 450 million people who are high value discerning consumers of New Zealand goods and ...
The National-led Government continues its fiscal jiggery pokery with its Pharmac announcement today, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall says. “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine”, said Ayesha Verrall “This is far from the bold promises made to fund ...
This afternoon’s interim Waitangi Tribunal report must be taken seriously as it affects our most vulnerable children, Labour children’s spokesperson Willow-Jean Prime. ...
Te Pāti Māori are demanding the New Zealand Government support an international independent investigation into mass graves that have been uncovered at two hospitals on the Gaza strip, following weeks of assault by Israeli troops. Among the 392 bodies that have been recovered, are children and elderly civilians. Many of ...
Our two-tiered system for veterans’ support is out of step with our closest partners, and all parties in Parliament should work together to fix it, Labour veterans’ affairs spokesperson Greg O’Connor said. ...
Stripping two Ministers of their portfolios just six months into the job shows Christopher Luxon’s management style is lacking, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said. ...
Tonight’s court decision to overturn the summons of the Children’s Minister has enabled the Crown to continue making decisions about Māori without evidence, says Te Pāti Māori spokesperson for Children, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi. “The judicial system has this evening told the nation that this government can do whatever they want when ...
It appears Nicola Willis is about to pull the rug out from under the feet of local communities still dealing with the aftermath of last year’s severe weather, and local councils relying on funding to build back from these disasters. ...
The Government is making short-sighted changes to the Resource Management Act (RMA) that will take away environmental protection in favour of short-term profits, Labour’s environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said today. ...
Labour welcomes the release of the report into the North Island weather events and looks forward to working with the Government to ensure that New Zealand is as prepared as it can be for the next natural disaster. ...
The Labour Party has called for the New Zealand Government to recognise Palestine, as a material step towards progressing the two-State solution needed to achieve a lasting peace in the region. ...
Some of our country’s most important work, stopping the sexual exploitation of children and violent extremism could go along with staff on the frontline at ports and airports. ...
The Government’s Fast Track Approvals Bill will give projects such as new coal mines a ‘get out of jail free’ card to wreak havoc on the environment, Labour Leader Chris Hipkins said today. ...
The government's decision to reintroduce Three Strikes is a destructive and ineffective piece of law-making that will only exacerbate an inherently biased and racist criminal justice system, said Te Pāti Māori Justice Spokesperson, Tākuta Ferris, today. During the time Three Strikes was in place in Aotearoa, Māori and Pasifika received ...
Cuts to frontline hospital staff are not only a broken election promise, it shows the reckless tax cuts have well and truly hit the frontline of the health system, says Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall. ...
The Green Party has joined the call for public submissions on the fast-track legislation to be extended after the Ombudsman forced the Government to release the list of organisations invited to apply just hours before submissions close. ...
New Zealand’s good work at reducing climate emissions for three years in a row will be undone by the National government’s lack of ambition and scrapping programmes that were making a difference, Labour Party climate spokesperson Megan Woods said today. ...
More essential jobs could be on the chopping block, this time Ministry of Education staff on the school lunches team are set to find out whether they're in line to lose their jobs. ...
Te Pāti Māori is disgusted at the confirmation that hundreds are set to lose their jobs at Oranga Tamariki, and the disestablishment of the Treaty Response Unit. “This act of absolute carelessness and out of touch decision making is committing tamariki to state abuse.” Said Te Pāti Māori Oranga Tamariki ...
The Government is trying to bring in a law that will allow Ministers to cut corners and kill off native species, Labour environment spokesperson Rachel Brooking said. ...
Cancelling urgently needed new Cook Strait ferries and hiking the cost of public transport for many Kiwis so that National can announce the prospect of another tunnel for Wellington is not making good choices, Labour Transport Spokesperson Tangi Utikere said. ...
A laundry list of additional costs for Tāmaki Makarau Auckland shows the Minister for the city is not delivering for the people who live there, says Labour Auckland Issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. ...
Te Pāti Māori co-leader Rawiri Waititi, and Mema Paremata mō Tāmaki-Makaurau, Takutai Tarsh Kemp, will travel to the Gold Coast to strengthen ties with Māori in Australia next week (15-21 April). The visit, in the lead-up to the 9th Australian National Kapa haka Festival, will be an opportunity for both ...
The Green Party has today launched a step-by-step guide to help New Zealanders make their voice heard on the Government’s democracy dodging and anti-environment fast track legislation. ...
New Zealand lost a true legend when internationally renowned disability advocate Sir Robert Martin (KNZM) passed away at his home in Whanganui last night, Disabilities Issues Minister Louise Upston says. “Our Government’s thoughts are with his wife Lynda, family and community, those he has worked with, the disability community in ...
Good evening – Before discussing the challenges and opportunities facing New Zealand’s foreign policy, we’d like to first acknowledge the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. You have contributed to debates about New Zealand foreign policy over a long period of time, and we thank you for hosting us. ...
From today, passengers travelling internationally from Auckland Airport will be able to keep laptops and liquids in their carry-on bags for security screening thanks to new technology, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Creating a more efficient and seamless travel experience is important for holidaymakers and businesses, enabling faster movement through ...
People with an interest in the health of Northland’s marine ecosystems are invited to a public meeting to discuss how to deal with kina barrens, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. Mr Jones will lead the discussion, which will take place on Friday, 10 May, at Awanui Hotel in ...
Kiwi exporters are $100 million better off today with the NZ EU FTA entering into force says Trade Minister Todd McClay. “This is all part of our plan to grow the economy. New Zealand's prosperity depends on international trade, making up 60 per cent of the country’s total economic activity. ...
There are heartening signs that the extractive sector is once again becoming an attractive prospect for investors and a source of economic prosperity for New Zealand, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. “The beginnings of a resurgence in extractive industries are apparent in media reports of the sector in the past ...
The return of the historic Ō-Rākau battle site to the descendants of those who fought there moved one step closer today with the first reading of Te Pire mō Ō-Rākau, Te Pae o Maumahara / The Ō-Rākau Remembrance Bill. The Bill will entrust the 9.7-hectare battle site, five kilometres west ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has announced 25 new high-speed EV charging hubs along key routes between major urban centres and outlined the Government’s plan to supercharge New Zealand’s EV infrastructure. The hubs will each have several chargers and be capable of charging at least four – and up to 10 ...
The coalition Government will not proceed with the previous Government’s plans to regulate residential property managers, Housing Minister Chris Bishop says. “I have written to the Chairperson of the Social Services and Community Committee to inform him that the Government does not intend to support the Residential Property Managers Bill ...
The Government has announced an independent review into the disability support system funded by the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha. Disability Issues Minister Louise Upston says the review will look at what can be done to strengthen the long-term sustainability of Disability Support Services to provide disabled people and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has attended the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva and outlined the Government’s plan to restore law and order. “Speaking to the United Nations Human Rights Council provided us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while responding to issues and ...
The Government and Rotorua Lakes Council are committed to working closely together to end the use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua. Associate Minister of Housing (Social Housing) Tama Potaka says the Government remains committed to ending the long-term use of contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua by the ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay heads overseas today for high-level trade talks in the Gulf region, and a key OECD meeting in Paris. Mr McClay will travel to Riyadh to meet with counterparts from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). “New Zealand’s goods and services exports to the Gulf region ...
Education Minister Erica Stanford has outlined six education priorities to deliver a world-leading education system that sets Kiwi kids up for future success. “I’m putting ambition, achievement and outcomes at the heart of our education system. I want every child to be inspired and engaged in their learning so they ...
The new NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) App is a secure ‘one stop shop’ to provide the services drivers need, Transport Minister Simeon Brown and Digitising Government Minister Judith Collins say. “The NZTA App will enable an easier way for Kiwis to pay for Vehicle Registration and Road User Charges (RUC). ...
Whānau with tamariki growing up in emergency housing motels will be prioritised for social housing starting this week, says Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka. “Giving these whānau a better opportunity to build healthy stable lives for themselves and future generations is an essential part of the Government’s goal of reducing ...
Racing Minister Winston Peters has paid tribute to an icon of the industry with the recent passing of Dave O’Sullivan (OBE). “Our sympathies are with the O’Sullivan family with the sad news of Dave O’Sullivan’s recent passing,” Mr Peters says. “His contribution to racing, initially as a jockey and then ...
Assalaamu alaikum, greetings to you all. Eid Mubarak, everyone! I want to extend my warmest wishes to you and everyone celebrating this joyous occasion. It is a pleasure to be here. I have enjoyed Eid celebrations at Parliament before, but this is my first time joining you as the Minister ...
Associate Health Minister David Seymour has announced Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, fixing a $1.774 billion fiscal cliff. “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are ...
Hon Paula Bennett has been appointed as member and chair of the Pharmac board, Associate Health Minister David Seymour announced today. "Pharmac is a critical part of New Zealand's health system and plays a significant role in ensuring that Kiwis have the best possible access to medicines,” says Mr Seymour. ...
Hundreds of New Zealand families affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) will benefit from a new Government focus on prevention and treatment, says Health Minister Dr Shane Reti. “We know FASD is a leading cause of preventable intellectual and neurodevelopmental disability in New Zealand,” Dr Reti says. “Every day, ...
Regional Development Minister Shane Jones today attended the official opening of Kaikohe’s new $14.7 million sports complex. “The completion of the Kaikohe Multi Sports Complex is a fantastic achievement for the Far North,” Mr Jones says. “This facility not only fulfils a long-held dream for local athletes, but also creates ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ engagements in Türkiye this week underlined the importance of diplomacy to meet growing global challenges. “Returning to the Gallipoli Peninsula to represent New Zealand at Anzac commemorations was a sombre reminder of the critical importance of diplomacy for de-escalating conflicts and easing tensions,” Mr Peters ...
Ambassador Millar, Burgemeester, Vandepitte, Excellencies, military representatives, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen – good morning and welcome to this sacred Anzac Day dawn service. It is an honour to be here on behalf of the Government and people of New Zealand at Buttes New British Cemetery, Polygon Wood – a deeply ...
Distinguished guests - It is an honour to return once again to this site which, as the resting place for so many of our war-dead, has become a sacred place for generations of New Zealanders. Our presence here and at the other special spaces of Gallipoli is made ...
Mai ia tawhiti pamamao, te moana nui a Kiwa, kua tae whakaiti mai matou, ki to koutou papa whenua. No koutou te tapuwae, no matou te tapuwae, kua honoa pumautia. Ko nga toa kua hinga nei, o te Waipounamu, o te Ika a Maui, he okioki tahi me o ...
Paul Goldsmith will take on responsibility for the Media and Communications portfolio, while Louise Upston will pick up the Disability Issues portfolio, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced today. “Our Government is relentlessly focused on getting New Zealand back on track. As issues change in prominence, I plan to adjust Ministerial ...
Recreational catch limits will be reduced in areas of Fiordland and the Chatham Islands to help keep those fisheries healthy and sustainable, Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says. The lower recreational daily catch limits for a range of finfish and shellfish species caught in the Fiordland Marine Area and ...
Energy Minister Simeon Brown has welcomed an important milestone in New Zealand’s hydrogen future, with the opening of the country’s first network of hydrogen refuelling stations in Wiri. “I want to congratulate the team at Hiringa Energy and its partners K one W one (K1W1), Mitsui & Co New Zealand ...
The coalition Government is delivering on its commitment to improve resource management laws and give greater certainty to consent applicants, with a Bill to amend the Resource Management Act (RMA) expected to be introduced to Parliament next month. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop has today outlined the first RMA Amendment ...
Overseas models for regulating the oil and gas sector, including their decommissioning regimes, are being carefully scrutinised as a potential template for New Zealand’s own sector, Resources Minister Shane Jones says. The Coalition Government is focused on rebuilding investor confidence in New Zealand’s energy sector as it looks to strengthen ...
Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell has today released the Report of the Government Inquiry into the response to the North Island Severe Weather Events. “The report shows that New Zealand’s emergency management system is not fit-for-purpose and there are some significant gaps we need to address,” Mr Mitchell ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith is today travelling to Europe where he’ll update the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Government’s work to restore law and order. “Attending the Universal Periodic Review in Geneva provides us with an opportunity to present New Zealand’s human rights progress, priorities, and challenges, while ...
Associate Agriculture Minister, Mark Patterson, formally reopened the world’s largest wool processing facility today in Awatoto, Napier, following a $50 million rebuild and refurbishment project. “The reopening of this facility will significantly lift the economic opportunities available to New Zealand’s wool sector, which already accounts for 20 per cent of ...
Hon Andrew Bayly, Minister for Small Business and Manufacturing At the Southland Otago Regional Engineering Collective (SOREC) Summit, 18 April, Dunedin Ngā mihi nui, Ko Andrew Bayly aho, Ko Whanganui aho Good Afternoon and thank you for inviting me to open your summit today. I am delighted ...
The Government is delivering on its commitment to bring back the Three Strikes legislation, Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee announced today. “Our Government is committed to restoring law and order and enforcing appropriate consequences on criminals. We are making it clear that repeat serious violent or sexual offending is not ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has today announced four new diplomatic appointments for New Zealand’s overseas missions. “Our diplomats have a vital role in maintaining and protecting New Zealand’s interests around the world,” Mr Peters says. “I am pleased to announce the appointment of these senior diplomats from the ...
New Zealand is contributing NZ$7 million to support communities affected by severe food insecurity and other urgent humanitarian needs in Ethiopia and Somalia, Foreign Minister Rt Hon Winston Peters announced today. “Over 21 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance across Ethiopia, with a further 6.9 million people ...
Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Paul Goldsmith is congratulating Mataaho Collective for winning the Golden Lion for best participant in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale. "Congratulations to the Mataaho Collective for winning one of the world's most prestigious art prizes at the Venice Biennale. “It is good ...
The Government is reforming financial services to improve access to home loans and other lending, and strengthen customer protections, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop announced today. “Our coalition Government is committed to rebuilding the economy and making life simpler by cutting red tape. We are ...
The campaign will engage the community and encourage submissions on the bill to the New Zealand government by the closing submission deadline of Friday 31st of May 2024 4pm. ...
The paper raises concerns about declining trust in New Zealand's political institutions and democratic processes, and the role that the overuse of Parliamentary urgency plays in that. ...
The Urban Habitat Collective was an attempt to built an innovative new form of apartment building in Wellington. Here’s why it failed, and why the idea could still work, writes co-founder Bronwen Newton. When we started the Urban Habitat Collective in November 2018, we thought we were starting a revolution, ...
Two decades ago this week, a controversial law that attempted to define ownership of the foreshore and seabed prompted a formidable display of outrage and kōtahitanga as 15,000 marched to parliament. Jamie Tahana looks back.‘Hīkoi, hīkoi,” they chanted by the thousands as the biggest Māori march in a generation ...
Why has New Zealand slipped from third to 12th on Quality of Death Indexes over the past decade or so? Hospice New Zealand Chief Executive Wayne Naylor has a list of reasons. “We don’t have a current national strategy – the Government hasn’t renewed our 2001 strategy, so we don’t ...
While women’s sport is exploding in Aotearoa and around the world, you still don’t hear a lot of talk about athletes and their periods, RED-S, breastfeeding and visible panty-lines. SASS (Suze and Sez Sports)Talk isn’t afraid to have that kōrero.LockerRoom founder Suzanne McFadden and Olympian broadcaster Sarah ...
On an unusually hot night in January 2019, a little boy’s lifeless body was found face up in a small town’s sewage oxidation pond. To the police, it was an open and shut case: three-year-old Lachlan Jones had run away from his home in the Southland town of Gore, climbed ...
A Labour Party Member’s Bill aims to plug a culpability gap between manslaughter and health and safety breaches The post New push for corporate killing laws appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Terence O’Brien had the rare and no doubt undesired distinction of rising to one of the most exalted positions in New Zealand diplomacy, then being unceremoniously recalled to Wellington without explanation just when his career was at its zenith. What is perhaps more surprising is that he appears to have ...
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Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter has apologised in Parliament after National accused her of intimidating and attacking one of its ministers in the House. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra The Prime Minister and state and territory leaders met on Wednesday as the national cabinet to discuss a crisis gripping Australia – the horrific number of women murdered this year. The killings have shocked ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Radhika Raghav, Teaching Fellow, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Otago Netflix Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is known for his big-budget Bollywood production, featuring grand sets, star casts, meticulously choreographed dance sequences and lavish costumes, jewellery and furnishings. ...
Sir Robert devoted his life to disability rights after living in institutions in his younger years, says Kaihautū Tika Hauātanga | Disability Rights Commissioner Prudence Walker. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anastasia Powell, Professor, Family and Sexual Violence, RMIT University Violence against women is not a women’s problem to solve, it is a whole of society problem to solve; and men in particular have to take responsibility. Those were the ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jessica Allen, Senior Lecturer in Chemical and Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Newcastle Snapshot freddy/ShutterstockPlans to revive an old coal-fired power station using bioenergy are being considered in the Hunter region of New South Wales. Similar plans for the station ...
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A Mark Jennings (formerly of Mediaworks & TV3) article on Newsroom, about the changes that have been made at RNZ.
He makes a point that the changes at RNZ should result in ending RNZ’s funding freeze in this week’s budget. Myself, I wouldn’t hold my breath.
I think it’s great that RNZ are moving away from a siloed approach and linking with other media organisations,a s well as using video to great effect. The danger in doing this, is in loss of editorial independence to the commercial imperatives of RNZ’s commercial media associations.
This bit on the approach used by Guyon Espiner is interesting:
I agree that haranguing interviewees could be a turn off for many Kiwis. The concern is that, using humour and humanity” needs to be done carefully in order to hold those in power to account. Kim Hill can do it. Can Espiner?
But on important issues holding politicians to account is vital in a democracy. So does that mean that wriggly patronising ratbags like Joyce should be treated politely and with humour and with humanity? As it is Ministers fail to front up on RNZ but if they know that the interview will not be rigorous then they will smarm their way onto the airwaves.
@ Carolyn Agreed.
To me it looks like the pro-National RNZ management leaned on Espiner to back-off because he was actually forcing the pollies, especially the Nats, to give answers. We can’t have that can we?
hay Weka is there any truth to the rumour that the green s ”organic farmer ” candidate John Hart is really an it consultant with a 20 ha lifestyle block.?
[1. why are you asking me? 2. This conversation has run long enough re Hart and unsubstantiated speculation. If you want to discuss John Hart and his farming, you now need to put up some links with evidence. Putting you in premed until you do. Otherwise withdraw the accusations, and then you can continue the conversation in the general about what is farming without reference to him – weka]
Can you not be both?
i wouldn’t call 20 ha a farm if its sheep and beef as it would be unviable[it’s a nice hobbie} .also you can’t prove organic farming is viable if you fund the farm from the outside , imo
It’s interesting to consider what farming is. For me it’s not how you are defining. It’s simply when someone grows on the land with primary purpose of providing food or other useful things for other people. As opposed to growing things on the land for one’s own use. Size has nothing to do with it. There are people urban farming on less than an acre.
If you are objecting to him calling himself a farmer because he can’t get all his income off what he grows, then I’d suggest we take a look at how conventional farming gets subsidised in various ways. And how many subsidised inputs they need.
Likewise organic viability. For me the test is whether one can grow actual food (etc) using organic principles and then market that. The model you are talking about is inherently unsustainable, so it’s hard to see why one would want to make organics (really, the lowest of sustainable ag) to that test. But of course there are plenty of large organic farms doing just fine and have been doing so for decades.
from me at 2.2.1
”,(though it doesn’t have to be all their income)”
20 hectares isn’t a farm, bwaghorn?
Really?
How about 25? 30? 300? What hectarage is needed before your “farm” status is reached, I wonder? I’ve been surprised, over the years, to watch and hear “conventional” farmers belittle farmers who choose unconventional methods of farming; it amazes me that the industry would have infighting like that. I’m not saying you do this, just that it happens. I previously imagined that farmers would exhibit a strong “brother or sisterhood” and support all practitioners of the ancient art of farming, but no, divisions are rife. I wonder why that is? In any case, you sound as though you’ve got a sniff of something exciting up your nostrils – “really” an it consultant with a 20 ha lifestyle block? Pffttt! He’s no farmer and in any case, organic. That’s not real farming.
Under the current settings a real farm is one that pays all its own costs plus provides the person running it a dividend,(though it doesn’t have to be all their income) if Mr Hart is not getting that from his block he is just arming the anti greens with ammo by billing himself as a organic farmer.
And yes size matters
20ha of fruit would be a different story
“Under the current settings a real farm is one that…”
Can you link me to those “current settings”, I don’t recall seeing them. Ditto for the size question; a link to that information would be most valuable. In my ignorance, I didn’t know that there was a minimum size for a farm, nor did I know that dividends were a measure, nor that unprofitibility mean’t disqualification from farm status. Cheers, bwaghorn.
perception is everything in politics , and mine says that if you a pouring outside cash into a farm you are either a tax avoider or a idealistic dreamer , James Cameron with his nut farm is the latter , what Mr Hart is remains to be seen.
Aren’t most of our dairy farmers ” pouring outside cash into a farm”?
I thought debt loads were their biggest concern and the reason given for their behaviour re stocking rates and intensification? Cash from the banks, poured in. Am I mistaken?
the banks tend to want it back at some point
At which point many farmers will go to the wall, despair and worse, or sell to a well-heeled foreign buyer. This is not good farming practice, imo.
There’s also the issue of subsidies and the externalised costs of inputs.
b, see moderation note here https://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-24052017/#comment-1332464
When farms start paying the full costs of the pollution they impose on the environment, then you can try that equation.
I wonder if Mr Hart can fit enough trees on his 20 Hectares to mitigate his flying round the country consulting in it land? as well as the nasty farts his cows are emitting
or does he buy some eastern european carbon credits
So yours is an attack on Mr Hart, not a general questioning of what constitutes a farm. I too wonder if Mr Hart is as assiduous as the Green MPs with mitigating their flights. He’s only a candidate still, so we’d be expecting a lot from him in that regard. Still, good question, bwaghorn, I expect you’ll want to know whether Bill English, who knows full well the situation with aviation fuel and its role in accelerating climate change, mitigates his flying and requires his National Party MPs to act responsibly. Note on “it land” – most consulting would be done, I imagine, on line? Correct me if I’m wrong; “IT” is kind of a remote thing to most people, I’d have said. And “nasty farts”? – revealing some sort of Victorian prudishness there, or do you really find farts to be nasty. In any case, Mr Hart would surely steer you straight about belching, rather than farting, being the primary delivery vehicle of methane from ruminant animals; it’s the sort of stuff clued-up farmers know. Your reference to “eastern european carbon credits”, I’m guessing, must be intended as a slight on the National Party, given they’ve mired themselves in their purchase and are being slated for that in the news just now. Your arguments seem all over the show, bwaghorn, but it might be that I’m misreading you.
”misreading you.”
no your misleading me and others away from the very simple question i asked at the start.
sasha was jumping in with horse shit so i thought i’d throw a bit back
Your “very simple question” was too vague to be answered simply, bwaghorn. I’m guessing you farm. I know you comment on blogs. Though it’s said you are a farmer, rumour has it you’re really a blog commenter! True or not?
If you work on a farm you are a farm worker not a farmer? Farm workers know about working on a farm but not much about farming how could they they are just farm workers. A hobby/lifestyle farmer knows more than most farm workers because they have to think within tight confines and do it not just do what the farmer says to do. ☺
I would say each in their own field. Farm workers build up some impressive skills and varying levels of responsibility.
Of course – I’m poking waggy to show how flawed his reasoning in his original post was.
“poking waggy”
That made me laugh out loud. Gotta go; got a kid’s “nature club” to lead; we’re out on the sands of the estuary, feeding whelks today; that’s more gruesome than you can imagine, and they love it!
Many dairy farmers at the moment wouldn’t meet your definition of a farmer.
I suspect a lot of farmers are in the red pretty nearly all the time.
Around 1000 ha is the minimum for a genuine farm in Central Otago
That doesn’t sound like a very efficient use of the land, bearded, especially in light of Stuart Munroe’s comment about the size of some Asian farms. What are they “growing”
Sheep mostly, some cattle, some cropping.
Anyone on a smaller block profitably producing something else?
Not much around here (Wanaka area). Wheat on one farm, several vineyards on not particularly large lots; some walnuts. Mostly sheep, cattle and one large dairy farm….and heaps of creeping residential subdivision gradually eating up the landscape but producing the same or less than when part of a larger farm.
It can be done though, profitability from a block smaller than 1000 ha?
Tough, admittedly, in a degraded landscape. Around Alexandra looks like a moonscape but perhaps there are crops; thyme, grapes, saffron that could return good profit from an arid farm. I agree that there are critical dimensions for a farm that’s running ruminants; perhaps they’re the problem?
lol, that was sneaky.
Do you know the Hobbs near Roxburgh? 25+ years of organic orcharding. Can’t remember how big their place is, but it’s small. They sell everything from the gate or via direct selling to customers. Large variety of fruits coming on over the season. Very cool model.
http://www.hobbsorchard.co.nz/
Very cool, and living at Hercules Flat – great address! I’m growing apricots from that area, heritage ones collected by an elderly Roxburgh orchardist from trees that somehow remain. She sent the pits to me, all sucked clean, in a box 🙂
Nice.
While we’re on the subject of real farming, the Real Farmers are busy pulling out the mature orchards further down in the Teviot Valley and putting in dairy cows. Unreal.
All that will change; shame about the trees though. I enjoy discussions around farming. I’ve been putting together a possible guest post that begins:
“The most pernicious, aggressive and destructive invasive plant in the history of New Zealand; the plant that has usurped, displaced, and rendered near-extinct our unique native flora, is ryegrass, the pasture species chosen by farmers in their ongoing battle to dominate the natural world.”
How do you think that might fly, weka, and will bwaghorn be freed from moderation in time to engage in meaningful discussion? 🙂
I look forward to that! (and yes I expect b will extricate himself in time).
The thing that bothers me about the orchards is that it takes a year to chop them down and put in cows, but much longer when we need to go back the other way (esp given we don’t know how climate change will affect farming). A mature orchard is not something to be killed lightly. Stop trying to grow money and grow food instead, grrr.
Not that I need to tell you any of that, but maybe someone else is reading 🙂
Much more profitable to chop it up unfortunately, and Nationals RMA reforms (backed by the Maori Party-may they rot in hell) mean that this is easier to do.
purchase price would be the defining point as to how economic a block is, and unfortunately the smaller they are usually the more costly they are.
you put him up as proof of the greens inclusiveness the other day so i thought you might know , if you don’t like my approach ban away .
Having a go at tenants. And some smart female lawyer so cool that butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, explains how tenants can now demand details of the landlord’s insurance blah blah… as if they were on an equal footing.
I imagine the conversation between landlord and prospective tenant:
“Tell me, my good man, have you reasonable insurance in case of our causing a mishap, and how much excess would there be for us to pay?”
“Oh fuck off, I don’t want the likes of you causing trouble.”
http://thewireless.co.nz/articles/you-break-it-you-bought-it
The Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2), introduced to Parliament yesterday, implements changes meaning tenants will have to pay their landlord’s insurance excess if they have caused damage due to carelessness….
“The changes are needed to ensure tenants have an incentive to take good care of a property, and for the landlord to have appropriate insurance,” Building and Construction Minister Dr Nick Smith said.
But Renters United spokeswoman Kate Day said the proposed law was unfair on tenants, who were already paying rent that factored in costs for the landlord such as rates and insurance.
“We see insurance costs as part of the cost to the landlord of running the business of a rental property,” she said.
“They pass those costs onto the renters, so the renters already pay the costs of the insurance. It’s not fair that the renter pay twice – through their rent, then through the excess as well.”
The proposed law caps the amount charged for excess at four times the weekly rent.
Tenants will still be liable for damage caused intentionally.
Is there any truth to the rumour that seems a fair enough question, but no idea why you’d ask for clarification from a specific individual. What’s that about?
you can’t prove (show?) organic farming is viable if you fund the farm from the outside , imo
Yes and no. Within the current economic paradigm, it’s true that “viability” is measured in monetary terms. But there are plenty of meaningful ways to measure viability and there’s a cogent argument that current paradigms run counter to those other measures.
So what if by non-monetary measures something is viable, but not viable in terms of the measures provided by current contexts? Should we throw away the context or the otherwise viable project/enterprise/hobby?
Purchasing off-sets. Best I don’t get started on that front, eh? 😉
Is Mr Fnglish a farmer? What’s a Queen street farmer?
if he has input into the running of the property then yes , if not then he’s a queen street farmer ie an investor , queen street farmer is a term of ridicule .
Queen Street farmer was a term for men who had a lot of spare money to invest who were city professionals and put that money into the new gold rush which at that time was deer farming. They drove in the city in Landrovers etc which everyone thought they had bought and written off as a tax deductible farm vehicle. So there is a lot of background to that term. (The Queen Street would be the main street in Auckland’s CBD.)
There will certainly be a measure, a cut-off point connected with time spent on farm, where a person, Mr Fnglish in this case, fails the “farmer” test and becomes something else. bwaghorn will know.
what you do is you collect all the shit you remove from your fingernails in a year , +1kg and you are a farmer less than that then you are a lifestyler.
It’s an indelicate comment, but wouldn’t using toilet paper solve your problem?
Hmm. Workerism writ large. No thanks.
Many of the farms I saw in Asia were not 20 hectares – we could learn a thing or two from many of them.
did the owners live in a comfortable house with good health etc or were they subsistence farmers that you enjoyed gawking at from the comfort of your intrepid journey
bwaghorn
I think you have unknowingly hit on the point of this argument bwaghorn.
In Asia they were probably subsistence farmers, and living according to their means. The farmers here are getting to the point where they have leveraged themselves into poverty, living and investing beyond their means and believing that they will be able to pay it all off out of continuing profits as in the present buoyant market. They may yet end up as subsistence farmers too, and it will be their own fault, foolishness, and lack of financial discipline.
I believe that some clear-headed financial studies find that many are farming in an extraordinarily profligate manner, and are practically insolvent, ie their farming methods and cost basis and receipts make their enterprise on present earnings, a failure. The reason could be that they have bought paid too much for land, or spent too much converting to dairy, to actually make a decent buck. Have you heard the term “He was hoist on his own petard” bwaghorn.
Townies can feel sorry for struggling farmers, but some of us need to think and understand what their actual problem is. Perhaps my comment will encourage some informed person to come on to the post and give some background to this skewed theme, of poor, honest, hardworking farmers being unreasonably, unfairly criticised by ignorant townies living a life of ease, warmth and comfort sitting on their bums in the cities. That is partly fair criticism from farmers who actually work their own farms, but only on an 80/20 basis with 20 referring to the farmers.
They had hanoks for the most part – low ceilinged earth walled houses with tin roofs instead of the traditional tile or thatch. The ones who had 20 hectares would also have a large two-storied house, outbuildings, multiple vehicles, and typically several sources of income – rice, table grapes, mushrooms, dogs, hand reared beef, chillis, soybeans, ginseng, baichu. These ones also often supplied customers directly to improve prices, or sold through the massive markets that are a feature of the successful Asian regional development initiatives.
Interesting info Stuart Munro. We are going to have to learn from other countries experience as ours are so set in the ruts of the past, and are determined to learn nothing new that is applicable to our present, and forecast future. We have a government that is there on the votes of people who consider themselves learned and intelligent, but measure everything in money.
A couple I know of are dying, but have a number of attractive houses, and are building another for something to do in the meantime. After a lifetime they end up with the same stunted ideas they grew up with and can’t see how damaging it has been for this country and the world.
NZ is unfortunately a very poor learner. Our economists for example, think they are rockstars, and the balance of payments confirms that whatever they may be, they are certainly not economists.
Our dairy is stuck in the production mentality – 1960s thinking – our fisheries are 1% of Japans. We have little or no land-based aquaculture, and virtually no intensive sustainable operations.
It’s as if they have ignored everything written in my lifetime. We should be a model country – but we are a nation of sheep led by goats and monkeys.
” we are a nation of sheep led by goats and monkeys.”
Have you ever wondered, Stuart, why some animals consented to domestication, where others rejected the offer? Sheep, it seems, were easy.
We’re all a bit like your dying couple, Grey; finding it difficult to grasp the reality of the situation and even more difficult to change our ways to accommodate what we sense is happening; our responses are a matter of degree. The “mythical” Asian subsistence farmer would shake his or her head at our behaviour, perhaps, and wonder at our stunted ideas. Un-stunting those is the first thing we have to do. This sort of discussion helps, imo, but individuals have to do the real, background work if they are to even approach becoming grandfathers (the use of that term will puzzle you, probably, but here’s the link if you’ve the time and inclination to read the article that provided it for me 🙂
https://books.google.ca/books?id=tUnu_oCaVBQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=animism&source=bl&ots=hlOpRxivxM&sig=qmDiBwfQKLuEQx-sAu2NY1DA_PQ&hl=en&ei=T-UUTci1AYv6sAPPjuSvAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=onepage&q&f=false
thanks ignoring my intrepid grumpyness, would you drink the water from the creeks in these intensive small block ares?
[you’re in premoderatimon b, please have a look at yesterday’s moderation and respond. Thanks – weka]
Can we loose him from his bounds, weka? He’s owned his surlyness and the topic is a great one 🙂
He’s only in premod, which means his comments will still appear, there’s just a delay until he deals with the issue I raised in moderation (or if it ignores it there will be long delays).
Grumpyness isn’t a moderation offence 😉
I agree the topic is a great one and I hope he comes back soon.
Can you point to what accusations i made , i only see as yet unanswered questions , i would have stopped at the one first question but all the utopian dreamers leap in boots and all so i reacted..
If people can’t see that the greens are setting themselves up for ridicule by
billing Mr Hart as organic farmer when all he has is 20ha then they aren’t very bright.
I’d also like to see proof of these subsidies that farming gets , i’d prefer proof of real subsidies rather than rekons from people who know fuck all.
[the whole subthread is based on the premise that Hart runs 20 ha and is a consultant and doesn’t make a living from his farm. That is an idea that you brought into the conversation and have continued to use as the basis of your argument, even now. I have no idea if that is true or where you even got that idea from. You can either put up some evidence or acknowledge you made it up. It’s not ok to run lines about public figures that are factually incorrect, especially about candidates in election year. What is happening now is there is an ongoing conversation based on rumour. Again not ok in election year. Plenty of other ways to make your point or it should be pretty easy to provide evidence for if it is true. – weka]
I’m afraid that you are mired in cowpates bwaghorn. and we are thinking of beyond today, our shrinking other industries besides dairy ie they can’t get round how to make money from sheep and many farmers are putting all their eggs in the dairy basket for commodity prices, and adding to the poollution from stock. The cities have to keep their own under control with so many eyes watching them, but the red-neck country guy, the worst he has to worry about is his friendly neighbours pinching his stock.
The problem is not the farms being broken down into smaller less economic units as far as scale is concerned. It is farmers who are farming for a quick buck, instead of a lifestyle and business combined. It’s not for everybody but the rural population don’t need to think of themselves as bold business initiators, they are just finding ways to squeeze more money out of farms that many have paid too much for.
Turning your nose up at 20ha ‘farms’ is a mistake, small patches like that being intensively managed, with organic well established, with spelling and fallowing and haymaking, will be the backbone of the country when dairy goes belly up when it can’t get fertiliser and someone blows up the pipelines for the irrigation. Which will probably happen.
Small blocks also tend to have a far higher biodiversity than conventional farms. I’d be pretty happy to see 80% of NZ dairy farms, the ones that have been chopping down trees and flattening land, divided up into small lifestyle blocks simply because of the amount of trees that will then get planted. Even better if those people are supported into regenag and silvopasture.
weka also bwaghorn (Townies are interested in farming problems or at least are trying.)
Regenag and silvopasture. I’ve lots to learn. But I was very interested in what Woman against the Desert Wendy Campbell Purdie achieved in Africa. We may be able to mitigate droughts with trees spaced widely with branch tips not quite touching providing a mantle against evaporation.
Some farming problems with feed and drought reported on RadiooNZ under Rural archive.
This was good.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/201806667/stopping-summer-stress
and
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/country/307761/mps-urged-to-back-no-tillage-farming
and
This was not good.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/201840609/uncontrolled-farming-practice-stripping-land-and-could-be
and
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/20184
“An analysis of data from past El Niño years suggests farmers in some regions can expect a drop in pasture growth this summer, Dairy NZ says.
The current El Niño weather pattern is expected to be one of the most severe since 1950.” Dec 2015
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/292889/el-nino-expected-to-cause-a-drop-in-pasture-growth
and
March 2016 – http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/rural/298513/south-canterbury-land-struggling-to-recover
and
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/countrylife/audio/201794551/diary-of-a-dairy-farmer-re-grassing
You may very well have a point about the Greens b, and I’ll be happy to continue the conversation about that and subsidies, but not until we establish that there is actually an issue.
Jeeze, bwaghorn, suffering another bout of grumpyness, so soon?
Subsidies for farming…let’s see. How about total exemption from paying for the greenhouse gas emissions their animals produce which equal 47% of New Zealand’s total, an amount that has to be paid for with tax payer money. How is that not a subsidy, I wonder?
How about irrigation schemes, Ruataniwha et al. where farmers are the beneficiaries of public money through a very generous loan arrangement, not available to non-farmers? How about the exemption for all farms from the rules around contaminated land? A blanket exemption from rules that affect non-farm land? Subsidised? You bet. These are just my introductory examples. There are more that show how polluter doesn’t pay.
Oh, and tax. Kettle of fish.
Drought bail outs too. I’m actually in favour of people being helped by the govt during hardship, but it irks to have farmers creating drought with their farming methods and then getting help and then dissing smaller farmers who farm moderately more sustainably but apparently aren’t real farmers because they subsidise their farms themselves.
This is what I’d like to see in Joyce’s budget. From Bernard Hickey’s May 9th article on the Newsroom:
“..Australia’s banks have had a tough 24 hours at home with the surprise announcement in the Australian Budget of a A$6.2 billion tax on liabilities…
Don’t hold your breath. But the Labour/Green bloc should be penciling in a similar tax in its manifesto.
Of importance on Radionz today.
business rural
9:28 am today
What is the future for the sheep industry?
From Nine To Noon, 9:28 am today
Listen duration 19′ :28″
Falling sheep numbers, meat works closures, low wool prices and a ban on fresh NZ lamb in some UK supermarkets – we look at the future for the sheep industry with Federated Farmers’ meat and fibre chairman Rick Powdrell and to sheep farmer, and former chair of the now defunct Meat Industry Excellence farmer group, John McCarthy.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201844949/what-is-the-future-for-the-sheep-industry
and
business environment
9:47 am today
What’s the deal with “trading” water?
From Nine To Noon, 9:47 am today
Listen duration 6′ :54
Last night a story broke about a Christchurch wool scourer with a consent to extract 1.5 billion litres of water being sold to a foreign company – which is likely to become New Zealand’s second largest water bottler. Kathryn Ryan discusses the issue with Guy Salmon, executive director of the Ecologic Foundation.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201844952/what-s-the-deal-with-trading-water
The United States and Britain are funding and arming Saudi Arabia despite knowing full well that the war it is waging in Yemen involves war crimes whereby hospitals, schools and homes are being bombed.
How do they possibly expect to win the “War on Terrorism” when they fund and arm a despotic regime that has no time at all for human rights and bombs its smaller neighbour with flagrant disregard for civilian welfare?
Why do we have anything to do with a despotic regime that commits the aforementioned war crimes? The Government of New Zealand is like “so what? We need to do business with them”.
OMG I think the US has just found a better international diplomat than Obama; killed it in Saudi, rocked it like a mensch in Jerusalem:
http://www.politico.com/gallery/2017/05/22/photos-donald-trump-israel-visit-002438?slide=26
Well well well:
“Auditor-General Martin Matthews to stand down pending independent inquiry.
The Offices of Parliament Committee decided unanimously to undertake an independent inquiry into Auditor-General Martin Matthews’ suitability for the position.
He will stand down in the meantime. Review is expected to take a fortnight and will be done by Sir Martin Weevers. ”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/92941401/auditorgeneral-martin-matthews-to-stand-down-pending-independent-inquiry
Nice to see opposition pressure doing the trick again when the government wanted to sweep this under the carpet as usual.
I expect this investigation to be another whitewash with very narrow terms of reference, though, and for Matthews to be reinstated.
Great work.
Good practise for what senior public servants should expect from a fresh government.
Lol. Tolley backs down from yet another incredible poorly thought out idea. This pressuring of NGOs and charities aligns with Ngaro’s bullying of the same organisations at the Nats conference the other day.
No wonder Tolley has backed down because the media have been very vocal in their criticisms of the Nats’ arrogance on this issue.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/331467/govt-backtracks-on-data-for-funding-proposal
I suspect that the pressure on some of their unscrupulous activities is beginning to tell Tolley and others to back off. They have an ends justifying the means mentality.